Epilogue
Gage
One Year Later…
“Once upon a time, there was a man. He had a wife. He had a beautiful wife that he fell in love with, though at the time, he didn’t know the meaning of the word.
This woman loved him back, though she didn’t know the meaning of it either.
She thought she was doing what was best for him when she asked for a divorce. ”
I pause. No one tries to fill the silence. Instead they wait for me to continue.
The clubhouse is packed wall to wall. Steel Riders—both Helena originals and the Jacksonville chapter—family and friends. Kids are tearing around somewhere in the back despite repeated threats from their parents.
I glance to my left at Ami. She’s wearing a simple white dress that hugs every curve I know by heart. Her hair spills over her shoulders in soft waves, and the diamond on her finger catches the light every time she moves her hand.
My wife.
Again.
This time for keeps.
Steel sits across from me, his expression unreadable.
Our first wedding was fake, a means to an alliance between The Riders and Viking.
Steel did his best with finding suitable partners for Viking’s daughters, but I know he still feels bad for what went down between me and Ami.
I nod to him. If it wasn’t for him setting up me and Ami, then we wouldn’t be here now.
The entire damn club is staring at me waiting to see what I’m going to say. I’d rather fight a hundred men than give a fucking speech. I clear my throat and continue. “Now, most people would probably say that’s where the story gets complicated.”
A few chuckles ripple through the room.
“They’d be right,” I admit.
More laughter follows, rolling through the clubhouse. Somebody whistles from the back. I don’t even have to look to know it’s probably Edge.
“The problem was that neither one of them knew what the hell they were doing. The man thought he was helping by staying away. The woman thought she was helping by leaving. Turns out they were both idiots.”
“Once an idiot, always an idiot,” Wing says with a wink as he raises his beer bottle to me. Then he turns to Ami. “Not my sister-in-law, though. She’s the brains of the team.”
That gets more laughs. I let the noise settle naturally before lifting my beer.
“Anyway, I don’t have much else to say. I just wanted to thank everyone for coming.
Especially the people who put up with our bullshit while we figured our lives out,” I stop then, but everyone’s silent.
I guess they really think I’m going to do some fucking Oscar winner’s monologue. “That’s it,” I mutter. “Speech over.”
The clubhouse explodes.
Apparently, that’s what everyone was waiting for.
Music starts back up almost immediately. Shadow cranks the volume high enough that the speakers protest. Chairs scrape against the floor. Conversations break out in every direction at once. Half the people surge towards the food while the other half make a beeline for the bar.
This is normal. The best kind of normal. I get up to head to the bar and grab another beer. I barely get two steps before Steel catches my shoulder.
“You okay?”
I nod. “More than. I guess I should thank you for bringing us together. Even if everything went to shit first.”
Steel glances past me towards Ami. Whatever expression crosses his face disappears so quickly I almost miss it.
“I always thought the two of you would be good together, I’m happy you made it work,” he says simply.
I follow his gaze.
Ami is laughing at something Harley just said. The sound carries across the room despite the music and the chaos and the dozen conversations happening at once.
He slaps my shoulder hard enough to rock me forward.
“Now get your drinks, head back to your wife, and go enjoy your damn party.”
“On it, Prez.”
Steel laughs and heads towards the bar.
I grab my beer and a wine cooler for Ami and make my way back to the table. Settling myself down, my eyes scan the room. I barely remember our first wedding—seeing as I was facedown drunk for most of it—so I don’t want to forget a single moment of this one.
“Having fun?” she asks.
I smile at her, then wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her closer. “Not as much fun as I’m planning on having later,” I say with a wink.
“You keep looking at me like that and we might have to sneak off somewhere for ten minutes,” she says.
“Only ten minutes?” I ask, mock offended.
“I know you can go all night, but I reckon the way everyone wants to congratulate us, ten minutes is all we can probably go AWOL for before they form a search party.”
As if summoned her words, Stephanie and Leena rock up and start fussing. Steph’s son, Ethan, tries to scramble onto Ami’s lap despite protestations from his mom about white dresses and chocolate covered fingers.
I watch her laughing with her sisters and realize that it might be my favorite thing in the world.
To see her this relaxed and at ease again after everything she’s been through.
Like she’s finally living instead of hiding away.
Maybe because I know how much it cost her to get here and be back with her family.
Family isn’t always the one you’re born into. Sometimes it’s the people who refuse to let you stand alone. Sometimes it’s the brothers who drag you through hell. Sometimes it’s the woman who walks away, finds herself, and then somehow finds her way back to you.
And sometimes, if you’re luckier than you deserve to be, you get to keep all of them.
***
We managed to keep our hands off each other—save for a bit of fun in the supply closet—before we made our final escape . Then I was free to tear Ami’s wedding dress off of her. It’s currently sitting where it belongs. In a heap on the floor along with my suit.
“You never pressed me about getting the cover up done,” she whispers, and her voice is soft and tender. She might have put what happened behind her, but when she talks about it, her voice, her eyes, her heart—all of it brims over with emotion.
“Never.” My hand sweeps over her lower belly, where a beautiful flowing tattoo of roses and peonies, two sparrows, and a butterfly, scrolls over her delicate skin. “I will always love you exactly as you are.”
Ami’s hand trails down over my pecs, over my chest, lower, in its relentless pursuit.
She purposely skims the worst of my scars, the ridged one that stands out in stark contrast to the rest of the smoother skin surrounding it.
Her fingers linger, letting me know, in her silent way, that she more than accepts me exactly as I’ll always be, as I can’t erase the myriad of scars that dot the landscape of my body.
I know she doesn’t see them when she looks at me. She just sees me.
I can’t contain a groan when she wraps her fingers around the base of my shaft.
“You’re insatiable,” I groan, like it’s a bad thing.
“Maybe,” she agrees, but her hand closes and moves over my cock, jacking me from the base all the way to the tip. “But I can think of a few places you haven’t taken me yet.”
“Jesus, Ami. Don’t tease a man like that.”
She bats her eyes at me. “Why not? You’re my husband. We just got married for a second time. We gotta do something to mark the occasion.”
“Now you’re talking,” I say. Then add, “It was a good wedding. I mean I know I’m not an expert, but we had a nice day, right?”
I see a flash of sadness in Ami’s eyes. No doubt remembering the aftermath of our first wedding and the accusations. Before she goes to that dark place I squeeze her hand. “Your sisters had fun. Steph was practically dancing on the table when we left.”
Ami laughs. “I think she was happy to have a childfree night. It was nice of Leah to offer to take all the kids so everyone could party.”
“Yeah, and if anyone has it their way, they’ll probably be a few more kids conceived tonight.”
“You say the filthiest things.”
“Well, alcohol, no kids around, dark places… you do the math.”
“I think weddings are romantic. It reminds people why they fell in love in the first place. Maybe that’s a legit reason, I’ll give you that.”
“And what about you? Would you like me to put a baby inside of you?”
It’s not the first time we’ve talked about kids. Ami rolls her eyes, but her cheeks flush the prettiest shade of pink. “I still have a lot of things I want to do. I’m so busy volunteering at the women’s shelter—and honestly, I’m selfish. I don’t want to share you. Yet. One day though. Soon.”
“I can deal with that. I promise it won’t be for lack of trying.”
“Yes, there’s this thing that’s called birth control that lets us try all we want. Did I mention that I really, really like trying?”
“I think I got the memo somewhere around the time you were deep throating my cock in the closet.”
“And I got the message right around the time you turned me around, hiked up my dress, and ate me out before you fucked me in the closet.”
“It’s so fucking hot, knowing that my wife is walking around her wedding reception, filled up with my cum. You can’t blame a guy.”
Her eyes darken. “Oh, I wasn’t blaming you.” She slowly moves her hand along my shaft. “Now. Are you going to take me or what? I’ve been offering for months now. I’m starting to think you don’t want to…”
“Oh, I want to. Believe me, I want to. I just wanted you to be sure.”
“I’m sure.” She bites down hard onto her bottom lip, running her tongue over the groove her teeth made after, just the way she knows I like. My cock throbs in her hand, kicking violently.
She doesn’t have to ask me twice. In a flash I have her flipped on her stomach, her naked, round little ass in the air. I love staring at her like this, her head down on the mattress, so ripe and lush for me, her cunt pink and swollen and glistening with a mix of her arousal and my cum.
I fit my cock to her entrance and slide home, thrusting in hard. She whimpers and her fingers scrabble at the sheets. I fuck her messy, with long wet strokes. I love the sounds, and so does she. She has to be sore by now, but if she is, she likes the pain as much as she enjoys the pleasure.