Page 97 of Goodbye, Mr. Winters

Most of all, his love.

Epilogue

IVY

It’scold for a late summer day on Katantia, and I’m not wearing a coat.

Jordan didn’t warn me that we’d be going on a walk of the palace’s premises. He holds my hand, leading me wherever he intends to take us.

“Are we there yet?” I ask, my teeth clattering.

“Soon, my needy little doe.”

His chuckle warms my heart. We pass by Valentina and Aris’s home. I gaze at it from afar, and I detect Penelope Jade and her mom in the kitchen, having lunch. I quickly look away because that’s an invasion of privacy.

“Where are you taking me anyway?” I ask, rubbing the sides of my arms.

“To your future.”

“Oh wow,” I deadpan. I want him to hug me warm. Now. “I’m cold. Please.”

Soon after Valentina and Aris’s home, the street abruptly ends, but we don’t stop our walk there. Jordan marches on, and I follow closely behind him. He follows a trail that I can’t detect.

“Little doe, I’m going to build you a street here,” Jordan says. He gestures at the poor trees that he’ll have to remove for the said street. “So that you can take your death trap to work.”

“What?” I gasp.

“I’ll buy you a new car, but I hear that people buy cars on special occasions. I shouldn’t just hand you a new car. You’ll return it. If I wait until Christmas or your birthday, you’ll feel bad about returning my gift,” Jordan says, his smirk tickles my insides.

“I don’t need a new car. I already have one.” I pout.

“And I don’t need to go to therapy. The real one that’s not as fun as yours,” he sneakily comments. Jordan’s been going to Mr. Bradley’s sessions twice a week, and from what I can tell, the sessions are more than precious for Jordan’s well-being. Mr. Bradley is an exceptional psychiatrist, and he’s a valuable asset to our team.

He’s able to calm Jordan’s demons in a way that I can’t.

Sex is fun, and we laugh a lot together, but there are certain things in Jordan’s existence that I don’t understand.

“Hey!” I hang my head, terribly embarrassed by my lack of professionalism regarding him.

“Little doe.”

“I’m a real therapist!”

“Yes, you are you pouty little doe. I’m so proud of you.” He halts mid-step, and I crash into his hard body. He lifts my jaw with his fingers, connecting our eyes. I breathe hard. I can’t resist his warmth even when he teases me. I wrap my arms around him. “You’re not me, little doe. You don’t understand my experience.”

He clears his throat. “I want to build our house here.”

I remove myself from his embrace, wearily so. My eyes drift over to the trees, the nature. There’s a lot of space for us here. I’m used to the icy city. I don’t know what to do with space.

“I’m scared,” I tell him in all honesty.

“You’ll never sleep alone, little doe. I’ll be by your side.” We’re a couple of minutes away from his family and his workplace. The Wraiths don’t use their property to its full potential because they value green space. It isn’t an easy decision to tear down what’s been evolving for years. “I’ve already hired people to come up with plans for us. We’ll approve of everything together. How does that sound?”

I heard his question, but I’m dumbfounded. “You’ll protect me?”

“Always.”

Jordan goes ahead and outlines his vision for our home. It’ll be close to his family but far enough to give us some space. “… Ignas will have a room. We can ask him where he wants to stay, or we can pick one out for him.”