EPILOGUE
Three months later
Zach
Ileft the follow-up with my orthopedist with a huge smile on my face.
I was finally free of the stupid fucking boot.
I’d been wearing it for the last four weeks after six weeks of a fucking cast. I was done.
I wanted to wear real shoes. I wanted to feel the ground beneath me.
And I wanted to bend Rafe over the bed and rail him.
Ever since Ivanov had captured me and broken my leg, Rafe treated me like I was made of glass.
I thought it would be better when the cast came off, but he was still insistent that I didn’t put too much weight on my foot.
I couldn’t put him over the end of the bed or hold him up against the wall, no matter how much he loved it.
It had been ages before he let me fuck him from behind when I was kneeling on the mattress.
I’d had enough, but now my doctor had cleared me. I’d continue with physical therapy and an exercise regimen, but my leg felt great. I wouldn’t put up with him worrying anymore.
Tonight was going to be a damn good night because I had several surprises for Rafe, including a gift I hoped would mean as much as I thought it would.
But first, I had an appointment with Simone, the hairstylist he’d recommended.
My natural hair had grown out enough that I was ready to get the blond that was left color matched and be fully back to red, just like he wanted.
“What do you think?” I stared at myself in the mirror. It was me, the normal me, but so much better. “How did you make my curls look like that?”
Simone explained how she used a combination of curl cream and gel and how important it was to use a diffuser or let my hair air-dry. Before the appointment, I hadn’t even known what a diffuser was, but I was ready to buy one if I could look like this every day. Rafe was going to go crazy.
“You have amazing hair,” Simone said.
Heat filled my cheeks. “I’m hoping my boyfriend thinks so.”
“If he doesn’t, he’s an idiot.”
I laughed and then spent more money on hair products than I’d ever imagined I would.
When I left the salon, I headed to Marchand’s Jewelry French Quarter.
The store had been owned by the same family for over one hundred and fifty years.
My research told me they were the best, so that was where I went despite the ungodly cost, not that I really needed to worry.
Rafe never let me spend my own money on anything.
He insisted there was no need for that, and I had to admit I hadn’t minded being a kept man.
When I walked in, Clarissa, the woman who’d helped me before, rushed over to greet me. “I’m so excited for you to see what we were able to do with the necklace.”
“So it is ready?” I asked.
“Yes, of course. I’ll go get it. Wait right here.”
I could barely breathe as I waited for her to return.
When she opened the box and showed it to me, my jaw dropped.
I’d had Maria get Rafe’s mother’s necklace after the NOPD impounded the wreckage of his car.
She’d had to work through lots of channels but had finally succeeded.
I’d been thrilled that the silver hadn’t melted, but I wasn’t sure it could be successfully restored.
Looking at it now, I would’ve thought it was new.
All the thick soot was gone. The chain and the heart-shaped pendant were in perfect condition.
I hoped Rafe would like it as much as I thought he would and that it would help him understand how much he meant to me, how much I wanted to take care of him and make him happy.
“It’s beautiful,” I said.
“It is. You said it was for a friend?”
“My boyfriend, actually.” I could say that now, and damn, it felt good.
“He’s a lucky man.”
I smiled. “I hope he thinks so.”
As soon as I’d paid for the restoration, Clarissa tucked it back into the velvet box and placed it in a fancy bag with a black ribbon. I looked at the time as I left the store. I had enough time to change and order us a delicious meal for when Rafe got home from the casino.
He’d started working more daytime hours since he insisted I move in. He wanted me to get plenty of sleep, and he didn’t like leaving me for very long. It was fucking adorable, but there had been a few weeks when his hovering had started to make me lose my fucking mind.
Now that he didn’t come home in the middle of the day, I missed him. I sighed as I remembered what he liked to do to me in the middle of the day. He was going to have to accept that I was back to full health and ready for things to get a lot more gymnastic.
Rafe
I felt like I’d been away from Zach for ages, even though I’d only been gone about six hours.
I couldn’t wait to see him again. I always felt like that when we were apart.
I thought the constant need to be around him would stop after I’d satisfied myself that he really, truly was okay and there wouldn’t be any lasting repercussions from the time he’d spent as Ivanov’s captive, but I was still fucking giddy every time I saw him, and I still needed him constantly.
I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone ever hurting him again.
As I stepped into the house, I noticed how amazing it smelled. “Zach? Did you make dinner?” So far, I’d never seen him cook anything other than toast and scrambled eggs. When he appeared in the kitchen doorway, my heart skipped a beat. “Oh my God, you look incredible.”
He smiled as I walked toward him. “You like it?”
I nodded as I reached up and touched one of his curls. It was soft, and it sprang back perfectly when I pulled it through my fingers.
“Simone did my hair. She put some stuff in it to make my curls like this. What do you think?”
I sighed. “I think I’m in love.”
“With me?”
“No, with Simone. I should’ve sent you to her ages ago.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Notice anything else about me?”
I gave him a slow once-over, and I saw shoes, regular fucking shoes, on his feet. “No more boot?”
“That’s right. The doctor said I’m done with it. I can walk and put regular weight on it.” I sucked in my breath as he held my gaze and ran his tongue over his lower lip. “So it’s time to revisit some of my favorite things to do to you.”
Heat raced through me as he smiled. I’d been so careful with him. I’d insisted he take it slow and insisted he let me ride him so he didn’t put weight on his foot. I couldn’t let him risk hurting himself again, but now he was going to fuck the hell out of me tonight, and I was going to love it.
He held out his hand. I took it, and he pulled me into the kitchen.
“I ordered dinner for us,” he said. “It’s all in the oven, keeping warm.”
My cock responded to the look he gave me. “Is there something you thought we should do before we ate?”
“Actually, yes.” He reached for a gift bag that was sitting on the counter. “I wanted to give you this.”
I frowned at him. Why was he getting me a gift? He was the one who’d just hit a major milestone.
“Zach, I—”
“Open it.”
He looked nervous. Fuck, what was going on? I pulled out a velvet box from a jeweler. It was too big for a ring. I would’ve said yes if it were, but I didn’t think we were quite there yet.
When I opened the box, I nearly dropped it. Zach wrapped his hands around mine and held it open.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “But it was… How did you…”
“Maria got it for me, and I had it restored.”
I lifted my mother’s necklace out of the box, held it in my palm, and caressed it gently. Tears formed in my eyes. “You saved my mother’s necklace. I…” I had to swallow before I could keep speaking. “I thought it had been destroyed.”
“I was worried about that, but it was okay.”
“Oh my God. Zach. I… I don’t know how to thank you for this.”
“Look at me.” I met his gaze. “All I want is for you to be happy. I wanted to give you something that mattered, because you’ve given me a whole new life.”
I closed the necklace back in its box and set it down gently. “You make me happy, but this… This means so much.”
We reached for each other. When he kissed me, I felt it all the way to my toes, and I was suddenly ravenous. We undressed faster than I thought possible, then stumbled our way to the bedroom, unwilling to stop touching even for a second. When we got there, Zach put me over the end of the bed.
“Tell me what you need.”
“I need you. I need you to fuck me.”
“And you’re not going to worry about me? You’re not going to complain that I’m standing up, that I’m putting weight on my foot?”
I shook my head frantically. “No, I… Oh God, I need you.”
He lubed himself up, and then he was right there, pulling my cheeks apart and pushing into me. I gasped as he bottomed out in one stroke. He fucked me mercilessly as I clung to the sheets, thrusting back against him, trying to hold myself back to make it last a little bit longer.
He bent over me, his breath warm against my skin. “I want you to come for me like this. No touching, just your pure need for me.”
I whimpered as I arched my back, tilting my hips up. Dear God, it felt so good. I was right at the edge, and then he ran his hands up my back and clamped down on my shoulders, leveraging himself to thrust even harder.
“You’re such a slut, and I love it. I love how needy you are, how fucking eager. I love how easy it is to make you come for me.”
I cried out as hot pleasure washed over me. I was pretty sure I blacked out for a few seconds. Zach followed me, holding on to my hips and shuddering as he filled my ass with his cum.
When we were both spent, Zach collapsed over me and kissed my neck. “You needed that.”
“Fuck right I did.”
“And I needed you to stop worrying.”
“I can’t worry about anything when I feel like this.”
Zach rose and helped me turn over. I sat on the end of the bed as he knelt between my legs. “I need a minute before I can go again.”
“I know.” He smiled up at me and laid his hands on my thighs. “Look at me.”
I played with his curls as our eyes met, loving his natural color next to his gorgeous, freckled skin.
“I love you more than I ever imagined possible,” he said. “I appreciate you taking care of me, but from now on, I’m going to fuck you any way I want.”
I rolled my eyes. “That started out so sweet and then…”
“You love it.”
“Yes, and I love you. In bed, out of bed, no matter whether I’m taking care of you or you’re protecting me.”
He kissed me softly. “Good, because I don’t intend to go anywhere.”
“I wouldn’t let you if you tried.”
“Good. Are you hungry?”
I took his hand, and we went to refuel so we’d be ready for the next round.
Thank you for reading His Forbidden Alliance.