Page 116 of Rex

“Aria?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you. So fucking much,” I admit in a gruff voice.

Aria stops rifling through the silverware and stands, staring at me for several beats of my heart. I start to get nervous that Irushed that proclamation, but she quickly pushes that thought out of my mind.

Walking around the bar and stopping at my side, I tip my head up to make eye contact. We do, and it lasts for a hot second before her mouth crashes down on mine. Kissing me, slow and deep, Aria presses her body against mine and runs her hands through my hair. I grasp her hips, and she tilts her head for a better angle.

When she finally pulls her mouth away from mine, I feel the words brush against my skin as she says them.

“I love you, too. So fucking much.”

Epilogue

Rex

It’s been several months since I was taken and rescued, and life has only gotten better. Aria and I are solid. Very solid, and each day only makes me love her more. We are still learning everything there is to know about each other, and it makes me eager to face each day beside her.

I already know that the day will come when I’ll be asking her to marry me, but I’m not in a rush. We’re not in a rush. I’ve always wondered why Axel and Bailey haven’t tied the knot yet, and now I know. Everything is so perfect; I don’t want to do anything that might rock that boat. Mentally, I know a signed document won’t do that, but I love where we’re at right now and don’t feel the need for that document.

Aria’s family has become mine too. They’re here often, and I always enjoy the interactions between them. I never had that closeness with my family, and it’s great to watch them be a family. They fight, they argue, they tease, they disagree, but at the end of the day, they’re still family, and they’re still close.

The security office has expanded again, and we’ve hired a new person for the front desk. She’s absolutely perfect, and everyone loves her. Well, most of the time, anyway. Horse gets a little freaked out by the strange occurrences when Lucy’s working, but he’s learning to deal. The only other problem is that with Lucy there, Chubs stops by constantly. Normally, that would be a bonus, but not if you have food anywhere on the premises.

Horse swears he’s losing weight. Pigeon is convinced Lucy snitches to Chubs what we’ve brought for lunch to save on her own food expenses. Reeves sits inside his locked truck, crouched down out of sight, and eats at supersonic speeds. Me? I have the experience of Aria’s life with him and prepare appropriately. Whatever I pack, I times it by five. That way, I usually get at least enough to hold me over until dinnertime. Not always, but usually.

Aria and her work partner, Georgeanne, have become tight friends and spend time together outside of work. I try to stay clear when they’re together because when you add in Lisa, it gets chaotic. What Georgeanne doesn’t think of Lisa does. Lisa even went so far as to pull the Bart trick on Aria’s coworkers. It cost the practice quite a bit of free dental work when Georgeanne accidentally pulled a healthy tooth by accident when Bart bounced his little rear end at her. All in the day of Georgeanne and Lisa is all Aria said about it that night amidst a couple of laughing bouts.

Lucy and Chubs are back to where they were before he broke her heart. When Lucy’s not busy with customers, she’s planning their upcoming nuptials. Her mom wants to go big to be in step with a governor’s daughter getting married, but Lucy has planted her foot down hard about that. I’ve heard her tell her mom more than once that it’s about her and Chubs and not about the governor’s office. I stay out of the fray but am curious if a governor makes enough money to cover what’s going to be one hell of a bill for the wedding dinner. If not, there will be problems.

Lisa and Reeves have still not gone public with their relationship. I can’t tell if it’s serious or not, and frankly, I’m alittle afraid to ask. I’m not sure crazy dating crazier is a good idea, but I keep that bit of information to myself.

Gunner caved to pressure and got the vasectomy. That gave the club members plenty of ammo to poke fun at the large guy for quite a while. He took it good-naturedly, for the most part. Ava simply stated that a good man knows when his woman is done and doesn’t expect her to carry the burden of birth control for years to come.

Axel hauled ass across the main room and covered Bailey’s ears when Ava started speaking. Bailey just grinned up at him. She really is Saint Bailey. She puts up with a lot, but she’s also got a man who would die for her or their daughters. Axel can be a handful, but he has a heart the size of Colorado.

Ava’s barn was completed, and the donkeys and Little A now live there, close to the kids. Ava traded having more children for the goats she always wanted and now has two. While they’re cute as fuck, Gunner’s constantly trying new ways to keep them fenced in. He swears they could bust out of Fort Knox and Alcatraz in minutes.

Axel has refused to have his dick pics removed from Church. He said he likes that his cock is always front and center, making the rest of us jealous. Gunner has promised that they will come up missing, but I’ve noticed new ones the last few times we had Church. Axel is getting creative because now that he’s out of American holidays, he’s started in on Canadian ones. I’ll never look at maple syrup the same way again. I’m sure Australia is next on his to-do list. I just hope nobody from those countries finds out and he causes an international incident.

I swear, even the sight of any holiday decorations, and I get instant PTSD. The flashbacks are a bitch. Axel and his dick have ruined Christmas and its candy for me. No cock should ever be wrapped like a candy cane. I even gag a little when I smell peppermint because of his Christmas pose.

Freddy’s decided he was ready to retire, so the strip club was sold. Freddy now spends his days spoiling all the kids, but especially Vex and Taja’s daughter, Kalea. When he’s not doing that, he volunteers to drive the kids back and forth to the ranch for their riding lessons. Trigger is teaching him the finer art of fishing also. Pigeon says that Ivy’s gotten very close with Freddy, and he stays in the guest cabin often, loving the fact that she cooks for him.

Speaking of Pigeon and Ivy, the ranch is thriving. They’re booked solid with clients for the autistic/disabled programs and are thinking about adding extra guest cabins to accommodate more guests. Ivy hired a couple of the women from New Horizons, and Pippa was thrilled for them. They’re doing great and are working their way back from the traumas they went through. Under Ivy’s care, these women will gain their lives back and be stronger for it.

Vex and Taja are doing great, and their daughter is already showing signs of the beauty she’s going to become. Vex is a mostly stay-at-home dad while Taja’s working on getting her medical degree. Taja loves the schooling, and Vex loves her and his daughter, so it works perfectly for all of them. Vex works a few shifts here and there at the security offices, but only when we’re swamped with orders. Otherwise, we see him at the clubhouse or somewhere out with his harem.

Tessie has graduated from high school and works full-time at the body shop now. She’s close to surpassing the master, Trigger, with her knowledge, and he’s said he has little left to teach her. He’s also planning on retiring and spending more time fishing as soon as he feels Tessie’s ready to take over.

Tessie’s driving hasn’t been a problem since Lucy took over her lessons. I’d love to know how Lucy accomplished it, but neither is telling. I have noticed that when the subject is brought up, Tessie’s eye twitches a bit.

Tessie has recently started talking about getting her own place. Taja is against the idea but also realizes that she has to let Tessie be the adult she raised her to be. I personally think Taja’s more worried about Horse and Tessie than Tessie living on her own. Tessie gave Horse and Reeves notice about moving out of her house, and they jumped at the chance to move into Aria’s condo.

Pooh and Pippa are pregnant, and Tammy is as happy as they are. Craig is stoked, though. He’s so excited it’s comical to watch him talk about the baby. He informed me yesterday that he’s been busy writing down all the information the new baby must learn to survive in the world. I laughed but quickly smothered it, not wanting to get on his bad side. I’ve been able to invest quite a bit of money since I’m not paying blackmail cash to him. I don’t want that to change. Aria has expensive taste in clothing, shoes, makeup, skincare… well, everything to be honest. I need to make bank so I can help fund her shopping habits.

Craig and Luke still ride their bikes together and spend most of their days hiding in the woods at their fort. Luke also spends more time at the ranch than any of the kids, even though Craig protests that fact often and loudly. Ivy loves having the kids, but she has formed a special bond with Luke. I think thepeacefulness of the ranch soothes something in Luke’s soul just like it does for Ivy’s, and she recognizes that fact.

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