Epilogue

“There.” Kim stepped back and admired the freshly painted bright red front door.

“It doesn’t exactly blend in with the surroundings, does it?” Jay commented with a chuckle.

“I always wanted a red front door,” Kim replied. “My best friend at school had one.”

“You were jealous of your best friend’s front door?” Confused, Jay came to stand next to her as she admired the door.

“It wasn’t the door. It was what was behind the door,” Kim explained. “Zena’s family was happy. Really happy, and they loved each other. Every time I walked through that red door, it was as if I was cocooned in a warm glow of love.”

“Which you didn’t get from your own parents.” Jay and Kim had talked for hours since his return, slowly getting to know each other. She’d opened up about her life, her parents, because she needed Jay to understand what she needed their family to be. Not that she had to. Once he’d finally gotten over his paranoia caused by his long stint undercover, Jay helped foster a sense of belonging, which she’d always longed for.

The change in Jay had occurred almost as soon as they got back from dealing with Quentin. He’d finally made good on the promise he’d made to his parents to clear his father’s name. They had brought down Davelchi’s organization, and Quentin, the person who was directly to blame, if not for his parents’ deaths, then for many others.

All without resorting to vigilante murders.

Instead, somewhere in the world, Quentin Harrod’s dragon slept a deep sleep, on a bed of gold and jewels. His treasure would never bring him happiness, only torment as it sang to him on the other side of his eternal slumber.

“My parents don’t know what they missed out on.” Kim leaned back against Jay. “We’re so lucky.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it.” Jay wrapped his arms around her waist, his fingers brushing the underneath of her breast, sending shivers of excitement through her body. “We worked for this. We earned it.”

“And I thought it all came down to fate.” Kim took one last look at her red front door, and turned to face her man. “Didn’t fate bring us together?”

“It did.” He smiled down at her, a secret smile that he couldn’t contain. “I have something for you.”

“What?” Kim searched his face for a clue. “I thought we were supposed to tell each other everything.”

“We are, but sometimes… I wanted to surprise you, or at least not get your hopes up.” He took her hand and led her toward the red front door. But before he entered, he paused, and then picked her up in his arms.

Kim gave a small squeak of surprise. “What’s going on?”

“I want to carry you over the threshold of our house.” The pride in Jay’s voice told her she hadn’t mistaken his meaning.

“Our house,” she repeated.

“I am officially retired from the police force, as you know. And with Alex’s help, I accessed my savings so no one could trace my whereabouts, and deposited them into Harlan’s account. He insisted on selling the house at a very discounted price…” Jay stepped forward, taking them across the threshold. “We all know how much you love this house.”

Kim cupped his face in her hands and turned Jay to face her. “I owe them so much.”

“You know they love you, and Archie. If Fiona and Harlan could adopt you, they would.”

“I wish I’d grown up with parents like Fiona and Harlan. But I didn’t, and that’s okay because it makes me appreciate their love so much more.” She kissed his lips. “And it makes me realize how special we are. Us, you and me. Archie is never going to feel like an accident, he’ll never feel alone in this world.”

“Neither will you. Not now.” He leaned forward and captured her lips with his, gentle at first, but as their desire for each other grew, so did his need for her. Kim cradled Jay’s head in her arms and held him close while he walked to the bottom of the stairs. “We have an hour before we are due at Fiona’s.”

“What do you have in mind?” Kim seductively wound her fingers into his hair, kissing his neck as he groaned, and took the stairs two at a time. She clung to him and giggled as he reached the top. “In a hurry?”

Jay kicked their bedroom door open and placed her down on the bed. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Oh, just the way you took the stairs…” Kim sat up as Jay took a couple of steps away from her. “Aren’t you going to undress?”

“I have something else for you first.” Jay went to the nightstand and opened the drawer. He took out a small box, and folded his large hand around it, before walking back to her. “This was my mom’s. I know she’d want you to have it.”

Jay opened the box and looked at it for a moment. A wave of sadness crossed his face, before he lifted his eyes to meet hers. “I already asked you to marry me.” He got down on one knee. “But I want to ask you again.”

“Go ahead.” Kim sat forward, eager to accept.

“Kim Goren, will you do me the utmost honor and be my wife?”

“I will. A thousand times I will.” She knelt down in front of him and held her hand out for him to slip the ring on her finger. “It’s beautiful.”

“So are you.” He stroked her cheek and leaned forward to kiss her lips.

His tongue entwined with hers as their kiss deepened and she climbed onto his lap, straddling him, wanting to press every part of her body against his. Jay caressed her bottom, his touch igniting a fire in her belly. She wanted him so much, to feel him inside her, making love to her.

“I think it’s time to undress,” she whispered in his ear.

“I agree.” He kissed her quickly, and then lifted up and sat her on the edge of the bed. Then he stripped off his clothes, revealing his well-toned body.

“That has to be the best view in the house,” Kim said with a note of appreciation.

Jay chuckled. “Oh, I don’t know.” He stepped toward her, bending to hook his fingers under the hem of her sweater and lifting it over her head. Kim raised her hands up, wanting to be rid of her clothing. “If only Archie was as cooperative when I’m trying to undress him.”

“I aim to be very cooperative,” Kim told Jay as she stood up.

He unbuttoned her jeans and she wriggled out of them as he pushed them down over her curvy hips. They pooled on the floor, and she stepped out of them before turning around. The clasp of her bra was soon undone and he covered her breasts with his hands, massaging the plump flesh.

The desire inside her blossomed into a burning heat. Kim ached for him, his touch, his kiss.

She leaned back against Jay, and he kissed her neck before claiming her mouth, while his large palms cupped her breasts, his fingers tweaking her nipples until they were hardened buds. Kim ground her hips back, and his hardened length pressed into the small of her back. Circling her hips, she teased him, until with a long guttural groan, he lifted her in his arms and laid her on the bed.

Jay moved swiftly, positioning himself between her thighs. In one fluid motion, he pulled her panties down and flung them across the room. Naked before him, she watched as he drew a finger along the length of her sex, drawing the moisture up and then rubbing her clit until she writhed beneath his touch. Opening for him, she pressed her knees down toward the bed, wanting more, needing him inside her.

He leaned forward, hooking her knees up and placing her legs on his shoulders. Kim closed her eyes, anticipating the feel of his tongue on her intimate places. Lapping at her clit, he moved his fingers lower to press into her wet sex. In and out, he fingered her, one finger, then two, stretching her, grazing her inner walls until her body tensed and she came, small cries of pleasure escaping her lips as her sex pulsed around his fingers.

Jay didn’t let up until her orgasm had subsided and she lay breathless before him. Then he lowered her legs to the bed and hovered over her, his lips trailing butterfly kisses over her belly and her breasts, while he guided himself into her.

Kim had never experienced anything as wonderful as Jay. It was the way he touched her, stroked her skin as if he knew instinctively what she craved from him. As he slid inside her, his mouth closed around her nipple, his tongue rolling over the taut bud as he thrust deep inside her sex.

Deeper, harder, his need to claim her igniting her arousal as her body, sated from her orgasm, slowly came back to life. Jay took her, his hand under her knee, changing the angle of his body so that he grazed her clit with each thrust. Kim clawed at his back, her voice high and needy as he lunged into her. He was a beast of a man in the bedroom, claiming his mate was a thing he never tired of, and as her next orgasm flew toward her at speed, Kim was glad he took pride in her pleasure.

Her back arched and she offered herself to him as he jerked hard into her, impaling her on his hard length, while his mouth clamped down on her nipple and sucked it hard, his tongue rolling around and around. Her nerve endings connected in a web of pleasure and she came, hard, while Jay exploded deep inside her, planting his seed in her womb.

Jay cried out her name as he jerked into her, his fingers gripping the pillow beside her head as he came. When they lay like this together, Kim wondered how they ever made it through a year apart. But they had, and they were on the cusp of their own happy ever after. Two mates, together forever, because they knew the agony of being apart.

Did that knowledge make their love stronger? She would never know, but in her heart, she was bound to him. Body and soul aligned with hers.

“We have to go,” Jay said at last as he held her in his arms and kissed her lips.

“Yes, we don’t want to be late.” Kim moved away from Jay. They had to get ready, there was a small gathering at Fiona’s house to celebrate.

And there was so much to celebrate. Jay’s return, Sapphi and Alex’s joining, and Avery’s new baby girl.

As Kim pulled on a midnight blue dress, she smoothed her hand over her stomach. One day soon she would be with child again. Only this time Jay would be with her every step of the way, from listening to the heartbeat to meeting their child for the first time.

Kim couldn’t wait. For this was her family. And they would be happy. No more secrets, no more danger. Just a perfect life under the watchful eye of the mountain—and a family of dragons. Of course.

Wyatt’s book is next! If you want to read about our Silverback Wolf, sign up here and I’ll drop you an email as soon as it’s released.