Epilogue

EPILOGUE

LARS

A couple of months later

S now blanketed the forest floor, wintertime a heavy cloak covering everything. It was cold as fuck with frost covering the windows, and the wind-chill was frigid enough to freeze any exposed skin.

The cabin was old as hell, and the icy air seeped into every corner of the structure. I kept the hearth stocked with wood, and a constant fire burned, heating the small interior.

I stood by the window and stared out into the quiet stillness of winter, watching the sky change into oranges and pinks as night descended. Snow fell heavily, adding even more inches to everything.

The Romanian woods had become our sanctuary, our private haven that kept us away from not only the chaos of the world but civilization.

Behind me, Dolly hummed softly to herself, and I smiled at how beautiful it sounded. I looked over my shoulder to see her decorating the small tree I'd cut down for us. We'd gotten ornaments and decorations in the city center days before, as well as stocked up on more supplies.

As it was, we didn't seem to have any plans to leave this cabin. It was a good thing I had a long-term rental agreement for it and was in the process of buying it and the land surrounding it.

She'd had free rein when we went shopping and had found a few simple things to mark the holidays, such as red candles and glittery ornaments. It was strange finding actual pleasure in the way she decorated, adding little touches of festivity that brought a lightness to the cabin.

I'm in so deep.

God, she was graceful, and I was transfixed and mesmerized as I watched her fingers trail over the decorations. But her expression showed she was lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about, little darling?" I turned and leaned against the wall, watching her obsessively, giving her as much time as she needed to answer.

"Just thinking about all the things I didn't do when I was a child and how now I want to experience everything."

I pushed away from the wall and went up to her, pushing her hair from her shoulder and kissing her nape. "You can do and have anything you want now." I could see the slight upward tilt of her lips.

"Growing up, I never did these things." She started putting tinsel on the tree, and I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back against my chest.

"A holiday was just another day. Nothing special," she whispered, as if she were speaking more to herself than to me.

I reached over her shoulder and took some tinsel, adding it to a higher branch. And after we decorated the tree, I pulled her to the couch we now had in front of the fire and tugged her onto my lap, just holding her as we stared at the twinkling lights and the star at the top of the tree.

Over the months we'd spent here, Dolly had opened up more, like a flower finally finding the sunlight and flourishing. She kept revealing pieces of herself to me, and I was thankful to see who Dolly truly was with each passing day.

I slid my hand over her thighs, massaging gently, sliding slowly up and working my fingers down the elastic of her sweats until I was cupping her pussy. She tensed… but then relaxed and shifted slightly so her legs were spread more.

"I've never been happier," she whispered, and I slid my fingers beneath her panties and touched her pussy lips. She was warm and soft and already getting wet.

"Me neither, sweetheart." I didn't admit that I'd never felt anything with anyone before. I didn't tell her she was the only one who gave me the genuine sense of feeling and like this was where I belonged. She was who I was meant to be with.

Each fragment of herself she gave me brought us closer in a way I never thought possible o,r at the very least, experience it anytime soon.

I teased her pussy hole, then slipped inside, finger-fucking her until she panted and ground herself against my hand.

"We'll make new memories," I said, my voice low. "Better ones."

She moaned, and I felt her juices coating my hand. I pulled my finger out of her and pinched her clit hard enough I knew it hurt. But she turned her head and started kissing me hard enough it brought pain. Fuck, that was good.

I tried to be as open about myself as she had been, but there were some parts that had to stay in the deepest, darkest recess of my soul. Maybe one day I'd tell her about the things I'd done, the people I'd hurt, and how she was now tethered to a psychopath who loved her in the only way an insane motherfucker like me could.

Obsessively.

But what I did share with her, what she saw—Dolly embraced it, just as I embraced the pieces she deemed broken within herself.

Over the past few months, we had settled into this life together. We went into town weekly, mainly to get Dolly out of the cabin and to socialize. She was learning Romanian, and I loved watching her practice nightly.

We wandered the narrow cobblestone streets, and although I let her take the lead, I was always close by, always watching and protecting her. We explored the forest—or more so my little darling did. I loved watching the wonder filter through her eyes as she took in every little detail of her surroundings.

I knew I'd be leaving my life behind when I committed to taking her. But my life—my profession—was one that would have me disappearing with the snap of a finger.

Being a contract killer, a paid for hire murderer for a living made it easy to just…disappear.

It was also a profession that helped the twisted hunger my inner darkness craved.

When I knew Dolly was as deep into me as I was with her, I'd given her the choice—the choice to go anywhere as long as I was right there beside her. She could have her freedom but only with me by her side.

But for now, this cabin in the Romanian woods was where she wanted to stay.

I was brought back to the present when I felt her sharp nails scoring my forearm as I pumped one, then two fingers into her tight little cunt. She was drenched, the sound making that apparent as my digits pumped in and out of her, her juices drenching my hand and her inner thighs.

I was hard as fucking steel, my cock throbbing, and my balls were full with the need to fill her up. I pumped into her three more times before removing my hand from her pants and bringing those fingers to my mouth to suck them clean.

"Mmm, so fucking good." But it was the sight of her hand resting on her belly that had my chest tightening. She was just beginning to show now. Her stomach was ever-so-slightly rounded beneath the soft fabric of her over-sized sweater.

"I love seeing your belly growing because of me." The knowledge that my baby was there, safe inside of her, sent a surge of possessiveness through me. It was with an intensity that heightened my desire to keep her safe because now I had not only her to watch over but our child as well.

I placed my hand over hers, and Dolly smiled up at me, her eyes softening as we said nothing while we just rested our palms over her bump.

Having a life with someone—sharing any part of myself—wasn't something I ever thought I'd experience. But a baby? I had never imagined that for myself in any thought I'd had about where I saw myself going.

And yet, here we were. She was mine. And this baby was mine. Completely and irrevocably. With me and Dolly, there was no line between love, possession, and the lengths I'd go to keep this life.

Our baby may be born into this life we'd built together through so much darkness, but this was our perfect, twisted life. The world outside and what society would think about where it concerned us no longer mattered.

It was nothing but background noise.

And my Dolly anchored me in ways that no one ever had, and no one else ever would. I consumed her the way she did me. We were a part of each other now and forever.

I leaned in, pressing my lips to her temple and breathing her in. "Are you still happy here? With me?" I asked her quietly, the same question I asked her regularly.

Though, I already knew the answer.

She looked up at me. Her gaze searched mine, and then she nodded gently. "I've never been happier. And every time you ask me, Lars, that feeling only grows."

I smiled, a dark, satisfied feeling settling in my chest. "Good, sweetheart," I murmured, my hand curling ever so slightly on her belly. "No going back."

"Never," she said, her perfect lips lifting with a dark smile of her own.

The End.