Epilogue - Elodie
Elodie
Two months later
The grand hall of the Astoria is practically glowing. Crystal chandeliers throw shards of light across the ceiling, champagne flows like a never-ending fountain, and there are enough diamonds in this room to fund a small country.
Dorian and I are here for a fundraiser.
He’s off with his brothers while I’m standing in a circle of my newfound friends.
Isla is next to me—I’ve gotten the closest to her. She looks beautiful in her turquoise dress. And that baby bump…
I wouldn’t be surprised if she had her baby tonight. I admire her for coming out and looking so perfect.
“I think it’s a boy,” Cindy says, pointing excitedly at Isla’s stomach.
“You might be right.” Isla giggles. “Knox’s aunt, Maureen, did some old wives’ test with an orange peel—don’t ask me how—and now she swears we’re having a boy.”
I chuckle and sip my champagne. Aunt Maureen is quite the character, but I have to admit she may be on to something.
She did one of her predictions on me too, telling me that something green was going to come into my life.
Very odd, but days later my students surprised me with a classroom filled with green balloons.
The thought makes me giggle again, and I realize the heaviness I carried over the last few months since I last saw Jack is finally lifting. It gives me hope that it will be gone, hopefully soon. Though I suppose every time I think of Jack it will return in some sort of way.
I don’t know what will happen between us in the future, but for now I’m focusing on living. Finally, just living.
It feels like I’ve finally been allowed to breathe without bracing for the next hit. And I’m glad tonight feels like one of those lighthearted nights where I can relax and just have fun.
That’s saying something given that the press are here.
They were brutal in the days after Jack’s arrest. But now the headlines have changed. The ones that painted Dorian as reckless and me as collateral damage are gone. PR did a lot to scrub the worst of them, but then we did the rest.
All by just being ourselves.
Recently they’ve been capturing things like the way my husband looks at me from across a room like I'm the only person in it.
The way his hand always finds the small of my back the moment we step out of the car, and the way he takes care of me.
Like he wants the world to know we belong to each other.
Sherry continues talking about Isla’s bump, then suddenly the girls are talking about skincare. Before they can dive deeper into the conversation a hand presses to the small of my back.
Like always I know it’s him even before I see him.
I look up at the tall, handsome man standing next to me and my heart swoops to the bottom of my stomach, setting off the nest of butterflies.
The corner of his mouth lifts. And there it is — that quiet, private thing between us that the headline try to capture.
“I need you now, Mrs. Vale,” he mutters against my hair. “Come here.”
Just a few words and I’m all his.
My legs are already moving before my mind can catch up. Dorian ushers me away from the group.
When we reach the hall he pulls me closer.
“I need you to kiss me,” he says in my ear, a smile in his voice.
I laugh, remembering the yacht party when he said those same words.
“What kind of kiss is this going to be, Mr. Vale.” I try to remember what I said back then.
He grins back at me. “Oh, I’ll let you be the judge of that. But just so you know, I’m planning to start with the mind fuck kiss and take it from there.”
I don’t even get a chance to take a breath before he pulls me into a dark room and closes the door behind us.
Then his lips are on mine.
The kiss he gives me has that drug inducing sensation that sweeps me off my feet.
It’s the mind fuck and so much more.
Dorian moves with me over to the corner behind something. I barely make out thick draps before he pushes me against the wall.
“I want you again.” He chuckles.
“Then take me.”
“With pleasure, Mrs. Vale. You’re about to see just how obsessed I am with you.”
I melt into his words, then I melt into him when he shoves my dress up my hips and plunges his hard cock deep inside me.
He gives me a new lesson in obsession and it doesn’t stop there. We keep going when we reach home and the days that follow see us confined to our bed.
It’s like someone cast a spell on us and we can’t stop touching.
Weeks later my husband decides to take obsession to other areas of our life, and drive me crazy.
I’ve been off work with horrid migraines that won’t go away. It’s bad enough that Skylar keeps insisting on giving me her grandmother special teas that taste like swamp feet, but today Dorian insisted on taking me to doctor.
I’ve had almost everything tested. Now we’re sitting in the office waiting for Dr. Mallard to come in with the results.
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter, cutting Dorian a hard stare. “I could be at home watching tv.”
He looks back at me with firm eyes. “There is no harm in being careful.”
“It’s a migraine. You’re being dramatic.”
He cocks his head—I love when he does that and his hair falls over his eye, like now. “Lamb, I can’t be blamed for wanting to take care of you. It’s your fault I love you.”
I can’t help but laugh. “It’s your fault I love you too.”
He shakes his head at me, but leans in and brushes his lips over mine. “Let’s just both be at fault.”
“I like that.”
“How’s your head?”
“Ughh.” I was only handling the pain because I liked spending the time with him.
Dr. Mallard comes through the door and we both look at him.
“How bad is it doctor?” Dorian asks, his expression switching back to worry.
Dr. Mallard sighs and I’m not sure what that means.
He walks to his desk, which is just in front of us and sits on the edge. “The good news is this condition is very treatable.”
“Condition!” Dorian and I blurt at the same time.
“I’m afraid so. And you’re likely to have it for around seventeen to eighteen years. Give or take five or so years.”
My blood drains. “What kind of condition is it?”
Dr. Mallard chuckles. “It’s called motherhood. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Vale you’re pregnant.”
Dorian and I turn to face each other, wide-eyed.
My lips part but nothing comes out.
I’m pregnant.
After all this time it never even occurred to me.
For a second the world spins faster and it's just us — two people staring at each other with the same disbelief written across our faces.
"Oh my God," Dorian mutters and his composure, slips, unmasking pure, unfiltered joy. "We’re going to be parents."
He glances back at Dr. Mallard who nods happily.
“The headaches are just hormonal changes. It will pass. Other than that, enjoy the ride,” he says.
Dorian moves before I do, picking me up and lifting me into the air.
I laugh and slip my arms around his neck as he spines me around.
"I love you," he says, pulling me closer. "I love you so much."
“I love you so much too.”
He spins me one more time and I think of how happy he’s made me.
He was the man I thought I could never have.
But my Dorian Gray turned into the prince who finally swept me off my feet.
Dorian Vale.