Not What She Seems (32 page)

Epilogue

The sun beat down on Sy
lvia’s bikini clad body and she basked in its powerful rays as the waves lapped gently against the yacht. She dozed in and out, content in the warm Caribbean sun. At Mason’s insistence they had flown to St. Lucia and rented a private yacht and crew for a few weeks. “To relax after all the stress we’ve been under,” he insisted. He was right, it was plenty relaxing.

He
came up on deck and sat next to her. “I just spoke with the contractor, everything’s ahead of schedule and the house will be ready for us when we return.”

Sylvia sat up and clapped her hands with glee. They had toured home after home in the Boston area, looking for a suitable place they both liked and finally settled on a mansion in Belmont, just outside the city. With the help of Mason’s interior designer they
were having the place redone from top to bottom, with fresh paint, flooring, a new kitchen and baths, the works. It was good news to hear that after their trip they’d be moving into their new home.

“Shall we celebrate?” he
asked, standing up again. “Come on, I had the staff put some chilled champagne in our room.”

Sylvia followed him below d
eck to their room. He popped the cork on the champagne bottle with a grin and poured them each a glass.

“T
o us, and our new life together,” he toasted her.

“To us,” Sylvia agreed.

“I know champagne is usually reserved for after such a thing, but I thought we’d start with celebrating the new house, maybe end with this?” He dropped to one knee and pulled a small box out of his pocket. Sylvia almost spit her champagne out in surprise.

“Sylvia, you are the best woman I’ve ever known. You’re smart, and kind, and beautiful and you bring joy to my life
every day. You enrich my life more than I ever dreamed possible. Will you do me the honor of making it official and becoming my bride?” He opened the little box to reveal a huge, stunning yellow diamond ringed with smaller blue diamonds in an intricate design around it. It took her breath away.

Tears welled up in her
eyes as she pulled him up and hugged him tight. “Yes, the honor would be all mine.”

He
pushed her gently away and grasped her hand so he could slide the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit. “I know it’s not the traditional white diamond, but I wanted something special for my wife to be.”

“It’s stunning.” She
could hardly breath, she was so excited. She pulled him back into a passionate kiss but he broke it off again.

“So, I was thinking, since we’re engaged and all
now, and it
is
the ‘perfect day…’” He grinned suggestively at her.

“Why, Mr. Kent, I thought we’d n
ever get around to that!” she teased mischievously.

~~~

Mason took his time with the foreplay and Sylvia found her body responded with a matched yearning despite the energy she refused to take from him. Even without the feed, it was immensely enjoyable for her; he had quickly learned what she liked best in the bedroom. It was a learning process for her as well, as sex with a human had never given her physical pleasure before, only tamed her inner Hunger. Fear still pushed firmly in the back of her mind as their romp progressed. While she had become quite adept at pushing back the energy he might have transferred to her during a kiss, she worried actual intercourse would make it much harder to resist his pure, Innocent energy. She had remained faithful to him since the day he picked her up at her apartment, after Jeffrey had been captured. It had been difficult, at times, resisting the temptation of his energy, and there were days when she felt physically ill without feeding the succubus within, but she refused to give into it. It had gotten easier with every day that passed, but actually having sex with her Innocent would be the real Challenge.

Finally, Mason was ready. He stared into her eyes in the afternoon light as the waves gently rocked the yacht, and ever so
slowly pushed into her. Her body clenched with panic as she ripped at the bed sheets with her hands. She was terrified she was about to lose it all and revert back to the very creature she fought to extinguish inside.

“Is t
his all right?” Mason whispered with a frown when he saw her expression.

“Yes,” she gasped, willing herself to relax, “it’s wonderful
, don’t stop.”

He
picked up the pace and swiftly became lost in his own pleasure as the two became one. Her fears melted away as she realized that while she did need to push his energy away, it wasn’t nearly as hard as she thought it would be, no harder than refusing it when they kissed. As her inhibitions melted away she concentrated on her own physical pleasure as well as enhancing Mason’s.

Too fast he
finished, calling out her name as he collapsed on top of her. Sylvia smiled to herself as she lazily stroked his hair. Her decision to choose her human side, to open herself up to real love that valued her for who she was, and not just what she looked like, was turning out to be the best decision of her life. She knew it wouldn’t be long before the succubus within was silenced forever and she could live life as she wished, by her husband’s side, no longer driven by her inner Hunger, but by love instead.

About the Author

T.R.Raven lives in a quiet rural New England town with her family, a herd of pugs, and two uppity cats. Her hobbies include watching bad TV court shows and fretting over the inevitable zombie apocalypse. If you asked her local librarian what kind of stuff she tends to check out for her personal reading you’d probably hear “Too many zombie books, lots of paranormal novels, and a smattering of financial books here and there.”

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