Epilogue
Roman is outside cleaning up the deck to have people over for dinner. Since we got our house in Doves Harbor, it’s become a tradition to have our friends and sometimes family over for dinners on Sundays. We don’t manage to get everyone every Sunday. Sometimes, it’s just a couple of them, whether it’s Beck, Ares, or Ravyn. Sometimes our parents even come too.
I’m in the kitchen prepping for dinner, making my homemade lemonade that I made once, and Ares has begged me to make every week since. I prepare some burgers and sides for the grill.
Roman comes into the kitchen wearing his apron and slides past me, dropping a kiss on top of my head. I never knew love could be normal and fulfilling. My entire life, I thought even when love was good, it hurt a little. I know now that it shouldn’t hurt at all. It should feel warm and kind all the time. Even when things aren’t perfect, I’m never scared, and I’m never hurt. Roman ripped up my idea of love and relationships and sewed it back together into something beautiful.
There is nothing sexier than this man wearing an apron, getting things together for us to have all of our favorite people over for dinner. I watch him make his way around the kitchen island to come around and kiss me again, but this time on my mouth. He’s towering over me, staring down at me.
“Are you checking me out, Auds?” he asks with a raised brow, peering down at me. I grin ear to ear, cheeks burning. We’re living together, and he still makes me blush.
“Can’t help it.” I shrug. “The apron is really doing it for me,” I say, taking my lip between my teeth.
“Oh, is it?” he tests. He reaches down, wrapping his arms around me and throwing me up on the counter. I let out a squeal. He’s standing between my knees, looking at me. He runs a hand up my leg until he reaches the spot between my thighs. His head drops, and he lets out a heavy breath.
“My t-shirt and no panties?” he asks. I nod rapidly, hoping he’ll do something. He lets out another breath before running two fingers over my clit and rubbing circles around it.
“We don’t have a lot of time.” I sigh, tipping my head back. What a stupid fucking thing to say when I want this so badly. He brings his mouth to mine, kissing me. The kiss is hot and needy.
“I don’t need a lot of time,” he assures me. No sooner do the words leave his mouth he slides two fingers inside me. The feeling of him touching me never gets old. I throw my hand over my mouth, stifling a moan. “This is our house, baby, make all the noise you want,” he says, using his free hand to pull my hand from my mouth. He slides his fingers between mine, interlocking our hands.
“I love you.”
“I love you, baby,” he says planting a kiss on my forehead before crouching down and dropping his head between my thighs. “I’m fucking dying for a taste though. Can I taste you?” he asks and I nod, pushing my hips forward. He keeps his fingers moving in and out as he attaches his lips to my clit. I’m already close. The feeling builds and burns through me.
“Roman, I… I’m—” I stutter my words out, pleasure crashing through me.
“I know, baby. Come for me,” he instructs, and his words are the missing piece to send me over the edge. As soon as he tells me to, I’m coming on his fingers. “You’re squeezing my fingers so tight, Auds. I need you squeezing my cock like this,” he says, pulling me off of the counter.
“This is going to be fast and rough. You want that, Auds?” he asks lowly in my ear.
“Yes. Please,” I beg, peering up at him. He spins me around, putting my back to him. He nips at my ear while he takes my hands and lays them flat on the island counter.
“Keep them here, you understand?” he asks with a roughness to his voice I hadn’t heard before, but it does something to me. I hear his apron hit the floor and his belt come undone. I press my thighs together looking for some relief. I’ve never needed him so badly.
“Please,” I plead with him. He lets out a chuckle, pressing the tip between my thighs, sliding up and down but not going inside, teasing me. I whine, pushing backward.
“Careful what you beg for, Auds,” he taunts. He wraps my hair around his fist, pulling it. Once he has me arched backwards, he pushes all the way inside. I swear to God, I feel him in my stomach. A loud moan of pure bliss rips out of me. He keeps a fast pace, and all you can hear in here is the slapping of his hips against my ass and the sounds we’re both making.
The feeling is so intense, like nothing I’ve felt before. He is slamming into me, and it’s the perfect mix of pleasure and pain. I don’t even notice that I’ve pulled my hands from the counter until he grabs them roughly, pinning them at the base of my spine.
“Can’t fucking listen, can you?” he asks, pounding into me harder. My legs start to tremble, and I can feel myself dripping down my thighs. “Making a mess, Auds. You like it when I talk to you like this?” he taunts, and all I can do is moan in response. “Use your words, or I’ll stop,” he demands, stilling his movements.
“Yes! Yes, I love it,” I cry out. As soon as the words leave my mouth, he picks back up to his previous pace. It’s all too much. Too fucking good. Another orgasm dares to crash over me. “Come with me. Please,” I beg.
“You want to be filled up, Auds?” he asks, and I’m past the point of oblivion. All I have left are some pathetic cries. He knows what I want, though and he delivers.
His fingers dig deeper into the skin on my hips, and with one final thrust, he lets out a moan as he fills me. He lays his head flat on my back for a moment while we both attempt to breathe. Holy shit.
“We need to get ready,” I pant out through labored breaths. He groans before pulling himself off of me. Tucking himself back into his underwear and fixing his jeans. I pull his t-shirt back down to cover my ass.
“Go clean up. I’ll take care of the food.”
* * *
All the different smells of dinner fill the house, and the excitement of seeing all of our people is setting in. Roman sets the table and finishes up on the grill.
Finally, I hear the first knock at the door. Immediately, I know it’s not Ravyn because she just lets herself in. I walk over and open the door to find Ares and Katrina. Ares failed to mention that he was bringing a guest. Not that I particularly mind; there’s enough food to go around, and it’s not like we would have said no. Still, it’s odd that he didn’t say something first.
“Oh, hi!” I exclaim, greeting her sweetly. She smiles ear to ear, and she might have one of the warmest smiles I’ve ever seen. As usual, she’s wildly overdressed, leaving me feeling far under dressed despite the fact I’m hosting. All of us are in some variation of jeans, t-shirts, shorts, or hoodies. Then there’s Katrina. She’s wearing a baby blue dress covered in glitter that sits just above mid-thigh. If that’s not enough, she has on strappy baby blue heels to match. Ares’ hand hovers behind her lower back, millimeters away from touching.
“You have such a beautiful home, Audra,” she gushes, walking past me and scanning her surroundings. I shoot Ares a confused look, and he doesn’t say anything. He just smirks and follows closely behind her. I walk in front of them, leading her to the dining room.
“Are burgers alright? You don’t have any restrictions, do you?” I ask nervously. If I fuck this up for Ares, he might never forgive me. Also, there are a lot more nerves in hosting the fanciest stranger you know rather than just your closest friends.
“I love burgers on the grill. No restrictions, just love to eat. Ares didn’t tell you I was coming, did he?” she asks. No sense trying to hide it, it’s obvious he didn’t.
“No, he didn’t. It’s perfectly fine though! Might have thrown on a skirt or something, though.” I laugh. She looks down at her own outfit, then back up at me and laughs with me.
“Please, don’t feel that way. I dress this way all the time. It’s just what I prefer, never expect anyone else to. You look beautiful,” she assures me, landing a hand on mine. This woman is pure fucking sunshine. Freckles litter the bridge of her nose and both cheeks. It’s not my first time seeing her, but it’s my first time being in her space enough to really look at her. She is every bit as beautiful as Ares and Ravyn said. She is the kind of perfect that doesn’t seem real.
“Oh. Thank you,” I say before turning my attention to Ares. “She is welcome anytime.” He gives me an acknowledging nod. I don’t dwell much on how odd it is that he brought her without mentioning it to anyone or that she even agreed to come, mostly because everything Ares does is odd.
I leave them to sit at the table and go out to the deck and see if Roman needs any help. When I walk out, he’s grilling in his apron, and I feel just as turned on by it as I did earlier, but we have an audience now, and I can’t do anything about it. When he sees me approaching, he puts down the spatula and meets me at the midpoint between us to plant a kiss on the top of my head.
“Your brother brought Katrina,” I say with a suggestive grin. His brows shoot up, and he gives me a suspicious nod.
“Dinner should be interesting then,” he says. I nod in agreement.
Over the next half hour or so, everyone shows up. First, Ares and Katrina, then Beck, and of course, the last to show is Ravyn. Everyone has an unassigned assigned seat at the table at this point. Roman and I always sit next to each other. Ares and Ravyn always sit next to each other. There are always empty chairs even when our parents make it. We purposely got a long table that we could grow into when we have kids and still be able to have all of our favorite people here. Roman thought it was excessive until the first time everyone was here for dinner, and there were only a couple of empty chairs.
“So we have an announcement to make,” Ares says, addressing the table. He looks at Katrina then back to the table.
“This should be good,” Ravyn says, leaning into me to whisper in my ear. I giggle because, yeah… This should be good.
“We,” Ares pauses, taking Katrina’s hand in his before speaking again. “Just wanted to let you all know that we’re dating now,” he says, placing a kiss on her hand. He’s smiling ear to ear, and she’s just looking at us for a reaction. This is fucking weird.
“How did that happen?” Roman questions. I expect Ares to pipe up, but instead, it’s actually Katrina who speaks.
“Well, after months and months of begging for a chance, I figured, why not? We gave it a try, and what can I say, we’re in love,” she admits with a shrug, and now I’m wondering if I somehow walked into the Twilight Zone. Certainly, Katrina didn’t just sit at my kitchen table and tell me she and Ares are in love.
“Wow. I had no idea! I’m so happy for you. Both of you,” I exclaim, and I wish it had come out more sincere. I’m more than happy for them, really I am. But more than anything, I’m confused.
“Yep. One night with me, and she was addicted. Dick is really that good,” Ares boasts. I nearly choke on my drink as the words leave his mouth. Ravyn whacks his arm, and Katrina scoffs.
“Goddamn it, Ares. I knew we couldn’t pull this off. If you can’t convince them, you definitely can’t convince my family,” she says with an eye roll.
“Yeah, I wasn’t buying it,” Ravyn says.
“This makes a lot more sense than you two dating.” Roman chimes in.
“You guys are assholes; I could totally get a girl like Kat,” Ares says, crossing his arms across his chest. Katrina laughs, rubbing the top of his arm.
“Sure you could, big guy,” she says, lacing each word with sarcasm. We all erupt in laughter, and he puts on his best pouty face. Ravyn reaches over and gives him a supportive rub on the top of his shoulder. It might seem a bit more genuine if she weren’t laughing at him while she does it.
I can finally say I’ve fully accepted that things will never be the way that they were before. The pill is much easier to swallow now that I know things are a million times better. I wouldn’t trade what I have right now, in this moment, for my old life. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
After the storm, when everything settled, I realized that Roman hadn’t just helped me heal—he has shown me that love isn’t just survival, but the bliss in finding someone who brings you peace.