Epilogue
Sienna
"I want to take you somewhere tonight."
I look up from my book to find Sol standing in the doorway of the library, but he seems slightly off. His forehead is creased, his body tense, his tail coiling and uncoiling behind him. Why is he so nervous?
I set the book aside and go to him. The moment I'm close enough, he scoops me up, and I kiss him deeply until I feel the tension drain from his body.
"Better?"
He chuckles, nuzzling my neck. "I can't hide anything from you, can I?"
"Nope." I trace my fingers along his jaw. "Now where are we going?"
He kisses my head. "Now that is a surprise, and no, you're not going to get it out of me."
I pout. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me?"
"Absolutely, now go." He smacks my ass and sets me down.
I'm still laughing as I head to our bedroom where I find he's pulled out a couple of new dresses with matching coats. I run my fingers over the fabric, smiling. He's always so considerate.
Forty minutes later, I'm bundled in a warm emerald-green coat and scarf that matches the embellishments of the black sparkling dress underneath, waiting for Sol on the balcony. When he joins me wearing a matching green suit I grin.
"How did you know?"
He smirks. "I peeked."
I laugh and smack his chest. "That's cheating."
He catches my hand and kisses it softly. "It was worth it."
Something about the way he says it—like he's not just talking about the outfit—makes my heart flutter. Then he wraps me in his arms, his wings spread wide, and he takes off, making me squeal in delight.
Flying with Sol is wondrous. The city shrinks beneath us until there's nothing but us and the stars in the night sky.
We fly out over the ocean until a beam of light appears. Sol angles us downward toward a cliff overlooking the water, bathed in the soft glow of the moon.
He lands gently but doesn't let me down. Carrying me until we reach a path covered in rose petals surrounded in candlelight.
"Sol," I breathe. "This is beautiful."
He ducks his head, and when he takes my hand, I feel the faintest tremor running through his fingers. "I hoped you'd like it."
I lace our fingers together and smile up at him. "How could I not? Thank you for doing this for me."
The smile he gives me is tight. I open my mouth to ask him what's wrong but close it as he starts to lead me down the path. With every step the candlelight grows until we stop in front of an arch decorated in dozens of roses and white glittering candles.
I gasp at the sight, my hands flying to my mouth as I try to take it all in.
Sol turns me to him, slowly gets down on one knee, pulling out a small box.
Oh.
Oh.
"Sienna," he says softly, taking my shaking hand in his, "For a long time I wondered why I was made.
I didn't understand what my life's meaning could be, or if I even had one, but selfishly, I hoped I did.
I hoped that there was a purpose to all of this, that if I just waited long enough I'd find it.
" He wets his lips and swallows hard. "Luckily, I was right.
My life's meaning, my purpose in this world, I see all of it every time I look at you. "
Tears blur my vision. "Sol—"
Gently, he wipes them away. "Sienna, my precious dawn, we've already pledged to spend our lives together, but the day we did, there was a promise I made to you.
That if I would have found you first it would have been my ring on your finger, my house that you would make a home.
My arms that you would sleep in, that the person by your side would be me.
I want to keep that vow with you, and I want this ring to be a symbol of it, of my love and devotion for you.
Of the kindness, thoughtfulness, dedication, peace, and joy that you bring into my life every day and that I will always strive to bring into yours.
Sienna Nicole Gallagher, will you marry me? "
I start nodding before he even finishes. Then I fall to my knees, and he catches me. I'm half crying, half laughing as I wrap my arms around him, kissing every inch of his face. "Yes," I say, my voice shaky and breathless. "Yes, Sol. A thousand times yes!”
The tension in his expression finally eases and he gives me the most brilliant, radiant smile I've ever seen. He laughs with me, a single tear rolling down his cheek that I wipe away as he slips the ring on my finger.
I barely noticed it before—too caught up in him—but it is fucking gorgeous and unlike anything I've ever seen. An oval diamond sits at its center, surrounded by white diamonds fanning outward in delicate rays, some longer than others creating an effect of a sunrise breaking over the horizon.
"This is… Sol, this is so beautiful," I whisper.
"You like it, truly?"
I laugh and kiss his forehead. "How could I not? It's perfect. You're perfect."
He pulls me to him, cups the back of my neck and kisses me. Kisses me as if I'm a balm to his nerves, the air he needs to breathe, as if there's still a small piece of him that's unsure if this is real. And I understand what he's feeling so well because I feel it too.
How could I not?
I used to think love was loud. That it needed constant reassurance. Proof, over and over, that someone wanted me. I thought I needed words to fill every silence, touch to remind me I wasn't alone. Validation to convince me I was enough.
But I was wrong.
Looking into his eyes I’m reminded that love, real love, is quiet, yet so sure there’s no room for doubt.
It’s in the way he holds me every morning, how he remembers every small thing I've ever told him.
It's the way he's kneeling in front of me right now, beaming, as if I'm the one who just gave him the best moment of my life.
I spent so long believing I wasn't enough. That I had to earn love through sacrifice, through shrinking myself, through being whatever someone else needed me to be. But not anymore.
Sol loves me for exactly who I am. Not despite my flaws, but with them. All of them. And I love him just the same.
I pull back just enough to look at him. The candlelight catches the amber burning in his eyes, the way his breath is unsteady, and suddenly, I need him. I need there to be nothing between us, to feel him everywhere, against my skin, in the deepest parts of my heart and soul.
"Sol," I whisper, like a plea.
His gaze drops to my mouth, his grip tightening on my waist, as he makes a low, desperate sound in his throat.
I don't know which one of us moves first, only that I melt into his kiss. His hands are in my hair, pulling down the pins I used in my bun until it falls down my back.
I push off his suit jacket, and when I struggle with the buttons of his shirt, he rips it off for me. The action makes me whimper. I want that urgency, that aggression on me, in me right now.
I go to drop my coat, but Sol catches it around my shoulders first. "You'll be cold without it," he says, his voice husky and deep.
"Keep me warm then," I whisper.
He growls and the moment it drops he pulls me against him again.
He kisses my neck and shoulders, as he pushes the straps down. I undo his belt and the closure of his pants. When I reach inside of his boxers and free him, he moans.
He's already fully erect for me and I'm soaking wet. I don't want tenderness nor do I need him to ease me into it. I want him just like this.
I put my hand on my chest and gently push him back until he's sitting on the floor. Then I lift my dress above my hips and motion to my underwear. "Take them off."
He smirks at my order, slips his talon underneath the lace, and crooks his finger, pulling me by them. Then he rips them off, sending another surge of wetness right to my core. "What else would you like, my goddess?"
I blush at his words, but they embolden me. I glance down to his hot, pulsing cock. "Hold him."
He does and I sink down pausing right above him before I tilt my hips, and take his head inside.
"Fuck." Sol's head falls back as he swallows hard. "Sienna—"
Holding onto his shoulders, I adjust my stance and take him deeper.
He fills me, stretches me, until it feels like he'll all but split me in two. And yet I still take more of him. Sol grips my hips pulling me down as he pushes upward, seating me fully on his cock. Then he moves.
He isn't gentle, he's hard, rough, thrusting inside of me. He pulls my breasts free of my gown and bra and feasts on them. Kissing, licking, sucking, and biting them until I can't think straight. All I know is him, all I feel is him.
He fucks me with abandon and my hips roll against his.
I sink my nails into his back, and he hisses as he bites every inch of my skin. I hold his head to my neck, my fingers in his hair, as I brace my hand on his thigh and move my hips faster, circling and rolling against his, and he moans my name.
I do it more as he squeezes my back, and fucks me harder, faster, within an inch of my life. His tail slides between us, vibrating against my clit and I keen.
"Beautiful," he growls. "I love hearing you cry out for me, to see you in ecstasy."
The coil of his tail works me in tight circles while I ride him, the dual sensation almost too much. I'm gasping, moaning, as he works me higher and higher.
"Sol—" I'm close, so close, but I can't quite get there. My rhythm falters, my legs shaking. "I can't—I need—"
"I know what you need."
He pushes me on my back, rips my gown, then rams inside me.
I cry out, cry his name, wrap my arms and legs as tight as I can around him, so that nothing can separate us.
He braces himself on his elbows, keeping his full weight off me, as his wings lay beside me, shielding me from the cold. Kissing me over and over as he rams into me, the warmth of his body surrounds me, the sounds of our sex mixing with the crashing waves against the cliffs and the howling wind.
"You have no idea," he growls against my lips, "what you do to me."
"Show me," I demand. "Give me all of you, Sol."
"You want it?" He growls, breathing hard, his forehead pressed against mine. "Then I'll give you every drop, and if any of it leaks out, I'll push it back in."
His words are my undoing, I come immediately, crying out his name, but he doesn't stop. He lifts my hips then shoves his suit jacket in a wrinkled ball under them for leverage, driving into me so hard he steals my breath.
"Yes," I sob. "Yes, yes!"
He sets a brutal pace, his hips slapping against mine furiously.
His hand wraps around my throat, choking me as he whispers in my ear, "This is what you wanted, isn't it? For me to show you how crazy you make me?"
"Yes."
His tail never stops working my clit. He fucks me harder, his balls slapping against my ass, his grip tightening on my thigh.
"Please," I gasp. "Please, Sol, I—"
"Come for me." He drives deeper, harder, hitting something inside me that turns my vision white. "Come for me, Sienna. Now."
I shatter.
The orgasm rips through me like a hurricane. My body arches up into him, as I scream out my release.
My pussy clamps down on him and he roars, the sound guttural and triumphant, as he follows me over. His cock pulses inside me, his wings snapping wide as he spills inside me and gives me his knot.
I feel each stream of his come and I squeeze around him, milking him, wanting everything he can give me. And for that, he kisses me, rubs my clit, grinds himself against me until I come again.
We collapse together, him still buried inside me, his weight warm and heavy against my body while he pants in my ear. “That… was not what I planned for this evening."
I laugh, breathlessly. "Did I ruin your romantic proposal?"
"You improved it immeasurably." He lifts his head to look at me, and what I see in his eyes fills me with overwhelming joy. "I love you, more than the stars in the sky or the distant galaxies, I love you, Sienna and I always will."
I tuck his long hair behind his ear, trace his jaw, and stare into his golden amber eyes. "I love you too. Thank you for being mine, for choosing me and wanting to build a life together. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me and the reason I look forward to every day."
He smiles then kisses me sweetly. "I will always choose you, Sienna, for the rest of my life."