Epilogue
Three Years Later
On the sixth day of the tour, Percy found us a crystal cove that was shielded from the stronger Aegean waves and winds. Its bed was made of pure, soft sand, and the sea was so pure and calm that the shadow of the yacht glided on the bottom, making it appear as if we were hovering in the air.
You’d think we would have run out of magical beaches and special spots by now, but they kept getting better.
Percy dropped the anchor early, giving us the entire afternoon to swim naked and sunbathe on the strip of sand along the coast.
There, on the heated sand of the island, in complete silence, we basked in the sunshine and each other’s hungry gazes. Three years had done nothing to tamper the desire that burned within us.
Plenty had happened in the meantime, but that one thing remained the same.
After returning to New York, we had our entire lives to plan. The changes were slow, but they seemed to be never-ending. At first, entering Percy’s world was like living in a dream—one I knew I would eventually have to wake up from. But I never did. As reality slowly took over, I found myself anchored to Percy. The storm outside of us didn’t matter. It wasn’t important that I was a nobody, suddenly floating through the circles of the richest of the rich.
But as time went on, Percy and I found a dynamic we could call our own. I knew I would never be fully at home when I was rubbing elbows with New York’s wealthiest and most powerful. Kim helped; she practically trained me to face Percy’s associates and not make a fool of myself. But deep down, I didn’t love it.
The lucky thing was that Percy didn’t love it either. He loved his life of relative anonymity. Ushering me into everything he enjoyed was then as easy as breathing. And it was as though Percy returned to his old life with a new way of looking at things. He redecorated his apartment within a few months, replacing the minimalism with colors and personality.
Slowly, our lives melted together to the point that they were indistinguishable. And our fights, few as they were, seemed like a long-ago memory. Early on, when Percy encouraged me to chase any dreams I could think of, it felt as if I were in it for his money. It took us some time before I stopped feeling like a scammer, especially considering that Percy relentlessly looked for ways to help my family recover from the financial ruin Richard had brought upon them. At long last, Percy relented in his generosity when I promised to be less scared of asking him for help.
Good things came out of it. We jointly started a scammer protection program after I discovered that Percy had founded a reimbursement fund for Richard’s victims. “It’s partly my responsibility,” Percy had insisted at the time. Then, with a smirk, he added, “I’m the guy who made him rich.”
The program gave me far more sense of purpose than I realized. For most of my life, I had been drifting aimlessly, but the beautiful beacon of light that Percy Davenport was to me brought me to a sort of stability I hadn’t known could exist.
Percy’s left hand found mine on the bare sand between us. As our fingers twined, I felt the heavy gold ring on his finger. It was still so new and fresh and out of place that it made my heart leap each time I saw it or felt its smoothness under my fingertips.
Six days of being his husband and the six days of utter bliss had passed by in a heartbeat. How could they not? Percy’s idea for our honeymoon was precisely the right one. We toured the Aegean Sea, hopping from one island to the next, sailing all on our own, with the familiar Naxos harbor waiting at the end of the journey. There, when we reached the place where it all had begun, we wouldn’t sit on the beaches where Ariadne had been left by Theseus; instead, we would go into the mountains. Up there, near Zeus’ cave, there was an inn that had changed our lives forever. Up there, Apollo’s Lantern waited for us to make our slow and joyous way to it.
I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Our days after the glamorous wedding in the city had been wonderful. Every sip of wine tasted like sunlight poured into a glass; every bite of food was like eating the ripest, sweetest fruit drizzled with honey. Every touch of our bodies was like cosmic collisions, rapturous and divine.
The first three days of sailing, while technically doing that, the yacht was mostly on autopilot, and we were mainly below the deck in the sprawling bed Percy had installed to fit us both comfortably. In the evenings, we docked in nearby harbors, dined in the old towns, and returned to our yacht. In the mornings, we sailed out to spend another day at the sea.
“I suspect there’s going to be a party,” Percy muttered sleepily.
I tightened my hand around this. “How dreadful.”
He chuckled. “Joke all you like, but we’ll be lucky if we get out of the house in three days.”
“Didn’t they just arrive?” I asked. By they, I meant his entire family and the live-in staff, who had all gone to New York for the wedding.
“Never underestimate Dimitrios and Nektaria’s appetite for a party. This is Greece, my love,” he said softly, sitting up. Sand was sticking to his back, but that didn’t bother either of us. The only way for us to get to the yacht from here was to swim. “Anything will do as an excuse for a party.”
He was right. I had seen that in the summers since our first party here. Percy, sworn never to let so much time pass between his visits, brought us back again and again. I’d imagined that returning every year would get boring after a time, but each summer was better than the one before. Benny Tuppers of the world flocked to entertain Aunt Judith for as long as they were fun, leaving in frustration and empty-handed when their schemes failed to play out. Nobody asked. We collectively decided that no one wanted to know the details of her particular kinks. Lawrence and Alicia welcomed me back every year with open arms, seemingly falling in love deeper and deeper with each other whenever I saw them. Emily brought a young man last year to meet the family. James was lovely and sweet, geeky in all the right ways, and with a peculiar sense of humor that mostly made Emily laugh alone.
Last year, my family made their first trip to Naxos, flying in Percy’s jet and murmuring in wonder for most of the two weeks on the island.
“I love their parties,” I admitted.
Percy looked at me with softness and love in that brilliant blue gaze. “I know you do.”
That’s why you didn’t put a stop to it , I thought, sitting up.
Our yacht rocked left and right as the fiery orange sky began to turn purple. We gazed out at it, content and satisfied in all the ways. We had eaten well, drank good wine, and made love until the last atoms of energy were burned out of us. What more was there to want?
Careers moved up, our families got along well, and we had a small, loyal circle of friends that surrounded us. Most importantly, we had each other.
“Ready?” Percy asked, hopping onto his feet and helping me get up. His gaze shamelessly traveled down the length of my naked body. “Or do you want to stay an hour longer?” His voice turned husky there.
I slapped his chest gently. “And swim afterwards? Not a chance. Take me to your boat, captain.”
Percy chuckled, but he obliged. We headed away from the warm sand behind us and into the calm, refreshing sea. We waded through it and dived in once half our bodies were below the surface. The swim cleared our minds, washing away all thoughts of the outside world. Right now, with Percy by my side, it might not have even existed. It might have fallen off the world’s edge, drifted away from our slice of heaven, and left us in complete and blissful privacy.
We swam and reached the yacht just in time to watch the last rays of sunshine disappear below the western horizon, wrapped in big towels and sitting on the upper deck. Then, after a long, passionate kiss, I took Percy’s hand and led him below.
There would be time for everything. We would dock somewhere later, eat something wonderful, and sleep when we felt like sleeping. Yes, we would have time. But first—always and forever—there had to be some time for us .
He was my everything and I was his.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The End.