Epilogue
Marian
“Forgive me.”
Drayton didn’t turn from my stare as he brought back the flogger.
Fire and heat flared over the front and side of my thigh.
I sucked in a gasp, and he reared back, swinging even harder.
A sob left me, but it was the moan that forced its way in that had my husband pushing my bounds as he switched legs, adding to the bruising and welts already on the other side.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful. I bet you’re so wet for me. Cry harder. Beg me. Make me believe.”
“I love you. Please. It wasn’t me. Not really. I—”
Blood dotted over the flaming skin, and I gulped in air, barely able to catch my breath from the new connection. Drayton was pressing against me before I could process the mass of sensations. Fingers rubbed the wetness over my pussy as his tongue thrust into my mouth.
“You’re going to be marked up so beautifully, and I’m going to kiss over every single one.”
“Yes.”
Fingers dug into the tenderness, and a cry burst from me.
On the St. Andrew’s cross, I was healing from the guilt.
Where I needed pain because of it, Drayton was free to release his.
This was where we belonged. This is where I could plan.
Where I could watch. Most importantly, this is where I could put my teachings to the test.
“Fuck, Marian. Tell me, again. Tell me more.”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“Not that.”
A smile came to my face, but I could barely keep it there as his fingers stretched me.
I let my mother’s expression take me over, seeding the words in so deep, he’d never question my loyalty.
His trust in me would be automatic. He’d never leave.
Never look or think of another woman. No one would exist in his world but me.
“I love you, Drayton.”
“But do you forgive me?”
“Forgive you? For not coming to take me sooner? Or for not fighting harder? You were distant when we finally returned…”
“Elec helped me. I was trying to figure out how to deal with the anger. Do you forgive me for that?”
“Of course I do. I understand. But what about this? Is this helping you?”
His nod was almost desperate as I hooked him even deeper. “These moments are everything.” Drayton dove down, sucking against my innermost thigh. The pleasure had me pulling against the cuffs that had my hands fastened in.
“And you love me?”
Drayton nibbled and sucked feverishly. There was a pause as he broke away to meet my stare.
“You know I do. More than anything.” His tongue came out, teasing my clit, only to make a path to my entrance as our eyes stayed locked.
I could feel him slowing, falling even more as he went into a daze.
And me, I could feel myself becoming her.
I didn’t tell him his sudden loss of blame came from Elec’s mind tricks, or that I was helping with making him love me even more with my own increasing gifts.
“Take me to the bed.” My mouth shot open as he pushed his tongue inside of me. When he ran the tip back to the sensitive nerves, I tried hard to move against him from the pleasure as he let time pass through the teasing. “Drayton, please. Don’t make me wait. I can’t wait anymore. Stand.”
He rose, inches from my face. Green eyes dropped to my lips, only to jump back to my eyes. “You’re right. No more waiting. We’ve waited for this long enough. Marian… I’d do anything for you. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
Drayton nodded, and I let my gaze drift over his face, taking in the man I’d almost lost. A man I would now kill for to keep. It was always going to come down to this. Maybe I always thought it would be my mother who I’d have to face. Or maybe the monster she made.
Regardless, the battles had only just begun.
Power ran our world, and I had to make the best of what was given.
What I was given was a fresh start—not just as a person, but as a leader.
As a foundation. If I had to be part of the Black Line, I’d make it glow in the dark.
I’d help create the deadliest, most powerful and unrelenting force I could, and it would start here with me and Drayton.
We’d be in this fight together… forever.
The End