Epilogue

AARON

Icurled my arm around my mate and tucked her closer against my side before placing a soft kiss on her temple. She smiled up at me, and just like every other time, my heart thumped, and desire shot through my body.

I wanted to hop right back in the car and take her to the nearest bed, but I'd promised her a date night. Andrew and our one-month-old baby girl, Cassie, were with my parents. We were headed into Timber Treasures for dinner, but then I was taking her home to ravish her beautiful body until we picked up the kids tomorrow.

"Aaron?"

I stopped short at the sound of my name in a vaguely familiar voice.

Turning my head toward it, I had to think for a second why the woman looked familiar. Then it hit me. She was the human woman who had rejected fate. I expected to feel a rush of hatred flow through me, but instead, all I felt was relief. Nothing else. Not even the tiniest flicker of desire. How could I when I had the most amazing woman in the world in my bed and my heart?

I was grateful that fate had given me a second chance. The chance to meet my real mate. The woman I could never live without.

I'd thought I'd been devastated when she rejected me. But it was nothing compared to what I would feel if I ever lost Cressida. That would destroy me.

"What are you doing here?" I grunted, holding my mate even closer.

The woman's eyes darted between me and Cressida a few times, filling with confusion. "I…I left Ralph. I wanted to find you. You were right about life being empty without passion if I married him instead of being with you."

Cressida gasped, and I glanced down to see her staring up at me. "That's her? The bitch who rejected you?"

She sounded so offended that I almost smiled.

"I'm his fated mate," the woman snapped. "Or whatever it was that he called me the day we met. I thought he was crazy, but even after all these years and the many men I've slept with, not a single one of them has sparked any desire in me like he did back then."

Cressida laughed and shook her head, her expression sympathetic. "What's her name?" she asked me softly.

I shrugged. I didn't know or care.

My mate chuckled again before focusing on the woman staring at us with a petulant expression.

"Let's get a few things straight," Cressida said tartly. "This man is my mate. Totally and completely mine. I don't know if fate knew you were a bitch and would do the worst thing a person could do by rejecting their mate or if there was some other plan that we don't know about. Either way, Aaron and I were always destined to be together."

"B-but-but he can't even feel desire for you if what he told me was true!" the woman sputtered.

Cressida's next smile was smug. "The many, many orgasms he's given me over the years would beg to differ."

I buried my face in my mate's hair to muffle my laugh. Damn, she was a spitfire, and it was hot as fuck.

"I don't understand. He can't possibly want you! Not when he can have me!"

My head popped up, and I snarled at the woman. "Even if I didn't feel any physical desire for Cressida, given the choice, I would mate with her over you a thousand times over." Cocking my head, I gave her a sympathetic sigh. "Honestly, you should be grateful that you didn't mate with me."

"Grateful?" Her tone had turned icy, and I could see that she was about to work up to a childish tantrum.

"Even if you and I had mated, my heart would never have been yours. It always belonged to Cressida."

Cressida sniffed, and I glanced down at her in alarm. But she was beaming at me despite the moisture in her eyes.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Then why are you crying?" I hated it when there were tears in her eyes.

"Because even though you show me every moment of every day that your heart belongs to me and that you have never, not once seen me as a second choice, it still overwhelms me to hear you say it out loud."

My smile turned gentle, and I bent my head to brush a tender kiss over her lips. "I love you, sweetness."

Cressida's sigh was dreamy, and she tilted her head toward the entrance to the restaurant. "Let's eat. We need some sustenance before we go home and gorge ourselves on dessert."

I tossed my head back as my laughter rang out. "I like the way you think, sweetness."

We turned to walk toward the front door, but Cressida halted and shot a smirk at the woman. "I suggest you leave before anyone finds out you're here. Aaron's family can be a little vindictive when it comes to people who threaten one of us."

I glanced at the woman and gave her a farewell nod. "Good night…whatever your name is."

If she answered, we didn't hear her because we'd already entered Timber Treasures and forgotten all about her.