Epilogue

Teal

One Month Later

“There’s no escaping me tonight, Mrs. Pierce.” Declan shuts the door to our suite behind him, watching me slowly slip backward into our room. “You try, and I might be tempted to pull out the chains.”

Considering the twisted obsession my husband has with inflicting pain, I have no doubt he would.

“Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep, Mr. Pierce.” I take a step back, reaching for the strap of my dress and letting it fall off my shoulder.

As promised, Declan took me to the church in Paris so we could make formal vows to each other. No witnesses but the priest and the dust on the pews.

I didn’t need a big wedding. I didn’t need a wedding at all .

Marriage wasn’t something I thought about. But after Declan stormed in and claimed me without my permission, I needed to hear him say it. And when we stood in that church and vowed our lives to each other, it felt like something we’d already done a hundred other ways while still being the first real promise we were making as husband and wife.

It felt like our true selves, standing in front of each other, admitting who we are, and being completely transparent about it.

No more deals.

No more arrangement.

Just us.

Reaching behind me, I slowly drag the zipper down on my white dress. Declan said I looked like an angel when I put it on, and I couldn’t help wishing my soul was still that innocent.

“What are you doing, wife?” His eyes narrow as he props a forearm on the doorframe to watch me.

Slowly unzipping my dress, I back up to the glass doors that lead to the balcony.

“Shouldn’t we consummate our marriage?” I release the zipper, and my dress puddles at my feet.

I’ve never been one for lingerie. I’d rather wear paint-covered overalls than a dress and heels. But when Declan’s eyes drop to the lacy white number Violet helped me pick out before she and Kole disappeared to LA for the summer, I think maybe I could get used to the tight, wired fabric if it will get this kind of reaction from my husband .

“Fuck, Teal.” He lifts off the doorframe, taking a step toward me.

“Nope.” I hold a hand up to stop him, shaking my head.

His eyes darken. “If you’re going to try to tease me, then those chains are sounding even more appealing right now, wife.”

“I’m sure they are.” I bite my lip, skimming my hands down my sides before reaching for the door handles behind me. “But first…”

I open the doors, slowly stepping out onto the balcony until I’m backed up to the railing. Declan doesn’t move as he watches me, even knowing that if someone looks up, they might be able to see my beacon of white lingerie in the darkness.

So long as no one touches me, Declan doesn’t mind them watching. It’s his way of proving to the world I’m his, and we share in that fantasy.

I rest my back against the railing, watching Declan’s fiery gaze burn a hole through my chest. It sears with the heat of coals on my skin when I kick one foot up and set it on the chair beside me, showing off every inch of my pussy in my crotchless underwear.

“Fuck, you’re stunning.” Declan wipes his palm down his face.

“You always say I’m a work of art.”

“Because you are.”

“Well then…” I drag my fingers down my chest, teasing a nipple before moving lower. “Doesn’t that mean you should sit back and appreciate me? ”

Declan stalks toward me, his gaze fixed on where my fingers slowly move over my hip, down between my thighs. A low growl rumbles in his chest as he watches me slide them inside me.

For a second, I think there’s no holding him back, but then the control my husband wields like a weapon tethers him. He stops a foot away from where I am and drops to his knees.

“You want me to appreciate you?” Declan drags his teeth over his lower lip. “Show me how perfect you are.”

Usually, he controls these situations, and I prefer it that way. But with so much being on his terms, today is mine.

“Let me see you come, wife.” He looks up at me from where he kneels at my feet. “Cover those pretty fingers in cum, and then paint me a picture of your beauty.”

I drive my fingers deeper at his words.

At the sight of him.

He licks his lips, and I imagine him ravishing my pussy.

The heel of my hand grinds over my clit when I drive my fingers deeper, and Declan watches every little movement. His jaw ticks with every moan that escapes.

“Declan.” I tip my head back.

“That’s it,” he encourages, not touching me. “Show me what you want me to create for you next, wife.”

I fuck myself with my fingers, thinking about Declan’s metal forest. His creations that are half-realized and still whole. He’s writing me an erotic love letter with each piece he makes lately, and as I spread my knees as wide as they can get with me standing, I imagine him already crafting his vision of me in his mind.

Sliding my wet fingers up, I circle my clit, and my entire body shivers.

“You’re stunning.” Declan leans closer so I can feel his breath on me. “Maybe I’ll just string you up and let you be my exhibit. Nothing could be as perfect as you.”

I look down at him, and the sight pulls me over the edge. My core tenses around my fingers, and my shoulders shudder with my climax. I drop both feet to the ground and brace myself on the railing so I don’t fall over, and only then does Declan grab my hips to steady my shaking legs.

He grins up at me. “If this is my wedding gift, I think I like it.”

“Is that so?” I smile.

I lift the fingers that were just inside me to his mouth, and he sticks his tongue out so I can stroke them over him. I drag my wet fingers along his tongue and lips, and then he sucks them clean.

It’s obscene how sexy he is as he shoves his tongue between my fingers to taste every bit. And when I slowly pull them out, he licks his lips like he can’t get enough.

“So then…” I trace his jaw with my hand. “What’s my wedding gift?”

“Can I touch you now?”

I swallow, nodding my head.

“Good.” Declan reaches his hands through my legs and lifts me up, swinging them both up to his shoulders and forcing my back against the railing. He’s still kneeling, putting him at the perfect height as his mouth lands on my pussy.

My head falls back, and I cry out. He nips at my clit before moving down to fuck me with his tongue.

If anyone is walking below us, they must hear me, but I can’t help myself. Declan’s tongue drives deep before circling up to my clit, and I’m already so sensitive from my fading climax that my whole body shakes with pleasure.

I squirm, but Declan doesn’t let me go. He holds my thighs tight to the side of his head and kisses me between the legs with the intensity he puts into his art. His whole soul. His whole heart.

My hands tighten on the railing, but in every other way, he sends me over the edge. My thighs clutch him as I come so hard my scream mutes. I can’t breathe, and my vision spots as I stare up at the stars in the sky above.

“Such a good girl, letting everyone hear you.” Declan drags his tongue over my pussy. “Showing the whole world who you belong to.”

He peels my legs off his shoulders and spins me around as he stands, pinning me to the railing and angling my ass up to grind his cock against it.

“Scream for me, Tealene.” He releases his cock from his slacks and thrusts deep. “Show the world you’re my wife.”

He wraps my hair around his fist, forcing my body to arch as he pounds into me from behind. Every thrust pushes my ribs into the railing. I’ll probably have bruises tomorrow, but I don’t care.

I want my husband to consume me. To mark me .

There’s no denying who I belong to as I cry out into the night, trying to hold back so I’m not screaming but failing when he angles my hips to thrust in deeper. My fingers grip the railing as he fucks me against it, and when I look down and see a man staring up at us from the street below, my core clenches.

“My girl likes putting on a show.” Declan reaches around my body and pinches my nipple. “The second you got caught, your pussy started crying for me. Dripping down your fucking thighs like the dirty girl you are. But I’m the only one who gets to feel your desperate cunt squeezing me, begging me for my cum.”

Declan pulls out, and the air rushes from my chest as he spins me around again. He lifts me up, carrying me back into the suite and throwing me back down on the bed. Stripping off his clothes, he climbs on top of me, holding my knees wide as he thrusts in.

“I want to be the only one who gets your pleasure tonight, wife. Let me see your face when you come on your husband’s cock.”

Declan kneels between my legs, thrusting in and holding me open. He watches with every smooth pump of his hips. Slowly, he pulls out until only the head of his dick is inside me, then he looks down and spits.

It drips over my pussy as he slowly moves back in. His hand drags down my thigh until his thumb meets my clit, and he moves in slow circles.

“Declan,” I moan, gripping his wrists. “I can’t come again. ”

“You’ll come as many times as I want you to.” He pinches my clit, and sparks ignite through my body. “Isn’t that right? This perfect pussy wants to please me, doesn’t it?”

He pinches again, and I grip his cock so hard he grunts.

“That’s what I thought.” Declan picks up his pace, watching every little reaction.

I reach up to grip the metal rods on the headboard as he fucks me harder, and when one of my breasts spills free from the lacy bra, he toys with my nipple as well.

“It’s too much.” I tip my head back.

He’s bottoming out with every thrust. One thumb plays with my clit while the other toys with my nipple. It’s sensation overload, and yet, it clears all the clouds from my mind, and all I feel is him.

I look up into my husband’s eyes, and he smirks as our gazes meet. He plays my body like he has it memorized, and with a final flick of my nipple, my pussy tightens. I come so hard; tears drip down my cheeks.

“Stunning.” He climbs over me, fucking me deep and slow with his body pressed flush to mine.

Tears roll down from my lashes, and he lowers to lick them from the side of my face. His teeth graze my jaw, then he kisses me with the salty tang on his tongue.

White noise fills the room as my nails dig into his back.

My husband claims my body, and I see us, up in that church. I envision that moment we became whole for each other. When we became one in a way that can’t be broken. A bond that will never break .

He widens my legs, and I take every punishing thrust as he fills me with his cum. Until he lifts onto his elbows to look down at me, wiping a final tear.

“You’re so fucking perfect.”

“I’m a disaster.” I look down at the torn lingerie.

One of the bands at my hip has snapped, and while it’s pretty, I should have known it couldn’t survive my husband’s tastes.

Declan collapses beside me, pulling me into his arms while I clutch his body and catch my breath.

His arms are home when nothing has ever lived up to the word. We lie chest to chest, and I stare into my husband’s eyes, trusting him with my entire body and soul.

After I finally escaped my father’s control over my medical treatments, Declan helped me find a doctor who could help me.

It doesn’t make me perfect, but at least someone is fighting this battle with me, caring about my progress. She doesn’t drown me in pills and sedate me with misdiagnoses; she treats me.

My depression is real and a constant battle, but as I lace my fingers through Declan’s, I know I have something to fight for. I’m learning how to be here without the constant urge to escape, and I’m finding ways to cope with my anxiety.

Once I learned I had undiagnosed misophonia, I also found it easier to identify certain triggering sounds and situations, which has helped reduce my outbursts.

I’m still broken, but at least now I’m healing .

I’ll always battle my mind, but that’s not all I am. The people at my side want to lift me up, not make me hurt.

“What are you thinking?” Declan asks, brushing my hair out of my eyes.

“That I’m happy you’re mine.”

He kisses the corner of my mouth. “I’m the lucky one, Teal. From your heart to your body, you’re a work of art.”

“And you’re the work of the devil,” I tease, tipping my head back so he can kiss my throat. “But I love you.”

“I love you too, Tealene.” He kisses along my collarbone. “My wife. My masterpiece.”