Epilogue
THREE MONTHS LATER
OREN
Summer is just starting, but the mountain looks even more beautiful in bloom this year. I've been hard at work in my free time. The forge in my workshop has been put to task and the result is everything i hoped it would be.
The ring is sparkling, polished to a high sheen, and, I hope, the perfect fit.
I don't know what her first engagement ring looked like. Don't care, really. It doesn't matter.
All that matters is what we have. And I plan to prove that to Ayla tonight.
I hear the crunch of tires on gravel, the slamming of my truck's door, and the footsteps of the woman I love approaching.
I scoop up the ring, hearing the satisfying click as it slides against the matching one in my palm. I turn to face her, and her happy smile she wears makes my heart lift.
"Guess what?" She doesn't give me a chance to answer, just barrels on with her excitement. "I got the job."
She crosses to me, throwing her arms around me as she jumps into my arms. Her legs wrap around my waist and I hold her up with little effort.
It's easy to imagine taking her just like this, no clothes, no barriers between us, but that's not what I want right now.
Even if her kiss is sweeter than it's ever been.
This relationship has been fast, but that doesn't make it any less real.
I'd once thought I'd love someone, had her break my heart when I went away to war, and thought I'd never again have this feeling.
But with Ayla, it's more. It's bigger, better, and so very real. I know this is what I've been waiting for.
When I pull away from her kiss and release her, letting her slide down my body, she looks confused. No doubt she could feel my hard cock pressing into her on the way down, but that will have to wait. I'm always wanting and ready when it comes to her. But this moment is more important.
Her confusion shifts to shock when I drop down in front of her, on one knee and my hand held out to her.
"Ayla, sweetheart, I know this isn't what you expected when you came to this mountain.
But every day, since the second I met you, I've been hoping you'd take a chance on me.
" I open my fingers, revealing the polished iron rings I forged, a matched set perfect for us. Unbreakable. "Will you marry me?"
Tears slip down her face, rolling down her cheeks, and for a second, doubt threatens. That maybe this is too fast. Too soon. She's not ready.
Then she takes my hand, pulls me up and kisses me hard.
"Yes. Absolutely. Yes."
My fingers are trembling but I manage to slip the smaller band onto her left hand, then show her how mine fits as well. We'll make it official soon. Gloria and her troop of people are already on alert, having figured out my plan not that long ago. But for right now, it's just the two of us.
"Now, my husband to be, take me to bed and make love to me. Or I might attack you right here. Right now."
"As you wish," I laugh, and lift her easily into my arms. She links her hands around my neck and I carry her out of the workshop, into the home we now share every night.
Ayla's cabin is now a way point for people who need a safe place to retreat, to spend a night or two, or even longer, finding their way without the worries of the world pressing down on them.
It's exactly what I would have expected Ayla to want to do. Give back to the world in that way.
Our life, our world, our future.
Forever.
THE END