Peyton
The End Of The Beginning
The sound of car doors slamming has my heart beating out of my chest. The door swings open and Asher is carried in by some tall blond man and he is set on the couch. He’s awake but unmoving.
“Is he okay? What happened? Where is Riley?” I ask, panic stricken. No one is saying fucking anything as I look down at Asher. I cup his face and tears pour down his cheeks. No! No!
“Don’t Ash! Don’t you fucking dare say it!” I yell and look at everyone else in the room. They all bow their heads and I fall to the floor but Ash grabs me and pulls me into his lap. “Please Ash. Tell me she’s at the hospital and everything is okay. It’s going to be okay right?” I ask and he cups my face, looking into my eyes.
“I’m sorry baby. I’m so fucking sorry. H-he—” but he shakes his head and I grab his face as tears continue to pour down his cheeks. He’s a fucking mess, there’s dried blood everywhere on him but he looks into my eyes with so much sadness and heartbreak. My heart shatters and my body shakes.
“He what?” I ask and he takes a deep breath, squeezing me tighter.
“He killed her. He showed me a video. I-it was brutal. Little Dove. He fucking took her from us.” He sobs as anger fills my veins.
“No, I don’t believe it.” I say, shaking my head. But he grabs me with both hands, forcing me to look at him.
“She’s dead. He fucking killed her. I watched him do it on that video.” He growls, shaking me. “I failed. I failed her. I failed you. I couldn't protect her like I promised. We lost her. She’s gone, Little Dove. She’s fucking gone and it’s all my fault.” He cries and I hug him as we both sob into each other.
“We are going to head out. If you need anything. Let me know Ash.” One of the guys says and he looks up at them all.
“Thank you for tonight.” He says and they all nod, then leave the same way they came in. The second the door clicks shut we both sob on the couch for god knows how long. Where the fuck do we go from here? How do we even begin to navigate our life without her? I just don’t fucking believe it. Ash won’t stop shaking, and mumbling to himself, so I take his hand and lead him to the bathroom. I turn on the shower and help him out of his clothes. Stripping from mine we get in the shower and I clean all the blood from his skin. He cups my face as more tears pour down his cheeks.
“Please don’t leave me. I won’t survive if you leave me too.” he whispers and I press my lips against his, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“I’m not going anywhere Ash, I fucking love you. I hate that this is happening. I don’t know if I’m in shock but I don’t want to believe it. But I promise you I’m not leaving. We belong together.” I whisper back and he wraps his arms around me and we both sob until the water turns cold.
“Can we just go to bed? I don’t want to be in this nightmare any longer,” He states and I nod, stepping out of the shower and grabbing us both towels. He takes his and wraps it around his waist, as I take mine and pull it around my body. We walk out of the bathroom and pass her room as we go to his. Neither of us bother with clothes and just climb into bed. He pulls me against him, shoving his face into my neck. “I’m so sorry, Peyton. I will never forgive myself.” He whispers as I turn to face him.
“Jake’s dead right?” I ask and he nods. “The Radley bloodline is finished.” I whisper and his brows furrow. “I killed Mrs. Radley today,” I tell him and his eyes widen.
“Did you cover your tracks? What the fuck Peyton. Why didn’t you tell me? I would've sent someone, I–” but I interrupt him.
“The Doc taught me well. Don’t worry. It will be fine.” I say, pressing my lips against his. He moans into the kiss but it doesn’t go any further than that. We stay like this until we both let sleep finally take over praying that we wake up and this was all just a dream.
Chapter six
Asher
The Bahamas
Three years later…
The last three years have been the absolute hardest for us, without Riley. As much as I love Peyton, a piece of my heart died that day. I lost a piece of my soul that I can never get back. There were times we both thought we saw her in a crowd of people or her scent was left in the house. All the little things were just reminders of her. The girl we loved, the girl we lost and the girl we both couldn't protect.
Standing on the beach in the Bahamas the wind whips around us. We look out into the ocean as the sun begins to set. Today is the day I ask Peyton to marry me. It’s been a long time coming but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it until now. Not with Riley gone. I know that's selfish and Peyton deserves better so I decided I would make good on my promise and wisk her off to the Bahamas, just to get away from everything. The cops never came sniffing around us for the murder of Mrs. Radley. Their investigation has long gone cold and I couldn’t have beenprouder of her. I never thought she had it in her and then to find out she kicked Vikki’s ass too. It made my dick rock hard so I ate her pussy until she couldn’t move, as a reward.
“Ash, this place is gorgeous.” she tells me, leaning her head against my arm as we watch the waves crash against the sand.
“It sure fucking is. Just like you, Little Dove,” I say, as I dig my hand into my pocket but something has me looking to my right and I see a figure walking towards us. I lift my hand to block out the sunlight to get a better look.
The wind picks up again and that familiar scent hits my nostrils making my heart beat a mile a minute. Peyton gasps and falls to her knees. I look down at her confused as fuck then back at the person coming right towards us. I blink once, twice, as blonde hair comes into view and there she is. Riley, looking sexy as ever standing before us, with a shy smile spread across her face. “Bahamas? Sun and sand?” she asks. I’m stunned as I stand here staring at a ghost. I step closer, swallowing thickly.
“Is it really you?” I ask and she nods, reaching out and cupping my face.
“Yes. It’s me.” She whispers then looks down at Peyton. Her hand leaves my face as she crouches in the sand and cups Peyton’s face.
“Hi,” she says and Peyton hiccups.
