EPILOGUE – ROWE #2
Warmth. That's all it is. That's everything it is. Her warmth all along me, her thigh sliding over mine, her breasts against my chest, her hands moving up my spine tracing scars I no longer count, and my body—my broken, screaming body—melts into her like it's been waiting for her the whole time.
"Look at me," she whispers.
I look. Her face fills my whole vision, tear-streaked and radiant, and I settle between her thighs and push into her slowly, watching her eyes go dark and heavy as she takes me in.
No chains tonight. No board. No screen, no feather, no clever architecture between our bodies.
Just her wrapped around me and under me, her arms around my neck, her heels sliding up the backs of my legs, and I move inside her while our mouths find each other again, and we make love the way I once believed happened only to other people.
It's slow. I keep it slow. Deep, rolling, her hips rising to meet every stroke, the candles throwing our one shadow up the wall, the wedding music still floating faintly from the Big Top like the whole night is playing us a soundtrack.
She cries the entire time—silent, streaming, her thumbs stroking my cheekbones while I move in her—and when I taste my own tears mixing with hers, I don't stop those either.
"I love you," I tell her, buried deep, forehead resting on hers. "Every day. Every town. For the rest of it."
"I love you." Her walls flutter around me, her breath fraying. "Rowe—I'm—stay right here, stay just like—"
"I'm here."
She comes with my name on her mouth and her arms locked around me, holding me through it, holding me to her, and the feel of her shuddering under my whole body—skin to skin, nothing between us, nothing left between us anywhere—pulls me over with her.
I spill into her with a groan I muffle against her throat, wave after wave, her hands in my hair, both of us shaking, both of us wet-faced, both of us laughing before it's even finished because there's too much in us for any one sound to carry.
After, I don't move to the far side of the bed.
Instead, I gather her against me—her head on my chest, her leg thrown over mine, my arms around her—and we lie in the candlelight listening to the last songs of my brother's wedding drift across the lot.
Her breath slows. Her fingers draw lazy lines through the ink over my heart.
She tilts her face up, eyes heavy, mouth curved.
"Hi," she whispers.
"Hi," I whisper back, and pull her closer, and one by one, the candles burn down while the woman I love falls asleep on my chest, her heartbeat against my ribs, her breath on my skin.
I don't dream of the Sanctum at all.
I don't dream of anything but her.
Thank you for reading Animal Tamer! And my apologies for making you ugly cry. Also, as much as I know you love Peanut (and Pip and Squeak), note that monkeys are unfortunately not suitable pets.
Ready for the next Seven Sins Carnival book? It’s Cole’s turn, and he can’t wait! You can pre-order the eBook on .
I never miss.
Not with a blade.
Not in front of a crowd.
And never with a woman.
Not until Sloane.
She joins my act with a death wish dressed up as talent, catching knives with her bare hands like she has nothing left to lose.
I should keep my distance.
Instead, I become obsessed with every defiant look that dares me to throw harder.
Night after night, she places her life in my hands. Somewhere between the flashing steel and the roar of the crowd, danger becomes trust.
Then trust becomes hunger.
But the closer I get, the more I realize the darkness inside her already knows mine.
And once our pasts collide, neither of us is walking away.
Knife Thrower is a dark, obsessive rivals-to-lovers carnival romance featuring a reckless, lethal flirt, a knife catcher with a death wish, danger as foreplay, and violent chemistry balanced on the edge of a blade.
Before hanging out with Cole, though, you’re going to meet Colonel Gabriel Wolfe and Specialist Noah Reyes. Are you ready for the Forbidden Forces series? My Forbidden Commander is coming this August, and you can pre-order the eBook on !
I’ve led men into hell and brought them home again.
I’ve buried soldiers. Broken enemies. Made impossible calls with blood on my hands and a straight face.
Discipline is the only reason I’m still alive.
Then Noah Reyes lands in my unit.
Twenty-three. Reckless. Mouthy.
Too pretty for his own damn good.
And under my command.
He should be just another soldier. Another name on a roster. Another body to keep alive in a war neither of us started.
Instead, he becomes my worst mistake waiting to happen.
Because “Yes, sir” has never sounded so sweet.
He’s my subordinate.
My responsibility.
My temptation.
And if I touch him, I could ruin us both.
But when the war turns brutal and Noah ends up in the line of fire, I stop pretending there’s anything honorable left in me.
Because he isn’t just my soldier anymore.
He’s mine.
And God help anyone who tries to take him from me.
My Forbidden Commander is a high-heat MM military romance featuring a possessive Special Forces commander, his reckless younger subordinate, forbidden desire, dangerous missions, power imbalance, praise, punishment, “yes, sir” tension, and absolutely no chill.
And let’s not forget Diesel’s Desire, book two of the Wicked Sinners MC! It’s coming this September, and Selena and I can’t wait for you to read it.
Seventeen years ago, I buried Penny Carpenter in my past.
Back then, she was everything.
My first. My only. Mine in every way that mattered.
We were supposed to be forever. Until I chose the life.
The MC wasn’t just a club—it was blood, loyalty… destiny.
And once she got a taste of what that world really was, she left to earn a badge.
I thought I was over her... until she stormed back into our hometown, back into my life.
Seventeen years older. Just as fucking beautiful.
Untouchable in that uniform she wears like armor.
And now she’s digging into shit that should stay six feet under, shit that leads directly to my club.
She stands on one side of the law. I live on the other.
We were never supposed to collide again.
But the second I look at her, I realize the truth I’ve been running from all these years—I never really let her go.
And now that she’s back?
I don’t care what badge she wears… or what it costs me.
This time, I’m not letting her walk away.