Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER…
In the hearth, a log snapped and shifted, shooting sparks.
Abbie snuggled closer to Wilder as she considered the change wrought by the last six months. After two years of roughing it, she was finding it difficult to adjust to the comforts of regular life—other than hot showers! Now she took extra-long ones. Fuck the water bill.
“Your mind’s buzzing again,” he murmured sleepily as he hugged her tighter and buried his face in her hair. “Nightmares?”
“Not really.” She ran a hand along his side, up his rib cage, to rest over his heart.
The steady beat was calming, reassuring her that this wasn’t another phantom dream.
Wilder was as real as she was. “It’s been half a year, and I still can’t get used to a plush mattress. What does that say about me?”
“You like it hard,” he deadpanned.
She snorted, trailing her hand downward, finding his arousal, and stroking it lovingly. “That goes without sayin’, cowboy.” His moan made her grin. “Can I just say how much I appreciate your willingness to make up for lost time?”
“I aim to please, Fire Cat.”
Abbie groaned. “Not you, too! I’m never living that nickname down.”
Wilder chuckled. “I’ve seen you in action—in every way—and can say with all truthfulness, Royal nailed it.”
“Part of me loves that you’re friends now, but I also hate when you gang up on me.”
His bark of laughter echoed in the room. “We have to if we want to win an argument. Not that we ever do now that your smartass father is hanging around for every meal.”
“He says he’s making up for the years we didn’t get. Personally, I think he likes a home-cooked meal.”
“Yeah, having Royal move in was the smartest decision we could make. The man’s an ace in the kitchen.”
Abbie gave him a faux sour look. “You’re more in love with him than me.”
“No, just his baked chicken and homemade applesauce. Oh, and the focaccia. And maybe—”
She pinched him.
“Ouch!” He rubbed his abused nipple. “He’s got nothing on your baking, Fire—”
“Don’t you say it, Wild Man. Not if you want to live another minute.”
Rolling atop her, he pinned her arms over her head. “Hmm, I think you secretly like having two men around to spoil you. Him in the kitchen, and me in the bedroom."
Abbie wiggled, parting her legs to cradle his hips. “And still, you deny my request for a threesome.”
“Not funny,” he growled. “I don’t want to be forced to kill our chef and future climbing partner.”
Climbing partner. Something she no longer was.
Suddenly, she didn’t feel like teasing anymore, and she focused on the blazing fire.
Sensing her withdrawal, Wilder released her hands, sat back on his heels, and lifted her to straddle him. He hugged her to him so tightly she feared it might limit her ability to breathe. But the closeness was precisely what she needed.
“We’ll climb again, Abbie. When you’re ready.”
“It’s our job, Wild Man. How can I train others and teach them to be calm when I can’t work through my own trauma?”
Her panic attacks had been crippling to her career, and if it hadn’t been for Royal taking up the slack, their business would be bankrupt by now.
Somehow, she had to find a way to overcome her fear of falling and failing others.
To reestablish confidence instead of hesitating before doing the small, physical things that once came easily—tying knots, balancing, reaching high shelves.
“You fell, not once, but twice, and still, you were willing to go back to the summit to kick Morcunt’s ass. That’s not nothing, sweetheart.”
As she met his understanding gaze, her love for him grew.
Wilder Thorne was her greatest cheerleader, and his unwavering support fueled her desire to be whole again.
Yes, Damian had removed her scars, repairing the muscle and bone that never healed properly, but he hadn’t been able to take away her newly developed fear of heights.
“What if I can never climb again?”
“We’ll face that mountain when we come to it,” he assured her.
She laughed. “I see what you did there.”
“I’m crafty like that.”
Feeling oddly vulnerable under his steady stare, Abbie glanced down at the engagement ring on his pinky. “How did Bart miss this?”
“I’m not complaining. This has been on my finger since you put it there, and it’s never coming off unless you take it off.” He dropped a light kiss on her nose. “Even then, I’ll fight you for it.”
“We should make it official, don’t you think?” She lifted her gaze to his, grinning at his surprise. “It’s been twelve years, counting the two you remained faithful to a dead woman.”
“You were never dead, Abbie.” He touched his heart. “Not here, where it mattered.”
Taking his hand, she placed it on her chest. “Or here, where it mattered. My inner self always remembered you, Wild Man, and it always will.”
“True soulmates,” he agreed.
“True soulmates.” Threading her fingers through his thick, dark hair, she drew his head down to hers. And just before sealing it with a kiss, she added, “Forever and always.”
One week later, Wilder pulled to a stop in the parking lot of their climbing center. Through the storefront window, he caught a glimpse of Abbie, grinning at Quentin, who looked to be teasing her again. The two had become as close as siblings raised at birth, and he couldn’t be happier for them.
“She’s close.”
He glanced at Royal, who had their morning coffee order in hand. “Yeah, I think so too, but I’ve no intention of pushing her until she’s one hundred percent ready. That’s how mistakes happen.”
“Absofuckinglutely.” Royal swung open the Jeep’s door and, right before exiting, said, “But between you, Quentin, and me, yeah, we’re three badass mofos, Wild Man. We’re not letting her fall.” With promise in his eyes, he said, “You either, bro. I take my job as Protector seriously.”
Wilder snorted as he got out and snagged one of the to-go cups. “We’re a job to you now?”
“More like a trial,” Royal quipped.
A flashy sports car pulled in beside them, and an adorable mess of a woman with a Gucci-backpack-sporting dog climbed out.
“Jesus! Is that an Audi RS E-tron GT?” Royal asked hoarsely. “I don’t know who that girl is, but I’m marrying her.”
“Too bad so sad, man. According to Cole, she’s already got a loser, er, I mean boyfriend.”
Royal shot him a sharp glance. “Is he someone we can drop from a cliff?”
Wilder mid-coffee sip choked, earning a pounding on the back.
“Too soon, bro?” Royal asked innocently.
“Why did I hire you?”
“Abbie adores me.” They followed the petite woman with the riot of dark purple curls and idiot-looking Frenchie. “So your brother knows her, huh? Think he’ll introduce me?”
“No. He’ll gut you like a fresh trout.” And it was true. Cole was crazy about Luna Lovett. She was the only one who couldn’t see it. “But he might look favorably on you if you removed the competition.”
“Ah, you damned Thornes and your ‘only love once’ crap. It’s not fair you snag all the good ones.”
Wilder laughed. “You don’t even know Luna.”
“True, but with a fucking ride like that, what more do I need to know?”
Cole joined them on the tail of Royal’s comment. “You can know that I’ll gut you like a trout,” he growled.
“Already told him, brother-mine,” Wilder said with a grin for Royal’s displeasure. “He’s lamenting the fact that we get all the best women.”
Cole’s eyes drifted across the lobby, landing on his quirky best friend. “Yeah, well, it will take Isis coming down and bopping Luna over the head to wake her up to the fact that I want to be more than just friends.”
“So there’s still a chance for me!” Royal grinned and handed over a coffee, which Luna promptly sailed across the room and swiped from Cole’s hand, depositing the bug-eyed Baxter in its place.
When her gaze landed on Royal, her smile widened appreciatively. “Oh! Hi! I’m Luna—”
“Goddammit!” Cole unceremoniously hauled her away.
“Was it something I said?” Royal quipped.
Wilder laughed. “I can’t say I don’t have the same urge when Abbie speaks to you.”
“Can I help it if women love a bad boy?”
“Shut up and get the gear ready, Outlaw Joe. You have a client in five.”
“Yessir, Mr. Wilder. I’ll get right on that, sir!” he said with a tug of an invisible hat brim.
“Jerk.”
Laughing, Royal strolled away, pausing to hand off the last two cups of coffee to Abbie and Quentin. With a wicked grin, he swept her into a hug and laid a smacking kiss on her lips.
Wilder made a mental note to cut the rope on their next climb.
Thanks for taking the time to read DISCOVERED MAGIC.