Epilogue

Alexzander

Freedom was hard for me at first. Simple things like having coffee in the morning or waking up beside an unchained woman made me anxious. It felt strange. It felt wrong. I didn't know what to do with myself when I had the choice to do anything. Ophelia helped as much as she could, though, and I was learning how to live.

"Hey," she said as she came into the living room and sat in the chair across from me, a wooden coffee table between us. "You okay?"

I nodded, but I couldn't fool her. Some days were harder than others.

"I have something that might cheer you up," she said with a smile. She reached beneath the table and brought out a box I recognized immediately—tattered cardboard with a graphic across the top that had faded with age. She opened it and laid out the board and the pieces. She'd run a thin strip of silver duct tape down the center of the board and used Sharpies to fill in the squares. It had been messed up for years, and now it was whole again. Ophelia was good at putting broken things back together.

We could have afforded a new board—she'd taken a different job with better pay closer to the city, and I did odd jobs for local farmers—but we liked this little piece of our past. Not all memories hurt.

Once she set it up, she looked at me with a sinful bite of her lips. "Ready to play?" she asked, and my eyes leapt from her perfect mouth to the checkers game between us.

"You know I'll end up fucking you before you even get to my king's row, right?"

"We shall see," she said as she leaned over to make her first move.

I made a return move and stared at her. This game was the one thing I could bring from my old life into our new one. One thing that felt normal in a world of unusual. It felt safe.

"Are you cornered, O?" I asked after a few more moves. It wasn't often that I got the upper hand, but sometimes I did.

She bit her lip in that way that drove me mad, and I adjusted my pants as she expertly maneuvered herself to a better position. She got out of the predicament I put her in and ended up taking over the game.

When she'd thoroughly beaten me, I could only look across the table and smile. "There's only one other person I have ever loved, and that was my mother. You remind me so much of her." As soon as it came out of my mouth, I realized how odd it sounded. But it was true.

"That's a really fucking weird thing to say, Alex," she said with a laugh.

A smirk crossed my lips. "Don't make it weirder than it is. You're just strong like she was. My mother reminded me that I had a heart, every day. You were the only other person to see what was inside me." I leaned forward, closed the distance between us, and kissed her. "I love you, Ophelia," I whispered against her lips.

* * *

Ophelia

Hearinghim say he loved me made my heart beat harder against my chest. Everyone that ever claimed to love me had hurt me. Even Alex. Somehow, as he snaked his hand around the back of my neck and drew me in for another kiss, I believed this love would be different. The gentle way his fingers brushed the back of my neck made me forget about the rough touches. But sometimes I found myself yearning for those rough touches. I'd never understand how his brain worked, but that was okay because I didn't understand mine either. I'd fallen in love with the man of my nightmares, and it didn't have to make sense.

I gripped the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head.

"Ophelia," he warned, but he didn't need to.

I knew what he would do, and I welcomed it.

His eyes remained locked on me as I lowered my pajama pants and kicked them away. He rose from the chair, pushed the coffee table out of the way, and stood in front of me as he removed his sweatpants. He put his hands to either side of my chair, bracketing me between his powerful arms, and he kissed me. Hard and driven and full of need. He lifted me as if I weighed nothing at all and pinned me against the wall. I wrapped my legs around him, and the hard warmth of his cock rested between us. He drew his hips back and put himself inside me, and I dropped my head against the wall as he filled me. A growl rose from his throat and vibrated against my lips.

"My god, O, you feel incredible." His mouth lowered to my neck, and he nipped my skin. "When everything was wrong, you were so damn right."

"Lay me down and fuck me like you still have me under lock and key," I whispered before kissing his mouth.

He carried me to the throw rug covering the old hardwood floors and placed me on my back. He dropped to his knees, hooked his hands around my thighs, and tugged me closer to him. There was a moment of panic when I remembered a time not so long ago when I turned over and saw him between my legs. It was eerily similar, but there was a difference this time.

I wanted him.

He leaned over me and kissed my breasts. "I won't fuck you like a captive, O, but I'll fuck you like I still own you, because your body is mine. This is mine," he whispered as he kissed the skin above my heart. "And this too." He lifted his head and bypassed my lips to kiss my forehead.

Alex curled his hips forward and pushed inside me. I dropped my head back and let the tears slip past the crease of my eyelids as he fucked me. I couldn't help it. I felt an overwhelming rush of intense love for the first time in my entire life, and it came from the last person I expected. My tears were laced with a happiness I had never experienced. Alex knew my pain, and I knew his. I felt it in every thrust as he tried to help us forget all the hurt we experienced. He made love to me like I was a reflection of himself, and for once, he liked what he saw staring back at him.

He sat up and grazed my slit with his fingers. He fucked me like his life depended on my pleasure, and I would happily give it to him. His thumb stroked my clit and my nails dug into his sides as he brought me closer and closer.

I drew him into me and panted against his shoulder as he rubbed me until I was so close. So damn close.

"I can feel you tightening, O. Stop thinking about it. Stop trying to come and just let it happen," he whispered as he moved his thumb along my clit.

I focused on the way his cock stretched me and how his fingers felt as he stroked me. His weight pressed into me with each powerful thrust, sinking into my—

He growled as I shuddered and clenched around him. "That's a good fucking girl," he whispered. His hips stuttered against mine as he rode out my orgasm. "And you're mine," he growled as he came inside me, chasing my come with his. He leaned down and kissed me.

Alexzander emerged from the depths of hell and shielded me from the devil as he raised us until we felt the first cool breeze hit our faces. He tried to leave me at the gates, but I wouldn't let him. He earned his way back up here, on earth, by my side. People will wonder how I could lie with a demon, but demons are only fallen angels, and Alex fell pretty fucking hard. He was just willing to stand up again and live up to his name.

* * *