Epilogue
NICK
Coming back to my penthouse after Sunday dinner is going to be something I have to get used to again. I have a feeling it’ll be easier now that Sunday dinners are a happy affair again. And now that I have Riley at my side.
Maybe it’s a bit early to say they’ll all be good nights from now on, but I’m hopeful.
This was the first family dinner we’ve had since Bruno died.
The table felt too empty without him there.
Even though I never really got along with my brother, he was still a part of my family, and the gap he left isn’t one that will ever be filled.
Ma’s coping as well as she can, but her eyes are constantly red and teary. I’ve never seen her so… frail.
I hope in time my family will be able to heal.
I have hope for a lot of things these days.
And I have Riley to thank for that.
Not that I’d be caught dead saying anything so sappy out loud, but she’s brought a lot of light into my life. She may not have saved me the same way I saved her, but she breathed life back into parts of me that I thought were long dead.
Parts I never realized were alive to begin with.
I’ve never wanted to be soft to anyone the way I want to be soft with her.
The way I seek her out in the kitchen instead of leaving her to pour us both a drink on her own is proof of that.
My arm stayed around her shoulder through most of dinner, my hand on her thigh for the entire ride home, and we’ve only been separated long enough for me to lock the door and slip my shoes off.
She’s capping the whiskey we share most nights when I sidle up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist.
The silky fabric of her shirt slides against my bare forearms, where I have my shirt rolled up, the heat of her skin beneath seeping through.
She doesn’t jump, having grown used to the quiet way I walk, but simply leans back against my chest and lifts a hand to cup my cheek.
I hum a pleased noise into the soft curve of her neck, peppering lazy kisses there.
I don’t stop her when she turns, although I was enjoying the way her ass fit perfectly against my hips.
The sight of her sugar-sweet smile and those pretty doe eyes makes up for it.
She wraps her dainty hand around the back of my neck, and I let her tug me down into a kiss, slow and fond and easy as breathing. I never thought I’d enjoy something so slow, but Riley’s made me fall in love with it.
“Thank you for being mine,” she murmurs against my lips, not pulling away for longer than it takes to speak. “For taking care of me.”
I wrap my hands around her hips, pinning her back against the counter just to feel the way she melts against me.
“I always take care of what belongs to me, Princess,” I say, dragging my mouth away from hers.
I don’t give her time to say anything before I trail my mouth down from her jaw to her throat to her collarbones.
My fingers are already busy with the buttons of her shirt, plucking at them and baring inch after inch of creamy, flawless skin.
Her cuts and bruises have healed in the last two weeks, and I treat the blank canvas of her skin like the masterpiece it is.
The only marks that will ever be on her again are ones I leave there.
Riley gasps as I sink my teeth into the soft swell of her breast, teasing the flesh just above her bra until it blooms hot beneath my lips. She arches into the pain, scratching her nails over my scalp.
I grin as I shift my attention to her other breast, offering it the same treatment as I slip my hands behind her back to unhook her bra.
Her own hands get busy with my clothes once I strip her of her shirt and bra, fingers tugging at the buttons of my shirt as I latch my lips around her nipple.
The sweetest sound slips from her lips, but she doesn’t let me distract her from her goal.
She manages to push my shirt free of my shoulders and has my pants halfway down my hips by the time my impatience overtakes me.
I lift her up in one easy motion, pushing our whiskey glass out of the way to make room for her on the counter.
“Nick,” she moans, yanking me back into another kiss, hungrier and heavier now. “Need you, Sir.”
“Patience, Miss Morgan,” I tease even as I hurriedly yank her skirt and panties down over her hips and toss them behind me carelessly. “I won’t be able to call you that much longer. You’ll be Mrs. D’Amico soon enough, won’t you, sweetheart?”
Riley’s mouth drops open a fraction, and her eyes go dark and desperate in a way I’ve never seen from her before.
She tugs me forward, clutching at my arms like I’m the only thing keeping her grounded as she kisses me until we’re both lightheaded and panting against each other’s mouths.
“Please,” she gasps out. “Please, don’t make me wait, I’m ready. I need you, Nick.”
Fuck.
If I knew calling her that would make her react like this, I’d have been doing it every five minutes since I slid that ring on her finger.
I shove my boxers down along with my slacks, my head dropping back on a groan when Riley’s fingers wrap around my hard cock. She swipes her thumb through the precum gathering at the head and uses it to slick her next stroke, pleasure blooming in my gut as I roll my hips forward.
“Don’t get impatient, Princess,” I scold, my voice thick with desire. “I need to stretch you out or it’ll hurt. You’re still so fucking tight.”
The grin she gives me in response is nothing short of wicked, and she closes her knees around my hips as she lies back on the counter.
“What if I want it to hurt?” she asks impishly as her fingers slide away from my cock.
Heat sears through my bloodstream when she lets her legs fall open, her pussy shining with how soaked she already is.
“Fucking hell.”
I’ve never been able to tell her no, and now is no different. Her breath hitches when I close the distance between us and grind the head of my cock against her entrance.
“You remember your safe word, Princess?”
“Yes, Sir,” she promises, wrapping one calf around me and tugging me in a step closer. “Fuck me.”
“Demanding,” I say with a laugh.
It drops into a moan when she rolls her hips forward, and I leave all thoughts of teasing in the wind.
My hands go tight around her waist, and I fold myself over her, my ear to her mouth so I can hear every cut of whimper that falls from her lips as I fill her up. I take it slow, grinding into her inch by inch, giving her time to get used to the stretch, but I don’t let her move.
She squirms beneath me, gasping out my name and pleas for more, but I sink into her almost painfully slowly, both of us shaking and on the edge by the time I finally bottom out.
“Like a fucking vice, Princess,” I groan, pulling halfway out and thrusting back in just to hear her whimper. “Such a good girl for me.”
She grasps at my hand when I set a slow rhythm, slamming deep inside her with every thrust. I twine our fingers together and pin her hand to the counter beside her head, a feral grin splitting my lips as I catch sight of the sparkle of her engagement ring.
It’s that sight that sends me over the edge, my orgasm punching through me with no warning just seconds before Riley follows me over the edge.
I don’t stop until I’m well and truly spent, my come dripping down both of our thighs and making a mess on the counter.
Riley’s still panting beneath me, her body still twitching through the aftershocks, chestnut hair spilling out in loose waves across the marble, and I’ve never seen a more perfect sight.
“So perfect, Riley,” I praise, squeezing her fingers as I kiss her, slow and sweet. “Made for me.”
She chuckles, breathless and fucked out, and reaches her free hand up to card through my messy hair.
“Love you,” she whispers.
I kiss her again, tasting the sweetness her words leave behind.
“I love you too.” A grin spreads across my face as I remember the call I got from Thomas just before we left for Ma’s earlier, and I trail my hand over Riley’s hip as I lean back, pulling out with a soft hiss. “There’s a date auction at The Echelon tonight, if you’re up for it.”
Those pretty hazel eyes blow wide in surprise and then crease shut as she laughs at me.
“I’m pretty sure this,” she says teasingly, waving her engagement ring in the air, “means you don’t have to pay to go on a date with me.”
My ring on her finger is better than every fantasy I ever had about putting a collar around her neck. I catch her hand and bring it up to my lips, kissing each knuckle and then the diamond that takes up most of her ring finger.
“Don’t have to, sure,” I agree, smirking. “But I think it’d be fun. Besides, I like showing my girl off.”
She rolls her eyes at me, but her lips curl up into an adoring smile.
“Only if I can shower first,” she agrees. “I’m not sitting around leaking your come for half the night.”
I click my tongue at her disapprovingly. “Half the night? Sweetheart, I’ll be dripping from you for the next week if I have my way.” Sliding my thumb across her lips, I grin darkly. “And I always get my way. Isn’t that right?”
Her breath hitches and her pupils pin as a flush rises on her cheeks. She nods, flicking her tongue out to lap over the pad of my thumb.
“Yes, Sir.”