Lust: Epilogue

She smiles at me as she climbs out of the pool, water gliding over her sun-kissed skin. The sunshine warms my whole body, and fuck if I’m not the happiest man alive.

How is it possible that this is my wife?

She makes her way over to me, smiling brightly. After wrapping her arms around my neck, we’re a whirl of lips and skin. Her laugh vibrates against my mouth. “Ethan is right next to us. We’re grossing him out.”

I smile against her mouth. “He can handle it.”

“No, I can’t,” Ethan says.

Hector laughs from the edge of the yard, standing in front of the barbecue. “That’s newlyweds for you, Ethan. We’ve got another year of this, at least.”

“Oh, much longer than that.” I kiss Mari’s neck. “I’ll be nauseating all of you for years to come.”

Mari giggles when I nuzzle her soft-as-a-flower-petal neck with my nose. Fuck, I love her laugh.

And I love that it’s all mine. She’s mine. I can kiss her and nuzzle her whenever the fuck I want, even in front of the family I used to fear I would lose.

My wife shoots a saucy smile at Ethan. “Are you sure you aren’t jealous? I know you wish you were kissing Lily right now.”

Ethan’s cheeks grow pink as he rolls his eyes at her, clearly trying to seem nonchalant.

I don’t know what happened between him and Lily recently, because for some reason, he hasn’t wanted to open up to me. But I’m almost certain they had some kind of confrontation.

Maybe even a sexual one.

About two weeks ago, he started getting flustered and pink in the cheeks anytime I mention her. And my playful little wife loves to take the opportunity to tease him for it.

A smile tugs at my lips as I pull her wet form against my chest and lower my mouth to her ear. “Wicked girl. You just earned yourself a punishment when we get home.”

She hums a sweet little sound that makes my dick twitch. “Why do we have to wait until we get home? My parents value the sanctity of marriage. It wouldn’t be a sin to have a bathroom quickie.”

I let out a low groan. “You’re a minx, wife. I need to take you in hand.”

She giggles. “Minx. I love the old man words you use.”

I lift my palm in the air and bring it down hard on the delicious crease between her plump ass and thigh.

“Oh my God,” Ethan groans. “Please stop. You’re traumatizing all of us.”

A peal of laughter sounds from across the pool. “My mother is watching, Brandon,” Ana says.

I wince as I lift my gaze to where Mariana’s abuela sits quietly on a lounge chair. Fuck.

“I’m sorry, Luisa,” I say. “I didn’t realize you were there.”

Luisa waves a hand. “No need to apologize, Brandon. Hector was much worse with Ana.” She chuckles and takes a sip of her drink.

“I was,” Hector says almost proudly as he sets the skirt steak on the grill. “Let’s let the newlyweds be and keep our eyes to ourselves. My daughter needs to cleave to her husband.”

I can’t help but smile at his word choice. Hector is constantly quoting the Bible. So frequently in fact that I’ve often teased him that I need a damn break from my day job. But in this case, he couldn’t have chosen a more perfect word to describe my devotion to this little woman who is now my wife. Cleave means to cling or adhere too. We are bound together as a single unit.

She’s my flesh, and I am hers.

“I take that as my dad’s permission,” my wife says with a twinkle in her eyes. She lowers her voice. “How about that bathroom quickie, husband?”

I grab her shoulders as I stare down at her, trying to keep my lips from twitching. “Meet me in five minutes.”

She laughs as she presses up to her tiptoes and brings her lips to my ear. “The bathroom by the guest room. No one will hear us there.”

I smile darkly. “Good. They won’t hear me paddling your ass for being such a naughty little minx.”

My wife’s eyes sparkle with mischief as she pulls away and walks inside the house, and as I glance down at my watch, waiting for the time to pass, my heart is so full it could explode.

Love and lust, I’ve come to understand, aren’t so much opposing forces as they are two points on the same spectrum. Like the lightest hues on a color wheel, one has the potential to deepen the other.

That first spark of lust for my perfect Mariana ignited within me on a day just like this one. At a family barbecue that now feels like an eternity ago. And fuck, I’m so grateful that it pulled me in against my will.

She’s my life. She’s my future. She’s my everything.