“What the fuck is this?”
“Sorry about that. I’ll get you a ring. I had to improvise.”
“Ciaran, you know you have to ask someone to marry you, right?”
“I did. I put it on your hand last night while you were snoring.”
“I don’t snore.”
“You do. It’s cute, though. I like it.”
The man is so frustrating. Life with him won’t be easy because he doesn’t know how to take no for an answer, and I won’t always want to say yes. But as I gaze at the silly makeshift ring on my finger, my heart swells with so much love I’m not even interested in arguing with him. “Fine.”
Ciaran steps towards me. “Fine?”
I take a step back. “Yes, fine.”
“That’s all you have to say? Fine?”
A giggle escapes as I drop the sheet and leap into his arms. He catches me, and I cling to him. “I love you. I’d happily be your wife, you psycho.”
“Good, ‘cause I really didn’t want to keep you chained up for all eternity.”
“I’m a willing captive, Ciaran.”
“Nah, baby girl. You belong to me, but I’m the captive. You own me, every broken, twisted piece of me. You make my heart beat, Hellcat. I love you.”
I press my lips to the shell of his ear. “If we’re quiet, I’ll let you fuck me.”
Ciaran growls before slamming us against the wall. “I don’t give a fuck if they hear. I like knowing that I’m the only one that will ever make you scream.” His hand cups my pussy. “The only one that will ever touch this sweet cunt. Whose pussy is this?”
“Yours.”
He pulls down his jogging pants with one hand and presses the tip of his hard cock along my slit. “See how hard you make me, Hellcat? Only you.” He rams his cock into me, and I moan.
His hand snakes up my body before making a home at my throat. He doesn't say a word. He just crushes his mouth to mine while his cock fucks me into oblivion. His kiss is one of claiming, it’s rough, it’s deep, and it’s full of ownership.
He pulls back, his eyes heavy with love, desire, and need. He abandons his hold on my throat and moves his hand to my clit. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“Good. Now let me hear you scream.”
He sinks his teeth into my flesh as my body comes undone, and I scream so loudly that I’m sure the entire neighborhood can hear me.
“I’m gonna fill that sweet pussy and watch as my cum drips down your legs.”
Ciaran pinches my clit and releases into me with one final thrust. He doesn’t move away from me but holds me to him, my back against the wall, and we just breathe.
Epilogue
5 years later
PARISA
Five years with this man, and it’s been the best five years of my life. Ciaran’s easy to love. He’s crazy, unpredictable, and deranged, but he’s also the sweetest, kindest, and most compassionate man I’ve ever met. I’m lucky that I’m the one that he loves because being loved by Ciaran is the most powerful thing I’ve ever known in my entire life.
He unlocks the door, and we walk into our home. To most people, a little cottage-style house with a white picket fence and a swing on the porch seems a little weird considering what Ciaran and I are capable of. No one would expect two killers to want to live in a house like this. But for people like us, who never had security, never had beauty, and always had to claw and struggle for everything, this house is perfect. It’s a home. Here we can be ourselves. Here we can raise a family. Here we can be safe.
Ciaran’s gaze locks onto mine before he lifts me and takes me over the threshold, something he’s been doing for the past five years. I told him that the only time he needed to do that was right after the wedding, but he seems to think he should always be romantic and spontaneous. He told me that the only time a relationship goes downhill is when you don’t show the other person just how much you love them, and he plans to show me his love every day for the rest of his life. I may doubt many things in life, but I never doubt the fact that I’m the center of his universe, and he’s the center of mine.
“I’m never going to tire of carrying you into our home, wife.”
I smile at Ciaran, moving my hands across his handsome face. “And I’m never going to tire of letting you carry me.”
The pain of the past is there in his eyes and probably always will be, but I enjoy knowing that, in me, he’s finally found comfort and peace. The pain lessens a little every day, and more joy seeps into its place.