EPILOGUE

WAVERLY

One year later…

I study the tattoo on the inside of my wrist: a dandelion drawn in black with seeds scattering to the wind. It was Jensen’s idea. He said I was a dandelion when he first met me—stubborn, rooted, determined. Little by little I loosened up, and the second I was ready, I scattered to the wind, the best parts of me becoming free to explore the world around me.

“Looks good,” he says, examining my wrist in his hand. “Healing up nicely. We’ll have to take a picture of it for the website.”

I flick my wrist around, and the sparkling diamond on my left finger catches the light. He proposed last March, during spring break. It was just the two of us in our tiny campus town apartment. There was no romantic speech. Jensen’s not like that. But he did speak from the heart, and all I needed to hear was, “I can’t live without you, Waverly.” I don’t remember much about what he said after that because I felt the same way. Nothing else beyond that mattered.

“Want to get a bite to eat?” Jensen rubs his stomach as he sprawls across our messy bed.

“Why don’t I make you something? You worked late last night.” I climb out of bed, but he pulls me back, planting his mouth against the crook of my neck and nipping my skin.

He left for eight weeks last summer to intern with a tattoo artist in L.A., and then returned to work on finishing his apprenticeship with a local Campus Town parlor. In a couple more years, when he’s licensed, Dane’s going to front him enough money to start his own place wherever we eventually decide to settle down.

“Eggs. Pancakes. Hash browns,” Jensen says, releasing me. “But I’m helping. I’ll be damned if I have you slaving over a hot stove.”

We haven’t been back to Whispering Hills since last year, when everything went down. Several months into my first semester at college, I stopped looking over my shoulder. It was as if one day, I realized no one was coming after me and everything was going to be okay. I haven’t heard from my family, and I’m sure I’m as good as dead to them now. Jensen and Bellamy are the only family I have left now, but that’s okay. They’re all I need.

One of these days, when the time is right, we’ll go back for the rest of our siblings. They’re innocent and unsuspecting now, but their day will come, and Bellamy and I will find a way to save them.

“Finals coming up?” Jensen studies the calendar taped to the side of the ‘fridge as he grabs a carton of eggs. He squints as he checks the expiration date and then sets it next to the stove. Watching a man all barefoot and shirtless in the kitchen is a sight I never thought I’d find sexy in a million years, but Jensen has defied all that.

“Yep, next week is dead week, then finals.” I grab a spatula and nonstick pan, setting them gently across the glass cooktop.

Jensen pulls salt and pepper from the cabinet and grabs an egg. It’s barely noticeable cradled in his palm, and with one fluid crack it slides into the pan. “As long as you’re free this weekend…”

“What’s this weekend?”

“Remember? L.A.? We’re going to visit Jaxon?” He sprinkles pepper over the egg, followed by a few shakes of salt.

“That’s right.” I shake my head, remembering our weekend getaway to visit the guy who mentored him last summer. They’ve become good friends since then, Jaxon taking Jensen under his wing. You’d have thought they were brothers, judging by how well they hit it off. “And then the weekend after that is Bellamy’s girls’ weekend in Puerto Vallarta.”

“Still not sure why my presence is required on that one, but I’m not one to turn down a free trip to Mexico.” Jensen leans over, kissing my forehead. He flips the eggs, and rakes his fingers through his messy, dark hair. His delicious lips pout just so, and his Adonis lines are entirely too inviting, but I’ve got class this morning.

“I’m sure Dane will have you golfing and doing guy things,” I say.

“I’m sure Dane has every second of every minute of that trip planned.” Jensen laughs, his hand raking his smooth chest. Sure, Dane’s a control freak, but I kind of like that about him. Plus, he keeps Bellamy content and grounded. He’s good for her.

I push his arm. “Oh, stop.”

Jensen plates the eggs and carries our breakfast to our little nook with our two little tables. Our apartment is small, and at times, crowded, but it’s ours. We’re free to live and laugh and kiss and make love and dream with zero rules and nobody looking over our shoulders.

“When we get back, maybe we can start planning our wedding?” Jensen shrugs. “Gotta nail you down before you wise up and realize you deserve better.”

“Wedding’s already planned.” I flash a smug half-smile.

“Oh, yeah? When were you going to tell me this?”

“You gave me free reign, remember?” I glance at the clock above us, mentally calculating how much time I have before I miss the bus. “Something small, at Dane’s estate. Just us, Bellamy and Dane, and a handful of close friends from work and school. I’ll wear a simple white sundress and you’ll wear… whatever you want. A justice of the peace will marry us, and I’ll carry a bouquet of pale pink peonies. That’s it.”

“Honeymoon?”

I rise, taking my dish to the sink and returning to kiss his delectable mouth. “Surprise me. I trust you.”

Jensen pulls me into his lap, catching me off guard. “Date. I need a date. Can’t plan a honeymoon without a date.”

“October eleventh.” I smile.

“It’s a date.” I attempt to climb off him, but he pulls me closer, refusing to let me go. “Watching you leave each morning is the hardest part of my day, but knowing you’re always going to come back to me makes it bearable.”

I breathe him in, my future husband. He’s my heart and soul, my insides and out. I live for him, and I know he lives for me. In a few short months, we’ll make it official, and no one will ever get to tear us apart again.

The End

ARROGANT MASTER

DESCRIPTION

I’ve never felt more alive than when I’m on my knees before my master.

Some would say I should be ashamed.

Others might say I’m filled with sin.

I say I’m just a woman with unstoppable determination, doing whatever it takes to secure her freedom before the opportunity fades forever.

Nobody knows about us. Not my father, my three mothers, or my seven brothers and sisters.

I was bred to be chaste and true, expected to find a respectable polygamous man and carry on the tradition of our faith.

But this man? The one who owns me with biting kisses and the crack of a leather paddle? He might be the only thing that can save me.

Submission equals freedom. It’s an equation I never thought possible until the day Dane Townsend showed up in my life.

I’m Bellamy Miller, and this is what happens when an angel loses her wings.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is a stand-alone spin off of Amazon Top 10 bestseller, Arrogant Bastard. HEA. No cliffhanger.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROLOGUE - Bellamy

ONE - Bellamy

TWO - Bellamy

THREE - Dane

FOUR - Bellamy

FIVE - Dane

SIX - Bellamy

SEVEN - Dane

EIGHT - Bellamy

NINE - Dane

TEN - Bellamy

ELEVEN - Dane

TWELVE - Bellamy

THIRTEEN - Dane

FOURTEEN - Bellamy

FIFTEEN - Dane

SIXTEEN - Bellamy

SEVENTEEN - Dane

EIGHTEEN - Bellamy

NINETEEN - Dane

TWENTY - Bellamy

TWENTY-ONE - Dane

TWENTY-TWO - Bellamy

TWENTY-THREE - Dane

TWENTY-FOUR - Bellamy

TWENTY-FIVE - Dane

TWENTY-SIX - Bellamy