Auctioned to the Prisoners (Auctioned #4)

EPILOGUE

LORY

ALL I WANT

The sound of the ocean is magical. Before Mexico, I’d never seen it outside of pictures and on TV. It’s impossible to imagine its sound, the rushing white noise of its push and pull, or the vastness of it yawning into the horizon further than the eye can see.

In Cancun, the water is fierce and unyielding as it tugs at your feet beneath the foaming waves. It’s loud, too, crashing against the seabed, making me insubstantial as it buffets me around like driftwood.

I was scared at first, but Connor hasn’t let go of my hand. I think he’s a little afraid of it, and maybe my hand is a comfort. Neither of us learned to swim yet, and the Atlantic isn’t the place to start.

The beach is a swipe of glittering white that almost hurts to look at. Caleb and Nora play in the sand, digging castles with James, who’s indulging his inner child. He let them help bury him when we first arrived and then broke free, rising like a fearsome sand monster that made Nora scream and Caleb laugh.

My sister, Kennedy, rests on a sunbed, stretched out in her new bikini. I convinced her to buy the bright pink one that contrasts nicely with her hair and skin. She prodded at her loose tummy in the store, but I wasn’t having any of it. My stomach is still loose and a little puckered, but I don’t care. Little Ethan loves to nuzzle it, and so do Connor, James, and Colton. Nothing good in life comes for free, and my war wounds just make the miracle of my son’s arrival and life even sweeter.

Colton watches us. He’s holding Ethan in his arms while he sleeps, but he’s wary of the ocean’s power and keeps his eyes on us the whole time.

Connor tugs me into his arms, kissing my mouth, all heat and strength and rasping facial hair. He looks so different from how he did when we first met. He’s lost the hard edges, softened by the sunshine, and a life without danger. He’s even lost some of the watchfulness he had when he first escaped, although he’s kept in the habit of bleaching his hair and wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap whenever he’s outside. Being conscious of your appearance must be hard, but he takes it in his stride. I love his beard and the way it scrapes my skin.

He looks older in a good way. More mature. A sexy daddy .

He laughs when I call him that when Ethan’s around. He growls when I whisper it in his ear when we’re alone.

“You getting tired?” he asks. We’ve been jumping the waves for about fifteen minutes like overexcited kids.

“Yeah. And cold!” I shiver even though the sun is bearing down. He wraps me against his body, which is still like a furnace despite the chill of the water, and then he picks me up and carries me out of the ocean like a blushing bride. I swat at him, laughing. “I’m capable of walking, you know.”

“For the love of God, will you let me indulge my inner caveman? What’s the point of these—”

“Muscles.” I pinch his thick bicep, and he hugs me tighter, pinning my arms.

“Stop wiggling, or I’ll have to tie you up later.” His threat sends a shiver of heat and cool right through me, building anticipation. Our hotel suite has a headboard that would handle just that.

“Now that’s a plan I can get behind.”

He lowers me to my feet when we’re on the shore, and I jog over to Colton to peek at our son. The baby is his—we found out a few weeks ago—so it’s extra fitting that he chose the name. Ethan shares his father’s seriousness and quiet, observant character. He smiles like his dad, too. His eyes are mine, and I think he has my feet, although it’s probably too early to tell.

Connor is going to try to get me pregnant next. He’s older than James, so it makes sense, but they’re all caring for Ethan. He has three daddies, and it’ll be the same for the next two children we bring into our family.

Kennedy rises from the sunbed and ties a bright floral sarong around her waist. “Will you watch the kids for me?” she asks.

“Where are you going?”

She grins sheepishly. “I need a drink.”

“Of course you do!”

Since we arrived for a mini vacation two days ago, she’s been flirting with one of the barmen at the beach bar. Alvaro is gorgeous, and he’s taken a shine to my sister. If she does hook up with him, it’ll probably be just for fun, but I hope he’ll show her a good time, and she remembers how awesome she is. Her ex really did a number on her confidence.

“Bring me back a soda,” I say. “And three beers for these thirsty men.”

“Sure.”

She saunters off, looking like the carefree girl she was before a relationship, and motherhood wore away some of her sparkle.

“Your sister seems happier,” Colton remarks.

“She is. You know, she told me she’s considering moving close to us.”

“That’ll be good for her and for you.”

“I’d love our kids to be raised together.”

“Family’s important.” He gazes down at Ethan with so much pride that I get a lump in my throat.

I wish we had more family between us, but no one chooses the family they’re born into. We’ve chosen the family we want to have, and it’s better than any I could have imagined before I became desperate enough to sell myself at auction.

Colton’s sister still hasn’t accepted his innocence, and I don’t think she ever will. Even if she did, we could never invite her to spend time with us. The risk to Connor would be too great and Colton would always put him first. Four weeks ago, a man who looks a lot like Colton was arrested in Holdridge for a string of rapes like the one my lover was wrongly convicted of. He hasn’t admitted guilt, but I say a secret prayer every night that a confession will remove the stain from Colton’s name. We’ve moved on, but there are some splinters that remain embedded deeply and this is one of them. He deserves to be cleared, and the victim deserves real justice.

Connor’s mom was so uninvolved in his life before he escaped, that he decided not to contact her again. It’s better she doesn’t know where he is. The people who love us make sacrifices willingly. They don’t walk out to make a new life for themselves, without looking back.

I gaze at my son and know I could never do the same.

Ethan stirs, letting out a hungry cry and my boobs react immediately. I swipe a towel from the bed to dry myself before I take him into my arms. We settle together, and he latches on quickly. James, who’s washed the sand from himself, also towels himself dry, watching Ethan nurse noisily. “That’s my boy,” he says with a grin.

“He definitely gets his boob fixation from you,” I laugh.

“He better save me some.” His eyelids go heavy, thinking about what we’ll get up to later. I love how into my body he is and how much he takes comfort in our closeness. By day, he’s such a large and intense presence, filled with vibrance and fun. By night, he’s a pussycat who revels in the sweetest touches.

There’s a doctor in town who has been treating him with talking therapy and medication. James was as worried about taking it as he was about the risk of not keeping balanced. The therapy is hard going, but he’s getting things off his chest in a way he’s comfortable with. I asked if he wanted to talk to me about his past, but he said no, and I understood why. He doesn’t want me to be sorry for him. He doesn’t want to change how I view him. There’s a lot of risk in sharing deep trauma with other people, and I’m just glad he has a professional to unburden himself with. If offering him physical and emotional comfort is all I can do for him, I’m happy because I know how important it is. What I give him, he gives back to our son, and the negative cycle stops with us.

“You okay here?” Colton asks.

“Sure. He’ll be feeding for twenty minutes or so.”

“Okay.” Turning to James, he tips his head in the direction of the ocean. “You ready for a dip?”

In the blink of an eye, James makes for the shore at a sprint, throwing up sand in his wake. Colton isn’t far behind, and then Connor breaks into a run, and I laugh as they splash their way into the breaking water, disappearing beneath the waves before emerging and shaking droplets from their hair like dogs.

I laugh, glancing down at our son, who has one eye focused on me as he suckles. His hand is balled into a fist, ready to thwack me when the flow isn’t fast enough. He’s seriously demanding. “Your daddies are crazy,” I smile. “Crazy perfect.”

There was a time when I felt so alone in the world and struggled to find my purpose. Living in a shitty one-room apartment and working a job I hated was a soulless, sad existence I was desperate to escape from. I never imagined that in my lowest moment, I’d find three unlikely men to steal my heart, or that once they clasped it in the palms of their hands, they’d treat it like the greatest treasure.

As I watch them splash each other like kids, experiencing the beach for the first time, I’m overwhelmed with happiness for them.

They’ve turned a corner and left behind all the wrong they did and the wrong that was done to them. We can’t change where we’ve come from, but we’re changing where we’re going and I’m deeply content about the future we have planned.

Three dangerous criminals have proven to be my saviors, and I am theirs.

And, I wouldn’t have it any other way.