Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58442 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58442 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
He lays me down on the bed and climbs atop me, guiding his lips to mine. I expect him to rip my clothes off like he always does when I call him sir–plus, I can feel his hunger bubbling inside of him–but he kisses me with surprising tenderness.
He strokes his hand through my hair, then pauses, looking directly into my eyes.
“What?” I whisper.
“I’m so happy I met you,” he whispers.
“Raiden.” I stroke my hands over his back gently.
“I mean it,” he says. “Before you, I was cold. I was sleepwalking through life. I was trapped in the past half the time, and I didn’t even want to look at the future. It seemed too bleak.”
“You had a lot going for you before I came along,” I tell him.
“Maybe I did. But now we’re together, it doesn’t seem that way. It seems like I was waiting, Aurora, waiting for you.”
Tears prick my eyes. “I’m so happy we met too,” I murmur. “Now–kiss me like you mean it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He claims me with a kiss.
EPILOGUE
RAIDEN
One Year Later
In the Retreat’s ballroom, I sit at a table with Margot, Aurora, and her friend Ellie. Guests fill the tables, all of them wearing masks, the mood lighting flickering orange and red around the room. Outside, a tame storm is bubbling, not raging like last year’s weather.
Standing on a raised section, Grandma taps a spoon against her champagne glass. The room quiets and turns to her.
“Most of you know I planned on cancelling the Annual Grand Masquerade Retreat after last year’s terrible incident. I thought it had been clouded with darkness forever. But then I had a conversation with the late Mr. Grayson’s wife, Julia, and she was the one who convinced me to keep going.”
Grandma clears her throat.
“Her words had a heavy impact on me,” she goes on. “She said that we all have stresses in our lives, we all feel bleak and hopeless at times, but the Retreat gives us a chance to forget, to put on a mask and be someone else… and, she said, and this was what hit me the hardest, putting on a mask allows us to become who we were all along. So, thank you all for coming. And enjoy!”
After a round of applause, Grandma adds, “And also please be comforted by the fact we have updated our security and have police officers on hand on the island. There will not be a repeat of last year. Ever.”
Once her speech is done, people stand from their tables and begin mingling. My heart won’t stop hammering, excitement mixed with nerves and certainty.
This past year has been the best of my life, hands down, no competition. Once Margot recovered, Aurora returned to college to complete half a semester while taking orders from the high-end clients I could acquire for her.
I built her a shop in New York and bought an apartment there for us. Moving in seemed like a no-brainer. We didn’t even discuss it, not really. It was like we naturally slid into the living situation.
Waking up next to her every day has been heaven.
Aurora is wearing a hip-hugging purple piece of her own design. Her style is so coveted because she has a way of weaving the fabric as though it’s shadow, making it rest against the wearer in a flattering way that touches all of her most attractive aspects.
Hell, with Aurora, that’s not even remotely difficult. Every part of her is magnetic. She’s wearing a matching mask, silver studs complementing it, glittering in the chandelier light.
When I see her busy talking with her friend, Ellie, I move toward the raised section where Grandma made her speech. Margot walks into my path. I smile, always happy to see and speak with her. She’s improved massively since last year, and we’ve bonded plenty too.
She wears a mask that seems fitting, brightly colored, with a big smile painted onto it. “Is it time?” she asks, moving close to me.
I swallow. “Yeah. It’s time.”
She touches my arm. “You don’t need to be nervous. You love her, right?”
My heart glows as I think back to the first time we said I love you to each other. We’d just moved in and made love. We were lying in bed together. She looked up at me, her hand on my chest.
“I think I’m ready for a new mask,” she murmured.
“Yeah?” I whispered, kissing her on the forehead. “What kind of mask?”
She walked her fingers up my chest. “I think you know…”
I wasn’t entirely sure, but I blurted it out anyway. I’d been feeling it for weeks, maybe months, the love bursting through and spreading like wildfire.
“Yes,” I tell Margot. “More than anything.”
“She loves you, too.”
“Thank you for your blessing,” I say.
“I can’t think of anyone better. I’ve never seen her so happy.”
We share a quick hug, then I go onto the raised section.