Dangerous Desires Novel

128 Epiphany Stacy.

| spent three months missing Aesop. It was hard. Sometimes | wished | didn’t leave, but | needed talone. All my life, | had been in someone's shadow. First, it was my parents, then Regan and then Aesop. | never had the tto discover myself and learn my weaknesses and strengths. | never had the tto love myself. | never had the tto stop and smell the roses. | was always on edge. | was always trying to keep things together. My marriage, my reputation, my secrets; nit. | was always trying to keep things, hoping they didn’t fall apart. | was humiliated and abused for it. My mother abusedmentally, emotionally and verbally. Regan abusedphysically, mentally, sexually, emotionally, verbally and financially. Then Aesop cinto my life and abusedemotionally.

My life was filled with abuse, and soon it beca routine, a norm that shouldn't have been. Deep down, | believe that was what love was about. Hurt and abuse until Tia and Luke. Watching the two maderealise my life was twisted, and | was unlucky. | know Aesop loves me, but after all that had happened, | was finally free and wanted to explore being my own woman. | loved it. | could go places and get things done. | realised I did not need a man to complete or makefeel good. | discovered | did not need a man to make things happen.

Although I longed for companionship, love, affection and care, | realised I could survive without it, a new strength I had discovered.

I longed for Aesop, and sometimes | wanted to pick up my phone and call him. One day | threw away my cell phone, so | would no longer have his contact or anyone that could reach him, which was virtually every contact on my phone. It was vital forto go on the journey | wanted. He was right when he said | might leave the country. | wanted to do so, but | couldn't. | loved him too much to move away from where he was. | honestly thought | was replaceable in his life. With how he treated me, | thought he was without of pity; after all, I had tricked him into conceiving Caleb, which was why he married me. | wouldn’t have been his wife if | did not get him drunk and sleep with him. When | walked away, | thought he would move on and find someone else. When | returned to Woodclaw city, | wanted to go home, but | was scared to see that he had moved on, so | decided to stay away. Seeing Tia at my door lifted my heart because it meant | was important in their lives. When everyone visited Tia in the hospital, | wanted to slip away. Still, | was shocked to see how much they missed me, especially my son, who cried forfor the first time. Our tapart made us realise how important we were to each other.

As much as | want to return to Aesop, | do not wish to experience abuse again. | will rather be alone than go through that whole experience again. | was torn between daring it and walking away with a broken heart.

Tia’s twins were beautiful. | suspected she would have twins, judging by how she and Luke could not keep their hands off each other. | knew it would definitely have a double effect. | had brought them together out of greed, but that was the only thing | was glad | did because | had never seen a love as strong as theirs. | prayed to the goddess that | would experience that love one day. When everyone kicked against me, leaving, | decided to sit down, knowing that Aesop was definitely on his way. | wasn’t stupid. The only reason they were acting the way they were, was to buy tfor Aesop to arrive. | did not know what to say or do when | saw him. As short as three months was, it felt like an eternity, and if he could cut my heart open, he would know that he occupied every part of it. | had just recently managed to carve a space for myself. It had always been just him. | never stopped loving him, and I never will.

Finally, Aesop walked into the room and seeing him madecry. | could not look at him a second time, so | bowed my head. He was a shadow of himself. Even when he lost Chloe, he did not look this bad. | felt him walk toward me, and | could not lift my head up because my heart was already breaking.

“Stacy..” he managed with his deep voice., but it sounded weak and defeated. | looked up gradually, and his eyes were filled with tears.

“I am sorry, Stacy. | was mean to you. | should have made more effort. | should have loved you harder. | take all the blame,” he said, and | shook my head and stood up. | had my fair share of shortcomings too.

“I didn’t make it easy. Forcing you into marriage by getting pregnant isn’t a great way to start a relationship,” | said, and he tried to smile. “Luke and Tia are doing fine, and so are Kimberly and Caleb. Why can’t we try?” He asked me, and | knew there was no point holding back on him.

“Cback to me, darling. | promise to do all you want. | will give you my world everything you want,” he said, and | shook my head.

“You still don’t get it, Aesop. | do not want material things. | never have. | did all | did so | could survive. Now | am free. All | want is love, real love. A love that can weather storms and stand the test of time.” | said. He touched my hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed it and breathedin.

“Please cback to me, and | will love you unconditionally,” he said, and | knew he meant his words. | looked past him to the rest of the room, and everyone had their eyes on us, urging us to make up. Today was a beautiful day. Luke and Tia welcomed two beautiful Alphas into our lives. It was only natural that we keep the spirit up. | knew | would get back with him anyway, so | looked at him and smiled, remembering what Tia toldand choosing to try my luck “I have terms and conditions,” | said, sounding like the oldand everyone began to laugh. Aesop pulledinto a bear hug and bent to kiss his mark on my neck “Anything you want, darling. | will do it. | will do anything to make it up to you and prove my love.” he said, and | wrapped my arms around and leaned against him. There was no point holding back anymore. It was tto go back to my man.

Aesop sat next toon the couch in Tia’s hospital room. Mike and Tasha were the first to leave, followed by Caleb, Kimberly and Emma. Paul remained in the room with his parents and siblings. Aesop and | sat on the couch. He couldn't keep his hands off me. It was as if he felt | could leave again. | got curious about the twins and decided to ask “Have you two thought of a name?” | finally asked, and they looked at each other then Luke modded at Tia and chalooled at “We are thinking of naming our daughter Chloe Stacy Moon and our son James Aesop Moon,” She said, and | was so shocked that | began to cry. | could not believe anyone in the Moon household would ntheir child after me. Thinking of my crimes against them, it takes a lot of love and forgiveness for them to do this. | was more than honoured. Aesop huggedwhile | sobbed.

“Thank you. Thank you so much for deeming my nworthy. | am truly sorry for all | did to both of you. There is no tthat | do not regret it.” | said, voicing out my truth.

“It is all in the past now,” Tia said, and Luke nodded. Unlike his father, Luke had always been a man of few words, even as a little boy. It was terrific how Tia got the best out of him.

We stayed with them for two more hours and decided to leave. Aesop followedto my apartment because | told him | needed to get sof my things from there. The moment we stepped into the living room. He pulledclose and began to kiss me. His kiss was fierce, filled with love and passion. | wanted him too, and | responded with passion and love too, “Where is your room?” he askedin his deep masculine voice. | was too eager to think straight. It had been a while since he touched me, and my body craved it. | managed to point in the direction of the bedroom, and he liftedbridal style and tookinto my room. | was wet and ready. Knowing how much twe had spent apart, | knew it would be a long evening.