The Darkest Temptation ✔️

Epilogue

~Keo

I hold Tove's hand, leading her through the trees.

Since the moment I found out she was my mate I wanted to bring her here. It's a miracle I still can, and it's a privilege I never thought I would be granted.

"You don't have to do this," I remind her, turning back to look at her.

She's so beautiful, especially when she isn't stressed. The dappled light casts a pretty glow over her smooth skin, making her look ethereal.

"Stop saying that. I want to," she assures me.

"I know, I just don't want you to feel pressured." I'm not sure why I'm so anxious about her seeing this. I'm baring a part of me that no one has ever seen before.

"This is special to you, Keo."

We emerge through a familiar set of tree's. The ground is a mess of undergrowth, a few loose branches and plant litter. I haven't cleared the space because I don't want anyone thinking twice about investigating what's here.

"I come up here as often as I can when I know I'm not being tracked," I tell her, pulling back a well placed curtain of leaves and sticks to reveal two headstones right beside each other. "I worry that if anyone found this, they would destroy it."

This place is somewhere between Territories. The bush is dense and no one can get this deep into it without transporting to it, and even then, it's a needle in a haystack.

"You've done such a good job of maintaining these headstones. They must be centuries old," Tove breathes, approaching them.

I smile. It took her only a few seconds to understand that these belong to my parents.

"It's important to me. I have no family, and for a long time, even dead, they were the closest thing I had to someone who cared about me," I admit, rubbing the back of my neck.

Tove brushes her fingers along the moss stained finish of the headstones. They haven't crumbled to pieces, but they also don't look amazing. You can barely make out their names.

All that matters is that I know they are there, and I have a place to visit.

Tove turns to me, smiling gently. "I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere."

"You're the best thing that has ever happened to me," I tell her earnestly. "I don't know what I would do without you."

She's lucky she is standing a few steps away otherwise I would draw her into an embrace and I wouldn't let her go.

The problem is, I've never had someone in my life like Tove, which makes the thought of losing her so terrifying...

I've never been terrified of anything. Ever.

"You never have to worry about being without me, Keo. I told you, I'm here for life," she assures me, her large eyes blinking hopefully.

She doesn't understand how serious this is to me. I would kill anyone who harmed her, who even thought about taking her from me.

I won't scare her with my crazed thoughts, though. I just want her to know how I feel about her.

"For a long time I thought the universe was torturing me. I never thought I would be lucky enough to find my mate," I breathe, approaching her.

Her gaze softens and she shakes her head. "Don't say that. You have no reason to be tortured."

"When I first saw you, knowing what I needed from you, I hated you," I admit, brushing her hair back from her face. She laughs a little, rolling her eyes. "I thought you were beautiful, but I could only see you as another Angel-blood who tortured my people. So much has changed."

Never could I have imagined being with an Angel-blood. The old me would have been horrified at the thought.

Now an Angel-blood is the very reason I am so willing to continue living.

"When I first saw you I was terrified of you. Even before I learned who you were," she says, planting her hands on my chest.

I frown a little. Of course she was scared of me, and learning that now hurts a little. I never want her to fear me.

I force a smile onto my face. "Would you really have gone on a second date with me?"

"Honestly I was planning on sleeping with you and moving on," she exclaims, grinning as she slips from my grasp, putting a few steps of distance between us, wanting to tease me from a place where I can't grab her.

I shake my head. "Wow, I'm hurt."

"And instead of getting what I wanted, I had to wait forever for it." She rolls her eyes dramatically, giving an exasperated sigh.

I laugh under my breath. It wasn't as if I didn't want to. Even on that first night I wanted her in my bed.

"I wanted to do everything right," I murmur. I didn't want to fuck it up by sleeping with her before we decided we cared deeply about each other. She isn't like anyone else that came before her.

She sighs, her exasperated sigh being replaced by a content one.

I've never seen her so loose and free. Since I met her she always had something to worry about. Whether that be me, Mary, Relm or other Demon's. Now, she feels happy with what she has done, and has faith that everything will go well from now on.

Strangely, I share that feeling too.

"You did everything right." She steps forward again, letting me draw her close. "I'm more in love with you than ever."

I lean forward, kissing her cheek, relishing in this moment of bliss.

"So, what happens now?"

"We relax for a while and keep an eye on how things are going over in the other realm," she notes, leaning into the arm I have banded around her waist. "After that, we will figure it out."

I flick her nose. "I like how calm you are about everything. It's a nice change."

"Nothing can be more stressful than trying to save an entire population while having my life threatened by an all powerful creature," she reminds me, laughing a little.

I'm glad she finds amusement in it. She handled everything with Relm so well, until the other night when she had a momentary breakdown. I held her all night until she woke in the morning and told she was okay with it all, that she was willing to forgive Relm.

I don't feel the same way. I'll get my revenge on him eventually.

"Name a Territory and I will take you there." I run my fingers through her silken hair, watching the way it falls around her shoulders.

"Why don't we go home for a moment?" She blinks up at me coyly before leaning up to my ear. "I don't want to be crass in front of your parents, but I need you to take me home to fuck me."

Desire stirs deep in my stomach.

"How could I ever deny you?"

Holding her waist, I oblige her, bringing her home, where she belongs.

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Thank you all for reading and completing this story! If you want more of my work, check out my next book The Curse of the Alpha out on Wattpad now!!

~Midika 💜🐼