29. Epilogue

Epilogue

FIVE YEARS LATER

" R oll over, princess,” I told my wife, patting her affectionately on the ass.

“You’re not supposed to call me that anymore,” she replied ruefully, rolling onto her front and bracing herself on her knees and forearms, knowing exactly where I wanted her.

“I’d like to see anyone try and stop me,” I replied easily, moving behind her on the bed and sitting up on my knees so I could admire the view Iris was giving me. “Your cunt is already dripping for me, princess .”

“It usually is,” Iris said mildly, undoing me with just three words. It was always like this with her. Whenever I got too cocky, she reminded me who really had all the power in this relationship.

Of the two of us, I may wield the shadows, but I’d lay down my life for Iris.

I sent tendrils of shadows up the back of her thighs, following the path with the tips of my claws before creating a crisscrossing pattern around her torso, snaking down her arms to connect her wrists together. Iris was practically panting as I repeated the process down her legs, a solid length of shadow connecting her ankles, keeping her perfectly in position.

It was only right that I take a moment to admire my work, so I climbed off the bed to walk around either side, taking her in from all angles. She was the prettiest canvas to paint my shadows onto.

“No gag today?” she asked, immediately opening her mouth and sticking out her tongue as I brushed a tendril over her lip.

“Not today. I want to hear you. Don’t be shy now.”

Iris whimpered impatiently as I climbed on the bed behind her, grabbing her ass a little more firmly this time and spreading her cheeks to admire the feast before me.

“Damen…” Iris warned, though her voice was too breathy to sound any kind of serious. “We don’t have that long.”

“We can arrive late.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Fine, fine, fine.” I sighed, squeezing her ass affectionately. “The things I do for you. We could have made a whole evening out of this.”

I adjusted my position before she could tell me off again, half hanging off the end of the bed so I could taste that sweet slick directly from the source, roughly massaging her clit with my tongue from behind, just the way she liked it.

Iris let out a breathy moan, instinctively rocking her hips back but my shadows were holding her in place. And while I accepted I couldn’t take as long as I’d like when we were due to attend the Modra feast this evening, we still had a little time to ourselves and it was a rare afternoon off for both of us. I wanted to make the most of it.

I picked up my pace, feasting on my wife’s cunt like it was the food of the very gods themselves. Iris was as desperate for me as I was for her. Within minutes, her legs were trembling, toes curled up as she came with a soft cry.

“You’re impatient today,” I teased.

Iris laughed huskily. “Less joking, more knotting, please.”

I groaned. “You know I can’t say no to you. I wanted to play with you a little more.”

“Later,” Iris promised. “You can tie me to the bed after the feast.”

Well, in that case…

I used the shadows roped around her to roll her onto back, grinning as she relaxed into the movement and let me position her body exactly where I wanted her. Without any prompting, she grabbed the back of her knees, pulling them up and opening herself to me.

Unable to resist, I settled my face between her legs again because Iris was the best mate and wife in the world, and she deserved more orgasms.

“Damennn,” she rasped, throwing her head back. I glanced up the line of her body, admiring the prominent mating mark I’d put on her throat all those years ago. I never got tired of looking at it. I never got tired of the bond that connected us, that let me find her wherever she went.

I’d been lazy and often idiotic in my younger years, but I’d had the foresight to pursue Iris. At least I’d done that right.

My claws dug into the backs of her thighs just enough for Iris to feel the sting—exactly the way she liked it. The moment her legs started to shake, I moved over her, sliding my cock home as her orgasm hit, shuddering at the feel of her squeezing around me.

I lost control of my shadows completely at the sensation, and Iris took advantage of her free wrists by grabbing my horns and dragging my head down to rest in the crook of her neck.

“You feel incredible, princess,” I breathed, pulling out so that just the tip remained before thrusting forward again, bumping her a little up the bed. “Fuck. Are you sure we have to go to this stupid feast?”

She used her grip on my horns to turn my head to the side, brushing her lips against the shell of my ear. “Very sure. But I’d like to go with your cum between my thighs so get to work, husband.”

“Anything you want, princess,” I muttered, wholly focused on filling her with every drop of cum in my body.

It never took long when Iris begged, and it was even faster when she demanded. I had no will power where she was concerned. I couldn’t resist her.

“That’s it,” Iris murmured, teasing my ear lobe with her teeth, her heels digging into my back. “I love you, Damen.”

Fuck .

She was playing me as adeptly as she played her harp—she knew I was helpless against those words.

I muffled my moan against her skin, pleasure ricocheting through my entire body as my knot swelled. The sensation tipped Iris over the edge, and I nearly came again as she tightened her grip on the sensitive base of my horns.

For a long moment, we stayed intertwined in silence, only the sounds of labored breathing filling the room.

“You did that on purpose,” I accused affectionately.

“We can’t be late!” Iris’s hands absently drifted down my back. “You’re just as excited about the feast as I am, don’t lie to me.”

“I’m more excited about getting you in bed.”

Iris laughed, gently scratching my back. “Because it’s such a rare occurrence? Don’t you dare move, Damen. That knot needs to go down, I still need to get ready. Today is a big day.”

Only somewhat resentfully, I left Iris cleaning up in the bath—so much for cum between her thighs at the feast—and headed for the nursery.

Yara smiled the moment I walked inside, but she didn’t have a chance to speak before Adeon was climbing up my leg, clawless hands digging into my thigh.

“Must you?” I laughed, grabbing him under his armpits and swinging him into my arms. “That hurts, you know.”

He may not have claws, but his strength was more Shade-like than human.

“Sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry in the least. “Did you know Mama wasn’t here today?”

“Yes, it was her day off. Remember? Yara and Alyndra looked after you.” Usually, Adeon spent the day with us on Iris’s day off, but all the children had been preparing garlands for the Modra feast today and he’d been desperate to attend.

“Is the feast now?”

“Soon,” I assured him.

Adeon leaned his head on my shoulder, his pale blond hair stark against my skin. In so many ways, he was like his mother—both in looks and in temperament.

And then occasionally, usually when with as many witnesses around as possible, he’d behave like a feral little beast. He got that from me.

“Let’s go back and get Mama, hm? And then we’ll go to the feast.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

“It smells so good,” Iris murmured as we made our way into the garden. There were too many attendees this year to fit everyone in the dining hall, so they’d moved the festivities outside instead.

“Calix and his crew are cooking the meat out here,” I said. “One section of the garden has been taken over for food preparation.”

Tilly sniffed hopefully in that direction, trotting along beside us. She was walking a little slower this year, and took a little longer to respond when we called her. Neither of us wanted to think too much about that, though.

“Can we eat now?” Adeon asked, patting Iris’s arm.

“Not yet,” she said firmly. “We need to wait until dinner time. Do you see your cousins?”

Adeon went up on his tiptoes, though it didn’t help much considering how packed the place was. I scooped him up, carefully balancing him on one shoulder while he grabbed onto my horns and used them to wriggle until his legs were either side of my neck.

“They’re sitting on the throne. How come they get to sit on the throne?”

“Because they’re princesses,” Iris laughed.

Adeon grumbled something under his breath that he definitely learned from a kid at the nursery. It was in a rural Shade language, and I was very glad his mother didn’t understand it.

Allerick and Ophelia were on the temporary thrones that had been erected outside, surrounded by their gaggle of girls. All three had red hair, dark eyes, and a glare that could stop a Shade at fifty paces—even the baby. Everyone claimed that their perfect glare had come from their father, but I knew better.

The Glare was all Aunty Astrid.

Sophie was the eldest, and the crown princess for the time being. Her and Adeon weren’t that far apart in age, and seemed to vacillate between being best friends and mortal enemies.

“There’s so many of them,” Adeon observed sagely. I snorted. There would probably be more, too.

As much as I loved Adeon, both Iris and I had decided that one was enough for us to handle.

“Is Mama going to play the harp?” Adeon asked, spotting it up next to the thrones.

“Later,” Iris said. “And Austin will play his guitar—won’t that be fun? Will you dance?”

“I will,” Adeon replied solemnly.

Flynn—Evrin and Tallulah’s son—waved as we walked past, sitting on the ground with his uncle as Austin taught him to drum on a stone paver with a couple of sticks. Austin and Selene’s daughter, Thea, stood disapprovingly next to them, looking like an almost carbon copy of her mother though her eyes were human—with pupils and whites and everything. It had quickly become clear that the mother determined whether the child would be more Shade or human, which I was grateful for.

Iris was delicate. I didn’t want anything with horns and claws growing in her fragile womb.

“Can I go see Thea?” Adeon asked, yanking roughly on my horn.

I lifted him down. “You can ask if she wants to play. You have to come back if she says no,” I warned sternly as he darted off. All the children trailed after Thea—surely, she had tire of it at some point.

“Are there many visitors from the human realm?” Iris asked, leaning in close to my side so she could hear me above the noise of the party.

“I would hazard to say there are hundreds.” I brushed a kiss over the top of her head, pulling back so I could see her soft smile. “Families, too. Not all of the children you’re hearing are from our realm.”

“There are Hunter families? Here?” she asked in surprise.

“Yes. They’ve set up blankets on the ground all around the place, there are lots of clusters of them gathered. I assume different regions are sitting together.”

Even Lucas was here—with his Hunter wife and their baby. I didn’t tell Iris that yet though because I didn’t want to say hi right away. I appreciated that he was the one who got Iris out, who brought her to the shadow realm and into my life, but I still thought he was a dick. Some things just couldn’t be explained.

On the plus side, Verity still disliked him, and no one expressed haughty disdain quite like Verity and her mini-mes. They weren’t here yet, though. They were probably still trying to convince Theon to get out the door.

“How incredible is this?” Iris whispered, quickly brushing away a tear, though her scent was pure happiness. That was my mate—always overflowing with sweetness and joy, even when life had thrown nothing but challenges her way.

The peace between the realms had held, though it wasn’t perfect. But perhaps it never would be. Some regions of the human realm would never be safe for Shades to travel to. Some ex-Hunters who moved here weren’t a good fit, and had been asked to leave. But Elverston House was never empty—Meera and Verner were constantly busy helping new arrivals get settled here. And ex-Hunters who’d gotten used to life here were now living all over the shadow realm. And some kept a foot in each realm—Harlow spent her days working with the Hunters, but her nights with her mate, living in the small home Ruvyn had found them near The Itrodaris.

It was a situation that would have seemed like an impossible dream when Ophelia first arrived here on her wedding day. A blending of worlds that had been at war for centuries, and peace that was rooted in the spirit of welcoming and togetherness.

It was an impossible dream that had come true.