EPILOGUE TWO
KASHTON
EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER
Bringing the car to a stop, I get out, grabbing the items off the passenger seat. Entering our house, I place the bouquet of flowers in the center of the kitchen island while I fill the vase with water.
I get my wife fresh flowers once a week. It’s something that she once hated but now loves.
Placing them in the vase, I put it on the dining room table. The curtains are open, giving the room ample sun for them.
“MOM?” Kennedy hollers rushing into the kitchen.
“She’s in the bedroom,” I inform our daughter.
She huffs, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “I need to borrow her heels for tonight.”
“Where are you going?” Kaidyn questions his sister, throwing his backpack onto the counter.
“I’m not telling you.” She bites a piece off her banana. “Because you’re not invited.”
He snorts. “If there’s a party, I’ll be invited.”
Rolling her eyes, she places her cell on the kitchen island.
“Did someone yell for me?” my wife asks, entering the kitchen.
She’s got her hair up in a messy bun and is wearing one of my T-shirts that hangs off one shoulder.
The lack of bra makes my mouth water. My eyes drop to her tan legs, and she clears her throat to get my attention.
I quickly glance at her neck to see if I left bruises last night.
I smile when there’s nothing there other than the necklace I gave her last year for our anniversary.
“The flowers are beautiful. Thank you.” She gives me a bright smile.
“You’re welcome, angel.” I kiss her cheek.
“I did.” Kennedy turns to face her mother, answering her previous question. “Can I still borrow your heels? The red ones that appear to lace up the back?” She puts her hands in a praying position and sticks out her bottom lip.
“Of course. Whatever you want.”
“Thank you. Thank you.”
“You know she’s just going to ruin them,” Kaidyn tells his mother. “Why do you want Mom’s anyway? You have an entire closet full of your own.”
Kennedy ignores her brother, and he snatches a piece of her banana. “Hey. Get your own.”
“See how that works?” he points out, and she shoves him.
I tune them out and focus on my wife. “Good morning, angel.” I pull her into me and lower my lips to her neck, kissing her soft skin while my hands squeeze her ass. Her cell starts to ring, and I allow her to step back.
“Hello?” she answers and walks away. “Yes. We’ll be there.” Eve nods to herself. “Would you like me to bring you anything? I’ll stop on my way…perfect. See you soon.” Hanging up, she puts her cell on the counter.
“Who was that?” I ask.
Her eyes slide to our kids and then back to me before she checks her watch. “You two are going to be late for school.”
“You’re not riding with me,” Kaidyn informs his sister.
“What?” She stomps her foot. “Why? I have to finish my makeup on the way.”
“Because they’re going to send you home. Your skirt is too short.” He looks at Eve. “Tell her, Mom. There’s a reason we wear uniforms.”
“I just rolled it up a couple of times,” Kennedy argues.
“I don’t care. I’m not leaving school when they send you home,” Kaidyn informs her.
“If they send me home, I can drive your car,” she says in a duh voice. “And just go back and pick you up at the end of the day.”
He shakes his head. “No. Last time you drove it, you blew two tires.”
“That…was not my fault,” she argues. Her phone beeps on the island.
Kaidyn looks down at it. “Why is Halston sending you a picture of his wiener?”
“What?” I bark, pushing off the counter.
Her eyes narrow on her brother, and she snatches her cell to hold it in my face. “It’s Penny. Their dachshund. She had her puppies last week, remember? He sent me a pic of them.” She rolls her eyes at her brother. “Don’t go through my phone.”
“I didn’t,” he points at it. “You left it on the table with the message open.”
“You guys are going to be late,” Eve reminds them and adds, “Kennedy, unroll your skirt. You can’t afford another dress code violation before graduation.”
“Fine.” She shoots daggers at her brother as if her mother wouldn’t have noticed had he not said anything.
Both walk over to Eve, giving her a kiss and hug goodbye before Kennedy gives me one as well. Kaidyn reaches out his fist, and I bump it with mine. “Have a great day at school,” I call out.
“Be nice and make new friends,” Eve adds with an encouraging smile.
Kaidyn snorts and Kennedy just smiles. It’s the same thing Eve always tells them. In a world full of monsters, we’ve raised our kids to be kind and caring.
They hurry out the door, arguing, and I turn to my wife. “Where were we?” I ask, pulling her into me.
“That was Elli on the phone.” She looks up at me, answering my previous question now that the kids are gone. “Calling to see if we’re coming in today.”
“Of course,” I assure her.
Ellington finished school and became a licensed sex therapist years ago. My wife was her first patient and has been seeing her ever since.
“If you can’t make it…”
“I’ll be there.” I’ve never missed a single appointment.
Ellington knows every intimate detail about our marriage. She’s helped my wife a lot over the years.
It was rough when Eve first started seeing Elli.
The more Everett talked about her past, the more she began to remember.
My wife went so long denying herself pleasure due to years of being raped and abused.
But she also craves physical intimacy. To know that not only do I love her, but I’m also sexually attracted to her.
And there’s nothing sexier than her on her knees begging me to fuck her.
But that doesn’t mean it was or still is easy for her.
I may treat her like my dirty angel, but I show her all day every day that I love her.
My cell goes off, and she pulls away so I can remove it from my pocket. She glances at it and arches a brow when I hit Ignore. “I’ll call him back.”
She eyes me skeptically and I kiss her forehead. “Go get ready for me.”
“Kash—”
“I’m going to play with you, angel.” I inform her and watch her pretty eyes go heavy. “Go get ready for me,” I repeat and slap her ass when she turns, exiting the kitchen.
Everett spent every day at Carnage with Laura throughout the pregnancy.
At the same time, she was studying. Before our kids were born, she got her GED.
I was so proud of her. Eve worked so hard and came so far.
She didn’t need it, but it was something she wanted for herself.
I surprised her with a party at Janice’s.
I had never seen her happier to spend the night celebrating with her friends and family.
I exit the kitchen and walk down the hallway to our primary suite, passing all the photos that she’s hung on the wall over the years.
Our kids know that their mommy didn’t carry them in her belly, but that doesn’t make her any less of a mother. It wasn’t easy, and there were times we weren’t sure we’d get to become parents. We might have two kids, but we’ve got a big family.
My wife has helped plan birthday parties, holiday dinners, and family vacations over the years with people that have always been there for us.
Saint and I agreed a long time ago to never leave Ashtyn and Eve in a room alone.
For the most part, they get along, but my wife still has her temper, and Ashtyn is just Ashtyn. Better safe than sorry.
We have dinner with Haidyn and Charlotte at least once a week, but of course we see them every day since we live right next door to one another.
I still make sure that she gets one-on-one time with her brother.
They’re very close, and I couldn’t be more at ease knowing she has him in case something was to happen to me tomorrow.
I enter our bedroom and see Mini lying on the bed.
She hisses as I walk by. Haidyn, being the nice big brother he is, got my wife an F1 Savannah cat.
At first, I thought it was cute. Then it just continued to grow.
Now I’m feeding it raw meat and watching my back when I get near it.
I swear the thing is big enough to suffocate me while I sleep.
It even has a leash for when we take it for walks.
I remind Haidyn every day of how much I don’t like him.
And he reminds me that it’s as close to a dog as you can get with a cat—it’s trainable.
The bathroom door opens and my wife steps into the doorway, placing her hands on the trim, showing me what’s mine.
She’s fucking stunning.
She’s dressed in nothing more than black thigh-high fishnets and a pair of designer heels.
Her faint scars are a reminder of what I almost lost. “Come here,” I order and she drops her arms, strutting toward me—one red bottom in front of the other, swaying her hips.
She’s teasing me, knowing I’m going to take my belt to her ass.
The naughty smile on her face tells me she knows exactly what she’s doing.
Coming to a stop, I brush her hair off her shoulder so I can see her breasts. Dropping my hand, I run my tatted knuckles over her hard nipples, and she pushes her chest into me, letting out a moan.
“I’m going to make you beg for it, angel.”
She whimpers, her lashes falling to her cheeks. “Please?”
“Just like that,” I assure her. Grabbing her hand, I walk her back through the bathroom and into our closet.
Going over to the far wall, I press in a code, and a secret door opens.
Eve needed a place to be my dirty angel.
With kids, we knew our sex life would be limited, but my wife isn’t the kind of woman who wants to make love.
We’ve done it before, but she requires more than that. She needs to be owned. Used.
So while building this house, we added a basement. One that only we can access. A place where we can work on her training. Therapy helps, but my wife needs more than that.