Epilogue
KERRY
Fecking hell. Russia is cold. I’m not built for this.
I’m practically shivering in my seat. I can tell that bastard Ruslan is trying not to laugh, his jaw tight and lips twitching with a smirk he’s resisting.
I’d consider punching him, but I know that would upset both Amy and Lily, and that's not something I’m interested in doing, even if Ruslan and I wouldn’t consider it to be a big deal, not with our line of business.
It wasn’t uncommon to solve a disagreement with fists.
The two women are chatting happily over cups of steaming coffee.
We’ve been here for a few weeks, and I haven’t been able to crack open Ruslan’s tough exterior enough to get him to talk.
I’ve given up. Pushing him isn’t going to work, the man is as stubborn as a mule.
I only tried in the first place because I know it’d make my wife happy if Ruslan and I were friends.
Speaking of, I look at my watch, checking the time. “Leannán, if you want to get your homework done so you don’t have to worry about it during our tour of Moscow tomorrow then we better go to our room for the night.”
Amy sighs and nods. “Of course.” She stands up and finishes her coffee. “Have a great night.”
“You too,” Lily stands to hug my wife, and Amy turns to me with a smile and takes my arm.
As we head upstairs to our room, Amy whispers to me. “I don’t think they’re sleeping in the same room still.”
I shrug. “Not everyone moves as fast as we did, leannán. Sometimes these things take time. They haven’t been married that long, after all.”
Amy sighs and nods. “I know. I can just tell that she’s not happy. I’m glad we came to visit, I think she’s lonely.”
I squeeze her arm as we enter the bedroom we’ve been given to stay in during our time here in Russia and close the door behind us. “My kind empathetic wife. You can’t solve everyone’s problems for them.”
“I know. I just wish I could.” Amy groans and rests her forehead against my chest. “It sucks.”
I kiss her hair. “I know. Maybe we should see if he’ll let Lily come visit us for a while.”
Amy looks up at me with excitement dancing in her eyes. “Really?”
“Why not?” I shrug. “He knows we’ll take good care of her.” I cup her face, leaning down to nibble on her bottom lip. “Now…I’d like to stop talking about that man and make love to my wife instead.”
Amy swats my arm. “Whatever happened to me doing homework? You’re distracting me!”
I chuckle, kissing each corner of her mouth. “I may have brought us up here a bit earlier than I needed to. Besides, you know you work better with a few orgasms to clear your head.”
She huffs and rolls her eyes, but there’s a smirk on her lips and desire in her gaze. “You’re insufferable.”
I grab her hips and push her back onto the bed. “And you love it.”
“I do love it,” she says softly with a smile, reaching for me and tugging me on top of her. “I love it because I love you.”
I kiss her hungrily, warmth filling my chest. After all the hardship, all the struggle to build an empire, break away from my father, and then chase after Amy, it was all worth it if it meant that I could have this.
Everything I imagined before didn’t compare to the real thing, to my Amy in my arms, writhing underneath me, whispering such sweet words about how she loves me.
Me. The obsessive monster, the wicked man. But she doesn’t see me that way. I’ll always be indebted to her for that.
“Tell me, sweet leannán, where should we go next? Perhaps some luxurious beach somewhere to celebrate the end of your first semester back at university?”
Amy smiles as she looks up at me and shakes her head. “Luxurious beach? No. That doesn’t seem like us, does it?”
I remove our clothes just enough to be able to slide inside of her, making us both groan. We haven’t had to use a condom in a while since Amy got on birth control, and it is bliss. “What, then?”
She runs a hand through my hair as I thrust into her. “I want to go to the cottage, obviously.”
I can only throw my head back and laugh. Warmth fills my chest, the acute feeling of belonging, of finding home. It’s a feeling I’ve come to recognize often with Amy. “Then to the cottage we’ll go.” I kiss her nose. “And then we should work on redecorating the house to make it into our home.”
Amy smiles and nods. “Yes. A home.”
Home. I nuzzle into her neck and kiss the skin there gently. “I’ve already found my home.”
She laughs and swats my arms. “That’s cheesy.”
I pull back to smile at her, moving my hips lazily. “Cheesy. So American. Perhaps, love, but it’s true nonetheless.”
Her gaze softens as she looks up at me. “I know. Because it’s true for me, too.”
I wrap my arms around her and pull her into my chest, needing her as tight against me as possible.
Home. I’ve finally found it.