LOGINEPILOGUE “Ocean!” I heard a squeal, then feet scurrying upstairs. “Blue!”Giggles this time, then a whisper. “What are you guys doing?” I screamed, but got no response. What I heard was more hurrying feet, then a gasp, before they chuckled. I rubbed my palm on my forehead, feeling a slight headache crawling up. "Come on, babies. It's bath time,” I called out to the little devils. “Come on. Don't you want to eat? Dad made pizza,” I tried to coax them, but that didn't work. “Then there's chocolate cake,” I tried again, just to get them to show up. More giggles accompanied their little feet. I tried to listen, so I could determine their location, but it was difficult, with the pounding headache.“Ocean —”“Don't worry, I'll get them,” Jay said, removing his apron. He passed it to me and smiled. "I'll handle their bath time,” he said, getting on his knees so he could kiss my stomach. “You need to rest before the little ones drive you crazy.”I let out a sigh. “I wonder how it would
MATTWe stayed in that position for what seemed like a lifetime. Jay had finally softened enough to slip out of me, leaving me deliciously sore and still leaking him onto the sheets. Neither of us had moved to clean up. We didn’t want to. The air smelled like sex and salt and us, and I wanted to stay wrapped in it forever.The moon washed over us. We were tangled under the milky rays dancing on our skins from the open windows.I was curled against his chest with one leg thrown over his hip, pressing my cheek to the steady thump of his heart. His fingers traced idle patterns along my spine. Every few minutes he’d dip his head to brush a kiss against my temple, my forehead, and the corner of my eye.I tilted my face up, seeking his mouth again. He met me halfway. This kiss was nothing like the frantic ones from earlier. There was no teeth or desperation. It was just the slow slides of tongue, gentle suction, and the kind of kissing that felt like breathing the same air. I tasted mysel
MATTThe door to the suite clicked shut behind us with a soft, final sound, sealing the world outside. My heart was still racing from the ceremony, from the cheers, and from the excitement of what I knew what about to happen.Jay didn’t give me time to think.His mouth crashed into mine the second he turned from the door. It was almost like he’d been holding back the entire celebration. I tasted champagne and the faint salt of the ocean breeze still clinging to his skin. My fingers immediately knotted in his hair, pulling him closer until there was no space left between our bodies.“Fuck, Matt,” he growled against my lips, voice already wrecked. “All day. All goddamn day I’ve wanted to do this.”I bit his lower lip in answer, just sharp enough to make him hiss. “Then do it.”He shoved me back against the nearest wall—not very gently. My shoulders hit the cool plaster and I gasped into his mouth. His hands were everywhere: sliding under my half-unbuttoned shirt, against my ribs, and b
JAYEvening settles differently when you have just been married.The estate glowed gold beneath strings of hanging lights as the ocean reflected the last bruised streaks of sunset. Someone was singing loudly and off-key already. Laughter rose in bursts. Glass clinked against glass.And in the middle of it all, Matt was in my arms.His cream suit caught the lantern light. My husband...The word had weight. It sat in my chest like something carved in stone.His hands slid up my shoulders as we swayed with everyone else on the stone terrace that had been turned into a dance floor. He smelled like citrus and warmth and something that was just him. I leaned down and kissed him softly, not caring who saw.He smiled against my mouth. “You’re staring again.”“I’m married,” I murmured. “I’m allowed.”He huffed a quiet laugh, his cheeks flushing faintly, and then someone clapped near us.“Switch!”Debra. Of course.Before Matt could protest, she slipped between us, spinning him away with dramat
MATTThe mirror felt like it was judging me.I stood in front of it in the small dressing room overlooking the private garden terrace. My hands hovered uselessly at my sides while my heart thudded like it was trying to escape my chest.“Stop pacing,” Debra said from behind me. I could almost picture her rolling her eyes.“I’m not pacing.”“You’ve taken three dramatic turns in the last ten seconds.”I exhaled and let my shoulders drop.The room was warm. Sunlight poured in through tall windows dressed in soft ivory curtains. Outside, I could hear faint movement of chairs shifting, quiet voices, and the ocean breathing somewhere beyond the hedges. We’d chosen a small estate near the coast, tucked away from everything. It was just us… just family and the people who mattered.Debra stepped closer and began fixing the lapels of my suit. She looked beautiful in a tailored dove-gray dress that hugged her frame. She had her hair pinned back in an elegant twist.“You’re shaking,” she murmured.
A month later MATT“Open your eyes.”Jay’s voice was like silk against my ear, like he’d been holding onto a secret all day and could barely stand it anymore.“Is it something scary?““Matt.”I sighed softly and did as I was told. And then I forgot how to breathe.The place stretched out before me like something pulled straight from a dream I’d once had and never been able to recreate. It was the same place. It had to be. The curve of the shoreline, the gentle slope of the white stone paths, the tall palms swaying lazily in the evening breeze… it was all familiar.But it wasn’t the same.Everything looked… softer. Cleaner. The white exterior walls had been redone in a creamy, sunlit ivory that caught the golden hour perfectly. Vines of delicate jasmine trailed along polished railings. The fountains near the entrance had been restored and water spilled out in clear, quiet streams into beds of smooth river stones.It felt less like a resort and more like a private sanctuary.“Jay…” My
JAYAfter that day in my room, Matt became distant from me. He didn't let me drive him to school. Instead, he begged Dad to take him to school every morning, and now, he's learning to drive. He refused my offer to teach him, claiming he wanted to be taught by a professional, a man he chose, one I w
MATTI knew I was pushing my luck after the trick I pulled, but Jay was just a darling, always doing whatever I wanted whenever I requested. I peered up at him, blinking 'innocently' like I always did. I'd perfected that look, knowing he was a damned sucker for it. Dad, too. They had never denied m
Ignoring the damned alpha, I tugged my baby boy to my car, threw his bag into the back seat, opened his door for him, and helped him get in before I hurried over to the driver's side and got in. I put on my seatbelt and started the car, casting a look at the alpha, who was still staring at my car,
JAYWatching him get dressed for school, I felt god-darned guilty of what I did this morning. I had beaten off with his image in my mind, imagined him being on his knees, begging for my cock. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't help it. He had tormented me all night, curling into me, and smelling s







