Epilogue

Life moves fast, and sometimes everything falls into place with no effort at all.

I moved Missy to Maplewood the next day after spending the night in her tiny bedroom in Ma’s house. The way the tears poured out of Ma’s eyes when she saw the ring on Missy’s finger that night told me we had her blessing. That Friday we were at the Bexar County Courthouse signing our marriage license. Later, we celebrated our nuptials by having a fancy steak dinner with Chance and Jessa, Triton and Bess in downtown San Antonio. And even later that night, I made love to my wife against a glass window overlooking the Riverwalk. I guess we crossed the public or near public sex thing off her “I might like and would try” kink list.

Three weeks later, Jerry, Melanie, and the kids moved to Waco where Jerry signed on with the McLennan County sheriff department. Ma stayed behind to work with Mr. Tom at the hardware store while she waited on the insurance company to settle her fire damage claim. What should have taken months to investigate and settle took weeks, and it turns out that Melanie and Jerry had insured the diner for more than it was worth considering Rizona’s absent economy. They cut Ma a fat check that she could have used to fix the dining room, but instead, she’s selling off all the equipment and closing the diner permanently.

Missy is ecstatic considering the one looming fear she had was that Ma would try to reopen the diner by herself.

“I need to run to the store again.” Missy looks up from paperwork when I enter the office. She’s been handling the shooting range’s advertising while studying graphic design with Bess and has been pulling in some big-money clients. Apparently, the themed shooting range is a big hit—not just my twisted sense of humor—and millionaires will pay top dollar to shoot semi-automatic rifles at full tilt. I’m talking to Mack now about selling me about fifty acres so we can create multiple courses. Considering none of his zoning approvals are going through, I think he might ask to partner and develop all three hundred.

“What do you need?” I ask as I round the desk to stand behind her. She’s wearing a low-cut top which gives me a perfect view of her full breasts, especially when I’m looming over her. Wrapping my fingers around the front of her throat, I squeeze softly until she moans and tilts her head back against my hardening cock, bringing her dark brown eyes up.

“Whipped cream,” she says breathlessly, licking her lips.

“Hmmm. How long until Ma gets here, babydoll?” I slide my other hand inside her bra, cupping her breast and pinching her nipple between my thumb and forefinger.

Missy rolls her hips and arches into my hand. “A couple of hours. Is that enough time to play, Daddy Drak?”

“I’ll make it work. Meet me in the bedroom, naked, and in position in five minutes while I lock everything up.” I step back and give her room to stand and leave without question. Of course, my woman always has to get the last word, even when it”s unspoken.

She turns at the door and blows me a kiss before running out of the office to the house.

Yeah, she’s earned a punishment, but like she says, she likes my punishments. I lock up everything and walk into the house that Missy has made a home. I can’t believe there was a time I thought I was happy before her. She completes my life in every way, from my first waking thought in the morning until I fall into restful sleep with her in my arms at night.

I unlace and kick my boots off at the door, unbuckle my belt as I cross the living room, and yank my T-shirt up over my head as I enter the bedroom. Missy is submissive perfection in position on her knees with her favorite floor pillow underneath her.

“You are my favorite part of coming home, babydoll.” I stop in front of her and caress her cheek.

“What are we going to do first, Daddy?”

“You’ve earned yourself a handful of spankings this week. Do you remember how many?”

Her breath catches as she contemplates lying. My challenging grin and arched eyebrow changes her mind. “Last you said it was eight, but I’m betting you think I earned a couple more a few minutes ago when I left the office.”

“My hand has been itching to spank you, babydoll.” I offer her my hand and pull her to her feet before walking her to the bench in the corner. Pulling it back from the wall, I nod my head and she kneels on the leather pads and bends at her hips to lean over the waist high pad that puts her perfect ass high on display. I circle around to her head and crouch in front of her, grabbing her left hand and bringing her fingertips to my lips. Placing a tender kiss against her palm, I bite the meaty pad of her thumb before fastening a leather cuff around her wrist and clipping it to the carabiner attached to the base of the bench.

“Oh, Daddy,” Missy mewls. “It’s going to be that kind of spanking.”

“Yeah. First you’re going to be spanked, then I’m going to feed you my cock before I fuck all the sass from the last week out of you.” I finish securing her other wrist and cup her chin, pulling her face up to mine. “What’s your word, babydoll?”

“Cinnamon.”

“Good girl.”

I press a simple kiss to her forehead and stand up, trailing my fingers over her back and brusquely over her ass cheeks to warm her up. Although I like all my paddles, I love connecting with her skin-on-skin. The heat that emanates from her body and the sight of my handprint on her delicate flesh ratchets up my feral need every time.

Using my toes, I tap her ankles and silently command her to spread her legs. After six months, we have the unspoken cues down, but it will take a lifetime to learn all the things Missy likes and what she loves.

Three smacks on the left, followed by three on the right. Missy whimpers and wiggles her ass, which means she seeks relief. I rub my palm over her reddened flesh and slide my fingers between her slick pussy lips dripping with arousal. How she responds to my dominant hand is fucking perfect and exactly what I dreamed of having in my life one day. Her strength in and out of the bedroom fills all the holes in my soul. Without her, I’m nothing.

“You want to come, don’t you, babydoll?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

I plunge two fingers into her sopping wet cunt and stroke her g-spot, her inner walls clamping down around my digits. “I’m sure you do, but you will not come until I’m cock deep inside of you. Understood?”

She whimpers as I withdraw my fingers, and yelps when I land another two smacks to each ass cheek. “Please!”

“Please what, babydoll?”

“Please feed me your cock, Daddy.”

Fuck me, I love this woman.

I step back, shed my jeans and briefs, and walk around the bench to face her. Pulling up her hair, I yank back her head, and glide my cock between her pouty lips. “I love your mouth, dirty, greedy girl.”

She takes me deep, hollowing her cheeks, and moaning as I thrust in and out. When my orgasm builds and I fear losing control, I pull myself free from her lips, crouch down, and kiss her hard, thrusting my tongue in her mouth. Our tongues tangle as my nimble fingers twist and pull on her nipples, pinching hard enough to make her yelp with pain.

That’s my cue. I move behind her, sliding the head of my cock through her arousal from clit to ass over and over until she’s arching her back and bucking her hips in offering. I land a hard hand on her ass and thrust forward, sinking all eight-plus inches of me deep inside her. She cries out while I suck in my breath to hold my release at bay.

Gripping her hips, I place a kiss between her shoulder blades before pulling back and fucking my woman hard and fast like I know she loves. It takes less than a minute before we’re both coming—Missy screaming “Fuck me Daddy, Fuck me, Fuck me,” while I grunt my release and shoot my load deep inside her spasming pussy.

I collapse on her back to catch my breath, peppering her shoulder blades with kisses. “I love you, babydoll.”

She twists her head to look at me over her shoulder. “I love you, Daddy Drak.”

I pull out, uncuff her, and swing her up into my arms to carry her to the shower. Like the first time I did this, she protests, telling me she’s too heavy to be carried around.

“When the fuck will you learn?” I growl and set her down on her feet, reaching inside the shower to turn on the overhead spray.

Missy grins. “Is that a future punishment?”

“You got it, babydoll.”

“And when will you learn that telling me I’ve earned a punishment isn’t a threat?”

Testing the water, I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and pull her against my chest, walking both of us under the spray. I put my lips to her ear, not that there is anyone else here to hear us. “Guess I’ll have to get more creative. Maybe we’ll start playing with orgasm denial. How long do you think I can deny you coming before you consider it a punishment?”

She bites her lip. “Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“That’s what I thought.” I chuckle and pull her lips to mine.

An hour later, we’re dressed and cooking dinner when a full-sized class-C RV pulls up my driveway. I don’t know this vehicle, and we aren’t expecting anyone other than Ma in her dilapidated Toyota Corolla.

“Who the fuck is this?”

Missy shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

We walk outside and I grab her hand, pulling her close. The side door opens and Ma steps down, followed by Mr. Tom, her neighbor who owns the hardware store.

“What’s all of this?” Missy drops my hand and jumps off the porch into her grandmother’s arms.

“We have a lot to talk about.” Ma nods at me as I shake Mr. Tom’s hand.

“I hope you don’t mind me crashing dinner,” the old man says.

“Not at all. We have plenty.” I motion to the house. “Come on in.”

“Can you grab the pies, Tom?”

“Sure thing, Maybelline.”

Maybelline? In the six months I’ve known her, I never thought to ask what her real name was. No shit? Maybelline.

Once we’re inside with refreshments in our hands, Missy puts her hands in the air. “Come on now, spill. What’s with the RV?”

“Well,” Ma glances at Mr. Tom. “You know the insurance company paid for the damage and Melanie has listed and sold most of the equipment. The building is for sale, and now that my girls are safe and happy elsewhere, there’s really nothing left for me in Rizona. Tom has been wanting to sell the hardware store and travel the country for years, and?—”

“I’ve asked Maybelline to accompany me. Honestly, Missy, I’ve been waiting years for Ma to see me as more than a friend, and now that everything has fallen into place with our kids grown and happy, I’ve asked her to marry me.”

Missy stumbles back into my chest, and I wrap my arms around her waist to steady her. “You’re getting married?”

Ma smiles as Tom takes her hand. “We’ve been good friends for decades, but honestly, after Pa died, I forgot how to be a woman. I still have a lot of good rubber on these tires?—”

“You sure do.” He brings her hand up to his mouth to kiss.

“Oh, you.” She swats his arm.

Jesus - they are so fucking cute.

“I’m—” Missy pushes out of my arms and throws herself on her grandmother “—so, so, so happy for you. This is great news!”

I step forward and shake Tom’s hand again. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Drak.”

“We haven’t told Melanie and Jerry yet. I wanted to tell you first.” Ma pats Missy’s back.

“Ha!” Missy breaks away and whoops. “I finally know something first.”

“We need to celebrate.” I turn to the kitchen to grab a bottle of Prosecco. It’s all we have in the form of bubbly.

“I want a tour of the RV!” Missy bounds out of the house without waiting for anyone else or permission.

“I think we have her approval.” Tom stands and follows Missy outside.

I smile down at Ma as I set a glass in front of her. “You’ve been keeping secrets.”

She shrugs. “We’ve known each other a long time, but after the fire, and Missy moved up here, Tom and I spent more time together. Eventually, he reminded me I wasn’t the old lady of Rizona, but a vibrant and still sexy sixty-one-year-old who had been alone for far too long.”

I lean down and kiss her cheek, chuckling softly. “Pardon me for saying, but you look younger and have a bright beautiful glow to your skin.”

“Orgasms are nature’s cure-all,” Ma says matter-of-factly.

I laugh, reminded where Missy gets her sass. “I suppose they are.”

We clink glasses and take healthy gulps. “You know, Drak. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t know Missy was safe, loved, and cared for. I’m very thankful for you.”

“Nothing to thank me for, Ma. She was mine the moment I laid eyes on her. She is my life, my future, my reason for surviving everything this world threw at me before we met. I would kill for her. I would die for her. You never have to worry about her as long as I breathe.”

“Speaking of killing and dying.” Ma glances away from me, no longer meeting my eyes. “No one has seen Tony or Danny for months. It’s like they disappeared.”

I stiffen, my eyes going to Tom and Missy outside. “Really? Weird.”

“I’m not asking questions or looking for answers. I just thought you would be interested to know that.”

I knew they were gone, but exactly what had happened to them—how and when—remains a mystery. After the fire, I’d called Karden to ask him for our foster-brother Kerr’s number. If he’d sent someone to help Karden with Sylvie’s problem six months ago, maybe he could send them again. That was a weird conversation fourteen years overdue. I honestly wasn’t sure if Kerr would remember me, and although we didn’t exchange many details about our lives, he told me he’d make a call and take care of it. That was the conversation. No more, no less.

Missy and Tom come back into the house. “That is so cool. I want to hear all about the places you”re going to go, and when, and everything.”

We sit down to dinner—me and my wife with her grandmother and her fiancé. Six months ago, this scenario would have been completely foreign to me, but it has become common and infinitely comfortable, all because I love and am loved by an amazing woman who says I saved her when she in fact saved me.

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