Epilogue
Fanny
I woke to the sound of the automatic blinds whirring as sunlight streamed into the room. I turned my head from the windows to look at him. Well, what I could actually see of him. His face was buried in the side of my neck beneath a ruby jumble of curls. He teased me about having my nose always pressed to his skin, but his obsession with my scent seemed to be just as intense.
My lips curved as his strong arms tightened around my waist. It was good to be back in our own bed. Not that there was anything wrong with sharing a bunk on the tour bus. Being on the road with the Dirt Dogs felt like taking an extended road trip with friends. Still we both preferred the privacy of our penthouse.
Home.
We’d had lots of room to play last night and we had taken full advantage of the space. Up to the roof for dinner then making love in front of the outdoor fireplace under the stars. Then downstairs and the shower. Then the bed twice.
I’d worn my man out.
My man.
Swoon.
Ash was sound asleep, his breath soft and rhythmic as the sea where it unraveled at the shore. I stroked his arm, a light caress of my fingertips over golden skin dusted with fine platinum hair. My gentle touch woke him.
“Hey, little one.”
“Hey.” My heart hitched and then restarted faster in response to his slow lazy grin.
“You sleep ok?” I asked.
“I always sleep well with you.” His voice was a raspy rumble.
“Me, too.” One of his hands glided up my body. He stroked his thumb across the underside of my breast. My breath did more than hitch in response. It raced.
“So soft,” he purred. “Like a rose.”
“Ash,” I breathed as he found and pinched my already taut nipple.
“Right here with you, gypsy.”
“I know.” There was a smile in my voice. “Hard to dismiss your presence when we’re tangled together, and you have your hand on my tit.”
“I’m hard all right, and I’ll have more than just your tits in a moment.” He came up in the bed throwing a heavily muscled thigh over my leg, the hair on his rough against my smooth skin
“Promise?” Unabashedly I stared up at him while he gazed down with eyes cobalt blue like a wave rising from the depths ready to unleash its power.
“Promise.” Shiny sheets of platinum curtained his handsome face. “When have I ever not delivered?” He settled his hips between my thighs. I started to throb. Ok, truly I’d been throbbing since he had opened his eyes and smiled at me.
“There was that time in San Francisco,” I reminded him, inhaling sharply when he brushed the pad of his thumb over me.
“There’s no tour manager with a walkie talkie here.” He swirled a seductive circle around me.
“So stop teasing,” I said huffily. “And deliver.”
“You like my teasing.” His voice was low, the lines of his face drawn. I lifted my hips. He pressed his thumb right where I ached. “You’re so wet.”
“Please,” I moaned.
“Yes.” Balancing on one arm, his bicep flexed as he grabbed a condom and rolled it on. When his gaze hit mine, it glittered knowingly. He had caught me watching him.
“Babe.” He gave me the smile that creased his cheek and wrecked my heart. “Spread your legs wider.” I did. He slid in. My body stretched eagerly to accommodate him. He pulled out, he sank back in. I grabbed his tight ass and lifted my hips. He pounded into me one deep delicious thrust after another.
“Hold on, baby.” He seized my hips in a masterful grip. I placed the soles of my feet on the back of his tensed calves. He started to hammer into me. Toes to scalp, my entire body shimmered with the heat of his possession.
“Ash,” I warned, feeling it building, my breath catching on his next thrust. “I’m close.”
“I know, babe.” He growled. “You feel so good.”
“You do,” I countered, though he was pounding me so hard my voice rocked, my breasts bounced and my nipples tingled.
“Let it go,” he demanded. So I did, and the heady sensations tore through me.
“Ash!” I screamed as I detonated. “Yes! Yes! Oh, yes!” My ecstatic cries matched his powerful thrusts. The headboard slammed the wall. My climax crashed over me like a massive wave. I went under as he groaned, stiffened and erupted inside me. Our bodies melded by heat and passion, we tumbled through the pleasurable aftershocks together.
“I love you.” His voice was the lifeline I followed to return to the surface. The flame in the water. The heat. The light. My light.
~ ~ ~
Ashland
I watched her as she cooked us breakfast wearing nothing but my shirt. I watched her beneath my lashes as we did yoga side by side on the roof. I watched her while we surfed. But I wasn’t sitting on the sidelines of life anymore. I was an active participant because of her.
“Yo, Ash? Where’d you go just now?” Ramon bumped his shoulder against mine jostling me a little harder than was necessary. The dude was punchy from sleep deprivation since Dominica started teething. He and his surfer girl took turns rocking her back to sleep every night.
“Thinking about Fanny.” My gaze sought and found her, out on the dance floor, her eyes alight with her spirit. She held her own dancing with our friends. Karen and Simone were shimmying just as frenetically to the punk beat Freewave was laying down.
“They look good out there,” Linc decided as he returned from the bar, fresh brews in hand.
“Thanks.” I took one and we raised and clinked our bottles together.
“Fortunate fucks. All three of us,” Linc pronounced as he slid into the barstool next to mine.
“Yes,” I agreed wholeheartedly. “Only…” I shut down that thought. She said it didn’t matter. But it mattered to me. I wanted to give her the world. And I had wherever it was in my power to do so. Having, holding and keeping my gypsy rose happy were my goals. We only lacked that one piece that would make us a family.
“I know you’re anxious to get started since you’ve fulfilled all of our touring commitments,” Linc said watching me closely.
Yes, my preference was now. Everything was in place for us to have a baby. With Simone’s blessing Linc had donated his sperm in anticipation of Fanny’s eventual assisted reproductive procedure. Much on-line research, medical guidance and heart-to-heart discussions among the four of us had resulted in our decision. And it felt almost like closing a circle for Linc to be our sperm donor.
I glanced over at Simone as she appeared at my cousin’s side. Linc stood, pulling out her chair and helping her up into her seat.
“You ok?” he asked her, his gaze sweeping her head to toe.
“Yes.” She placed her hands over her significantly swollen abdomen. “Baby’s just kicking a lot.”
Linc grinned and put his hand over hers. “He likes to boogie.” His smile widened.
“She likes to boogie.”
“We’ll see,” he returned. They had agreed not to know the gender until the baby was born.
They were blitzed out happy about the pregnancy. We were all happy for them. But sometimes, because I watched Fanny so closely, I noticed her sadness when she regarded our friends. Our love was a beautiful miracle. She never made me feel like she was settling with me. Quite the opposite. But I knew with love there was always sacrifice.
“Want a soda?” Linc asked Simone.
“Yes. Please.”
“I’m on it.” Linc kissed her cheek and moved to get the overworked bartender’s attention.
“Glad to be home?” Simone asked me.
“Hell, yeah. We all are.”
“Karen and I are certainly glad you guys are back.” She turned her head. I followed the direction of her gaze. “Fanny’s happy.” Her tone was part statement part question.
“She is,” I clarified.
“Has she heard from Hollie yet?”
“Nothing on that front.” My gaze was frozen on my gypsy. She was making her way back toward our table, but periodically stopping to receive congratulations for her second academy award nominated song. The one she had written about the two of us.
“I wouldn’t worry.” Simone’s tone was as soothing as a gentle breeze. “Hollie just got back from filming in Switzerland. Once she gets a moment to unwind and relax, it’ll happen.” She cocked her head at an inquiring angle. “She is ready to start a family, right?”
“Definitely.” The two sisters had decided they wanted to be pregnant at the same time. And they had made that pact before Simone’s good news. If Fanny got pregnant soon all our children would grow up together. There would be a next generation of cousins who could potentially be as close as we all were now. I just didn’t like the uncertainty that went along with waiting on Hollie. Especially when I knew what we were waiting on was something Fanny very much wanted. Something I very much wanted. We kept getting our hopes up, but then Hollie would get another enticing role she couldn’t turn down.
“Maximillian is a great guy.”
I nodded. Cash had certainly swept the young actress off her feet. Apparently his rule about not getting involved with his clients hadn’t applied to Hollie. I could relate. None of my rules had mattered when it came to my gypsy rose, either.
“They’re amazing together. He wants her to slow down her filming schedule, doesn’t he?”
I nodded absently in response to Simone’s question. My brows drew together as Fanny veered to the right. I wanted her in my arms. It had been too long since she had been there.
Where was she going?
Fanny stopped at the painting of the mermaid. She reached up and placed something on the shelf next to her. The Lakers cap. I stood as she leaned in and kissed her.
What had she wished for?
Wearing a determined visage, I moved through the crowd toward her. She turned when I reached her as if she sensed my presence.
“Ash.” She put her hands on my chest, and my pulse settled into a steadier rhythm beneath her gentle touch. Her beautiful grey eyes brimmed with love and hope like they usually did whenever she looked at me.
“I love you,” I told her. She smiled as I wrapped my arms around her and drew her deeper into my embrace.
“I love, you too,” she returned.
“What did you wish for?” I asked.
Somewhere nearby a cell rang.
“I think you’ll know soon.” She smiled softly.
To be continued in Hollie’s story…