Everyone files out of the room, and as soon as the door is closed, Felicity climbs up onto the hospital bed with me. She wiggles next to me and snuggles up with me.
“I’m not going to try to make love to you,” she says. “I’m just glad you’re okay. You scared me,” she whispers.
“I was scared, too.”
“You were so brave,” she says.
“Not brave enough.”
I wasn’t brave enough to save her from the pain or the trauma of being there when it happened. I didn’t stop her from being hurt by Aaron. There are so many ways that I let her down. It’s all so much to deal with.
“You’re my hero,” she tells me. “And Brendan?”
“Yes?”
“I love you,” she says. “And I want you to be my mate. I know I don’t deserve you. I know it. I failed you, and I let you down, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to prove to you that I deserve another chance.”
She’s so sweet and so perfect, and I’d be a fool if I didn’t give her exactly what she’s asking for.
“Of course,” I whisper. “Of course, my fox princess.”
“Really?” She grins, looking up at me.
“I want you now and forever,” I tell her, and then I press my lips to hers.
I don’t know what I ever did to get so lucky as to deserve a second chance with the woman of my dreams, but I know one thing for sure: I’m not going to do anything to ruin it. She’s mine: now and for always.
Epilogue
Foxy
One Month Later
We’re together in the cave. This time, it’s different. This time, we aren’t here out of fear or obligation. We aren’t here on the verge of breaking up. We’ve healed from our injuries and we’ve had some time to emotionally recover from the trauma of the bakery incident, so we’re here.
This time, we’re here because it’s our special place where we come to be alone, to spend time together. This is our special place where we’re going to spend some time celebrating the fact that somehow, we managed to find each other again.
I kiss him deeply, rubbing my body against his, and Brendan kisses me back eagerly, happily, contentedly. He kisses me like it’s the most important thing in the world, and he kisses me like we’re going to make it through anything together.
“I love you,” I tell him.
The words aren’t scary anymore.
The idea of being his is delightful: not terrifying.
There are no lies between u
s now: no secrets.
Right now, it’s just the two of us, and no one can hurt us here. Not when we’re locked away in this private little paradise. When we’re here, it’s like the entire world could pass us by and neither one of us cares to stop it.
“I love you, too,” he whispers.
I reach for him, pulling him closer, and we make out on our little quilt. It’s hard to believe that just a month ago, I was hiding here, trying to save my own life. Has it really been an entire month since we got back together? Since I ended up on his doorstep in the middle of the night?
Somehow, two people who weren’t supposed to get a second chance managed to steal one, and this time, we really are going to last forever. I reach for his neck and rub his fingers over the little scar that’s there: the mating mark I left on him once he got out of the hospital.
“Forever and always,” I whisper, and I kiss Brendan in the darkness of the cave.