Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Autumn

One Month Later . . .

"Mama, get your ass back here," Striker shouts from where I left him on his bike.

"No, I've got things to do, and you aren't listening to me anyway," I snap, tossing my hair over my shoulder.

We'd just gotten back from the reopening of my café. He didn't want me to overdo it and wouldn't listen to me when I said I was okay. The doctor cleared me this week to be able to go to work. I wasn't fully healed, but healed enough I could do something, even if it was paperwork.

My parents had officially moved to town and stayed in my apartment while looking for a house. Striker had moved me in entirely with him and has done everything to take care of me. The only times I'd been out of his sight was when he'd gone to Devil's Nirvana to handle business. Sometimes, he'd take me with him there as well.

I didn't mind those times. I'd gotten to spend time with friends watching the strippers. I didn't think I'd get a kick out of it, but those women could move. The only downside had been when a few of them flirted with Striker. He'd been quick to put a stop to their flirting, same at the clubhouse. He didn't put up with it.

I stomp my way up the stairs to the house, digging my key out as I do so. It's a good thing I had pocketed my key. Otherwise, I'd have to wait for him, and I wasn't in the mood to do that.

He made me leave my opening early, and I wasn't happy about it. Sure, I have plenty of help at the café now. My mom was managing it for me alongside Athena. Lila brought her two friends in for part-time jobs.

I was surprised at how well Lila was bouncing back after what happened, but she was doing great. Maybe a bit cautious out and about, but at home, she was her usual self.

Me, however, it didn't bother me as long as everyone else was okay. Striker told me I had nothing to worry about anymore, and I believe him.

"I swear to fuck, Mama when I get my hands on you . . ."

I tune him out and head straight to the bedroom and into the bathroom. I close the door. I strip out of my clothes and get in the shower. After being at the café, I needed a shower. Usually, he takes them with me, but I am mad at him right now. Who was he to say I'd done enough for the day and made me come home?

The water barely gets hot before I'm joined by my man, his arms going around me.

"You think closing a door in my face is gonna keep me from joining you in the shower, baby?" he asks.

"I could only hope," I lie.

We hadn't done it since before I'd been taken, and honestly, that's probably the problem. He's showing me in every other way he wants me, but I'm missing the connection. The one that makes it all meaningful . . . complete.

"Liar," he whispers and presses himself against me, making me moan.

I want him to slide inside me and take me hard. I want to feel him deep.

Striker spins me around and backs me up against the wall, eyes meeting mine. "You done being pissed at me?"

"No," I whisper, a bit breathy-like.

Striker grins, curls his hands around my rear, and lifts. "You will be," he says, lining up with my entrance and sliding inside.

Being wet for him already makes his thrusts slick, but he's still so big it takes multiple thrusts to fill me completely.

"Jonas," I moan and dig my nails into his shoulders, holding on to him as if my very life depended on this very moment.

"Fuck, Mama, I've missed being inside you," he groans and starts moving faster, taking me the way I want him to.

It doesn't take long for him to have me crying out from the pleasure he's giving me. The release that overcomes me is nearly mind-blowing, and I scream his name, not wanting it to end.

"Fuckin' love you, Autumn," Striker growls, his release spilling into me as he keeps thrusting, his cock twitching. It's beautiful and all-consuming.

"I love you too," I say, catching my breath long moments later.

Striker grins, keeping himself planted inside me as he shuts the water off.

"What are you doing?" I ask, holding on to him as he steps out of the shower.

"What I brought you home to do," he says, taking me into the bedroom where he lays me down. "I'm showing you what you mean to me. Not just tellin' you, Mama."

Oh my.

I like the sound of that.

To show him how much, I slide my hands up into his hair and lift my head as I pull his head down to kiss him deeply.

Knowing he loves me fills the emptiness inside me in a way I didn't think possible. I'll always miss my sister, but with Striker, it doesn't hurt as much as it once did. I can live with the pain of losing her now because I now have something to live for.

And to me, that's just as beautiful as yielding to the love I have for him.