Captive Heart (Club Risqué Book 6)

Epilogue

Had it only been eight weeks? It seemed like a lifetime since Melody had escaped her previous life and found Micah.

Her saviour and her soul mate. It might sound corny, but that’s exactly how she thought of him, even though she knew he wouldn’t appreciate it… well the saviour part anyway.

He’d insisted on counselling sessions - not with him, sadly - to help her reacclimatise to this different life. Melody wasn’t convinced she needed it, but she’d agreed.

As far as she was concerned, everything that had gone before was just simply the past. It had happened, it had changed, she’d moved on.

People might like to think she was in denial or something, but for her it really was that simple. Why would she want to waste this new life worrying about the old one and risk destroying her newfound happiness in the process?

No, that wasn’t fair. There were things that occupied her mind and made her feel guilty. Things like the miscarriage and the icky feeling she got knowing that daddy really had been her daddy, if not in blood, despite the relationship they shared to the contrary. It helped to talk about those.

It also helped that Micah had insisted on a very thorough medical. She’d been poked, prodded and tested. Had her insides and her bones x-rayed, plus blood-work and ultrasound scans.

She was still on a course of vitamins, but the most surprising news was that no conclusive proof that she couldn’t bear children had been found. Of course, there was nothing to say she could, either, but so far Melody had been told that an inadequate diet could disrupt physiological reproductive function… something that may or may not lead to outright infertility.

She wasn’t sure the non-answer, which just left a massive question mark swinging above her head, was a good or a bad thing.

She’d accepted that she wouldn’t have children. Been glad for it while she was incarcerated. Now she’d been offered hope, and sometimes that was all the more cruel. Because she would have liked children - one day. Not right now. Not even soon. But the thought of carrying Micah’s baby was an alluring one.

To be given hope that might still be snatched away was maybe worse than accepting it would never happen.

“Hey, what’s gotten you so pensive?” Micah asked, flashing the oh-so-sexy smile that lit up his face. Something he did a lot more in the month since Vinny Sutton had been arrested.

“Just thinking,” Melody replied, keeping her voice light.

“Well, I hope I’ve got something to put a smile back on your face,” he said with a wink. He’d been acting all mysterious for the past few days, insisting she go out and buy her own bedding, which Melody appreciated, but which also seemed pretty pointless since they were still using a bed in one of the playrooms.

“What is it?” she asked, playing along.

Micah took her hand. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

He took her to the opposite side of the building to an area which was little used. “Close your eyes,” he commanded as they drew to a stop outside a doorway she didn’t recognise, next to what she knew was a staff toilet because it said so on the door, along with a ‘not in use’ sign.

Doing as she was told, Melody chuckled when he pulled out a blindfold. “Is this your way of telling me you want some kinky fun?” she teased.

“I always want kinky fun when it comes to you.” Micah chuckled and nibbled on Melody’s ear, making her giggle. It buoyed her heart to hear him so playful, and he brought it out in her too.

“Pretty sure you know I’m a sure thing.”

Micah smacked a kiss on her cheek. “I do actually have another reason for bringing you here,” he admitted.

Melody heard the door being opened and the scent of subtle new paint and fresh air hit her.

Micah took her hand and guided her through the doorway, and Melody waited patiently for what she suspected was a new playroom he wanted them to trial.

“Ready?” Micah whispered, his fingers already at the edges of her blindfold.

“Ready,” she agreed with a small smile.

The sight that greeted her when she regained her sight, was not the one she’d been expecting.

It took Melody long moments to assimilate what she was seeing, and when her silence stretched, Micah prompted. “What do you think?”

He sounded almost… uncertain.

She turned to look at him and confessed her confusion. “I don’t understand. This doesn’t look like I imagined a playroom would. It’s just like… a bedroom. Is that a kink for some people?”

Micah’s eyes crinkled at the edges. “Is that what you were expecting? A playroom?”

Melody nodded and looked back at the room, noticing for the first time that the very comfortable looking bed sported the new bedding she’d recently purchased. “Micah?” she murmured, not wanting to believe. “Is this…” She trailed off, looking around the room with new eyes.

It wasn’t big, but every inch had been used to its best advantage. There were pale blue blackout curtains, tied back to make the most of the winter sun streaming through the small window. And floaty sheers for privacy. The walls were painted a buttermilk colour, giving the space a light and airy, but warm feel. There was a small table on one side of the bed, and a dressing table on the other, with a mirror which reflected light to make the small space seem bigger than it was. On the opposite walls stood a compact double wardrobe next to another door.

“This is ours,” Micah told her, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her temple. “For now, at least. Until we can find proper accommodation, this will give us some privacy and personal space away from the work areas of the club.”

He pulled her over to the other door, opening it and gesturing with his arm. That’s when Melody realised why the door in the hallway said this bathroom was out of use. The external door had been blocked off and it had been turned into an en-suite. Small and compact, but with enough room for a shower, a toilet, and a sink. For Melody, who had never really had her own space, it was more than she could have dreamed of, and tears welled in her eyes.

“Hey,” Micah cajoled. “This is supposed to be a happy thing. I know it’s small and by no means perfect, but…”

“It is perfect!” Melody interrupted, her words coming out on a sob as she threw her arms around him. “Absolutely perfect. Just like you.”

She attacked his lips then, pressing butterfly kisses all over his face before kissing him deeply in a desperate need to show him just how much she loved it.

How much she loved him.

“Well,” Micah murmured, when they both came up for air. “It’s a while before the club opens. Perhaps we can test this mattress…”

He didn’t finish the words before Melody pushed him onto the oak framed bed and dived on top of him, pulling at his clothes while he laughed and turned the tables on her.

“And that’s a perfect idea,” she declared before she kissed him again and they both got lost in each other, happy at last, and finally without the shadows of the past standing between them.

The End

Is Melody really safe with Guthrie still at large? Find out in Risqué Business, releasing in August 2024