Epilogue

Dom

By the time I got Annie back home the next morning, Rocket had taken care of the prisoners. There had been no reason to interrogate. Venus and Piston had taken a couple of the Salvation’s Bane members to the Grace of the Divine camp. Apparently, Venus and Piston and they’d taken it from there.

What they found there must have been pretty bad because, to my understanding, the guys burnt the camp to the ground and brought home any child under eighteen who wanted to come. They’d all come there with parents who were either too far gone in the cult to care about their children, or had died along the way. If Ringo had it right, more of them were orphaned than had parents left in that God awful place. Grim Road and Salvation’s Bane both gained several young women, all of whom had been horribly abused. Most of it was mental and sexual. The men of the cult had been careful not to leave obvious signs of abuse where anyone could see. I had yet to meet any of the women, but, once Annie had time to come to terms with everything that had happened, we’d meet them together.

We’d only been home a few hours. All of it had been spent in bed. Annie acknowledged she needed to tell me the rest of what had happened, but not today. I agreed with her.

“If you’re waiting for what I did to hit me, it already did. And you know what?”

“What’s that, honey?”

“It was gross. And I hate blood.” She sighed, rubbing her cheek over my chest. “But I don’t regret one single part of it. I snapped and the timing could probably have been better, but he needed to die. I was happy to send him straight to hell.”

“That’s my girl.”

She actually giggled. “I can’t believe you’re actually proud I killed someone.”

“We’re going to see the women Venus and Lemon brought back here tomorrow. These are women who lived through at least some of what you did. Do you think they’d agree with me?”

She snorted derisively. “Yeah. They’d agree. At least, most of them would. There were some who were treated better, but I think it was actually worse for them. They were usually one of that bastard’s ‘wives’.” She made air quotes. “I don’t remember ever living anywhere else other than the camp until Venus brought me here. But one thing I’ve learned in the real world is that when a man takes a woman, he protects her. He doesn’t terrorize her or berate her.” She snuggled closer to me and gripped my bare shoulder with her fingers, clinging so sweetly to me. “At least, none of you guys do. From what I saw at Salvation’s Bane, they’re the same way. The men are really protective of their women and children.”

“It’s not always that way, but for us it is.” I shrugged. “I always figure, if a man won’t protect the people who are supposed to matter most to him, how can you trust him to have your back?”

“Not bad insight.” She stretched, brushing her breasts against my chest where she was sprawled half on top of me.

“Can I ask you something?” There was one question I wanted to have an answer for. It wasn’t important, but I was curious.

“Anything.” She sounded sated and sleepy and I really liked that sound.

“When did you learn Mandarin?”

She shrugged. “I’m really good at languages. I’d already learned a lot just by being in the camp. I could already translate some of what he was saying, but, apparently, Mandarin isn’t always what it appears. Even the way a person inflects a syllable can make a difference in what they mean. The at home course I found said it was the most difficult language to learn. After my crash course, I agree.”

“So you put the pieces together after leaving the camp.”

“Something like that. It made things make a lot more sense.”

Annie’s thigh was bent, resting on my own leg. She slid it higher until she did a lazy roll and moved to straddle my hips.

Since the first time we’d had sex, Annie had become more aggressive, demanding her pleasure. I was only too happy to give her what she wanted. Reaching between us, Annie guided my rapidly hardening cock inside her wet pussy.

“I need you, Dominic.” Her whimper was full of desire, but also a promise that I could lose myself in her body.

“You have me, baby. Tell me what you want.”

“You to fuck me. Make me come.”

I slid my hands around her torso to rest them flat on her back. She rose and fell on my cock, riding me with sensuous thrusts of her hips. I loved the way she rocked against me, the way she moved and moaned in pleasure as we fucked. She was like no other woman I’d ever been with. Uninhibited, passionate, fierce. Fucking my girl felt like the greatest thing in the fucking world and I wanted never wanted this to end.

“Look at me,” I commanded softly.

Annie looked down at me, her eyes blazing with lust. “Do you love me?”

I didn’t even hesitate because my answer was always the same and I never tired of saying it. “More than anything.”

She smiled before closing her eyes once more and surrendering to the demands of her body. She shuddered, her muscles rippling as she tried to match my rhythm. It was sexy as hell and did funny things to me because it meant she wasn’t just accepting me, she was just as desperate for me as I was for her.

“Harder,” she demanded on a small whimper, her words trembling with need.

I obliged, slamming up into her with a growl before rolling us so she was on her back with me over her, and I started to fuck her in earnest.

Annie arched her back, crying out in ecstasy as we found our pace together once more. I could feel my orgasm building but didn’t want to come yet. Not until Annie did.

When she started shuddering beneath me, the first telltale signs of her approaching orgasm, I slid one hand up to cup her breast. She cried out again, bucking against me as she came hard on a second strangled scream. Her pussy pulsed around me, pushing me straight toward what I knew would be a mind-numbing orgasm.

Sure enough, my own release followed quickly after hers. I groaned out her name, wrapping my arms tightly around her once more as I rode out the pleasure, pumping her full of my hot, sticky cum. It was disappointing knowing that seed could never take root, but I had the feeling we’d have our hands full with the young women new to our home.

We lay together in a heap on the bed once more, panting for breath. Annie’s face was buried in my neck, her breath warm against my skin. The room settled into a soft silence. I stroked her hair gently, the silky strands slipping through my fingers in a mesmerizing rasp.

Outside, the compound was quiet too. Rocket and the others knew not to disturb us unless absolutely necessary. This was our time to heal after everything that had happened.

I kissed her forehead softly, pride swelling in my chest for the incredible woman she had become. Injured and scarred but never broken. She was a survivor, my fierce warrior queen.

“I’m not always gonna be the most demonstrative person, Annie. But I want you to know that I love you.”

She still had her eyes closed, but her lips lifted in a drowsy smile. “I love you too, Dom.”

“You know, I told you once to call me Dom. Everyone else does.”

“Yeah. You did.” She was still smiling, but didn’t open her eyes.

“Well, I think I changed my mind. I like it when you call me Dominic.”

“I can do that.”

I took a breath because admitting this second part wasn’t going to be easy, but it had to be done. “Also, I was wrong.”

She was silent for a long moment, her brows knit together in confusion even though she still didn’t open her eyes. I think I’d finally worn her out. “You’re gonna have to explain that one.” She shrugged. “I mean, you could be referring to anything.”

Took me a second, but I finally realized she’d nailed a put-down spectacularly. “You little brat!” So I tickled her.

Annie squealed, thrashing and laughing in my arms until I finally relented. Her smile was glorious. I remembered the first time I’d seen her in the stupid bikini contest. She’d been beautiful and exotic, but a shell of the woman she was turning into now. She just needed someone to give a shit about her, someone to have her back. That was me.

“Yeah, baby. I was wrong. About Tina being my one true love.”

She gasped, her eyes going wide. “Dominic,” she whispered my name and I could see the hope in her eyes and knew I was making the right decision. Not because it was what she obviously wanted, but because I now knew that, while I might have loved Tina, it was a pale shadow next to what I felt for Annie.

“It’s you, Annie.” I tried to inject as much love and respect and admiration in my words as I could. Because Annie had told me she thought of me as her hero, but the fact was, she was mine. “It will always be you.”

As I watched, Annie’s eyes welled with tears. Two streaked down her temples, but she gave me a watery smile. “It’ll always be you for me too, Dominic.”

“I love you, baby. Be my old lady.”

She laughed and cried at the same time, sliding her hand up to cup my cheek. “I love you too. And I’ll be proud to be your old lady.”

Things weren’t perfect, and I was sure there would be some bumps along the way, but I also knew we were stronger together than we ever were apart. No matter what lay ahead for us, we would conquer it. Together.