Epilogue
Jasmine
Four months later…Our wedding day
I insisted we get married in a way that Eric’s parents could attend the wedding. Which meant planning a small, intimate ceremony that would take place in the beautiful little garden area at the Wellington Later Life Care Facility.
There were only about a dozen people in attendance, and everyone other than Dominque was from the facility—a few of the residents/friends Eric’s parents insisted they wanted there, and two aides to watch over the patients to make sure no one lapsed into a disoriented or confused state.
Eric’s mother and father were under the impression that we were renewing our vows, and his mother, Emilie, was giddy with excitement as she walked down the aisle before I did and tossed rose petals, at the moment believing that she was the flower girl at a stranger’s wedding.
I didn’t care. This was exactly what I wanted. Emilie’s exuberance was sweet and infectious and Eric watched his mother not with sadness, but with a fond smile on his face as she giggled and finally emptied her basket of rose petals. He’d come to terms with these more difficult moments as they grew more frequent, so patient and loving despite their confusion. He only cared about their well-being, and knowing they had the best of care, which they did.
And right now, they were both very happy being out in the sunshine on a beautiful day, attending a wedding.
Once the wedding march sounded from a Bluetooth speaker, I started down the white runner toward Eric, only seeing him as I approached where he stood with a minister beneath an archway woven with flowers. His gorgeous blue eyes all but devoured me, taking in my simple but elegantly flared wedding dress, constructed of silk and Chantilly lace. The design was strapless, with a sweetheart neckline and small train.
He looked breathtakingly handsome and distinguished in his black tailored suit, and as I neared there was no mistaking the unconditional love that shone in his eyes. He was my everything. My security and stability and my future. The one person who truly knew every facet of my personality, my hopes and dreams, and spent every day making sure I knew how much he adored me.
I was truly the luckiest woman in the world.
When I reached him, we glanced out at our small little congregation, and that’s when we both saw the recognition on his mother’s face, her expression wreathed in pure joy as she watched her son “renew” his wedding vows to his wife. We had no idea how long it would last, but it didn’t matter because that little glimpse was enough for Eric to know that he’d given his mother the priceless gift of watching her son get married.
The vows were short and sweet, the kiss Eric gave me once the minister pronounced us husband and wife one of utter possession.
There was no reception, just a huge cake we’d ordered to make sure everyone in the place could enjoy a slice. We stayed just long enough to cut the cake and enjoy a few bites of our own, then someone played an old Sinatra song and Eric danced with his mother—a poignant moment for him, I could tell—while I did the same with his dad, laughing while trying to avoid his clunky feet.
A few minutes after the song ended, the disorientation set in with his mother, and instead of Eric panicking, he let the aide step in and soothe his parents and usher them back to their rooms.
We took that as our cue to leave, because it did his parents no good to be surrounded by “strangers” when they were in that state of confusion.
“That was beautiful,” Dominique said, as we walked out together toward the cars waiting to take us to separate places. Dominque to the airport to catch a flight home to Coral Gables, and us to our hotel here in New York.
“Thank you for coming,” I said, kissing her cheek as we reached her vehicle. “It meant everything to us.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It was a pleasure watching Eric finally marry the one woman who brought this bachelor to his knees. Enjoy your honeymoon in Fiji.”
We planned to. That was the new thing about my husband. He’d learned to relax. To take time for himself. To let that control not rule his life like it used to…well, except in the bedroom, where I definitely liked him on the dominant side.
I cuddled up to Eric as our driver navigated the streets back to the hotel, thinking about the past four months and how much had already changed, in a good way. After Eric told me about the confrontation he had with James, much to my relief James had moved permanently to London since his reputation was ruined in Coral Gables. My art was flourishing, and there was just an overall sense of contentment in my heart that had been missing since before my parents’ deaths.
And I knew that Eric was the reason.
“Thank you for today, for letting my parents be there for the wedding,” he said, bringing me out of my thoughts and my attention back to my husband.
I smiled up at him. “Of course. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I think they had a good time.”
Eric chuckled and shook his head. “I saw my father stepping all over your feet when you danced with him. He used to be a great dancer, but I think he’s forgotten how.”
There was no pain in his voice, just a statement of fact. “Maybe, but it doesn’t matter.”
“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed as a wicked grin touched his lips. “What does matter is getting you up to the room and stripping you out of this dress so I can do unspeakable things to you.”
I bit my bottom lip, my body already on board with the idea. “Oh, yes, please.”
His eyes softened as he brushed his fingers along my jaw, staring deeply into my eyes. “In case you didn’t know, or needed to hear it a millionth time, I fucking adore you, Mrs. Maxim.”
I nuzzled my cheek into his warm palm, loving how my new married name sounded. “You’re not half bad yourself, Mr. Maxim,” I teased.
“Half bad?” he mocked and arched a brow. “You’ll be changing your tune when you’re exhausted from all the orgasms I plan to make you endure.”
I groaned, because there was no doubt in my mind that he’d keep that promise. This man was very generous with my pleasure, before taking his.
We arrived at the posh hotel and tried to behave on our way to the penthouse suite, but Eric was an impatient man. Halfway up in the elevator, he was already kissing me senseless, his hands roaming over my hips and his lower body keeping mine pinned to the wall.
The elevator opened directly onto our floor, and he swept me up in his arms and carried me straight to the bedroom. Once there, he set me on my feet and didn’t waste time, immediately trying to figure out the complicated buttons securing the back of my wedding dress.
He growled in frustration when those satin buttons kept slipping through his big fingers and not the eyelet. “I’m going to fucking rip this dress off your body.”
I gasped, secretly loving his dominant voice. “Don’t you dare!”
“It’s either that, or fuck you with the dress on,” he replied, sounding completely serious.
“Neither,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at him, his eyes already dark and hot with desire for me. “I want us both naked.”
He released another low, deep sound of annoyance for the uncooperative buttons and his fumbling fingers. “You’re going to pay for this,” he teased.
“I hope so,” I said cheekily, and giggled as he cursed a few more times until the dress finally dropped to the floor.
I striped out of my bra and panties while watching him quickly shed all his clothes. I licked my lips at the jut of his cock, more than willing to get down on my knees and pleasure him with my mouth.
He shook his head and pushed me back onto the bed. “Don’t worry, wife, I’m going to defile that mouth later,” he said, pushing my legs apart and laying between my spread thighs, his breath hot on my sex. “But I’m still thinking about that ‘half bad’ comment and I’ve got something to prove.”
No, he really didn’t. He was a generous lover, always, but tonight he was exceptional. He made good on his promise, tormenting me with hands and fingers and tongue, and it didn’t take long before I had his hair in my grip and I was crying out his name, writhing from all the exquisite, blissful pleasure he forced me to endure.
Three earth-shattering orgasms later, while I was still catching my breath, he moved up and over my body and entered me in one long, hard, deliberate thrust—lodging himself so deep I gasped and clutched onto his shoulders for what I knew would be a wild ride.
I expected him to move, to fuck me relentlessly, but he remained still. His forearms were braced on the bed beside me, and he stared down into my eyes, so serious. So tender. So filled with the kind of love I’d dreamed of and hoped for and was now mine.
“I want a baby with you,” he said, brushing away a few strands of hair from my cheek, even as I felt his cock pulse deep inside of me as he held back his own need to finish. “A family.”
I swallowed hard, my heart soaring and so much emotion gathering in my chest. We’d discussed kids before getting married, but our decision hadn’t been a definitive thing, mostly because it hadn’t been a make-or-break deal for me—and I knew that Eric took his age into consideration, now at forty-seven. Truly, all that mattered to me was that I had Eric in my life, and he’d given me that promise.
But I couldn’t deny that the thought of children filling up our home made me undeniably ecstatic. “Eric, are you sure?”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head before a smile curved his lips, while one of his hands trailed down the side of my body in a heated caress. “Make that babies . I want more than one. As soon as possible because as you know, I’m not getting any younger.”
I rolled my eyes, even as joy rushed through me. “Yes, you’re absolutely decrepit.”
He pinched my ass, making me yelp in surprise. “I wouldn’t go that far.” His playful manner shifted into something more serious again. “What do you think?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding and beyond delighted. “I want everything with you.”
He smiled, looking incredibly happy as he finally started moving inside of me, a new purpose to his thrusts. “Okay, then everything it is.”
And for the rest of our lives together, that’s exactly what he gave me… everything .
I hope you enjoyed Jasmine and Eric’s love story.