Haven’t yet read For the Fight? It’s available to buy on Amazon, or read for free with Kindle Unlimited. This epilogue is now available in the eBook version on Amazon, too.
Seven months later
It was an October evening doing its best impression of Summer, and Nate and Lou took full advantage – walking the short distance from Lou’s cottage to their favourite burger bar in Fremantle. On the way home they shared a milkshake while they made each other laugh, and then sat in the pair of Adirondack chairs they’d bought for the verandah shortly after Nate had moved in.
They stayed out long after they finished their shake, enjoying the balmy evening and each other – until a mosquito started biting Lou’s legs beneath her ankle-length cotton dress and she stood up and tugged Nate into the house behind her.
“Vicious little things,” she said, inspecting the damage to her calf as Nate locked the front door.
He turned back to see Lou with her white dress all bunched up, revealing the length of one leg from ankle to mid-thigh.
“This feels like something I should assist you with,” Nate said, dropping to his heels in front of her.
“Do you now?” Lou said, giggling, as he leant closer and pulled at the fabric until both her legs were bare to his gaze.
“Absolutely,” he said, leaning forward to kiss a freckle just above her knee. “Didn’t you hear? There’s a new team at Elite SWAT, called the Mozzie Squad. Tasked to protect Lou’s sexy legs from bloodthirsty bugs.”
“Hmmmmm,” Lou said, as he glided one hand down to her ankle, then traced his fingers, slowly, slowly, back up. “That sounds awfully specific.”
“Exclusive,” he corrected, savouring the smooth shape of her long legs beneath his palms. Fuck, she always felt so good. His mouth followed the journey of his hands, and her skin tasted like sun and a hint of Fremantle’s salty air. “Team of one,” he murmured against her upper thigh.
“Uh-huh,” she said, on a sigh, and her hands slid through his hair. He kissed his way towards the lace that edged Lou’s knickers, but when his fingers slipped beneath the fabric, she stepped backwards. “Bed,” she said. “This is hot and all, but I prefer watching when you do that to me, and my stupid dress is getting in the way.”
“I support getting rid of the dress,” he agreed solemnly. Then grabbed her hand and ran for their room.
She shrieked when he caught her up in his arms as they burst through the door way, spinning her in a circle so her hair flew around them like a flag.
“You are so beautiful,” he said when they came to a stop, gazing down at her. Her cheeks were pink, and her eyes big and dark with desire. “I love you so much.”
Nate never let himself think about how much time he’d wasted apart from Lou. They’d talked about it a few times, and both admitted that in some ways the opportunity to grow into adulthood independently was a good thing. They both had successful, established careers – with Lou recently promoted to Sergeant at her station – and they both had rich lives separately from each other. Regret achieved nothing, but his idiocy still pissed Nate off.
“I love you, too,” Lou said. “But can you kiss me, please—”
His mouth covered hers as they fell onto the bed, and for long, long minutes they just kissed. Her mouth tasted of the caramel shake they’d shared, and her lips were soft and perfect beneath his. Then he sat up between her legs, and pulled up her skirt as he held her gaze. Dusk had not yet turned to darkness and the room was tinted with a purplish orange light that made Lou’s skin glow. She helped him with the progress of her skirt, wiggling her hips and lifting her legs to shift the stubborn fabric, but then his gaze landed on a pair of red marks below her left knee. He ran his thumb over the mosquito bites, and his other hand went still.
Suddenly the memory of another night, another moment, another damn mozzie bite, was all that he could think of.
“Nate?” Lou asked.
He caught her gaze again, but in his mind their positions were reversed. They were both naked, him on his back, her on top, and her hair cascading down to tickle his chest. It was almost thirteen years ago, and Lou had just told him she loved him. With confidence – not in how he’d respond, but in what she felt. She’d been so brave, and he’d been so fucking scared.
Tonight, he realised, he was confident too. Confident of what he wanted, more than anything. Confident of what he’d wanted for months, and maybe he’d even wanted it for thirteen fucking years.
But was it what Lou wanted?
His stomach churned with nerves, in a way it never did at work, no matter how dangerous the situation he found himself in.
Lou loved him – of that, he had no doubt.
But it was too soon, surely? To be thinking like this?
And it wasn’t the right time, either. Just a random weekend, with no planning, no r—
“Nate,” she repeated, more sharply this time. “What’s going on?”
What if what he said next pushed her away? What they had was still new, and for her to forgive him the way she had was huge. Maybe their relationship was still kind of in the honeymoon phase for her…
His lips quirked. Honeymoon.
He looked at Lou again, whose eyebrows were drawn together in confusion. As he watched she pushed herself up until she sat facing him, her legs still splayed on either side of his hips.
“You’re being weird,” she said. “You look like you’re trying to solve the world’s problems.” She rang a finger up his arm from wrist to elbow.
Not the world’s problems. Just his. Just his problem with finding it fucking impossible to be honest with himself when it came to Lou. And more importantly, being brave enough to be honest with her. He’d thought he’d gotten over this the night that bikie had come to kill Lou. That night, telling her he loved her had been inevitable, with none of the freaking out of his 22-year-old self. But then, that night he hadn’t had seven months with Lou leading up to his declaration. That night, he’d risked his heart without a full understanding of what he was losing if she rejected him. This night, he knew exactly what he’d lose, because the life he had now with Luella Brayshaw wasn’t some abstract possibility – it was an awesome Technicolor reality. And it had been, without question, the best seven months of his life.
He grabbed her hand, and then held it in both of his, between them.
He ran his thumbs over the delicate bones of her wrist and knuckles, knowing they belied the strength of the woman before him. She’d been so brave all those years ago, needing him to know she loved him, even though she probably knew he wouldn’t be able to say the words in return. But she’d said the words anyway.
Now it was his turn.
“Will you marry me?” he said.
That was it. He wanted to rush onwards with more – to explain that they didn’t have to get married straight away, but he just needed her to know he wanted forever with her. He wanted to ramble apologies about rings, and shitty unplanned proposals—
But as she gazed at him, her eyes widening in surprise, he realised he didn’t need to explain. She knew. Of course she knew.
Then her mouth formed into the most beautiful, gorgeous smile he’d ever seen.
“You seriously thought I might say no,” she said, and shook her head as she laughed.
“To be fair you also haven’t said yes.” But he was grinning back at her as he shrugged. “Lou, I don’t think you fully understand what you do to me.”
She leaned forward to press a kiss against his lips. “Oh Nate, I know. It’s exactly what you do to me.”
“So?” he prompted, and yep – his belly flipped with those unfamiliar Lou-specific nerves once again. No level of tactical training could ever remove the risk of what he did for a job at Elite SWAT, or prepare him for every dangerous situation. And nothing, nothing could have prepared him for what he felt for Lou. Their youthful obsession had deepened and strengthened into a wild, messy, perfect passion. And yeah, he loved her so much he ached with it. Lou’d been right when she’d told him she wanted love with all that came with it – including the brutality of vulnerability.
And this was brutal.
Sitting here, gazing at the woman he loved as she smiled at him, logic played no part in the rawness of how he felt. Sure, her gorgeous blue-green eyes were full of love, and heat, and humour. But he’d just asked her for forever.
So he held his breath as he waited for her answer.
“Yes,” she said. “Of course it’s yes, Nate.”
He let out his breath in a relieved laugh as he dragged her into his arms. He kissed her mouth, then made his way along her jaw to the sensitive skin beneath her ear. “That was the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” he said.
She shrugged. “Mine was staring down a gunman on a train, but you do you, Nate.”
He nipped at her neck, and then she shrieked and giggled as he tumbled her onto her back. He bracketed her face with his hands as he stared down at the beautiful woman he loved. Her expression slowly became solemn, and she reached up to trace the shape of his jaw, and then to run her thumb across his bottom lip.
“Loving you started off being the scariest thing I’ve done,” she said. “But now it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I have no doubts, Nate, about forever with you.”
He turned his head to kiss her palm. “You have no idea what that means to me,” he said.
“But I do, remember?” she said. “God, Nate, you’d think after all these months this mad obsessive head-over-heels love thing we’ve got going on would’ve calmed down, but it hasn’t for me, not one little bit.”
“Me either,” he said, as her hand slid upwards and into his hair.
“Exactly,” she smiled. Then her forehead creased. “Do you reckon it ever will?”
“You mean, as we work towards that forever thing?”
She nodded.
He looked down at her, at smart, strong, sexy Lou. The Lou he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with.
“No,” he said, with certainty. “You’re stuck with me being obsessively head-over-heels for you forever.”
She grinned. “Seems we’re both stuck with the same deal, then.”
“I can work with that,” he said. His hand skimmed down her side, to the still rucked up hem of her skirt. “In fact, I have a suggestion for how two people head-over-heels in love might want to start their forever together.” She gasped as his hand explored bare skin. “You interested?”
“Yes,” she said, as she pulled his mouth down for her kiss. “So much yes.”
*********
I hope you enjoyed this new epilogue to Nate and Lou’s story. The Elite SWAT story continues with Out Run the Night (Book 2), Damon and Beth’s adventure!