Epilogue
epilogue
Three months and some change…
Brayden.
“What are you doing?” Caeli was so focused on her phone that she startled at the sound of my voice but instantly relaxed into my frame when I slipped my arms around her waist and dropped my chin on her shoulder.
“Checking the event request forms we’ve received just from tonight. We’re already up to twenty-eight.”
“Are you surprised?” I slipped my hands down over her hips and brought them back up, allowing them to rest on her stomach.
“No, I’m not surprised but I’m still relishing in the moment. Oh wait, make that twenty-nine. One more just came through.”
I groaned and retrieved the device from her hand and dropped it into my pocket. “Hey, I need my phone.”
“No, you need to truly absorb the moment, Caeli. Look what you and Ami have accomplished.” I motioned to the room where people were conversing, sipping drinks that matched the buzzed bites they enjoyed and smiling in appreciation for the way the sweet savory offerings melted in their mouths.
“I am appreciating the moment, but business never stops. This is just one event…”
“This is your introduction to Caramel Cove. You expected fifty people and had to cut off registration at two hundred. Do you realize how amazing of an accomplishment that is?”
“I do.”
She sank into my chest. Silently we took in the atmosphere and visuals. Six-Twenty-Nine was a historic fire station that had been converted to an event space. They managed to keep the antiqued feel with steel beams, exposed ductwork, and polished concrete floors.
Above head were massive crystal and steel chandeliers which illuminated with a warm glow throughout the space. The decorator Ami and Caeli hired earned every penny by transforming the location so there was a moody, artsy vibe throughout the space.
I appreciated how they made sure to have creations by local artists displayed on the walls and each catering station was laid to perfection. Nox and I provided appetizers for the evening and Greetings and Salutations kept the guests’ glasses filled. The vibe was perfect. Even though I was giving Caeli shit about not being in the moment I could appreciate her tenacity for business. We shared the same drive but I wouldn’t dare tell her that I too had more than once checked our site and emails for catering requests.
“Then if you truly see how amazing things are, take it all in and you can deal with business tomorrow. Tonight, enjoy the praise from all the hard work you and Ami have done.”
“No one is praising me.” She turned and smiled, looping her arms around my neck.
“I don’t count?”
“You do but you’re biased. You’re always praising me, celebrating me, appreciating me.”
“You’re worth praising, celebrating, and appreciating. I’m not biased. I’m a man who knows your worth and has no issue vocalizing all that you are.”
“You are biased but it’s okay because I love…” She paused and swallowed thickly before forcing out, “ It . I love it .”
“You love it or me ?”
Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth but no words followed. I took the opportunity to kiss her, slow and purposefully. When I pulled back, my eyes locked with hers in sincerity. “I love you, Caeli, and if that’s what you feel, you can say it. It won’t change a damn thing with us…” I frowned and paused. “That’s not exactly true, it will change things between us, but in a good way.”
“You love me?”
“I do.”
“You sure?” She smiled softly.
“Very fucking sure.”
“I love you too,” she said quietly and brushed her lips with mine.
“I know.” I smiled arrogantly. “I was just waiting you out. I knew that’s what you were doing. You’re always so worried about being in this alone, you’re not, you haven’t been and you won’t ever be.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She turned against me so her back was to my chest and I looped my arm loosely around her neck. “They’re still here.”
I followed her line of sight to her parents who were standing near Thurston and his wife.
“Do you want them to leave?”
“No.” She tilted her head back and huffed. “Them being here makes Ami happy but I swear if they disappoint her again, I’m completely cutting them off.”
“And if they disappoint you , I’m beating your father’s ass.” When I lowered my eyes, she was smiling.
“Nox said almost the same thing to Ami. You two are two sides of the same coin.”
“We’re blood, damn near brothers.”
“And God, it shows,” she said in an amused tone before adding, “And you don’t have to worry about them disappointing me. I appreciate that they’re here but I fear it’s only because they see value in what we’re doing. It shouldn’t take an event like tonight to make them supportive parents. I’m not going to be all in until they prove that they can meet Ami and me where we are and not where they want us to be.”
“I respect that.”
“It does make me optimistic that you can have the same potential with your mother, one day. You know the opportunity to mend…”
“Doubtful.”
I hadn’t seen or talked to my mother since her last impromptu visit. I did reach out to my grandfather to check in on her. He let me know she was the same and promised to reach out if she needed me. I had a feeling she wouldn’t. She was keeping her word to stay away.
When Nox let me know he was heading to Lake Grove with Thurston who had business dealings there, to reach out to Caeli and Ami’s parents I supported the decision. My role as Caeli’s man was to make sure her life was balanced, as happy and healthy as possible. So if mending things with her parents contributed to that, I was on board.
“But enough about situations we can’t control, let’s discuss one we can?”
“Such as?”
“What our future looks like.”
“Are you inspired because Nox proposed to Ami?”
He mentioned proposing to Ami a week ago. I was happy for my cousin but his decisions did not inspire mine. When the time was right, Caeli would be my wife. She and I had to cross that finish line at our own pace.
“I’ve told you from day one that this was permanent. That confirmation was given before Nox made the decision to propose. Their future is theirs. We’re in control of ours.”
She angled her head back so I had a visual of her beautiful face and arched a brow. “And what does our future look like?”
“Me changing your name, giving you a couple babies, and living in our happiness. Whatever that looks like for us .”
“Are you…”
Proposing?
“No, not tonight but trust me when I say, you can expect a ring, Caeli.”
“Oh thank God, I thought you were about to tonight.”
“Would that have been so terrible?”
“No, not terrible but unexpected. For the record, I would have said yes. I want all things with you, the marriage, the kids, but we’re not there yet. Close, so very close, but not there yet.”
“I agree ,which is why I want to have a few trial runs…”
I kissed her neck and grasped her hand, tugging her out of the room with me, down the hall to one of the private bathrooms. “Why are we in here?”
“Trial run with the making a baby thing…”
“You want to have sex in here, now ?”
Our sexual connection was one of the things neither of us second guessed. I was a man who relished in the ability to thoroughly please my woman and she appreciated being pleased often.
“Not want to, going to.” I gathered her dress and slid my hand beneath it, hooking my fingers into the thin string at her hip that held her thong in place. With one forceful tug, I ripped the material.
“Bra…”
My mouth was on hers, silencing whatever protest she was about to offer. I worked my hand between her thighs and pushed two fingers into her pussy. It was slick with arousal which had me grinning. She might not have initially been game, but she was down.
“I’m in the middle of an event,” she groaned, discreetly rocking her hips forward.
“The end . There’s less than half an hour left before it’s time to clean up and go home. You’ve done your part, now let me do mine.”
“O…oh fuck, okay, do your thing.”
I leaned in and kissed her neck, unbuckling my pants, and setting my dick free. When I felt her body inch toward a release from my very skillful fingers, I took my hand away, spun her toward the counter, and pushed my palm into her back. Her hands landed on the counter and I was grateful the bathroom was spotless. Regardless, we were both too far gone to care, especially after I aligned my dick at her entrance and thrust in, bottoming out.
I began fucking her at a steady rhythm with one hand at her hip and the other moving between her breasts, pinching, tugging and twisting her nipples to get her there faster. I could cum from just the thought of being in her pussy so this wasn’t about me.
I focused on dragging my piercings roughly over her spot and made sure my thrusts were deep and sure enough, the effort got the job done. I could feel my girl tipping toward the finish line so I leaned over her and grazed her neck with my teeth and bit down enough to add another layer of sensation to expedite the matter.
“Promise you’ll say yes when I ask.”
“I will, I already told you I would.”
“Say it again, promise me, Caeli.
I began grinding and thrusting into her harder and she moaned, pushing back to meet my efforts. “I promise.”
“Promise to what?”
“To say yes to whatever you ask as long as you keep giving me this .” She rolled her hips and I smiled.
“Good enough.” I gripped Caeli’s chin and jerked her face back to take her mouth. The minute my tongue tangled with hers, she exploded.
“Oh my fucking goodness,” she mumbled while her body locked tightly then shattered into a hard, fast orgasm.
I kept encouraging her descent with pointed thrusts until my own release. I trailed kisses over the curve of her jaw and down her neck until her breathing leveled and her body relaxed.
“Yes…” she said quietly, then lifted her head and smiled at me through the mirror.
“To what?”
“Everything. Whenever you ask, the answer will always be yes.”
“Is that the orgasm speaking or your heart?”
She smiled, devilishly slow. “Both, but if you want to be sure, you should work on giving me one more before we leave.”
Her pussy clenched around my dick which was already rising and I groaned, knowing I wouldn’t be able to deny her, ever. My answer would always be yes to everything because she was my everything.
The End!