Epilogue
The smell of dark-roast coffee filled the kitchen, rich and grounding.
I stood at the marble island of our new house, watching the early-morning sunlight filter through the trees in the backyard.
It was a sprawling, quiet property tucked away in the hills just outside the city.
We had bought it together four months ago, eager to leave the noise and the memories of downtown behind.
Taking a slow sip from my mug, I let the absolute peace of the house wash over me.
The last year had been a steady, healing transition.
The annulment had been clean and mercilessly fast. Without a dime to his name and with a federal wire fraud indictment crushing him, Daniel hadn’t even been able to secure a family lawyer to contest it.
He had defaulted entirely. Marcus pushed the petition effortlessly through the courts.
Within a few short months, the marriage was quietly and permanently struck from the public record.
Footsteps sounded softly against the hardwood stairs.
I didn’t turn around. Instead, I just waited.
A few moments later, Elias’s bare feet quietly padded over the kitchen floor.
He crossed the room, stepping up directly behind me.
Wrapping his arms securely around my waist, he pulled my back flush against his chest and buried his face in the curve of my neck.
“You’re up early,” Elias murmured, his voice a sleep-rough rumble against my skin.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I said softly, leaning my weight back into his warmth. “My mind was running through the final specs for the new commercial project.”
Elias turned me around in his arms so I was facing him.
He wore gray sweatpants, his broad chest bare, his dark hair still messy from sleep.
The sight of him—solid, warm, and entirely mine—sent a familiar rush of affection through my chest. His dark eyes were alert, filled with that intense, unwavering focus he always reserved entirely for me.
He reached out, his thumb gently tracing the line of my jaw.
“It’s Sunday, Marianne,” Elias said, his hands resting heavily on my hips. “The firm is closed. The blueprints can wait.”
“I know,” I agreed, smiling. “I’m officially off the clock.”
“Good.”
Elias boxed me in against the edge of the kitchen island. The sleepy comfort of the morning vanished, instantly replaced by pure magnetic heat. He lowered his head and captured my mouth.
The kiss started slow, a deep, thorough possession that sent a rush of electricity straight to my core. As his tongue swept past my lips, I let out a soft gasp. My hands instinctively slid up his bare chest. I tangled my fingers in the thick hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer.
Ours had not been an easy relationship. After the scars Daniel had left behind, I’d had trouble trusting and completely opening up. But Elias had been so patient, and now we had something stronger than I’d ever dreamed.
Elias broke the kiss just enough to drag his lips down my jawline. He pressed open-mouthed kisses along the sensitive skin of my neck. Gripping my waist, he lifted me effortlessly off the floor and set me down on the cool marble edge of the island.
As he stepped between my parted thighs, his hands slid under the hem of my oversized sleep shirt. Gripping the cotton fabric, he pulled it up and over my head and tossed it onto a nearby stool. Just like that, I sat before him wearing nothing but a pair of black lace underwear.
Elias leaned back slightly. His chest heaved as his dark eyes swept over me. He looked at me with a fierce hunger that made my face flush hot.
“You are so damn beautiful,” he croaked out.
As he spoke, his calloused hands traveled over my body, zeroing in on my bare breasts.
His thumbs brushed deliberately over my nipples.
He rolled the sensitive peaks between his fingers, coaxing them into tight buds.
I let out a breathless moan and arched my back, pushing myself deeper into his touch. “Elias… Yes! Touch me.”
Elias leaned down. He trailed wet kisses across my collarbone, working his way down the swell of my breast. Then, he took one pebbled nipple into his mouth. He sucked deeply, his tongue lashing against the sensitive nerve. The wet heat of his mouth already threatened to drive me insane.
I gripped his broad shoulders, my fingernails digging into his skin.
He shifted his attention to my other breast. His teeth scraped lightly, sending a sharp jolt of arousal straight down my spine.
His hands anchored me to the marble as he worshiped my body with thorough dedication.
Every pull of his mouth drew a ragged sigh from my throat.
When my knees began to tremble against his hips, Elias finally pulled back. Keeping his eyes locked fiercely on mine, he dropped to his knees on the hardwood floor.
My breath hitched. He hooked his fingers into the waistband of my lace underwear, dragging the delicate fabric slowly down my legs and tossing it onto the floor. “You have no idea what you do to me,” he said, kissing my knee.
Then, he leaned in, his hands gripping my inner thighs. He spread my legs wider apart and pressed his mouth directly against my center.
Blinding white-hot pleasure erupted through my body. I shivered in his hold, seeking more of the maddening sensation. He caught my hips, holding me perfectly still as his tongue went to work. He mapped me with long strokes, sliding directly over my clit before dipping inside to taste my slickness.
I let my head fall back, staring blindly at the kitchen ceiling.
For my entire life, I had been the one in charge.
I managed the crises, I paid the bills, and I absorbed the damage.
To surrender completely to this man—to know, down to my bones, that I was entirely safe and fiercely protected in his hands—stripped away every lingering defense I had left.
Elias alternated the deep strokes with sharp, teasing flicks. My vision was starting to blur, and every muscle in my body was quivering. “Elias,” I gasped, my voice fracturing.
He hummed in response, the rough vibration sending a delicious shockwave against my slick skin.
He slipped two fingers inside me, stretching me wide.
The dual sensation was overwhelming. The pleasure pooled hot and heavy, pulling impossibly tight in my lower stomach.
I cried out his name and fell over the edge.
A surge of intense, rolling pleasure rippled through my body. My inner walls clamped down hard around his fingers. Elias swallowed my climax, his mouth bearing down on me. He held my hips firmly in his warm grip until the very last tremor finally faded.
Then, he stood up slowly. His eyes were completely black with desire, his breathing ragged and uneven.
I leaned back on my hands, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath. Elias didn’t give me the chance. He gripped the waistband of his sweatpants and pushed them down, kicking them aside.
He was fiercely aroused, his cock rigid and thick, entirely ready for me.
He stepped back between my thighs. Wrapping his strong arms around my lower back, he pulled my hips right to the very edge of the stone. Without another word, he drove his hips forward, burying himself deep inside me.
I gasped loudly, throwing my arms around his neck as he filled me completely. He didn’t start moving right away. He just held me there, letting my body adjust to his size. His forehead rested heavily against mine. “You feel perfect,” Elias groaned, his voice thick with lust.
He began to move, pulling back almost entirely before driving deep again. The seamless slide of his body against mine sent fresh, agonizing waves of heat pooling in my stomach. I clung to his broad shoulders, my nails biting into his back as I took every inch he gave me.
My head spun with desire, with want, with how much I loved this man. Every nerve ending in my body vibrated with ecstasy. “Don’t stop,” I chanted mindlessly. “Harder!”
Elias listened to me like he always did. He reached down, hooking his forearms under my knees to lift my legs higher. The shift opened me up completely, allowing him to sink impossibly deeper.
I let out a soft, breathless moan. Elias swallowed the sound, leaning down to capture my mouth in a bruising kiss.
The pace naturally escalated, turning raw and frantic. The friction built rapidly, winding the tension tight in my lower abdomen. We stayed at the edge of the island until my breathing fractured entirely into ragged gasps.
Elias broke the kiss, his own control visibly fraying. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple. And then he stopped.
He gripped my hips, pulling back and withdrawing from me completely.
The sudden loss of his heat left me aching and empty, but Elias didn’t give me a second to protest. His hands locked onto my waist, pulling me off the edge of the stone so my bare feet hit the floor, before effortlessly spinning me around.
He pressed a broad, warm hand to the center of my back, guiding me forward.
I bent at the waist, planting my palms flat against the cool marble of the island to brace myself.
“Yes, Marianne,” Elias rasped from behind me.
“Just like that. Show me how much you want me.”
In response, I just wiggled my ass. Groaning, Elias stepped flush against my backside. He grabbed my hips and sank deeply into me from behind.
The new angle was devastating.
I cried out instantly, my fingers digging blindly into the smooth surface of the stone. He hit a sensitive sweet spot on his very first thrust, sinking deeper than he had before.
“Right there?” Elias growled.
“Yes,” I whispered, my legs trembling. “Please.”
He gave me exactly what I asked for. The pace turned savage. He pumped into me with a punishing rhythm, using the leverage of my hips to drive himself deeper. His large hands gripped my waist tight enough to leave bruises, anchoring me to the counter against the sheer physical force of his thrusts.
The raw, driving rhythm of his hips meeting mine echoed loudly off the kitchen walls. He leaned over me, his chest pressing heavy and hot against my back.
The pleasure compounded, winding tighter and tighter in my lower stomach. Stripped of all control, bent over the island, I completely surrendered to the moment. The tension pulled to an agonizing peak.
When the second climax hit me, it was a full-body release that rippled violently through my core. My body clenched around his cock, milking him dry.
Elias let out a guttural shout. He drove his hips forward one final time, burying himself to the hilt. The muscles in his arms trembled as he filled me with his seed. And just that feeling—the rightness I felt when he came inside me—made me come all over again.
For a few moments, I almost blacked out. Sheer stubbornness made me cling to consciousness, allowing me to savor every gasping cry and shudder of pleasure. And every moment of it was more precious to me than I could ever say.
Slowly, the frantic beating of my heart leveled out. Elias slumped forward, his chest resting completely against my back. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his breath hot against my skin as he fought for air.
He didn’t pull away. He slid his arms around my stomach, pulling me back flush against him, keeping our bodies entirely connected as we leaned together over the marble island. “I love you, Marianne,” he whispered.
I reached down, resting my hand over his where it lay flat against my stomach. “I love you, too.”
The morning sun poured through the massive windows directly in front of us.
Bright, warm light spilled into the kitchen, across the hardwood floor.
The exhaustion, the betrayals, and the paranoia of my old life were completely gone.
I closed my eyes, listening to the steady beat of his heart against my back.
For the first time in my life, I was unconditionally protected, deeply loved, and completely free.