Epilogue
epilogue
O N OUR SECOND ANNIVERSARY, Delaney and I celebrated our marriage in a vineyard along the coast, surrounded by family. She wore a stunning dress. A stunning dress for a stunning woman. Classic and sleek without a lot of frills, perfect for my Lane. It fit her like a glove, in a way that had my mouth watering and my hands itching to take it off her. I’d been deprived of that the first time around, considering our wedding night was simply pizza on the couch.
Tonight was going to be nothing like that.
And I absolutely could not wait.
I’d flown my mom out to go wedding dress shopping with Delaney, which I think helped to fill the hole of her own mom’s absence. My mom adored my wife. She’d been silently cheering us on from the sideline for years, ever since I asked for that ring, and she couldn’t be happier that we’d made it here today.
Gemma had tagged along dress shopping, too, as well as Delaney’s cousin, Ophelia. Both of whom were walking toward me right now, giving me a look like I’d done something egregious.
“Did you know your brother is trying to persuade the DJ to let him take over?” Ophelia demanded, all fiery, which I’d learned was just Ophelia’s personality. “And I think the poor man’s considering it just so he’ll leave him alone.”
Oh good. I hadn’t done anything. Just Sully.
That checked out.
I glanced over at Gemma, and she immediately put her hands up.
“Don’t look at me. My London brother is over there.” Gemma pointed to Noah, who was holding Delilah on his hip while trying to intervene between Julian and Theo since Theo was, once again, being very indiscreet about his obsession with a certain red-haired woman with the last name of Briggs. And not the one who stood right next to me.
Julian looked on the brink of losing it, considering one of his twin daughters, either Lily or Rosie, was simultaneously crying in Juniper’s arms while the other was strapped to his back. He reached out to take the wailing child from his wife, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then started bouncing up and down as he continued to watch Theo closely.
Despite the chaos around us, I smiled. We hadn’t all been together since Noah and Gemma got married about a year ago, and I felt so lucky that everyone had been able to make it to the East Coast again for this.
I shook my head. “No, I know it isn’t Noah . I was just going to ask if you’ve seen Delaney. She was with you last, right?”
“She’s trying to ward Sully off the DJ at the moment,” Gemma said. “But I don’t think she’s being very successful, which is why we came to get you.”
“Got it.” I shook my head with a laugh. “I’ll be right there.”
“Okay.” Gemma nodded and then gave me a soft smile. “I promised I’d help Chloe with her wardrobe malfunction, so I’m going to run to do that quickly before everyone is seated for dinner. Nat couldn’t find any safety pins, but I think I have some in my bag.”
“Thanks, Gemma.” I wrapped my arms around her shoulder and pulled her in for a brief side hug. “Thanks for everything you do for our family.”
“I love you guys,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “And I’m so happy for you.”
Emotion coated my throat as I swallowed, but I let her go and watched her walk off in search of my oldest niece.
“You know…” Ophelia started, and I turned to look at her. “I wasn’t so sure of you before, but I think you’re okay.”
A snort of laughter escaped me.
“Did you just decide this now, Ophelia?”
She shrugged and inspected her nails, remaining silent.
“Why weren’t you sure of me?” I pressed, not truly caring but curious all the same. “We didn’t even meet until after Delaney and I got married. The first time.”
“That’s exactly why I wasn’t sure of you.” She pointed her manicured finger at me, an accusation. “I wasn’t sure if you were the real deal or not.”
My brows pulled together. “I married Delaney without a moment of hesitation.”
“Still.” She shrugged again, waving her hand. “You could have been love bombing her or something.”
I shook my head with another laugh, considering the reality of what happened. “It was actually a bit of the opposite.”
She had no idea how much restraint I’d used over the years not to bombard Delaney with my feelings.
“Well, I know that now. But before, I had no clue about the whole inheritance thing.” She shot me a glare as though it was my fault she didn’t know. “ Obviously , or I never would have mentioned to Elizabeth and Robert that you eloped. I wish Laney would have explained everything to me. I mean, I’m all for taking money from my grandparents. They certainly don’t need it anymore.”
I chuckled, understanding why, of everyone in her family, Ophelia was the only person Delaney remained close to outside of Bryan.
“Well, everything worked out,” I said. “Robert and Elizabeth even made an appearance tonight.”
I was worried about Delaney’s parents coming, but it had gone well. Her mom acted cordial, and her dad had seemed truly happy to be included. It wouldn’t repair the years of damage they’d done to their daughter, but it was something.
Ophelia rolled her eyes at the mention of her aunt and uncle. “They’ll leave when the wine runs out.”
I raised a brow. “Who said the wine is going to run out?”
“See?” She smirked. “I knew I liked you.”
“Actually, what I think you said was that you weren’t sure if?—”
“You should really go find your wife,” she cut in, her lips curving further. “And do something about your brother.”
“Shit. Right.” I stood straighter, immediately twisting around in search of Lane. Darting away from Ophelia, I rounded the corner of the winery to where a big tent had been set up. The DJ and the dance floor sat in a large open spot between the canvas structure and the vineyard, surrounded by bouquets of tulips. I hadn’t been able to grow a tulip field in Massachusetts in time for today, but I had been able to buy as many tulips as my credit card would allow for the occasion.
I spotted Delaney standing next to the DJ booth. And holy shit, she took my breath away. How was it even possible that she was real? I’d asked myself that a million times over in the last year, but today especially. Our life was a thing of dreams. Truly, undeniably, unbelievably perfect.
The cardiac center was well underway. We’d rented a space in an established clinic while we got on our feet and continued putting things in place to open our own doors. We now housed our free CPR clinics there as well. A small portion of the inheritance had been saved for a tiny but homey brownstone, which sat perfectly situated between Natalie’s place and Bryan’s new supported-living apartment. Despite everything going on with the clinic, our schedules were still a bit more predictable than a trauma surgeon’s, so Chloe usually walked over to our house after school and hung out until dinnertime, or later sometimes. She loved Bryan, who came over equally often.
I smiled at Lane as I walked up, struggling to take my eyes off her. But then Sully’s face wormed its way into my vision, and I narrowed my gaze.
My brother sat behind the DJ booth, a goofy grin on his face. And the DJ was nowhere to be seen.
Jesus Christ.
“Oh my God, did you really chase him away?”
I should have run over here faster.
“Nah.” Sully waved off my concern. “I just told him to go get some snacks and wine for a bit.”
“So you told our DJ to go get drunk?”
“No.” Sully drew out the word. “I just told him I’d keep an eye on things for him while he took a short break. But now that you’re here…” Sully stood, clapped a hand on my shoulder, and flashed me a smile. “Happy for you, man,” he said before striding away and leaving me with Delaney.
Delaney.
Delaney London, Delaney London, Delaney London.
Today, that became doubly true.
How lucky was I that I got to marry the love of my life twice ?
I looked her up and down, appreciating every inch of this woman, even the odd expression on her face that seemed to match Sully’s suspiciously well. Music started playing behind us. Sully must have pressed Play before leaving, but it was so soft, so quiet, I could barely make it out.
Reaching out, I laced my fingers through Delaney’s. “Have I told you how stunning you look today, sweetheart?”
A flush worked its way up her neck to her face. “A few times, yes.”
I opened my mouth to throw more compliments at her, not knowing how to stop gushing over everything about my best friend, when the song grew louder, interrupting my thoughts and cracking a smile onto my face instead.
Delaney laughed and tugged on my hand, pulling me closer. “Dance with me? I wanted one dance, just you and me.”
I shook my head, my grin so wide it hurt. “I will dance with you to The Lizzie McGuire Movie theme song any fucking day, Lane.”
“This is why I love you.”
Wrapping her in my arms, I led us in a gentle sway. “Oh, really? This is why?”
Her cheeks indented adorably. “And a lot of other reasons.”
Still couldn’t quite believe that, but I’d spend the rest of my life getting used to it, and I was plenty okay with that.
I held Delaney against my chest, enjoying having her close enough that I could feel her heartbeat. Then I spun her out onto the dance floor, and she twirled on my fingertip.
“This really is what dreams are made of,” I said as she danced back into my arms, and I cradled her against my chest again.
Delaney blinked up at me. “It really is.”
“Are you ready to go to Italy next week for your real Lizzie McGuire moment?”
We’d booked our honeymoon months ago, right after we’d nailed down the dates for the wedding reception. I kept picturing Delaney lounging in the Italian sun, a hat shading her shoulders and a glass of wine in her hand. I couldn’t wait to explore a new country with her. And then explore her at night, just like I had on our first honeymoon.
Delaney bobbed her head, an eager nod. “Very excited to be back on a Vespa with my hot husband.”
She placed a hand on my chest, and a whole-body shudder worked its way through me from her touch. And how she’d said the word husband .
I lowered my voice. “Are you going to wear your hair in braids again, Lane?”
She gave a sheepish little shrug that I didn’t buy for a second. At this point, Delaney was anything but inexperienced and naive about the way I wanted her. I brought my mouth to her neck, brushing kisses up the length of it.
“If you want me to,” she breathed.
“Oh, I want you to,” I whispered in her ear.
She melted against me, locking her hands at the nape of my neck. “You like a hairstyle with built-in leverage, don’t you?”
I nipped the shell of her ear and started moving my hands, dragging them up her body, needing to feel her. “You know I do.”
Delaney made a tiny whimpering noise that had my body reacting instantaneously. “Sorry if the wedding updo is disappointing, in that case.”
“Not even a little bit.” I raked my eyes over the elegant bun her hair had been swept into. Absolutely nothing about her and nothing about today was disappointing. “I can be creative.”
The song changed, and I realized that Sully had prepped the entire soundtrack for us. It rolled into another title from the movie.
But we were barely listening to it anymore.
Delaney twisted her fingers into my hair and whined my name. “Blake.”
“I know, baby.”
I more than understood. I felt how much I wanted her in every breath I took.
“Can we sneak up to that bridal suite a little early?”
I groaned. “I think they’re planning to seat everyone for dinner in like five minutes.”
“Sully can distract them, can’t he?”
She pressed her lips to my pulse point, sucking lightly.
I hoped she left a mark.
Fire licked my veins.
“ Fuck , I can’t say no to you.”
I grabbed Delaney’s hand, leading her inside the back entrance of the winery. Sully stood just inside the door, twiddling his thumbs, and I might have called him out for spying on us if I didn’t need him to do exactly as Lane had suggested.
“Distract them,” I grunted as I hurried Delaney up the back stairs, which were tucked right near the door, grabbing her train behind her so she didn’t fall.
“Distract who?”
“Everyone. Give me ten.”
“Ten?” Sully scoffed.
“You’re right. Probably more like five.”
With the way I wanted Delaney right now, I didn’t think we’d need long. I demonstrated absolutely no restraint anymore when it came to my wife, and I knew that was exactly the way she liked it.
“Not what I meant,” Sully called after us, already halfway up the spiral staircase. “Take your time.”
As soon as we made it to the landing at the top of the stairs, I gripped Delaney’s hip with one hand and wrapped my hand around her throat with the other, pulling her back into me and bringing her ear to my lips. “I’m not taking my fucking time.”
“I don’t want you to,” she replied, her voice thick with want.
“Good answer,” I grunted, releasing Delaney to let her walk the rest of the way into the bridal apartments that were created for the use of wedding parties on the day of events at the winery. The rooms were littered with makeup and hair tools and garment bags, and I had to watch my step as I followed Delaney through the doorway.
As soon as she heard the door close behind me, Delaney spun and grabbed me by the front of my jacket, yanking me toward her. God yes . I responded just as eagerly, crashing my lips to hers despite the makeup I knew I was smearing, longing to taste her fully. And hell , did she taste good. Like everything I had ever wanted.
“Later tonight, I’m going to take my time peeling this off you, baby,” I murmured against her lips, sculpting my hands over her dress to feel her curves.
“And now?” she gasped.
“Now?” I paused to give her a deep, all-consuming kiss before growling, “Right now, you’re going to get fucked in your wedding dress, Delaney London.”
“Mmm,” she hummed, her body molding to mine at the words, seeking mine. “Is my husband going to fuck me?”
“He’s going to fuck you so goddamn hard,” I promised as I cupped her face in my palms and pulled back to look at her, wanting to see her expression. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes,” Delaney said without hesitation, her voice strong even as her body trembled. She raked her fingers down my chest, and I felt like I could jump out of my skin.
Knowing we didn’t have a lot of time—before dinner and before we both lost it—I urged Delaney further into the room, not stopping until I had her up against the back of a couch and she was perched atop it. I tried to step between her legs, needing to be closer to her, but her dress made it difficult, and I groaned in frustration.
Meanwhile, Delaney kept running her hands over my body, trailing lower and lower. She ran a single fingertip down the length of my erection, and I thought that might be it for me, absolutely destroyed at the sight of Delaney touching me like that while wearing a white dress. Because she looked a whole lot like mine. My wife. My best friend. My business partner. My fucking everything.
Mine.
Delaney’s touch switched from featherlight and teasing to a tight squeeze, and I cursed in surprise, undone by the feel of her hand cupping me.
“Delaney Rose London.” I moaned her name, and it echoed in my brain, a sweet symphony that I could play over and over again. “If you touch my cock one more time, I’m going to have to find something to bend you over.”
Delaney’s lips stretched in a slow smile at my threat. “I’ve heard that before.” She leaned closer. “This time, I’d like you to make good on your threat, though.”
“Holy shit, Lane,” I groaned before grabbing her hips and spinning her around. She backed her ass into me, grinding it against my crotch and making me gasp for air as I bent her over the back of the couch. “With fucking pleasure.”
Delaney glanced over her shoulder. “And what are you going to do now you’ve got me bent over?”
“Fuck the little tease right out of you,” I grunted, lifting my hips just enough that she’d feel how ready I was to do that.
Delaney’s eyes rolled up, her lips parting, and seeing her reaction caused me to hasten my actions, grabbing the bottom of her dress to peel the layers up and over her hips.
And good Lord, Delaney wasn’t wearing any underwear.
“Are you trying to fucking kill me?” I choked.
“Definitely not.” But I could hear the amusement in her voice, mixed with the desire. “I need you alive right now, Blake. Alive and?—”
A sharp gasp cut through her words when I swiped a finger along her soaked pussy.
“My wife gets so fucking wet for me, doesn’t she?”
She nodded while whining for more.
I’ll give you more, baby.
“She wants me to touch her.” I thrust two fingers inside her, and I almost fainted from hearing how wet she was for me. “Wants me to lick her.” I leaned down to taste her while I slowly pumped my finger in and out. In and out. “Wants me to fuck her.”
“Yes,” Delaney cried and then cried even louder when I suddenly withdrew my fingers, sucked them into my mouth to clean them off, and then nearly lost it from her taste. Fuck . I swallowed, savoring the moment for a split second before I got enough of a grip to unbuckle my pants and get into position, dragging the tip of my cock through her pussy.
“Yeah, Lane?” I checked. Because I wanted to hear it. I’d never get enough of her saying yes to me.
“Yes,” she hissed, glancing back to glare at me despite being suspended over the couch. And then I watched as her glare turned into a look of wondrous pleasure as I thrust inside her, hard, fast, bottoming out within fractions of a second.
Unbelievable. God, she was unbelievable.
“Blake,” she cried. “Oh my God, Blake.”
Delaney threw her head back, not caring if anyone heard how fucking good I made her feel, and shit, did I love that. Love her.
“I know, baby.” I sucked in, trying to steady myself for a second. That first moment of being inside her was so fucking good I didn’t know how to handle it sometimes. “I know.”
She arched her hips, trying to get more as she backed up, needing another dose of my cock.
“Not such a little tease now, are you?” I smirked, pulling back only a fraction before driving forward, causing Delaney to tip over the couch.
She made an unholy sound that I wanted to record and play on repeat.
“I didn’t hear you, sweetheart. What was that?”
“No,” she cried as I pulled out further and slammed into her again.
My lips curved. “Didn’t think so.”
I looked down, taking in the scene. Delaney in this dress. The white fabric bunched around her hips. Me driving into her from behind.
It was an image from my goddamn dreams.
Which meant I had no hope of making it last.
Delaney’s gasps grew louder, and I suspected it had something to do with the angle we were at as I thrust into her repeatedly, rocking her hips against the corner of the couch. Needy pants fell from her lips with every slam of our bodies, and I realized I was wrong—I’d never experienced anything like this, not even in my dreams. This was better than anything , real or fake.
“You’re going to spend dinner with my cum in that tight cunt of yours, Lane,” I rasped, swallowing a moan as I pictured it. Prepared myself for it. “And then later tonight, I’m going to clean my wife up before taking her to bed and filling this pretty pussy again. And again. And?—”
“ Blake .”
She nearly screamed my name that time, her walls tightening around my cock as she danced along the edge of an orgasm.
My pretty little wife, my sweet dancer.
“Tell me I can, Delaney,” I begged, needing to hear her say it so we could both let go.
Her head tipped back and forward in a wordless nod, and it was good enough for me.
“Fuck, I love you, Lane,” I cried as my release overwhelmed me, my climax hitting hard and fast, my vision blurring. Delaney squeezed around me, strangling my cock as she came at the same time, sending me through another wave of blinding pleasure. “ I love you, I love you, I love you ,” I chanted, collapsing forward until I could feel her skin on my lips.
“I love you, too, Blake. So much.” She sounded broken, but I knew it was just because she trusted me enough to fall apart in my arms. I knew how to put her back together again. Knew what all her perfect pieces looked like.
She looked back at me, and her blue eyes shone.
“I needed this,” she said.
I flashed her a smile. “Needed my cock, baby?”
“No,” she started before amending when she saw my affronted expression. “Well, yes, but no, that’s not what I mean.”
I pulled back, drawing out of her slowly. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment until we were separated, and as hard as that was, I knew we’d be together again soon. “What’d you mean, sweetheart?”
“I needed this,” she said as I helped her fix her dress. She turned to face me. “I needed today. To choose.”
Emotion clogged all of my senses. “I’m so proud of you for choosing, Lane.”
So ridiculously proud of the life she’d built for herself. So proud of the things she chose to do because she wanted to. So grateful she chose to do all those things with me.
“It helped,” she whispered. “It helped the puzzle.”
“Yeah?”
Delaney nodded, biting down on her lip. I could tell she was fighting tears, but they were good ones. I knew they were good ones. “Everything fits together now.”
I’d waited years for her to say those words, and all I could do was smile at her, overcome with a happiness that felt a lot like peace. “It’s a pretty picture, isn’t it?”
Delaney smiled back.
“The prettiest, Blake.”
THE END