“We’ve made—actually…” Keo laughs. “Ayden laid out stuff for lunch. Let’s head inside. You aren’t allergic to cats, right?”
He laughs and shakes his head. “I love them.”
“Perfect. Her name is Clover, and she’s pretty friendly,” I chime in.
As he turns toward the cabin, Keo halts me from following. I lift my chin, catching his gaze on me. There’s a smile playing on his lips, one I’ve seen appearing more frequently over the last three months.
It screams of freedom, longing, andhappiness.
He turns to face me and cradles my jaw with his palm. “Congratulations, my love.”
It does feel like a win, even if it was inevitable and came at a high price.
“Thank you.”
His kiss isn’t rushed, or hesitant. It’s patient and filled with love.
In this moment, the hollowness I’ve carried since I was seventeen is finally gone. For the first time, I truly know what it feels like to be safe in the arms of a man who would do anything for me.
That puts my life before his.
My needs before anyone else’s.
My pleasure before his own.
Keo embodies the type of possessiveness and obsessiveness I yearn for and will crave for the rest of our days.
I fucking love this man with every fiber of my being, and I’m excited to see where the rest of our lives take us,together.
EPILOGUE 1
9 Months Later
Sometimes I look back at the last year and realize everything I went through led to this happiness. I wouldn’t go back and relive my early twenties, but I can appreciate what I have now more than ever.
That’s not to say Ineededthe trauma to get here, I would’ve been strong regardless. I’m grateful it brought out my resilience—and for the man lying beside me, meeting my gaze as a woman walks along his bare back.
We’re in a lodge high in the mountains, getting a couples massage. The room is bathed in a soft light, and everything is relatively bare, as to give the attention to the full wall window, showcasing the snowy trees outside.
It’s the day after Cal and Ronan’s wedding and what a day it had been. It snowed in the backdrop, like a scene out of a dream.
Their love deserves to be shared. If they ever have kids, I hope they pass the story down. Well… maybe not the part about chasing each other through the woods.
Ronan asked if we wanted to watch, but I’m not sure Iwantto see that. I love them both, but Cal feels like a sister to me—and with all the twisted “incest” talk Michael had spewed, that’s the last association I want in my head.
Besides, she’s hinted at her degradation kink more than once, and… yeah. That’s not my thing.
Keo grunts as the woman’s steps move toward his shoulders. The masseur working on me is gentle—thankfully. I don’t need to be cracked or folded in half.
He gestures downward, and I let out a soft laugh before lowering my face into the cradle and closing my eyes.
I still can’t believe Ezra paid for all this. He rented out the entire lodge and fronted theentirebill.
Calista says he’s going to be apologizing for as long as everyone lives in Sapphire Valley. She wouldn’t tell me what for, and by the twinkle in her eye when she said it, I don’t see myself begging for her to tell me.
I’m sure if I asked Jayde, she’d tell me.
But do I really want to know?
