Protecting the Boundary (LA Wolves #8)

Epilogue

TEN YEARS LATER

“Rome, Cross, get your shoes on! It’s time to go!” Meredith shouts at our boys as she tosses her phone into her purse.

“Do you have everything you need for your sleepover, KayBear?” she asks Kaylee who’s zipping up her backpack.

“Yep. All set, Mom.”

It never gets old hearing her call Meredith her mom. Kaylee doesn’t remember a time before Meredith, and that makes me happy and sad at the same time. She knows all about Sydney. Meredith has always insisted that we have pictures of Sydney available for Kaylee, who looks more and more like Syd every day.

Rome comes racing into the room followed by his little brother, Cross. At eight and six, they’ve hit that really fun age, but also have moments where they can’t stand each other. Kaylee is the overprotective big sister who’s always looking out for them and was thrilled when we brought Rome home from the hospital when she was six years old.

I put my hand out. “Woah, woah, slow down. Where are your shoes, Cross?”

“In my room.”

“Go get ’em. We gotta go.”

Kaylee is sleeping over at her best friend’s house tonight after they go to the football game at her high school. Meredith is a wreck about it because she can’t wrap her head around the fact Kay is already a freshman in high school. I teased her about it until she told me Kaylee would likely start dating in the next few years, which immediately wiped the smile from my face.

Yeah, no.

Cross runs out of the room, while Rome grabs his jacket. The boys are coming with Meredith and me to the Wolves game tonight. It’s no surprise that they’re huge football fans. After Meredith finished her degree and got her doctorate in physical therapy, she became a sports physical therapist for the Wolves where I’d joined the coaching staff. Nowadays, I work alongside my old coach Alison Fairbright, and I’ve helped take the team to three Super Bowls since my retirement as a player.

All in all, life is good. My kids are happy and healthy, and I’m married to the love of my life who never fails to make me smile.

The doorbell rings and Kaylee shouts, “I’ll get it.”

“No doubt that’s Sabrina,” Meredith says, walking up to me and kissing my cheek before she follows our daughter to the door.

I overhear her conversation with Sabrina’s mom, but focus on getting the boys ready to go. We’re already running a few minutes late. It gets infinitely harder to get out of the house on time when you have kids, but boys are a whole new adventure. Kaylee was too easy on me, I quickly found out. Rome and Cross seem to compete on who can be the most challenging on any given day.

Meredith waves as Kaylee gets in the car with Sabrina and her mom and walks back in looking excited but nervous.

“She’ll be fine,” I tell her for the fourteenth time.

“I know, I know. She’s just so grown up. I can’t get over it.”

I drop a kiss to her head. “I know how you feel.”

We look at each other, solidarity passing between us, and then Cross is running into the room with two different shoes on his feet, and the moment’s passed.

When we finally get to the stadium, we’re miraculously only five minutes late since traffic was light. The boys know the rules from how often they come to games, and tonight, Dom and Alayna are here with their three kids. Their twin boys, Ryder and Zeke, are a year older than Rome. We’ve dubbed them “The Three Amigos” because they’ve always been best friends. Their daughter, Talia, is a year younger than Cross, and I think Meredith and Alayna are both hoping they’ll get married.

Dom’s like me and insists his daughter will never date.

Rome and Cross run over to the first row seats where Dom and Alayna’s kids are and all start talking with each other and pointing out their favorite players.

Dom walks over to me on the sidelines. “You know, if we were still playing, they’d say we were their favorites.”

I smile. “I’m not so sure about that. Cross asked if I was any good. I told him I had four Super Bowl rings and he said that Singer, the new player we just recruited, has five, like four wasn’t good enough.”

Dom shakes his head. “Kids these days have no appreciation for how hard we worked to get those wins.”

“I know!”

Just like we always said we would, the Fierce Four has stayed well connected, even as we all moved on from football. I was the first to retire, but Gabe followed suit two seasons later when he got a bad neck injury. The doctor told him he’d be risking his life if he kept playing football. He said it was the easiest decision he ever made. Ty kept playing for a few more years, but ended up being traded to another team that he didn’t jibe with. He retired after one season there and moved back to LA with us. Dom retired the same year Ty got traded from the Wolves.

Football had been our lives, but once we all had families, our priorities shifted and it wasn’t as hard to stop playing as we all had suspected it would be.

Of course, it might also help that we all live next door to each other.

After Meredith and I got engaged, we bought a new house. I insisted. I appreciated that she was okay with living in the house where I made memories with Sydney, but I wasn’t comfortable with it any longer. Pictures were enough to hold the memories. I wanted a house where I could make new memories with Meredith. The house next to Gabe was up for sale, so we bought it and moved. When Dom found out, he offered the neighbors on either side an insane amount of money for their house. One took the offer immediately, and now Dom and Alayna live on the other side of Gabe and Danae. When Ty moved back to LA, he pulled a Dom and made a higher offer to our neighbors, who took the deal and ran.

And that’s how the Fierce Four took over our neighborhood. Barbecues are a blast and super easy. Even better, our kids are all friends, and we rotate who takes them every so often so each couple gets alone time. It’s the best setup I could have ever imagined.

Change isn’t always bad—scary, maybe—but closing the chapter on one part of your life doesn’t necessarily mean you’re closing the book. It just means you move on to something that might be better. And in our case, it is.

“We’ll take the kids tonight if you can take ours next week. It’s my anniversary with Laney, and I want to take her out on the town for the night and then rechristen all the main spaces in our house.”

I chuckle, but understand his sentiment because now that the offer is out there, I have plans to bend my wife over the kitchen table.

“Deal.”

He pats me on the shoulder and then walks back to the stands. I focus on the game, but there’s always a piece of me that’s aware of Meredith. The medical staff stays out of the way, but they’re still on the sidelines. It’s another thing I get to share with my wife, and it’s brought us closer in a lot of ways.

By the time the game is over, all I can think about is taking her home and fucking her in as many places as possible before we pass out. Realistically, I know I’ll probably only get to fuck her in one of those places because our stamina isn’t what it used to be when it comes to sex, but I’ll take it.

Dom and Alayna leave with their brood and our boys, and Meredith and I hang back so we don’t all arrive home at the same time. I want the boys to be fully distracted at the Smith house by the time Mere and I get home. She’ll never let herself relax enough if she thinks there’s a possibility of the boys coming back home to grab something.

The second we walk through the front door, my hands are all over her. I push her against the closed door, wrap my hand in her hair, and tug her head back before I seal my mouth over hers. Her body melts against mine, and a fierce feeling of possession burns through my veins.

This is my wife. My beautiful, sexy wife, who’s built a family with me that I’d only ever dreamed of having.

I unbutton her pants and don’t bother pushing them down just yet. Instead, I slide my hand inside her panties until my fingers touch her pussy. She’s not quite wet for me yet, but I know how to get her there. It’s more work getting her ready for me since we had kids, but it’s work I’ll put in willingly every day of the week.

I trail kisses down her neck, feeling her pulse quicken under my lips. “You know what I’m going to do to you, Mere?” I murmur, my voice low and husky. Her breath hitches, and she shakes her head slightly, though she knows exactly where this is going.

“I’m going to lay you out on that kitchen table,” I growl, nipping at her earlobe. “The one we picked out together. Remember how we christened it when we first moved in?” She nods, a soft moan escaping her lips as I slide my fingers deeper, finding her clit and circling it slowly.

“This time, I’m going to take my time,” I continue, feeling her wetness build. “I’m going to taste you, Mere. I want you to get my face nice and wet with your arousal as you come on my tongue.” I pull my hand out of her pants and she whimpers at the loss of contact. I smirk, loving how responsive she is.

Taking her hand, I lead her to the kitchen. The table is clear, ready for us. I turn to her, my eyes locked on to hers as I lift her up and set her down on the edge of the table. Her chest rises and falls rapidly, her breaths coming in short gasps. I can see the desire pooling in her eyes, and it fuels my own.

I hook my fingers into the waistband of her pants and panties, pulling them down and off in one smooth motion. She leans back on her elbows, watching me as I kneel before her. I run my hands up her thighs, feeling her tremble under my touch. Her scent is intoxicating, and I can’t wait any longer.

I dive in, my tongue finding her clit with unerring precision. I swirl around it, feeling her jolt at the contact.

“Fuck, you taste amazing,” I growl against her, the vibrations making her squirm .

I grip her thighs, holding her in place as I feast on her. She’s soaking wet now, and I lap it up, savoring every drop.

Her moans fill the kitchen, echoing off the walls as I suck and lick her. I slide two fingers inside her, curling them up to hit that spot that drives her wild. Her hips buck against my face, her body tense with pleasure. I can feel her climax building, her inner walls clenching around my fingers.

“Come for me,” I murmur, my breath hot against her. “Let me taste it.” I pump my fingers faster, my tongue flicking her clit in quick, firm strokes. She cries out, her body convulsing as she comes hard. I don’t let up, riding out her orgasm with her, drawing out every last wave of pleasure.

When she finally stills, I stand up, my cock rock hard and straining against my jeans. Her eyes are glazed, her cheeks flushed, and her lips parted. She looks thoroughly sated and so fucking beautiful.

“Taste yourself, Wife,” I say, leaning down to kiss her. She moans into my mouth, her tongue tangling with mine. I can feel her hunger rising again, her body ready for more. I break the kiss, pull her up off the table, then spin her around and bend her over the edge. Her ass is perfect—round and firm—and I can’t resist giving it a smack. She yelps, then moans, pushing back against me.

I push my jeans and boxers down and my cock springs free. I rub the head against her entrance, coating myself in her wetness as she pushes back again, eager and impatient.

“You want this cock?” I ask.

I tease her entrance with the tip, just barely pushing in before pulling back out. She whimpers, trying to push herself back onto me, but I hold her hips firmly, controlling the pace.

“Yes,” she gasps, her voice hoarse with desire. “Please, Romel. Fuck me.”

Her words send a surge of heat through me. I grip her hips tighter and thrust into her, filling her completely in one swift motion. She cries out, her body tensing around me. I groan, the sensation of her tight, wet heat enveloping me almost too much to bear.

“God, you feel incredible, Mere,” I growl, pulling out slowly before slamming back into her. She moans, her fingers clutching at the edge of the table. I set a steady rhythm, my hips moving against her ass, our skin slapping together with each thrust.

I lean forward, my body covering hers as I reach around to cup her breasts. I pinch her nipples, rolling them between my fingers, feeling her pussy clench around me in response. She gasps, her back arching to press her breasts farther into my hands.

“Oh fuck, Romel. Don’t stop,” she cries, her pussy fluttering around my achingly hard cock.

I won’t.

I can’t.

I straighten up, gripping her hips again as I increase my pace. I can feel my orgasm building, the pleasure coiling tightly in my groin. But I want her to come again first. I want to feel her come undone around me.

I slide one hand around to her front, finding her clit again. I rub it in time with my thrusts, feeling her body tense and her breath hitch. She’s close. So close.

“Come on, baby,” I pant, my voice ragged. “Come for me again. Let me feel you.”

She cries out, her body convulsing as her orgasm hits. Her inner walls clamp down on me, pulsing and drawing out my own release. I groan, my cock throbbing as I spill into her, my body shuddering with the intensity of my climax. I slow my thrusts, riding out the waves of pleasure with her until we’re both spent, our bodies slick with sweat and our breaths ragged.

Leaning forward, my chest rests against her back while my cock is still buried deep inside her. I wrap my arms around her, holding her close as we both come down from our high. I can feel her heart pounding in sync with mine, our bodies connected in the most intimate way.

“I love you, Mere,” I whisper, my lips brushing against her neck.

“I love you too, Romel,” she says, her voice soft and breathy. I smile, pressing a gentle kiss to her shoulder before pulling out of her. She makes a soft sound of loss, and I chuckle, helping her stand up. Pulling out of her is my least favorite part too.

We clean up quickly, our bodies still humming with the afterglow of our lovemaking. As we make our way to the bedroom, I can’t help but feel a deep sense of contentment. This is my life. My beautiful, sexy wife, our amazing kids, and a love that grows stronger with each passing day.

I pull Meredith into my arms as we climb into bed, her body fitting perfectly against mine like it always has. She rests her head on my chest, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on my skin. I can feel her breathing even out as she drifts off to sleep, a small smile playing on her lips.

I spent so many years protecting the boundary around my heart after Sydney died, but now I think that was because it was never meant to belong to anyone else besides Meredith. Every day I’m grateful that I figured it out in time—that I didn’t lose her.

Because this life we’ve built together?

It was absolutely worth the risk.