50. Epilogue

Epilogue

Kayla

"He's here!" Claire squeals as she enters the bridal suite.

Beth squeals back. "Ohmygod!" She bounces in her seat, upsetting the poor hairdresser who has been trying to style her hair for the past thirty minutes.

I frown in confusion over their excitement. "Who? Jeremy? I thought your soon-to-be husband arrived hours ago."

"Oh, screw Jeremy," Beth replies, grinning. "Your boyfriend is here! Ethan Bennett is at my wedding!"

Sighing, I raise my hand to rub at my face but stop before I spoil my makeup. "Seriously? Beth, you're getting married today, and you're still fantasizing about another man? A taken one at that."

With the sheriff's mouth running wild, the news of what happened between Adams, Ethan, and me spread around the town like wildfire. Of course, he didn't forget to add that I currently live with Ethan, which made me both the most popular woman in Bluebell Springs and also public enemy number one. Half the women want to befriend me to find out how I managed to charm Ethan into my clutches and the other half hate me for making him unavailable. It would be funny if it wasn't so stupid.

"Girl." Beth throws her hands up, nearly knocking the curling iron out of the hairdresser's hand. "Everyone fantasizes about him. I used to dream of having this exact wedding, only when the officiate asks, you know, to ‘speak now or forever hold your peace', Ethan would rush in and sweep me off my feet."

I can't help but laugh. There's something seriously wrong with this town, in a weirdly adorable way. "Will I have to pee on Ethan to mark my territory or something like that?" I tease, half-heartedly scowling at Beth and the other bridesmaids. "Or will you bitches finally stop throwing yourself on my man like cats in heat?"

Claire, Beth's aunt, who's a year younger than I am and acts like a bratty teen, fans herself. "Ooh, is he into that? I'd let him pee on me for sure."

"Jesus." Shaking my head, I make my way to the door. "I've had enough of ya'll. I need a break. See you at the altar, with the man you're actually marrying."

Muffled squeals and giggles follow me even after I close the door. I huff a relieved sigh and venture out into the spacious resort gardens to locate my boyfriend.

I'm not really angry with Beth or her whacky relatives. As much as I get prickly when women fantasize about Ethan, it's also kind of empowering. He could have chosen them, any of them, yet he chose me. He wanted me so much he broke into my house, drugged me, and crawled into my bed while I slept.

The rest of the town can dream of having Ethan, but I'm the one who actually gets to go to bed with him every night. And yes, that makes me prideful as hell.

I find Ethan conversing with a group of people. He smiles as they fawn over his incredible bravery in defeating Adams, but I can tell he's uncomfortable. Also probably in pain, guessing by the tiniest wince marring his beautiful face whenever he shifts his weight.

He shouldn't be here. He should still be in the hospital. After all, he got shot not even two weeks ago. But when I suggested I'd go to Beth's wedding alone or not go at all, he resolutely declined, refusing to let me leave his sight for even a few hours.

As he notices me, his polite, somewhat fake smile grows brighter and wider. "There's my beautiful lady," he says, making me blush. He excuses himself to the mayor and the rest of the group before weaving his way toward me. "Hello, bunny. Did I already tell you that you look amazing today?"

My cheeks grow even warmer when several people, women mostly, turn to look at us. Paying them no attention, Ethan pulls me into his arms, enveloping me with his warmth and comforting scent. At the contact with my favorite drug, I immediately relax. "Only twice today. I could stand hearing it again."

"Well, allow me to remedy that." Ethan raises my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles, old-school style. It makes me want to swoon and let him scoop me up into his arms. I don't, because of his gunshot wound, but I file the idea away for later. "You're the most beautiful woman here today, Kayla." My heart picks up the pace as he whispers, "And also the naughtiest one. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

Delectable shivers crawl up my spine. "I don't know what you're talking about," I lie shamelessly, batting my eyelashes at him.

"Oh, really?" There's a dangerous edge to his voice now, one that has my pussy quivering. "I guess it was someone else then, breaking into our house and messing with my socks."

I fake an outraged gasp. "What a terrible world we live in! Miscreants are going around breaking into people's houses and messing with their things. Such audacity."

Ethan's chuckle is dark as he wraps his hand around the back of my neck. To people surrounding us, it might look like a tender, loving gesture, but I know the truth when his fingers dig into my skin. I'm in trouble and I love it!

"Alright," I concede, "I messed with your socks. I might have messed up with other things, too. What are you going to do about that?"

His eyes darken as I taunt him, which is exactly what I want. Since he's been released—or rather released himself—from the hospital, Ethan has been so tender and cautious around me it's driving me crazy.

I get that with a literal hole in his stomach, he can't just hold me down and fuck me senseless, but sweet petting and whispered words of affection just don't cut it for me anymore. Hence, I'm playing a brat, hoping to earn myself some sexy punishment.

Ethan's grip on my neck tightens ever so slightly. "I think I'm going to spank your ass. That's what I'm going to do about that."

I'm wet instantly, while also terrified by how loudly he just said that in a room full of people. I mean, they probably didn't hear him, but it's the tiny possibility that they might have that has my insides quivering. "Well, you're gonna have to wait," I say. "We're at a wedding, you know?" I'm going to let him stew for a couple of hours, so when we get back home, he'll be ravenous. We might not even make it all the way back home.

As always, though, Ethan surprises me. "Why should I have to wait?" he rumbles, tugging on my hand as he drags me out of the room.

"B-but…" I follow him in a daze, unsure of what he plans to do. "There are people here everywhere!" Beth and Jeremy have the whole resort rented out for the weekend to accommodate their many guests. It's a big place, but there are too many people for us to find any kind of privacy.

Ethan just chuckles again. "Ask me if I care, bunny. Now come on, before I bend you over my knee right here in this fancy schmancy ballroom. That should liven up the party a little, don't you think?"

Terrified he'll actually do it, I follow him outside. Clusters of people holding tall champagne flutes are scattered around the beautiful garden. Servers carry trays with drinks and finger food. Everywhere we go, someone is smiling at us and waving for us to join them.

"Ethan," I plead with him, but he doesn't relent. We make our way around the pool to a small garden shed. The bushes partially hide us from view, but I can't imagine that lasting long. "We can't do this here, Ethan."

He shushes me, groaning as he bends to examine the lock on the shed door. A few seconds and some light rustling later, the door creaks open. I gasp, mortified. "Did you just pick the lock?"

"It's a rather useful skill when you need to get inside locked-up places." He has the audacity to wink at me. "Get inside, bunny."

When I don't move, he grabs my wrist and simply shoves me through the doorway. The shed is surprisingly noisy, the constant rumble of the pool filters covering my surprised yelp. Through the cracks in the wall, I watch a shadow pass by the shed. "There are people outside, Ethan!" I hiss.

"Then you should be very quiet," he retorts, loosening his tie.

"And you're still injured!"

He smirks. "Then you should stop fighting me so I don't overexert myself. This is happening, bunny. You have no say in it, so shut the fuck up and bend over that bench."

"B-but…" The wild throbbing of my pussy is distracting me to the point I'm nothing but a whimpering mess.

Ethan grabs my carefully styled curls, making an absolute mess of them, and nudges me toward the tool bench. "Now, Kayla."

Fortunately, the bench is relatively clean and cool against my cheek when Ethan presses my head against it. His free hand yanks up my dress and he grunts his approval. "No panties? Naughty, naughty bunny."

I didn't go commando to be naughty. I did it because the dress is such a snug fit that any kind of panties or thong I owned was showing underneath it. I didn't think anyone would notice, but of course, my horny serial killer boyfriend has his hand on my ass before the happy couple have even said "I do" to each other.

The first slap of his hand on my ass cheek has me yelping out in surprise. I quickly cover my mouth with my hands, hoping to stop more sounds from escaping. The lewd noises of Ethan's palm hitting my flesh and my muffled moans are bad enough. If someone stops to listen just outside the shed…

I'm torn between feeling embarrassed, in pain, and so damn horny I can barely think straight.

"Does my bunny like being punished?" Ethan coos. His hand slides between my legs, straight into the wetness pooling there. He chuckles darkly. "You're a kinky little thing, aren't you? Turned on by getting your ass spanked?"

Moaning, I try to arch my hips into his touch, but he immediately withdraws and spanks me again. "I don't think you deserve to come right now, bunny. I think I'll just spank you and leave you all wet and aching until we go home."

"What?" I give him a side glare. "Don't you fucking dare, Ethan." Another, stronger slap makes me clamp my mouth shut again, but I don't stop glaring at whatever part of him I can see.

He just chuckles again, kneading my tender backside. "Oh, I think I will dare."

Seeing he won't be moved by threats, I switch tactics. "Please, Ethan. I'll be a good girl from now on. I'll fix your socks. I'll pair and fold them, and I won't ever touch them again, I swear!"

"You swear, hmm? I think you're lying, little bunny." His hand is back between my legs, his fingers lightly sliding around my clit, never actually touching it.

"I'm not! Oh, god, Ethan, please!"

"Shh. You need to be quiet, remember?"

Oh, right. I completely forgot there were people around. I just need him so much it's unbearable. "Please," I whisper.

He stops spanking me and switches to softly touching my pussy. It's titillating enough to push me toward an orgasm but not strong enough to make me go over the edge. "Do you know what I've been doing this morning?" he asks in a conversational tone, as if we were simply talking over breakfast.

"No…?" I moan out.

"I visited our mutual acquaintance," Ethan replies, his fingers finally—finally!—grazing my clit. My whole body jerks, but his grip on my hair keeps me pinned down. "He needed someone to take care of him, so I did."

My brain only works at half capacity and Ethan's words take a while to register. "W-what? Our…who? Oh, god!" I gasp, both from him rubbing my clit and from finally realizing what he meant. "Adams?"

"Oh yes. I took care of him. Permanently." His fingers never stop moving, pushing me closer and closer toward a mind-shattering orgasm.

There's something very, very wrong with me. Ethan just told me he murdered someone mere hours ago and all I can think about is how fucking hot that is.

"You like that?" Ethan whispers into my ear. "You like that I killed him for you? Is that why you're so wet? Or is that because I spanked your ass?"

"Both," I admit shakily.

He groans and licks at my jaw. "Fuck, bunny, you're so perfect." His fingers slide inside my pussy. "Come for me now. Come for me, so that you will stand there for the whole ceremony with your release coating your thighs. And when the fucking priest asks the question, and your silly friend says her ‘I do,' pay attention. Because soon enough, that will be you."

He curls his fingers to graze my G-spot, sliding them in and out of my pussy while maintaining constant pressure on my clit. "Yes," I manage to rasp out between the moans. "I will marry you." Of course I will.

"I wasn't asking, bunny. We are getting married, and once you're Mrs. Ethan Bennett, I will finally own every fragment of your life, every part of your body and soul."

Fuck! His words should be creepy, not arousing, yet they push me higher and higher, until I'm breathless from the lack of oxygen and the fall before me seems just as enrapturing as it is terrifying. But I know Ethan will be there to catch me.

"Come for me, bunny."

I do.