Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Gabriel
I'd settled into my internship like it was made for me, and every day, I fell more and more in love with my job. Thank demons Xin had stopped me from sabotaging myself by feeding me all that knowledge.
It was Sunday, and Xin and I were spending the whole day together.
Last week, Eshim and Jerry had dropped by for dinner, and the week before that, it was Dakota and all three of his mates.
Bonding with Xin hadn't just given me a wonderful partner, but an equally wonderful family.
We'd stumbled upon Renée once, though, because her son was in one of my music classes.
We'd both been surprised to see each other, but we'd hidden it well.
Thankfully, Renée hadn't questioned how I went from an assistant to a music teacher (intern or otherwise), mostly because her kid had sung praises of me.
Patrick was still rotting in prison, and I rarely thought about him now. He was in my past now, and my future was a lot more interesting.
"What are you thinking about?" Xin asked, their fingers trailing down my chest. We were naked and in our bed, with Gray safely locked outside the room.
We'd just finished a round of sex and were taking a breather before round two.
Or at least I was. Xin, demon that they were, didn't need a break.
They could fuck from morning to night if they wanted.
That was one of the many things I was looking forward to after I died, and it was just below seeing Kevin and my parents again.
"The future," I answered, and Xin smiled.
"How's it looking?"
"Blinding," I answered with a happy sigh, and they hummed. Their hand dipped lower, and I moaned as it wrapped around my soft cock. They stroked slowly, and my cock awakened, hardening in their grip.
"Fuck, Xin," I gasped, my hips rising off the bed automatically.
"Stay still," they murmured, curling their body over mine and holding me against their chest as they continued jerking me off. Their skin was hot against mine, their hand firm as it moved over my length, and pleasure skittered over my skin, making me tremble.
Without moving much, Xin slid inside me again, making me moan as their hair trailed over my cheek. They were in their true form, which meant their hair had a mind of its own, and it trailed over my body in teasing, light strokes that made every touch feel more intense.
"Tell me what you see," they murmured, and I blinked into the bright room, trying to turn my head to look at them.
"Huh?"
"What do you see when you imagine our future?"
I swallowed a moan, my hand gripping their arm as it held me in place. "You want to—talk about that—now?" I demanded, my voice breaking every time they moved inside me.
"I do," they murmured in my ear, and I shivered as I imagined them saying those words in another context. Did I want that? Did they?
"Well," I licked my lips, then paused, unsure if I could say it. What if it wasn't what Xin wanted? I didn't want to pressure them into anything. What we had now was more than enough.
Xin stopped moving, and I whined. "Move, Xin."
"You talk, I move," they murmured, and I practically sobbed. Were they doing this because they thought I wouldn't tell them otherwise?
I guess I didn't have a good track record of admitting what I wanted.
"Fine, fine. I'll—I'll talk," I said, but still they didn't move.
With a groan, I started speaking. "I'm a full-time music teacher," I said, and they pumped into me, making me gasp.
"And you still hack rich assholes and make them less rich.
" Another thrust. "We live in a house with a yard and four bedrooms. A big, spacious home.
" Another thrust. My fingers dug into their pretty blue skin as they paused, and I swallowed hard, my voice shaking as I said the next words. "We're married."
For a moment, nothing. Then Xin thrust into me again as their hair turned my face so their lips could crash against mine, devouring my moans as their tongue slid into my mouth, as if they wanted to taste the words I'd just spoken.
As suddenly as it had begun, the kiss ended, and Xin moved again, their lips brushing against my ear as they asked, "You want to marry me?"
I bit my lip, then nodded, my heart racing in my chest. Demons didn't get married, at least I didn't think so. The mate bond was far more unbreakable than a marriage after all. Would they think it's pointless?
"Yeah, me too. Let's do it as soon as this dark soul business is resolved, hmm?"
I blinked at their words, and my eyes widened as the realization struck me. Had I just proposed mid-sex? And had they accepted?
"No!" I exclaimed, and they froze.
In a carefully neutral voice, they asked, "No?"
Turning my head, I shot them a beseeching look. "I mean, I want to marry you. But this can't be our proposal!"
Xin blinked, then started laughing, the scales on their face shimmering iridescently as if in expression of their joy. Fuck, they were beautiful.
"Okay, I can understand that. How about I plan a proper proposal for you? I won't tell you when it's going to happen so it can be a real surprise. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes," I answered with a laugh, falling even more in love with them. "That's very acceptable."
Xin hummed, then started moving again, their thrusts deep and slow. We weren't fucking this time. Xin was making love to me, and I loved it. "What else?"
I moaned, head thrown back as they filled me so completely they were all I could think about. But then they stopped, still fully inside me. "What else, Gabriel?"
I shivered at the way they said my name, then cleared my throat. "I... we have kids."
"Yeah? How many?" Xin asked as they moved inside me at a leisurely pace, as if we had all the time in the world. Which I supposed we did.
"Two, a boy and a girl. Close in age so they can be each other's best—shit!" I moaned as Xin pressed against my prostate, their hair flicking my left nipple while another strand twisted the right one. I was so damned close, and they knew it.
"I like that," Xin murmured into my ear, their voice betraying the slim control they had on themself. "I would be honored to have a family with you, Gabriel."
It was too much. The way they said my name—the way they always said it—was the last straw, and I screamed their name as I came, my whole body shaking and trembling against theirs as the most powerful release of my life crashed over me.
Xin held me tight as they pumped into me a few more times before filling me with their release, chanting my name against my ear.
We—I breathed hard for a few minutes, my mind a hazy, blissful wasteland, Xin's palm moving up and down my chest a distant sensation.
I couldn't believe they'd used sex as an interrogation technique. It had been highly effective, though. I'd found myself blurting all the things I would've never said out loud otherwise.
Which brought me to my next question. Were we engaged now?!
Xin
Marriage and kids. I'd never imagined that would be in the cards for me, at least not in this life.
Yet the thought of building a life and family with Gabriel felt right to me. Like that was the reason I was in the human world, not dark souls or demons or any of that.
Gabriel stirred a few minutes later, and I could sense his hesitation, his embarrassment at having shared his deepest desires with me. How long would he have held onto those dreams without sharing them with me if I hadn't forced his hand?
"We don't actually have to do any of that," he mumbled, his cheeks red and his eyes locked on the sheets.
Unsatisfied with the position we were in, I slowly slid out of him, making him hiss. I'd need to apply some lotion to his poor hole. We'd started our day with sex, then done it again after lunch, and this had been right after. His hole needed some rest.
I turned him around so he was facing me, and wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him close.
"Why not?" I questioned, using my hair to tilt his head up so he had to meet my eyes.
"If it's not what you want..." He trailed off, eyes flicking this way and that.
"I want," I said, my voice thick with the truth of my words. "I want it all, Gabriel. I want to marry you. I want to raise kids with you."
Gabriel's body went lax, his lips curving as he finally, finally met my eyes and stayed. His dark brown eyes twinkled with the dreams he'd shared, with the possibilities our future held. "Yeah?"
Instead of answering, I kissed him, soft and firm and full of every unexplainable emotion I felt. Gabriel hummed as he kissed me back, and I slowly pulled back, meeting his gaze.
"I love you, Gabriel Lawson-López," I murmured, and he grinned, maybe because I'd chosen to use both his last names. The time he'd spent as a López had been difficult for him, but it had made him the person he was, and I would never try to erase that.
"I love you too," he replied, then raised a brow at me. "So are we engaged now?"
"I promised you a proper proposal, so no. That was just a conversation about the future. When I propose and you say yes, that's when we'll be engaged."
Gabriel laughed, then winced, reminding me of his poor, wrecked hole. "And you're confident I'll say yes, huh?"
Instead of answering him right away, I snapped my fingers, and a small tube fell onto the mattress beside us.
Picking it up, I squeezed some of the cream out and went to work applying it over every inch of his reddened hole, inserting my finger inside him to make sure it got everywhere.
When I put the tube away and glanced up, Gabriel was watching me with a soft look on his face. Then, he answered his own question. "Yeah. I will."
With a laugh, I pulled him close, held him tight as he snuggled into me.
Gabriel had faced a lot of hardships in the short amount of time he'd been in this world, and I was going to make it my life's mission that no other difficulties crossed his path for the rest of his life.
Whatever he wanted, I would give him. A house, a wedding , a marriage, a family... I wanted it all with him.
A soft snore vibrated against my chest, and I smiled as I glanced down at my sleeping mate.
Watching him sleep was one of my favorite ways to pass the time, and since I slept a lot less than he did, I got to do it often.
All of Gabriel's worries and anxieties disappeared when he slept, his face softening and appearing younger than he was.
Sometimes, I wished I'd met him earlier, before he lost his brother. Maybe I could've saved him from the heartache, from the loneliness.
Gray whined outside the door, so I pulled up the blanket to cover us, then unlocked the door with a wave of my hand.
The dog rushed in quickly, and I used magic to help him climb onto the bed. He was pretty old, but still quite healthy.
Gray spread out on Gabriel's other side, making me smile. No one could get to Gabriel as long as the two of us were here.
Holding him close, I let my eyes fall shut, breathing in his sweet scent.
In the short amount of time I'd known him, he had become my home.
It didn't matter if we were in the human realm or Afterworld. Gabriel would always be my home now, as I would be his.