Epilogue
NADINE
TWO WEEKS LATER
Reaching across the bed, I am not surprised that the sheets are cold.
This is the last day of our amazing trip.
Our private island naked-on-the-beach vacation is concluding today.
I’ve never really been on a vacation before, and this has been heaven.
I don’t want it to end, and I’m not sure I want to go back to reality.
Sitting up, I pull the white sheet over my bare breasts as I look around the bungalow.
Empty.
I listen for any signs of life but am left drenched in silence.
I throw my legs over the side of the bed, and my feet touch the warm wood floor before I stand.
Dropping the sheet, I pad over to the bathroom.
I wash my hands then reach for the floral silk robe hanging from a hook on the wall and slip it on, tying it at the waist before I go in search of food and coffee.
And Grayson.
Before I go in search of Grayson.
I find him before I find the food or the coffee.
He is standing with his back to me, facing the ocean.
Although we’re on a private island, he could turn in almost any direction and face the ocean if he wanted to.
If he feels my presence, he doesn’t make it known immediately.
Slowly, I move toward him, attempting to gently surprise him, but it doesn’t work because he senses me, and he is just letting me draw closer before he makes it known.
Grayson turns slightly, his arm snaking around my waist before he guides me toward his front and presses himself against my back.
I feel his lips touch just the crook of my neck before he rests his chin against my shoulder.
“Are you ready to go back to reality?” he asks in a murmur.
Letting out a sigh, I clear my throat before I speak.
“Absolutely not, and yes, all at the same time.”
He laughs softly.
“We have a lot of moving parts when we get back.”
I know what he’s referring to.
My apartment, his condo, his mission for Securus.
Which hasn’t ended just because we got together officially.
They still want him to find all those men on that thumb drive, and I’m grateful for it.
They do need to be brought to justice, even if that means he’ll be away from me for an unspecified amount of time.
“What does that look like?” I ask.
One of his hands slides down my waist, then my hip, before slipping inside the opening of my robe and cupping my pussy.
I whimper, and my head falls backward against his shoulder as the fingers of his other hand curl around the front of my throat.
Two fingers from the hand at my pussy slip inside of me, his palm presses against my sensitive clit, and he begins to move his fingers in a come-hither motion.
I close my eyes, and my hips jerk slightly as he works me.
His fingers flex around my throat, squeezing and releasing with each jerk of my hips.
God.
So good.
So.
Damn.
Good.
As I roll my eyes, my body moves without my direction, just on feeling alone, just instincts.
I suck in a breath, then exhale it slowly on a moan, then touch my lips to the underside of Grayson’s jaw.
“Please,” I exhale.
His fingers curl inside of me as he grinds his palm against my clit, and my thighs tremble from the move.
My lips touch his jaw, unmoving as my body climbs higher and higher.
We’ve had so much sex the past two weeks that I’m surprised I haven’t already come.
I’ve been so sensitive, my body on edge for days.
When he shifts his fingers out of me, the loss of him is almost overwhelming.
I want him back inside of me, filling me.
He shifts behind me, straightening slightly as I feel his fingers paint my lips with my wetness.
Then he squeezes my throat and gently guides me to bend at the waist.
I feel his hand gather my robe and slide it to the side before I feel the head of his hard length against my center from behind.
His fingers stay firmly gripping my throat, his other hand around my hip as he guides himself inside of me—filling me full.
Grayson’s fingers feel wonderful, but his cock is breathtaking.
I feel my body being stretched to the point where I’m not sure if it can be any more.
It burns so good, the pain consuming me and making me climb that much higher and closer to my orgasm.
His hips shift, pulling almost completely out of me before he slams back inside, and his fingers flex around my throat simultaneously.
Lifting my hands, I grip his forearm at my neck as he begins to fuck me hard and fast.
I’m on edge.
My body is ready.
I’m ready for my release.
I feel almost as if I’m floating.
I’m ready to fall and come down from the high.
I want to feel his warm release inside of me—filling me.
I want it all right now.
Right.
Now.
He flexes his fingers around my throat, cutting off my breath, and that’s when it happens.
One slam, then two, then three, and I come.
Hard and fast, my orgasm slams into me, then rolls through me as he continues to thrust his hips, his pelvis slamming against my ass with each move.
Euphoria consumes me.
Then I feel him bury himself deep inside of me, stopping before he fills me with his release.
A second round, a different type of euphoria, fills me at the warmth of his cum.
I’m not sure how to describe it other than it makes me feel whole.
He releases my throat, keeping his length deep inside of me as he leans over my back and touches his lips to my shoulder.
“Good morning, baby,” he murmurs against my skin.
“Are you sure we have to go back?” I ask on an exhale.
He chuckles, his breath washing over me before he hums.
“Yeah,” he murmurs.
“The world waits.”
“And you must conquer it.”
Grayson snorts, stepping back, and I whimper as I lose him from inside of me.
My robe rights itself, the silk fabric sliding over my body and falling back into place.
When I turn around to face him, he crowds me, wrapping his arms around me and touching his lips to mine in a hard and meaningful, sensual, chaste kiss.
Then he lifts his head and shifts slightly to touch his lips to my forehead.
I slide my eyes closed and relish in the moment because forehead kisses are everything.
“I don’t know if I’ll conquer anything, but I’m going to try to get the power that any of those fucks have removed—permanently. Plus all their money.”
Lifting my hands, I cup his cheeks, sliding my thumbs along the tops as I look into his eyes.
I love this man.
Every single part of him.
And while these past two weeks have felt like a dream, it’s not just because we’ve been isolated from the world.
It’s because we’ve been together.
Life will always feel like a dream when I am anywhere near Grayson.
“You’re going to conquer the underworld, Grayson. And I know you won’t save every single person who has been in our position, but you will save some. And you will save future kids from being hurt. You’re going to change the world.”
“More will just come back,” he warns.
I hum because I know that’s true.
Where there is one piece of shit, there will always be more to replace him.
“They’ll think twice about it, and you will make a difference. You already have.”
He shakes his head once, then shifts his face closer to mine.
“You’re far too optimistic,” he murmurs against my lips.
“I’m happy and in love. It does that to people.”
“I love you, too,” he says without a single ounce of hesitation.
I’m not sure how this world became mine.
Happenstance or divine intervention, I don’t know, but I’m holding on tightly with both hands, and I am never, not ever, letting go.
GRAYSON
THREE MONTHS LATER
Pressing my lips together, I watch the man across the bar reach out and touch the woman’s arm.
She doesn’t recoil, although I can tell she wishes she could just by looking at the fake expression she wears.
This one is problematic, likely worse than the one in Miami, but he’s not the worst I’ve encountered in my surveillance.
There have been a couple who I wished I could murder on the spot.
Thankfully, I’ve been assured that they will and have been taken care of.
I should ask for confirmation in the form of picture proof of their demise.
But maybe I don’t need that on my conscience, so it’s best if I don’t see it and just believe it’s all been handled while I gather intel.
My phone buzzes in my hand, but I ignore it as I take a few more pictures of the couple before I forward them to the office.
Whoever is working there today can get started on the facial recognition program to find out just who the fuck the girl is.
The man we know by name and obviously his city, but we haven’t found much else out about him.
My phone buzzes in my hand again, and I grin at the image that appears on my screen.
Sliding my thumb across, I bring it to my ear.
“You’re calling me while I’m at work,” I state with a smile in my voice.
“I am,” she agrees.
“Will you be coming home soon?”
I smirk, shaking my head.
I’ve gotten what I came here for, really.
I have several women he’s been seen with, pictures of his home, his office, and his car.
I could probably leave tomorrow, but something is niggling at me to stay for at least a few more days.
“How about I come home on Friday?”
“Will you have everything you need?” she asks.
“I should.”
There is a moment of silence before she clears her throat.
“No,” she breathes.
“You need to stay until it’s done. We do nothing but a disservice if we don’t get everything we can on each of them.”
My lips curve up to a grin, my eyes never looking away from today’s target as I listen to my beautiful woman’s words of absolute wisdom.
“Okay, baby. I’ll call you when I get back to the room.”
Ending the call, I slip the phone into my pocket and watch as the target stands and holds out his hand for the woman.
She slips her palm in his and clenches her jaw as she rises to her feet.
They walk out of the restaurant together.
She doesn’t want to go with him; that much is clear, but she’s also not visibly shaken or protesting.
So interfering would likely be a bad idea at this point and ruin any progress Securus has made.
If I did something that sent off alarm bells, he could likely warn his partners, and that is the last thing I want.
Once they’re out of the restaurant, I follow them, staying behind.
I watch as they slip into his waiting car, the driver his personal assistant.
I’ve already put a tracker on the car.
Slipping my phone out of my pocket, I watch as the car moves on the map.
It stops at a light, then moves again.
When it pulls into his driveway, I know he will not go anywhere else this evening.
He is in the house with that girl for the night and well into the morning.
Instead of going to his place and watching the house, which serves no purpose because I know that he’s got more security than he needs, I decide to go back to my hotel.
Every fucking inch of the target’s house has a camera pointed at it and away from it, which only solidifies to me that he is indeed doing something wrong.
Walking over to my car, I sink down in the driver’s seat and start the engine.
Glancing down at my phone, I find the audiobook that Nadine suggested.
She’s got me listening to celebrity biographies.
I don’t know why, but they are fucking fascinating.
I’ve been listening to the actress Hayley Mills’s story, and I don’t know if it’s her melodic British accent or the story itself that I am enthralled with more.
It also makes the drive to the hotel go by faster.
After dropping my car off at the valet, I make my way back to my room.
I stopped getting rentals after the first one.
I don’t know why, maybe because it feels like I’ll be staying too long when all I want to do is go back home to my woman.
The elevator climbs, and when it dings open, I step out into the hallway.
Glancing from side to side, I ensure that I’m alone, and when I feel comfortable, I slip into my room.
It’s dark, but I’m not alone.
I think about grabbing my gun, but then a scent wafts past my nose and my lips twitch into a smirk.
I know exactly who is here.
It’s my woman.
Instead of flicking the light on, I move through the living area, stopping directly in front of her shadow.
“What are you doing here?” I demand softly.
The shadow sitting in the chair slowly stands, and I feel a hand press against my chest.
“Happy birthday, baby,” she rasps.
Dipping my chin, I touch my mouth to hers as I lift my hand and curl my fingers around her wrist, holding her hand against my chest.
Slipping my tongue inside of her mouth, I taste her before I break the kiss and lift my mouth to her forehead, touching my lips to her there.
“You remembered my birthday,” I murmur.
She laughs softly.
“I came here to give you your gift.”
“What’s that?”
“Me,” she says.
“Any way you want me.”
And if I didn’t already love her, I would fall in love in this very fucking moment.
Any way I want her.
And I want her every fucking way she could possibly think of and more.
Dipping my chin, I touch my mouth to hers again.
“I fucking love you,” I growl against her mouth.
I love the absolute hell out of this woman.
As much as I want to tell Theron that he was absolutely wrong when he sent her down to Miami to flirt with some fucking guy who was the head of the cartel, I can’t get mad at him or Nadine at all.
It was worth it.
Every fucking second was worth it.
And so is she.
Nadine is worth everything.
Every fucking thing.