Right as I turned to grab the pan from the stove and scoop out what was left of the burnt omelet, Terran spoke up again.
“Hey, Silas…”
Something in his tone made me pause, my hand hovering over the handle. When I looked back at him, he was already reaching for me, his fingers curling into the front of my shirt. The tug was gentle but insistent, pulling me down toward him.
And then he kissed me—firm and deliberate, the kind that left no room for misinterpretation. “I have feelings for you, too. Just so you know.”
For a moment, all I could do was stare at him, the words sinking in and clicking into place. I looped an arm around his waist, pulling him against me in one swift motion. The laugh that bubbled out of him as I crushed him to me was light, so purelyhimthat it made my chest ache.
I buried my face in the crook of his neck, trailing kisses across his skin, up to his jaw, his cheeks, his forehead—anywhere I could reach. “Good,” I murmured between each kiss. “Good.”
“You’re stuck with me now,” he teased.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
EPILOGUE
Terran
I toyedwith the settings around the emeralds with my fingers, a rich gold that complimented my skin tone perfectly. The deep color of the gems was still startling to look at, even days later after they’d arrived on Silas’s doorstep, dressed in a velvet box with my name embossed on the front flap.
I still couldn’t believe he’d gotten these custom made, far out of the scope of the other ones I’d bought for myself and infinitely more beautiful.
Twisting in the full-length mirror, I admired the curve of my bare ass and how lovely the stones sparkled in the faint light from the bathroom. All three chains fit my waist perfectly, creating a stacking effect.
The top was the one encrusted with the most gemstones—small, bead-sized ones cut into ovals and set sideways in the bezels with their backs flat and laid flush against my body. The second, the middle chain, had fewer gems that were slightly larger in round cuts, spaced evenly all the way around my waist like a traditional chain.
The last was my favorite, hanging the farthest down on my waist. While only a few stones were set on this chain, this one had a far more intricate pattern. The larger stones were set like the middle chain, but had a single teardrop shaped emerald hanging down on a gold link, connecting them together but remained loose enough to move around with each sway of my hips.
They were absolutely beautiful.
Three chains in total.
I was well and truly spoiled.
“Admiring yourself?”
Turning from the mirror, I spotted Silas shuffling into the bedroom with a towel still wrapped around his waist and another tossed over his head that he used to dry his hair. A slight fog followed him in from the bathroom, his skin still slightly pink from the heat of the water.
As much as he claimed to be acclimated to Ellington Height’s winter weather, he certainly wasn’t that good at adjusting to how frigid it got at night. Sometimes he still woke me up with his cold as fuck hands pressed up against my back, using me like his own personal space heater.
He was lucky I was fond of him, or else I would’ve handcuffed him to his bed frame by now.
“What can I say, you’ve got good taste.” I grazed my hand over the teardrop settings, smiling when they moved.
“I better for that price.”
I didn’t want to know.
I was too afraid I’d find out I was wearing the equivalent of a small house on my body every single day to work. Or worse.
Luckily, the way the artisan had fastened the settings made it easy to pull my uniform over, even in haste. I’d unfortunately been forced to test out the wear and tear of these things quite a few times since coming off of desk duty, and each one had mewincing whenever I was out in the field and getting my hands dirty.
The absolute last thing I wanted was for the chains to snap or a setting to come loose. Things like this were replaceable, as Silas would preach time and time again, but I’d grown far too attached to these delicate accessories to let them be sent off for repairs so soon after getting them.
Ilovedthem.
He came over to me as I turned back to the mirror again, tossing his hair towel onto the bed before wrapping his arms around me and burying his nose against my neck. I leaned back into his warmth, soaking it in. Soakinghimin.
