“Kiss me.”
“Show me my ring first.” She lifts her left hand immediately, and I catch it, lacing my fingers with hers, feeling the metal band press between our palms.
“My fucking wife,” I growl, slamming into her so hard the concrete wall scrapes the skin on my knuckles. “You feel that? That’s what it means to wear my name.”
Her whole body locks up, thighs trembling, her pussy gripping me like she’s trying to drag my soul out through my cock.
“I want you to soak me in that tight little cunt before someone walks in and sees you getting fucked by your husband.”
“Holy shit—” the words die on her tongue as I drive into her three more times, and with one last bruising kiss, we both come.
I hold her there against the wall, neither of us moving, just breathing each other in.
“I love you,” I eventually manage, pressing my forehead to hers.
“I know.” She smiles against my mouth, breathless and so beautiful. “Now get me in that car before someone finds us like this.”
I chuckle and pull back, just enough to fix her dress—smoothing the wrinkled fabric over her thighs while she catches her breath. I adjust myself, tuck everything back into place, and try to pretend I’m not already thinking about round two.
Shannen just got a little taste of what I’ve spent years becoming—what I’ve had to be to make every fucker who hurt her pay for it in ways they’ll never forget. Even if Greg hadn’t tortured her back in school, he still doesn’t deserve his wife, which is how I think Shannen justifies it in her mind.
Not entirely for revenge… but for balance.
My wife has a darkness in her, but she isn’t cruel. She’d neverhurt people for fun, only if they’ve earned it. However, today I got to watch her step out of her own cage, and it was magnificent.
We make it down the stairs and out to the waiting car. I help her into the back seat, like the gentleman I definitely am not, then slide in beside her.
The second the door closes, she turns to me, the fire in her eyes still wild, and adrenaline still pumping through her veins.
“Is it bad that I liked it?”
“No, baby.” I bring her close, pressing a kiss to her temple. “There’s nothing wrong with refusing to let the bad people win. Someone has to fight for justice when the world won’t.”
We sit there in the quiet darkness of the car as it pulls away from the hotel, leaving Greg tied to a bed, his entire life in ruins, and neither of us feels even a little bit sorry about it.
Epilogue 2 - Shannen
Fifty years later
I feel weightless,light as a feather, and when I open my eyes, I’m moving. I don’t have my glasses on, but I know where I am.
I always know.
Phoenix’s arms.
He carries me like he always does, steady and careful, refusing to let me see the strain. But I know it hurts him now because, like mine, his body fights back against the years.
He brings me out here every night lately, the moment the air cools and the sky begins to darken. Because he isn’t ready for the last time we lie under the stars to be the last.
He isn’t ready to call anything final.
But it’s coming, and I’m okay with that.
I really am.
I’m at peace.
Phoenix gave me a life under the stars. A life with two children who always had each other and were loved completely by twoparents who showed them what it looks like to choose your soulmate every single day—a life where love was never a question.
