Dark Need by Clarissa Wild

Epilogue

April

After we saidgoodbye to Natalie and Noah, she gave me her number so I could contact her any time I wanted. I don’t know yet if I’m going to, but maybe it would be nice to get both our experiences out there to clear the air and start fresh.

We’ve been through so much together that it’s hard to lose a friend like that, and I don’t want to take our connection for granted.

Still, I’m happy that they’ve gone back and I’m still here in the safety of my home.

The last pennies I had were spent on getting clothes for Soren so he could get a proper job. Not one in fighting or where he can hurt people … but a job that makes him feel like he can actually do something with his body—a bouncer at a club.

I mean, he didn’t feel anything for learning something new or going to school. He doesn’t seem like the type to study the books either. Besides, plenty of clubs and bars are looking for a beastly man like him to keep out the unwanted guests.

It makes him feel like he can actually help out, and I’ve noticed he’s much happier since he started this job. It’s like he’s a completely changed man, filled with excitement and wonder. Like for the first time, he’s experiencing the world the way it was meant to be experienced.

And that brings joy to my heart too.

It also helps that he brings in some money, of course.

Can’t keep running this house on empty pockets. And now that he lives here with me, he has to keep up with his share. Luckily, he does help clean up, though he hasn’t stopped making a mess out of everything he does.

Laundry, making his bed, eating … it’s all so very … violent.

And it still causes arguments. And wet, hot sex.

Literally everywhere.

On the couch.

In the shower.

On the bed.

In the yard at night.

Oh, God.

Just thinking about it gets me all flustered again as I knead the dough in my bowl. My next creation is sure going to have some inspiration. A lady from down the street requested an X-rated cake for her bachelorette party, and I know just what kind of body to sculpt on top.

I’ve been fortunate enough that the people who live here love cakes and that I’m the first homemade baker in town. It’s surely driven up my sales, especially with my story of a penniless girl just looking to make it.

No one knows the true story behind my struggles.

And I don’t intend to tell anyone either.

Not because I don’t wish the House and those damn cults would cease to exist, I do.

But because Soren is connected to all of it, and I don’t want to endanger him.

So I’ve decided I’m not going to pursue anything and just be content with what I have, right now, here in this warm home of mine, where the only person who has ever made me feel loved is sneaking up behind me to try to surprise me.

“I can hear you,” I say, smirking.

He grunts. “Why?” He throws his arms around me and hugs me tight, pressing a kiss to my cheeks.

“Because you walk like a giant,” I reply, turning my head for a kiss. “I can hear you coming from a mile away.” I grin and plant another kiss against his lips. “But I like it that way. Makes me all giddy.”

“Hmm … Fine,” he grumbles, and he wraps his hands around my belly. “What are you making?”

“Some girl a few blocks down ordered this,” I reply, snorting while adding some cream.

Soren frowns. “That looks like my dick.”

A filthy smile appears on my cheeks. “Does it?”

“You … you did that on purpose, didn’t you?” he growls in my ear, and his hands become a little too touchy-feely.

“Wait, I need to finish this,” I say, trying to perfect it.

But he won’t take his hands off me, and he dives between my legs like he wants to put the cream somewhere else.

“I want to finish you.”

A blush creeps onto my cheeks, but then my eyes widen because I remember what I wanted to show him.

The thing I completely forgot about because it happened this morning.

And I’ve been busy baking this cake all day.

“Wait.”

He leans back. “What?”

“I have to … show you something.” I grab his hand and walk out to the living room where I stashed something on top of a shelf. “You might wanna sit.”

“Should I be worried?” he asks, raising a brow as he sits down on the stool, which can barely handle his muscle weight while I hide something behind my back.

“No,” I reply. “Unless … well, maybe you don’t like it.”

He frowns and makes a face. “Tell me. Right. Now.”

The commanding voice still makes me lose my breath, but then I remember there’s always time for sex … but this, this needs to come first.

So I show him the stick that I’ve been excited to show him all day.

The one with two pink lines.

And I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Nothing.

“What am I supposed to see?” he asks.

My face contorts. “You don’t know what it is, do you?”

When he sees the mix of confusion and disappointment on my face, he grabs my hands and pulls me between his legs. “Tell me.”

I pull his hand toward my belly and place it on top. “It means I’m carrying your baby.”

He swallows, and his eyes widen and narrow and then expand again, all in two seconds. “My baby?”

I nod and rub my lips together. “I had this feeling for a long time, ever since the island … well, maybe even before that. I mean, we weren’t safe and—”

I can’t even finish my sentence because he’s already grabbed my face and slammed his lips against my mouth in a way that makes me want to fan myself and fall into his lap all at the same time. And he doesn’t stop, not until we’re both out of breath, and lean away, lingering on the heat.

He places his hand on my belly, murmuring, “Mine.”

And I know right then and there it’s going to be okay.

* * *

Soren

Me, a father?

It’s something I could never imagine.

A torturer, a punisher, a killer, becoming a father?

My hand still drifts over her belly, unable to believe this is the truth. But it is. April wouldn’t show me this unless it means it’s true.

My seed … gave her life.

A living human being is growing inside her.

My heir.

The one I thought I’d never have.

The one I thought I didn’t deserve.

Because I broke the rules, I defied my duty, I sinned.

I didn’t earn the maiden promised to me all those years ago, but I didn’t want her.

I wanted this girl … and now she’ll give me the one thing that I was taught was the end of the line. The life I dreamed of with a family … nirvana.

And I bend over and press a kiss to her belly. “I love you already.”

“So, does that mean you’re okay with it?” April asks.

I look up into her eyes, wondering how she could ever ask that question. How she could ever doubt my intentions. Because since the moment I laid eyes on her, I’ve wanted nothing more than to fill her womb with my seed and make her my woman by giving her a child.

But it happened only in my dreams … until now.

I get off the stool and grab her, lifting her into the air. “Yes,” I growl as happiness flourishes in her eyes.

“But are we good enough?” she mutters as I put her down again. “As parents?”

I clutch her chin and make her look at me. “Stop doubting yourself. We are enough.” I lean my forehead against hers. “You are more than enough.”

And she closes her eyes while I press a gentle kiss onto her lips, adding one more, and more, and more, and more until I’m not able to stop anymore.

Because I’m not the only one who’s claimed her heart …

She owns mine too, and I’ll be damned if I ever, ever let that go.

Our journey has led us here. Our choices are what made this possible.

Now all we need to do … is live.

* * *

The End.

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Read on for an excerpt of Under His Rule, book 1 in the His Duet!