Epilogue

One Year Later

Sebastian

I awoke to the sense of my mate's warm body missing from beside me. "Grace?" I raised my head and searched our bed, then our room. Not finding her, I sighed and swung out of bed, stuffing my arms in a robe as I moved down the hallway of our Riviera Maya home.

The house was dark except for a light gently shining from the nursery. I peeked inside to find Grace asleep in the rocker, nursing our baby girl, Isla.

My heart melted at the sight of my girls.

Isla was mostly asleep at her mom's breast, her rosebud mouth slack, and her exhausted mother was snoring lightly, cuddling her daughter to her on a nursing pillow, protecting her even in sleep. I padded to the kitchen to get Grace a glass of ice water first—she was constantly thirsty when she nursed—then I knelt in front of her and rubbed her arms, trying to wake her gently so she didn't startle and wake Isla. Isla had been having a hard time sleeping lately. We were all exhausted and running on fumes.

"Angel? Come on, sweet angel. Wake up."

Grace blinked slowly awake. When she fixed her bleary eyes on me and smiled her gentle smile, I lost my heart to her all over again.

All of those vows I'd made to her on our wedding day I'd kept. Each day with her was a miracle. I cherished her, adored her, spoiled her, and loved her until she was breathless, and then each day I got up and got to do it all over again.

She took a hand off of Isla to stroke my cheek, then took a drink of her ice water. "Rafe called," she whispered. "He said if we don't come back, he's quitting."

I snorted quietly. "Rafe is a workaholic and loves you and Isla too much. He'd get baby withdrawals."

She laughed softly. "I think he wants us to come back for that very reason. He told me he bought a nearly life-sized giraffe stuffy for her. I could hear Micaela complaining in the background that it was taking up nearly their entire bedroom."

I stood and gently took Isla from her, laying her in her crib and covering her with a soft blanket. Then I helped my mate up from the rocking chair and held her hand as we made our way back to our bedroom.

"Rafe and Micaela need to have children," I said, shutting the door behind me. "He can't keep stealing ours."

Grace laid down with a relieved sigh and turned onto her side. "Micaela doesn't want children yet. She knows that when she gets pregnant, she's going to have to take a long break from her security work, and she's not ready to do that yet."

I ditched my robe on a nearby chair and climbed into bed, cuddling my wife close to me. The scent of her soft skin soothed me, and I started to relax. Since our marriage, it was nearly impossible to sleep in bed without her. I always missed her too much.

"We can find a new position for her. Maybe she can be Rafe's assistant."

Grace snorted. "Only if you want Rafe's murder to be on your hands."

I winced. Yeah, Micaela and Rafe working together in that capacity was a recipe for disaster. "We'll find something else, then."

I nuzzled my wife's neck and grinned wolfishly when she shivered and leaned into me, melting bonelessly in my arms. I kissed her clavicle, then her chin, moving my way slowly, inch by inch, to her lips. Holding my mate in my arms was a heady experience, as it always was. I never tired of being with her. I was just about to passionately kiss her lips when her mouth went slack, and she gave a little snore.

I chuckled as I stared at my completely exhausted and sleeping angel, then I softly kissed her eyelids, wrapped my arms around her until she was nearly on top of me, then joined her peacefully in slumber.