Epilogue

Iforgot how beautiful it is here,” Simon said, his arm draped around my shoulder as we stood on the terrace of the house in France.

Not nine months after Barbara had died, Cyril passed too. Seemed life without her was too much for him to bear. The call had come one afternoon from his daughter, and we’d flown out again for his funeral, watching him being buried next to his darling Babs.

It was much quieter than her funeral, but it was just as fitting. Many of the same people were there, except Troy was alone. He and Finn weren’t as compatible as he’d thought, and his husband had left him for another man he’d met on set.

As we were about to leave, Cyril’s daughter called us over and thanked us for coming.

“We’re so glad you came. Both Dad and Barbara spoke fondly of you both.” She’d handed me an envelope. “They wanted you to have this. Open it here or back at the hotel, and please keep in touch.”

She patted my arm and walked away, leaving Simon and me wondering what the hell was in the letter.

“Do you want to open it now?” He’d held my hand as we made our way back to the car, giving me some comfort.

“Let’s wait until we’re at the hotel. I’m too nervous to do it now.”

Once there, we’d sat on the bed.

“Open it.” He’d gestured to the letter sitting in my lap.

“I can’t. What if it’s something bad?” I bit my lip. What on earth could it say?

“It won’t be. Now open the damn letter, or I will.” He’d reached for it, and I’d moved it out of his way.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

Using a butter knife, I’d slit the envelope and pulled out the letter.

It was from a solicitor, not one I recognised.

I scanned the words, reading them twice, not believing what I was reading. That couldn’t be right.

“Oh my God,” I said, handing it off to Simon. “They left me the house in France.”

“What?” He took it from me, mumbling as he read the part of the will pertaining to me.

Upon Barbara’s death, Cyril took ownership of the house, understanding it would be passed to me upon his death. Duke Anders. A two-bit masseur.

Why would she have done that?

“I can’t accept it.” I’d said to Simon, fully intending to hand it back to the family.

“It says here that it was Barbara’s wish that you take sole ownership of the house. It’s all yours, Duke. You heard what Cyril said. She thought of you as the son she never had.”

It had taken a while for the news to settle in. We’d spoken to the family, thinking they’d contest the will, but they had no interest in the house and were more than happy to carry out the wishes of Barbara and Cyril and leave it to me.

We debated selling the property, but knowing this was the place where it had all come together for us, there was no way we could part with it.

So, here we were, three months later, overlooking the place that had so captured our hearts. It’d taken a while, but we’d made the decision to move here permanently. We’d read up on the rules and regulations and were eager to start our new life.

Simon was more than happy to move, securing a gallery in a nearby village in the hills. We’d visited knowing it would be the perfect place, surrounded by similar galleries and Michelin-star restaurants.

“What’s your plan for tomorrow?” I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling the warm sun on my face.

“I thought we should just relax for a few days before getting into the swing of things.” He kissed my temple and I sighed contentedly. “Your new job doesn’t start until next week, and it’s a couple of days until the gallery opening. We could go take a look and see what progress they’ve been making on the refit.”

“Sounds like a plan. I still feel like I should pinch myself. That this is all a dream. How did we get this lucky?” It still hadn’t sunk in.

“I don’t honestly know, but I’m glad this is where we ended up. It’d always been a dream of mine to retire here, and now I get to do that with you by my side.”

How had I fallen so hard? Simon meant everything to me and I couldn’t imagine a life without him in it.

“How’s the French coming along?” I moved to sit on the terrace wall, facing him.

“Urgh, don’t ask. Just knowing how to ask where the toilet is will not help me sell pictures.”

I laughed, but my French wasn’t much better.

We’d both started lessons after deciding to move, but it was taking one hell of a long time.

With Pierre’s help, I’d secured a position at a nearby spa, similar to the one where I’d met Simon, but the clientele at this one was far more exclusive. Back to working with the rich and famous.

Having the villa was one thing, but we still needed to cover upkeep.

“You know, we could turn this into a hotel,” Simon suggested, his finger tapping his lips. He was always thinking of a new scheme or other. “Plenty of rooms, secluded beach, beautiful weather. What do you think?”

“I think we have enough on our plate right now. Maybe in time? For now, I’m happy to be here with you.” He moved closer.

“We never did check out that secluded beach either.” He nuzzled into my neck, making me squirm. “Tonight, maybe?”

“Sounds good, but first, we need to get all our stuff in the house.”

Despite the villa being fully furnished, we had some personal items we couldn’t leave behind, and of course, there was all our clothes. Everything that had been at the villa when we visited twelve months ago was still here, covered in dust sheets.

I walked into the hallway and gazed around, admiring the beauty. I still couldn’t believe how lucky we were. I started pulling off the sheets, revealing the tables and chairs I remembered. The vases were now empty of flowers. I’d have to put that right.

A clatter to the right, and an elderly lady stepped into view.

“Erm, hello? Bonjour?” Who the hell was she and what was she doing in our house?

“You must be Duke,” she said in perfect accented English. “I’m Camille, the housekeeper.”

“We have a housekeeper? Simon!” I shouted, wondering if this had something to do with him.

“Yep? What’s up?” He appeared from outside, carrying several holdalls.

“This is Camille, the housekeeper.” I stood with my hands on my hips, expecting him to say he knew who she was.

“Oh, hi, I mean bonjour.” He stuck out his hand for her to shake, looking as bemused as I felt.

“Did you know anything about this?” I whispered.

“Can’t say I did,” he said quietly. “Nothing to do with you then, I’m guessing.”

“I’ve always been the housekeeper. I come with the house.” Camille smiled, as if it were most commonplace.

“Oh,” I said, not understanding at all. Why didn’t we know anything about this?

“I’m paid by the estate to work here. I come in Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The rest of the time? Well, that’s up to you.” I would definitely be keeping it tidy. Camille didn’t appear to be a lady to be messed with.

“But it’s Tuesday.” Again, not understanding. Was I being especially dumb today?

“I’m here to help you get settled. Now, where shall we start?”

Where indeed, but we were more than grateful for the help.

The next few hours were spent unpacking our bags, tidying and airing out the rest of the rooms. We had a few pieces of furniture arriving from England, but not for a few days.

By the time we were done, exhaustion had set in. I was also starving, my stomach growling loudly. We’d barely eaten anything before our early flight, both excited to get here.

“I have food in the kitchen. Come,” Camille walked briskly towards the kitchen. We followed, the smell of something delicious hitting out noses.

We weren’t disappointed, treated to a table full of warm, fresh bread, cheeses, deli meats, olives. You name it, it was on the table.

An open bottle of red wine sat breathing. I guess we really were in France.

“I’ll leave you now, but I’ll be back tomorrow.” She picked up her bag. “Enjoy your dinner and there’s dessert in the fridge.”

With that, she was gone.

Simon looked at the food, his eyes wide. “I could get used to this every day.”

“You heard the lady. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The rest of the time, we’re on our own.”

He cut a hunk of bread and slathered it with butter, groaning as he ate, his noises reminding me of other things that would make him moan.

I fidgeted in my chair, realising it had been a few days since we’d even done anything remotely sexual, so busy were we packing up our lives in the UK and saying a fond farewell to our friends.

“When you’re done with food. We should go for a stroll on the beach.” I ran my foot up his leg to see his response, and I wasn’t disappointed.

“Fuck, Duke. What are you doing to me?” His voice was tense.

“I’m seeing if you fancy a swim in the sea later or maybe a walk on the beach. I’d prefer it were dark, though.” I winked and took a bite of the delicious bread, a similar moan leaving my mouth.

“How long until nightfall?” He checked his watch. “We’ve got at least another hour. Can you wait that long?”

“I’ll wait, plus we have this food to eat.” I scooped up some cheese with the bread. Fuck, I’d best hit the gym later.

Waiting was pure torture, but we managed. We occupied our time, discussing plans, eating the food, drinking the wine and busying ourselves putting the finishing touches to our bedroom.

We slipped into our swim trunks, and grabbed our towels before making our way down to the beach. It was dusk, and there was no one around.

Barbara hadn’t lied when she said it was secluded. We had the place to ourselves.

“Swim first?” Simon dropped his towel on the beach and kicked off his flip-flops. I did the same.

Tiptoeing into the water, we held on to each other, the sandy sea bed trying to trip us up. We looked a sight, two grown men laughing as we held hands.

Who’d have thought we’d end up like this? We’d gone from hate to love in a matter of months, and it had only grown more as time had passed.

Ziggy, of course, thought it was hilarious and reminded me of it every time at quiz night. Guess he was going to have to find another couple of suckers to join their team now.

Finally, we were chest deep in the water, gentle waves lapping against our heated bodies. It was sublime.

“Bring you arse over here,” Simon said, curling his finger. “About time we had some time to ourselves, don’t you think?”

I waded over to him and wrapped my arms and legs around him, bringing him and his cock, deliciously close.

It’d been twelve months since we’d got together. Twelve months where we’d seen the death of two friends, and Robbie confirm his relationship with Carlos. We saw Mum and Dad regularly and often visited the restaurant, our family closer than it had ever been. It was a pity that Simon’s parents still held a grudge, refusing to be in the same room as me.

I never told my parents about my prostitution and Isla had been sworn to secrecy.

Only now did I feel some kind of relief, that finally we could concentrate on us and our future. All thanks to Barbara and Cyril.

“How are you feeling?” I asked him, nibbling on his ear.

“Horny as hell. What about you?” His cock hardened against me.

“Same.” I rubbed myself against him, letting him know just how much.

“Do you think anyone would notice if we stripped off?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Considering there’s no one about, I don’t think it would matter at all.” Excitement zipped through me.

I put my feet on the floor and, with his help, slipped off my shorts. He did the same.

“Fuck that’s freeing.” He swished around in the water, his shorts in his hand.

I knew what he meant. It felt amazing with no constraints.

We weren’t so far out that we couldn’t reach the beach with our clothes and threw them to land safely out of the water.

“Now, where were we?” Simon placed his lips on mine, his solid cock pressing against me.

I kissed him back, biting and licking, nipping and sucking. His tongue invaded my mouth time and again, the saltiness of the sea on his lips. Our breaths became heavy.

I hitched his leg around my waist and reached around to circle his hole, pushing in gently. He opened beautifully for me as always, quivering at my touch.

I pushed in further, watching him as he threw his head back, exposing his neck. How could I resist and I peppered it with kisses, letting him know how much he was loved.

Then it hit me. Had we ever said the words? We’d had such a hectic time of it, something always demanding our attention, I couldn’t remember if we ever had. I knew I did and had done for a while.

This seemed the perfect time to say it, but first, I needed to finish what I’d started.

“Let’s get back to the beach. I want to be inside you, and the sea isn’t the right place.”

“God, yes. I want that so much.” He said breathily, colour sitting high on his cheeks.

We ran back to shore, finally falling onto our towels, sand covering our wet bodies. This wasn’t going to go well, but I didn’t care, and I’m not sure Simon did either.

Grabbing a bottle of water from the bag we’d brought with us, I rinsed my dick, doing the same to his arse.

I glanced around us. There was no one around, but as night had now fallen, it was doubtful anyone would see anything.

The light from the full moon glinted off the calm sea; this was as romantic as it would get.

“Did you remember the lube?” Simon asked, rummaging through the bag.

“Yeah,” I said, lying on my back, my cock standing proud.

“Got it,” he said, flicking the cap and pouring a generous amount into his hand and reaching behind him.

I didn’t need any foreplay, completely ready to take him.

He knelt over rubbing the remainder of the lube into my dick, stroking up and down until I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Fuck, Simon. You’re so tight,” I said as he squatted over me, easing himself down slowly, taking every inch until he was fully seated.

“Dear God. I’ll never get enough of this.” He fell forward, his chest plastered against mine, his lips once again meeting mine.

Muted voices from above had us lying still, and I stared wide-eyed into Simon’s panic stricken face.

“Shush, if we lie quietly, no one will see us,” I said, more to reassure myself than him.

“No, I’m going to fuck you now. Keep quiet, though. I’d hate for us to be arrested. We’ve only just got here.” Fuck, it was risky but I was willing to do anything for him.

The voices receded, but he kept to his word, rocking back and forth, his arse clenching as he moved along my shaft.

He sat back, his dick erect between us, and I gripped it tightly, sweat making it slick.

Quickening his pace, he rocked back and forth, his face red. I loved watching him when we made love. Seeing his face as he fought for his orgasm. I was no different.

Wanting more, I gripped his arse and slammed him down on my dick—once, twice, one more time.

It wasn’t enough, needing to be deeper. I flipped him so he was on his back, his bent legs spread wide.

Gazing into his eyes, I pounded into him, neither of us able to bite back the noises forced from us, grunting with each thrust.

“I’m gonna come,” I said as quietly as I could, my voice strained at my impending orgasm.

“Do it. I’m waiting.” He gripped his thighs, opening his legs further.

His cock twitched as I shot my load, filling his arse with my warm spunk. Fuck he was amazing.

“If you’re gonna do it,” I managed to say, forcing the words out.

“Yes.” He gasped as his own orgasm took him by surprise, ropes of cum splattering us both.

“I love you.” The words slipped out as I collapsed onto his chest, completely out of breath.

“What did you just say?” He pushed me up to stare into my face.

“I said I fucking love you.” And I did, unequivocally. I had no doubt in my mind.

“Fuck, Duke. I never thought I’d hear the words. I’ve been holding them back, waiting until you were sure.” His arms quivered under the strain of keeping my body off him.

“God, I’m so sure, Simon. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to say them.” I dropped down onto my elbows, our lips a hair’s breadth apart.

“I love you, too, Duke.” Tears filled his eyes. We were a pair.

“Who’d have thought we’d be here.” I stroked his hair, sifting the soft strands through my fingers.

“On this beach?” He looked at me, puzzled.

“No, here.” I dropped a kiss to his lips. “Together, you fool. Who’d have thought I could learn to love.” And I had learnt. Simon had taught me that there was more to me than my past.

“And who knew I could stop.” What was he talking about?

“What do you mean? Stop what?” I looked him in the eye, the night air bringing a chill to our naked bodies.

“Judging you. Who knew I’d stop and start loving you instead. And I do, with all my being, with all my heart. You were always the one for me. I just wish we’d met again sooner.”

“Sooner, later. There’s nothing to stop us now. We have all the time in the world.”

THE END

Look out for On Warmer Shores coming July 2024!

A standalone MM holiday romance

On Warmer Shores