Epilogue
Three years later
Rosalia
I lie with my eyes closed on a cushion as soft as a cloud, the ocean breeze warm against my skin.
The sun and waves from the Indian Ocean lull me to sleep.
My phone rings from somewhere in the honeymoon suite.
It’s probably my mom. Since returning briefly to Michigan to open my second bookstore, The Next Chapter, we’ve become closer, shedding our old dissatisfying relationship to work as a team to make the shop a success.
That’s probably the reason for the call. Mom is working on an outreach literacy program with the old school systems she left to work full-time at the new bookstore. Everything is in the final stages. Before I can answer or even leave my comfy lounger, Sebastian calls my name.
I peek open an eye. The turquoise water surrounding Seychelles ripples like a jewel in the distance from our mountain villa. “Want me to wash the sand out of your hair?” he asks, his voice promising more than a shampoo.
That gets me up and moving. Palm fronds sway gently in the balmy breeze.
I walk past the shimmering infinity pool, my bare feet padding softly on the sun-warmed flagstones. Lush tropical foliage and bright flowers border the path. The tart sweetness of hibiscus, the creamy richness of plumeria, and an ethereal essence of paradise greet me.
Anticipation quickens my steps as I round a corner to the outdoor shower. It is an oasis of privacy, surrounded by a living wall of dense, glossy leaves. Sunlight filters through a latticed wooden roof, dappling the sand-colored tiles underfoot.
My husband is waiting for me, his tanned, muscular form silhouetted against the green. Steam curls invitingly from the rainfall showerhead. I smile, slip off my robe, step into the shower, and join him under the warm, cascading water.
“You’ve got a slight sunburn.” He kisses my shoulder. There’s the snap of a bottle opening. Seconds later, his strong fingers are massaging and washing my hair.
“That feels amazing,” I moan, leaning my back against his front.
“The sounds you make are amazing.” He slides his soapy hand along my shoulders, arms, and then waist.
His hands slide around and he cups my breasts. My head falls onto his chest, and a moan escapes from me.
Gliding a hand down my stomach and between my legs, he presses his fingers against my clit. I gasp his name, as addicted to his touch as I was the first time we were together. Maybe even more, because there’s love mixing with our lust.
I bend, placing my hands on the opposite wall. Over my shoulder, I look into his eyes. “Please,” I beg .
He sinks inside me with a groan, kissing the back of my neck. “My wife,” he whispers reverently. “I love how you feel.” He moves, and I meet him thrust for thrust."
“Please. That’s perfect.” That perfect pressure builds along my spine.
“Are you close?” he asks.
“Yes. Don’t stop,” I pant, reaching the peak of my pleasure.
“Not yet, my love. I need to see your beautiful face when you come apart.”
Wanting the same, I turn. My breasts press against his hard chest, and there is so much love in his eyes. It matches what’s in my heart.
His lips are gentle against mine, but his quick breaths tell me his desire is barely held in check. “I love you,” he whispers.
“Forever and always,” I reply, deepening the kiss. “Let me show you how I feel with my body.”
He lifts me, and I wrap my legs around him as he sinks back inside me. His perfect thrusts have me on the precipice of pleasure within minutes. I begin to shake as everything in me coils tight.
“You’re so close. I can feel it,” he groans, shifting his hips in the way I love, throwing me into bliss that has me shouting his name.
He tenses against me, pressing in closer. His grip tightens as he finds his release. I hold him tight as he comes apart, murmuring my name like a prayer.
I revel in the way he loses himself in me. My husband hides nothing from me—from his pleasure to pain. It is a priceless gift.
We stay wrapped in our sated embrace until our heartbeats return to normal. Then he finishes washing me with thorough, gentle movements. I do the same for him. After, he shuts off the shower and carries me to the bedroom, laying me on the soft duvet.
Settling beside me, he asks, “Do you want to go to Mahé for dinner?”
I yawn. “Could we order in?”
We’d risen with the sun for a day of island-hopping on an eco-tourism trip to the remote island of Aldabra Atoll. We saw the famed giant tortoises on the beach before snorkeling along the largest raised coral atoll. It had been life-changing and beautiful, but I’m exhausted.
“I love that idea,” Sebastian says. “Do you want Caris again?”
My mouth waters. “Yes, please.” I could eat the famous Seychelles dish every day for dinner. It’s that good.
Before he can reach for the villa’s phone, my cell rings from inside my bedside nightstand. “That’s probably my mom.” I slide off the bed to retrieve my phone. “I think she called earlier, but my handsome husband distracted me.”
I scuttle and half-slide to the nightstand, probably looking like one of the coconut crabs that nearly gave me a heart attack on our hike. Nothing with pincers should be that big. Snatching up my phone, I see it’s not my mom, but my sister-in-law.
My heart swells. My life has changed for the better since Lillianna convinced Sebastian and me to buy the hotel next to Novel Idea and combine the two.
I answer, and we talk while Sebastian places our dinner order.
We hang up from our calls almost at the same time.
I point toward the deck, more specifically, the infinity pool.
He grins. “After all the time in the ocean today, you want to spend more time in the water?”
“Yup,” I pop the “p” and stand, moving around the bed and pulling him up. The other villas’ distance and dense foliage mean bathing suits aren’t necessary.
The waves crashing against the shore are loud as we slide into the refreshing water of the pool. We swim to the edge that overlooks the rocky landscape and ocean, now painted in the soft colors of sunset.
“Was it your mom who called?” Sebastian asks, draping his arms along the glass edge of the infinity pool.
I shake my head. Every cell in my body dances with joy. “Your sister. She called to let me know that our marketing during the Louisville Book Festival was a huge success. We’re booked solid for next year’s event.”
Sometime before leaving for the Quebec Blackstone distillery, Thorne had bought the boutique hotel next to my bookstore and gifted it to me.
My first reaction had been to refuse, but around the same time, Lillianna had returned for a surprise visit.
We’d hit it off, and she convinced me not only to keep the hotel but to combine it with my bookstore.
Together, we opened a book-themed hotel, which we named Beds, Books, and Bourbon, shortened to 3Bs.
“That’s great,” he replies.
The dip in his tone makes me poke his ribs. “Why do you always sound surprised that Lillianna and I are a great team?” I ask.
“You making a success of 3Bs isn’t what shocks me. You have a great head for business and are fantastic with people.
That is a priceless stroke of good fortune. Paige would always be my best friend, but I consider Lillianna my sister from another mother. Heck, there might even be a place in my heart for Thorne as a brother.
Maybe.
He’d come to Louisville for the 3B’s grand opening last year and again to my and Sebastian’s wedding.
Things between the three of us are still awkward as a dance with tangled feet—each step forward is met with a stumble and a wince.
Yet, there’s hope. I hadn’t known him before the bet disaster, but I can see the change, like he’s settling into his skin.
I let go of the pool’s edge and move behind Sebastian. He lowers himself into the water until only his head and the tops of his shoulders remain above the surface. I rest my head in the crook of his shoulder, aligning my front with his back.
I close my eyes, listening to Sebastian’s steady breaths, and swear I hear the final whisper of our past deceptions fade into the gentle ocean breeze.
Over the last three years, we’ve built trust and honesty between us by embracing the promise of a future built on transparency, forgiveness, and unwavering devotion.
And from the ashes of betrayal and deceit has risen a love stronger and more resilient than I’d ever imagined.
“I love you,” he says with a tenderness that always melts my heart.
I wrap my arms around him, squeezing tight. “Forever.”
The End