Epilogue
ATHENA
“When are you going to come up for a visit?” Acacia asks over the phone. “It’s been ages since you and Wraith brought the kids up for a long weekend. We’ll be heading to the lake next week. You guys should join us!”
I smile at my energetic friend, whose excitement is contagious, even over the phone. “That sounds perfect, actually. Renee was just asking about Auntie Ah-Kay.”
We both laugh at my eldest daughter’s nickname for Acacia.
Renee just turned ten, but when she was little, she had trouble pronouncing Acacia’s name.
Instead, she called her Aunt Ah-Kay for years.
Even though Renee has been able to say the right name for a long time now, we still keep up the tradition.
Even our six-year-old, Parker, uses the nickname.
“You tell Renee that her Aunt Ah-Kay misses her and needs to see her ASAP.”
“Deal. I’ll talk to Wraith and text you about the date and time later?”
“You’d better. As my first and oldest friend, you’re required to come visit more often,” she declares. I love her to pieces, and I’m so happy she was the one who picked me up when I was hitching a ride all those years ago.
We say our goodbyes just in time for Wraith to walk in the door from the Wicked Riders clubhouse.
God, he’s somehow sexier a decade later than he was when we first met, which is saying something.
My biker closes the distance between us in three long strides, wrapping me up in his arms the way he does every day when he gets home.
“What has you smiling so brightly?” he asks, kissing the tip of my nose.
“Acacia invited the kids and us to the lake next week. Doesn’t that sound perfect?”
“Seeing you in your bathing suit? Soaking wet?” Wraith growls at the thought and kisses the side of my neck.
“Sleeping alone in a cabin with you while our kids have a sleepover with their aunt and uncle? Doing whatever I want to your sinfully sexy body? Yeah, little siren. That sounds pretty damn perfect.”
I laugh, only to have my husband kiss the sound from my lips. His tongue invades my mouth, lapping at me like we didn’t make love this morning before he left. Wraith tightens his hold on my hips, helping me grind against him while he deepens our kiss.
“Save some of the good stuff for when we’re in the cabin,” I tease.
Wraith chuckles and buries his nose into the side of my neck, breathing me in. “I always have plenty of the good stuff for you, love. Now, when do we need to pick the kids up from dance class?”
I look over his shoulder at the clock on the microwave. “Forty-five minutes,” I tell him with a smile, my eyebrow raised in defiance. “Think you can last that long?”
Wraith laughs, the deep, hearty sound warming me all the way down to my soul. My husband scoops me up and tosses me over his shoulder, smacking my ass as he hauls me into our bedroom. “Don’t you worry about that, my goddess.”
I squeal as he throws me down on the bed and climbs on top of me.
Wraith holds himself up by his forearms on either side of my head, rubbing his nose against mine.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs, pressing the lightest kiss to my lips.
“So precious. My little siren. My warrior goddess. I’ll never get enough of you, but damn if I don’t love trying. ”
I smile into his kiss, loving the way he handles me.
Never in a million years did I think I’d get a happily ever after, let alone an epic love story with a man I’m insanely obsessed with.
At one point in my life, I almost wanted to give up.
I’m so glad I summoned the strength to continue.
Without fighting to survive every single day growing up, I would never have experienced the kind of love and acceptance I have now.
THE END