Epilogue - Jack
Sex is different now. Probably because we’re different too. And Christ, Sol. He’s so graceful as he rides me. So perfect. So beautiful. I’m close to coming the second I’m inside him, but I’ll hold out forever to see him like this.
The sweat on his inked chest.
The arch of his spine.
The subtle curve of his rock-hard dick as it juts between us, already sticky and slick with how good this feels for him.
For me.
Sol grinds down, grunting with exertion as he claims my mouth. Still with me, even though I know he loves and needs me to fuck him out of his head some days.
I live for those days and nights. But I think I love this more. Sharing this peak of pleasure with locked eyes and fused lips. Twined breaths and slippery skin.
Sol breaks our kiss and leans back, bracing his hands behind me. He finds a new rhythm and the change in angle has me groaning and gripping his hips, glad we don’t have to worry about being quiet.
We’re not good at quiet fucking. Mal tells me all the time, but I don’t care. He’s not that good at it either and my brother is a long way from my mind right now.
Sol is so tight around my cock. So hot. He moves faster above me, sudden tension gripping him, and I know he’s about to come. See it in his unhinged jaw and taut muscles. In the flush that steals over his heated skin, my favourite kind of storm.
He shudders hard. “Jack, I’m—”
“I know. I know. It’s okay. I want to see it, Sol. I love you.”
I can’t tell if it’s my words that tip him over the edge, or the involuntary flex of my hips, a wild thrust I can’t contain.
And more than the clench of him around me, or the unfettered pleasure I see overcome him, it’s his face that sends me over the edge.
The shocked ecstasy as he paints my belly with cum.
I’m so in love with him.
A thought that drills deeper foundations as release bombs through me, I spill inside him, and I come and come and come, grateful all over again for the feral shout that tears out of me.
It’s so fucking perfect. I want to stay inside him forever, but taking care of him matters more.
I roll us, pulling free and cleaning up while he’s still boneless and dazed. I stopped worrying a long time ago about orgasms triggering seizures. It’s already happened, and it was fine. Sol caught me, loved me, and we lived to fuck another day. We lived for this day, and tomorrow, and forever.
“Jackie?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m so happy, love.”
I hold him so tight it’s a wonder he’s not dust when I’m done. “Sol, I’m so fucking happy too.”
It’s evening by the time we sail home. It’s been years since I spent so long on the water, and I feel it as we hit dry land. A subtle glitch to remind me it doesn’t matter how delighted I am with my lot these days, I’ll never be entirely whole.
Sol steadies me. Then he sniffs the air. “Someone’s cooking.”
“Who?”
“Oscar.”
“What is it?”
“Sardines. Brain food, baby.”
“I better eat a lot of them then. But you know oily fish is good for your heart too, eh?”
Sol jerks his head at the Joker. “Better tell your brother that.”
“I’m telling you. Mal can look after his own ticker. I want to look after yours.”
And I’m not talking about Sol’s health. After a month or so of intense fatigue, he made a full recovery from his dance with death. But he’s still shit at putting himself first, so I do it for him every chance I get, and I’ll do it every day for the rest of our lives.
We secure the Sirona and follow Sol’s nose to the pop-up spot where Oscar is grilling sardines for the masses.
Sev is filming him, for some app I don’t know shit about, no doubt. Mal is giving the whole thing a wide berth, but I spy him on the steps, sharing his dinner with Fiadh as he keeps watch over our salt-worn, beer-soaked kingdom.
I leave Sol to get our plates and join my brother on the steps.
He gives me a dry look. “Have fun?”
“Aye, but shh.”
Mal rolls his eyes. “You two ever stop fucking?”
“Do you?”
“Most days when Sky’s not here. You see a smile on my face?”
“When’s he back?”
“Soon.”
“Then what?”
“Shh yourself, lad.”
Lad. From my kid brother. Christ. But I’ll take it to have him here. For the pure happiness on his face as Skylar’s car pulls into the yard and everything in his world makes sense.
Skylar joins us at the same time Sol, Sev, and Oscar bring enough food for everyone and a second plate for Mal.
It’s so easy for us all to be together. I never knew how much I needed it until I had it. And I reckon Sol feels the same. See the emotion rise in him as he absorbs our found family eating and laughing like the kin we are.
I see it in Mal too. See him shift in place and exchange a glance with Skylar. “What is it?”
“I have some news.” Mal folds his paper plate into segments and tucks it by his boot. Then he looks directly at Sol and Sev. “Your parents’ place went to auction this morning.”
Sev grimaces.
Sol nods, calm. He’s worked hard on detaching himself from Dav and Lisa, choosing to go to sea and let me fuck him on the ocean over worrying about the fate of his childhood home.
“I bought it,” Mal says like it’s nothing. Which snaps my attention back to him. “So I need you two to help me decide what to do with it.”
Sev’s mouth falls open.
Sol blinks. “You bought the house?”
“At auction,” Mal confirms. “Got it for a steal. But I don’t want to live in it, and I’m guessing you don’t either, so what I’m asking is if you want me to rent it back to them. If you want your parents here in Porth Luck, or if your lives are better without them.”
To me, it’s a simple answer. And I bet it is to every man here who’s not a Bosanko. But we keep our thoughts to ourselves. Even when Sev and Sol reach the same conclusion.
“Let them choose,” Sev says.
Sol nods. “I’m not in charge of anyone’s destiny, but Mally, I appreciate you giving them a chance.”
“I don’t want to.” Mal has the tact of a tractor. “But I’m not much of a ringmaster either, so I suppose we’ll figure it out, eh?”
Decision made, everyone goes back to eating, and laughing, and leaning on each other. As darkness falls around us, Mal and I share a look, one that doesn’t need words, and I’m grateful all over again that life brought him back to me.
“Jackie?” Sol draws me away, leading me to the tiny beach so we can have a moment alone under the stars.
We don’t kiss.
Instead we press our foreheads together and let the love we’ve fought so hard for flow between us. A primal connection. A love that doesn’t need words, but for my best friend, I find them anyway. “I’m sorry I forgot you. Thank you for saving me and giving me your heart.”
Sol smiles as the moon breaks cover. “I didn’t give it you, love. It was made to be yours, and so was I.”
Thank you so much for reading Just This Heart! These boys mean the world to me and I can’t wait to share the final book in the series with you later this year. And yes, of course it’s Oscar. You can preorder Just This Kiss here.
Bonus material for all my books, INCLUDING THIS ONE, can be found on my Patreon page. And sign up for my mailing list for the most reliable updates.
Further reading…
Cam, Saint, Folk, River, and Orla can all be found with their own hard-won HEAs in the Rebel Kings MC series. Now complete, in KU and in audio, along with print paperbacks and hard covers.
Dr. Marc Ramsey can be found in most books, to be fair, but he has his own happy ending in Soul To Keep.
See you very soon!