EPILOGUE
LYING SIDE BY SIDE, facing each other, their mouths had been joined for… ever.
“How many days have we been here?” she whispered.
His fingertips trailed from her temple, sweeping aside tendrils of hair. “Not enough.”
That had been his answer the last few times the sun peeked over the horizon. Light barely made it around the blackout curtains Zairn demanded in all their suites, wherever they were in the world.
No calls. No one in sight. When they wanted food, Zairn used the hotel app to request room service, which was left at the suite door. Never another soul in sight. Everything they needed whenever they needed it. And at the top of that list…
“One more day,” she whispered. “I’ll always want one more day with you all to myself.”
“You’ll always get it.”
The world still turned. Whatever was going on out there, Zairn didn’t want them to know. She’d said he could charge his phone. That he could meet if people needed him. And his reply every time: “You get me all to yourself.”
“Feels like we just met,” she murmured.
“Every moment with you is new. I live them like they’re the first.”
And last. Because this had to be bliss. Any heavenly paradise wouldn’t beat this. Unless it meant never parting to eat or shower… okay, so they’d been doing even those together too.
“Think the world is worried?”
“I don’t care about the world.” The deft, light touch of his fingers awoke so much more than her heart. “I got all I need right here.”
“Rouge needs you.”
“You want to get out of here?” he asked, teasing her with another soft kiss.
Everything in her wanted to exist there. Only there. “Better call Hatfield, tell him Roxiverse won’t happen.”
“It can happen.”
“Always knew I’d get my cheap porno life out of our relationship.”
Zairn’s mouth just grazed hers. “That beach sounds like a fine place to be right now.”
“Jane and Knox have Crimson Isle all to themselves.”
That island had a lot to answer for in Jane and Knox’s relationship. Agreeing to cut that place off from the rest of the world was the least they could do for their best friends. Call it a wedding present no one else could give.
The where mattered less to them than it might to others.
LA was special to their relationship, a lot of places meant something to them.
At the end of the day, though, after their wedding, their reception, their short evening at the club, the most important thing to them was their seclusion.
Maybe she and Sam weren’t so different after all.
He explored her features with grateful wonder. “Think we’ll be canceling this season’s bookings?”
“I think Knox will be lucky if Jane lets him leave the island before she’s pregnant.”
“Knowing Knox, she won’t have to ask.”
“Of course she won’t,” she said, pushing him onto his back to tuck herself against him. “Knox knows his girl. And Toria and I may have double-checked family was what he wanted.”
“Anyone would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to mistake what Jane sees in her future.”
“Mimi would love great grandchildren.”
“Yeah, though I’m not so sure Thena wants to be a grandmother just yet.”
“Did Caspian bring a date to the wedding?” she asked. “I didn’t get a chance to catch up with him.”
Or about a million other people.
She and Caspian had met in the past, sure, been in the same room more than once. They didn’t have time together though. She didn’t quite have a read on him where romance was concerned.
“No one serious,” Z said. “Just a plus one.”
Presentation and appearances.
Life could look like one thing and be something completely different. People might expect one behavior and get another. Lifestyle progressed. Someone who knew Zairn ten or fifteen years ago, and hadn’t seen him since then, would probably be surprised to see what he was today.
“Do you think about it?”
“Caspian’s sex life?” he asked, silently mocking her. “I think more about yours.”
Tracing her hand down his ribs, she pressed her fingers deep into his hip, then relaxed them to drum her fingertips across his groin.
“About other women.”
“Do I think about other women?” And he wasn’t teasing anymore. “No. Never. Why would you—”
“I don’t mean as prospective partners.” On a laugh, she boosted up to land her forehead on his for a second before rearing back. “You will never, ever get better than me, baby.”
“So why would I think about other women?”
“It’s not the women, I guess, it’s the lifestyle. Women were a huge part of your life. Different ones, every night for ten, fifteen years.”
“I gave that life up a long time before you.”
“I know, but before me, you still had the prospect of enjoying different women. Now there’s nothing but me in your nights.”
“Do you think about other men?”
Her grin did little to hide her amusement. God, she was giddy, this relationship gave more happiness than she ever could have imagined.
“That’s different.”
“Always different, Ms. Kyst.” He squeezed her waist when she sat up on him. “Enlighten me. Why is it different?”
“I’ve had one-night stands. A handful of them, maybe. You’ve had literally thousands of women.”
“You want the world’s highest scorer, you’re looking for a Dunridge.”
She shook her head, leaning forward until her hair cascaded around them. “You must’ve thought about it. Did you ever think you’d be here? One pussy for the rest of your life? You will never pick up another woman, never learn about her for the first time, never kiss her for the first time.”
Catching her hair between his fingers, it gathered as he grasped her cheeks.
“But I will have all my lasts… with you. That is something to cherish. Something far more valuable than any hollow hook-up.” The warmth in the deep blue of his eyes drew her in, mesmerizing her.
Not one ounce of doubt. Only gratitude. Appreciation.
“That part of my life was over a long time ago. Since then, I’ve been looking for you. ”
“For me?”
“Didn’t know your name back then, but you were the woman I was waiting for.”
Her eyes closed slowly as she blew out a slow breath. “Man, you’re smooth.”
“Reserved for you, baby.”
“And you already got in my pants, you are dedicated.” Rocking her hips over his, she moved like their connection was intimate. Her fingertips slid down his body until they were near the center of hers, and the thickening truth of his arousal for her. “We need a word.”
“What kind of a word? A safe word?”
“A sex word.”
“We can never have enough of those.”
“Something we can say when we want to be alone,” she said. “Roxiverse means cameras. Are you sure you want this?”
“You are good at what you do, Lo. Amazing.” No hesitation. “We’ve done this before. We started like this. Only difference now is they know you’re the star.”
“ They know?”
“Oh, I always knew you were the more captivating of the two of us. The world wants you and I can’t blame them.”
“You know this isn’t about fame.”
“They can’t get enough of you, baby. I identify with that too. Everything you are is me, is us. And I’m proud to stand beside you. I love to see you shine. I love to see you out there, doing your thing, and knowing…”
“Knowing?”
“You come home to me and I get you all to myself.”
The spread of her smile stretched. “We’re just so perfectly suited.”
“Exactly what I’ve been saying.”
“We should get married or something.”
Again, he swept her hair aside to see more of her. “You make the rules, Lola,” he said. “You want it to stop, change, you have the wheel. And if you need me to step in—which you won’t because you’re you—know I’ll respect and fight for whatever you decide.”
“I promised it wouldn’t get in the way of us or your work.”
“It’s a natural progression from your streams. Your popularity is soaring, to maximize that exposure you need an easily accessible global outlet. Somewhere everyone can find you. Do you remember my single condition?”
“Additional security, I remember.”
“You said you wouldn’t fight me on this. Your safety remains my responsibility. What I say goes, huh?”
“Yes, what you say goes.” She meant to restrain her eye roll, honestly, she did. Somehow it slipped out of its own accord. “We’ll have guests who have their own security and I’m more than covered in the club.”
“No excuses, this is a dealbreaker.”
And although she might like to tell him that her choices were her choices, this wasn’t a time to be stubborn for the sake of it. They were in this honesty and respect zone that prompted her to pause for breath. Something she couldn’t be accused of always doing.
“No excuses.”
“I won’t always be around.” Because they weren’t always in the same place. “Who are your guests?”
“We’ve got some big names,” she faux boasted. “And some old faces. Do you remember Bree?”
“The blonde you wanted to sleep with, yes.” His serious delivery earned him a shove, but his smile was a quick, defusing follow up. “And Jill.”
She’d be impressed, except he somehow never forgot anyone.
“You know we joke about Bree, but Dale actually did want to sleep with me.”
“Never heard of him. I already forgot his name.”
Remembered he forgot?
Licking her lips, she laughed. “You never feel threatened. Never. Not even a tiny bit.”
“Should I be threatened?”
She trailed a fingertip down his torso, snaking it left and right. “No, of course not. I actually…”
“Say it, Roxanna.”
“I like it. I love the power of our relationship. I love how I never look at another woman and think you might be tempted. It’s never occurred to me you might be. And I love the strength of your ego, Casanova. That you can see me with other guys and never think for a moment it means anything.”
“I have a healthy ego,” he said, stroking her arms as her fingers kept running across his flesh.
“But the security of our relationship has nothing to do with ego. You love me, Roxanna, and I trust you. Hell, even that isn’t the right word because it suggests you’re resisting something. We just are and there’s no one else.”
“God, I want to marry you.”