Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
I grin. “Deal. I thought you’d leave when this was all said and done. I thought maybe once you’d gotten what you needed and had no reason to be here anymore, you’d maybe leave. You’re too strong and independent to be held in any one place for too long.”
“Oh, you give me plenty of reasons for staying, and it has nothing to do with your dogs, your amazing team, the location of this house, or the fact that I can train whenever I want to and go to bed at night properly fucked.”
I groan. “Violet…”
“I worried that when this was all done, you’d have no more need for me anymore, too,” she admits. “Wow, we make quite the couple, eh?”
“Oh, yeah. Trust me, babe. I need you. You’re the one that makes everything clearer. And there’s no fucking way I’m letting you go.” I snort. “No need for you? Jesus. You’re my world, Violet. Without you, I lose my center. I lose everything.”
“I love you, Cain.”
“And I love you.”
She grins and gets that wicked gleam in her eye I know all too well. “Then show me, baby.”
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
Violet
Cain stands with his back to me, his hands shoved into his pockets, staring at the blue, blue sky over the ocean. I take a moment to admire him before I walk over. From here, the blue sky outlines his large, masculine frame. His shadow on the ground before him could be a giant. I remember thinking of him as the fabled Paul Bunyan. His thick, dark brown hair is tousled, and I know exactly how it got that way after this morning’s romp. He never bothered to fix it. He knows I like it a little on the long side so I can tangle my fingers in it.
He looks to his left, but not at me, and I can see the ruggedly masculine face and square jaw, still darkened with a five o’clock shadow that never seems to go away. When he looks at me, I feel the power he holds, his intelligence and wit. But as I’ve gotten to know him… as I’ve grown to love him… a bit of the hurt he carries has seemed to dissipate. Maybe it’s only my imagination. Or maybe he’s found a way to heal.
Healing.
It’s a wonder that two people so capable of love could hurt one another so easily. It’s a wonder that the very same people are the ones that bring healing.
I marvel at his strength, his power, and all that makes him whole, before I come up behind him.
“Cain.” He startles when I call his name. That’s unlike him.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you jump when someone came up behind you. Are you losing your skills in your advanced age, sir?”
He smirks, his eyes twinkling. “No, babe. I think you’re the only one who could do that to me.”
“Oh?” I come up beside him and nuzzle my head on his shoulder. He drapes a heavy arm around my shoulders. “And why’s that?”
“Because you’re such a part of who I am, it’s as natural as breathing to have you with me.”
“Now, as romantic as that sounds, it’s a lie, Mr. Master.”
He chuckles, the sound rolling through me with a delicious heat.
“Oh?”
“It is. You know where I am, at all times. If you’re not by my side, one of the guys is, and you make sure that I’m safe from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to bed, and even when I go to sleep.”
A shadow darkens his eyes for such a brief moment, I almost miss it. “Do you feel smothered, Violet?”
I shake my head. I know the answer to this question. “No. I feel… loved.”
For the first time in my life.
I know that if I decided to leave, he’d let me. He let me go once, even though I know it pained him to do so, and he’d do it again if he had to. It would wound him… scar him, even… but I’m certain that if I needed him to, he’d let me. The freedom that comes from being his, from really, truly, being his, is worth every smothering thing he does, because I know he loves me.
“Good, Vi,” he says, kissing the top of my head, an easy target for him because of how tall he is in proportion to me. “I want you to feel that way.”
A ferocious little bark sounds not far behind me. I turn to see Cudgel, nearly fully grown, bounding his way toward me with endless puppy energy. I bend to greet him, and he nearly tackles me over in his enthusiasm to greet me.
“He’ll be a strong defender one day,” I say to him. And to myself. And soon we’ll need that.
I need to tell Cain. I will, I just… I want to hold my news to myself for a little while longer. I also want to take him to the target range for “practice,” and I’m afraid he won’t touch me if I tell him now.