by Emelia Blair
When Jace finally leaves, and Kendall is drooping, I let her lean onto me.
She looks tired and drawn out as she asks, “Duke?”
“He’s out of surgery. Tracy and Max are with him. Your friend dropped everything to get to him. She really loves him.”
Duke has always been lonely in a way. I can see he’s fallen in love with Tracy and her son, not something I ever imagined.
And yet, seeing him when he talks about where he took Max or what Max did and the glow in his eyes when he talks about Tracy, makes me think that he’s found a place he’s ready to call home.
“And Elise?”
“Baby girl. Healthy. She weighs seven pounds.”
Kendall smiles then. “She must be so happy. Where is she?”
“Still here. Lucas hasn’t left her side,” I tell her. “You’d think he was the father; he’s so excited. I didn’t tell him about what happened. You had enough to deal with Jace.”
Her shoulders slump. “Gerald wanted to know where Tracy was and since I never left a forwarding address and Duke helped her get that new job, he couldn’t find her anywhere. And after that one incident, Arthur just wanted to get back at me. He’s always hated me for some reason.”
I want to tell her that what she thought was hate was lust, but Kendall doesn’t need to know that. Arthur will be booked and sent to prison and he would no longer have any role to play in Kendall’s life.
“I honestly had forgotten about Arthur,” she confesses as she curls into me. “There was so much going on and when you said Duke had taken care of him, I told myself to let it go.”
“This is on me, Kendall.” My tone is heavy, as I run my fingers down the side of her arm, marveling in the fact that she is wholly unharmed. “I should have listened to you.” After a pause, I finally ask her something which has been bothering me. “Back at the warehouse…” I pull away from her and search her eyes. “You seemed surprised that I’d come for you. Did you doubt me?”
Kendall swallows but she doesn’t tear her eyes away from mine. “It’s not that. I just – I’ve never had anyone to depend on like this, like what you’re offering me and in that moment, when they took me, all I could think was that I was back in a place where I had to fight to protect myself, that no one was coming for me. And then there was this sense of loss that you would think I’d left you behind this time… that I’d gone somewhere you couldn’t follow. And a part of me just gave up. I knew you would be in meetings all day and by the time you realized I was missing, it would be too late.”
My heart is heavy with her words, full of emotions that I acknowledge. I smooth back her hair and kiss her eyes, closed.
My voice is rough as I state, “I would have followed you, Kendall. Everywhere and anywhere. You have no idea how much you mean to me. You are in my blood, you’re branded on my heart. I couldn’t survive losing you. I know, I know I’m pushy and arrogant and demanding. And yet, you hold me in the palm of your hand. I would have burnt this city down to find you. I have enough influence and power to rip every building in this city apart to make sure you were returned to me.”
Kendall’s lips are trembling and she watches me with both love and something else. She reaches out with her fingers to touch my lips, murmuring, “Sometimes, I think you’re not entirely human.”
I let her caress my face and I watch her, my eyes hooded. “You make me human. You are the best parts of me. You make me feel. You make me love. You make me into what I am.”
She shivers. “Is it strange that I prefer you this way? Wild and inhumane, only mine to tame?”
I cup her face, drawing her closer, until our breaths are intermingled and she gives up control to me, letting me maneuver her. “No. It makes you mine. We are who we are, Kendall. All I know and all I care about is that I love you and that you love me.”
Her eyes bore into mine, a fierceness in them. “I do love you so much.”
As I lean in to seize her mouth, the world outside us is drowned out in the haze of love and emotions that wraps around us.
We have a long way to go. I want my ring on her finger. I want my child growing inside of her. I want a family with her, to grow old with her, to fight with her, love her, adore her till she snaps at me, kiss her till she melts in my arms and my touch is all she knows.
But for now, she’s here, in my arms. And she intends to stay here.
Epilogue
“Why do we need this?” Caleb is holding an ugly piece of artwork away from his body with just tips of his fingers as if it holds a contagious disease.
I grit my teeth as I reply, “Because it speaks to me.”
Jace, who somehow got roped into helping me unpack, stares at the hideous painting and chimes in, “Speaks what? A hundred and one ways to induce nightmares?”
Caleb hums a sound of agreement.
I scowl at the two of them. “It’s a beautiful sunset seen from the eyes of broken-hearted man.”
Jace takes out the small coasters from the cardboard box, and sniggers. “Looks like he drew a sunset and then took a shit on it.”
I give him a dirty look. “Why are you here? Don’t you have something else to do?”
“Tracy said that I should focus on family bonding,” he says dutifully. “And she said that she didn’t want to help you unpack.”
“Since when do you listen to what Tracy says?” I narrow my eyes, snatching the picture from Caleb.
He pauses and looks forlorn when I move to hang it above the television.
“Since she promised to bake me lasagna.” Jace sounds absolutely cheerful. “Man, you have some ugly shit here.” To Caleb he says, “There’s another painting in here. It’s worse than the first one.”
I glower at my fiancé.
Caleb manages to look horrified when Jace brings out the painting and flourishes it in the air with an ‘aha’.
“Get out, Jace,” I growl.
“Can’t.” He grins at me. “Tracy said I have to see this through.”
“Why can’t Duke help us?” I turn to Caleb. “At least, he shuts up when I tell him to.”
“He’s coaching Max’s football team.” Caleb nudges aside some colored clay pieces that Max has gifted me over the years.
My heart warms as he goes and puts them on the mantel.
“Although, I can’t believe that he got married before us,” Caleb grumbles.
The disappointment and accusation in Caleb’s tone makes me roll my eyes.
“He got Tracy pregnant. And then he used that as an excuse for a shotgun wedding. If you wanted a shotgun wedding, you should have knocked me up.”
When his eyes gleam in thought, I say hastily, “Don’t even think about it! That’s not a suggestion!”
“Get a room,” Jace gags from his corner.
“Get out,” I say sweetly.
He sulks.
I never thought that building a relationship with Jace would be this easy, but he’s slipped into my life as neatly as a glove. And where I’ve never thought of having siblings, in these past six months, his presence has become something sturdy.
I like having him around and now, I can’t imagine a life without him. It’s strange and unreal but it works. He’s also befriended Caleb to some extent, as friendly as one can get with Caleb. But the endless walls that the man I love has built around himself, I’m tearing them down one by one.
He’s still a pain in the ass. He’s still insufferably arrogant. He still likes getting his way. Most of the time, I let him. And when I get annoyed, I yank at his leash as he complains and growls, but he stops.
The day that he proposed to me ‒ the fifth time he proposed to me was while we were in bed and he was balls deep in me, my sanity ragged ‒ and he refused to move until accepted.
Manipulative little shit, I think fondly.
I don’t regret it.
I had been ready to say yes but the lengths he went to finally make me agree had been amusing.
We have an odd relationship
. It’s not perfect. There are up and downs. We fight at times, loud shouting matches which end up in vicious make up sex after which I can’t walk for an entire day, he ruins me so thoroughly.
Then there are days when he spoils me so ardently that I can’t help but love him even more. He’s patient, manipulative, aggressive and adoring. I found out that this mixture of a man has my heart in his grasp.
His laughter is rare but it is something he only shows me. His genuine smiles are reserved for me alone. And I cherish it all. How can I not?
“What are you thinking about?” His voice comes from behind me.
I smile, being dragged out of my thoughts. “About when you proposed.”
The leering smile on Caleb’s face has Jace narrowing his eyes, “You never told me how that happened.”
I run my fingers in Caleb’s hair, and smirk. “Well, it all started when Caleb talked me into bed one nigh—”
“Stop right there – Ew. I don’t need to hear that!” Jace’s face is red.
It’s fun having a brother sometimes.
It’s late when Jace finally leaves, voicing loud complaints about how his kindness has been abused and that he should at least be fed before being kicked out.
Heartlessly, I tell him to suck it up.
I’ll buy him lunch on Monday.
Alone now, I look around our new home and sigh in contentment. “I’m glad you didn’t want to move,” I tell Caleb who walks into the living area.
He circles his arms around my hips, grabbing my ass on the way, making me moan. “Just because we are getting married doesn’t mean we have to get another place. Besides, I thought you’d want to be close to Tracy and Max.”
My heart swells at how effortless it is for him to make decisions, always focused on my happiness.
“Thank you,” I murmur, as I loop my arms around his neck. “But if you wanted to move elsewhere, I would have gone with you. My home is where you are now.”
A tender expression crosses his face and he kisses me gently, lovingly then he pulled his lips from mine. “Should’ve told me that before.”
I laugh out loud.
He grins. “Now how about we christen our apartment, starting with the bedroom?”
“Starting with?” I echo as I let him drag me into our room.
He throws me a wicked look over his shoulder. “Well, we have to cover every surface of this apartment.”
I swallow in response to that, my lower muscles tightening in anticipation. “Oh.”
As we reach the bedroom door, he pulls me into his arms, kissing my neck. “I was thinking of a winter wedding. You won’t be showing that much.”
Dazed, his mouth on my skin frying my brain cells, I gasp out, “Showing what?”
He smirks against my skin. “Well, you did say that to have a shotgun wedding, I’ll have to take precautions.”
Catching on to his meaning, I laugh loudly as I struggle in his grasp halfheartedly. “I’ll kill you.”
I’m still laughing as he falls with me on the bed, his mouth on mine, branding my body as he has my heart.
THE END
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