Epilogue

brIAR, SIX MONTHS LATER

God, my right wrist is just killing me.

But as I stumble out from a long day of writing exams, I already know who's going to be waiting there for me.

My Prince—and he's holding two cups of coffee.

"A fruity little blueberry number for you, my love," he greets me, holding one out and leaning down for a kiss.

I lean backward and eye him. "Decaf?"

His eyebrows climb up, and he stares at me. "Of course. I know your sleep routine. I made your sleep routine, boy."

"Okay, okay," I giggle, tilting my face up to let him kiss me as I accept the cup of coffee. "Sorry, Daddy."

He grabs me by the ass until I squeak, pats me firmly, and lets go. "That's better," he murmurs, and we set off walking together. "So, how'd you do?"

"Pretty well, I think." I grin up at him. "Really well, actually."

Prince beams at me. "I know you did. You've been good as gold lately."

I bat my lashes up at him. "Yes, Santa Daddy. I don't want a stocking full of coal again this year."

"I'm not that old," Prince scowls at me, but he manages to crack a smile. He's starting to real about his age these days, and where he is in life.

Especially with how far he's come in the last six months. And I'd like to take a little credit for that, thank you very much. Ever since I told him to let down his walls… well, his career has taken off.

Plus, now that we're living together, he gets all the outlets he needs for that wicked streak I love so much.

"I know," I groan at him. "But I'm sure the fairies talk to the elves, who talk to Santa. You can pass on a message."

Prince snorts dryly. "Good save. So is it another meeting tonight? Who's this one with?"

"Uh…" It's getting hard to keep them all straight. almost reach for my phone before I remember. "Oh, right! The grad student who went into research."

"I thought you wanted to practice?"

"I did. I do. But research matters, too. There are so many kinks we just haven't studied at all," I tell him earnestly. "If I can help normalize it, I could make such a difference. And now that I can stay awake through stats class…"

"God, Beauty." Prince smiles crookedly, slipping his hand into mine. "You really will need your sleep if you're trying to change the scene from the top down and the bottom up."

I blush as I laugh. "I will choose one career path, I swear."

It's just exciting to care so much about what I do now—to find out all the ways I could do good, and make a real difference.

As we come to a halt in front of the campus cafe, Prince squeezes my hand. "You don't have to choose forever. You have a lot of chapters ahead of you."

I beam up at him and stretch onto tiptoes so he can kiss me again. "I know. So, listen… I probably won't make it home before you're off to Vibes."

Prince smiles at me. "Or you can head home to bed, and I can pretend to sneak in like old times. I'll have to take the door, though. After how the Christmas lights went, I'm not climbing up that ladder again."

My giggle turns into a stifled snort when he glares at me. "Sorry. I'll hold the ladder next time. But in my defense, your ass did look really good…"

"Anyway," Prince says, sparing us another round of this ongoing debate over ladder safety, "it's okay if you can't come tonight."

"No, no," I shake my head, and then I shove my coffee into his hand. "I might not last the whole night, but I came prepared."

"You… what?"

I'm ridiculously proud that he's headlining the Vibes Christmas party, and I'm not going to miss it for the world. Even after my all-important final exams. Prince's eyebrows climb up as I unbutton the first few buttons of my shirt.

Then he sees what's underneath: a bright red harness.

"I sat through back-to-back exams in this. I'm going to put it to good use. But I didn't expect the jock strap to be so distracting," I sigh as I button my shirt back up.

Prince stares, opens his mouth as if to say something, and finally rubs his forehead. "Red? Are you sure?"

I tilt my head and take my coffee back to finish the last few sips. "For Christmas!"

Prince's lips twitch. "Ah. Not fisting."

"What?!"

Shit. It's the color thing again, isn't it? I forgot about that…

Prince's eyes sparkle as he leans down to kiss me. "You've come a long way this year, but there's always more left to learn. I hope you find some answers tonight, Beauty."

"Oh, I already have," I smile up at him until he can't help but smile back. "But I'll find even more answers today. Or one of my other… um, five meetings, I think?"

"Five?!"

"I spent three years avoiding the thought of my career path," I shrug ruefully. "I've got a lot of catching up to do."

Prince relents and smiles at me. "Well, I'm proud of you for waking up and smelling the coffee… even if you're running at ninety miles an hour. It's probably good for me, trying to keep up with you."

"You're welcome," I wink at him, and he smacks my ass again as I giggle.

In all the chaos of the last few months, Prince has picked up every piece I couldn't keep together on my own. Whenever I need him, he's there. Usually before I even know I need him.

Prince keeps my life together, my faith strong, my heart full… and my ass un-fisted.

Thank God for that.

"Thanks, Daddy. And good luck tonight," I tell him, beaming up at him. "I'll see you later."

He just winks at me. "And you'll feel me even later, Beauty."

Ohhhhmygod.

It's all I can do not to drop my coffee cup right in the snow as Prince leans down for a kiss, winks at me, and then strides off down the sidewalk.

At last, I turn to the coffee shop to face another meeting, and the future that no longer feels like it's written for me. Nowadays, I get to decide what I want. And when I don't, it's because I decided that, too.

I'm wide awake for the beautiful fairytale of my life, and I don't want to miss a single minute of it.

Thank you for reading Beauty Sleep, the second Twisted fairytale. Click here to join my newsletter and hear when the next story is available!