Epilogue

JAX

ONE MONTH LATER

T hea's chuckle washed over him in a cloud of warmth, easing some of the tension from his shoulders. With her legs curled beneath her, she read more of her book, every few seconds an amused sound escaping her lips.

He could tell which part she was at, having spent most sleepless nights reading it while she cuddled against him. He knew when the heroine said something sassy from the cadence of her laughter, or when the hero professed his love from the way she swallowed.

She shared with him why she loved books so much, staying up late to talk about the details with such delight he could listen to her for hours. He found out why she collected crystals, because she thought they were pretty. Why she kept the phallic statue that he'd had to make room for on one of his shelves, because apparently it was her favourite dick .

That answer had gotten her pinned to their bed, her giggles surrounding them before he showed her what a real cock felt like. She still wouldn't let him get rid of the fucking thing.

He also understood why she only ever had cold takeout in her fridge, because her cooking was terrible. Not that he'd ever admit that to her.

He'd laughed when he'd taken the first bite, surprising his brothers. And despite the food being barely edible, he ate every single piece, and even asked for seconds.

She had settled into his life as if she was always meant to be.

Because of course she did; she was his mate.

THEA

"Remember your training," she muttered quietly, the Troll Market busier than she'd expected. It wasn't like there were strict opening and closing times, but many of the stalls followed the same hours. Half of the market had begun packing up for the evening, while the others would likely still be trading into the early hours.

Ruhne gripped her hair tightly, hidden within the pink strands beneath her dark hood. "Please," he replied with a snort. "I was born for this."

Hiding her amusement, Thea pushed past a particularly tall elf. He turned to her with a sharp glare, and rather than reacting, she pretended he didn't even exist. She'd have happily called out the way he turned his nose up at her, but right then, she didn't want to make a scene.

No, they had something important to do.

"Ready?" she asked .

Lucifer nodded, excitement vibrating his every step, while Ruhne tugged her hair. "Ready."

"Hey, mate!" Lucifer bellowed, hand held up high. "Can you tell me more about these scales?" The assistant was all too eager to chat, immediately beginning her pitch on why the rug made from dragon scales would look perfect in his home.

"Let's do this." Thea pulled back her hood enough for Ruhne to slip out, his wings silent as he quickly rose towards the ceiling. She'd been teaching him over the past few weeks how to pick into simple locks. The same locks found on many of the pixie cages.

Pulling out her own tools from her sleeve, she began working on the cage closest to her. Moving quickly to the next, once it clicked.

The pixies eyed her warily.

"Don't go until you see the signal."

One of the braver pixies walked forward, her left wing torn and crudely repaired with yellow thread. "What signal?"

Thea checked over her shoulder, finding Lucifer still chatting animatedly with the assistant. "Oh, you'll know it when you see it."

The little female pixie nodded, whispering to the others in her cage while Thea quickly moved onto the next.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

Thea paused, turning with a smile. "Oh, finally you've come over." She moved her hands behind her back, carefully moving the tools against the lock. "I've been here for over five minutes. What kind of service is this?"

The male assistant blinked, green skin flushing darker.

"Are these the only pixies you have? It seems unimpressive." The lock caught her wrist at the wrong angle.

Fuck .

"Well, err," the assistant stammered. "Pixies are a rare Breed and are notoriously difficult to catch. It's why we're one of the only places still offering them."

"Huh, interesting." The lock finally clicked, Thea coughing to disguise the sound. "Is this the entire range?"

"Yes, this is all we have…" The assistant frowned at the glitter floating down between them.

"Oh, what's that?" Thea fell forward, throwing her entire weight behind it. The assistant staggered back, tumbling against the empty cages haphazardly stacked together. There was a moment of panic, the cages wobbling dramatically, but then the first fell. Followed by the rest.

"I'm so sorry!" she shouted above the banging and clashing. "Clumsy me."

Twenty to thirty cages crashed, pixies escaping in a rush of rainbow glitter. Ruhne's laugh echoed around her, his weight settling back on her shoulder while the assistant screeched.

Quickly shoving Ruhne beneath her hood, she nodded to Lucifer, who'd already begun to back away once his assistance had turned toward the commotion. Making her way quickly through the crowd, she grinned at the amount of pixies flying against the ceiling.

"You get them all?" she asked, moving faster towards the section designated for drifts.

"Of course," Ruhne chuckled. "I've told them where to go for safety, but it's now up to them to choose freedom."

"Did you see all that glitter?" Lucifer came up beside them, grinning like a child on Christmas morning. "Fuck, it was beautiful!"

"Your glitter fetish is worrying," Ruhne muttered.

Lucy frowned. "It's not a fetish if I can't fuck it."

Thea stepped over the ward engraved into the stone, moving as far back as possible before calling her wild magic. "You coming to the café, Luce?"

"You mean to your book club where you talk about books while drinking tea and eating cake?" He clicked his tongue. "Of-fucking-course." Reaching over, he gripped her wrist, taking over the drift.

He immediately let go when they'd landed in the street, looking around while he waited for her to enter. Sam, Rae, Harper and Molly were already sitting around the table, smiling as they joined.

Sam cleared his throat, deepening his voice. "He thrust his large – "

Rae snatched their latest read from his grip, while Harper groaned, "That's enough of that, thank you!"

Thea laughed, taking a seat where her hot chocolate was already waiting for her. It was their first meeting, wanting to make it a monthly thing where they'd take turns picking a book, and then discuss it over cake.

The idea had actually been Jax's one evening when he'd found her reading on their bed. A few days later, she'd found a freshly built reading nook in their room, complete with a comfy armchair right beside where he kept his own books.

"Are we all here?" Harper asked, sipping her tea.

Lucifer frowned, flicking through the pages. "This is just porn."

"It's not porn!" Thea, Sam and Rae said in unison, while Molly laughed hard enough she knocked her cup over, and Harper blushed.

Lucifer shook his head, throwing the paperback down. "Don't know what you're laughing at," he said, pointing at Molly. "You're not even old enough for this kind of stuff."

Her sister rolled her eyes at the Daemon, and he grunted at her in response .

Thea smiled, reaching for a slice of cake from the centre of the table before her mating bond ignited. Turning, she found Jax standing behind.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, reaching down for a kiss.

"J, have you seen what these guys are reading?" Lucifer looked at the paperback with widened eyes. "The guy has two penises. How can we compare to that?"

"Two?" Ruhne hopped onto the table. "Maybe I should start reading more."

Thea laughed, returning to her mate. "You're joining us?"

Jax looked at her, his expression empty but for his eyes, which melted when she met them. "It's something you love," he said in explanation.

Not caring that they had an audience, she jumped up and forced his head down to meet her lips. Jax was a confusing man, a self-confessed heartless warrior that, although would never admit it, adored her cat, cuddled her when she cried, and was gentle with her mourning family. And now he wanted to join her reading club for smutty books, all because it was something she loved.

Thea pulled back, seeing Thunder teasing his gaze. "I have something for you," he said in his deep voice.

"Is it a new book?" She was curious why Lucifer was giving Jax two thumbs up in her peripheral. "What's going on?"

Jax removed something from behind his back, and Thea smiled at the single sunflower. It was beautiful, the yellow petals like velvet until she noticed there was something nestled in the centre. Looking closer, she found it was a gold ring with a row of crystals coloured like the rainbow.

"Jax?"

He wasn't a man of many words, but it was her who was speechless when he dropped to one knee .

The table gasped, but Thea only had eyes for her mate. Picking up the ring, she laughed out loud when she read the inscription inside, the stylised J showing her Jax had made it himself.

‘Big dick energy.'

Without waiting for the question, she slipped it on her finger.

"He hasn't even asked yet!" Ruhne whined.

"He doesn't need to," she said, her cheeks hurting with how hard she smiled.

No, he wasn't a man of many words. But his actions showed her how much she was loved, and that meant more.

"You're dark and broody," she teased as he returned to his full height. "But what if I want sunshine?"

His smile was deliciously slow. "It's tough," he said. "Because you've got me."

He knows her soul can never be his... but he wants it anyway.

Read Dance of Wings for a dark, and twisted Reverse Grumpy Sunshine romance featuring Lucifer & Scarlet.