Epilogue

I sit on a chair in my dressing room, strumming my guitar, letting my mind wander as I tune my instrument. It's been a while since I've performed at the Velvet Orchid and it seems like everything in my world has changed. Been turned on its head.

Almost two months have passed since the day Zoe's started referring to the Incident – capital I. Otherwise known as the day she helped me set up her father and Bryant. The day we watched them both be cuffed and hauled away.

The day we decided to burn her old life to the ground and build something new. Together.

For me, it was a damn fine day. But, I understand how conflicted Zoe feels about it and I do my best to avoid making light of it in her presence.

Man, life is a strange, wondrous thing. And like they say, it comes at you fast. In my experience, it was usually with a well-aimed steel-toed boot kicking you right in the nuts. This time though, it came at me fast, yet was armed with something amazing. Something wonderful.

I'm going to be a dad. Me. I'm going to be a fucking dad.

My only regret is that Ronnie's not here to celebrate with me. That he won’t be here to see the little guy – and I'm convinced it's going to be a boy. Grigson's breed strong male stock – though Zoe is sure it's going to be a girl. Either way, I’m happy.

My only regret is that he's not here to be Uncle Ronnie. That he won't be there to be my best man. I'll miss his best man's speech because I'm sure it would have been hilarious. Wildly inappropriate, but hilarious. Zoe and I have decided we’ll get married after our baby is born. She said that she wants a little bit of time to devote to getting the firm running in the right direction, but I'm pretty sure it had more to do with her not wanting to be pregnant in her wedding dress.

But that's fine, I'll wait. She's worth waiting for, after all. And I probably won't even tease her about it. Much.

Zoe's father and Bryant are both looking at some significant time in prison – Bryant's looking at more time for the attempted murder charge the DA is pushing for in the pay-for-beating deal, though he told me it will likely get knocked down to aggravated assault. Neither of them will ever practice law again.

Zoe has gone down to the jail where her dad is waiting to stand trial several times, but he refuses to see her. It weighs heavy on her heart. She denies it and insists she's fine, but I can see that on some level, it still hurts her to be rejected by him. Even after everything he's done to her. Though she tries her best to hide it, I can see that her heart is in turmoil over it.

It's a dynamic I'll never understand – desperately striving for my father's approval. Even though I don't understand it, I will always be supportive of her. And I'll always be here to catch her when she falls. To comfort and console her.

Maybe one day, her father will come around. Maybe. That, or she'll finally let go of him entirely. Regardless, I’ll be here for her.

With her father out of the picture, Zoe has taken over the firm and is changing the way they do business. She's in the process of turning the focus of the firm to family law – her passion. She's passionately vowed to fight for and protect every child she possibly can. It's a cause she believes in with everything in her.

A knock sounds at the dressing room door and I glance at my watch, checking the time I have left until I go on. I've still got some time, so it's probably one of the club's assistants checking up on me.

“Come in,” I call.

The door opens, and my breath catches in my throat when Zoe steps in. She's dressed in a tight, black skirt that falls to mid-thigh, a tight, white shirt that really accentuates her full, round breasts, and a sexy pair of dark stockings. Her raven-colored hair is loose, flowing around her shoulders, framing her perfect face and soulful eyes.

She's the most beautiful woman I've ever known and just looking at her makes my heart swell with love. It's the strangest damned thing. Just a few months ago, I was going through women at a furious pace, desperately trying to feed my addiction. Frantically trying to fill the void inside of me.

But with Zoe, I feel – content. I finally feel like I've gained power over my addiction. I don’t have to fill my life with drugs or meaningless sex anymore. With her, I feel something I've never felt before in my entire life – I feel complete. I feel whole.

Zoe closes the door and locks it, leaning her back against it and gives me a smile that sends a flutter through my heart.

“You lost?” I ask, giving her a smile.

“Oh?” she says, looking around. “I suppose I've wandered into the wrong dressing room. I was here to service somebody else. But hey, I suppose you'll do.”

I laugh and shake my head at her reference to how we met. I let my eyes travel up and down her body, drinking in every single inch of her and feel the familiar stirrings of lust within me.

“You look absolutely fuckin’ amazing, love,” I say.

She puts her hands over her stomach and smiles. “I'm probably only going to be able to wear stuff like this for a few more weeks,” she says. “Might as well take advantage of it.”

“Well, you certainly make me want to take advantage of you, that's for sure.”

I set my guitar into the rack beside my chair as she walks over to me with a sexy swing in her hips. She drops down into my lap and throws her arms around the back of my neck, planting a soft kiss on my cheek.

“Has anybody ever told you that you have a one-track mind, Mr. Grigson?”

“Nobody who seemed to mind it all that much.”

She slaps me playfully in the chest and laughs. “You are incorrigible, sir.”

“Indeed, I am,” I say. “It's all part of my charm.”

“Is that what you're calling it?”

I pull her down into a kiss and immediately feel my cock begin to rise. Her lips part and her tongue slips into my mouth, darting and swirling around with mine. The heat between us grows and I grab her hand, placing it on my rapidly hardening cock. She pulls back, a sultry smile on her lips, her eyes sparkling with passion.

“Don't you have a show to do?” she asks.

I glance at my watch. “I've got a good fifteen minutes before the assistant comes to tell me to get ready,” I say. “And another five after that.”

“Fifteen minutes, huh?” she asks.

“It could be the best fifteen minutes of your life.”

She laughs and kisses me again. “All I can say is I better get a round two later tonight – something that lasts longer than fifteen minutes.”

“Count on it.”

She grabs at my cock through my jeans, moaning softly as I slide my hand up her skirt. My fingers brush the hot, wet center of her and Zoe's breath catches in her throat.

“No panties,” I say.

She shrugs. “Oops.”

“You dirty girl,” she says.

“You bring it out in me,” she replies. “What can I say?”

Zoe slips off my lap and drops to her knees in front of me. I help her with my belt and zipper, sliding my pants down to my knees. She plunges my cock into her mouth and starts sucking like a woman on a mission. Or, in this case, a woman with a hard time limit.

I grip her hair and pull on it as she works her mouth and hand up and down, pumping my cock, swirling her tongue around me. She takes as much of me into her mouth as she can while jerking me off with her hand at the same time. The sensations hit me like a punch to the gut and I let out a loud moan.

I look down to see Zoe staring into my eyes as she sucks my cock. It's a beautiful fucking sight and one that I will never get tired of seeing. Knowing we're pressed for time, I stand her up and give her a long, deep kiss. Moving her over to the vanity, I bend her over, making her watch herself as I step up behind her and push her tight little skirt up over the most perfect ass I've ever seen.

“Fuck me, Connor,” she says, her eyes in the mirror locked onto mine. “Give it to me.”

“Your wish is my command, love.”

I thrust my hips forward, driving my hard cock between her soft, wet lips, and deep into her sweet little pussy. I watch her face in the mirror, loving the ecstasy I see reflected in it. Her eyes half-closed, her lips parted in a silent moan. God, Zoe is the epitome of sexy.

I pump my cock into her again and again, drawing out intense cries of pleasure from her. Zoe pushes herself back against me, taking me even deeper. I pull her hair back at the same time I deliver a sharp slap to her ass. She yelps, but the look of sheer bliss on her face tells me how much she enjoys it.

“You are a dirty girl, aren't you, Zoe?”

“I'm your dirty girl,” she gasps. “Fuck me, Connor.”

I slap her ass again, the crack of flesh meeting flesh echoing around the small dressing room. Zoe cries out. I feel her body stiffen beneath me as I tighten my grip on her hair, giving her another firm smack as I drive my cock deep inside of her. That seems to push her over the edge as she cries out, her voice ringing out loud and clear – I'm half-afraid people in the club will be able to hear her screams over the act on stage right now. Her body trembles and shudders and she sucks in hard before letting out a low moan.

“God,” she whispers. “I'm coming so fucking hard.”

I plunge my cock into her again, holding it as deep inside of her as I can while she comes, relishing the feel of her pussy spasming around my cock, making her already tight little twat that much tighter. She pushes herself back against me and I let out a low, moaning growl. She's bringing me close to the brink, but I don't want to lose it. Not yet.

She looks over her shoulder at me, her cheeks flushed, her smile wide. “Your turn baby,” she purrs. “I want you to cum inside of me. I want to feel you fill me up.”

I feel my body starting to tighten and my cock begin to throb. When she talks dirty to me like that, it turns me on like nothing else. I love it. I hold on to her hip with one hand and her hair with the other. I pull her head back again and drive my cock into her. She tightens her muscles around my cock, making me draw in a sharp breath.

“Fuck, baby,” I gasp. “You're going to make me cum.”

“Isn't that the point?”

I give her a roguish grin and keep thrusting my cock into her. I feel the pressure building up inside of me and know it's only a matter of time.

“Yes, Connor,” she gasps. “Oh, fuck yes, baby. Fuck me.”

Tendrils of electricity are coursing through my veins and it feels like it's setting my every nerve ending ablaze. My body is almost overwhelmed by the sensation, and when she tightens the muscles inside of her once more, that's it for me. I throw my head back and call out her name as I blow my load inside of her. I feel my cock pulsing, shooting streams of hot cum into her, filling her up completely.

I watch her face in the mirror and I see her eyes open wide, a look of surprised ecstasy crossing her face as if the feeling of me filling her pussy touched off an explosion within her. She leans forward, her breathing ragged and body trembling, as an unexpected orgasm comes crashing down over her.

Together, we ride the currents of ecstasy, letting our orgasms run their course. We stare into each other's eyes in the mirror as our bodies throb with pleasure, and that moment of intimacy, that moment of connection, I can say without a doubt, is the single most erotic moment of my life.

Slowly, I step back, my rapidly deflating cock slipping out of her. I pick up a towel to clean myself off. She laughs as she watches me.

“Remind you of your rock god days?” she asks.

“Nah,” I say. “Back then, we never took the time or care to clean up after ourselves, love.”

She laughs again and checks herself in the mirror, shimmying her skirt down over her hips and smoothing it out. She runs her fingers through her hair, trying to make it look more like a normal hairstyle, and less like wild sex hair.

I zip up my pants and step up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. She leans into me, a soft smile on her lips as I place a soft kiss on her neck. There's a sudden knock at the door that makes us both jump and laugh nervously like we're a couple of teenagers who just caught fucking.

“Five minutes, Mr. Grigson,” comes the muffled voice on the other side of the door.

“Thank you,” I call back.

Zoe lets out a deep, contented sigh and smiles at me in the reflection. “Despite the bad shit we're still dealing with – namely my father,” she says. “I feel like the happiest, luckiest woman on the planet. Does that make me a terrible person?”

I shake my head. “No, love,” I say. “It doesn't make you a terrible person. It makes you a woman who has finally taken charge of her own life. You're the captain of your own ship, and you're finally able to steer yourself where you want to go. And I for one, couldn't be prouder of you.”

She turns around and pulls me into a tight embrace. I pull her to me, pressing my body against hers, relishing in the warmth. The contact. The connection.

“I couldn't have done any of this without you,” she says. “And I can't do anything I'm planning on doing without you.”

I let out a long, sarcastic sigh. “This is true. Without me, you're kind of hopeless.”

She laughs and punches me in the arm. “I'm serious,” she says. “Knowing you're there, that you're in my corner, and that you support me – that you believe in me – I can't even begin to tell you how much that means to me. So, thank you.”

I give her a warm smile. “It's easy to believe in you, love. And I'll always be here to support you and back you up in all things,” I say and put my hand over her belly. “The both of you.”

She looks into my eyes and I see the depth of her love in them. They sparkle with a life and vitality that sends shockwaves of electricity through me. For the first time in my life, I'm filled with a sense of hope and optimism for the future.

“I should probably be getting out there to my seat,” she says. “I'm sure Izzy is wondering where the hell I am.”

“From everything you've told me about her, I'm quite sure she'll understand.”

Zoe laughs and slaps me on the chest again. “I love you, Connor Grigson.”

“And I love you, Zoe Nichols.”

“Have a great show, baby.”

“I will, knowing that you're out there watching.”

She leaves my dressing room, closing the door behind her. And as I think about the life I'm going to build with Zoe – and our child, in the not too distant future – I know it's only going to get better. It's a future I'm eagerly anticipating.

From broke Irish immigrant to addict to rock god to rock-bottom to here. Life is a trip. It comes at you fast. Really fast. And a lot of how your life unfolds is what you make of it. How you chart your course through rough waters as well as through the smooth seas. You can let your troubles define you, or you can rise above them and define yourself.

I may not be worthy of all the good that's come into my life lately – in fact, I know I'm not. I don't know what I did to deserve Zoe Nichols in my life. But I'm going to hang on tight and never let her go.

I think it was Jerry Garcia who once said that life is a long, strange trip.

Truer words have never been spoken.

THE END