Epilogue
Two Years Later
Walker
Early spring rarely sees tourists in the mountains. It’s often cold and way too quiet for the summer crowd and not yet picturesque enough for the scenic crowds. The hikers and camping families prefer fall for its mild temperatures and autumn colors.
But rarely in early spring. Too cold for some, not cold enough for others. Not too colorful either. There’s always a reason to skip the season, and the occasional tourists that stop by don’t stay long either.
For us, it’s perfect. This time of year is always alive with greens and browns, with a little bit of winter clinging to it.
Sunlight dappling through the canopy, illuminating dust motes drifting through the air.
Birds chirping as the gentle breeze rustles the leaves, creating a constant soothing murmur.
But all that is secondary to why I come here.
It’s a beautiful scene, no doubt, but it isn’t what holds my attention.
My focus isn’t on the ancient trees or the vibrant undergrowth.
It’s on her.
Two years since I slid that wedding band onto her finger, and it amazes me every day that she’s mine. Beautiful as she is, lovely in every possible way, and somehow all mine. And in the quiet forest, she’s so goddamned beautiful.
Her golden blond hair catches the light as she moves, a halo of spun gold against the deep greens of the woods.
She’s dressed so simply, just a T-shirt and jeans, yet she possesses an undeniable radiance that outshines the most breathtaking landscape.
I watch her crouch low to capture a gray wolf stretched out near the entrance of the den, and I’m utterly captivated.
It’s more than just her physical beauty, though that’s certainly striking.
It’s the passion that emanates from her, the way she immerses herself in her work, finding beauty in everything she sees.
So, I stand like a fool, watching her, completely mesmerized. The forest around us is a masterpiece, but it’s her, my wife, who holds my complete attention.
“You’re staring again,” she whispers, turning away from the camera in her hand to look at me, and the smile she offers makes my heart leap in my chest. “You’ve been staring at me since we got here.”
“How do you know?”
“I can feel your eyes on me, Walker. I always do.”
“I’m just admiring my beautiful wife. Is that a problem?”
“Not for me,” she says, offering her hand for me to help her up. “I think I’m done for now. Who would have thought the magazine would send me back here two years later for a feature update on the gray wolves?”
“It was your first assignment with them, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it was.” She beams, a nostalgic smile dancing on her lips as we walk away from the den. “I had a lot of firsts in this forest.”
We walk down the familiar path to the cabin.
It’s a long way up, but neither of us minds as it takes us down the memory lane.
Like my wife, I had a few firsts in this forest as well.
This is where Sam brought me to teach me about harvesting trees and respecting nature.
I was only a teen at the time, pretending not to care what the old man was saying, but taking it all in.
When he died, he left me more than just his house and savings.
He left knowledge and memories that shaped me.
He would have loved Kelly.
I turn to my wife as she walks beside me, and I can’t help but wonder what kind of luck was watching over me the day I found her.
Our marriage didn’t just bring us together.
It brought me into a large family with all kinds of characters—parents who took me in as one of their own, siblings who decided I was one of them and cousins who wouldn’t let me breathe for a second.
I went from being a lone wolf to dealing with a pack that pulled me into their family and made me one of them.
“Oh, hey, do you remember this spot?” Kelly calls my attention to the present, pointing at the ravine where I found her two years ago. “It feels so much closer to the den than it felt two years ago. I could have sworn I ran for hours that day and…ouch!”
I go on alert when she cries out, looking around for danger. “What, what is it?”
“My leg, I think I twisted my ankle.” She takes a step and cries out as her knee buckles. “Jesus, is this spot cursed or something?”
“Here, let me see,” I say, crouching in front of her and cursing under my breath when she winces the second my fingers brush the old injury. “Shit, let’s get you to the cabin.”
I slide an arm under her knee the same way I did two years ago and the other behind her back, then pull her up, carrying her bridal-style the rest of the way to the cabin.
I open the door, all my thoughts on icing her injury, and I almost miss the decorations.
I stop dead in the center of the room, staring in confusion at the pink and blue balloons and streamers hanging from the ceiling.
String lights frame the hearth and the window.
There are pink and blue rose petals on the floor that lead to the table by the window.
“Surprise!”
I turn to Kelly, and the spark in her eyes lights up something in my chest. “What is this?”
“Well, a little something I prepared with the help of my friends. They’re staying at a different cabin in town, but we planned this while you were distracted.” She laughs, slipping out of my arms and landing perfectly on her feet, not a single wince. “Our very own private pregnancy reveal.”
I’m staring at the leg she was pretending was injured when her words snap my eyes up. “What?”
“I’m pregnant,” she says with a nervous smile. “I found out a couple of weeks ago and thought I’d surprise you with the news.”
I stare at her in disbelief, and before I know it, I’m moving. Wrapping my arms around her and pulling her hand to my chest. “Fuck, baby. You’re pregnant.”
“Yeah,” she whispers, dropping her head to my shoulder. “I was so nervous. I wasn’t sure how you’d take it because of…you know…”
“My parents?” I pull back to look at her, and the truth is written in her eyes. “Maybe two years ago, I would have panicked at the news, but you’ve shown me what love is, haven’t you? How can I not be happy about starting a family with you? I want this, my little doe. I want you.”
“You do?”
“Always you, it was in our vows,” I rasp, leaning down to brush my lips over hers and pushing my stiff cock against her to prove it. “I love you, Kelly. Want you. Now. Here.”
Her breath comes out faster as she wraps her arms around me, pushing into the kiss.
“Here,” she moans, wrapping her legs around me when I pick her up once more, pushing her back against the wall.
My body lights up with lust as I slide a hand between us, palming her tits through her sweater as I kiss her with fervent need.
Her hands burn into my skin as she works to strip off my shirt, tearing off the buttons and pushing it off my shoulders. I grunt when her lips drop my shoulder, kissing and licking at the skin even as I work to tug open the button of her jeans.
“Fuck, I need to be inside of you, Kelly,” I growl, dropping her to her feet then spinning her around to face the wall. I yank down her pants even as I scrape my teeth along her nape, burying myself in the scent of her.
“Hurry up, Walker… oh God,” she cries out when I drive my finger between her damp folds and into her. Christ, she’s so tight and wet. I ache for her. Two years together and still, I ache for her.
Fuck, now I understand old man Sam when he told me I wouldn’t know when love hit me. That I wouldn’t be able to stop it. I understand why he was hung up on his wife, because how could I ever want anyone else as much as I do, Kelly? She completes me. The light to my dark.
Mine .
“You’re so fucking beautiful, little doe.
Come for me, baby,” I rasp, thrusting my finger faster inside her, stroking her clit with my thumb, and when she comes apart, it nearly undoes me.
She cries out my name and her pussy cinches hard around my digit, trembling as I keep rocking into her until I can’t hold back anymore.
I pull my finger out of her and unzip my pants, yanking them down as I take my shaft into my hand. I bury my free hand into her hair and turn her head to kiss her and taste the pleasure on her tongue as I sink my cock into her.
It’s perfect. She’s perfect.
Mine .
We alternate between slow, tender strokes and brutal thrusts.
And for the next several minutes, I ride her pussy like a madman, grinding into her like a man seeking to claim.
To possess. I whisper all my dirty thoughts into her ear as I take her, hard and fast, against the wall, driving us both to the edge.
I pump madly into her, slowing down and then picking up speed again until we’re both desperate for release.
When it happens, it’s magic.
We eat the cake by the fire, sharing slices between us as we revisit the moments from the first night I brought her to the cabin.
She was hurt, and the injury to her ankle had been real, just like the feelings we shared in this cabin that night and every night since then.
Just as we will with every single one that follows for the rest of our lives.
~The End
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