Epilogue

Ace

S haw’s heavy sigh brought me back to our conversation. “You’re sure you’re okay, kid?” he asked me.

I rolled my eyes before focusing back on my sexy as fuck Papa, who was wielding an axe and splitting firewood like it was as simple as breathing. My dick had been hard for the past fifteen minutes… which was about how long I’d been standing at the window watching him. Snow was falling and the ground was covered in the white slush, but he was out there in just a long-sleeve shirt and jeans as if it was just a brisk, fall day.

“I’m fine,” I told him for the umpteenth time since he’d called me five minutes ago. “Gunner has me seeing a therapist virtually. You should be checking on Jax. I swear, he’s turned into some kind of caveman. Did he tell you I almost broke my fucking neck in one of his dumb ass traps?” I’d gone into the woods yesterday for a walk. I had a walkie that Gunner sent with me. I wanted some time alone, which he understood, but he wanted to be able to keep in contact with me. I’d gone about fifty feet from the cabin and damn near broke my neck falling into one of the traps Jax had set “in case we had intruders”.

I swore, he was treating this shit like a fucking game. I was pretty sure he was creating traps because it was fun—not because he was truly worried someone might find out where I was. Even Gunner wasn’t worried. And if he wasn’t worried, then I wasn’t either.

Shaw laughed, which only made me scowl. Gunner happened to look up at that moment, and he frowned at me. I pointed to my phone. He nodded, showing he understood it was just one of my brothers, then grabbed another log, standing it up so he could murder it into two pieces.

“He’s worried about you,” Shaw told me.

I scoffed. “Like fuck.”

What Shaw didn’t know though was that Jax and I were… kind of close. We’d always been close, but not in the way we were now. He’d been helping me a lot. And now, as long as I was facing him, he could touch me without me freaking out and having a panic attack or spiraling. Blakely didn’t have those privileges yet, but she assured me she was fine with that and just loved being able to witness my progress with Jax.

“Shaw!” Amaliya screeched in the background. I winced, pulling my phone from my ear a little. “Where the fuck is my phone?!” she yelled, sounding much closer.

“You were being a brat this morning,” he told her, his voice eerily calm. I swore Shaw never lost his shit. How he was always this chill kind of freaked me out. “I warned you I’d treat you like a child if you wanted to act like one.”

“You’re a dick,” she snapped. “I’m calling my dad.”

“With what phone?” he taunted her.

She screeched before I heard her literally stomp off. Shaw sighed. “I need to go… deal with her. Call if you need anything.”

I rolled my eyes. “As if you won’t end up calling me before then.”

“Jesus Christ ,” Shaw muttered. “Go be a brat to someone else, Ace. I already have one here to deal with.” I snickered. “Love you, kid.”

I hummed. “Love you, too, Shaw.”

I ended the call, then forced myself away from the window. Jax was toeing his boots off by the front door when I spun around, and I grinned. “Just the man I was going to go looking for.”

He arched a brow at me. “Should I be concerned?” Blakely snickered from the recliner, where she was curled up with a book that had two men and a half-naked woman on the cover. No doubt, it was ninety percent smut and ten percent plot.

“No. I just need your help,” I told him.

His other eyebrow came up to meet the first one. “With what, exactly?” he asked, sounding a bit cautious.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out one of Gunner’s rings. I’d checked last night to make sure it fit him still, pretending to just play with his fingers. Wasn’t like it was unusual for me. I was obsessed with constantly touching Gunner. I handed it to Jax. “Can you make a ring this size? You’ve been whittling wood for the past few weeks, and I want a ring for Gunner.”

Jax stared at the ring in his palm for a moment before looking at me. “It’s not going to be pretty, kid. I’m still rough at this shit.”

I shrugged. “I don’t care. I can’t go into a city and buy him one. So, I need you to make it. You can sand down the edges or something. I don’t know. But I need a ring for him.” I drew in a deep breath. “Please,” I tacked on.

Jax snorted. “That sounded painful to say.” I glared at him. He pushed the ring into his pocket, nodding at me. “Yeah, kid. Just give me a few days to get it done.” He patted my shoulder before striding past me, heading for the kitchen.

Blakely smiled at me, her book lowered to her lap. “Going to ask him to marry you?” she asked.

I nodded, a small smile tilting my lips. “I want him bound to me in every way I can make possible.”

“Just buy a chain, a lock, and a key,” Jax called from the kitchen.

I snorted. “Not everybody is into bondage, asshole.”

Blakely’s cheeks burned red. I snickered and headed upstairs, intent on soaking in a hot bath until Gunner was done being a backwoods mountain man.

Gunner slipped out the back door just as Jax was coming inside. He shuddered when the heat inside the cabin washed over him, toeing out of his boots so he didn’t track snow all over the floors Blakely and I had just cleaned. I hated cleaning with a passion, but Blakely had roped me in, insisting if I wasn’t going to do anything outside, I needed to help inside. And Gunner had, of course, backed her up, leaving me no choice but to comply.

Because Gunner and I both knew I’d never disobey him.

Jax reached into his pocket and pulled out Gunner’s rings. I beamed and snatched them from him, shoving the old one into my pocket and inspecting the wooden one.

Jax had done an amazing job on it. He’d even taken the time to carve my initials into it. My throat bobbed as I swallowed. “Thank you,” I croaked. “This is?—”

The back door opened, and Gunner blinked at the two of us before his eyes dropped to my hand, which was still holding the wooden ring. My stomach dropped to my feet.

No, no, no .

This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Everything was ruined.

Everything was fucking ruined .

“Ace baby, is that a ring?” Gunner asked, stepping further into the cabin and shutting the door behind him. When I didn’t answer, he impatiently crossed the room, tracking mud and snow all over the clean floors.

“You’re ruining the floors,” I whispered, my throat so thick, I could barely breathe.

“I don’t give a fuck,” he retorted. He grasped my hand, forcing my palm open so he could look at the ring. Then, he looked at me, reaching up with the hand that wasn’t cradling mine to cup my cheek. “Baby, what is this ring for?”

Tears blurred my vision. “It’s for you. It was supposed to be a surprise.” My lips trembled. I was seconds away from falling apart. “I was supposed to ask you to marry me, and you were supposed to say yes, and then we were supposed to have really hot engagement sex, but then you came inside and ruined the whole fucking stupid thing.” Hot tears ran down my cheeks. “It’s ruined now.”

“Baby—come here,” Gunner rasped, pulling me into his arms. He cradled the back of my head, holding me to his chest. “Nothing is ruined, sweet boy. It just has to be done a little differently now.” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, then gripped my damp cheeks, tilting my head back to look up at him. Leaning down, he softly kissed me. I squeaked when he dropped his hands, gripped the backs of my thighs, and lifted me. I wound my arms and legs around him, staring down at him with wide eyes as he carried me toward our loft.

“What are you doing?” I croaked, sniffling.

“Taking you to bed.” He kicked his boots off on the step right before the loft before stepping onto the plush carpet. When he laid me back on the bed, he shucked his clothes, then crawled over me, his cock hanging heavy and hard between us. He pressed his hands into the mattress on either side of my head. I tightened my hand around the ring, the wood biting into my palm. “You going to ask me, Ace baby?”

I licked my suddenly dry lips, my heart slamming against my chest bone. Surely, he wouldn’t deny me when he was asking me to ask him to marry me, right?

Right ?

Fuck, why was this so nerve-wracking?

“Will you marry me, Papa?” I asked, hating how small my voice sounded.

He leaned down to kiss me before pulling my shirt over my head, tossing it to the floor. I shivered when the cooler air washed over my heated skin. Leaning down, he sucked a nipple into his hot mouth, laving his tongue over the peak. I whimpered, my free hand sliding into his hair to tug on the strands. Moving up my body, he kissed me again, thrusting his tongue into my mouth. I groaned, my mouth soft and pliant beneath his, letting him take whatever he wanted from me.

“Ask me again,” he growled as he worked open the button on my jeans. I shivered, my cock so hard, I could barely think.

“Will you— fuck ,” I panted when he lazily stroked my now bare cock, my jeans gone in a flash. “Will you marry me, Papa?”

He bent my legs back before yanking my hips onto his tree trunk thighs, the hair scratching along my lower back. I gripped the comforter in my free fist, my chest heaving.

“One more time, baby,” Gunner rasped, pressing his cock to my rim. I was still wet and soft from our fuck this morning, and he was clearly about to take advantage. “Ask me one more time, sweet boy.”

I nodded, my heart in my throat. I could barely speak past it. “Will you marry me, Papa?”

He slid inside of me in one hard stroke that stole the breath from my lungs and left me choking as if his cock had pushed all the way into my throat. My back arched, and I moaned long and loud. Gripping the back of my neck, he pulled me up so I was resting on his thighs. His kiss was hard and savage. Brutal. Blood welled along my lip, and we both moaned when I rocked my hips, fucking myself on his thick length.

“Yes, Ace baby, I’ll fucking marry you.”

I sobbed with relief and grasped his hand, sliding the ring onto his finger. It was a perfect fit, and when he cupped my cheeks, kissing me again, that ring pressed into my skin—somehow rough and soft at the same time—and it felt just right .

“I love you, Papa.”

Gunner laid me back on the mattress, coming down on top of me. He gripped my hip, angling my hips even further back so he could fuck even deeper into me. I helplessly moaned, my mind blanking as Gunner wrecked me.

“I love you, too, my sweet boy,” Gunner growled.