Epilogue
EPILOGUE
Amber
One week later
Bronco lays the stencil on my skin, over the tattoo on my wrist that I’ve despised for so long.
“Kind of poetic, isn’t it?” I muse.
Bronco looks up. “What is?”
“The day I get this covered up is the same day Vince gets arrested.”
Bronco’s nostrils flair. “Trust me, I had the boys lookin’ for him, but he’s fuckin’ slippery.”
“Bronc, you’ve done enough for me and my family.”
We don’t talk about what we know: Vince had a van with rope, tape, a taser and other “kidnapping” equipment including guns and knives. I’m convinced he was coming after me, especially after I told my entire story to the cops and they’d shared that Vince had a search history with my name all over it. He was looking for me. That bastard was going to go on one more hurrah before he ended up dead himself, or captured by the police. He’d been looking for me for a long time.
“He should do himself a favor and end it in prison,” Bronco mutters. “Just wish I’d gotten to him first.”
“You’ve done plenty, and I love you for it.”
He pecks me on the lips. “Lie back, relax, and let me know if you need me to stop at any time, okay?”
I nod. “Okay.”
I’m just glad this day has come. I’m thankful that Bronco is the one to do it. I wanted it to be him.
Bronco leans over and kisses me upside down. Fucking hot. “Then when I’m done, I’m strippin’ those little cock teasin’ shorts off you, pullin’ those panties aside, and sinkin’ my dick into that sweet pussy.”
His words. I make suggestive noises and he presses another kiss to my skin, my forehead this time. “Let’s see if you last that long,” I tease.
“You distract me and I’ll just draw out your next orgasm.”
“You’re mean.” I poke my tongue at him and he chuckles.
Then — and fuck me if I don’t die a little inside — he puts a pair of glasses on.
“What the heck?”
He focuses his gaze on me. “What?”
“You wear glasses?”
“Only to ink in.”
“Since when?”
“Since… I don’t know, forever.”
“But you don’t need them for reading?”
“I can wear them more often if you’re gonna get all hot and bothered over it.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.
Holy mother of God. I have a vision of him naked, fucking me from behind in this very room, wearing just those dorky glasses. Give it to me now.
“I think that could definitely be my new favorite thing, aside from your dick.”
“You gonna let me start, or are we not even gonna get past first base?” he demands.
I roll my lips. “Are you this rude to all of your customers?”
“Only the ones who give me lip when I’m tryin’ to concentrate.”
“Fine. I’ll behave.”
“Any final words to your coverup?”
“Yes.” I place a hand over my heart. “Fuck you.”
Bronco laughs, turns on the machine and I close my eyes. While this is a poignant day, I just want to enjoy what it also means.
No more running, looking over my shoulder, or worrying about Erica and Olive.
I get to be a normal person with my boyfriend, a man I can’t stop kissing.
And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
“You really like it?”
Tears well in my eyes. The three doves are amazing. They symbolize myself, Erica and Olive. Each bird is flying under the other in different directions, but also together. Because of the dark tattoo that was underneath, Bronco had to create a darkened skyline. It’s so beautiful, I can’t hold back the floodgates.
“Bronco, it’s fucking amazing!” I dive into his arms, pressing kisses all over his face.
“Shit, I thought I’d fucked up for a second.” He pushes my hair behind my ears. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Like it? I love it. It’s perfect, just like you.”
He smiles as I continue to admire myself. “Proud of you.”
“Because I sat still?”
He presses a kiss to my lips. “No, because you’re brave, and I dig that about you.”
“You’re the sweetest man.” My heart rate accelerates ten-fold. “I want you, Bronc. I want you right now.”
“Glasses on or off?” he teases.
I kiss him this time, deepening it when I part my lips and my tongue seeks his. “On,” I pant. “I want you, hurry.”
We’re all hands as he rips his t-shirt off at the same time I lose my tank and my bra. He doesn’t even get his jeans down all the way when he’s pulling my back to his front, gripping my ass. “I told you what I’d do to you when this was over.”
“So do it.” With my feet on the floor, I bend over the chair and stick my ass out.
He comes up behind me, yanks my shorts down, and my panties. I wiggle my butt and he groans. I turn back and his eyes meet mine. Fuck, those glasses…
“I request you wear those all the time when you’re fucking me,” I declare.
He smiles, then parts my legs with his knee, grabs his shaft and rubs it through my folds as I hiss. “So wet already,” he groans.
“That’s because I’ve been so turned on with you inking me.”
He circles my clit with his head, then he’s at my entrance, trying to push in. I stick my ass out farther, begging him with my needy pants. With one thrust, he’s deep inside me and I jolt at the movement. “So fuckin’ perfect,” he murmurs. “Wearin’ my ink, talkin’ like that.” He slides out, then rams back in.
“I love wearin’ your ink.”
“You want more of it?”
“Yes.”
He starts to move his hips and I groan, my body on fire just for him, just like it always is. We’ve been through some ups and downs, but nothing could prepare me for the love that was waiting for me all along with my best friend. He was right there for so long, I was just too blind to see. As long as I live, I’ll never stop loving him.
He helped bring me to the place that I am today, encouraging me and being an amazing friend the second I got to New Orleans. I’m more confident with him by my side, and I’m loved in his arms.
We were meant to be together, and I’ll never stop thanking my lucky stars.
Bronco
I ram in and out of my woman. She’s so damn fine. Wearing my ink and talking like that, I’m gonna come fast. “Gonna be fast, babe,” I groan. “Feels too good.”
“I can ride it and go slower, make it last.”
I spank her ass cheek and she yelps. “You callin’ the shots now?”
“You love it when I call the shots.”
I watch my cock disappearing in and out of her, and I try to hold on, but it’s too much. We fucked this morning, too, but I’ll never get enough of my girl. I ram in harder, hitting it so damn deep and she grinds back against me. “Yes, right there.”
She’s close, and when her back arches, I ride it home as she grips the seat until her knuckles turn white, moaning on a ragged breath. I follow behind, hot spurts of cum filling her as I grip her hips and hang on for dear life.
“Fuck, that was hot.”
“You railed me,” she pants.
I snicker, pulling out as I feel between her legs. “You’re gonna walk around like that for the rest of today.”
“Can I at least get a tissue?”
“No. Gotta protect your ink before you leave, and give you the proper care instructions.”
“So professional.”
I spank her ass and she yelps as I bring my fingers to her mouth and tell her to suck.
She groans and I close my eyes, breathing in the scent of her hair as I inhale. “You’re so fuckin’ perfect.”
“I love the ink,” she whispers when I pull my fingers from her mouth. She turns in my arms. “I love I have a piece of you now.”
“You’ll always have a piece of me, sugar.”
There’s no other place I want to be, aside from in her arms.
Three months later…
“Torin, pass the mash potatoes, sweetie,” my mom says as we sit around the table in my apartment. I do as she says, glancing sideways at Amber as she smiles at me.
My mom loves Amber. In fact, in the three days she’s already been here, the two have been inseparable. I know Amber misses her mom who she lost at an early age, so when Mom asked her if she’d like to have a girls’ day out of shopping and lunch, I’ve never seen her so excited. Even if my mom does tell embarrassing stories about me, I don’t care if it’s my girl's smile I get to see at the end of it.
Amber moved in a month ago, and we’ve been redecorating and making it a little less ‘bachelor pad’ and more ‘happy couple.’ New furniture was high on the agenda, including a bed, couch and turning one of the spare bedrooms into a mini library, just like the one Amber had at her house. I know how much it meant to her, so I got the Ikea bookshelves she loves so much, and put them together one day while she was at work. Fuck me if that shit is a bitch to figure out. Reading is something Amber enjoys, and while we still have our monthly book club, I really just read the books so I can hear her talk about what she liked and didn't like. Granted, I don’t always read the books, or I skip to the smutty parts, but Amber still won’t let me near her with a cucumber.
“This is delicious, sweetie,” Mom says, tucking into the roast chicken we prepared. Mom is traditional on Sundays, and what Mama says goes.
“It’s so good,” Olive agrees, stabbing a carrot like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. I know she’s giving Titan food under the table, and he’d do just about anything for chicken.
Erica smiles across at her daughter. “We’re lucky to have such amazing people in our lives.”
My mom smiles in return, patting Erica on the hand.
Well, things certainly turned around for the better. Erica got a job pretty quickly as a teacher’s aide, and she wants to finish her qualifications and teach kindergarten. It may be a while before the club gets their money back, but Erica has started a payment plan, and took on some night shifts at the Whiskey Shack Grill for some extra money. We love having Olive whenever we can. Since Erica was happy to take over the lease on Amber’s place, everything has worked out for the best. And I have my girl in my arms every single night.
Vincent is in jail, and will be for a very long time, along with Steven and several other men from the cult. They’ll get what they fucking deserve one way or the other, and frankly, I don’t have any sympathy. The sad fact is, not all of the women were like Amber and Erica and wanted to leave. They’re so brainwashed that they’ll likely stay where they are and try to rebuild their lives, or move on to another cult, probably with similar values to the one they were in because they don’t know any better. My blood boils when I think about Amber’s forced marriage and how young she was. The fucker is lucky he got caught by the cops, because what I did to that fuck face Oswald would be nothing compared to the hours I’d make Vincent suffer. Jail is too good for a sack of shit like him.
“You’ll all have to come out to my home sometime,” Mom says. “Get all that city grit out of your hair. It’ll be fun.”
Mom’s in her element, of course, because she knows Amber is the real deal. Not only have I never brought a woman home to meet my mom before, but she’s heard all about Amber for years when we were best friends.
The conversation we had when we were alone went something like this…
“I told you to follow your heart a long time ago,” she tells me, slapping me upside the head.
“Ow Mom, what was that for?”
“She could’ve been snapped up by any eligible bachelor in all this time. You have to pay better attention to your intuition. Maybe you need to unblock those chakras?”
I roll my eyes. “Ma, my chakras are fine. We found each other, didn’t we?”
Her face softens “I suppose that’s true, but I brought a rose quartz bracelet for Amber to wear, it’ll help keep your love strong and grounded. Unconditional love will open up those chakras in no time at all.”
Mom doesn’t worry if Amber may not want to wear gaudy, chunky jewelry; the thought wouldn’t cross her mind. “They’re open, Mom, trust me. We’ve already declared our feelings for one another.”
She stops what she’s doing, her eyes brimming with tears. “You’ve said ‘I love you’?”
I take a breath. I’m not usually one to confess my feelings, especially to my mom, but I thought it might keep her off my back. “I’ve always loved her,” I say simply. “It’s just expanded now, that’s all.”
She envelopes me in a big hug that I didn’t see coming, and I squeeze her back. “I’m so happy.”
“I’m very happy, too,” I confess. “Like you once told me: good things come to those who wait.”
She pulls back, wiping her tears. “Right, but don’t be so slow next time. You want to keep that girl, Torin, you’ve got to dig deep and give her all you’ve got. Promise me.”
I smile down at the tiny woman who could kill a man at ten paces. “I promise. Now pull yourself together. Amber will be here soon and she can’t wait to meet you…”
I smile, thinking about how my life has changed so much in the last three months. Things have only gotten stronger with the two of us, and even though I’ve always known Amber is a strong woman, she’s proved it more to herself than anyone else during this whole ordeal. I’m so proud of her. Overcoming trauma like that isn’t easy, and I take my hat off to her every day for putting one foot in front of the other.
I’m always gonna be an overprotective asshole, but that’s just my nature.
As Titan comes toward me, nudging me with his head, I lean to pet him behind the ears. “Good boy,” I tell him as Amber’s hand joins the other side as she chats away across the table.
A few moments later, she must feel my gaze because she turns to look at me and my lips curl up.
I love you, I mouth.
Her soft smile turns into a grin as her cheeks flush. The idea that I can still make her blush sends heat to my dick.
I love you, too, she mouths back. Always.
We’re just one big, happy family. And that’s all I’ve ever really wanted, along with the love of a good woman.
Nothing can ever compare to that.