"I told the stars about
you."
Scarlett gazed up at the sky above her.
The dark canvas that hung over her head was speckled with stars and the moon glowed in a crescent, illuminating the balcony that she sat on. In her mind, she was reminded of the DreamWorks moon that plays before a movie. She cocked her head to try and find the boy who was fishing for stars; what a story it would be to tell Cassie.
She always chose the brick cornerstone of the balcony as her choice seat. Ace had pulled up a chair facing her and as she watched the sky, he watched his Sky, happy, smiling, near him.
Her legs dangled off the side of her seat. She seemed to have a never-ending supply of t-shirt dresses that she wore around the house, with a matching headband. In fact, the headband she was wearing had been a gift from Francine, who had kept her word.
She leaned back on her arms, her head tilted upwards, taking in all the stars.
"The sky is so beautiful tonight," she said, in a happy sigh.
Ace's eyes hadn't left her since they had walked out on to the balcony. He had on that small smile of his. "Yes, she is," he agreed, "Almost like she must be a figment of my imagination; no real person should be this beautiful."
Scarlett smiled and lowered her head to look at him. There was a small tint of pink that had coloured her cheeks.
In the soft moment of just Ace and Sky, there were always moments when they responded to each other in just a look. In fact, they barely did need words to communicate the things they felt for each other. However, when Ace did decide to string his words together, they always wrapped around her like a warm blanket of love.
Sometimes, they both wondered how they fit so well together; fiery, energetic, infectious Scarlett and reserved, understated, mysterious Ace. Scarlett tended to air all her thoughts to Ace; something she had never been able to do with anyone else. Only grateful to have her trust him so much, Ace watched her flit up and down whatever room he was in, listening to the ramblings that came from her voice.
Scarlett focused on his eyes.
His eyes were shining, roguishly. His eyes always shone and sparkled in their dazzling green, but that night they really gleamed.
"January twenty-ninth," she said.
Ace leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees, amused. "No, Sky."
"March fourteenth."
"No, Sky."
"October twenty-sixth."
"Yes, Sky."
"July th –"
Scarlett straightened her head and stared at him. "W-what?"
Ace kept on smiling and staring at her.
"Ace Hardwood, I better get an oil painting of this," she teased as he stared.
Ace leaned back at took in the view. "This is an oil painting that I would pay good money to have," he said, "My Sky and the stars all around her. Quite magical."
Scarlett's breath caught in her throat and she giggled, softly.
"Your birthday is on the twenty-sixth of October, Aeson," she told him.
"That it is. It only took you, how long, to find that out?"
"Eight months," she replied.
Ace leaned forward like he was about to stand. "Was it worth the wait?"
Scarlett smiled. "You were completely worth the wait – all twenty-six years."
Ace pushed himself to his feet and took the step he needed to, to get closer to Scarlett. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her forward, making her gasp. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, feeling all the same feelings that he did the first time he kissed her in that exact same position, on the exact same balcony.
"Just like the first time," he told her, kissing the tip of her nose.
They kissed some more, under the soft moonlight.
Pulling away, Scarlett took his hand. "Do you like kids?"
"I love Cassie."
"What about kids of your own?"
Ace smirked. "I think we should at least go on another date, don't you?"
Scarlett pushed against his chest. "Stop it, I'm just asking. Do you want to have kids?"
"I don't really know," Ace replied, "I haven't given much thought to it. Maybe. I wouldn't rule it out completely. I do love Cassie. What about you, Sky?"
"I don't really know, either," she shrugged, "I love Cassie, too. Maybe."
"I think I like the possibility of there being a small you one day," he told her, with a loving smile.
Scarlett bit her bottom lip. "I think I'd like a little you, too."
"If you could be anywhere in the world," Ace began. It was strange for him to ask a whimsical question, but Scarlett enjoyed it. "Where would you be?"
Scarlett put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him close. "Right here. I've moved around and felt out of place. I finally feel like I'm home here."
Ace couldn't help, but smile.
"Where would you be?"
"Home."
"And where is home, Aeson?"
"Wherever you are, Sky."
Scarlett's heart fluttered. Her life finally was at peace; really at peace. She didn't have a lingering fear in the back of her head that everything was going to come crashing down around her. Everything was out in the open. She wasn't hiding anything from the man she loved and there was nothing more liberating than that.
"I have something to tell you."
Ace nodded. "Tell me."
"I've decided to go back to school. I'm going to go and learn something. I've been looking through courses and I know what I want to do. I'm going to get my Bachelors in Social Work."
"That's amazing, Sky. I think that's a wonderful idea. You're going to be so good at it. You're naturally so kind and intuitive and kids love you. You'll be the best social worker."
Scarlett smiled. "And I'm also going to start a foundation to help all the orphaned and foster kids in the city so that none of those kids have to go through what I went through."
Ace couldn't help the smile that overcame him. It wasn't a signature understated Ace Hardwood smile. It was a broad smile, showing his beautiful teeth and he shook his head gently, almost in disbelief. He looked into her eyes. "I am so incredibly proud of you, Sky. Look how far you've come, my love."
He kissed her.
"I love you immensely, my Sky," he told her.
Scarlett smiled and kissed his cheek. "I love you more, Aeson."
"I love you most."
Scarlett laughed and shook her head at how much time this grown man spent with his niece watching her favourite movie.
"And," Scarlett added, when they pulled away, "I'm going to pay for school. I'll go to the college right here in the city and I'll pay for it."
Ace cocked his head, with a smile. "You mean you're not with me for the money?"
Scarlett laughed. "No, I'm with you only because you kiss so well."
Ace's smile turned quite mischievous. He put his hands on her thighs and inched them up, slowly, his mouth on the sensitive spot behind her ear. "Just kiss?" he whispered to her.
The butterflies in Scarlett's heart and stomach erupted as she exhaled shakily. It was always so easy for Ace to get her worked up.
"Maybe," she exhaled, tilting her head back, "Maybe, you're good at other things, too."
He kissed her neck. "Things like what, Sky?"
Scarlett swallowed as Ace left a trail of kisses down her neck. Her toes curled. "Bossing people around," she sighed, shakily. She tried to tease him, but the way his mouth was teasing her made it difficult to form words in her mind. "Barking orders. Critiquing people's – oh, God, Ace."
Scarlett completely lost her train of thought when Ace gently bit down on the skin on her neck, sucking, making a feeling of intense pleasure flood her.
"What were you saying, Scarlett?" Ace asked, his mouth hovering over her collarbone.
With all the strength that she could muster, she pushed against his shoulders to look him in the eyes. "For someone who is such an ethical businessman, you sure do play dirty when it comes to other things," she teased.
Ace pulled Scarlett against him so suddenly that she gasped and gripped his shoulders tightly. "Oh, Sky, you haven't seen dirty," he whispered, huskily into her ear.
Scarlett was glad to be seated and supported by him because of weak her knees felt. Her breath hitched, making Ace smirk with triumph.
She licked her lips, slowly and stared at him. Trailing her hands down his shoulders and on to his chest, Scarlett leaned in to whisper, sensually in his ear. "You haven't seen the half of what I can do, Aeson."
She took his earlobe in her mouth, running her tongue over it.
Ace's grip on her hips tightened and he exhaled shakily.
It was Scarlett's turn to smile in triumph.
He leaned back to look at her. "Sky, the things I would do to you if it weren't for —"
Before Ace could finish his sentence, however, the reason he was about to state became extremely apparent when a soft yawn touched their ears.
Both of them turned to see Cassie tread unsteadily on to the balcony, rubbing her eyes.
Ace took a step back, trying to calm himself.
"Uncle Ace," Cassie yawned.
"Hey, kiddo. Something wrong?" he asked, walking over to her.
"I think I had a nightmare, Uncle Ace," she said, "I don't know. I don't really remember it, but I woke up feeling a little scared."
Ace bent and picked his niece, turning towards Scarlett, who had pushed herself off of the balcony cornerstone and had walked over to Ace.
"Shall we take you back to bed, Cass?" she asked, smiling sweetly at the girl, who laid her cheek down on her uncle's broad shoulder.
Cassie nodded, sleepily.
"Will you tell me a story, Uncle Ace?" she asked.
Ace nodded. "Of course."
"Can Sky come, too?" she asked, as he began walking inside.
"Sky wouldn't miss a story for the world," Ace told his niece as he walked upstairs, followed by a smiling Scarlett.
Inside Cassie's room, Ace put her down and tucked her in before climbing in next to her and putting an arm around her. Scarlett sat down at the edge of the bed, watching them both.
Cassie snuggled in. "Aren't you going to get a book?" she asked.
"I thought of telling you a story that I know by heart," he replied, "Is that alright?"
Cassie nodded. Her uncle wasn't the type to make stories up, so she thought this would be an interesting change.
Scarlett, too, was amused to hear what Ace would concoct for his niece.
"Once upon a time," Ace began in a soft, but deep, lilting voice. Scarlett already felt comfortable and safe. "An indeterminant amount of time ago, in a land whose geographical distance from ours isn't relevant to the story" – Cassie giggled and Scarlett rolled her eyes – "There lived a single solitary playing card, who lived alone. Do you know which card it was?"
"Which card, Uncle Ace?" Cassie asked, softly.
"It was an Ace."
Cassie giggled. "That's your name."
"I appear to be a playing card, Cass."
Cassie giggled again and nudged her uncle. "Go on."
Ace sighed, with a smile. "This Ace was black and white, like the entirety of his world. This Ace had never, ever seen anything other than black and white his entire life. He didn't really mind, though, because he didn't know about all the colours he was missing out on. Every day, the card would wake up and go to join the rest of the pack to work as a playing card and every night, he would come back home and live alone in his black and white house. He wasn't unhappy, but he didn't realize that there was something missing in his life."
"One day, the Ace was working late and suddenly, out of nowhere, like he had imagined it, he saw a flash of colour. It looked like the best thing that he had seen. Suddenly, he knew that there was more to the world than just black and white, so he went out to find that flash of colour. He found it soon enough. This card, the one with colour; it wasn't like any other card he had ever seen before. She wasn't a playing card. She was a special card." – Ace looked up at Scarlett, whose eyes were blazing, focused solely on him. He stared back into her eyes – "She was a very special card."
"The Ace is supposed to be the most powerful card in the deck, but suddenly, he didn't feel that powerful. He was still powerful, yes, but when she was around, he was powerless. She could make him fold, like that's what she had been born to do. She became the most powerful card he knew."
"He was so taken by her. He asked her what her colour she was and she told him that she was red. Her colour never faded, never dulled."
"When she was around his, she put colour, not only red, but every colour into his life and the Ace knew that he could never let her go, so he decided that he would do whatever it took to make sure that the special red card would always be with him. The special red card fell in love with the Ace and the Ace was hopelessly in love with her. She made him world better."
Scarlett's heart was racing as she sat, held by Ace's intense green gaze.
"She made him realize that life is so much more than black and white and she made his entire world colourful."
"How did she do that, Uncle Ace?"
Scarlett smiled and Ace smiled back.
He reached out his hand to her and she put hers in his hand, along with her life, her future and her love. Ace lifted her hand and pressed his against his chest, his heart beating rapidly in his chest.
"Magic."
You guys! We have come to the end of 'The Billionaire's Seductress' and I think we've all been on quite a journey with Ace and Sky.
I cannot thank you enough for supporting me through this and for enjoying this and motivating me to keep going.
I have so enjoyed writing this story for you and I hope you have enjoyed reading it.
I will be definitely adding in an Epilogue in due time, but for now, this is the end of Ace and Sky's journey that we will share in. They will continue to love each other, comment about oil paintings and sit on the balcony just talking to each other and playing their game of truth, but that is their story now.
Scarlett and Aeson will always have a special place in my heart. I love them like they are my own kids. Even I hate that this has to end, but all good things MUST come to an end.
And I love you guys for all your support.
Thank you - thank you so much for everything!
Stay tuned for the epilogue and for more stories.
If you want to check out 'The Billionaire's Playmate', click the external link.
This is not 'goodbye'. This is simply 'see you soon'.
Much love!