Epilogue
Allie
There is nothing like late spring to make me feel alive. Sometimes it seems like winter lasts so long that spring will never come. It always does, but that feeling doesn’t go away from year to year.
Now it’s late spring, and summer is around the corner.
I’m lying back on a blanket and staring up at the clouds with a soft breeze making the tall grass sway.
It stirs my hair and carries the scent of pine down from the mountains.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, pulling as much of it as I can into my lungs.
Reaching down, I run my fingers through Kade’s thick, unruly hair. His head rests on my stomach, eyes closed, a look of contentment on his face. Kade Bishop is actually content. It’s got to be a miracle, right?
“We really should head over there.” My voice is low, almost drowsy. I feel like I’m coming out of a deep sleep. Maybe I am. If so, I really wish I didn’t have to wake up because this is too nice. Having these moments together, quiet, just the two of us.
He opens his eyes, holding up a hand to shield them from the late afternoon sun. “We should skip it.”
I buck my hips to bounce his head off me, and he laughs. “Oh, sure. That would look really great. This whole dinner was your idea.”
“Seemed like a good one at the time.” He pushes himself up on one elbow to smile at me. It warms me from head to toe to see how happy he looks. I love feeling like the reason he is. He says I am, but I still want to pinch myself whenever he does. It doesn’t seem possible.
“And here I was, wasting all this time lying around when I could’ve been doing this.” He cups my jaw in his hand without any of the roughness that used to be his default mode. Unless I want him to be rough, but that’s different.
He takes a second to stare down at me. I could drown in his eyes. He stole my heart and filled it with more than I ever thought it could hold. More happiness. More peace. More feeling like I’m where I belong.
His kiss is everything, and like always, that’s all it takes for my body to come alive.
Nothing matters now but more. Right away, my back arches so I can touch more of him, so he can reach more of me.
He slides an arm under me and rolls, taking me with him until I’m on top and he’s stretched out under me.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers between kisses, running his hands over my thighs, pushing my dress up around my waist. All I can do is bear down on him when the heat and the need that flares to life in my pussy demands satisfaction.
The sun is warm on my skin when he pulls the top of my dress down far enough to expose more of me.
He laps at my breasts, sliding his tongue under my bra cups before pulling them down, too.
I sigh as he takes them in his hands and pushes them together, moving his tongue back and forth, scraping his teeth along my nipples before sucking until I’m soaking wet and gasping for air.
“I need you inside me,” I gasp, grinding against him, loving the moment but also ready to cry because it’s not enough.
“In such a fucking hurry,” he whispers before snickering when I groan. “We should’ve gotten you on the pill sooner, so we could fuck whenever.”
“We’re making up for lost time now.”
“Do you like my cock that much?”
“You tell me.” I take his hand from my chest and wedge it between my legs, where the crotch of my thong is already soaked.
He sucks in a breath before I watch his eyes get even darker, half lidded, with need swirling in them. “Hungry little pussy. Should I give it what it needs?”
Instead of answering in words, I slap his hand away to undo his belt.
“I could wait all day at this rate,” I grumble while he laughs, folding his hands under his head and watching me.
He’s not laughing when I take him in my fist and give him a few strokes.
His eyes close, and a look of pure bliss softens his chiseled features.
I swear, I can’t breathe when I look down at him. He’s so beautiful, so happy, so mine.
And then I pull the crotch of my thong aside and guide him to where it’s hot and wet and aching. “Oh shit,” he groans.
Slowly, I lower myself, because I don’t want this moment to end.
I wish I could hold it forever the way I’m holding him inside me, claiming him as mine under the open sky.
In the middle of an open field where all of this started, where we used to escape together to get away from everyone and everything else.
In my heart, part of us will always be here.
And then I start to move, setting the pace, the depth. I rest my hands on his broad chest, grinding my clit against his base, gasping with every downward thrust that locks us together.
“Look at you.” He reaches up for my breasts again, molding them in his palms, and the sound of his words only adds to the joy of this. “So beautiful. My wild little filly.”
Then he growls, thrusting his hips upward. “Ride me, filly. Ride me hard.”
My blood hums at the challenge he sets. I start to move faster, slamming down harder while he fucks me from underneath. “Oh yeah,” I moan, leaning down so my hair sweeps over his face.
He reaches up to catch my mouth, licking my lips before sliding his tongue over mine. When he sits up, my arms wind around his shoulders while he takes my hips in his strong hands and pulls me down, harder, faster, while we kiss almost angrily, like we’re punishing each other.
“Love you,” I gasp when he lets me up for air so he can pant against my throat. “Love you, Kade.” I reach the edge of the cliff and fall over before I know what’s happening. I shout into the sky, the sun warming my face as bliss flows through me.
“Yes… Yes, Allie, fuck!” He brings me down one last time and fills me with him. I feel it. I feel him lose control, and it’s a satisfaction like nothing else I’ve ever known. Holding him inside me, my arms around him, while the two of us lose ourselves to each other.
I’m still holding him, stroking his hair, when I say, “We really better get moving. Mom will worry.”
“For future reference?” He eases me off him, wearing a smirk. “Don’t mention your mom when I’m still inside you.”
Once we pack up the blanket and put it in his truck, we head to the house where Mom is waiting.
Making the ten-mile trip might not seem like much to an outsider, but to Mom, it means a lot more than just a shared meal.
I sense her touch of nerves once we’ve headed out.
She can’t stop tapping her nails against her leg the whole way.
When our eyes meet, I try to reassure her with a smile.
Because I get it. I understand how she feels when we step into the house. Almost like one door is closing—the intense rivalry between our families—and another one is opening. This is good, this is the way things should be. But it’s not going to feel normal overnight.
Mom blows out a breath before chuckling like she’s overwhelmed, looking around at the vaulted ceiling, the elk heads mounted on the walls of the front hall. “If you had told me I would be eating dinner here one day as an invited guest…”
Not just a guest. A partner. But that’s a lot to get used to, as well. I think it will take her a little time to adjust, even though I know she’s happy and relieved that the ranch is safe.
“Emma.” We look up and watch Elena Bishop glide down the stairs. I remember her as being timid, afraid to say boo to a goose. She always looked like she wanted to shrink herself. Like she was scared to take up any space.
That is not the woman coming toward us now, wearing a beautiful, floaty dress and sandals, with delicate silver earrings that sparkle when she turns her head.
She holds out her hands before leaning in and brushing a kiss against Mom’s cheek.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I was thrilled when Kade told me about the deal between the families. It only makes sense.”
Mom is overwhelmed, blinking fast, before her throat works when she swallows.
“Thank you for…” She loses her voice. For a heartbeat, they share a silent conversation while Kade and I watch.
Years of silence and secrets. Sacrifice.
In a way, they were both victims of the same evil man, but now it’s time for a fresh start.
Elena only smiles, nodding. “I know. Come, we have appetizers laid out in the sitting room. Can I get you a drink?” The two of them link arms, chatting quietly on their way in.
Saint sneaks up behind me—I hear her before she links her arms around my waist and touches her chin to my shoulder. “Isn’t that amazing?” she whispers as we watch them.
For the second time today, a funny feeling comes over me. “I swear, I think I’m dreaming.” Kade looks like he agrees, shaking his head slightly before pursing his lips to let out a soft whistle.
“Then we’re having the same dream,” she decides. Maybe we are. I think we both deserve it. “Could you ever have imagined?”
I turn my head to look at her. Now it’s time for us to have a silent conversation of our own. No, I couldn’t have imagined. I would’ve been afraid to. There’s no way I could’ve known how much better my life could get, even if it took walking through hell to get here.
The front door opens with a bang. It’s Sawyer, and he seems upset about something. He relaxes when he sees the three of us standing here. “I forgot. Dinner.”
Calder steps in behind him, and he’s scowling, too. “What’s wrong?” Saint asks.
He shakes his head. “Not important. Everything’s fine.” Sawyer doesn’t look like it’s fine.
“Issues with someone who owes us money,” Sawyer grits out through clenched teeth. He’s the financial guy, so I guess that’s his area of expertise.
Calder gestures for Sawyer to join them, and the three of them walk into the sitting room together. Meanwhile, Kade crooks a finger at me. “Can you come with me for a minute?”