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EPILOGUE
ROCHELLE, SEVEN WEEKS LATER
From: Rochelle Duncan
To: Sabrina, Leonora, Tessa, Sage, Stella, Luna, Cleo, Scarlett, Melinda, Valentina, Madison, Diana, Tricia, Clarissa
Subject: The Manster Project
Hey, ladies! I hope everyone is well and enjoying the winter solstice!
I just wanted to catch you all up on what’s been going on with me since the last time we met, at Clarissa’s B&B in Manitou Springs. I know you all remember that night we gathered around the fire pit and performed a love charm to call our soulmates to us. I’ll never forget it.
I’ll confess to you now: I didn’t really believe it would work.
But I decided to act as if I did.
I did the rest of the charm on my own, at the full moon in October, and I’m going to tell you the kind of man I wished for. I wanted a man who has a job, who respects women, who is just the right height for kissing, who’s handsome, who has beautiful hands, who likes some of the things I love best, who is good in bed and knows what to do with his tongue, and, last, has a sexy fantasy-hero name.
(No judging, right? I could have asked for a guy who digs, I dunno, naked mud-wrestling, if that was my passion. But for me, it’s high fantasy and cats.)
The very next day after I burned my pink candle under the full moon, a guy spilled his coffee on me in the apartment elevator.
That…doesn’t sound very romantic. And it wasn’t, at first. I was pissed off. It made me late for work. And he might have been attractive, with nice hands, on his way to work, trying to let all the ladies off the elevator ahead of him, but how much did that matter when I had to rush back upstairs and change clothes?
After his sixteenth apology and my blunt advice to him to back off, guess what he did? He backed off.
For me, that was hella sexy. He listened to me and did what I wanted without making me feel bad about it, while still making it clear that he was attracted to me and he hoped I’d change my mind. That’s respect for women, if you ask me.
I did change my mind. I started talking to him. Turns out our respective offices are on the same street, not far from our apartment building. Turns out he has ADHD and is possibly the most socially awkward, yet endearingly earnest, person I’ve ever met. Turns out he loves cats, and he’s now Dido and Bing’s other favorite person. Turns out he’s read all the fantasy novels I adore, and introduced me to two more series that I’m really enjoying.
Turns out that he didn’t know what to do with his tongue…until I taught him, and in the six weeks since we have been getting it on, the man has developed some mad skillz. ;)
And ladies? He’s called Alaric Ambrose, a name which could suit any fantasy hero.
The Goddess really came through for me.
Special thanks to you, Clarissa, for hosting us, and for sharing your gifts.
Alaric and I are spending the solstice weekend at Moonlight Ridge Ski Resort in West Virginia, and he is right now waiting for me by the roaring fireplace, with hot mulled wine.
We are getting married in a private ceremony in May, six months after we met, and I will get to spend the rest of my life with my soulmate.
If your love charm hasn’t manifested in your life yet, give it time. I hope you are all as lucky as I am! A merry Yule to you all, and I wish you a new year full of blessings!
Love, Rochelle
I send the email, and then shut down my laptop. Alaric is, as I mentioned in my message, sitting on the long sofa in front of the fireplace in our suite, his long legs stretched out in front of him as he reads Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire series. He looks up and smiles at me. “All done? I’ve been meaning to ask if you’ve heard anything from your friend Plum about the cats.”
“She says they’re fine. I think she’s spoiling them with treats and ear scritches, and they’re going to be very demanding when we get home.” I show him the picture Plum texted me on my phone, of her cuddling both cats.
“I miss petting them,” he says, then gives me a gorgeous, wicked, pirate’s smile and pats the cushion next to him. “Guess I’ll have to pet your pussy instead.”
My stomach turns over with anticipation. I untie the fluffy hotel robe I put on after our shower this morning, and toss it onto the sofa, then drape myself across it. My nipples harden from the change in temperature, but heat gathers in my lower belly—both from the flames in the fireplace and the fiery looks my lover is giving me. “Pet away,” I say, a little breathless.
“Think I’ll taste you first,” Alaric says, those dark eyes of his reflecting the flames. “Lay back and let me worship you, goddess.”
Like I’d ever pass that up.
We make love in front of the fire, taking our time. “Tell me what you want,” he whispers to me. “Tell me.”
I tell him, in sweet filthy detail, and he fulfills my every request.
Finally, when we are spent and satisfied, we curl up under the blanket. I pull his face toward mine and kiss him. He touches my cheek. “I love you, Rochelle. I feel so lucky to be with you.”
“I love you too, Alaric. You’re everything I ever wanted—and so much more. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
If I’d ordered him off a menu, I couldn’t possibly have created someone this complex and wonderful, and I couldn’t possibly love him more.
Here’s to the rest of our lives.
