TWO MONTHS LATER
I roll over in bed, smiling to myself at the kisses being pressed on my neck. Ares' arms are wrapped around my waist, his naked body pressed into mine from behind.
"Good morning," I grin and want to snuggle a bit more when Ares presses something very hard against my ass.
"Oh."
He chuckles from behind me and licks the skin right underneath my ear, suckling on the skin there.
"Good morning," he rumbles against my skin and trails one of his hands over my bare stomach, inching closer and closer to the place between my legs that's started to throb.
I wiggle around in his hold and a soft moan leaves me when he nestles his cock between my ass-cheeks, grinding against me.
I become breathless quickly and when Ares runs a finger through my slit, he groans and thrusts against me once again.
"So wet for me," he rasps out and circles my clit, going down to my entrance and thrusting two fingers inside of me. He makes quick work of finding a rhythm, the wet sound of his fingers entering me over and over again resounding in the room.
"Ares," I whimper and my hands hold onto his wrists, feeling the muscles move as he fucks me with his fingers.
My head is resting against his chest and my hips are fucking his fingers back, grinding against the erection behind me at the same time.
Ares' heavy breathing is right beside my ear. He holds my body close to his as he ruts against my ass, his warmth enveloping me.
"I'm going to fuck you, baby," he promises, leaving me empty when his fingers leave my pussy.
A whine leaves me at the emptiness. Ares' hand wraps itself around my thigh and hitches it up to wrap itself around Ares' hip behind me.
A shiver runs down my spine when I feel the tip of his cock sliding through my slit, nudging my clit before going back down.
"Just put it in!" I cry out, nearly on the verge of tears and desperate for him to fuck me.
"So impatient," he hums in my ear and he grips his cock, putting the tip at my entrance and sliding in only a few inches.
He withdraws, and thrusts back in those few inches, over and over again. The tears have gathered in the corner of my eyes, tears of desperation.
"I need you, Ares," I beg, out of breath, wiggling against him and trying to take more of him inside me.
His other hand slides up and closes itself around my throat, holding me in place and pulling me more against him.
His fingers squeeze the sides of my throat harshly at the same time as he slides fully into me, robbing me of my breath.
My back arches against him and I can feel him throbbing inside of me.
"You feel so good, baby," he murmurs, and the hand that was holding his dick now slides to hold my thigh that's thrown over his hip.
Digging his fingers into my skin, he starts to fuck me from behind.
The illicit sound of his balls slapping against my skin is evident and paired with Ares' occasional groans and ragged breath, my back arches, and I'm fucking him back as best as I can.
His hand slides from my thigh to between my legs, sensually circling my clit while picking up pace and fucking me harder.
His name leaves my lips in broken whimpers and sighs in pleasure. My eyes hood over and close at the bliss my body is experiencing.
Ares' fingers around my neck go to my jaw and turn it in his direction. His lips descend on mine, nipping and licking while catching my moans in his mouth.
"Such a filthy slut," he groans into my mouth, drawing back and slamming inside of me hard.
My legs twitch when he hits that spot inside me over and over again.
"Your pussy is swallowing my cock as if she's starved for it. Is she, Elena?" he asks, slamming inside me harder and faster.
I'm seeing stars as the tip of his dick is rubbing against the sensitive spot inside of me.
"Hmm, baby? Do you like being fucked roughly like a whore?"
Without thinking, I nod and push back against his fingers rubbing my clit.
He kisses me again, sucking on my lower lip before releasing it again and entering his tongue into my mouth. Stroking, tasting...
My hands clamp down on Ares' arm, nails digging into his skin when the rush of an orgasm is starting to rush through me.
"Ares, I think I'm there," I gasp, moaning against his lips and feeling my body starting to stiffen as my release catches up to me.
My eyes roll back into their sockets and my legs are trembling.
"Come for me, baby," Ares encourages, "Like my good girl. Come."
My pussy clenches on his cock, convulsing around him as I come all over him. Ares quickens his pace as well, his grip on my jaw tight as his other hand grips my thigh in a nearly bruising way.
"Ares, fuck," I moan when my orgasm is slowly fading away. Ares fucks me through my release, groaning and vocally letting me know he's almost there as well.
After a few more thrusts, he pulls out and comes all over my back and ass.
"That was a really good morning," he whispers smugly into my ear, his arms still around me. I smile through my quick breathing and roll over in his giant bed, out of breath.
"I agree," I chuckle and lean up to press a kiss on his lips. We stay there for a few more minutes, catching our breath and slowly waking up to this wonderful morning.
We're in his apartment, where I always am lately.
Our world tour ended a month and a half ago, and ever since we returned back home, Ares invited me to his place and didn't even let me sleep in my own bed the first night back.
I didn't mind, though. All I wanted was to be close to him, plus, his bed is amazing and huge.
He lives in a penthouse in San Francisco, with a beautiful view of the city.
His room is mostly black, his walls decorated with lyrics and vinyls. There are instruments such as guitars and a piano in the other corner of his room and a pile of used notebooks on the other side of his room, by his desk which he uses for writing and making music.
His large bed is placed in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, so he wakes up with the sun every morning which casts a beautiful glow in the sky.
Even though his penthouse is huge, it has a homey feeling to it. I discovered this past month that he actually likes to cook – and I love to bake, so we're a good match – and it doesn't have too many bedrooms. Only two other ones which he uses as a recording room and another guest bedroom.
His living room isn't decorated with family pictures, but with pictures from friends and trips he's made. Only a few, but they're still there.
And I've been loving coming over. I only leave to my own apartment to get fresh clothes and check up on Delilah. She's been going out a lot and has picked up some small jobs doing other celebrities' makeup which she's been loving. She's truly talented, so I'm glad she's doing something she loves.
I don't like going back to my apartment, which is another reason why I love staying at Ares' place so much.
It's a big, empty space that I used to share with Violet and Delilah. But now with Violet gone, it just reminds me of what we've lost all over again.
The sadness that washes over me every time I set foot inside has me tearing up or wears me down immensely, so I ask Ares to join me.
I plan on moving out soon and getting another place, after I discussed it with Delilah, of course.
But all in all, I think I'm doing somewhat of a decent job at getting over Violet. I've been going to my therapy sessions religiously.
I've been having those sessions weekly because I kept having so many questions about grief and dreams with Violet kept on reoccurring, which felt good during the dream itself but made me feel ten times worse whenever I woke up.
Two months ago, a week after my first therapy session, I sat down with Malcolm and my team and brought up an idea that came to mind.
To start an organization that offers help to people that struggle with addiction and are suicidal.
The Violet Foundation.
Nick, Caleb, and I are the founders.
Malcolm fully supported us in this, and so did everyone else around me and my family. Dad even offered to fund it, but I wanted to do that on my own.
Now, he always makes generous donations.
"Come on, baby, let's shower," Ares says and stands up, carrying me in his arms. We go into the attached bathroom and he turns on the shower, waiting for it to heat up before stepping underneath the showerhead.
It's only then that he sets me down, and even so, he keeps on touching me and doesn't let me get too far away.
"Fuck, I love you," I whisper and lean up to kiss him. He groans and kisses me back with equal fervor.
"Careful with what you say or I'm going to take you against this wall," he warns me. I bite my lip to prevent my smile from splitting my face in two.
"Don't forget that you have your therapy session today," I tell him once we've started to wash up.
Ares has only had four sessions so far, but he's said that it already helped him a lot. The first session was extended to two hours instead of one without Ares meaning for it to get out of hand so much.
He underestimated the amount of trauma he truly held back from his childhood and how much his dad's behavior affected him.
And even with the four sessions, he's gotten better at handling the way he reacts every time his mother reaches out to him.
"Usually, I'd get drunk as fuck or do something destructive," he told me after that particular session, "now I know how to take a step back and let the pain and abandonment issues enter and sink in before I can work on my feelings. I never realized I needed to accept those feelings in order to get over them. It's exhausting, but pays off."
I've never been any prouder of him than at that moment. He's grown so much from the first time we went on tour together and made me cry.
He's grown from that and became the bigger person. He's still making up for all those times he made me cry and feel so small and like utter shit.
I forgave him, but he's still making it up to me as he likes to do.
"I know, baby," Ares says and plants a kiss on my forehead. "It's an online meeting today, so I don't have to leave the house and can stay with you," he grins and plants a kiss on my lips.
"Even better," I reply and mirror his expression.
After our shower, we brush our teeth at the sink together and my eyes go over all the stuff I have here.
I'm practically living here with how much space my things take up.
My clothes take up half the space in his closet, so we're both standing in his dressing room while picking out comfortable clothing for the day.
I like being here with him, sharing his space and Ares has been vocal about it and that he loves it, as well.
When we get to the kitchen, I take some of our dog food and refill the little bowl.
Milo, our dog that we both take care of now, is now eating his breakfast over by the window and his tail is happily wiggling the whole time.
Ares is actually incredibly cute with our little German Shepherd. And Milo is equally as fond of Ares, constantly asking for belly rubs and wanting to go on walks and play around.
"You're actually an excellent cook," I notice when we're eating breakfast. He made us some breakfast burritos and fresh orange juice. While I made some pancakes with blueberries and chocolate chips.
"I know," Ares smirks and takes a sip of his juice. I roll my eyes.
Cocky.
"You just never noticed because maybe we were on tour these past few months?"
I narrow my eyes at him, not having a comeback.
"You can make some Italian dishes to impress my dad, then," I retort with a smug smile and watch him steal a blueberry from my plate.
"Your dad dislikes me."
"He does not."
"Lena, have you seen how he looks at me? It's with hatred in his eyes."
I let out a laugh at his exclamation and shake my head, standing up and leaning over to kiss his lips.
"As long as I love you, it doesn't matter," I assure him.
His eyes soften at my words and the adorable smile appearing on his face makes my heart overflow with love and adoration for this man.
"And my dad does like you, he just thrives on giving you a hard time," I grin when I take my seat back.
My phone lights up on the table with a message from Nick in our group chat, reminding Caleb and I that we have to be at the studio on Monday.
We're always working on new music and creating more melodies and beats. Now, we're focused on making our second album and with all the material I wrote on our tour, things are going smoothly.
Kyle called things off with his supposed girlfriend, telling his management team that he didn't want to keep pretending that he loved her and now, Caleb and Kyle are working on whatever is going on between them.
But Kyle is head over heels for Caleb, that much is obvious, and the blonde is getting to Caleb, who blushes at his texts and has a stupid smile on his face whenever Kyle is involved.
Nick is living together with his girlfriend and has been seeing a therapist as well, as has Caleb who has also successfully withdrawn from his drug addiction.
Caleb gave us the name of his dealer, which appeared to be some sleazy fucker who was part of our sound crew.
He quit his job soon after Violet died, but when we all reported him to the police, they were quick to hunt him down.
The guy, whose name was Brad, sold hard drugs to Caleb and Violet on occasion. It was his batch that Violet overdosed on.
Brad is only the tip of the iceberg of dealers and doesn't solve the issue of drug trafficking and addiction, but it brings me peace knowing that he's locked up behind bars.
"My parents want to have dinner with us," Ares brings up quietly. I glance up at him and tilt my head to the side.
"Do you want to do that?"
"Fuck no."
"Then fuck them and let's not do that. We don't need their approval, anyway."
Though, Ares' mother did reach out to him after they visited him at the arena and said I looked like a lovely girl and wanted to get to know me.
"Maybe, a dinner with only my mother wouldn't be the worst thing," Ares murmurs, deep in thought. I reach over the table and take his hand in mine.
"Whatever you're comfortable with, darling," I whisper and his eyes snap to mine, softened around the edges.
"I love you so fucking much," he sighs and gets up, walking around the table and picking me up.
"I love you, Ares, so much it hurts," I sigh and kiss him multiple times.
"Back to what you were saying, if you'd like to have dinner or lunch with your mother, I'll be there with you. You don't need to feel obligated to do anything."
"I'll think about it. I would rather not talk to my father ever, but I'm working on forgiving him with my therapist. She says that that's important in accepting all the pain he's caused me and moving on in life, even though that seems impossible at the moment. But, having dinner with my mother is the first step in the right direction."
"I still need to work on forgiving a few people, but we'll both get there," I promise him and lay my head on his shoulder when he lowers us onto the couch, that's right in front of the fireplace.
Lifting my head up, our lips meet and we kiss each other for what seems like hours before we part to catch some air.
Ares is breathing against my lips when he leans back and lets our eyes meet. He just looks at me, letting his eyes take in every inch of my face before he leans back down and pecks my nose.
"Move in with me."
. . .
I can't believe the epilogue is next imma start crying.
BUT, I can't wait for you guys to read my next book.
I'm finally back at my usual stuff, my dear forbidden romance.
I missed writing it, ngl.
Also besties I'm going to need some advice on how to get over a guy.
Imagine being in love with your best friend... pfft, just pathetic.
...
I need help.
Alsooooooo, I'm a sucker for ice hockey romances, and reading books is currently how I'm distracting myself.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
I love you.