Epilogue #2
“Uh, just… Reach into your pocket there,” I said, watching anxiously as his fingers lifted from my face to heed my command. The velvet box looked so dark and imposing in his slender fingers, my heart speeding up a little at the sight.
He gasped, his blue eyes widening as he processed what he was holding, and I realized he hadn’t suspected the proposal at all.
He cracked it open before I could even start explaining anything, revealing what was inside.
Identical plain gold wedding bands, differing only in size, tucked into little slots.
He liked cute and colorful, but neither of us were jewelry wearers, and I knew gemstones or ornamentation on his hand would have driven him crazy.
The only thing even close to jewelry I’d ever worn was a plastic beaded bracelet he’d made for me forever ago, and eventually when I’d started to get paranoid about it breaking apart, I’d put it up on the rearview mirror of my truck, where it still hung and made me smile every day.
“Wait,” I said, fumbling the box away from him when he attempted to tug the smaller ring out. “You can’t wear it yet!”
“Why not!?” He demanded, his eyebrows furrowing together to show his displeasure.
“Because we have to wait until the wedding!” I answered, then my stomach did a loop in my guts as I realized what I’d said, without even really asking him if it was okay. “I mean, you know, if you say yes. I mean, um…”
“Yes!” He said instantly, practically squirming in impatience as he reached out for the box. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you! Now give me my ring!”
“You didn’t even let me ask!” I complained, holding it out of his reach and pinning him to the chair so he couldn’t scramble over me for it.
Sucking in a deep and slow breath, he let it out in a slow exhale before going limp in the chair.
“Okay,” he said, with an incredibly tiny tinge of apology in the word. “You can ask.”
Snorting, I resisted the urge to laugh out loud at his petulant, spoiled expression.
The fact that he was even willing to let me go through with it the way I’d wanted was an incredibly generous gesture from him, so I wasn’t going to waste it.
Even if he’d already said yes, so there wasn’t exactly much suspense in it.
On top of that, we were already mates. The depth of our bond had been literally sanctioned by destiny and far surpassed anything that could be demonstrated with a legal ceremony or marriage paperwork. But still, it was a stepping stone in our relationship that I wanted.
I’d sort of had a plan in mind for my speech, but he’d thrown me off with his reaction. And as I stared at his beautiful, expectant face, everything I’d rehearsed and prepared melted out of my brain and left me with no choice but to speak from my heart.
“I just love you so fucking much, Angel. I think about you before I make any decision, and how it’ll affect you. You’re the most important part of my life. Without you, I don’t have anything.”
Carefully setting the ring box on the floor, I took his hands in mine. The way my tattooed hands looked swallowing up his lovely, delicate ones, sent my pulse tumbling inside me.
“I want to be linked to you in every way that’s humanly possible. I want to be your mate, your best friend, and your husband. Is that… Okay with you? Will you marry me?” I finished, grinning when he started frantically nodding before I’d even fully finished the last sentence.
“Yes!” He repeated, nearly vaulting off the chair as he tried wriggling into my arms. “Oh my god, of course I will, Kieran! I love you more than anything!”
Opening my arms to let him smash himself into my chest, I gripped onto his perfect ass and rose up from the floor taking him with.
Like always, his thighs automatically circled my waist, his arms hooking around my neck.
It was still his favorite place to be, held up against me with our faces aligned.
Our lips crashed together in an urgent, passionate kiss that outpaced the sweet one we’d had when he’d come in the door.
His fingers clutched at my back collar, his perfect little body squirming against me until I was completely hard and ready to throw him on a mattress and show him just how good of a husband I could be.
“Can I have my ring now?” He pleaded, his beautifully wide eyes framed by damp lashes. His lips, already dark and full from how I’d sucked and bitten them, poked out in a tiny pout.
I swallowed hard, my Adam’s apple bobbing in my throat. “C’mon, Jordy, it’s tradition. We’re supposed to do the wedding first.”
“So we’ll do it tomorrow,” he breathed out. “We can just go to the courthouse, and-”
“No way,” I cut him off, shaking my head. “We’re having a real wedding, with a cake and guests and vows. I have plans.”
“Plans?” He echoed, laughing. “Kieran, you’re not going to be a bridezilla, are you?”
It was exactly the kind of statement that would have embarrassed the hell out of me before, but I didn’t have any reason to feel that way now. So what if I was? I wanted everyone we knew to know how much we loved each other, and how we’d do anything for one another.
I shrugged, giving him a pointed look. “Maybe. So what if I am?”
“I love you,” he said quietly, squeezing my neck tightly. When he pulled back, the amount of adoration in his eyes was all I’d ever wanted in the world. “We’ll do your big wedding, whatever you want. Especially since our mating kind of, um…” He trailed off, giggling when I lightly groaned. “Yeah.”
“Thank you for understanding, Angel,” I said, nuzzling my face into his hand when he cupped my cheek. “I can’t wait to make you Jordy James.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized I’d never spoken or even thought them out loud before. The way his eyebrows shot up showed me he hadn’t ever considered it either.
“Jordy James,” he repeated, and I watched the corner of his mouth quiver before it perked up to show his amusement. “It kind of sounds, um…”
“Like a porn star,” I finished, then couldn’t prevent my own snort as I squeezed my eyes closed. His laughter poured out to fill up the room.
“I mean, I do have a lot of student loans, so maybe it’s not the worst idea,” he teased, laughing again when I shook my head wryly. “You know, I bet we could make serious bank if we did some videos together.”
“I don’t think so,” I answered flatly, even though I knew he was only taunting me. I’d changed a lot, but there were some things I’d never be quite relaxed enough for. “Your body is for my eyes only.”
Grinning, he blinked his lashes at me before planting a soft, unbearably sweet kiss on my cheek. “All yours. Always.”
“I don’t know,” I pondered, injecting a note of resignation in my voice as I hitched him up and tossed him over my shoulder. He squealed, wriggling as I smacked his perky ass. “It sounds like you need a reminder.”
“Oh, no.” He pretended to be anguished by the suggestion as I made my way down the hall to our bedroom. But the way his stiff cock was digging into me betrayed his real feelings on the idea. “Please don’t punish me, Kieran. I promise I’ll be good for you.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” I assured him. “Maybe if you make me really happy, I’ll let you pick out one of the wedding cake flavors.”
He burst out laughing again, and the musical sound of his joy enveloped me along with his sugary scent. I’d done that, brought that sound and that beautiful smile out of him.
The pride I felt at being his mate, making him feel happy and safe every day, only came second to the intense love and devotion I felt every time I looked at him.
The edgy, guarded person I’d been before I’d opened my heart to him could never have imagined being this happy, or making someone else so happy, but it had become the most important aspect of my existence.
And I wouldn’t have changed a single thing about him, or our life together.