41. Epilogue
Epilogue
XANDER
Six weeks later
Stone did end up renting out his cousin’s ranch for us to spend a week together in privacy and peace.
As we pull into the long, winding driveway, a wooden sign reading HartStone Ranch arcs over us.
He gave us a little backstory on the ranch and how it was left to his cousin and his now wife.
They’re raising their kids, running a luxury dude ranch, and a working farm all at once.
Impressive shit when you really think about it.
A man and woman wait side by side, his arm around her back protectively when the driver stops the SUV. He drops his arm and greets Stone with a hug.
“Luke and Eli, this is Hazel, my girlfriend.” Stone pulls her forward.
“Those two are my bandmates Tobias and Xander.” He gestures to us.
“Then there’s Jade, Xander’s girlfriend and our PR manager and miracle worker.
” He winks at her. “And the suit is Darren, our manager. I hope you have him shoveling horse shit this week. He requires constant humbling. Everyone, this is Luke and Eli.”
Eli approaches Jade and I with an outstretched hand. “I hear there is another Bruin over here,” she says, looking at Jade.
Jade takes her hand and smiles. “That’s me.”
“Great, I’ll show you to your cabin.” Eli looks at me. “Can you handle the luggage, or do we need a cart?”
“I’ve got it.”
The cold, winter breeze cuts through my coat as we follow her up a paved path.
The two women quickly realize they were at UCLA at the same time and likely shared classes because of their degree focuses.
Eli drops information about amenities as we pass them, explaining when and where meals are served, as well as telling us some activities we’re welcome to join in.
The view from every inch of the ranch is breathtaking. Large, snow-capped peaks surround the land on three sides. Large pastures extend out to the boundary of the evergreen- and aspen-speckled forest. I bet it is stunning in the fall.
The cabin we’re led to is built partially up a slope, giving it an expansive view of the valley the ranch sits in.
Horses run through a snow-covered pasture, the sun making the snow glitter like diamond dust as their hooves kick it up in their wake.
There’s a private hot tub on the deck, just big enough for two, as well as a pair of adirondack chairs and a small gas fire pit.
The cabin itself is one-room with floor-to-ceiling, double-height windows along one wall.
The walls and roof look to be made from knotted pine logs.
One side of the cabin has a stone fireplace with a small sitting area and kitchenette in the corner.
The bathroom has spa features in a cozy, rustic design.
She leaves us once we’re settled in, and I pull Jade into my arms. She melts against me with a contented sigh. I walk us back to the edge of the bed and let my hands drift down to the button of her jeans.
“In front of the open window for everyone to see?” She laughs lightly as I slowly lower her zipper.
“Yeah. I’m going to fuck you right here. Slow and deep until you’re begging for more.” I skim my fingers over the band of her panties and down her center. Her body jerks as the pad of my finger grazes her lace-covered clit. “Unbutton your shirt.”
She lifts her hands to the flannel shirt she’s wearing over a vintage Nirvana concert tee. I keep teasing her with feather-light strokes all over. The little gasps she releases when I stroke her clit stoke the flames of desire inside me. The more I tease her, the wetter her panties grow.
She pulls the flannel off, tossing it to the floor. The concert tee goes next, leaving her in a maroon bra and undone jeans with my hand tucked inside. My cock strains against the denim holding it back.
Her head falls to the side as I run my lips along her neck, down her shoulder blade and use my free hand to unfasten her bra. It drops down to our feet while her tits bounce free. I withdraw my hand from her pants, smiling against the smooth skin of her shoulder at the disappointed groan she makes.
“Pants and panties off,” I rasp as I fill both my hands with her heavy breasts.
I know keeping my hands on her, teasing and tugging her nipples, while she tries to take them off is a challenge. I don’t give a fuck, though, as her ass brushes against my rock-hard cock, teasing me just as much as I am her.
Once she’s naked in front of me, I make quick work of tearing my own clothes off. I sit on the end of the bed and pull her back onto my lap. My cock throbs against her ass as I hook my hands around her thighs and set them on either side of my own.
I can barely make out our reflection in the window as I run my finger along her wet, exposed slit.
Her head falls back when I dip into her folds and circle her little bundle of nerves.
I bite down on the juncture of her neck and shoulder as I alternate between soft circles and sliding my fingers through her wetness to her pussy.
“Fuck,” she moans as I thrust two fingers inside her, hooking them to hit just the right spot.
“Oh, love, you’re fucking drenched for me,” I whisper into her ear.
My fingers work her pussy into a wet frenzy of feral need while she grinds against my palm. When she gives me the telltale first trembling clench of her walls, I pull my hand away. I grip her hips and lift her up, notching my cock at her entrance.
She whimpers at the proximity as I drag my crown along her folds, gathering all her juices.
“Use my cock, love. I want to feel your cum rolling down my thighs.” I run my hands up her sides and cup her breasts again.
She moans as she slides down my length. I cut the pleasure with the ache of pinching her hardened, pink nipples. Her hands move behind her to the bottom of my hips as she starts to bounce on my cock. Her nails dig into my skin as she uses me like I told her to.
“Fuuuck,” I growl low into her ear. “You feel so fucking good.”
Her walls tighten around me, sending pleasure shooting through my veins.
I drop one hand from her tits to her clit, swirling my fingertips in fast circles.
The other hand moves up to her neck, wrapping around firmly.
She comes with a cry of my name, her pussy milking my cock until I erupt inside her.
Hot jets of my cum mix with hers, coating my lap and running down between my thighs.
I drop my forehead to the back of her shoulder as we both catch our breath.
She turns her head and captures my lips with hers.
My arms wrap around her as my dick goes limp and slides from the warmth of her body.
Once I’ve caught my breath, I spin her on my lap and lift her into my arms, carrying her to the bathroom to clean us up.
It definitely doesn’t turn into two more rounds of sex and another shower before dinner.
JADE
Three years later
Two pink lines. A digital readout that I think says pregnant, but I can’t really see through the tears blurring my eyes.
Xander’s vasectomy reversal was only forty percent successful.
Due to recreational drug use in his twenties, he also had infertility issues.
We’ve had so many struggles getting pregnant that we’d basically given up.
“Xander,” I call out to him.
I didn’t mention anything this week as my breasts started to ache and my period was late.
It took inhuman strength to not buy a bunch of tests and take them every day.
But I’ve been down that road, and demoralizing consequences weren’t something I wanted to put myself through.
I’m over two weeks late now, though. And the test came back positive in seconds.
“Yeah?” He walks into the bathroom, not seeing the tests lined up on the counter because he’s so focused on my tear-stained cheeks. “What’s wrong?” He cups my face and wipes his thumbs over my tears, drying them tenderly.
“Nothing.” I grab the tests. “Look. I’m pregnant.”
He does a double take at the tests. “What?”
I start crying all over again when tears spring to his eyes.
He looks at each white stick twice, making sure they all have matching results before flattening his palm over my belly.
He drops to his knees and collapses forward, sobbing with his forehead against my belly.
I run my fingers through his hair as he lets all the pent-up emotion out.
I know how hard he took every bit of bad news over the past two years. The guilt he felt hung from his neck like an anchor. I did my best to ease his guilt, but it was always there, a ghost of his past choices haunting him.
He looks up at me with glassy, red eyes and his hands on my hips. “I’m going to be the best dad I can be.”
“I know.” It’s my turn to wipe his tears. “You will, because you’re already the best husband.”
He stands and covers my mouth with his. The kiss is full of tenderness, his palm sliding back to my stomach. He smiles against my lips.
“I love you so much,” he says.
“I love you, too.”