Epilogue One
Harper
Six Months Later
We had two wedding ceremonies. The first was the real one, the one we shared with Ev’s family.
It was beautiful. Everything I could’ve wished for and then some.
Matvey walked me down the aisle, and everyone was in tears before we’d even said I do.
It’s the family I always wanted. I can admit when I’m wrong, and I’d been so very wrong about them.
They’re loving and kind and sweet, and they’ve welcomed me in with open arms and shown me more love than I’ve ever had.
Niki surprised us with our real wedding certificate, the one with Evgeny and Harper Melnikov written on it. He’d given us a fake one with Nikitin on it so we could use it as proof of our wedding, but we keep the real one at home, safely tucked away in our bedroom so no one else will ever see it.
The other ceremony, the fake one that everyone thought was real, we did in front of a small group of coworkers and friends.
I finally got to meet Gertie, the woman who took all my messages, and even though I’m sure I annoyed the hell out of her, she gave me a big hug as soon as she saw me, and her boyfriend said I had a beautiful aura.
I really like them, and I told Ev we need to have them over for supper soon.
He’d smiled and kissed my head, probably hoping I’ll forget about it.
Caleb and his girlfriend were also there, and I saw them laughing by the bar with Jace and Will.
They’d dressed Cupcake in a pink dress, and I’m pretty sure that tiny dog upstaged me, but I’d been way too happy to care.
Arthur was in an exceptionally good mood, and he even wore his special black suspenders and a bowtie for the occasion.
Of course he’s been smiling ever since he heard about Ev and me.
Having your top journalist married to the best defense attorney in the city is one hell of a perk.
There was no way we could avoid inviting Devin and his wife, even if it pissed Ev off to no end.
He tolerated it, though, keeping up the facade of a well-respected lawyer instead of an insanely jealous Bratva member.
Later, he begrudgingly admitted that Dev did seem very happily married and not at all flirty with me.
I’m cautiously optimistic that maybe we can have them over for dinner at some point.
I walk past the photos of our wedding, stopping to smile at the one with Ev and all his cousins.
They might look older than they did in the photos I saw at Lev and Jolene’s, but Ev still has that same grin on his face, Yel and Val are still together and slightly off to the side, and Mia is laughing while she tries to jump up and give her brother bunny ears.
Sveta, Nat, and Max have their arms wrapped around each other and huge smiles on their faces, while Niki, Damien, and Luka are all laughing at something one of them has said.
They look older, but they’re all still very much the same, and I love that they’ve remained as close as they were when they were kids.
I rest my hand on my round belly, hoping our son will be just as close with his cousins.
Ev was thrilled when he found out he was going to be a daddy, and even happier the day the ultrasound showed we’d be having a son.
Watson knows something is up. He keeps side-eyeing my ever-growing stomach and letting out long, weary sighs, probably already anticipating an energetic toddler climbing over him and waking him from his naps.
When I walk into the living room, I find my husband on the couch, book in hand, reading glasses on, and a serious look on his face.
He’s reading one of his horror novels, the ones I can’t ever seem to really get into but I know he loves.
Watson is sleeping on one of the chairs near the TV, and there’s a Scooby-Doo episode on with the volume turned down low.
Before Ev can notice me, I tiptoe closer, but right as I’m about to place a kiss on the back of his neck, he says, “Nice try, Love, but I clocked you as soon as you came in the room.” He turns so my lips meet his instead of his neck.
He groans and cups the back of my head while I carefully take his reading glasses off, even though I think he looks sexy in them.
“Come here,” he whispers against my lips.
I walk around the couch until I’m standing in front of him. “I read something interesting on the news today.”
“You did?” he asks, and if I didn’t know him so well, I’d say he sounded innocent.
“Archer Davenport was arrested today,” I say, gauging his reaction at the mention of my douchebag ex.
Ev has one hell of a poker face, and he keeps it perfectly intact when I keep going and say, “He was caught with a lot of cocaine and several prostitutes. Something about an anonymous tip to the police. There’s even talk of security camera footage being leaked,” I add.
“Wow,” he says, and I frown at him.
“Are you seriously going to play innocent with me?”
He gives me a smirk and says, “I guess karma just caught up with the bastard.”
I give him a look that makes it clear I know he was behind it, but I also think it’s one of the sweetest things anyone’s ever done for me, because that asshole did some real damage to my self-confidence, so I let it go without making him admit anything.
I put my crummy ex out of my mind and focus on my gorgeous husband instead.
He watches me as I put his glasses on. “Maybe I’ll need reading glasses one day.”
“I hope so.” He grabs onto my hips and slowly pulls me closer. “You look sexy in glasses. There’s definitely a hot librarian vibe going on right now.”
“Is that right, Mr. Defense Attorney?” I say, making him smirk up at me. Using my best bimbo voice, I say, “Do you want me to pretend I’m your secretary and I’m helping you get ready for a big case, but it’s all too complicated for me so I give up and suggest we just have sex instead?”
He cocks an eyebrow. “You’re playing Gertie in this sex fantasy?”
I laugh and shake my head, going back to my regular voice as I take his glasses off and toss them aside. “No, just a stereotypical slutty secretary. Every man’s fantasy, kind of thing.”
“Not mine,” Ev insists as he slowly starts to unbutton my shirt, the one of his I borrowed because I can’t tolerate the feel of anything tight right now. “All my fantasies involve an annoyingly curious journalist with a nicely rounded belly.”
I laugh while he pulls off my shirt and then lets out an appreciative sigh at the sight of me in nothing but my panties. They aren’t even the sexy lace ones that I can no longer fit in. It’s just plain cotton, but he’s looking at them like it’s the most erotic thing he’s ever seen.
When he slides a hand between my thighs and drags one of his long fingers along the cotton fabric, I’m not sure whose moan is louder, mine or his.
“Already so wet, Love,” he says, and my heart races at the deep tone of his voice and at the nickname he chose for me.
“Must be the pregnancy hormones,” I say, biting back the smile I want to give when he tips his head and furrows his brow.
“Must be,” he finally says as he presses his finger in a little harder and places a soft kiss to my stomach. “Because my wife was never this wet before she got pregnant.”
“Definitely not,” I say while he drags his finger up the seam of my panties until it’s resting on my clit.
“I must be remembering wrong,” he says, slowly circling my bundle of nerves until I’m swollen and aching for more.
“I could’ve sworn there were countless times you were so wet you were dripping onto my cock before I’d even entered you.
” He pulls me closer and kisses the underside of my breast. “But like I said, I must be remembering it wrong.”
“Yep,” I say, letting out a gasp when he pinches my clit between his thumb and forefinger and starts to massage it.
The feel of his hot, wet tongue swiping over my nipple nearly makes me collapse.
The fingers of his free hand dig into my hip, holding me up while his other hand continues to tease me.
I watch his tongue roll over my nipple before he slowly sucks me in.
My breasts have not only grown in size since the pregnancy, but they’ve also become impossibly sensitive, and all it takes is a couple of sucks from Ev while he works my clit before I’m coming so hard my knees give out.
He catches me, easing me onto his lap while my body shakes and slowly comes down from the rush.
His cock digs into my soaked panties, reminding me that we’re not even close to being done here. I rock my hips, a shiver running down my spine at the quick rush of pleasure mixing with the pain of my overly sensitive clit being stimulated before it’s had a chance to recover.
“Take me out, Love,” Ev groans in my ear. “And then pull your drenched panties aside so I can feel that wet pussy against my skin.”
With trembling fingers, I reach down and clumsily undo his belt and pull down his zipper before reaching in to wrap my hands around his hard-as-a-rock cock. His thick girth is a solid weight in my hand as I pull him out and position his head at my slit.
“Fuck,” he hisses out when he feels my arousal start to coat him. “Lower onto me, Love. Let me feel that slippery pussy wrap around my cock.”
I clutch the back of his neck and slowly lower myself onto my husband’s thick, hard length.
My body clenches at the feel of him spreading me wide, the burn and the ecstasy mixing together until he’s as deep as I can get him.
A tremor runs through my body at the sensation.
He runs his hands up my thighs, over my pregnant stomach, sliding along my skin until he’s filling his hands with my breasts.
Kneading them in his large hands, he teases me, pinching and squeezing my nipples until my body takes over.
I start to ride him, working my hips while he teases me with his touches before he takes me in his mouth.
I moan his name, clasping him tighter against me.
My fingers clutch at his neck and hair while my hips buck, impaling myself on his cock again and again, desperate for the pleasure that’s just out of reach.
His teeth scrape my nipple, causing another tremor to ripple through me.
My inner muscles squeeze around his shaft, pulling a deep groan from him that has pride filling my chest. I love that I’m the only woman he’s ever been with, love that I’m the only one who gets to see the infamous defense attorney come undone, and I’ll never take that for granted.
I may be riding his thick cock like a woman possessed, but everything I do is for him.
I want to drive him wild, to make him crazy with lust and pleasure, and I always want him to be satisfied.
It’s part of how I show him I love him, and I do love him.
I love him more than I ever thought possible, and right now I want to hear him growl my name and feel him pulse inside me as he lets go and comes hard enough to make him see stars.
I want to always have this effect on him, just like he does on me.
When he feels the orgasm hit me, I’m rewarded with the deep growl of my name right before he empties inside me.
I wrap my arms around him tighter, holding him as we climax together, and when the world stops spinning and I no longer feel like I’m floating, I let out a shaky breath and rest my forehead against his.
“I love you,” I tell him, knowing it will always be true. There will never come a time when my heart doesn’t beat and bleed for this man.
“I love you too,” he whispers back, lazily dragging his fingers along the side of my belly while we both catch our breath. “Forever, Love. Always and forever.”
I smile and nuzzle in against him, feeling perfectly content.
My body is spent and exhausted in the best way possible and my husband’s arms are wrapped around me.
I knew from the very beginning that there was a story with Ev.
I just had no idea that it would become our story, and that was the one I’d been unknowingly chasing all along.