Epilogue
MAC
The last place I should’ve been headed to was the cabin. Havenbrook was in mourning, the lives of two beloved residents stolen too soon. And Nat needed all the support she could get as she tried to help her best friend navigate his new normal that was nothing he could have possibly planned for.
But even as mayor, I couldn’t do much besides offer emotional support. And Nat had sent me— shoved me—away, saying I was smothering her and to back the fuck off. Ah, sisterly love.
I didn’t know how long she would be home to support Asher, but I’d take every second of it I could get—my sisters and I hadn’t all been in the same place for more than a handful of days at a time for years.
Muscle memory had me driving my Jeep down the winding roads without conscious thought, allowing my mind to wander. Hudson and I hadn’t missed talking in some form for a single day since he’d left Havenbrook. And we’d both been right—it was hard. But we were crushing it because we were too bullheaded to do anything else.
What had been a surprise for me was that the hard wasn’t necessarily the distance. It was the wondering and worrying. It was the disappointments when orders were given and plans were changed, and suddenly our scheduled reunion, ten years in the making, couldn’t happen. At least, not for another several months.
With a sigh, I pulled into the gravel driveway in front of the cabin that had held so many memories for the two of us. Even if Hudson couldn’t be with me tonight on his birthday like we’d planned all those years ago, I’d wanted to be here because this was where I felt closest to him.
Where before, I’d avoided this place at every turn because of the memories it held, now I came as often as I was able to, specifically for that reason. Lilah and Marianne had all but given me free rein to come and go as I pleased, and I abused that as often as my demanding job allowed me to.
A demanding job I actually sort of loved.
I wouldn’t lie and say it’d been easy—I couldn’t step into a role that had been filled by men the entirety of Havenbrook’s existence without it being difficult. But I’d proven myself—the election we’d held to replace my daddy had demonstrated as much when I’d won by a landslide.
There were still the male elders to deal with, but I didn’t back down from them anymore. I was there to get shit done, and they could either get on board or get the hell out of my way.
“All right, CB. You ready?” I asked my favorite canine, reaching out to scratch behind CB’s ears. She was a lot tinier than Hudson—and a lot hairier—but at least I had a bed partner to keep me company when the nights got too lonely without him.
The dog jumped across the center console and straight into my lap, her tail wagging and tongue lolling. She loved coming out to the cabin almost as much as I did.
The two of us stepped out of the Jeep, and I breathed in the fresh spring air. Flowers sprouted up in the gardens I had weeded last weekend, and the hammock strung up between two blooming trees called my name. I grabbed the bags from the back seat—one of these days, I’d just leave our stuff at the cabin so I didn’t need to pack something each time—and slammed the car door shut.
I stepped up to the cabin, fumbling with my keys as I tried to balance CB’s and my bags—that spoiled dog traveled with more items than I did. A package on the doorstep caught my eye, and I furrowed my brow. Not much mail showed up here, and even fewer packages—as in none. I dropped the bags on the porch and bent to pick up the box, seeing my name across the label in Hudson’s unmistakable handwriting, and excitement shot through me.
Unable to wait another second, I ripped open the tape and lifted the flaps, finding a pile of pink Starbursts surrounding a small, square box. I breathed out a laugh, shaking my head. Tucked along the side was a note.
I found this at a tiny store in Germany nine years ago. It’s the only one I never mailed to you because I needed it with me. It doesn’t compare to the real thing, but it’s the exact shade of your eyes, and it made me feel close to you even when we weren’t.
I lifted the lid on the box, finding a marble inside. And Hudson was right—it was the exact color of my eyes.
“Just like Hud to one up me, sending me a gift on his birthday,” I mumbled to no one.
Why the hell would he send me this, though? Didn’t he still need to feel close to me while we were apart? God knew I could use some of that closeness because it’d been too long since I’d felt his arms around me.
Suddenly, the door flew open from the inside, and I let out a shriek, jumping back. CB came running, barking her head off, until she sniffed out who stood inside the cabin.
Hudson.
Hudson was… here . Looking utterly exhausted, his hair cut close and a way-past-five-o’clock shadow covering his jaw, his lips quirked up on the side.
“What…what—” I couldn’t find any other words. Could only stare at him openmouthed, my heart trying its hardest to beat straight out of my chest.
“I knew I should’ve greeted you naked like I’d planned. Didn’t have enough time, though. I just got here.”
“Just got—” I was smarter than this, but my vocabulary was doing its damnedest to prove otherwise.
“I gotta be honest…I thought I’d at least get a hug by now. Maybe a ‘happy birthday.’”
I breathed out a laugh, set the box on the entry table, and jumped into his arms, wrapping mine around his neck and squeezing him as tight as I dared. Pressing my nose into his skin, I sucked in a lungful of Hudson-scented air and felt tears prick the backs of my eyes.
“What are you doin’ here?” I asked into his neck, my throat thick with emotion.
He squeezed his arms around me, and nothing had ever felt this good. “I need to tell you something.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I pulled back to stare into his eyes, swallowing down my apprehension. Whatever he had to tell me, whatever mission he’d been called up for or new duty station they were sending him to, or any number of other possibilities the army could come up with, it would be fine. We’d make it work.
“Okay.”
“I’ve been lyin’ to you.”
My eyes went wide, and I darted my gaze over Hudson’s face, trying to read it. Trying to figure out what the hell he meant by that. Lied to me about what?
“Okay…” I said again, trepidation seeping into my tone.
“I haven’t been waiting on orders to deploy.”
“ Okay …” Apparently that was all my brain could think to say.
“I’ve been waiting on my DD 214 papers.”
I stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, I said, “I don’t know what that means, Hudson.”
“It means…” He reached up to cup my face. He brushed his thumbs against my skin, and I never wanted him to stop touching me. “It means I’m home.”
“I can see that you’re home, but what?—”
“No, Kenna. I’m home . For good.”
I hadn’t even fully processed the words before I was on him, his face held in my hands as I kissed him with every ounce of love I felt for him. We were hungry, frenzied. We shed our clothes without hesitation, our bodies crashing together as if we’d been doing this dance our whole lives instead of fighting against it.
On an old hardwood floor with a two-hundred-plus-pound soldier pressing into me wasn’t the most comfortable place in the world to be, but I didn’t care. With his chest brushing the tips of my breasts, his arms surrounding me, and his lips whispering wordless pleas against my skin as he sank into me over and over again, I’d never felt more loved. I gripped him as tight as I could, struggling to get even closer still. Desperate for him in a way I’d never known was possible.
“Christ, I missed you. Missed this.” He braced himself on his arms, resting his forehead against mine as he gazed between us, pumping his hips and watching as he disappeared into me over and over again. “I don’t want to go this long without you again. Ever.”
It was then that I broke, my emotions surging out of me in waves of pleasure as he groaned and jerked against me, my name a hoarse cry on his lips.
Our panting breaths filled the space around us, and only then did I come into myself enough to realize it wasn’t Hudson caressing my hip, but rather CB showing her love with puppy kisses.
I groaned, reaching down to shoo the dog away. “Get out of here, you pervert. God, you really do live up to your name.”
Hudson laughed, then scooped me up in his arms and stood before dropping down onto the couch. He settled me across his lap, his not-even-close to softening cock still inside me. God, he felt good, and I needed him again. I’d come less than two minutes ago, and I was still hungry for him.
I rocked against him tentatively, his answering groan spurring me on. “No recovery time? That’s a fun new toy to play with.”
He dropped his hands to my hips, resting his head against the back of the couch and gazing up at me with heavy-lidded eyes. “I’m happy to let you use and abuse me as much as you’d like. We’ve got a lot of time to make up for.”
I knew now probably wasn’t the best time to have this conversation—while he was buried to the hilt inside me and my clit throbbed with the need for attention—but I couldn’t stop the words even if I’d tried. “What does this all mean? No more army?”
“No more army.”
My heart broke for him, not wanting him to have to choose me over it. And needing him to know he didn’t have to. “I’m not goin’ anywhere, Hudson. You don’t have to choose between us.”
“I know.”
“You…you loved it, though.”
He nodded. “I did. But I was stayin’ for the wrong reasons. I’m ready to move on to the next chapter of my life.”
“And what’s that next chapter include?”
“A new job—something Caleb suggested a long time ago and I’ve been workin’ on the past few months. This place.” He tipped his head, gesturing to the cabin. Then he squeezed my hands that were encased in his. “And you. For as long as you’ll have me.”
As long as I’d have him? I wasn’t even sure the rest of our lives would be long enough. “Bet you get sick of me first.”
He cracked a grin, wrapped his arms around me, and guided me to move over him, to take whatever I needed from him. “That’s never gonna happen. Hope you’re ready to lose.”
Lose? Nope. No matter the terms we agreed on, I’d win in the end if it meant I got to spend the rest of my life with him.