Epilogue- Isaac

EPILOGUE- ISAAC

One Year Later…

T he warmth from the sun kissed Isaac's skin as his body broke through the surface of the water. He took a moment to enjoy the heat as it shone down on his lightly tanned skin.

He was lucky that his skin was only slightly tanned. He had been reapplying sunscreen every hour, each day, trying to keep from burning under the hot tropical sun. Nobody wanted to see an exotic dancer with skin red as a tomato.

Isaac removed his snorkeling mask, then turned his face upward toward the sun. He let the excess water run off his skin as he enjoyed the heat against his skin.

Beside him, the water separated, and a sea of black hair emerged, splashing water against his face.

"Did you see the size of that turtle?" Levi asked, tearing off his mask and shaking his head like a dog.

Isaac chuckled.

"Yeah, that was pretty fucking awesome. Can't believe the schools of fish just swimming all around us." The view underwater was truly spectacular. The colors and the rhythmic motion of the sea plants. It was a whole world unto itself.

Then he thought about the one person missing this amazing experience.

"I can't believe that Jared is afraid of open water. Is that even a thing? What a dink," Isaac huffed, disappointed that his man decided not to join him.

When Isaac heard that Jared didn't want to go snorkeling because he was afraid of open water, he teased him endlessly for it. How could a big, strong ex-army man be afraid of a few small fish and gorgeous turquoise water?

"It's not the small fish that scare me. It's the big-ass ones with sharp white teeth that do," Jared had replied. "You go and be some great white's breakfast. I'd much rather just sit here on the beach, enjoying my pi?a colada with all of my fingers and toes." Jared gave his little piggies a shake.

Isaac rolled his eyes. So dramatic. Sometimes, Jared could be so stubborn, especially if he didn't want to do something. Like go snorkeling with him in the big bad ocean.

So, he and Levi decided to go snorkeling on their own. How could you come to Fiji for a vacation and not enjoy the underwater oasis? That was just criminal.

The two dropped off their equipment, then walked over to where the rest of their gang was busy suntanning or listening to music.

Matteo had booked this little vacation so that they could all spend some quality time together. He'd booked a luxury beachfront villa which had several small suites surrounding it. The suites were divided amongst couples and friends.

Isaac and Jared got their own suite, which they wasted no time breaking in as soon as they arrived. Several of the guys complained about the grunting and banging of headboards until all hours of the night. Jared's solution was to buy all the guys their own bottle of rum and a set of earplugs for all their troubles. Matteo, of course, didn't find the gesture funny. Although he did take the earplugs, and eventually, the bottle of rum did go missing.

After the year they all had, they needed a vacation.

Isaac's brother, Declan, was still locked in Matteo's dungeon, receiving daily visits from Isaac or ?zgur. They enjoyed many hours together, getting to know one another and exploring Declan's various pain thresholds. Jared was beginning to worry that Isaac was enjoying this torture thing a tad too much. Although he hated to admit it, he kind of liked watching Isaac's asshole brother squirm and cry out in pain. Eventually, Isaac would have to figure out what to do with his brother. He couldn't spend the rest of his life torturing the man. That was just… insane.

Sawyer had been handed over to the police two months after the takedown—but only after Matteo had a private lawyer and team build an iron-clad case against the man. Matteo wanted to make sure that the case was solid and would not be thrown out of court on a technicality. The team even created fictitious evidence to support the claim that Sawyer had escaped the initial takedown and had been located by Matteo's private security team two months later, hiding out in a drug den in Belgium. No one believed Sawyer's outlandish claims that Matteo had held him captive in his own private "dungeon" all those months. Who would believe that story coming from a junkie found in a drug den?

As for Ares, the man was a damn legend. His bullet wound healed in less than three days, and he had been kicked out of the chateau in less than four. There were a few close calls over the four days that Ares was held at the mercy of Matteo, one in which Jared had actually stopped Matteo from adding rat poison to Ares's tea. He reminded Matteo that he was classier than that, and if he really wanted to kill a man, he would do it in such a way as to make it seem like an accident or natural cause. That night, Matteo came home with a bag from the pharmacy. Isaac snuck into Matteo's room and disappeared the bag… just in case.

"Did you boys have fun?" Chase asked as they approached the group.

"Oh, yeah! Loads of fun! And look," Isaac began lifting his foot out in front of him. "I still have all my fingers and toes!"

The group chuckled, except for Jared, who just scowled.

"Here, I got you your favorite," Jared said, passing Isaac a passion fruit mojito.

Isaac's face lit up as he took the drink. "See, this is why I love this man!"

He wasted no time in downing his drink. Isaac placed the empty glass down on the table and took a seat in between Jared's spread legs. He leaned back against Jared's chest and began retelling the group about their adventures underwater.

Thirty minutes later, Isaac was in the middle of acting out how he and Levi had defended themselves against a school of emperor angelfish when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

He stared at the group, then down at the massive boner jutting out of his swimsuit.

"What the fuck?" he said, quickly using his hands to hide his inappropriately timed hard-on.

"Wow, drinks and a show," Levi quipped.

"Now we know why Jared was walking weird the other day," Diesel joked.

"Hey, I've never taken one up the ass before, not even with my sweet cuddle bear, Issy, here," Jared noted, sending his lover an air kiss.

"Don't call me Issy," Isaac huffed, pressing down on his cock, trying to make the damn thing deflate.

"Babe, don't be embarrassed. Getting a woody is a natural thing, especially at your age. And especially when you have a hot ass boyfriend like me sitting right in front of you," Jared added. "Here, have another mojito." Jared held up the glass and gave him a wink.

Isaac stared at his boyfriend, not trusting the evil smirk on his face. "You little…" Isaac began before jumping onto Jared's lounge chair and beating his fists against Jared's chest.

Jared chuckled. "Babe, stop. You're going to make me drop this drink I specially made for you," Jared said in between laughs.

"Yeah? A special Viagra passion mojito just for me?" Isaac shouted as the rest of the group burst out laughing.

This was Jared's payback for all the times he had teased him or played pranks on him over the years. What was love if you couldn't play and laugh with your partner?

Isaac stared down at the wonderful man he had fallen in love with and wondered how he could ever live his life without him by his side.

He couldn't.

The two of them belonged together. Forever.

It was at that moment, with both of their eyes locked together, that they said in unison, "Will you marry me?"

The world went silent around them as they both stared into each other's eyes and waited for the other to respond.

Then they clued in. They had both just been proposed to.

"Someone say something," Levi spoke, breaking the silence around them.

Isaac and Jared both chuckled.

"Well, I guess we both had the same idea," Isaac said, still straddling Jared's hairy thighs.

"Yeah, but did you buy a ring?" Jared asked, lifting his hand and holding a blue velvet box in his hand.

Isaac gazed down at the box in shock. He had not actually planned on proposing to Jared on this trip. The words just slipped out in the heat of a passionate moment.

"Oh my God. You were actually going to propose to me on this trip?" Isaac asked, his voice all choked up.

Wrapping his strong arms around Isaac's thin frame, he pulled them both so that Jared was sitting up on the chair with Isaac still positioned on his lap.

"Yup. I was going to propose to you tonight during dinner, even spent the afternoon with Chase and Diesel putting all the finishing touches together," Jared said, nodding over at his brothers sitting around watching them. "But this here. This moment holding you in my arms felt like the perfect time to ask."

Isaac's eyes began to water. He knew exactly what Jared meant. There were certain moments in a person's life when they just knew that they were crazy in love with someone. And this moment, right here, was one of them. He couldn't have asked for a more perfect proposal.

"So, is that a yes?" Levi asked impatiently.

Isaac chuckled.

"Will you hold your goddamned horses! I'm trying to have an intimate moment with my man," Isaac shouted over his shoulder.

"I'll say it's intimate, with your boner and everything," Levi mumbled under his breath, annoyed and impatient.

Isaac just shook his head.

"I'll marry you on one condition," Isaac said, arms wrapped around Jared's neck.

"Anything."

Isaac held up his mojito. "Drink this."

Jared chuckled. He took the glass from Isaac's hand and downed the whole thing in two gulps.

"Can you please say yes before we have to stare at Jared's boner as well?" Diesel asked, lifting his sunglasses off his head.

The group laughed.

"Think we should put them out of their misery?" Jared asked, giving him the sexiest smile he had ever seen.

"I think we should wait twenty to thirty minutes," Isaac joked before leaning in and kissing Jared.

The group around them clapped and cheered before attacking the happy couple one by one.

"Yes! You're getting married!" Levi cheered, hugging Isaac while he was straddling Jared's knees.

"Congrats, man," Diesel said, patting Jared on the shoulder while shoving his package dangerously close to Jared's face.

"Don't mind me if I wait until later tonight to congratulate you both," Matteo said, sitting in his chair sipping his watermelon cocktail. "I'd rather not get stabbed by either of your boners, if that's alright."

Levi and the rest of the guys jumped off Isaac and Jared's chairs, each with looks of disgust on their faces.

"Good point," they all said.

Realizing that he still hadn't said the magical words, Isaac turned to Jared and said, "Yes, of course, I'll marry you."

He stuck out his hand and watched as Jared slid the white and yellow gold band onto his finger. The ring was perfect. The white gold wrapped around the band in an intricate design that reminded Isaac of his own snake tattoo. The way it wrapped around his body and kept him safe against his enemies.

"So, does this mean that you'll be proposing to me at dinner again? I promise to act surprised," Isaac said with a hopeful look on his face.

"Suddenly, this is all about you?" Jared joked. "Where is my big proposal?"

Gasping in mock shock, Isaac stared, mouth wide open. "Guess I'll have to make it up to you later tonight."

"How about in five minutes 'cus my shorts are getting real tight, real fast."

The guys around them groaned as Jared picked up his fiancé in his arms and rushed them back to their villa, boner bouncing as he ran.

Now, this was how every perfect proposal should end. Getting rammed by your fiancé while gasping for air.

God, he loved this man.