Pulsations of pleasure threaten to overtake me.

My body’s quaking and coming around him.

“I love you, Tristan. Oh, fuck, I love you so much.”

“Me too, baby.”

He plunges into me so deeply I feel full and whole. The lines of where he begins and where I end are blurred.

He’s pushing into me deeper than ever. Every time with Tristan is like a new time. The first time.

He explores previously unknown depths inside me and forces me to succumb to him in ways I never imagined existed.

I find myself falling and falling into his embrace. I never want to let him go. I never want to be free from this, my ultimate union with him.

And I know he’ll never let me.

Tristan is, in a word, possessive, and I guess something about that makes me feel like I can trust him. I know he has his sights continually set on me, and he has my best interests at heart.

We’ve been fucking on and off throughout the night.

“Baby,” he whispers. “You’re so beautiful.”

He’s looking at me with an expression of awe on his face. I know we both can’t believe this happiness is real.

We were so close to death, to losing each other that this feels like celebratory sex. We escaped death together, and now our real life can begin.

This is the first night of many we will spend together, and that elates me.

It’s crazy because just a little while ago, I was under threat from the Governor, and I thought I was going to die for sure.

I thought there would be no more Tristan and no more me.

But as I feel his large cock sliding in and out of me, I know nothing could be further from the truth.

He literally saved me. And the funny thing is, he also taught me how to save myself.

All at once he’s coming, and I’m coming, and we’re both reaching the heights of ecstasy together.

“Oh, fuck, my beautiful little slut. You’re so tight,” he says as he pumps and shoots his seed into me.

He gasps out the words, and I suck in a breath, trying to ride the wave of my own impending orgasm.

The thought of Tristan’s cum inside me sets me off into an array of pleasurable waves. My climax rolls one after another.

“Yes, Tristan, oh my god. It feels so fucking good.”

With Tristan, it’s like this every time. He makes me come so hard over and over again. Only then is he sated.

He pumps into me, making sure every last drop of his essence is inside. My head is spinning. My world seems right, and I know this is just the beginning of our future together.

He falls down next to me on the bed and is breathing heavily. I lie back and try to catch my breath.

“Drink?” he says, offering me a bottle of whiskey.

I take it and knock down a steady hit of the harsh liquid. I give it back to him and he drinks, and then I kiss him.

He tastes like whiskey and sex and—Tristan.

I roll to my side and trace circles on his chest with my finger. His strong, chiseled chest never fails to excite me and to remind me I’m with a strong man, my dream man.

I remember the days that now seem so far off when I fantasized about this moment. I had wanted to meet my soul mate, and now I have.

I lay my head back down on the pillow and look over at him. His profile looks handsome against the light of the moon that’s streaming in through the window.

My man.

My happiness.

“Tristan, I just can’t believe this is real. I can’t believe we’re actually safe.”

He turns to look at me, and I’m transfixed, as usual, by his emerald green eyes. They’re clear and bright, like the potential of our future is also shining, lighting him up.

“Believe it, baby. This is just the beginning for us. I’m gonna keep you so fucking safe from the world and from everybody.”

“Tristan, you know I’ve been kept in a prison my entire life. Promise me that won’t happen again. You can’t be my new jailer.”

He takes my face in one of his broad hands and looks at me searchingly.

“Don’t you know yet, Isobel, that I would give you the whole world? You’re my princess. You want to be free? Be free. But I will keep you safe.”

I nuzzle into his chest and breathe lightly, feeling as though the weight of the world has finally been lifted from my shoulders.

I sigh back into the sheets and think about how lucky and excited I am. Walking through this darkness has been totally worth it because it meant getting to the other side and sharing my life with Tristan.

“Isobel, what you think about going to Vienna?” he asks.

“Vienna? I mean, I never really thought about it. But Vienna? Yes. Definitely.”

“Good. Because I’ve got a place there, a mansion, and Vienna will be the perfect place for us to start a new life.”

“That sounds nice,” I say sleepily.

“You understand this war between the Capulets and the Montagues is centuries old, and it will continue. You know this, right?’

“Yes, Tristan,” I say the words but care not for their meaning.

I know the battle lines between our families had been drawn a long time ago. I know the feuding will continue.

“The Governor is dead, Isobel, but your father isn’t. We have to make it look like you died in the crossfire. That’s the only way to get away from him. Otherwise, he’ll search the ends of the earth to find you.”

“Okay, Tristan. Whatever you think is best.”

A heavy sleep is starting to encumber my entire being. I feel him there—him, my man, and I feel like the worst is behind us.

I can dream of a better world and a better life.

I sleep, and I dream.

It’s finally happening. My happiness.

And, at last, I am content.