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Love Bites Epilogue 100%
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Epilogue

Smiling at the vampire on the opposite side of the counter, I slide him the box containing his plants. He collects them under his arm and flashes his fangs as he smiles, dipping his head in thanks.

“Thank you for shopping at Feeling Thorny,” I call out warmly as he steps out of the shop.

Glancing around the small florist shop, I still can’t quite believe that this place is mine. As I predicted all those years ago, working in a conventional florist didn’t work thanks to my aversion to sunlight. Together with my mates, we looked at starting my own business, which would provide flowers to supernaturals who couldn’t go to a normal florist. After all, vampires and other denizens of the night like flowers too.

Working from the living room of our apartment, I put together freelance orders. Eventually, I had so many orders and returning customers that I was able to buy this shop, and so, Feeling Thorny was born. I am now the premier florist for those who cannot shop during the day. I stock all of the regular flowers as would be expected, but I also have some more unusual ones and night-blooming roses.

Warm hands slide around my waist, and I lean back into Zane’s strong arms. He’s been surprisingly good with flowers and plants and spends most nights here with me, helping put orders together, but he’s also a huge distraction.

“What do you say we shut up shop early and fuck in the back room?” he whispers in my ear. “No one would ever know.”

Laughing, I untangle myself from his arms and turn to smile up at him, standing on my toes to press a quick kiss to his lips. I spin away, out of his reaching hands.

“As great as that sounds. I have too much to do here.” Lifting a watering can, I start watering the Venus flytraps, nodding my head towards them.

He looks ravenous, his eyes locked on me as he begins to stalk towards me. The bell over the door dings, alerting me to the fact that someone has entered the shop. I don’t miss Zane’s sigh as I put the watering can down. He knows there’s no chance of getting me in the back room when I have customers coming in and out.

Turning to greet the newcomers, I smile widely when I see it’s my family. My heart warms in my chest, swelling with my love for them. This never gets old, and I’m going to cherish every moment.

My best friend, Jack, and Gabriel walk in, all calling out their greetings. Tina has a small, winged child on her shoulders who squeals in excitement when he sees me. Leo is my child. Thanks to the wings on his back, it’s pretty obvious who his father is, but all three of my mates treat him like their son. Tina takes her role as godmother pretty seriously and spends most of her free time at our apartment. She says it’s because Leo needs human influence as he’s growing up to make sure he doesn’t turn out like his daddies.

Sweeping across the room, I hold my arms out and catch him as he jumps from Tina’s shoulders, his little wings flapping behind him. They are too small to actually help him fly, but it’s good practice for when he grows. Swinging him around, I make whooshing noises as I help him fly between his daddies, his delighted giggle making me want to do everything to keep him happy.

His dads are obsessed with him, keeping him safe and protected. Thanks to there being four of us, there is always someone with him, no matter the time of day. Our little boy is going to be the best looked after, spoiled child around.

Holding him close, I sniff the top of his head, obsessed with his scent. I give Tina a one-armed hug before turning to Gabriel and Jack, giving them lingering kisses. Stepping back, I look between the three of them. “I didn’t know you were stopping by today.”

Tina pulls a face at Leo, causing him to giggle once more. “We decided to go for a sunset picnic,” she replies, changing her voice so it comes out high and squeaky, much to the delight of my son.

Jack pulls me against him, wrapping his arm around Leo and me, smiling as though we’re his entire world. “You should come with us, Emmy. Leo would love it.”

He really would, and I know it would be good to spend more time with my family. I’ve been so busy with the shop recently, I don’t get much time with them, but I was just telling Zane that I couldn’t afford to close early. Biting down on my lip, I glance over at Zane who is wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. He clearly wants to go with them. I shouldn’t close up, yet I want to spend every moment I can with them. Cuddling my baby close, I kiss his forehead and look between my mates and best friend. My decision isn’t a hard one, and it doesn’t take me long.

“Okay, let’s go.”

As I lock up the shop, I can’t help but wonder what life has in store for us next. Life moves on so quickly. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but with my mates and the family we have created, I know we can weather any storm and continue to grow stronger.

The End

Author’s Note

2024 has been a year of change for me. At least, that is what I promised myself at the beginning of the year, and I am determined to manifest it into being. There are lots of new and exciting things happening, both in my writing life and personal life, so I am riding this wave and am going to enjoy every moment. Thanks to the support of you, my readers, all this is possible.

As with every book, there are always so many people who help it become the best it can be. Jess, my editor, Kaila my formatter and all of my alpha readers are key in making sure the book makes sense, so a huge thank you to them. Thank you to Nikki, my PA and great friend. Katie, my author bestie and sounding board played a huge part in the creation of this book.

My family were amazing, as usual, with their support and listening to me ramble on for hours about various ideas.

Last of all, I want to thank my partner. He has been brilliant, pretending to be interested when I bug him for the hundredth time about a new scene I’m writing. He also helped me come up with several key ideas for this story.

I hope you loved the story.

Until we meet again,

Lots of love,

Erin xoxo

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