Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 164838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
It’d taken a mask to accept that I wasn’t okay with being the boy next door anymore. I wanted to slay her nightmares, carry her through her hardships, and fight off every motherfucker who ever laid an unconsented hand on her.
And I wanted to do it as her husband.
Her nails punctured my ass, riding with me as I rode her.
Every rut and grind of my hips, she matched me.
“Z!” Her pussy locked around my cock, her legs spasmed around my hips, and the delicious heat of her orgasm milked me in clenching waves.
I lost everything that made me human.
I only lived to make her happy.
To be hers.
My answering orgasm tangled full of agony and exquisite intensity.
My heartbeat thundered as aching need pushed me over the edge.
We clawed and snarled and rocked and fucked, and every shackle of loneliness fell away as my soul ceased to be mine and became hers instead.
A lifetime of being promised each other.
A childhood of fighting such a stupid decree.
Followed by the unarguable knowledge that our ghosts were right, we were destined, and now we were finally exactly where we belonged.
Together.
* Epilogue *
Sailor
Can’t Fight Destiny
I STOOD AT THE TOP OF the quaint little church with the sun beaming through stained-glass windows. Pews full of young and old neighbours from Ember Drive watched us with bated breath, and the ghosts of the North and Rose family watched me pledge my life and love to the boy next door.
Two months since he proposed and now he had me at the altar.
It’d been a whirlwind, but…every step had felt absolutely right.
Fate had stepped in the moment we stopped fighting the inevitable. The day after we announced our engagement to our friends, everyone came together and made it happen.
It’d seemed too easy—terrifyingly easy—almost as if this entire affair had been choreographed by the universe itself.
Lily stood behind me in a coral pink bridesmaid’s dress.
Colin stood behind Zander in a crisp black tux.
Even Peng had been invited, sitting obediently in his little basket on Christina’s knee, where she sat next to Zander’s other sister, Jolie. He had a leash on to prevent him from destroying the decorations, and he blinked with such loving green eyes, he reminded me so much of the man I was about to marry.
“Do you, Sailor Melody Rose, take Zander North as your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
I blinked and focused on the celebrant. A lovely old priest who’d regularly had a few sherries with my nana.
Zander and I would’ve preferred a small garden wedding or even an elopement, but the moment the suburb learned we were finally getting married—after Melody and Mary had spoken of this auspicious day for almost three decades—the entire town wanted to attend.
The church had offered to host, the local flower shop owner (who Zander had sewn up after a nasty accident with a pair of pruning scissors) offered free blooms, and the cake had been donated by a lovely woman I’d grown close to at the market who sold cakes way better than any I could ever make.
I sighed with utmost contentment.
I felt so loved, so content, so safe.
Zander squeezed my fingers, bringing me once again to the present. I kept drifting off, floating in a wonderful dream that’d come true. “Eh, you’re making me nervous, Little Lor.”
Pop’s nickname for me made my heart threaten to explode.
Zander regularly called me all kinds of things when he had me in his bed. And I often called him X when he wore the mask and took me roughly. I had the best of both worlds. I had a wonderful, intelligent man who’d dedicated his life to healing the sick, but only I got to see him as a ruthless, dominant lover who got hard at leaving a mark on my skin.
I adored the two sides of him.
I was eternally grateful I was healed enough to be healthy inside and outside of the bedroom.
And I only had him to thank.
My guardian. My stalker. My doctor. My husband.
Grinning, I tugged him a little closer. He looked absolutely ravishing in a black tux. His emerald stare sparkled behind polished black glasses, and his dark red hair glittered like fire tinsel thanks to the beaming sun.
My heart flipped, tripped, and fell into his pocket. Forever.
“I do.” I smiled.
The priest let out a sigh of relief. “And do you, Zander North, take Sailor Melody Rose as your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“Absolutely.” Zander grinned. “Always.”
A few laughs twittered around the crowd.
“Excellent.” The priest beamed and stepped backward. “I was told you’ve prepared your own vows as well. If you’d like to exchange rings and share those, then I’ll announce you.”
“That’s my cue.” Leaning forward, Colin handed Zander a ring. “By the way, I seem to remember saying this exact thing would happen.” He laughed. “And it didn’t even take three to five years.”