BASTIANS EPILOGUE

BASTIAN"S EPILOGUE

A Year and a Half Later

"To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life."

I looked over to Micah, seeing his eyes glistening as he stared back at me with the sweetest smile on his gorgeous face. We didn"t have to say anything, our hearts speaking in the silence.

Our friends continued with their wedding vows as Micah and I were trapped in our own little moment of time, nothing else existing outside of us and the connection we had. We both stood as groomsmen in the wedding, and that was probably a mistake to be honest. We had been a little late arriving after we got caught up getting ready. Of course, that meant that my dick got all caught up in Micah"s ass, and our quickie wasn"t as quick as we had hoped.

It was becoming a bad habit we were developing whenever there was a special event, but neither of us were willing to change it.

After the ceremony, I grabbed Micah"s hand as we walked back down the aisle after the happy couple. They had been through so much to get to this point, but they were the happiest couple we knew. Well, aside from me and my man.

Micah darted off to dance with some of our friends and I looked around for Dawson. When I spotted him sitting at a table next to the dance floor, I made my way over. "Hey man, there you are. How"s it going?" I asked, plopping down in the seat next to him.

Dawson smiled and upnodded me. "Going as well as can be expected. You know I"m not big on these kind of things, but try telling that to my better half," he mumbled, taking a long swig of the beer in front of him.

"Where is your man at exactly? I didn"t see him earlier."

Dawson rolled his eyes and nodded toward the dance floor. "He"s the one over there drawing an inordinate amount of attention to himself. Typical. Now he"s gonna be all wound up when we get home and I"ll be dead on my feet," he grouched, but I could see the open affection shining in his eyes as he watched his fiancé dancing in a group of our friends. He actually had some great moves, I had to admit.

"Honestly, I love it when Micah gets wound up. Usually leads to the hottest sex. Maybe you"ll get lucky tonight," I winked at Dawson, laughing as he gave me a deadpan look and flipped me the one finger salute.

"Didn"t need to know that, thanks," he murmured. "How have things been for you guys anyway?"

I smiled at the question, glancing back over to the floor where Micah and Rhys were now cutting a rug together. They were being ridiculous idiots, but Micah"s laughter drifting to me across the room was one of my favorite sounds on earth.

"Things have been pretty perfect. We got back from France a few weeks ago, so we"re just getting acclimated to everything again after being gone for a month. Micah"s starting his doctorate program in a month, and he"s freaking out about being a student again," I shared with my friend. I loved that he had decided to stay in Austin for his job because it was really great having one of my best friends so close. Micah had Rhys and a few other people he hung out with from time to time, so it was good for me to have someone. Nate and his guy had moved to Colorado a couple of years ago, so we only saw them once or twice a year.

"Good for him though," Dawson nodded, smiling gently. "Have you still been hearing from your dad?"

I laughed dryly, shaking my head. "Nope, thank fucking God. Not since my last message," I shared, smirking. My dad had been convicted a few years ago, and about a year in he had taken to calling me from prison. Each time I declined the call. There was nothing I wanted to hear from that snake. It was fucking hard not to answer and confront him about the years of shit he put me through, but I felt deep down it wouldn"t have been worth it.

The one and only response he got from me was in the form of a picture. I mailed him a single photo of Micah and me from the day of our wedding right after our vows were exchanged. On the back, I had simply written "Married June 22, 2028". For all my father"s talk of suitable marriage partners, I wanted him to forever know I had found mine. Nothing else I could say to him would feel as good as him living with the knowledge I got Micah in the end.

"What about work? Is that still going well?" Dawson asked.

"Work"s been awesome. Moving up the ladder has definitely had its perks. It gave us the money for France, and it"ll get Micah through his PhD program. I think we"re going to try to get a house soon though and move out of the apartment. It"s time," I revealed to him. Micah and I absolutely loved our apartment, but it was getting time to move on and try something a little more permanent.

Micah wanted a dog more than anything, and I promised we"d get one once we had the space. Later on, we"d also want a family and needed a house to raise our kids in. Yep. It was time.

"Dude, that"s fantastic. I"m really happy for you," Dawson smiled at me, genuine in his care for me and Micah. "So tell me how the big French honeymoon was. Gotta admit I was pretty jealous about that one."

Before I could answer, I heard the dulcet tones of Ed Sheeran fill the air, and I automatically searched out Micah. I saw him across the room and almost instinctively, his eyes darted up and locked with mine. He gave me a heartachingly beautiful smile, his gaze telling me everything he needed from me without words.

"Dawson, I"ll tell you all about it later, but if you"ll excuse me, I really need to dance with my husband."

I walked across the dance floor, being pulled in the direction of the love of my life like he had a rope tethered to my heart. I stopped in the middle of the floor, holding out my hand for him to take. He slipped his hand in mine and I drew him into my arms.

I couldn"t look away from his mesmerizing chocolate eyes, the same ones that could bring me to my knees, and did so on a regular basis. We got lost in the music, swaying back and forth, becoming absorbed in the charged atmosphere we generated when we were together. Micah rested his head against mine, breathing in deep as he always did when he wanted to inhale my scent. I didn"t mind. It was like he was drawing me into his lungs, and I loved the thought of that.

The lyrics wrapped around us, making me think of our own story and how far we had come from being stupid kids in love. Thinking back, I can"t remember a time when I wasn"t head over heels in love with Micah, even though I hadn"t always loved him like I do now. My love for him had started simple and pure, as most childhood love does, rooted in the deepest of friendships. From there, it grew into an all-consuming passion that melted into the core of my being and changed me irrevocably.

Now, I got to proudly call him my husband and my partner. He was still my best friend, but now so much more. He was my everything.

"Are you happy, baby?" I crooned, twirling him gently around as we danced.

Micah"s gaze was soft and loving. "There are no words in any language that could fully explain how happy I am, Bash."

"Do you know how much I love you, Micah?" I whispered next to his ear, taking infinite pleasure in the shudder it drew from him.

"I think I stopped comprehending it…can"t wrap my head around it because you love me better and deeper than I thought was possible for someone to love another person," he responded in a thick whisper, and I could tell his happy tears were sneaking in.

I pulled in our joined hands, cradling them between our bodies. "You know, this reminds me of our wedding. It was the absolute best day of my life, M."

Micah smiled and blushed, the red color staining his cheeks deliciously. "I know. It was the perfect day…especially the way it ended," he chuckled, remembering the hot and sweaty marathon sex we had back at our hotel suite later that night.

"We could always have a repeat of that tonight if you wish, my love…" I whispered seductively in his ear, eliciting the tiniest moan from him. He pulled back and smiled at me, his eyes glistening beautifully.

"Bash, thank you for giving me the most incredible life. You give me so much more than I deserve, and I am so lucky to be your husband. I love you more with every breath I take." Micah captured my mouth in a heart-stopping kiss that had goosebumps breaking out across my flesh.

"I told you a long time ago, love. I"ll always do my best to give you whatever you ask for or need. I"ll give you the world if you wish it, Micah baby."

He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, anchoring me in place as he stared lovingly into my eyes. "All I need is forever with you, BB."

I answered with a soft smile and another scorching kiss pressed to his sweet lips. "You are my forever, MM."

The End