Epilogue
NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS
ONE MONTH LATER
Growing up, I’d always loved vacationing at my parents’ Nantucket estate. It was not only massive in size, but it also sat on nearly six acres of land that bordered the harbor. It had twelve bedrooms, thirteen and a half bathrooms, and a guest house that I had spent the night in with Zarren.
It had felt strange bringing someone other than Drake here to meet the parents. They’d always doted on my ex, so I wasn’t sure how they’d take the news that our relationship had come to an end, and that I had moved on. I’d told them that he’d been unfaithful, and it had been all I’d had to say.
While Drake was the typical tall, lanky guy, Zarren was also tall, but broad-shouldered, tattooed, and had a hard edge to him that made him seem that much more dangerous. My mother’s eyes had widened the moment I introduced her to him, and my father’s had narrowed.
To Zarren’s credit, he’d charmed them instantly, and not a single question was asked about Drake.
Granted, I did try my best to keep him away from my parents, not for my sake or theirs, but for his.
He’d been incredibly nervous, and it was only when I dragged him away from the festivities happening in the backyard that he seemed to settle down.
“Your parents seem pretty nice,” Zarren said as we walked along one of the stone paths that led to the Polpis Harbor.
“They’re the greatest parents one could ever hope to have.”
“They really love you,” he responded, and I could hear the slight dropping of his voice.
“They do,” I agreed, then I wrapped my arms around his back. “And I know he didn’t show it from what you’ve said, but I’m sure your great-grandfather loved you, too.”
Zarren chuckled. “That man loved power and nothing more.”
“I don’t believe that,” I murmured.
He spun around, then tipped up my chin. “He doesn’t matter. No one does, outside of you. Your love is the only one I want and need.”
His mouth came down softly on mine right afterward, and I weaved my hands through his hair before using the back of his nape to pull his head closer. A slight groan escaped his lips moments before he plastered them fully against mine.
Our tongues came out at the same time, immediately tangling with each other. So much had happened in the last month. Zarren had let me return to my old life for the most part, except he’d wanted me to move in with him right away.
Since I was allowed to come and go freely from his penthouse, I had agreed.
It’d meant everything to me to be able to return to my job at the hospital.
There was still so much left unsettled, though, mainly my friendship with Brae.
She’d visited me at Mass General several times, hoping to talk to me, but I had nothing to say to her.
“Why didn’t you bring Braelynn?” my mother had asked the moment she’d gotten me alone.
My former bestie had been so close to my family, and my parents had loved her as if she was their own.
As much as they had loved me. I’d wanted to tell her the truth that the one I’d trusted more than anyone else had betrayed me.
This was my parents’ anniversary weekend, however, and I hadn’t wanted to ruin it.
“She had other arrangements this weekend, but she sends her congratulations on thirty years of wedded bliss,” I’d lied.
“She’s always been such a sweet girl.”
Actually, more of a backstabbing slut. She and Drake deserved each other, and from what I’d recently found out, the two were now serious.
“Your new man is quite handsome. I can see how happy he makes you.”
“He really does, Mom. We’re the most unlikely couple, but it works.”
“I can tell. I’d never seen you this happy with Drake.”
“Smythe is a horse’s ass, and I’m glad you dropped him when you did. I’m keeping my eye out on this fella, though,” my father had said, and it was then that I realized that my friends and family had all thought I should drop Drake. I’d been the only one too blind to see it.
Zarren pulled away. “What’s wrong? You were right there, then you weren’t.”
I smiled. “I was just recalling a conversation I’d had with my parents. I think my mother is as smitten with you as I am.”
“Is that right?” he asked with a slight smirk on those sinful lips of his. “I think your father would like to take me hunting, then treat me as prey.”
I gasped. “He does not.”
“His detailed description of his knife and sword collection says otherwise. As does the way he educated me on what each blade could do to a man.”
“Daddy was teasing you. It means that he likes you, but of course, he has to protect me.”
“I’ll always protect you, Bellezza.”
“I know you will,” I said as I rose onto my tiptoes to kiss him again.
His mouth came back down on mine, and I melted into his arms as they wrapped around me. I’d just planned to kiss him, but as his embrace tightened and his cock hardened against me, something told me he had other ideas.
Still, I let him devour my mouth and didn’t even stop him as he lowered the top of my long-sleeved shirt to kiss and nibble my collarbone. A few moans were torn from my throat before I remembered that we were outside on the grounds during a large party where anyone could stumble upon us.
I pushed at his chest, eliciting a groan from him as he knew what I was going to say before I even said it. “I wish we had time to go home before leaving for London.”
“Me too, but we don’t. In fact, we should probably get ready to say our goodbyes if we expect to make it to the airport on time.” He scowled as the words left his mouth.
“I’m excited to meet Ciara.”
“She hasn’t shut the hell up about meeting you, so I think the feeling is mutual. Let’s go.”
I took his hand, then directed him on the correct way back to the carriage house we’d been staying in.
At first, my parents had wanted us to stay inside, but I sensed Zarren would feel more comfortable out here.
I’m glad now that I had because last night, he’d fucked me hard in the ass, drawing a number of screams from me.
It seemed surreal that this was my life.
I used to rush home to read a book or watch television, but now I couldn’t wait to leave the hospital and crawl into bed with Zarren.
Sex with him was indescribable. It was like a drug, and I was a junkie feigning for the next hit.
He’d always left me with such an incredible high after multiple orgasms, and even the soreness never stopped me from letting him fuck me again.
We finally reached the carriage house, and I was now thankful I’d thought to have him pack his things up earlier.
I only had because I’d gone for tea with my mother and her friends, and Zarren went to play cards with my father and his cronies.
Now, all we had to do was grab our suitcases and be on our way.
Zarren had other ideas because he came up behind me, then swiftly raised my shirt up and over my head. “W-what are you doing?”
“If you have to ask, I’m obviously not doing it right,” he whispered into my ear.
“Umm, I think you’re doing it too well, is all.... Fuck... I... we don’t have time—”
“There’s always time to fuck you.”
He bit down on my lobe as his hand moved inside my pants. I could feel his long fingers stroking me, and I arched back against him as three of those long digits slipped inside of me.
“I’m serious, Zarren.... ohh.. There’s usually traffic and.... oh God... fuck, Zarren...”
“That’s it, Bellezza. Fuck my fingers so I can make you come.”
“Zarren... I...” my voice trailed off as my breath hitched in my throat.
His fingers were moving faster, assaulting the spot guaranteed to make me come. The room spun around me, and my knees nearly gave out, but not before I opened my mouth in a silent scream and flooded his hand.
“So good, Aurora. Now get me off so we can leave.”
I was still lightheaded from the sudden orgasm, but as I turned to do as he asked, he spun me back around and bent me over the footboard of the bed. I gripped the heavy wood as he lowered my pants and wedged my legs apart. Seconds later, he thrust into me, making me rise to my tiptoes.
He wasted no time thrusting into me, then he fucked me with such lethal precision that it only took a minute or two to make me come on his cock. He took several more as he wrung another from me, before I felt the warmth of his cum as it coated my inner walls.
Zarren’s groan in that moment of satisfaction was one of the sexiest sounds I’d ever heard, and one I fell asleep and woke up to often. Hell, he’d even visited me once or twice on my lunch break at work to fuck me.
As the haze of the back to back to back orgasms started to fade, he slowly pulled out of me. After he dragged me into the bathroom to clean ourselves up, we went to say our goodbyes to my parents. Not long after, we were on the way to the airport.
I’d been to London once before, but Ciara had promised to give me the grand tour, which wouldn’t include the usual touristy things I had likely done before.
She’d told me that she knew some great places off the grid, and Zarren had only entertained his cousin when she accepted that he intended to join us.
Once we arrived at the airport, we checked our bags and found our gate. The plane was nearly full, but our seats up front in first class were still empty, and we quickly took our place in them. A half hour later, the plane ascended, and I lay there with my head against his chest.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked when I glanced upward to find him staring down so longingly at me.
“That you were the greatest wager I’ve ever made in life. You, Bellezza, are my life. I love you so completely.”
“I love you too,” I murmured. “And for what it’s worth, I’m glad you won that wager. Although, I suspect that you found some way to cheat in that game.”
He smirked at me. “I said that I’d played, but never that I’d played fair. You were mine then, and regardless of a flip of a card or roll of the dice, we were meant to be. You’re so goddamned—”
“And you are goddamned mine,” I finished for him.
He smiled before placing a kiss on my forehead. “Damn straight.”
His arms tightened around me, and I soon closed my eyes as I listened to the rhythmic sound of his heart beating for me in his chest, and eventually fell asleep in the arms of the man I loved.
When I’d chosen life and love when at death’s door, it’d been the right choice.
Zarren was both of those things to me, just as I knew I was to him.
This wasn’t the end for us, but only the beginning.