Epilogue
CILLIAN
Ellie’s playing her piano again. This is her routine now.
She plays while she waits for me to catch up in the mornings.
She always starts the day by wiggling out of my grasp in our bed, calling me a sleepyhead and telling me that I’m going to make us both late.
I would if she’d let me, and she knows that.
I’d quite literally love to spend all day, and night too, in bed with my girl.
Touching her, kissing her, being inside of her.
I like to admire her, and I like that she doesn’t blush and look away from me like she used to.
She’s shy, but she likes how obsessed I am with her.
I can tell by the way her mouth quirks up in that little smirk she saves only for me.
It’s our first morning back on campus, and I’m supposed to be thinking about our strategy this semester or whatever the fuck hockey coaches do.
My mind should be on line changes, drills, and whether Lockwood is going to piss me off before eight a.m. No spoiler alert here, he fucking will.
But all I can focus on right now is my girl and what the future holds for us.
Ellie sits at the baby grand piano in our living room, and she’s such a fucking sight. Sunlight catches on her hair as her fingers glide across the keys. She’s lost in the song, eyes half-closed, mouth soft, looking like she belongs in a painting.
I stand there with my hands in my pockets, pretending I’m the calm, composed man she thinks I am.
The truth is, I’ve never been this nervous in my entire life.
None of the things I’ve been through compare to this moment.
Everything rides on the next few minutes, and because of that my heart is skittering in my chest. Because today isn’t just the first day of the new semester, today’s the day I ask Ellie Montrose to take my last name.
The little black box feels like it’s going to burn a hole in my pocket.
I pull it out quietly, flip the lid open, and stare at the diamond I had custom-made for her.
She’s never once hinted at wanting to get married or dropped hints about what kind of ring she might like.
She truly seems content with everything I’ve offered her so far, and it makes me wonder what her answer will be.
I love her so much, and I know she loves me too, but I’m not sure if I’m pushing her with this, moving too fast for her age.
She’ll be twenty soon, which means I’ll be forty, and I try to take that into consideration every single day.
There’s something inside of me though that is so feral, so untamed when it comes to her, that I can’t live with myself if I don’t ask her.
I need to claim her in every way possible, and putting this round-cut stone that sparkles so brightly on her ring finger is just another way to show her that she belongs to me, I’ll protect her, and no one will ever hurt her again.
I move the stone slightly, watching it shimmer before my eyes are drawn back to my girl.
It looks like starlight. It looks like her.
She has no idea how hard I worked to get this right. No idea how long I’ve wanted to claim her in every way a man can claim a woman.
No idea how much I love her.
But that’s going to change today.
I tuck the box behind my back and walk toward her slowly. She looks up mid-song, smiling that soft, sweet smile that ruins me every damn time.
Her hair is pulled up in a high ponytail, braided perfectly down the slope of her slender back. She looks so bright, happy. Mine.
I rest my free hand on her shoulder as the final note fades.
“You’re incredible,” I praise her, voice low. “I could listen to you play every day.”
She giggles, turning her body to look up at me and give me her full attention. I love the little things she does just like that. She makes me feel like a fucking king just by treating me like I’m the only man she sees. “You do listen to me play every day.”
“I know,” I murmur, bending down to kiss her forehead and then the tip of her nose and then her lips.
The breathless sigh she gives me in return is enough to make me want to toss her over my shoulder and drag her back to bed.
I hold on to what little restraint I have because if I don’t get the words out, I’m going to botch this whole plan I’ve gone over and over in my head since the ring arrived.
So I tell her gently, “But I want to secure my spot in line as the first person who gets to hear your new music.”
She looks confused for a second.
So I do the thing I never thought I’d do for anyone.
I drop down on one knee in front of my girl and try to keep my shit together.
I want to grab her, kiss her, tell her that she’s going to be my wife, but I need to do this the right way for her.
I need to ask her, not tell her, and save the ravenous kisses for after she answers me.
But if she says no, I’m not opposed to locking her in our bedroom and convincing her with my tongue why she should say yes.
Ellie’s breath catches, and her eyes lock on mine. I flip open the box, but she’s still just staring at my face. Her lips parted in shock, her gaze so soft and innocent that it makes my chest ache.
“Eleanor Montrose, will you do me the honor of being my wife and becoming Ellie Kavanagh?” My fucking voice cracks, just a little, but we both hear it, and it makes her smile.
I wasn’t sure how she would feel about trading her father’s last name for mine considering how things were left between them, and the fact that we don’t know if he’s dead or alive at this point.
The little excited gasp she let out tells me everything I need to know.
My girl wants to be my wife in every sense of the word, and that’s such a fucking relief.
“I couldn’t live without you, Ellie girl.
And sometimes, when you’re lying next to me at night and I feel your heart beating against my chest…
I don’t know how I survived all those years without you. ”
Tears well in her eyes. They cling to her lashes, and she looks so fucking pretty I can’t stand it. She wasn’t expecting this, and I know that, but I can tell that these are happy tears.
One falls.
I catch it with a kiss.
She whimpers at the feel of my lips brushing across her skin. “Of course I’ll marry you, Cillian. I couldn’t imagine a life without being your wife.”
Ellie throws her arms around my neck, and I stand with her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around my waist, holding onto me like she never wants to let go.
I rub the back of her hair, breathing her in as my fingers slide down the long braid.
I can’t help the urge rushing through me that is going to spoil the sweet moment.
Fuck it. I wrap her braid around my hand and pull back hard enough to make her cry out, but not hard enough to hurt her.
Before she can protest, my mouth is on her neck.
She tastes so fucking sweet, and I can’t get enough of her.
I let my tongue slide across her pulse point and hold it there just for a second.
I feel the beat of her heart, and something about it makes my cock twitch in my jeans.
Ellie’s head is tilted back, eyes closed in pleasure when I come up for air. “Do I make you feel good, wife?” I swear that the title rolls off my tongue like I was destined to call her that.
She laughs, and she sounds so carefree that my chest squeezes with emotion. “We’re not married yet,” she says and then rolls her eyes playfully when I glower at her for reminding me.
“Roll your eyes again, and your ass is going to have a date with the palm of my hand,” I playfully scold her, smacking her once on the left cheek of her ass. I do it hard, but in the exact spot she likes it, and I’m rewarded with a whimper and her wriggling closer against my chest.
“Did you look at the ring?” I ask, chuckling when she hides her face in my neck.
She shakes her head no. “I’m always just looking at you,” she whispers.
My fucking heart.
I kiss the side of her head, then slide her slowly down my body until her feet touch the floor again.
Her eyes shine up at me as I slip the ring onto her finger.
She wasn’t lying, she really is always looking at me and I fucking love that.
I lift her hand to my mouth and kiss the back of it before turning her hand to let her see the sparkling diamond that reminds me of how she makes me feel.
Ellie doesn’t speak at first. She just stares at the ring like she’s afraid to touch it, lifting her hand slowly into the light.
The diamond catches and throws little flashes across her skin, and she gasps.
It’s a quiet, soft sound like she can’t believe any of this is real.
“Cillian,” she whispers, turning her hand slightly.
“It’s… it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
” Her voice cracks on the last word. And I swear I stop breathing.
Because she isn’t looking at the diamond like it’s expensive.
She’s looking at it like she knows how much thought I put into it.
Like it’s a promise she actually wants from me.
Her thumb brushes over the band, gentle and careful, and she smiles up at me.
She’s glowing, so fucking full of love it hits me like a punch.
And all I can think is that the ring could never be as beautiful as the girl wearing it.
And that’s it. It’s done. Ellie is mine, and anyone who sees that rock will know exactly who she belongs to. She beams up at me, pushes up on her tiptoes with another request, “Kiss me again.”
Who am I to disappoint my beautiful wife? I give her the fiercest kiss I can manage, scooping her up again because I don’t fucking like when she’s not in my arms. I wish I could keep her like this all day, just locked around me where I can put my mouth and hands on her any time I want.
“I’ll kiss you every moment of every day if you ask me like that,” I murmur against her lips.
When we finally pull apart, she laughs breathlessly. “I’m going to get so many questions.” She waves her ring at me.
“Anybody gives you a hard time, you let me know and I’ll—”
She cuts me off with a soft brush of her lips. “You’ll behave like the perfect gentleman?”
“No.” Flat. Immediate. I’m not fucking playing when it comes to Ellie, and she’s going to have to get used to that idea. I’m a trained fucking sniper, and I haven’t been able to even use my skills on any of the little fuckers who have approached her on this campus.
She laughs, and I swear I feel it sending tingles up my entire body.
“I’ve had to tread lightly since I brought you to this school so that you could live a normal life.
I wanted you to have the type of normalcy you never had before,” I tell her, curling my hand around her waist. “When someone looked at you too long or walked up to you in a way I didn’t like, I had to deal with it quietly because I didn’t want to ruin things for you. ”
She grins up at me, “But now I’m going to be your wife so you can ruin things for me?”
“Yes,” I snap and then narrow my eyes at her for playing with my words.
“No, but yes. You’re going to be my wife, and I’ll fucking let everyone know to stay away from you when I damn well please.
” I feel better just getting the words out, and to my enjoyment she seems to like my little outburst because she’s practically beaming up at me.
I lift her hand again. “You’re mine now, baby. And everyone’s gonna know it. I’ll snap their necks in broad daylight if they make you uncomfortable.”
Ellie laughs again, breathless, like she thinks I’m joking to make her feel protected and loved.
I’m not.
Not even a little.
I mean every fucking word.
I cup her face. “I love you, Ellie. More than you could ever know. You’ve given me the peace I’ve always searched for, and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to repay you for that.”
Her arms slide around me, tight and warm. “I love you too, Cillian. Thank you for always protecting me… even when I didn’t know you were doing it.”
We stay like that for a moment, wrapped up in each other, and I’m annoyed that we can’t stay like this all day.
Then she pulls back, like I sensed she was going to.
She’s the responsible one out of the two of us.
I’m fucking faculty and trying to figure out how to get her to skip her first day of the new semester.
“We’re going to be late. I have class, and you have early practice.
” She touches the end of my nose playfully, and I pretend to try to bite her making her scream playfully.
I slip my arm around her and walk her toward the door. Before she steps outside, I hold out my hand.
“I’ll walk you, baby. I can be a little late for you any day.”
She smiles up at me, the same smile that destroyed every wall I’d ever built, and twines her fingers with mine.
We head toward campus together to start our new lives.
Ellie is my girl. My wife-to-be. My whole damn world.
And I dare anyone to look at her too long today.
Because they’ll learn real quick exactly who she belongs to.