Epilogue
Violet
A Few Months Later
“ I was fixing all your errors, Stephan,” I say, squealing as he rips the script out of my hands and starts to tickle me.
I wiggle away in our beach house’s master bed, but he catches me, kissing me. I sigh into him, and slide my tongue against his, deepening the kiss. He pulls me in closer.
“Thank you,” he whispers. “For this.”
I know exactly what he means. For forgiving him, for giving him another chance. But the thing is, he’s done everything to keep proving himself, winning my trust over and over, and I’m… I love him. So much.
Tugging at his scruff, I grin. “You mean picking apart your plot holes and the long speeches you give the character that’s clearly you?”
“Please, Princess. If I gave this script to Rue, she’d love it.”
“Rue’s fourteen and addicted to terrible movies. There’s this Alpha starring in them. Asher St. James? He’s awful.”
“And yet you have posters of him in your bedroom.” He bites my neck, nipping hard at the skin.
My gaze goes to the mating ceremony photo of us, our second one where it was just us and family. No fuss, no Queen Bee.
It was just perfect.
“But I’m already taken. I have this guy. A little scruffy and arrogant. I feel bad for him because he worships me.”
“The ground you walk on, Princess. Every fucking spot. And he’s a jealous fucker, too.”
“I love him, though. He grows on me.”
“Does he?”
I laugh and burrow into his neck, breathing in that oak scent that riles excitement and calms nerves. That scent is also one of coming home, always and forever.
Stephan gets to see the side of me that only my family’s seen, the one who existed before the responsibilities of the Season. Before Dad’s death.
Stephan takes my hand, kissing my palm. “Tell me again how you put the battle-ax in her place. It really gets me going.”
I laugh. “I’ve already told you a hundred times.”
“Yeah, but Rue tells me you were like ‘O.M.G., Monarch. You need to leave me and my mate alone and mind your own business’.”
“That is scarily good.”
“I know.”
I lean up on him, half across his chest. “I blame you if the script isn’t ready for the meeting next month. I really don’t know what I’m doing.”
“I know,” Stephan says. “You’re harsh about it. But a natural. Do you know how pleased people are with that trash one you fixed in days?” He shakes his head. “I think we’ll be fine. Besides, I’ve got some things on my mind right now.”
“Like?”
“This,” he says. And then he begins to kiss his way along my body. Stephan pushes up my T-shirt—well, his T-shirt really—and starts to suck and lick at my nipples. I moan. “My princess…”
Another moan breaks free as he doesn’t stop, as the pull of his mouth on my flesh sends darts of desire south, and I start getting wet, real fast.
Deep between my thighs I’m beginning to throb with need.
My heart squeezes as he kisses lower, one hand stroking over my pussy. He slides his hand in, fingers brushing down over my clit and then through the wetness, along my slit, working me, parting me. I lift my hips to him, happy to have my blow job that morning returned in such enthusiastic and measured ways.
He does that, balances the two, and it makes it all the more thrilling when he loses his control and knots in me. That pleasure…that’s something else yet again. But when hi s mouth comes down on my clit and pussy, I lose my mind.
He kisses down lower then pulls my panties off and starts to lick and suck me. “So fucking hot, Princess. So good of you to keep your pussy wet just for me. Wet and delicious.”
He laps at me and then slides his fingers in, stretching me.
I know his game. He likes to start out gentle, and then tease me to the ends of sanity with slow, soft, meandering thrusts, until he bites down on my clit and makes me come, screaming.
Or he builds it up too hard and fast and pushes me into orgasm after orgasm, making me squirt.
Sometimes he just plain stops—sometimes in the middle of me coming—and fucks me. Ass, pussy, mouth, the flavor of choice I mostly leave up to him.
But I know his game.
The end of which is almost insanity followed by mind-blowing pleasure.
Tonight, he fucks me slowly with his fingers, this time building me up, my heart pounding, body tense, only to lead me off that cliff. Then he takes me back just before I can come.
Time after time, he does this until I’m sobbing, begging, pleading for sweet release.
And then when I can’t take any more, he comes up and slams into me, taking me hard and fast, his cock stretching me, going so deep I start to come in violent, pleasure-gouging spasms.
It doesn’t seem to end. And I’m lost, gone, mind wild. And when he knots, I scream. I can’t help it. He’s bigger, deeper, hitting all the special pleasure spots in me, like he’s made for that, made to fit. And together we fly over another edge and the waves pound us over and over again.
When we come back, I can’t move. I can barely get enough oxygen. His scent permeates me, and I just moan.
“Good, Princess. Such a good, sweet girl. For me. Just. The. Way. I. Like. It.”
Another spasm hits me at his words, and as he pulls out, I try to roll over. But he stops me, holding me there in place, those brown eyes warm, full of love. His dark, dirty-blond hair is a mess. “You’re a beast.”
He grins. “One who loves you.”
“Let me up so I can get to that script. I know you’ll punish me later.” But I’m smiling, too.
“Once. I threatened to spank you with a ruler once.”
A thrill ripples through me. “So you did…”
“Princess, you naughty girl. Fantasize about it all you want, but you wouldn’t like it. I wouldn’t like it. No welts for your perfect ass. If you want, I’ll spank you.”
“No!” Then I eye him with suspicion. “Are you distracting me because we both know your script needs work and you don’t like criticism?”
“Take that back. We both know it’s perfect.”
“It’s not perfect,” I say. “But it’s good.”
He laughs. “I know. But not as good as you. I do love you. So fucking much, Violet.”
“I love you, too.” But there’s more. Something I’ve been holding onto. A truth I’ve carried with me for days.
Even after all we’ve been through, after everything we’ve fought to hold onto, a part of me is terrified. Terrified that this will bring back memories of what he lost. That the pain and fear of it will swallow him whole.
But I can’t keep it from him. I don’t want to.
“I have… something to show you.”
He shifts slightly, propping himself on one elbow to look at me. The concern in his eyes is immediate and his brows draw together. “What is it?”
I reach for the nightstand and open the small drawer. The test is right where I left it, the little white stick that had brought me both excitement and anxiety when those two pink lines appeared.
Now, I hold it between us.
His gaze drops to the test, and for a heartbeat, he doesn’t move. Doesn’t breathe.
“I’m pregnant,” I whisper, the words trembling as they leave me. “Stephan… We’re going to have a baby.”
Stephan blinks. His face is an unreadable mask, and for a moment, I wonder if he’s really moved on from his past after all. I brace myself, waiting for whatever comes next.
But then something breaks through.
“Violet…” His voice cracks and his eyes shine.
But it isn’t fear I see. It isn’t sorrow. It’s joy. Pure, unrestrained joy.
He cups my face, his lips crashing against mine. Laughter spills between the kisses. His hands are trembling as they cradle me, and when he pulls back, there’s no mistaking the happiness etched across his face.
“We’re having a baby,” he repeats, like he needs to hear it again just to believe it.
I nod, a tear slipping down my cheek. My insides are buzzing with nerves. “We are. Is-Is that okay? ”
“Fuck, Princess. It’s more than okay. It’s…” He smiles. “It’s everything I have ever wanted. Am I scared? Hell yeah. But?—”
“You’re not going to lose me,” I whisper, my fingers brushing through his hair. “You’re not going to lose us. I promise.”
That’s all it takes. His arms tighten around me, holding me like he never intends to let go. And in that moment, I know we’ll be okay.
We’re going to have our own pack. Our own family.
Our own movie-worthy happy ending.
THE END