Epilogue
“Baby girl, hold still for me. Just a few more minutes.” Jade had said that at least three times already, but I nodded and shut my eyes tightly while I tried to breathe through the pain.
She’d been thrilled when I told her I wanted a tattoo, my first, and that I wanted her to put it on me.
I wanted something that reminded me of her, and I knew it was bad luck to get super-specific couple tattoos, but I felt like this was vague enough that it’d be fine.
Not that I felt like there was truly anything I could get that would hurt us; we were solid.
To the point where I was putting some money aside to save up for a ring.
Was it too soon? Probably, but what about our relationship wasn’t?
I mean, they say when you know, you know, and with Jade, I knew.
She’s my sweetheart, even though she was stabbing me and causing me immense pain at the moment.
“I did warn you, princess,” she said, not glancing away from her work when I flinched again.
She’d warned me the hip was not a fun area to get tattooed, but I just thought it was gonna look so cute there.
The black feathers, like a continuation of the ones falling from her angel tattoo on her arm.
I’d also asked her to design something for me.
Remembering how she’d complained before about not getting to do as many expressive or creative pieces as she liked.
Although I did slightly regret that currently as I ground my teeth together.
She was in an area that felt like she was digging into my bone, and I was trying my best not to squirm again.
One of her hands slid down to smack my ass when I twitched, causing me to squeak, and then blood rushed to my cheeks when I thought about the other people in the shop overhearing.
Jade laughed in a teasing tone, and I gave her an angry look that she seemed to ignore.
Despite the pain, the entire ordeal was sexy.
Like I’d brought her food or coffee before while she was working and seen her in action, but being the one all her attention was on was even hotter.
She just looked so confident in her element like this.
Not to mention, her free hand kept rubbing my thigh whenever she pulled the needle away momentarily.
Pretty sure I was wet between my thighs despite the pain I was in, which was kind of embarrassing.
Part of me thought she already knew my predicament and planned to tease me about it later.
I could only hope she did, because it wasn’t something I wanted to outright admit.
“Done,” Jade stated, and thank fuck was all I could think before sitting up.
Without looking at my new ink, I got up from the table and started walking over to the floor-length mirror in Jade’s booth.
I took in the black feathers cascading down my left hip and upper thigh.
I loved them! They looked so pretty and just like the ones on Jade’s arm.
My cheeks flushed again, and for some reason I wanted to cry, happy tears of course.
I just never thought I’d do something like this, and to have my super hot girlfriend give it to me made it all just so unreal.
“It’s so beautiful, Jade, I absolutely love it! You’re so amazing,” I told her, walking back over to pull her into my arms.
“Mm,” she murmured against my lips. “I’m glad you like it.”
She gave me a few gentle kisses before making me sit down so she could apply some ointment to my new tattoo. Leaning back into my space, she kissed the skin below my ear, causing me to shiver.
“Did I make you wet?” she whispered, and I suddenly felt lightheaded. I knew she would know somehow. I had to have some tell I didn’t know about.
“Ye…yes,” I replied, swallowing thickly. She kissed my ear, teasing the lobe with her tongue before pulling away.
“Let’s go back here for a minute,” she said, pulling me behind her toward the office.
“Jade, someone could walk in,” I told her, both nervous and excited by her train of thought.
“Hey Gabe,” Jade shouted, capturing her business partner’s attention quickly. He pulled the needle away from his client and looked up to meet Jade’s gaze. “Don’t come back here for a bit, private meeting.” Gabriel snorted before focusing back on his work. My face was cherry red at this point.
“I can not believe you just did that!” I told her, trying to calm my racing heartbeat.
“Believe it, princess. Now sit on the desk and lean back for me.”
It took about a month of us driving back and forth, mostly me since I could work from anywhere, for us to realize that we should just move in with each other.
And I definitely wasn’t sad to get out of my old apartment, especially when it meant moving in with Jade, into her boldly decorated house that always smelled of woodsy amber.
And it was only about a month after that I landed an interview at one of the local TV stations.
I still couldn’t believe they hired me with so little experience, but my new boss, Becky, stated she loved my enthusiasm and passion for the job.
And I was passionate; hell, just knowing I’d never look at an insurance claim again was enough to get me out of bed in the mornings.
The station was also a little desperate to fill the anchor position that had been open for a few months, but hey, I kept telling myself it was because I was just that girl.
And despite our conflicting schedules throughout the week, me working early mornings and Jade working late nights, we always had our weekends.
Jade quit working on Saturdays so we could spend time together—a perk of being her own boss.
She was absolutely the sweetest, my love.
I could not wait to see her when she got home from work tonight.
Knowing we could sleep in together tomorrow morning had put me in a great mood all day.
Jumping onto the interstate as I left the office, I answered the incoming call.
“Hey Lib!” Jana’s ever-perky voice came through.
“Hey Jana, how’s it going?” She filled me in on her healthy client list, just like she did every time we talked.
Each time I’d made the trip to see her, she always showered me with new clothes for my job, claiming to be my biggest fan and always watching my news reports online, despite not living in Riley.
She was an amazing friend and had ultimately been really supportive of my move.
Of course, there were tears shed on both sides; she was the only thing I missed about living there.
But ultimately, I think we both saw how badly I wanted to move to Riley.
And I was so proud of her when she told me she'd sought counseling for what had happened in her childhood. She deserved to heal from it all. I’d been trying to get her to come visit, even telling her we could hang out without Jade.
It was silly that I still had to say things like that, but I would not get between them anymore.
I loved them both, and that was that.
“Hey, princess.” Jade wrapped her arms around my shoulders from behind, leaning over the back of the couch to kiss my cheek.
“Mm,” I hummed, face brightening up at her touch.
It was still surreal to have this new life with her. One where I did what made me happy. Loving Jade was typically what did the trick. She walked around the couch, and before she could sit beside me, I pulled her onto my lap. I kissed her soft, plump lips, having missed them since this morning.
“Work okay?” she asked between kisses. I nodded against her mouth, not wanting to talk about anything right now. Just wanted to get my fill of her for a minute. Not that I could ever truly get enough. “Eager tonight?” She asked in a sultry tone that made my cheeks flare with heat.
“Just missed you, sweetheart,” I told her, finally pulling back some, but keeping my arms firmly around her middle.
“I missed you too,” she responded with a smile, one that made me want to kiss her silly all over again.
By the time we had truly vegged out on the couch under the pink and white stripped blanket I'd finally finished knitting, eaten our weight in Chinese takeout, and watched several Jane Austen movies—she was so good to me—I was exhausted and ready to shower and head to bed. Jade threw out the trash and wiped the counters down while I started the water for us. She insisted that showering together saved money on our water bill. Which she also wouldn’t allow me to help pay, but I wasn’t complaining.
The last six months had been filled with long, peaceful sleeps.
It was as if my body was making up for the no sleep I got during that terrible patch in time.
And it was also because Jade cuddled me every night.
I always woke up in her arms, or at-least touching her in a few different spots.
Currently, I was cuddled against her chest, our legs tangled together.
I shifted onto my side until I could see her face, still clinging to sleep in the early morning light.
It had been a while since I had woken her up the way I was envisioning, but it was my favorite way.
I’m pretty sure it was her favorite too, especially when it was earlier than she usually woke up. She’d sleep in everyday if she could.
Shuffling underneath the covers, I made my way to her center while kissing along her pubic bone.
Slowly, I started sliding my tongue through her folds, wanting her to wake up peacefully and not too abruptly.
It took only another few seconds for her to twitch, then moan, and then call out my name while her hands found my hair under our comforter.
When she came for me, I made my way back up to her side so I could kiss her perfect, freshly fucked face. She was so adorable in the mornings, always looking grumpy even when she never acted that way. My sweetheart was always kind to me.
“My turn, princess,” Jade added with a nipping kiss to my bottom lip.