Epilogue
Nora
I fold the last of my sweaters and tuck it into the drawer of my new dresser. The dark wood matches the rest of the furniture in our new suite, giving the space an elegant but cozy feel. The afternoon sun streams through the tall windows, casting warm shadows across the plush carpet.
Brendan insisted we take one of the private apartments in the unused section of the Quinn castle, saying I’m an only child and need space away from the chaos of the main household. I admit, he was right.
I adore his family, but I’m used to a lot more time surrounded by quiet than what five Quinn brothers and their wives offer.
Having this sanctuary means everything.
And though I’m a little sad not to be moving in with Kate, she told me I’d be stupid not to follow my heart and move in with Brendan. Besides, a couple of the girls from Legend have said they’ll split expenses on a flat with her.
I’m glad. She deserves her chance at a new life, too.
“And that’s the last box.” I close the drawer with a soft thud and sit on the edge of our massive antique canopy bed. The thing is something Henry the Eighth might sleep in, with the carved wooden ceiling and brocade drapes. Brendan said it’s been in his family for centuries and Tag and Sean never wanted it, so he brought it out of storage for us.
I run my hand over the silky duvet, unsure how this became my life.
Brendan crosses the room and sits beside me, his massive frame dwarfing mine. The mattress dips under his considerable weight and draws me over to lean against him. Mmm…his cologne triggers a Pavlovian ache in me. “If you need anything else, don’t hesitate, angel. Whatever makes this feel like home for you, I want you to have.”
“I don’t need things.” My voice catches in my throat, thick with emotion. The hole that aches inside me fills with a wave of grief. I miss my father, despite the weeks that have passed since his funeral, and despite all our troubles. “I’ve never needed things.”
“I know, angel.” Brendan wraps his arms around me and pulls me back to lie with him. He tucks my head under his chin and his warmth seeps into my side. “Your father was a complicated man who spent his life pursuing justice for your mother. In the end, he finally got McNevin. He died making the world a little safer.”
Tears slip down my cheeks, dampening Brendan’s shirt. “Do you think things would’ve been different if he told me the truth…if he hadn’t been so consumed by revenge?”
“We’ll never know.” Brendan’s arms tighten around me, his muscles tensing. “I know loss changes a person. If anything ever happened to you, I’d tear the world apart to make it right. I understand what drove him.”
So do I. It’s just a shame I found out the truth too late to change things between us.
I ease my head back to look up at him, reading the fierce protectiveness burning in his emerald green eyes. A shiver runs down my spine at the intensity there. “Thank you for giving me a home and for making me part of your family.”
He brushes away my tears with his thumb, his touch infinitely gentle despite the strength I know those hands possess. “The Quinns protect their own. You’ll never be alone again. I promise you that.”
I curl into his embrace, letting his steady heartbeat soothe my grief. Here in his arms, surrounded by his strength and devotion, I finally found the woman I want to be.
I press a hand against his broad chest and free a button on his shirt. “You know what would make this housewarming moment even better?”
He arches an ebony brow, biting his bottom lip. “Tell me, angel.”
“Christening our room to begin our life.”
He slides a warm hand under the bottom of my shirt and splays his fingers across my ribcage. “Technically, we’ve christened this room half a dozen times, at least.”
“But not since I finished unpacking.”
“I stand corrected. A christening is definitely called for.”
I finish unbuttoning his shirt and fling the two sides open to expose his incredibly fine chest. “Stay there. Let me have some fun.”
He chuckles. “Whatever you want, angel. Have at it.”
Rolling up onto my knees, I unbutton his jeans. When he lifts his hips, I tug them down his thick, muscular thighs and then his boxers are the next to go. I leave the dress shirt on and lying open, because it’s sexy AF, and then I hurry to get naked.
“I’m liking this more and more,” Brendan says.
Crawling up the bed on my hands and knees, I grip his cock in my hand and bring it to my mouth. With our gaze locked, I lick the glistening pre-cum off his swollen crown.
“Fucking hell, angel. Do you know what you do to me?”
I do, because he has the same effect on me.
I suck his length into my mouth and squeeze the base of his shaft while I ride him root to tip with my mouth. The groan that rumbles out of his chest as his hips rise to meet my ministrations is pussy-pulsingly hot.
Before he gets carried away and starts fucking my mouth, I stop sucking him off. Losing suction has me coming off his cock with a wet pop and then I rise to my knees. “Now that we’re both primed, I’m going to ride you and use you as my sexual plaything.”
“Aye, that’s an amazing idea. I volunteer as tribute.”
I chuckle and swing my leg over his hip, positioning until his hard cock is probing the wet heat of my entrance. When I take him inside me, the stretch and slide is so good both of us groan. My eyes drift closed, and I press my hands on his chest. “So good.”
He grunts, gripping my hips, urging me on. “You have no idea.”
Looking down on him, seeing all those honed muscles flexing beneath me, my release builds inside me. My pussy clenches around his length and I throw my head back, riding him hard and fast.
“That’s it, angel. Take everything you need from me.” Brendan’s thumb finds my clit and I suck in a breath, chasing the orgasm coiling deep within.
“Our life begins today,” Brendan gasps, his words matching the rhythm as I ride the length of his cock.
“There is nothing before you.”
“Nothing after.”
“Only you, angel.”
His words, punctuated by his ragged breath, are my undoing. My fingernails dig into his chest as I come apart. His grip on my hips tightens as he fucks me through my orgasm. “Brendan, yes!”
He curses and his hips still as he pikes forward. The thick muscles at the side of his neck tighten as he grunts and empties his release into me.
Collapsing forward, I lay on his chest. When his arms wrap around me, I’m caged against his broad chest and I couldn’t want for anything more.
It’s perfect.
Brendan
How did I get so lucky? Running a gentle hand down Nora’s bare back, I trace the bumps of her spine until I get to the fleshy globes of her ass. Fuck, she has an amazing ass. Gripping the meaty roundness, I give a gentle squeeze and my spent cock stirs back to life inside her. Having her ride me and collapse on my chest is a perfect way to celebrate her moving in with me.
“Mmm…I feel you getting hard again. Can we have a duvet day and lounge around naked all day?”
Sad to put an end to round two of our housewarming, I roll Nora to her side and ease out of her sweet heat. “Rain check. Finn called a five-brother meeting in the War Room. He’s been working on tracking down Siobhan, and there is progress.”
He’s been working on a lot of things, actually.
After Jordan was killed and Nora passed out in my arms, I sent Finn and Sean into the dining room and the man’s downstairs office to copy all his files. It was incredibly considerate of him to have a photocopier behind his desk.
By the time the medics stabilized Drake and the police secured the scene at the front of the house, we had access to everything Jordan Kelly and his task force were working on.
I get a hot cloth from the ensuite and come back to clean my girl up. She’s got this thing where she likes a scalding hot cloth on her nethers after sex. And the way she groans and melts into the mattress when I hold it there, I’m certainly not going to deprive her.
After I wipe the last remnants of our sex away, I toss her clothes onto the bed and gather mine. “Get dressed. I have a surprise for you.”
A laugh bubbles out of her, and she bites her bottom lip. “Is it your penis? Because usually when you say you have a surprise for me, it’s your penis.”
I tip my head back and laugh. “Sadly, not this time. I am expected downstairs, so stop teasing me. Get dressed.”
When we’re put back together, I take her hand and walk down to the long-forgotten old library at the end of the wing. I used to hide in here as a kid during Hide-and-Seek, and always thought it was a cool room.
Now it’s even cooler.
The antique doorknobs are smooth beneath my fingers as I push open the double glass doors.
Nora gasps, and her hand rises to her throat. “Brendan, what did you do?”
Sunlight streams through floor-to-ceiling windows, flooding the space with natural light that makes the dust motes dance like fairy lights. The musty shelves and dusty furniture are gone, replaced by pristine, pale pink walls and gleaming hardwood floors that still smell of fresh polish.
Easels stand at attention, their wooden arms ready to cradle canvases, looking both intimidating and inviting. A massive worktable dominates the center of the room, its surface large enough to spread out multiple projects. Art supplies fill custom shelving units—paints in every shade imaginable, brushes with pristine bristles, charcoals, and materials I haven’t got a clue about.
“The lady at the art store said this is all top-of-the-line stuff.” I guide her inside with a gentle hand at the small of her back, showing her around. “The light is perfect here, and there’s a nice view of the grounds.”
I gesture to the deep bay window overlooking the property. There’s an upholstered bench seat for her to sit in and stare out at the ancient trees, manicured lawn, and stables beyond.
She glances at me, her soft, cornflower blue eyes glassy. “You made me an art studio?”
“Piper and Laine helped get everything set up. We wanted to make sure you had a place of your own to follow your passion.” I move to the pine cabinet and open the drawers filled with sketch pads, pencils, and tools, each item carefully chosen and arranged. “And Jo said you’re welcome to set up at the café whenever you want to draw there. She thinks you could give the place a Parisian flare and might bring in customers.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Her voice trembles and I pull her into my arms. With a finger under her chin, I lift her watery gaze to meet mine. “Do you remember what I said about the tears and me spoiling you?”
She chuckles and pats her eyes and cheeks with her sleeve. “Sorry. It’s just a lot. You’re too good to me.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s so backward. It’s you who is too good to me. You’re my muse, angel. You’ve shown me colors I never saw before, brought beauty into a life tainted by darkness. You’re an artist, not only by passion, but in life itself.”
My thumb brushes her cheek, wiping away the tears that escape. “I love you, mo chroi .”
She throws her arms around my neck and kisses me. “I love you, too. For truly seeing me, for understanding what I need before I do, and for being the man I always knew you were. Thank you.”