“I’ll tell you when your punishment is over.”
There are welts around Sash’s wrist, that look like the ones her father carries. With her hands free, the first thing Sash does after rubbing life into them, is put them around her stepbrother’s body and pull him back towards the bed.
“That was incredible”, Sash says, her body still tingling.
She smooths her hand across his chest, down his perfect belly and towards his cock, delighted to see he still hasn’t softened.
Dante folds himself into the bed so he’s lying alongside her.
“So what happens now?”
Sash curls herself into him, her eyelids already feeling heavy.
“Now we rest. Tomorrow we begin again, but this time we do it together.”
And like that, Sash nestled up against the thickness of his chest, and Dante with one arm around her shoulder to pull her into him, and the other on her belly, protecting what sits within, the buzz of an incredible series of orgasms bristling inside them still, and the wonders of an amazing future ahead, the world melting away into a blur of darkness and comfortable silence and all of their worries fading away into the ether, sleep, like an old friend leading them home, majestically takes them under.
Nothing can take him away from me now, Sash thinks. Nothing on this earth can ruin my happiness.
Chapter 46
On a gray and drizzly morning, the sky heavy with storm-clouds ready to burst, a family gather to watch as Jason Walker’s coffin is lowered carefully into the earth.
At the same time, ten thousand feet up, on a flight from Los Angeles to New York, Caulder sits reclined in a business class seat, drinking a gin and tonic.
Next to him, tucked up in bed and already sound asleep, surrounded by books and toys, is Dante’s son, Oliver. Caulder returns the air-hostess’s smile as she walks past, her bump a little more prominent now.
Epilogue
One Year Later…
Sash still can’t believe it.
So much has happened over the last year and now this. Finally, eventually, ultimately this.
She feels like if she were to pinch herself she’d wake up from a maddening dream, or even worse, one of the teenage fantasies she used to enact out in gorgeous intimate detail, ad infinitum.
She doesn’t want to close her eyes just in case everything suddenly disappears upon opening them, and she can’t even catch her breath for the excitement.
It was finally happening.
Everything that she had ever wanted was here. She and Dante were getting married.
“Sash? Is everything ok?”
There is a silence that has descended on the watching group, which Sash now notices for the first time. She laughs nervously as she looks out to them and then back to her stepbrother, who is seconds away from becoming her husband. Dante squeezes her hand, Oliver hides under a chair and Henry smiles across to her proudly, Sash and Dante’s son Jay cradled in his hands.
Sash can hardly speak for emotion. Tears of joy cling to her cheeks like stripes of rain on polished glass. The edges of Dante’s lips curl up into the smile that has always made her melt.
This is it.
Everyone is here to witness their union.
This is everything she has ever wanted.
“I do”, Sash says finally, her heart beating wildly. “Fuck, yes I do.”
Tracy’s cheeks redden a little at the curse, but nobody notices it except her. Everyone else is looking in one place and one place only. Dante and Sash embrace, look at each other deeply and kiss passionately. The words of the celebrant can’t be heard over the whooping and cheering from the crowd, but it doesn’t matter.
Sash and Dante know the importance of what’s just happened. They know that they have sealed their love forever in the eyes of American law. It’s official. Dante and Sash are now man and wife, and as far as they are concerned, the rest of the world can go fuck themselves.
Henry is the first over to congratulate them. Dante takes Jay, throws him up into the air, and then presses him lovingly to his chest. The bundle of cuteness gurgles and attempts a smile. Oliver plays with Sash’s dress, trying to get underneath the flowing material, while others join them up on stage.
Everyone looks incredible, but Sash and Dante look out of this world. If you didn’t know them, it wouldn’t take more than a second or two to pick them out as husband and wife.
There are a quick round of photos, and then the gathered guests follow the newlyweds across the lawn of their brand new home and towards the converted barn and patio, where seats have been placed and a band of staff members buzz about excitedly.
Sash holds Oliver in one hand, Dante in the other, while Dante presses their child against his shoulder.
“Mrs. Hix”, Dante says, turning to her.
“Husband and wife.”
Jay gurgles, half asleep.
“Til death do us part.”
“I love you, Dante.”
Dante stops her then, to put his finger under her chin and lift her eyes up towards his. Her cheeks are still wet from tears, her eyes softened from crying them.
“I love you so much, Sash. I always have. I would do anything in this world to make you happy.”
Sash bites her lower lip. “You already have, Dante.”
Dante pulls her towards him, and a moment later their lips are pressed together.
Sash never thought being this happy would ever be possible. She never thought this day would ever come for one. Two, she never thought it would be Dante standing there across from her professing his love and saying ‘I do’, three, she never thought she’d ever have a baby, not least with him, and four she never thought in the wild depths of her imagination if all of those other things did magically happen, that her family would be there to support her.
While Dante kisses her, a ring forms around them of Sash and Dante’s nearest and dearest. Abbey is there, Caulder too. Henry, Tracy, Oliver and Jay. Old school friends who supported her throughout, ex work colleagues, even her estranged brothers, all so happy to see Sash as happy as she is today.
Dante can’t believe it either. After what happened the first time around, he never thought anything like this would be possible. After walking out on Sash he never thought he’d ever get her back. Not only that, Dante got her back pure and made sure that she was his. There has never been a girl that has made Dante feel the way Sash does, and the feelings he has for her now, on the day that they have sealed their love forever, is enough to make him cry.
He has everything that he wants. He has Sash, the support of her family and friends, Oliver, Jay, and even his business back. He has a whole life ahead of him with the woman and family that he loves, and nothing that can get in the way of stopping that. Sash can see it in his eyes, and Dante can see it in hers. Nothing can break a love this strong. They were always meant to be together, and everything they had to go through to get here was necessary just to arrive.
“Shall we?”
Sash loops her arm into her husband’s and rests her head on his shoulder. Together they begin to walk towards the patio area again.
“You know they’re going to freak when we tell them.”
“I can’t wait to see the look on their faces.”
“I hope it’s a girl this time”, Sash whispers. “Two boys are already enough.”
Dante gives her a side glare and pulls her into him, the tips of his fingers just about stretching to her belly.
“If it’s a boy, we are definitely calling him Dante.”
Sash laughs and pushes herself away from him.
“I’m not even joking”, Dante goes on. “Dante Hix, Jr.”
Sash shakes her head. “We’ll see.”
“Well, if not this one, then definitely the next. We’ll just have to keep going until another boy comes along.”
“I am definitely going back on the pill”, Sash jokes.
“I don’t think you were ever on it in the first place”, Dante teases
.
Sash playfully rolls her eyes at him, picks up Oliver, who has been pulling at her arm for the last half a minute in a blatant act of attention seeking, scrunches up her wedding dress with her free hand and skips towards the barn.
Dante falls in step slowly behind her, happy to watch the beautifully simple way his gorgeous wife moves, while he thinks about exactly what he is going to do to her later on.
While they drink, and dance and talk about their future throughout the rest of the day, one thing is certain and nobody could deny it, Sash and Dante are perfect for each other, they are in love, and the strength of that love is clear for everyone to see. It can never be broken, not now, and not ever throughout the rest of their lives together.
They are going to grow old together, father more children together and be happy and in love together. There is even a possibility, however slim, that Sash might let Dante get his wish, and name one of their children after himself.
But, of course, Sash still hasn’t decided that yet. She can’t always let Dante get his way!
***
News of Dante and Sash’s marriage reaches Tess a couple of days afterwards, when the happy couple are honeymooning on an exclusive yacht in the tranquil waters off the Mauritian coastline.
Naturally, she is absolutely furious, not only that Sash has ended up with Dante, but that the two of them now have legal custody of her child.
Caulder was right in his estimations. Tess was the one blackmailing Dante, and she hadn’t done anywhere near enough to hide it. It didn’t take much to convince the police of her guilt, nor much time with Dante’s money behind it, for the case to be heard in court. Tess was given the maximum sentence possible, tried under both New York and Californian law, and Oliver, who was already in Dante’s custody at that point, was simply allowed to remain there.
Tess scowls at the Television. She scowls at the news of her former lovers happiness, his recent success with his new company and Sash’s new found happiness.
Dante made sure they threw the book at Tess, and has made sure there is no way she’ll ever get full access back to Oliver. In fourteen years, when Tess is finally allowed out of prison, Dante intends to allow her to see her boy, but only under terms agreed by them both. By that time, of course, Oliver will be a teenager.
Tess is kicking herself, but the time for remonstrations has long since passed. She’s been through the ifs and had dones and the several other myriad permutations. Planting photos in Henry’s sedan at the time seemed like an act of genius, but given time to think about everything she has done, makes Tess wish she’d just stuck to how things were originally. She had a good life without ever needing to rock the boat. She had her son, a healthy support check and a future. Now she has nothing.
She can’t bear to watch it anymore. She clicks off the TV, lies back in bed, curls up on her side and begins to cry. Tacked to the wall is the only photo she has of her son, which she paws briefly before closing her eyes.
The day she decided to go up against Dante, was the day her life went to hell. Nothing can beat that man. Nothing can beat a love so strong.
***
It is almost a year exactly after Jason Walker took his own life at Coney Island Beach. A promising athlete, he had been using steroids for a number of months, and was self medicating with alcohol to combat depression. The autopsy revealed a malignant tumor in his right lung, for which Jason was due to begin receiving treatment the month after he died. In combination with the mortician, and despite an investigation spearheaded by Jason’s family, a verdict of accidental death was passed by the courts. In memory of Sash’s friend and former love, and in an act of unexpected benevolence, Dante pays for an impressive headstone to be put in place at the cemetery in which he was buried, and begins a sports charity in his name designed to support promising athletes who may be encouraged to supplement their training with life debilitating steroidal medication, with an initial million dollar donation.
As far as everyone is concerned, the matter has been completely cleared up. There is only one other man alive who knows the truth about what happened, and that man is Caulder.
Caulder continues in his role as head of public relations, and is acutely aware of the power of both money and what that money can bring.
If needed, history can be re-written, battles can be won, wrongs can be righted and most importantly lies can be buried completely, or made to look like the truth all along.
After Dante and Sash’s confession, Caulder was the one who helped Dante rebuild his empire. He is now worth more than he was before.
The public love Dante and Sash.
They love what they have managed to do and they love, more than anything else, how much they love each other.
The love that they have for one another is so powerful, it could stop the world for a minute.
Caulder is under no illusions that his boss could do that anyway if he wanted to. He would just have to want it that much.
***
Since being fired by Hix Enterprises almost a year ago, Alex has had a rough ride. She currently finds herself traveling the world with what little remains of the large redundancy paycheck Dante was required by law to give her. She doesn’t have any plans for the future other than to find another billionaire businessman and build herself back up. She knows in her heart of hearts, however, that there is absolutely no-one anywhere on this earth like Dante Hix.
That man, as everyone knows, is one in a billion.
Sash and Dante were always meant to be. They just had to wait for the world to catch them up.
The End.
This book is dedicated to Dante and Sash, because they never gave up on each other no matter what happened.
They fought, they battled and eventually they won.
And that, whether wrong or right, is love in its purest form.
THE END
Thanks for reading!
Donkey Doubled: A Twin Stepbrother Menage Romance Page 61