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“Are you sure about that?” Our eyes meet and I smirk. I wrap my arm around her waist and flip us over, and the second her back hits the picnic blanket, I start fucking her hard and fast, pouring in all my built-up sexual frustration and desire for her into each powerful thrust.

Jasminescreamsand hangs onto my shoulders, her body jolting with each thrust. I pin her in place with my other hand and fuck her harder and harder, until my thighs ache and lower back screams at me to slow down. But I can’t.

I need to be inside her all the time. I never want to leave. I need her to know how much I love her, how much I desire her. I need her caught in the tendrils of ecstasy for the rest of her life. I fuck her hard, and what little control I have slips away into nothing.

I come so hard my arm nearly gives out and I’m barely able to hold myself over her. My balls tighten so hard it feels like they’re just as determined to be inside her as I am. Pulse after pulse of cum floods inside her, and just as Jasmine breathlessly laughs in victory, her pussy clamps down around me like a vice and she finds her end within seconds.

For a long moment we’re suspended together like that, floating in a sea of pleasure that exists for just us and sharing an intimate moment without breaking eye contact.

Until my arm gives way and I flop to the side, utterly boneless. We lay together in a loose tangle of limbs and twitching bodies.

“Holy shit,” Jasmine pants. “I win.”

“I demand a rematch,” I groan, dragging myself closer to her until her back is pressed against my chest and I’m nuzzling into her hair. “Best of three.”

“Oh really?” Jasmine turns her head and looks back at me, her eyes sparkling. “I love you, Ren.”

“I love you too, Jasmine.”

“Do you think we’re going to be okay?”

I frown softly. “As a couple?”

She nods slowly. “Yes. And as parents and leaders and just…in general.”

I tighten my arms around her and press a gentle kiss to her cheek, nuzzling in. “I think we’re going to be the best we can be. And that will be good enough. As long as we’re happy and healthy, baby included, that’s all I care about. Everything else will fall into place. Promise.”

EPILOGUE: JASMINE

“Oh my God, Jasmine, look at you!” Mom stands in front of me with a bunch of tissues clutched in her hands and tears shining in her large eyes. “You look like a princess!”

Standing in my wedding dress, staring at the growing bump on my belly with my mother in tears next to me, is a surreal feeling. Never in my life did I imagine ending up here, but it feels perfect.

Safe.

“You think?” I smooth my hands down the sides of my bodice and then clutch at the large princess ball skirt that the dressmaker did a fantastic job of replacing after Ren helped me rip off the last one. Deep down, I would have loved a much sleeker dress but when it came to fixing the damage, I didn’t have the heart to replace what Mom had chosen. She’s been through so much and granting her this one thing feels like the least I can do.

Especially since she’s never been the same since she killed my father.

Something in her broke that day, something that can’t be replaced. While I’m working hard to give her the best life, I’vebeen playing into her thoughts just a little. No good can come from telling her the truth about my father’s death or my role in the marriage she was trying to save me from. Saving her from the pain and guilt of being manipulated into killing her husband is the strongest kindness I can grant her, so having a wedding dress she loves is a small price to pay.

In time, I trust her psychiatrists will be able to work through the truth with her if her mind is ever stable enough, but I trust that decision to them. I’m not a doctor, and I will always choose the path that keeps my mother happy because no one can give me a guarantee that she will return to how she was.

So I will love her for who she is.

“I’m so proud of you!” She wails softly and buries her face in her tissues, then she lifts her head. “You will be careful with that man, won’t you?”

I gently take her hand and squeeze, smiling warmly. “Yes, Mom. Remember what we talked about? That you saved my life from the terrible marriage Father was trying to force andbecauseof you, we were able to find out that Alto was a terrible liar, and that he wanted to marry me instead? So not only did you save me from Father’s blind greed, you saved me from Alto as well.”

Mom stares at me for a few seconds, then she smiles and nods quickly. “Yes, yes I remember. But that man…”

“I know you have your doubts, but you’ve been spending time with him. He’s a good man and he’ll prove it. Plus,” I add with a teasing smile. “Thanks to you, you enabled me to work harder and act much smarter, so I’m the one with the power. I’m marrying Roman for love now, not because we need him. Alto’s lies will soon be nothing but an afterthought.”

“Because we don’t need anyone,” Mom says tearily.

“Exactly. We don’t need anyone. Trust me, okay?”

She nods, taking a deep and calming breath.