Page 88 of Iron Heart
He stops just long enough to say, “We’re never gonna be apart again. You’re mine. You got that?”
“Yes. I love you,” I breathe.
“I love you, Tori.” Then his tongue is back between my legs. Two fingers slide inside me as he begins to lick and suck at my clit. The fingers find the spot inside me that makes my insides clench, and Dante chuckles low in his throat as I gasp and pull harder at his hair. My hips strain forward, bucking slightly against his mouth, needing more, more,now… I can’t wait for it, I need him to take me where only he can, and thank God, Dante doesn’t make me wait, doesn’t hold back, he lets me have what I crave, and suddenlyyes, oh god yes, and I scream and come harder than I remember ever coming, even with him. Dante waits, still teasing me as I shiver and quake, and then he’s hovering above me, kissing me with lips and tongue that taste like me. With one swift movement, he’s sheathed himself in me, groaning, and I shiver again as he keeps kissing me while he thrusts and moves, eventually shouting out his release as he empties long and hard inside me.
Afterwards, I nestle against Dante and wait for sleep to find me. Just before I close my eyes, my vision alights on a small object in a tiny white porcelain bowl, sitting on my nightstand.
It’s the fuse.
In spite of everything that happened between Dante and me, I could never bear to throw it away. At the time, I cursed myself for my stupid sentimentality. For not being able to let go of the spark he set off in me.
My head on his chest, I listen to the steady rhythm of his heart as he holds me in his arms.
The heart’s beat is an electrical signal. Electrical impulses send messages to the atria, telling them to expand or contract, to push blood through the valves to the rest of the body.
Electricity is what keeps us alive.
Listening to Dante’s heart now — beating strong, steady, like nothing could stop it — it gives me strength, too. And faith.
Faith in tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. With Dante by my side.
Ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted a big life.
It turns out, the life I wanted ended up being where I least expected to find it.
Ironwood started out as my escape hatch. Then it became my prison. Now, it’s my haven. My future is here, with Dante. It was always waiting for me.
I just had to go out and find it.
Epilogue
TORI
“I’m not so sure about this color,” frowns Savannah, wrinkling her nose at the living room walls.
“What’s wrong with it?” I ask as I check the drawers of a side table for any small forgotten items.
“It’s kind of… dramatic.”
I shrug.
“Dante picked it out. He got to choose the colors for the living room and the kitchen. I got hallways and the upstairs. I like it, actually. I think the deep red is going to look really good contrasted with the gray of the hall when we repaint that. And the lighter gray patterns of the couch and chairs we bought.”
“Just FYI, painting rooms non-neutral colors tends to negatively impact resale value,” Savannah’s boyfriend Jeremy pipes up, ever the realtor.
“Well, since I am never selling this house, that’s not going to be an issue,” I point out. “Now, help me get the rest of the old furniture out to the garage. But leave Aunt Jeanne’s fainting couch there by the window, and the round side table next to it.”
I pick up a newspaper rack and a large lamp. Jeremy and Savannah each take one end of a loveseat sitting in the far corner. “Thank God that big couch is already out of here,” Savannah puffs as they walk it down the front porch. “That thing was a beast to move.”
“You’re not kidding,” I say. “A couple of the Lords came over and took it yesterday for the clubhouse.” I let out a giggle. “It’s going to be funny to see Aunt Jeanne’s couch in there. I shudder to think about the kind of action it’s going to see. Jeanne would roll over in her grave.”
When we get out to the garage, I reach into my pocket and press the opener for the door. Everything is almost ready for the sale tomorrow. The only things we’ll have to do before it starts is pull the furniture out into the driveway and set up a card table and some chairs for us to sit on — and an umbrella to shade us so we don’t cook to death. Even though it’s still technically spring, it’s been hot and sunny these past few days. Tomorrow is supposed to be no exception.
“Do you need me to come back tomorrow morning and help you guys set everything up?” Jeremy asks when they’ve set down the loveseat inside.
“No. I’m sure we’ll be fine. With Savannah here first thing, we’ll be covered until Bailey, Laney, and Bethany show up,” I say, naming Gage, Rourke, and Yoda’s old ladies. Those three women have become almost as close to me in the past year as Savannah is. “Actually, I probably won’t even need all of them here. But it will be fun to hang out with them all the same. Besides, you and Savannah have your own stuff going on. Didn’t you say you were meeting with the caterer tomorrow?”
Savannah finally moved in with Jeremy for good when Dante and I got together. They’re engaged now, and getting married in two months. Part of the impetus for me to finally get the living room painted and the new furniture put in is so I can hold her bridal shower here next week.