Epilogue

Epilogue

I lay sprawled across the bed, Jinx curled warmly against my chest, purring like nothing in the world had just ended—or nearly had. She had waited until the last spell was cast and the last scream faded before gracing me with her presence, naturally. Typical cat.

The door creaked open, and I looked up, my fingers still absently stroking Jinx’s fur. Axe leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, that crooked grin on his face.

“Can I help you?” I asked, arching a brow.

He tilted his head, eyes roaming lazily over me. “I am just enjoying the way you look… lying in my bed.”

I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling. “If you’re trying to get me naked, you’re going to have to try a lot harder than that.”

A slow chuckle escaped him. “Better, you say?” He pushed off the doorframe and took a step closer. “Hmm. Maybe I should strip you of those clothes and show you just how much better I can do.”

Jinx abruptly stood up with a sharp meow, shaking herself in clear feline disapproval. “If you’ll excuse me,” she announced, tail flicking, “I believe there’s a bowl of milk with my name on it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as she hopped down with a soft thud and strutted out with all the dignity of a queen abandoning her throne.

Axe closed the door gently behind her, the lock clicking into place with a sound that sent a thrill down my spine. He turned to face me, and this time, there was nothing lazy in his steps as he strode toward the bed.

“You were saying?” he murmured, voice low as he stopped beside me.

I propped myself up on my elbows, looking up at him. “I was saying,” I said with a playful smirk, “if you want me out of these clothes, you better impress me.”

He leaned down, bracing a hand on either side of me, his face inches from mine. “Challenge accepted.”

His breath hovered just above my lips, warm and deliberate, his gaze sweeping over me like a man starving.

I arched a brow. “You planning to just stare at me all night, or…?”

A wicked smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I am enjoying the way you look in my bed. But I’d rather enjoy the way you feel.”

Heat shot straight through me.

Before I could offer a clever reply, his mouth crushed mine—firm, demanding, and hungry. His hands cupped my face like he was anchoring himself to me, and I melted into him, opening my mouth, welcoming the fire. The taste of him, the feel of him—it was everything I had missed and everything I needed all at once.

He broke the kiss just long enough to yank my shirt over my head and toss it somewhere behind us. His gaze raked over me, dark and molten, before he leaned down and took his time exploring my neck with his lips, tongue, and teeth. I gasped, arching my back, already aching for more.

“You still think I need to do better?” he asked low against my skin, voice vibrating through me.

“I’m not convinced yet,” I teased, breathless.

He growled—deep and primal—and in one swift motion, he rolled me beneath him, his body pinning mine, solid and hot. His lips found mine again, then traveled lower, lavishing my collarbone, my chest, trailing fire everywhere he touched. His hands slid down my sides, firm and slow, like he had all the time in the world to worship every inch of me.

I clawed at his shirt, needing it gone, and when I finally peeled it from his body, I took a moment to just feel—his hard chest, the heat radiating from his skin, the muscle flexing beneath my fingers.

He made a low sound in his throat as I pushed him back just enough to reverse our positions. Now straddling him, I leaned down and kissed a path from his jaw to his sternum, taking satisfaction in the way his breath caught.

“Velvet…” My name came out rough, desperate.

“Yes?” I smirked against his skin, grinding my hips against him slowly, teasingly.

He bucked beneath me, eyes burning with restraint. “If you keep doing that, I’m going to ruin you.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

That broke him.

His hands gripped my hips, flipping us again with a growl that turned into a kiss—hot and searing—while he stripped away the last of our barriers. Skin to skin, nothing between us but need, he entered me in one slow, devastating stroke. I gasped, clutching at his shoulders as our bodies locked together.

We moved in sync, a rhythm forged from longing and built on trust, mouths finding each other again and again. He whispered things against my skin—promises, curses, my name like it was the only thing he knew. I lost myself in him, in the drag of his body against mine, in the way his hands gripped my thighs, my waist, my wrists.

Tension coiled, tight and consuming, until it snapped like lightning inside me, a full-body surrender. He followed with a low groan, buried in my neck, holding me like I was the only thing anchoring him to this world.

We collapsed together, tangled and breathless.

For a long moment, the only sound in the room was our breathing and the soft rustle of sheets as we found our way back to each other’s arms.

“I told you,” he murmured, tracing lazy circles along my back, “I could do better.”

I smiled against his chest. “Consider me thoroughly convinced.”

“You’re mine,” he whispered against my hair.

“And you’re mine,” I said, pressing a kiss to his skin.

Outside, the mountain was silent. Inside, we had finally found peace—if only for tonight.