by Ella Miles
“This is real,” he says, reading my mind.
I swallow hard, trying to clear my throat so I can answer him. I’ve never been more thrilled and terrified at the same time.
“Whatever dangers we will face, we will face them together. I won’t let anyone hurt my family. Not you and definitely not our baby,” he says.
And I believe every word. This time will be different. This time we will be together forever. This time we will both wear the last name—Black.
I can barely see Enzo through the tears falling down my face. But I don’t need to see Enzo to feel him. Our connection is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before. I know in my gut this is the only way either of us can move forward. The only way either of us can live—together, not apart.
Apart, we might be able to outrun our enemies. And together, we will have to stand and fight. But I’d rather fight every day to have the love of my life by my side, then run and be without him.
“Stingray?” Enzo says, still waiting for me to answer him with words. As if he doesn’t already know the answer in my heart.
“Yes—yes, I will marry you!”
Enzo grabs me, wrapping me in his strong arms. He spins me around before setting me back down on the ground.
“Yes?” he asks again, needing me to say it again to make it real.
“Yes,” I say with a giant smile.
His lips crush mine in a kiss I never want to end. But Enzo does end it. He pulls away and holds out the ring lying on top of the scrunchie and wooden heart.
He takes the ring and places it on my finger. It’s the same ring I wore before when we were fake married. The same ring his mother wore. A ring that means so much to both of us.
“Langston found it,” he says.
I smile.
“My heart belongs to the devil,” I read the inscription again.
Enzo’s eyes darken.
I kiss his lips gently, “You may have started out as the devil, but you quickly became my angel.”
He kisses back, hungrily. “I’ve still got plenty of devil left in me.”
He takes my left wrist and places the scrunchie on it. “This got me through a lot of dark nights.”
I bite my lip as I suck back more tears. “Langston, Zeke, and you. All the men that mean the most to me in the world.” I look up in his eyes. “But you are the only man I can’t live without.”
Enzo grabs my cheeks, pulling me into a desperate kiss as I grab his neck, pulling myself up to match his kiss. This kiss is different than all our previous kisses. This kiss won’t end. This kiss is the start of an unimaginable desire of lust flowing between us both. This kiss is the epitome of love. This kiss is everlasting. This kiss blows every other kiss out of the fucking water.
Enzo walks me back until I’m lying on the bed which might as well be a cloud in the heavens for how high I’m floating.
“I can’t believe how perfect this is. This moment. It’s like the world finally arranged to give us a happy ending for once,” I say, looking around at the picture-perfect room.
Enzo kisses down my neck, sending familiar chills through my body from where his lips press against my sensitive skin.
“Not ending, beginning,” he says.
“Beginning,” I agree, already gasping and moaning although Enzo has barely touched me.
Enzo sits back staring at me in my dress I only now realize is white. And I know this is going to be more than just making love. This is going to be the beginning of our union together. We may not say the vows or sign the papers until later, but today in this bed with our bodies, we will become one. We will be married to each other in every way that matters.
“You look like an angel. Are you sure you’re really here?” Enzo asks, stroking my cheek.
“This is real,” I say, repeating his words from earlier. I grab the hem of his T-shirt and lift until I see the chiseled abs I’ve missed for so long.
“I’ll never get enough of these,” I say, kissing each hard ab individually, working my way up his chest until I reach his lips.
“And I can never get enough of these,” he says, dipping my shirt down and exposing my breasts. His mouth wastes no time teasing each of them.
“I’ve missed your mouth, your tongue, your…” I can’t think anymore as I feel his tongue flick across my sensitive nipple.
“These have gotten so big.”
I nod. “Don’t stop.”
He continues to tease me with his tongue while I hold his head to my nipples, unable to speak except in short, broken words or moans.
“I’ve missed these moans,” Enzo says.
I see the hint of devil in his eyes as he stares down at my body. “This dress is too heavenly for the sin we are about to commit.”
He grabs the dress and slowly rips it apart, exposing my entire body to him.
He bites his lip when he takes in my naked body. “You aren’t wearing any underwear.”
I grin as I sway my hips beneath his hungry stare. “It’s like the universe fated us to be together today.”
“I don’t care if it’s fate, karma, God, coincidence, or the stars that brought us together. I’m not letting anything rip us apart again,” Enzo says.
“I need you—now.”
“I’m already yours.” But Enzo obliges my pleas. He stands and removes his jeans underwear quickly, discarding them before kissing over my naked body. My lips, my neck, my breasts, my swollen stomach, and then down between my legs. Teasing me with his tongue as a finger pushes past my slickness.
“You are so ready for me, baby.”
“I told you—I need you, now.”
He smirks against my clit. “Come.”
I do, against his tongue and fingers. But it is nowhere near enough to satiate me.
“More,” I beg.
He nods, silently agreeing to give me everything I’ve ever wanted.
He rolls me to my side and then lies behind me. Kissing my neck as he reaches around to taunt my sensitive nipples.
“Enzo,” I cry, out of breath and needing him more than ever.
“I’m right here, baby.” I feel his length pressing against my ass as he pulls my body to him.
I close my eyes as I can no longer see him anyway, and everything intensifies. I can feel every touch, every kiss, every breath like it was the first time he’s ever touched me. Each and every moment gets sealed into my body, a memory no one can ever take from me.
“I love you, Kai.”
“I love you, too.”
And then I feel his cock pressing at my entrance. I open my legs wider, welcoming him in.
And it’s everything.
My body is his. My soul his. My heart his.
And as quickly as I give, I get. I feel his everything filling me, making me whole. Giving me more love than I can ever return.
His cock drives into me over and over. Our bodies move together as the sparks fire off all over my body.
“You’re mine, forever,” Enzo says.
“And you’re mine, forever.”
Another thrust brings us both closer to climax. Closer to sealing ourselves to each other. Closer to becoming one.
“My husband, til death do us part.”
“Yes, and you’re my wife for as long as my heart still beats.”
Enzo grabs my neck, pulling my face toward his as he tenderly kisses my lips.
Husband.
Wife.
We will sign the papers soon. Have a formal wedding even. But this is the day I became Enzo’s wife. This is the day that I will remember forever as the start of us in this fight together—forever. This is the start of our happily ever after. Because I refuse to accept anything less than forever. Anything less than perfect.
One more thrust and we are both coming. Both floating high above all the danger. Both loving each other always and forever.
Enzo holds me tighter as we both come down from our high. Neither of us ever wanting to part from the other again. But as
we have both learned good can turn to bad in an instant.
“Uh…Enzo,” I say as the smell of something burning catches my nose.
“Mmm, I don’t ever want to stop hugging you like this. You smell so good, you feel so good, you—”
“Enzo, I think something’s burning.”
Our eyes meet, his go wide, and he jumps out of bed. One of the candles has lit one of the curtains on fire.
Enzo grabs the curtain and wads it into a ball before stomping on it with his feet to put out the fire. But all the candles seemed to be working against us now as they begin singeing the walls and dripping hot wax onto the floor. Enzo races around the room naked, blowing out every single candle.
I laugh at how ridiculous it is, but then again, this is us. A couple of candles catching the room on fire barely seems like an inconvenience compared to what we’ve been through.
“What are you laughing at?” Enzo asks as he grumpily walks back to bed in the dark.
“You—I think I’m going to love our crazy life together. Thank you for rescuing me from the candles.”
“Fire—I rescued you from the fire, that sounds more manly,” he says as he lays face down next to me, his hand rubbing over my belly.
I roll my eyes, “Fine, thank you for saving me from the fire.”
Enzo kisses my belly as I rub my left hand through his hair, the ring finally back on my finger where it belongs.
“Oh my god! What was that?” Enzo says as he watches my belly dance.
I laugh at his reaction and take his hand. “The babies are kicking.”
The look of awe on his face when he feels the kicking, floors me.
“Wait…did you say babies? Plural?” he asks.
I bite my lip as a huge smile takes over my face. “I found out the last time I went to the doctor. It’s why my blood pressure was high, and my belly is so big already. We are having twins.”
13
Enzo
“Twins?” I ask again after sleeping the entire night with her wrapped in my arms. I’m still not sure I believe that we are actually having twins. I can barely fathom having one kid, let alone two.
Kai laughs at my reaction. “I reacted the same way.”
“Twins,” I say slowly, like if I say it enough, it will make it more real.
I kiss her belly twice on each side.
“Do you know the sex?” I ask.
She nods. “Do you want to know?”
“Yes!”
She laughs again. “One boy, one girl.”
“Jesus,” I fall back on my heels, still reeling from having two babies. Two perfect babies—one boy, one girl. I’ve never been so happy in my entire life.
“And they are healthy?”
She nods, unable to contain her smile. So beautiful.
I kiss them again. “Mine.”
One of them kicks at the sound of my voice.
“Wow,” I say, pressing my hand over her stomach again.
“It’s pretty unreal, isn’t it?”
I grab her neck and kiss her again, not believing my life right now. Only yesterday, I thought I would never have this—a family. I thought Kai was dead. Our baby dead.
But then everything changed, and I get a second chance. I won’t waste it.
“We should raise them here, in this house, far away from everyone else. Although, we may have to kick your father out of the state and do a background check on every person in the town.”
She laughs. “I’m not kicking him out of town. But I don’t think we can stay here, at least not forever.”
“Why not?”
She sits up. “We have a lot to talk about.”
I nod. I don’t want to talk. I want to stay in our little bubble—forever.
I hand her my T-shirt to wear, and I put my boxers back on.
“Do you think your father stocked the house with any food?” I ask.
“Only one way to find out.”
I take her hand and lead her out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen.
“Holy shit! I thought I’d never want to leave my house on the beach in Miami. I was a beach guy through and through, but being here and seeing this view out the window, I may change my mind,” I say wrapping Kai in my arms.
She nods. “It’s beautiful here, isn’t it? I never thought I’d become a mountain girl either. But I’ve been as happy as I could be here these last few weeks.”
I kiss her hair again. “I could get used to this—domestic living. Get a normal job. Maybe become a fisherman or something.”
She raises an eyebrow and laughs.
“What? You don’t think I could be a fisherman?”
“No, you could. It’s just the same job my father got when he moved here.”
“Oh,” I say, no longer wanting to become a fisherman. “Well, I’m sure I can get a boat and do whale watching tours or something.”
She laughs harder. “You? A tour guide? You would be the grumpiest tour guide ever.”
“Fine, well good thing we don’t need money, then.”
“Yes, because we would probably starve with you as a tour guide,” she chuckles again.
I roll my eyes with a small grin as I walk to the fridge. There is a carton of eggs, and I spot some spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
“Feel like an omelet?” I ask.
She makes a disgusted face.
“It’s that or…” I open the pantry. “Donuts.”
“Donuts!” she shouts.
I frown. “Are you feeding my babies anything but sugar?”
She laughs. “Yes, I am. Fine, make me an omelet topped with one donut.”
I shake my head. “Fine.”
I get the supplies out to start making two omelets in the gourmet kitchen, while Kai starts making coffee. Each time we do anything we brush against each other, or stop and kiss each other, just needing to touch each other as much as possible.
I finish making the omelets and Kai finishes making a cup of coffee for me and grabs a bottle of water for herself. I top her plate off with a donut, and then we sit out in the rocking chairs on the back deck overlooking the incredible view as the sun begins to rise.
“This is incredible! I don’t even like omelets, but this is really good. Maybe you could get a job as a chef,” she says.
I grin. “Maybe.”
We eat in silence. Just enjoying the peacefulness of the fresh air and calm morning. Both of us imagining what our life would be like if we were any other couple. If we didn’t come with baggage, enemies, and monsters. If we both didn’t have fucked up fathers that messed us up worse than they messed up themselves.
This would be our life.
I’d wake up early every morning to make Kai breakfast. And be rewarded by seeing her walk around in my T-shirt.
We would go to normal jobs.
We would have friends that we wouldn’t have to worry about their safety just because they are our friends.
Our kids could play in the yard without worrying about if our enemies were going to kidnap them.
But this isn’t our life. This is just pretend. Because we have enemies. We have monsters ready to attack. This can never be our life.
Kai sets her plate down on the end table. I do the same. I pick up my coffee, and she grips her water bottle tightly.
“Truth or lie,” she starts.
I suck in a breath. Our little moment of heaven is ending. This lie is over.
I nod for her to continue. Because I know whatever truths we will tell are going to be hard to face. We may not need to play the game to tell them, but it’s more of a comfort thing than anything else. It lessens the blow somehow. Reminds us both that even though Kai has only now agreed to marry me, we have always been connected to each other.
“Truth or lie, my father is actually my uncle,” Kai says.
Holy shit. We aren’t starting on something easy. None of this is going to be easy. This is going to be fucking hard.
“Truth,” I
say, completely broken for her.
She doesn’t look at me, seemingly lost in that realization. “My birth father died in the final game.”
Pain, so much fucking pain. I want to take it all away. But I can’t. We could live a thousand lifetimes filled with only happiness, and it still wouldn’t make up for the amount of pain we have both endured.
“My father was the devil. I’m so sorry, Kai.”
I take her hand; she squeezes back. “Your turn.”
“Truth or lie, I fought Langston thinking it was Felix.”
“Lie,” she says, giggling even though she knows it’s the truth.
I shake my head. “Truth.”
“How the hell did you mistake Langston for Felix?”
I shrug. “I was pissed off. I thought everyone was my enemy. And Langston wasn’t in the best place. He thought everyone was dead. He couldn’t deal with the pain.”
I nod for her to continue.
“Truth or lie, Beckett is your brother,” she says cautiously, like the words alone are going to torture me.
“Lie,” I say, but as I say the word, I realize it’s not true. Beckett could be my brother. He doesn’t look much like me, at least, not in the obvious way. Not like Felix and Milo did.
But my life is filled with men that end up being related to me. It’s possible. And the more I think about it, the more I realize it to be true. Beckett is tall, an inch or so taller than me. His hair blonde, his skin fair, unlike my dark hair and tanned skin. But he has my mother’s eyes. Turquoise blue—warm and loving.
He clearly isn’t afraid of death. He faced me without once drawing his weapon. And despite knowing differently, he seemed to genuinely care if Kai lived or died.
Beckett.
Finally, I realize why the name rings a bell.
“Beckett isn’t his first name. It’s his last name,” I say.
Kai frowns. “How do you know that?”
“It was my mother’s maiden name.”
“So it’s true?”
“Yes, Beckett is my brother.”
Kai squeezes my hand again. “I know every brother that has entered your life has been out to get you. They have wanted power, revenge, money. But Beckett may have different motivations. He may be different.”
I nod, I hope she is right. But I don’t trust that any child that came from my father could ever be good, myself included.
