Epilogue
ELIAS
FOUR YEARS LATER
“Just because Matty isn’t home doesn’t mean you can take over his room.”
I don’t know why I bother; Calum and I have the same argument every time Matty is away for a competition. The room doesn’t even have a bed—just a futon sofa off in the corner—but I know the real reason he takes an interest is the wall of mirrors.
He loves to sit and make funny faces in front of it, but right now he’s lying curled up with his face pressed to the glass, Matty’s special music note themed throw blanket wrapped around his shoulders, with his Switch playing one of the Zelda games.
“Yes it does.”
Calum isn’t quite big enough I can’t throw him over my shoulder if I need to, but I’d really rather he got up of his own accord.
“Your aunt will be here in ten minutes, buddy. You all packed up?”
The look he throws over his shoulder is pure disgruntled disgust, and I answer with a pointed stare.
“Did you swap out the clothes? Pack your charger?”
He flips the blanket back over his head and grunts. I’m supposed to be making him do more things independently, but I can’t help the old habit of itching to do it for him or at least following behind and double checking.
Even though I know Miya has everything at her place that Cal could need—sensory items and spare clothes included—I still meticulously go through and make sure he hasn’t forgotten anything.
He hasn’t.
When the doorbell rings not long after, I hear shuffling from Matty’s room, and I’m glad he hasn’t decided to rebelliously set up camp. That’s happened a couple of times, him fighting Miya and me when he really wants to see Matty.
Miya came prepared with Roxy in tow and a fresh bag of snacks on her wrist. Always a good motivator to get Cal moving.
My sister pouts when she gives a cursory look around and doesn’t immediately see Cal. “Would it be such a chore for my nephew to greet me just once? I brought brownies.”
There’s feet shuffling down the hall, and I hand over Cal’s bag to Roxy, who simply pats her wife on the back and kisses the side of her head.
“You see him every weekend, love. Besides, bonus Dad has been gone, what, two weeks? It’s gotta be hitting him hard.”
Matty’s trips are usually only two or three days max, more likely than not just under twenty-four hours, because the team never travels very far. But they got invited to a showcase in New York, and since half of the team can’t handle long flights, they’ve had to bus it the whole way.
With breaks and sleep, the drive there alone took them nearly five days. A few days to sight see, and now they’re on their way home. I know Matty is going to be exhausted, so I arranged for Cal to spend the weekend with Miya, give the man a chance to relax a bit before he has to jump into Dad-mode.
Cal is still wrapped in the blanket when he enters the entryway, but at least he’s got his shoes on now. The blanket is pressed against his face, and up close I can see the red skin around his eyes.
“You want to take that with you?”
He nods, lowering the blanket slightly to smile and throw himself into Miya’s open arms.
Calum loves Matty as much as I do, and these last two weeks have been brutal on us both.
“We’ll video call as soon as he’s home and settled.”
Miya shakes her head. “Don’t rush on our account. We’ll keep little bud preoccupied.” She gives me a one-armed hug and ushers Cal out the door, mouthing a quiet “good luck” before I shut the door behind her.
I wander out the back door and off our little screened deck onto the sand and breathe in the salty evening air. It took two years of saving up and another six months of searching and packing, but we finally settled on a place out here in California not too far from Miya and Roxy.
The warm weather suits us all a little better, and Matty wouldn’t have found his calling if we had stayed in Boston—though I’m hoping we’ll get to make a special trip back to Randy’s Diner soon, if all goes well when Matty gets home tomorrow.
I sit down in one of the beach chairs just off the deck and pull my phone out. Knowing my luck, I’d catch him while he’s getting some sleep, but without Cal to distract me, the little hole in my heart only Matty can fill is getting deeper.
The call tune rings out three or four times, and as a pebble of disappointment lands in my gut, the screen goes black and then blinks to life.
He definitely wasn’t sleeping, not with the laughing and screeching of all the dancers he coaches filling their travel bus. Matty’s eyes give away his exhaustion, and I’m not surprised that neither of his hearing aids are in.
I pull the phone back so he can see me wave, and his responding smile is just the balm I need.
‘You okay?’ I sign, and his smile wobbles.
He nods but leans his head back on the window of his seat, and I hate the distance because all I want to do is wrap my arms around him and pull him close.
‘I miss you.’ There’s a wet sheen to his eyes, and my heart lurches so hard it rattles my ribcage.
‘Me too. I love you.’
‘I love you, Lee.’
Only a couple more hours and Matty will be home, and I can hold him in my arms as long as it takes for us to feel sated and secure again.
Editing videos of Matty and I fucking each other just before he left may not be the smartest way to bide my time, but it sure eases some of the loneliness in my chest.
He doesn’t need to run the site anymore, and he doesn’t dedicate a lot of time to it these days, but it’s become a fun pastime for us to try out new toys or kinks on camera, and if they pan out I’ll usually sit and go through them like I am now. Most of my work is remote, so I’ve got the time.
My cock responds readily to Matty’s moans and mewls, to the soft gasps of my name as I fuck into him with some dragon sheath he’d been obsessed with trying. I’m not as adventurous with toys as he is, but I’d let him do just about anything to me as long as he’s got those bedroom eyes.
My name is a chant on his lips, and the harder he makes me, the stronger I miss him. It doesn’t take long for me to set the laptop aside, to close my eyes and listen to Matty’s sex-heavy voice while languidly stroking my dick through the slit in my boxers.
He had said he wanted to feel the ache for days, and I had fucked him long and hard until he tapped out. Even when he was tired and dozing off, he’d told me to keep filling him until he told me to stop. By the time he did, the sun was rising in the sky, but we were both too sated to care.
Two weeks without sex I can handle—though Matty has become a master of secret sexting while he’s been away—it’s not being able to have him in my arms or hear his rough, sleep-filled voice in the mornings.
It’s the missing coffee pot full of hot cocoa that he still makes even though we live in a perpetual heat.
“Lee! Fuck—yes! I love you so much. I’m gonna—”
“Elias Lee.”
My hand stills where it’s spreading precum down my length. I don’t open my eyes because I’m not entirely sure this isn’t a very nice dream, but then there’s a shift of weight on the bed and warm lips on my neck.
My arms wrap around Matty’s middle in a heartbeat, his soft chuckle resonating against my skin.
“I missed you so fucking much.” I press my face into the hollow of his throat, feeling the vibration of his quiet hum.
“Good,” he chuckles. “You won’t turn me down, then.”
I don’t have a chance to ask or even scoff—because when have I ever turned him down for anything?—because the next thing I know, my hands are pinned to the mattress and Matty’s tight heat is closing over the head of my dick.
“You have no idea how horny I’ve been,” he says with a breathy moan, taking all of me in one swift descent of his hips.
No condoms. No lube. Just our bodies coming together.
“All morning, getting the kids unloaded and back to their parents, taking the bus in for cleaning, all I’ve wanted for hours is to come home and sink down on your dick.”
I’d touch him if he’d let me, but when Matty is desperate and emotional he wants all of the control. So, instead, I twine my fingers through his and let him hold me still while he rides my dick like the cock hungry slut he is.
“Matty.”
His eyes open slowly with a pleased smile. “Elias.”
“I love you.”
He drops his head to my chest, movements easing to a slow rock as his lips make a path across my bare skin.
“I love you.” His eyes are glassy, and I tug on our joined hands until he rises up to meet my mouth in a long overdue kiss.
My fingers find perch in his hair, shorter than it used to be but still falling into his eyes and tickling both of our cheeks. Matty’s arms wrap around my shoulders, becoming his anchor while he rolls his hips and pushes his tongue into my mouth.
“You aren’t allowed to leave me for that long again,” I mutter between kisses, nipping at his budding smile. “I mean it, Matty. Not having you here drove me out of my mind.”
“I know.” He’s still smiling, breaking away to brush his lips over the stubble on my chin. “You know why I couldn’t turn it down. The kids might never get another opportunity like that.”
There he goes, being reasonable and making me feel like a jerk.
He jumped headfirst into spearheading an all-inclusive dance team almost as soon as we got settled, and he hasn’t stopped running with it since.
His team is full of Deaf and hard-of-hearing kids, kids on the spectrum, ones with mobility aids; Matty goes out of his way to accommodate anyone who wants to join and give dance a try.
I fucking love that for him. But it’s become a time consuming part of his life, and I hate to admit how much I miss him on the regular.
“I’m so proud of you.” I drop a kiss to the shell of his ear, making him shudder and tighten around me. We both moan but are in no hurry to get anywhere. Just feeling and being a part of each other is enough for now.
“I’m proud of you,” he retorts, pushing up onto his elbows to bring his forehead to mine and rock his hips a little more steady.
One of my hands goes to his waist, guiding and supporting.
“Being an amazing dad, busting your ass at night in the club, and managing classes online all at the same time? You’re incredible. ”
I could have taken up any number of jobs when we got here, but I guess a lot like Matty’s site, stripping is a part of me I’m oddly attached to. For now, it works out that Matty goes to the studio during the day to train with his kids, and at night I put the hours in on the pole.
Going back to college was more Matty’s idea than my own, but even though I’m mostly taking general education classes right now, it feels good to have something in my life that’s just mine.
Cal has been my world since the day he was born, and while I’d never trade that for anything, I lost some of myself along the way.
Despite how busy we keep, Matty and I usually get a couple of hours at the end of the night to lie together, and we make sure there’s at least one day a week Miya can take Cal while we’re both off work.
Calum goes to school for part of the day, and there’s usually some time in the evening around dinner that we all get to spend together, but with everything we’ve got going on Matty and I don’t get as much alone time as we want.
“Remember when you asked me to give you forever?”
Matty stills, puffing his breath along my face and staring down at me. His eyes are a vast ocean of expressiveness, emotions like love and hope, and a tinge of fear that four years together hasn’t been able to completely shake.
“Don’t worry, Princess.” I stroke my thumb along his cheek. “Can you sit up for me?”
Without hesitation, he pushes off my chest so he’s sitting on my lap, and he wouldn’t be my beautiful, handsome Matty if he didn’t swivel his hips and make both of our eyes roll back in the process.
“Behave, doll.”
A soft breath escapes his lips, and the slight stiffness in his body goes lax. Some things never change, and Matty being good for me is one of them.
“I love you, Matty Nichols. I have loved you more and more every day for the last four years. I will never get enough of you. I never want to take a step without you by my side. You are my partner, my home, my love.”
“Your princess,” he cuts in with a soft, cheeky smile. “Your doll. Your sweetheart.”
“My Matty.” I punctuate the words with a roll of my hips, and Matty’s eyelids flutter, the little brat in him receding as he focuses all of his attention on me.
“I will love you for the rest of my life. I am yours, and I want you to be mine, forever. Officially. A binding oath that come hell or high water we’ll never take back. ”
Tears mist in his eyes. “Elias Lee.”
The love he pours into my name is indescribable.
I hold my hands out to him, palms up, the way he often does to me as a warning that he’s switching to sign. That what he’s about to say is important.
His lip trembles, but his eyes are zeroed in on my hands.
‘Matty Nichols.’ Each letter slow and precise, I watch as his body fights between coiling up in anticipation and staying my little relaxed doll. If I was a crueler man, I’d drag this out, but I want him too much.
I need to put us both out of our misery.
‘Will you marry me?’
This wasn’t exactly how I’d planned to ask, not in the middle of sex at least, so the little ring box is sitting in the side table drawer, and I’ll gladly get it for him whenever he decides we can break apart, but right now certainly isn’t that moment.
He raises his fist and rolls it in a series of yeses that makes me burst out into a wide smile, and then his lips are on mine again, harsh and demanding.
“Yes. Fuck yes. I get to be your fucking husband.” His eyes light up impossibly brighter. “You get to be my husband. Shit. I hope your stamina is on game, because I’m about to wear you out. Fuckfest number two, troublemaker.”
The laugh that bursts out of me is pure joy wrapped in love stronger than I could ever imagine feeling for someone. But here I am, loving Matty from deep in my core, heart and soul reaching for him until we’re so intertwined there is no me, no him, just us.
Matty and Elias.
A troublemaker and a princess.
Entangled in the sweetest promise of forever.
THE END
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Matty & Elias’ story!
These two are dear to my heart, and I’m so happy they’re out in the world.