Epilogue
MILES
Eight months later
“My feet are killing me,” Caroline sighs, picking her way toward her front door in bare feet, a pair of bright turquoise heels dangling from her fingertips. She sweeps a stray curl from her eyes and glances over at me, her voice breathy when she adds, “But that was so much fun.”
“Yeah.” I reach for her hand when she wobbles, steadying her. “Still kinda bananas that my brother’s married now.”
Humming a soft sound of agreement, she digs out her keys, then seems to notice I’m hanging back. “You coming?” She throws me an expectant look over her shoulder as she unlocks the door.
“Yeah, in a sec.” I stretch my neck. “Gonna stay out here for a few. Get some fresh air.”
“Okay.”
I cross the porch and pull her close for a kiss. “I won’t be long.”
“Good,” she murmurs against my lips.
I jog down the steps as she disappears inside, then quickly check my phone.
It’s one in the morning. I’m beyond beat, but I can’t resist a quiet moment alone, with only the burbling river as my acoustic backdrop.
After all the loud music, talking, and shouting over the noise at Jude and Olena’s wedding, my ears are almost ringing.
With a deep inhale, I let nature’s version of quiet wash over me.
A bat skitters across the night sky somewhere to my left, and I can just make out the occasional hoot of an unseen owl across the river.
My nocturnal buddies.
I cast a glance back at the house. Caroline’s huge bedroom window glows golden in the night and I catch sight of her moving through the room inside, her arms up as she shakes out her hair.
Stepping a few paces to my left, I position myself better to watch her.
Anywhere else in town, she’d have drawn the curtains for privacy, but, out here, she can brazenly undress in front of an open window without worrying about prying eyes. It’s only me here, drinking in the sight of my girl as she slips out of her flowy yellow dress.
Fuck, she’s beautiful.
It’s been almost a year since we met, and I still can’t help but stare at her every chance I get. It’s been like this since that first morning at the gym.
Caroline disappears from view and I stuff my hands into my pockets, letting my gaze drop as I toe at the scattered gravel and dry pine needles at my feet. When my attention snags on a small pine cone, some obscure recess of my brain lights up.
I don’t throw it hard—just enough to make contact with her window.
Nothing.
It doesn’t take long to find another one, and I give it a bit more juice.
Caroline reappears wearing only her bra, panties, and an adorably confused frown. I’ve got no complaints about my view when she presses against the glass and shields her eyes to peer out into the night.
I wave when she spots me, then gesture for her to come join me outside.
She throws her arms out at her sides but turns from the window to grab her little silk robe. Moments later, the front door opens and she peeks out at me, tying the belt. “What’s going on?” she calls over, slipping on a pair of sandals on the porch.
“Just c’mere.”
“I was gonna get in the shower.”
“We’ll shower after.” I hold out my hand as she comes down the steps to meet me.
She looks suspicious. “After what?”
I kiss her forehead, then draw back and start guiding her along with me toward the river’s edge.
“Miles, I’m not dressed.”
“Perfect.” I’m already unbuttoning my shirt as we carefully make our way down the hill. “Because you’ve still never been skinny dipping. It’s the last thing left on your fuck-it list, right?”
“What? No! What?” she stammers, snugging her robe tighter to her chest. “Now? Here?”
“No one’s around; you live in the middle of nowhere!”
“I dunno,” she says, scanning around us like someone might jump out of the bushes at one in the morning.
“The season’s finally right.” I can tell she’s tempted.
“The water will be warm enough now. C’mon.
” We stop at the riverbank and I tug off my dress shirt before draping it over a rock.
I toe off my shoes and socks, and I’m busy emptying my pockets when I catch her staring at me, frozen. I laugh. “Get naked already!”
“That’s…” Her gaze slips down my chest as I straighten.
I glance down, inspecting myself, before meeting her eyes again. “What?”
“That’s not a bad look. Just dress pants and nothing else.”
“Yeah?” I step closer, pulling her into my arms. Brushing my lips over her cheek, I whisper, “You know what this reminds me of?” I tuck my index finger under the strip of silk around her waist and tug it loose.
“That night you came over to my place.” Opening her robe, I make a little groaning sound and slide my palms around her bare waist. “Wearing just a coat over that sexy fucking lingerie.”
“Oh my God,” she sighs, letting her gaze drop. “Still can’t believe I did that.”
I press my lips to her forehead as I unhook her bra. “Well, I’ll never fucking forget it.”
She kisses my shoulder and peers around us one last time before letting me slip her robe and bra from her shoulders. Kicking off her sandals, she steps back and tugs down her panties, eyeing me with a warning glare. “If we get caught, I’m telling the police this was all your doing.”
“We’re not gonna get caught.” I step out of my pants and underwear, chucking them onto our pile of clothes, then reach for her hand.
Walking backward, I wade into the water. The river feels incredible—warm enough to be comfortable, but cool enough to soothe.
Caroline steps in after me, shoulders shrugged to her ears, and sucks in a soft gasp when she gets deep enough for the water to hit more sensitive places. The current flows gently against our skin, taking with it all the salty, sticky sweat from dancing all night.
I sink under the water, scrubbing my dripping hair back from my forehead when I resurface. Reaching for Caroline, I ask, “You alright?”
She lets me drag her against me, dropping her arms around my neck with a satisfied little hum. “Yeah. It feels really nice, actually.”
“See? You were missing out. This is good shit.”
“You feel really nice too.” She drags her fingers down my chest and her hands disappear under the water, trailing over my waist, then sliding around my hips to my ass.
I reach down to adjust my erection, pinning it between us with a smirk. “Ignore him. He saw your boobs in the moonlight and he’s feeling romantic.”
She laughs and brushes her lips over mine, loosely stroking me under the water. “Well, I wasn’t planning on ignoring him.”
I don’t know whether it’s a second wind, the whole naked-in-nature thing, or the fact that my beautiful girl is stroking my dick, but when I kiss her, it’s like something primal inside me wakes up.
My veins fill with a vital thrum and my cock pulses against her palm.
I deepen the kiss, taking her face in both hands, and moan when she squeezes on the upstroke.
She pulls back and peers up at me, still working me in her fist. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?” I let out a low hum of pleasure.
“Like you wanna, I dunno,”—she arches a brow—“howl at the moon and beat your chest and drag me back to your cave?”
“You got all that from a look?” And here I thought I was the one who had a good read on people.
She fakes a gasp. “You’re not, like, a secret werewolf, are you? Or some time-traveling caveman?”
“Well,” I say, nipping at her lower lip, “I do like the idea of dragging you back to my cave. Respectfully, of course.”
Her fingers tighten around me. “Mmm, well, I’d respectfully be okay with that.”
“But, seeing as I have no time machine… and no cave,” I say, my voice wavering as I graze her tits with my knuckles, “I guess you’re stuck with a modern guy with a shitty apartment.”
“I’m not stuck with you.” She tilts her head. “And your apartment isn’t shitty.”
“Um, yes, it is.” I throw a pointed glance at her house on the hillside. “Compared to this place? C’mon, we both know you won the house lottery.”
“I guess.” Her features pinch with guilt.
Accepting the house has been tricky for her.
George, for his part, is delighted to have helped her stay in the home she loves.
He reminds her of this every weekend when we visit him between his chair yoga class and crossword club—dude is living it up in that care home—but I know Caroline sometimes worries it was too much. It’s an incredibly generous gift.
“Anyway, like I said, I’m a modern guy.” I smirk and pinch her nipples hard enough to make her gasp. “And this modern guy will happily howl at the moon then drag you back to your cave.”
“Well, what if it was our cave?” She peers up at me, slowing her strokes.
“W-what?” I sputter and she stills.
Those crystal eyes look almost gray in the moonlight. “Move in with me.”
“Hold on. What? Wait…”
“I have this huge house, and you’re here all the time, anyway.”
“Just…”—I swallow and pull her hands away—“stop touching my dick for a sec so I can think, here.”
An amused patience dances in her expression, like she’s used to my chaotic thought spirals by now.
“Are you sure?” When she nods, I rush to add, “I don’t want this to be a convenience thing, like a practical shrug or some shit ’cause I’m here all the time.” I slide my palms up her arms. “Baby, do you want to live with me? For real?”
“You’re surprised?” She takes my face in her hands, brushing a thumb over the scar at the corner of my mouth. “I love you, Miles. Of course I want to live with you.”
“Oh my God,” I murmur before I scoop her up and spin us around, peppering kisses all over her cheeks, her nose, her forehead. “I love you too. So fucking much.”
Giggling, she wraps her legs around my waist and crushes her lips into mine.
When I draw back, I whoop, swiping at the water and sending a splash into the air beside us. “Shit, now I really am thinking about howling at the moon.”
Her laughter is like beautiful music. “I take that as a yes?”
“Yes! Fuck yes!” I can’t stop grinning.
“Good!” She wipes away a droplet of water running down my forehead.
I snag her hand and kiss her fingertips. “Man, I can’t believe I got myself a sugar mama. Wha— Hey!” I protest when she whacks me, only squeezing her tighter, and drop my voice low. “Wait, was that not what you were offering?”
Caroline groans. “Immediate regret. I take it all back. Rescinded.”
“Nah, no backsies.” I squeeze her ass. “I’m your fancy boy now.”
“Oh my God, stop,” she says through laughter, which quickly escalates to shrieking giggles when I bite my lip and start doing goofy, haphazard hip thrusts.
“C’mon,” I say, chuckling as I set her on her feet. “Let’s go in.” I lead her toward our pile of clothes on the riverbank, trying to sluice some of the water from my skin.
I drag my pants back over my wet legs, hating the sensation but too tired and too in love with my girl to give a shit.
She wants to live with me.
Caroline tugs on her robe and picks up her bra and panties to carry back.
“Hey, fancy girl?” I ask as I snatch up the rest of my stuff. I toss my shirt over my damp shoulder and tuck my phone and keys back into my pockets.
She looks up, squeezing a trickle of water from the ends of her hair. “Yeah?”
“You still up for trying new things?” Other than skinny dipping, we’d checked everything else off her fuck-it list months ago, along with a few unplanned side quests.
These days, she’s always game to try something new and I fucking love how brave she’s become since we met—how open we can be together as we explore what she likes.
Well, what we both like, really; I’ve had some firsts along the way too.
“At this time of night?” She slips on her sandals.
“Hey, I think all that dancing earned us both a sleep-in tomorrow.” It’s one of the few times I’ll justify skipping my morning workout. I can already feel the muscle aches setting into all those little places the gym doesn’t touch.
Do I need to start training the tops of my feet, somehow?
Quickly checking I’ve got the last of my things, I reach for Caroline’s hand. “Unless you want me comatose when we go meet your mom for lunch.”
“No,” she says quickly, throwing me a wide-eyed look as we head for the house. “We need to be on our game for that.”
Caroline and Valerie have been reconnecting lately. It’s been slow and cautious, but promising. I think finding out her mom served her dad with divorce papers a couple months ago gave Caroline permission to start over, in a way.
Personally, I’m hoping Valerie takes that rat bastard for all he’s worth.
“Anyway, what—” she starts, then fails to fight off a yawn. “What did you have in mind? For tonight?”
“Well…” I scoop her into my side as we walk up the hill, draping my arm around her shoulders. “Let’s just say I hope you’re ready to get fucked slow and cuddle-puddled hard.”
“Mmm, sounds delicious.” She bites her lip, then grabs my chin and plants a kiss on my cheek. “But is that really new? Like, we’ve done that plenty of times before, haven’t we?”
I stop walking and she turns to face me. “Not in our house, we haven’t.”
“Aww.” With a melty little smile, she slips her arms around my waist. “Our house. I love it.”
“But, like, if you wanna go new new, I mean…” I narrow my eyes, raising a brow. “You still got that glittery tentacle dildo?”