Epilogue Audrey
Epilogue
Audrey
Charleston, South Carolina; ten weeks later
The Charleston breeze drifted through the cracked window, sweet with magnolia and salt from the nearby harbor.
Our new neighborhood was quiet and perfect.
The kind of place where porches mattered and people actually waved when you walked by.
Heck, even Reed, who lived four doors down with a Belgian Malinois puppy, sometimes managed a half smile.
Chase loved it here, especially being within walking distance of everyone he loved and so close to Reed’s puppy, who he was charged with dog-sitting when Reed was away on ops.
Trevor had already spun up on his first op with Delta Shield’s new secondary unit, which now consisted of two other former operators. Chase couldn’t have been prouder, either. His favorite people working together to save the world and catching bad guys.
We’d slipped into a routine here more easily than I’d expected. School, missions, banana bread baking. You know, life.
And tonight, Alejandro and I had something to share with our friends and family. My stomach fluttered with nerves even though I knew we’d be surrounded by love when giving everyone the news.
With Trevor out with Chase for the afternoon so we could get the place ready for the party, I’d decided to steal a few moments to decompress and play the piano first.
I’d put off trying out for an orchestra, choosing instead to play at home. In a house that had quickly become our sanctuary. This was happiness. The very definition of it. Being able to play for someone who really listened. Who truly cared.
“One more.” Alejandro gave me prayer hands when I finished what I’d meant to be my last piece.
I smiled, the sunlight filtering across the keys. Natasha had gifted us her Yamaha after the wedding, a major upgrade to the one in storage. I’d tried to argue, but she’d waved me off and said it belonged with me.
“Your mom is early to everything,” I reminded him as I glanced at the clock. “And then my mom tries to compete by being earlier than her, which means—”
I dropped my words when he peeled off his black tee, striding toward me. Muscles on display, every inch of him the embodiment of trouble I couldn’t resist. My breath caught as he unbuckled his jeans, letting the belt slip free with a flick of his wrist that should’ve come with a warning label.
“Ah, I see what this is really about.”
He gave me that lazy, devastating smile. “My wife’s playing jazz wearing only pink lace panties, looking like a dream. What do you expect me to do? Just listen and not want her after?”
“I expected a little restraint,” I teased. “My mistake.” I smiled and gave in rather easily.
My fingers hovered; then I fell into the familiar rhythm of Ella Fitzgerald’s “The Man I Love.” This time with no ache in my chest. No ghosts in the music. Just love. Just us.
When the final note faded, he was at my side. Totally naked now, body hard and ready.
He lifted me effortlessly, carrying me from the room and down the hallway. I looked around as we passed the photos on the wall, at the life we’d begun building.
The photos when Chase and I’d first met my brother at Christmas.
The wedding photos from five weeks ago.
More and more happy memories lined the walls with every step he took.
When he set me down on our bed, I reminded him, “Time is precious.”
“Don’t I know it,” he whispered before joining me.
He slanted his mouth over mine, hand between us, shifting the lace aside. He had a thing about taking me while I was still in them. His turn-on turned me on.
He bit my lower lip while pushing two fingers inside me. “Drenched,” he said after freeing my lip. “What am I going to do with you?”
“It’s the hormones—or maybe our baby’s father making me all hot like this. Coin toss,” I teased, a light laugh passing between our lips, which he caught with his tongue.
“You know what you do to me when you call me a father like that.” His voice was rough as he removed his fingers to situate his hard length between our bodies.
“Make you want to get me pregnant all over again?”
He lifted his head, eyes tight on mine. “Over and over and over again, to be exact,” he said before thrusting inside me, which had my breath catching, fingertips burying into his biceps. “Hands,” he demanded once my body stretched for him.
He lifted our clasped palms alongside our heads. Fingers threaded together, he rotated his hips, moving like a dance. Making love. Making every moment count. Making me . . . “Come too fast,” I cried out as he used his pelvic bone to rub against me in just the right spot to cause friction.
“Something about time, sí?”
“Not that fast.” I laugh-moaned, shifting harder and faster with him, unable to slow down now that the orgasm was building.
This man. My God, this man. We might wind up with five more babies after our child was born. I wouldn’t put it past him. I also wouldn’t mind.
We came together with sighs and tangled limbs, a rhythm even more natural than my music.
When it was over, he stayed close, brushing his fingers along the curve of my hip. “I didn’t think this through, did I?”
“Going to get the covers messy, yeah. Gotta keep your mom and mine out of here. Decoys and diversion tactics,” I added with a laugh.
He let go of my hands, bracing his alongside my body without pulling out. His eyes went to my breasts. “You were already big, Mama. Now . . .” He licked his lips. “Peligroso.”
“It’s amazing no one has figured out yet I’m pregnant from my chest size alone.
” I palmed his cheek, urging his eyes back to mine before the man got horny again.
Think I’m kidding? He recovered fast and could go all day and night.
Stamina was an understatement. “They’re going to do the math when we tell them tonight.
They’ll realize we were pregnant before the wedding. ”
“Distract. Deflect. That’s our mission.” He smirked. “It’s our only choice, since both of us are lousy liars.” He gave me a soft kiss; then we did our best to make the least mess possible and washed up just in time before our mothers arrived, early as expected.
The next several hours blurred by, the party in full swing. The house was packed with guests, laughter, and delicious food.
And once we finally shared the big news about the pregnancy, it was clear most of our family had suspected.
“About time you told us, so we could act like we didn’t know. No wine all of a sudden—come on,” my mom said with a laugh, then embarrassed me by pointing to my boobs in front of everyone. Including the secretary of defense.
“?Bebé!” Alejandro’s mom was overwhelmed with joy, tears hitting her eyes, which had my husband blinking back a few of his own after she hugged us both. “Gracias a Dios.”
More hugs and happy tears all around. And then Alejandro’s father pulled a cigar out of nowhere like it’d come from a magician’s hat.
Sheesh. They really did know why we were having this party tonight.
“I can’t wait to be a big brother!” Chase shouted later that night, sitting on top of Alejandro’s shoulders, fist pumping. “Daddy has to have more kids, too! We can be one big family. The bestest!”
Trevor smirked. “Let’s leave the sibling business to your mom and Alex.”
“Too busy saving the world to meet a girl?” Chase grinned, and everyone within earshot laughed.
“Don’t forget doting on me every five seconds as if worried I might break,” Eden added, resting a hand over her stomach.
She was pregnant with Beau’s (a.k.a. Zander’s) baby.
She’d decided to turn something awful Beau had done into a miracle, and it seemed being pregnant was healing her from the inside out.
I admired her so much. She was finding strength in the aftermath of what had happened.
And our babies would be born close together. New beginnings, side by side.
I turned to find Hollis coming back after stepping away for a call from her father. “I actually have to cut out early, I’m sorry.”
Reed looked up from where his puppy had curled in his lap. “She’s probably off to stab someone with cutlery.”
“That’s Carter, not me,” she shot back, grinning.
I had no clue what they were talking about.
“Besides, hopefully there’ll be no stabbing involved.
More of a recovery mission.” She leaned in closer.
“Remember the artifact I offered to use to get us into the auction? It got lost in the chaos, and my dad finally got a fix on the location, and he wants it back.” She stood by Reed and scratched behind his dog’s ear.
“Traitor,” he grunted in response to Ranger’s moaning from her attention.
“Could use an assist. You in, Jason?”
“I told you not to call me that.”
“Why don’t you like your first name?” She stopped petting Ranger, and Reed shifted the puppy from his lap. He wagged his tail all the way over to his second-favorite human (probably, secretly first), Chase.
I ignored their grumbling back-and-forth while looking on at Chase dropping down to hug Ranger. He was standing with Alejandro, Ryder, and his dad as they talked about something.
Alejandro caught my gaze. “I love you so much,” he mouthed.
To which I mouthed back, “Te amo mucho.”
My Spanish was a work in progress, but I had an excellent teacher, who rewarded my hard studying with orgasms on a nightly basis.
“Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.” At that comment from Hollis, I turned to face her again, finding Reed scratching his jaw, an agitated stare pointed her way. “Sorry again for bailing early.” She pulled me in for a quick hug.
“Can you tell me where you’re going?”
“Safer if you don’t know.”
Of course she’d say that.
Her gaze dropped to my stomach and a flicker of a smile crossed her lips. She leaned in and whispered into my ear, “It was that night, wasn’t it? He got you pregnant before the auction.”
She lifted her head, shooting a knowing smile my way despite me not confirming she was, in fact, correct.
“Well,” she said, gaze bouncing between me and Reed, “off to my next adventure.” She shifted her wavy hair to her back while tossing out, “Be seeing you around, Jason.”
“Yeah, sure.” He mock-saluted. “Don’t die or anything.”
“That’d give you too much joy. I wouldn’t dream of it.” She winked, then hugged me one more time before leaving.
Reed dropped back into his seat with an annoyed huff before calling his dog back over.
Alejandro came up behind me a few minutes later, wrapping his arms around me. “What was that all about?”
I tipped my chin up to meet his eyes. “I think it’s an open loop?”
He smiled. “Translate.”
I looked around the room at everyone. At Eden. Trevor. And lastly, Reed.
“It means,” I said, warmth flooding me, “we’re surrounded by unfinished stories that need happy endings.”
He tightened his arms around me in understanding.
“And thanks to you, mister . . . now I know it only takes one note—one incredible meant-to-be—for everything to come together.”