Epilogue

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The soft rapping startled Tristan; he'd been in bed, mesmerized by his sleeping siren, watching her rest peacefully after he'd kept them in bed all night. Carefully sliding out of the bed, he pulled on his sweats and padded quietly out of his bedroom not wanting to disturb her.

Opening up the door, he was surprised to see Pierce on the other side, holding a wrapped-up frame.

Ellie's portrait from the competition.

"I figured you wanted this back," Pierce grumbled.

Tristan moved to the side and motioned for him to come in. "Yeah, thanks. I completely forgot about it."

"Where is she?" Pierce asked, not seeing Ellie in the apartment.

"Sleeping."

A knowing smirk crossed Pierce's face. "Well, I just wanted to drop this off and let you know that you won."

"Seriously?" Tristan responded, shocked.

"Don't fucking rub it in. You knew you were going to win with her." Pierce rolled his eyes, his words evoking more than one meaning.

"It was a little touch-and-go for a minute," Tristan responded with a hint of annoyance. "You think you cut it a little close there? I honestly thought you weren't coming."

Pierce just laughed. "We were there the whole time. I just made sure you couldn't see her."

"Why?"

"Because you needed to accept how you felt about her; you needed to admit it even when you felt like there was no hope left, that she wasn't going to come. You've done nothing but doubt your fucking feelings and what to do about them. I didn't want to have you see her when there could still be some of that doubt lingering."

Tristan just stared at his friend, wondering where this perceptive person was buried underneath all of the layers of asshole that Pierce made a point of showing. "How did you even get her to come? To agree to that?" Tristan asked, his curiosity peaked.

"You don't want to know," came his friend's dark response.

Pierce was right; he didn't.

All he cared about was that whatever he had done had worked.

Tristan sighed, accepting that he might never know what had happened or why Pierce had done what he'd done. "So, you pissed that I gave up my name?" That was the other much smaller knot in his stomach, wondering if his friends would be mad that he revealed his identity without really consulting them first.

"No," Pierce scoffed, "now, I get to win everything by default." He laughed, as Tristan heard the slight twinge of sadness in his tone.

"Hey, I'm still going to be doing restorations. I can't give that up and leave all those masterpieces in your not-as-capable hands," Tristan shot back with a smile that emphasized his joke.

"I see that being in love has turned all your rational thoughts into delusions."

Tristan cracked a smile, glad that he and Pierce had returned to their normal competitive banter.

"Delusions? Ha!" Tristan laughed. "I can't fucking wait to see you like this – to see you in love."

"Not possible," Pierce answered simply. "Need a heart to be able to fall in love."

"I think there's one in there for someone to find."

"Not if I have anything to say about it; I'm too much of an asshole remember?" Pierce tried to remind him. "Plus, the heart is dumb, I'm far too adept at scheming to be caught up in that shit."

"Because your schemes always work out in your favor…"

"Hey! You shouldn't be complaining here. My schemes just made you the happiest asshole this side of the nuthouse. It has left me with the opportunity to have my paintings be front and center at the exhibits, and now that you've recused your stiff ass from being involved, it means things are about to get a whole lot more interesting," Pierce informed him confidently.

"Hey, even though I'm cutting back my involvement in that way, I'm still in-fucking-charge here. Don't think this means you're going to get away with any more than you were," he warned Pierce.

"We'll see," his friend responded, slyly. "Looks like my schemes will just have to be transferred onto Sloane. He's just really not as much fun to play with," he finished lamenting pulling out his phone, a look of intrigue springing over his face.

"Good luck with that. I'm not even worried for Sloane, the man never lets anything get to him," Tristan said, watching as Pierce seemed to be reading something over and over again, trying to process. "Everything ok?"

"It might be a lead." Pierce's dark eyes flashed.

A lead on the painting that had been stolen from him.

"Where?"

"I have to go handle this," he replied sharply, the hardened edge of anger returning to his composure at the reminder of this unresolved issue from the past. "I'll let you get back to—"

"Don't," Tristan said sharply, stopping his friend before the lewd comment that he knew was coming.

Pierce just snickered and headed for the door. "I'll see you around."

"Thank you for everything, seriously," Tristan said sincerely.

"You know I hate it when you guys are serious about anything," he retorted, "but, you're welcome." Pierce finally acquiesced to the gratitude as he punched the button for the elevator.

"Later." Tristan closed his door, turning to face his portrait that had won the competition.

It still wasn't as good as the real thing.

And that was ok because now he had the real thing, he couldn't care less about the failings of the portrait. His mind drifted for a moment back to the Guild; this was the end of a chapter for them…or for him at least. His role would be changing, but they'd figure out a way.

Hey, at least no one could say that they'd fallen into a routine of predictability.

He was sure there was going to be a media shit-storm Monday morning, if it wasn't already happening, about his reveal. But that was something for another day, something for Morgan to handle.

He began to walk back into the bedroom. Right now, he couldn't find it in himself to care about anything except Ellie.

"Hey there," she murmured when he walked back into the room.

"Hey yourself, siren," he smiled, looking at the beautiful woman lying in his bed, right where she belonged. The soft late-morning sun streaming in through the window, setting her aglow with life.

She was exquisite.

"Pierce?"

"Yeah," he answered, coming to sit on the edge of the bed by her. "He didn't…cross the line, did he? To get you to come to the exhibit?"

Ellie's eyes widened for a second at the suggestion before she quickly deterred that thought from his mind. "Oh, no. Nothing like that, I promise," she reassured him. "He told me a story is all."

His eyebrows raised, wondering what that meant, wondering if Pierce had opened up about his past to…Ellie? At this point, he wouldn't be surprised. She just knew how to read people, to empathize with them without saying a word.

"What?" she asked, watching as he just continued to stare at her.

"You just amaze me," he whispered, taking her hand to kiss the back of it. "I'm so in love with you."

Ellie moaned softly, her deep green eyes looking up at him, a familiar shimmer glossing over their vibrancy. "I wish you were so inside of me," she whispered seductively.

His body immediately turned to hardened fire.

"That wish, I can grant," he said hoarsely, standing as he stripped off his sweats, his gaze never leaving hers; his body proudly erect before her. Grabbing the edge of the covers, he tossed them to the side, exposing her completely naked body to his gaze.

She spread her legs as he climbed between them. Pressing the tip of his erection against her slick entrance, he slipped easily inside of her. Tristan watched as her eyes closed with pleasure as he began to move.

"I love you, Tristan," she moaned.

"I love you, siren," he responded as he thrust in and out of her, the friction between them building as he took them both to the edge of their climax. Their love making the pleasure even more intense as they succumbed to their intertwined release; their bodies shattering around them just as their love brought them back together.

Looking down at the gorgeously sated woman smiling up at him, Tristan slowly bent his head to hers and kissed her like the sun rose in the morning – as if it was the only thing he ever needed to do to light his world.

The End.

Thank you all SO much for reading! I hope you enjoyed Tristan and Ellie's story and I would love to hear your thoughts! As you know, this book is currently being sold on Amazon. If you loved the story, I would be ABOVE and BEYOND grateful if you would head on over to Amazon, search up The Artist's Touch, and leave your review - it costs *nothing* and you do *not* have to have purchased the book in order to leave a review. Besides myself, there are readers out there considering purchasing my book and I know that they would love to hear your thoughts on the story.

I don't think I can express adequately enough in words just how important reviews are to a new author and how much of a difference it would make for me if you would take two minutes of your evening and do me that honor. It doesn't have to be long or crazy - I just know how much some of the things y'all have commented on here or messaged me privately have truly touched my heart, and I'd love for other readers to be able to see that. Thank you in advance - the review process is truly how authors feel rewarded for the time and effort that we've put into our work. :)

The Gentlemen's Guild series continues with Sloane's story in 'The Sculptor's Seduction'. To show my appreciation, if you do leave a review on Amazon, send me a message with that review and I will email you the first chapter of his story as a 'thank you'!