Epilogue
Eloise
Six Months Later
I feather my fingertips over the small scar that is a reminder of the device that is keeping me alive.
“Will this set off any alarms at the airport?”
Gaines looks up from where he’s sitting on the couch. “Are you planning a trip?”
I shrug. “I like to plan ahead.”
He pats the spot next to him, summoning me to him. “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would that be?”
I settle in next to him. Tugging my bare legs to my chest. “It would need to be a warm place so you wouldn’t have to wear any clothes.”
He drops his phone on the coffee table and faces me. “Or you.”
I glance down. “I’m only wearing a bra and panties now. That’s close enough, right?”
“Wrong.”
He tugs one of my bra straps down my shoulder, trailing kisses along its path.
“We can’t fuck yet.”
His brows perk. “I gave you the all-clear months ago, lamb. We’ve fucked how often since then?”
“I lost track.” I smile. “I would guess somewhere near a thousand times.”
His head falls back in laughter. “I’m not a machine.”
“Close, though.”
“Tell me why I can’t fuck my pretty little wife right now.”
I swoon. “Oh, you know I like that.”
“The part about me wanting to fuck you, or the part about you being my hot and very pretty little wife?”
I lift my left hand in the air to admire the diamond wedding band and matching engagement ring.
The engagement ring was on my hand the day I was discharged from the hospital.
We made it official last month in a small ceremony at a venue called Howerton House.
The people we love were there, including our shared family.
Stevie and Saylor acted as flower girls in dresses I knit for them.
Stevie wanted to wear the dress I made for her school dance, so with a few minor adjustments, it became the perfect flower girl ensemble.
It took no time at all to knit one for Saylor, too.
That little girl has come to view me as her sister, even though we’re not related by blood.
Astrid stood next to me, and Berk took his place beside my husband.
My folks attended, although their marriage is in a period of adjustment.
Dax’s admission shook the Rehn family to its core, but we survived.
It took some time for me to sit down with Daxton to listen to the reasons why he didn’t tell me he knew I was his sister immediately, but I’ve come to see that his journey is his alone.
Penny and I are closer than ever. When she marries my half-brother next summer, she’ll walk down the aisle in the dress I’m almost done knitting.
As for Lynton and Draco, my heart almost burst apart (in a good way) when I found out how deeply they love each other. Like Gaines and I, their journey to be together wasn’t a straight line, but they found their way back to each other, and they’re happy in Buffalo.
Gaines reaches for my hand with his left hand. The diamond on his wedding band cuts a band of light into the air that bounces off the wall.
“You still haven’t told me why I can’t fuck you, Mrs. Morgan.”
I go for a change of subject because I love teasing him. “I heard you talking to Logan earlier. Is everything okay with him and Julissa?”
He closes his eyes briefly. “He asked me to be Rudy’s godfather.”
I scoop my arms around his neck. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” Emotion catches the word in his throat. “We’ve come a long way since that night.”
That night has haunted my husband for years, and when he told me about the loss of his dear friend, I cried along with him.
I instantly understood why he wanted to be a doctor. He’s saving lives now and doing everything he can for our community.
“Do you want a baby?” I ask the same question I did the day before we got married.
“I do,” he answers as he did back then. “I want you all to myself for a couple of years first. It took forever to find you, so you’re all mine right now.”
That works for me.
After I posted a picture of Penny’s wedding dress online, I was bombarded with orders.
I couldn’t complete them all, but I have been commissioned for a special project for Katie Rose Bridal. It’s a boutique right across the street from Vinyl Crush. The owner is open to showcasing my bridal designs every few months.
I crawl onto my husband’s lap and face him.
He tugs his T-shirt over his head to deposit it on the floor somewhere behind him. “I’m still waiting for that fuck.”
My eyes flare as I get a look at his bare chest. “What would it take to make you angry?”
“My wife wants me to angry fuck her.”
I scoot my panties over his lap, using the fabric of his scrubs as friction. “It’s not an angry fuck if you’re pretending to be angry, Gaines.”
“You want it hard.”
I laugh. “When don’t I?”
“I can do that.” He unclasps my bra with one hand.
His other finds my left breast. He pinches my nipple before lowering his mouth to it. The sharp bite of his teeth on it sends my ass up. “Ouch.”
“You fucking loved that,” he says with my nipple still between his teeth.
“Guilty as charged.”
He slaps my ass before he flips me over in one swift movement. My back hits the couch.
He rips my panties off with a quick tug, and not a second later, his scrubs are pulled down far enough to reveal his very hard cock.
“You’re wet enough,” he says after a single swipe of his fingers over my core. “You can’t wait.”
“Fuck me,” I whisper as I stare at him. “Just the way I like.”
He splits my thighs open with the width of his hips and guides the crown to my center. “Fucking you like this with no condom is my ecstasy.”
“Show me.” I plead. “Show me now.”
He pushes in with a low growl as his tender kisses find my mouth.
I can’t resist. I dig my teeth into the corner of his bottom lip.
He laughs as he thrusts harder and harder. “I love you. I will forever.”
“I love you,” I whisper as the pleasure takes over, chasing away everything but this moment and the man I’ll spend forever with.