Page 111 of Winter's End

“No, and I don’t expect to.” She shrugged dismissively. “I’ll find another blond Viking man to join my imagined harem.”

Hmmm. Wasn’t that an intriguing thought?

“Come on in, babe!” Drew interrupted, his voice barely audible over the cacophony of whoops and splashes.

“Yeah, Snow!” Quick piped up. “Come on in and we’ll play a different game.” His suggestive smile left no illusions as to the games he wanted to play.

“Shane!” Hillary snatched the hat off her face and glowered with the heat of a thousand suns. “Don’t you dare. Therewill be no orgies or fuck-fests within my view plane while I’m here. I will gut you.”

My sexy, tanned drink of water enjoyed playing with fire, and today he was going to get a sunburn.

“Awww, is Hilly Willy not getting any action?” Shane tied his hair up into a ponytail and stuck out his tongue. “Lighten up, Hill! I was going to suggest water polo.”

“Naked water polo.” Logan’s grin was all teeth in a rare show of solidarity with my exuberant boyfriend. “Strip for us, Princess.”

“That’s it, I’m out.” Hillary snatched her phone and cover-up from the side table and stalked into the house, muttering about my ‘insufferable assholes’ under her breath.

“We’re waiting, beautiful.” Travis leaned against the pool’s edge, his back to the concrete and his arms spread wide. His gaze wandered lazily over my royal blue bikini with blatant interest.

“Let’s play some water polo, baby girl.” Drew tossed the volleyball up in the air and caught it one-handed. “I’d like the chance to win another bet.”

Shane shot him a scheming little grin and blew a kiss at him.

Cam swam to the edge closest to me and held out a hand. “Come on in, Little Violet. Play with us.”

I took in the view before me—five beautiful souls who’d found it in their hearts to love me.

Shane—my Quick—my brilliant best friend; the man who already had my heart but could never have my body was finally mine—mind, body, and soul. I cherished his zest for life and impenetrable optimism.

Travis—my hottie bartender; the sexier than sin liar who’d made it his mission to keep me—and he did. I admired his selflessness and willingness to do whatever it took to protect those he loved. We would smother him with the love he’d never received from his own blood.

Drew—my innocent boy-next-door who I’d crushed on for years. The all-American football star was finally discovering who he was, and I loved the man he was becoming. His openness and ability to take things in stride kept me in check.

Cam—my sweet, southern gentlemen whose darkness couldn’t be tamed; his darkness was his bloodline, but the calm, centered man before me had found his home with us. He instilled in me a sense of comfort and peace from his stoic stillness and quiet grace.

Logan—my bastard pretty-boy millionaire who had once wanted to destroy me. Turned out, he instead vanquished my enemy with a fierce vengeance. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to guard the sanctity of the beautiful family we’d chosen in each other. I accepted his past, and would celebrate his future as a healthier, happier man.

They each held my heart in their grasp; my soul in their grip; my essence in their blood.

I rose from my seat and shed my towel. Padding over to Cam’s outstretched hand, I squeezed it in my own.

Our days and nights alone had come to an end.

I couldn’t wait for our new beginnings.

EPILOGUE

WINTER

6 Years Later

“Fuck off, Logan.”

I shot him an exasperated glare from the loveseat on one side of our living room.

Logan just smirked at me, his eyes dancing with amusement behind his sexy Clark Kent glasses.

“To love me is to love all of me, Princess. And Johnson knows he’s a pansy with his romance books.”