Bonus Epilogue

TW: Explicit Sexual Content

Irving

Springtime in the mountains might just be my favorite time of year.

Warmth returning, the earth coming back to life, sun shining down over the slopes and trees and reminding me that even the longest winters don’t last forever.

And this spring, in particular, is even better than most.

Standing at the edge of a high mountain plateau wearing the only suit jacket I’ve ever owned, I shift nervously from one foot to the other, resisting the urge to reach up and loosen my tie where it still feels unnaturally tight around my neck.

In the front row of the small gathering of guests here for the celebration, Vic rolls his eyes and shakes his head, mouthing something that looks very much like stop fidgeting, idiot.

Fighting another urge to roll my eyes right back at him, I take his silent advice and clasp my hands behind my back to keep them still.

My nerves don’t really have much to do with the suit, anyways.

No, they’ve got everything to do with the woman who’s about to make her grand entrance and the beginning of the rest of my life.

Just like on the day I proposed to her, there’s no doubt in my mind I’m still exactly where I need to be, or that the vows I’m about to make are the ones I’ve been fated to make for a lifetime, but waiting on your bride is hell on the nerves.

Though, those nerves immediately disappear when I get my first sight of her.

Dressed in a flowy white gown that makes her look like some sort of goddess of spring, Holly is so achingly gorgeous as she steps forward to meet me. Walking slowly past the two rows of guests and handing her bouquet to her friend Nora as she takes her place by my side, any last anxiety I might be feeling melts away entirely.

We both agreed we wanted this day to simply be about us, our vows, the joy of taking this next step together, and the plans we made reflect that.

Just a handful of guests—close family and best friends—watch Holly and I standing together before our officiant, no better chapel or venue than the splendor of nature around us.

The suit was the one formality she insisted on—very justly arguing that it might be the only time in our lives she’s going to see me in one—but she could have insisted I wear anything at all and I would have agreed.

I take Holly’s hands in mine, and the rest of it fades away.

There’s no nerves, no doubt.

There’s nothing but her and the soul-deep knowledge I’m right where I need to be, right where I was always meant to be.

Holly beams at me, her smile wide and unrestrained as the officiant addresses the small crowd gathered near to hear our vows.

With the blue sky shining above and the even bluer shine of Holly’s eyes looking back at me with all the love in the world, I make my life-long promise.

“I vow to cherish and honor you each and every day we spend together. I vow that you’ll never walk in a storm alone or ever want for warmth, sweetheart. I vow to love you and care for you and spend each day rejoicing that you’re my wife.”

And, with a trembling smile on her lips and a reassuring squeeze of her hands on mine, Holly gives me her promise in return.

“I vow to stand beside you and make a life we can both be proud of. I vow to be your best friend, to walk with you down whatever trail we might find ourselves on, to make sure that no matter where we are, we’ll always have each other and we’ll never be alone. I vow to love you for every day of forever, Irving.”

The next few minutes are a blur of pronouncements from the officiant, applause from our family and friends, and the sweetest kiss I’ve ever had as I wrap my arms around my bride and dip her low, sealing all those sacred promises.

Holly

The lights strung up over the clearing outside our cabin cast the small reception gathering in warm golden light as the last few of our guests sit and talk around a bonfire that chases away the slight chill in the spring air.

Holly and Blair, Nora and Elias, Vic and his mate Ida, are the last to leave the party, and I’m struck again by how perfect this day has been as we sit and laugh and watch the stars come out. The love in the air is almost palpable, and even while it’s still unfolding, I know it’s a day I’ll never forget.

Irving’s right there next to me, arm banded around my shoulders to keep me tucked securely to his side, and it’s just one more thing to be thankful for, one more thing to make my chest ache with happiness and gratitude.

And later, when we’ve waved goodbye to our guests and step back into the cabin, I wander over to the windows and wonder if it’s possible for a heart to burst of sheer joy.

“I thought they’d never leave.”

The low, graveled rumble of Irving’s voice breaks across the back of my neck, and I can’t help but huff a laugh.

“Really?” I tease. “Can’t even stand one full day of company up here?”

He grumbles again, hands landing on my hips and pulling me back against him.

“Not when you look like that, sweetheart. And not when I’ve been half fucking hard for you all day.”

“Only half?”

I earn myself a little nip at the side of my throat for that bit of sass. I gasp and arch back against him at the slight sting of his teeth on my skin.

“Yes, only half. Because I had to keep reminding myself it might have been considered rude to throw you over my shoulder and carry you up to bed as soon as we finished our vows.”

A hungry heat spreads low in my belly, and I arch into him again. “Well. It’s not rude now if you want to ravish your wife.”

A pleased growl lodges itself in the back of his throat at the use of the word wife, and a moment later he pulls away. I start to protest, but my words cut off as he lifts me into his arms and starts for the stairs.

“And do you want your husband to ravish you, sweetheart?”

Damn, I think I like hearing him called husband just as much as he likes wife, and I let him know precisely that as I catch his mouth in a kiss deep and filthy enough for his step to falter slightly on the bottom step and another ragged growl to break against my lips.

We somehow manage to make it upstairs without stopping to tear each other’s clothes off, and he sets me down on wobbly legs. I barely have time to get my feet steady beneath me before he has me turned around. Back to him, Irving starts working on the row of buttons down the back of my dress, taking time to kiss each new bit of bare skin exposed.

I’m already shaking with need, every inch of me humming with arousal, and it’s almost more than I can take. But my husband isn’t one to be rushed as he leisurely stokes those flames higher until he’s got me naked and trembling in front of him.

He moves to shift me onto the bed, but I give my head a hard shake.

“Nope. It’s my turn.”

I return every bit of worship and teasing and sweet, sensual torment as I work on stripping him of his suit. Kissing his throat, his chest, lower, as I unbutton his shirt and then fall to my knees beside the bed.

Glancing up through lowered lashes, a powerful thrill of arousal runs through me as I work to free his cock. It grows all that much more intense as I lick up the underside of his shaft, catch the head of him between my lips, and his chest heaves on a broken groan.

But, as much as my grizzly might like to take his time, it seems he’s in the mood to hurry tonight.

I barely get three good strokes of my mouth on his hard, pulsing shaft before he’s reaching for me, tugging me up and sprawling me out on the bed, ripping off the rest of his clothes and meeting me there with his head between my thighs.

“Can’t wait,” he rasps out. “Not tonight.”

He licks and sucks and pushes me right up to my edge, making sure I’m writhing and desperate for relief, before he moves again. I let out my own groan of protest, but it only takes him a few heartbeats to get me right where he wants me.

Back against the headboard, Irving pulls me over him so I’m straddled across his lap. He fists his cock and notches it at my entrance before taking one of my hands and replacing his own with it.

“Put me inside you, sweetheart,” he commands, growling the words into the overheated skin at the side of my throat.

I have absolutely no problem complying with that order, panting through each delicious inch as I sink down onto his cock.

It’s my favorite way to take him, just like this.

My arms around his neck, bodies pressed together, his thick cock stretching me wide and his big hands gripping my ass.

I rock into him, and he groans. He reaches up to fist one hand into my hair, drops the other to work my clit, and tips my head back so he can watch everything he does to me. Every impossible wave of pleasure that contorts my features, every gasp and moan, it’s all his to claim as I ride him.

It all builds to a breaking point, too much to withstand, and I shatter against him. Irving kisses me deep and swallows my desperate, broken moan, easing me through every wave of my climax before he sprawls me back on the mattress and drives into me again, finding his own pleasure in a few hard strokes.

We’re both a panting, sweaty mess, and just like every other time we’ve been together, the aftermath is almost as good as the act itself. Wrapped up together, held close, the minutes tick by as our hearts beat in sync, our breath becomes one, and nothing in the whole world has ever felt as right as this.