9. Epilogue

"Mom! Where are the stupid table runners?" Alice's frantic voice cuts through the chaos filling the ballroom of my family's estate on Venturis. It has been a year since the horror, but we are determined to reclaim our family home with joy once again.

I poke my head around the doorframe just in time to see my daughter nearly bowling over a waiter carrying a towering pyramid of crystal flutes. Her usually sleek auburn curls are a mess, strands sticking out wildly and framing her flushed face.

"Easy there," I try to soothe, dodging a pair of workers hauling in ornate roses in a giant crystal vase. "The runners should be with the other table linens in the prep area."

Alice lets out an exasperated huff, shooting me a pleading look. "You have to come see this. The flowers for the centerpieces are completely wrong!"

I open my mouth to reply, but a sudden thunderous crash shakes the floor beneath our feet. Plaster rains down as a decorator hastily apologizes for knocking down a two-hundred-year-old ancestral urn in their hurry.

I raise my voice over the fresh pandemonium. "I'm sure the roses you selected will be stunning, Alice. Just breathe and try to—"

"Mom! Mom, I need your opinion right now!"

Alice and I both flinch as the bellow echoes over the general commotion of wedding preparations. Max strides in from the east wing in an ornate suit, looking equal parts frazzled and self-important on his big day.

"The wedding coordinators want rose-gold-filigree overlays on the main table arrangements," he declares in clipped tones. "But Suxie hates anything other than a pale brushed champagne accent. You have to settle this!"

I'm vaguely aware of my jaw hanging open slightly as Alice beats me to respond.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Max! Nobody cares about napkin ring metallics beyond you and your bridezilla fiancée!"

She whirls on her heel, her messy strands flying. "In fact, why don't we cover the entire dining area in a fifteen-meter hedge maze? That'll give you two ample room to get impossibly lost in each other's navels!"

Max purses his lips in a petulant mimic of his twin. "Well at least I have good taste, unlike you putting this wedding together with single credit decorations!"

I am prepared to physically separate the pair as they square off, when a quiet presence at my shoulder makes itself known.

"Quite the family circus you all are conducting here."

Crux's rich voice has an instant calming effect, like a balm being poured over my fraying nerves. My mate is leaning against the doorframe in a crisp white shirt molded to every stunning inch of his muscular physique. His arms are crossed nonchalantly over his broad, powerful chest, but the undisguised amusement dancing in his eyes reveals how thoroughly he's enjoying the spectacle.

Alice and Max both aim synchronized scowls of aggravation in his direction. I half-expect Crux to scold them like unruly novice knights, but instead, he just arches one brow, the smirk that always gets my pulse racing playing over his lips.

"Why don't you two get some air and calm down?" His words are mild but underpinned with just enough subtle command that Alice and Max immediately deflate like popped balloons. "The festivities haven't even started yet. I'd hate for you both to be in foul moods."

Face mollified, Max inclines his head in a begrudging nod. "Fair point, Crux. We still have many preparations to coordinate before guests start arriving in a few hours."

He extends his arm for Alice in a gentlemanly display despite the sweat stains on his burgundy jacket. With a haughty sniff, she takes it, and they depart to handle setup details elsewhere.

Once we're alone, Crux arches a brow, silently inviting me to explain the fresh wave of pandemonium. Before I can even collect my scattered thoughts, a distant clatter signals yet another incident requiring my attention, which is confirmed by a passing attendant's panicked look.

I sag against the doorframe, feeling suddenly and profoundly old despite only being a decade into middle age. "This is the problem with indulging your kid's lavish tastes, I suppose. Inevitably, the tantrums become more extravagant over time."

Crux snorts in amusement at my flippant remark, the irreverent sound making my lips twitch despite the madness swirling around us. With two easy strides, he closes the distance between us, his broad palms skating over my hips until I'm pressed flush against his solid form.

He leans down to trail a path of molten kisses across my cheek. The ticklish-soft caress of his breath raises goosebumps all along my heated skin as his lips brush the tender spot just below my ear.

"So feisty today, my radiant one," he rumbles in that sinfully low tone that resonates straight through to my rapidly melting core. "Am I to take this defiance as a request for... correction?"

I try for a nonchalant scoff, but it emerges as more of a breathless whimper as Crux's wicked mouth works lower, his blunt teeth grazing over my thundering pulse point.

Coherent thought scatters when those full, sinful lips finally capture mine in a searing, demanding kiss that instantly liquefies my bones and kindles fresh flames in my veins. One broad palm smooths up my spine to tangle in the heavy tresses of my hair, angling my head for him to plunder my mouth with his questing tongue.

An embarrassingly needy whine slips free, only to be instantly swallowed by the low, rumbling growl of approval that vibrates through Crux's chest. He slants his sublime mouth over mine again and again in a merciless onslaught until I'm left utterly disheveled and dazed, clinging to the solid wall of his body for balance.

When he finally allows me to surface for air, I'm nothing more than a panting, whimpering mess already dissolving under the lash of his piercing stare, his kiss-swollen lips curving in a wicked smirk of profound masculine satisfaction. Crux tsks softly in rebuke, somehow perfectly composed despite my state of disarray.

"You constantly underestimate the effect your spirited defiance has on me," Crux chides softly.

I let out a shaky breath, feeling desire stir within me. Before I can formulate a response, he's trailing blazing paths along the column of my throat, the rough pads of his fingertips raising delicious sparks everywhere they roam.

"Tempting me to remind you exactly where your place is—here in my arms, utterly possessed..."

His teeth graze over the thundering pulse at the base of my neck in a blatant claim, sending lightning bolts of need lancing through my body. A breathy moan is the only reply I can muster, my head lolling back in total surrender as he tastes and marks every exposed inch like a brand.

"Well then," Crux rumbles with rich approval, "I suppose I'll have to thoroughly demonstrate where you belong, won't I?"

The molten promise in his tone sends an answering pulse of need throbbing heavily between my legs. I nod frantically, words deserting me entirely as his tangerine eyes blaze with the undisguised promise of rapture soon to come.

He claims my mouth again in another searing, lushly demanding kiss that leaves my knees buckling. Crux growls deep in his chest, swallowing the whimper that tears free as his other palm spans the generous curve of my backside.

The delicious friction of his thick, pulsing cock grinding against my aching bundle of nerves drags a desperate keen from somewhere deep in my chest. He's swallowing the sound, tongue stroking and teasing with a sinful possession that strips me of any last shreds of self-restraint.

"Shall I have you right here, my radiant goddess?" Crux murmurs darkly against the swollen seam of my lips. "Take you hard and thoroughly possess you against this wall, where anyone could witness your rapturous ecstasy?"

Heat detonates in my core at the wicked suggestion, the idea of such lewd exhibitionism both thrilling and scandalous in a way that stokes the embers of my arousal to a raging wildfire. All I can do is whimper and pant my agreement, rolling my hips in desperate entreaty against his vicious steel cock as it strains for release.

My mate doesn't need any further encouragement. With a potent flex of powerful thighs and calves, he hitches one leg high around his hip until I'm splayed wantonly open against the unforgiving oak panel at my back. I'm utterly on display for him now—my dress soaked through, arousal sliding down my thighs as my pussy throbs with the fevered ache to be claimed and split apart by his punishing cock.

I try to voice a plea, but Crux silences me by slanting his mouth over mine once more, the merciless grind of his cock against my entrance turning the sound into a sobbing whine of rapture. I hear his zipper sawing apart through the roaring rush of blood, feel the scorching brand of his length spring free to notch against my throbbing entrance.

"I'm going to take you now, Annie," Crux vows with solemn reverence. "Possess every glorious inch and let this whole estate bear witness to our rapture..."

I let out a shaky breath at his words and the sensations he's eliciting. "Crux..."

"What's that?" He grins wickedly. "You want me to keep going? Make you lose all coherent thought?"

I nod fervently, beyond words at this point. Crux chuckles darkly.

"Don't worry, I plan to. Wherever and however I want until you're a gasping, whimpering mess." His tone leaves no doubt he intends to make good on that promise.

That deliciously wicked promise has me squirming shamelessly against him, chasing more glorious friction. Crux growls in approval, shifting us slightly to free his hands. In one smooth motion, he bunches my skirts up around my hips and relieves me of my underwear, leaving me bare and exposed to his ravenous gaze.

"So beautiful," he murmurs reverently, calloused fingertips tracing along my slick folds. I try to stifle a whimper but fail miserably. "And so wet for me already. You must really want this."

"Yes, Crux!" I cry out shamelessly, as he continues to tease me. "Please, I need you inside me!"

The first claiming thrust steals the breath from my lungs, the divine stretch and delirious fullness of being pierced and claimed rendering me speechless and boneless. Even those first shallow rocks of our hips meeting grind me against the unforgiving wall at my back.

Crux snarls something unintelligible and feral, cinching our bodies even tighter together so that not a whisper of space remains. My breasts are crushed against the planes of his chest, peaked nipples abrading deliciously with each stuttering grind of flesh on sweat-slicked flesh. His stare bores into me, those lucent amber irises smoldering through sooty lashes and searing the very depths of my exposed soul.

"Mine," he rumbles in a voice laced with rapturous possession. A vow I feel resonating in my very bones with each punishing thrust that rocks me back against the panel behind me.

Crux wastes no time thoroughly making good on his wicked promise. Every punishing snap of his hips sheaths him to the throbbing root, impaling me over and over upon his pulsating length with relentless possession. I'm powerless under the merciless onslaught, clinging to the scorched muscles of his back and shoulders as each claiming thrust steals my breath.

"That's it, my eternal starlight," he rasps against the sweat-slick skin of my neck. "Take everything I give you... gonna make you come apart all over my cock..."

I cling to Crux's bulging biceps with a desperation that will surely leave crescent marks from my nails in his battle-hewn flesh. My legs have wound around his narrow hips of their own volition, ankles locked behind the small of his back in a futile attempt to take him even deeper with each punishing stroke. My overwrought cries of pleasure echo shamelessly, bouncing off the aged oak paneling surrounding us.

"Maker's grace," he grits out through a clenched jaw, the cords of muscle in his throat and shoulders thrown into stark relief. "So tight... a perfect, silken glove made to sheathe me eternally, my goddess."

"Ungh... yes! Crux, my knight, please!" The words tear from my throat in a ragged sob, equal parts pleading and worship as the crushing wave of my imminent release looms unstoppably.

"Give it to me," Crux growls against the curve of my neck. His clever fingers find my aching pearl, rubbing tight, merciless circles that instantly detonate every remaining tether of my control. "Let these hallowed halls hear you come undone on my cock, radiant one. Bear ecstatic witness to the fucking mates we are..."

I should feel unraveled, debased even, by how thoroughly I've surrendered control, arching and writhing and keening with each blinding wave that crashes over me. But Crux's brand of possession is delicious and addicting. Being taken and worshipped so reverently by this shining warrior, splayed and ravished against the wall like some profane offering, only sets me ablaze.

Crux's pace becomes erratic, his iron control finally slipping until, with a few brutal snaps of his hips, he goes rigid above me. Hot spurts of his release paint my internal walls as he throws his head back in a near-silent roar, the muscles in his neck and shoulders carved into sharp relief.

The feeling of him pulsing inside me is enough to obliterate any remnants of propriety or shame. I'm powerless under the merciless onslaught of sensation, growing louder and louder with every thrust until I'm wailing my pleasure for anyone nearby to hear. My pussy flutters and spasms greedily around his impaling length in entreaty for more; then the world whites out as my orgasm has me crying my warrior mate's name like a battle anthem.

We cling to each other, bodies slicked with sweat, hearts pounding in sync as we gradually drift down from our shared high. Crux peppers open-mouthed kisses along my jaw and cheek, his arms wrapped so tightly around me it's as if he's trying to merge our very beings.

"Annie..." he rasps, sounding utterly wrecked. "My radiant sun, my everything..."

I cut off his reverent murmurs by slanting my mouth over his, pouring all the depths of love and wonder I feel for this incredible male into the ardent kiss. We separate only when the need for air becomes too great to ignore, our foreheads pressed together as we simply bask in the afterglow.

Eventually, I let out a breathless giggle. "Well, I think it's safe to say you properly reminded me of where I belong."

Crux's chest rumbles with husky laughter against mine. "I'll be happy to provide further reminders as often as needed," he promises lecherously.

I swat his shoulder in playful rebuke, biting my lip to stem a fresh peal of girlish laughter. Even now, in the immediate afterglow of our lovemaking, I find myself counting the minutes until we can slip away for another reminder.

I hum in contented bliss, nestling deeper into his powerful embrace as we bask in the afterglow. Just as I'm relaxing, lulled by the erratic thunder of Crux's heartbeat beneath my ear, a muffled clatter and muted cursing shatters the tranquil moment.

Crux's arms instinctively tighten around me, shielding my body as his eyes instantly narrow to blazing amber slits scanning for threats. More shuffling erupts from around the corner, followed by harried whispers that seem to be getting louder—and closer—by the second.

"...gotta be around here somewhere! Keep looking!"

"Max, I swear if you lost your boutonniere thirty minutes before go-time..." The second voice trails off in a frustrated huff.

Realization dawns like a lead weight dropping into my gut. Suxie and Max, no doubt doing last-minute bridal party preparations before their vows and happening to stumble right into—

Oh stars. The mortification threatens to swallow me whole. I whip my head around to meet Crux's gaze in outright panic, even as the voices and footsteps draw ominously nearer.

My mate regards me with agonizing calm despite our rather... compromised state. His fingers tenderly brush a damp tendril of hair back from my sweat-slicked brow as the barest hint of a lopsided smirk curves those delectable lips.

"Worth it," is all he mouths in silent reassurance before claiming my mouth in another soul-searing kiss.

Thoroughly addled by his scorching possession, I'm barely aware of Max and Suxie finally rounding the corner, freezing comically mid-stride at finding us in such a deliciously debauched tangle. Their stunned silence stretches for several beats before—

"What the fuuuuuuu—Mom, not again!" Max's outraged bellow shatters the stillness, echoing off the vaulted oak beams overhead.

Suxie, bless her, simply claps one palm over her eyes while casting about blindly. "Oh sweet cosmic winds, Annie...!"

Seconds later, she's being towed forcibly away by her soon-to-be husband, still spluttering in apoplectic shock, undoubtedly planning new therapy years down the line to unsee that particular trauma. Crux and I can only remain there in a sweaty, pleasantly disheveled heap, breaking down into helpless peals of laughter at the absurdity.

"Right then," I manage to gasp out at last, still trying to catch my breath. "Perhaps you were onto something about forgoing the big, grandiose wedding celebrations in the future."

I trail off suggestively, arching an eyebrow at him as I brush a few stray tendrils of sweat-damp hair back from his forehead.

Crux's amber eyes dance with barely concealed mirth as he registers my unspoken implication.

"You prefer a more... intimate occasion, my radiant one?" he rumbles against my overheated skin. "Just you, me, and perhaps the occasional shadowed alcove for deliciously indecent purposes?"

I shiver at the molten promise in his tone, feeling a fresh surge of need unfurling low in my belly despite our recent activities. Nodding frantically, I somehow manage to find my voice around the breathless whimpers spilling free.

"Yes... I think I'd much prefer your singularly thorough celebrations from now on, my star knight. No chaotic crowds or lofty expectations, just—" My words dissolve into a gasping moan as Crux's wicked mouth blazes a scorching path down to the valley between my breasts, tongue swirling over the thundering pulse at my sternum.

"Just us reveling with wild abandon?" he finishes my thought in a gravelly murmur.

"Mhmm..." is all the coherent sound I can produce as Crux's large palm engulfs the generous weight of my breast, thumb brushing over the peaked bud in teasing circles. "Just like that, my mate. Your ceremonies are the only ones that truly... unravel me."

His chest rumbles with that low, sinful chuckle that never fails to make my knees go weak. "Then it's decided," Crux declares, claiming my mouth in another searing kiss. "Let the madding crowds clamor and shriek. Their outrage and scandalized posturing mean less than cosmic vapor to me."

Pulling back just enough for our molten gazes to lock and merge, he brushes the pad of his thumb over my swollen bottom lip with infinite tenderness. "You are my eternal destiny, Annie."

His solemn vow steals what little breath remains in my lungs, rendering me mute and utterly bare before the searing intensity of his focus. All I can do is thread my fingers into the dense thatch of his hair and pull him back down to me in a desperate claiming. Our groans of relief mingle, and this time I make no effort to stifle the wild, wanton sounds torn from me as our bodies reunite.

If we're fortunate, perhaps the echoes of our ecstasy will linger long enough to scandalize the rest of polite society. The louder, the better. These sacred oaths of joining will always be my favorite ritual to revel in.

At least until the inevitable grandchildren come along...