THE HAPPY COUPLE

I've been feeling old, I've been feeling cold
You're the heat that I know
Listen, you are my sun

***

EPILOGUE

*****

“HOW DO I know you're not leading me to the place where you'll murder me, amor?” Daniel asked as he followed me deep into the woods despite his fear; or the fear he had been pretending to put on. We both knew I couldn't ever hurt him. “For all I know, you could be bringing me to the cliff you plan to push me from,” he said making me turn to him with an amused smile on my lips.

“But you'd be happy, no?” I responded much to his surprise as we drew to a halt once we had finally reached the entrance of a familiar clearing. “To die at my hands, I mean. I'm sure you've said it before.”

He smiled at ny brazen words and carefully drew me in closer to him, placing a chaste kiss against my lips before leaning in again for more. “You're the only person that could bring me to my knees but I'd have to admit, I'd be a little upset if you killed me,” he said, making me smile at his words. “I wouldn't be able to see Teo again.”

I grinned. “Good thing I don't plan to kill you yet. Come on.” Without another word said to him, I began pulling him past the clearing again until we had reached the other end and stumbled upon a very thin dirt pathway that wound through the trees rhat surrounded us. “We're almost there.”

Daniel didn't complain again for the rest of the journey until we had stumbled upon our destination. A cosy little opening located between the densely packed trees with just enough space for a picnic blanket and some fairy lights hung above it. A cute little scene. 'Cute' wasn't the first word that came to mind when describing Daniel but I had a feeling that he would like it anyway. He tended to like anything actually; even the rattiest of things so long as I was there. He wasn't very picky.

“What's this, amor?” he asked, his voice coming from directly behind me as he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Don't tell me you set all of this up?”

“I did,” I said, feeling proud of myself. “Come in.” I took his hand and guided him in, gesturing for him to sit down on one of the cushions while I set up the speakers and played some soft, slow songs from my phone, of course keeping it at a reasonable volume. After, I had settled opposite him, finding myself smiling at the look of appreciation on his face as he took in the whole place. It made me wonder the last time someone had actually done something like this for him.

I took his hand in mine, making him turn his focus to me. “You're a very hard man to please,” I said, making him raise an eyebrow in surprise and slight amusement at my words. “You have everything. It's hard to gift you and even, I guess, financially I'm very stable now too, I still can only really offer you my heart and my care and my affection and hope that you don't one day grow tired of me. This — all of this,” I gestured to our surroundings, “is from my heart and I hope that it's good enough, I guess, to reach yours. I don't know really,” I said, shaking my head as I let out a nervous laugh. “I'm very sentimental, is what I'm trying to say. Growing up, I didn't have anything except sentiment so this is the only way I can show my love. I don't know what to buy for you to make your eyes light up like they are now. I'm just saying that I hope this is enough and if it isn't, I can—”

“It's enough,” Daniel said, quickly cutting me off as he raised my hands to his lips and placed gentle kisses on the both of my palms. “Anything that these gifted hands of yours make and give to me is much more than enough; much more than I actually deserve.” I kept my gaze at him, my lips pressed into a thin line as I watched him thoughtfully, making a lazy smirk appear on his lips. He delicately pulled me in closer to him so it was easier for him to hold me and asked, “what?”

“You deserve so much more,” I said softly, my hands gently stroking his cheek as his gaze bore into me. I wish he could see just how much he deserved; just how much he was loved. “I wanted to tell you something actually,” I said, breaking away from him slightly so I could reach into the bag I had left to the side and produce a small book with a black leather covering. I flipped to the first page, revealing the pictures stuck inside it and presented it to Daniel so he could look at the woman I had grown somewhat fond of; Aracelia. “I've been talking to Luca; my grandfather and he gave me this. He said it was my mother's.”

Daniel had flicked through the pages, his brows furrowing more and more as he began to notice the presence of a woman I knew he was very familiar with. “This woman...” he began, allowing me to look at the black and white picture of my mother standing next to her childhood best friend; Emilia. “She's my mom.”

“She is,” I confirmed with a smile, noting the way his eyes widened in surprise. I moved over to sit next to him so I could look over his shoulders as he flicked through the pictures. “Turns out my mom and your mom were very close before Aracelia passed,” I confessed, making him turn his wide eyes to meet mine. “They were best friends. And I figured you might want more pictures of Emilia so I asked my grandfather to let me give it to you.”

Daniel pursed his lips together, his eyes trained intently on the black and white picture of his mother who, at the time, must have been in her early twenties. Her hair had been pinned back and on her beautiful face was a smile so wide, it was hard to look away from it. She was holding a couple balloons in her hands and adorning her slender body was a sweeping graduation gown.

A tear had fallen from Daniel's eye and wet the page of the book, almost smudging the delicate ink that decorated it. Ink that told the story of Aracelia and Emilia's graduation party thrown at the Costillo estate and how they were both excited to sit the bar exam.

“I miss her so much,” Daniel had said, his voice coming out soft as he delicate caressed the picture, staring lovingly at her smiling face. “For so long, I had been running on memories of her. I had no pictures. Nothing to go off of except the little I remembered of her. When I finally got to see her again, only days before she had passed, it broke those memories. Instead of the woman I remembered who was always laughing and smiling, I met a frail woman who was broken from all she had to endure at the hands of Lucien.” Daniel's hands tightened around the cover of the journal but instead of an angry outburst, all I had heard was a very broken sob escaping his lips. I wrapped my arms around his shoulder, pulling him into me. “To have you bring me this; to see her smile again means so damn much to me. I know this will never replace her but at least now, I'll have better memories of her.” He gently stroked the picture again before he set his sad eyes on me, his lips stretching into a genuine appreciative smile. “Thank you.”

Before I could even respond, he had wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. I felt him bury his face in the crook of my neck, his soft lips placing small kisses against my skin which had me almost melting entirely into him. I hugged him back, relishing in the feeling of his warm embrace and allowing his familiar scent to overtake me. This was home.

Daniel had pulled away a little and took my face in his hands, letting his eyes roam over my features in admiration. I couldn't help but smile at the look of love in his eyes, noticing the way his pupils were so dilated under the bright fairy lights and his features remained relaxed at the sight of me. Had I never noticed before how expressive he was or was it only recently he allowed himself to be open around me? Maybe it was a mix of both really. We had both grown a lot in the time that had passed between us.

Gently, he had pressed his lips to mine, allowing me to flutter my eyes shut as he coerced me flat onto my back. Breaking the kiss, he had began to trail warm kisses along my neck as he knelt above me. Sparks of pleasure had shot down my spine straight to my pussy as Daniel continued to place soft kisses along the base of my neck. My heart raced harder in my chest with anticipation, my underwear becoming more and more damp as he trailed his kisses further down.

“I didn't plan...” I struggled to force out through troubled breaths, my hands fisting the sheets at the feeling of him tweaking my nipples through the very thin material of my white dress. “I didn't plan to have sex out here,” I finally forced out, making Daniel look up and meet my eyes with a smirk as he delicately began to draw the thin straps of my dress down my arms. I helped him shrug them off. “There's something a little disconcerting about making love out in the open like this, don't you think?”

“Probably,” he shrugged, not paying too much attention to my words as he worked on pulling my dress down, exposing my sensitive nipples to the crisp night air and watching how they immediately began to harden in response. He lazily dragged his thumb over the right one, sending a pulse straight to my pussy as I struggled to maintain my composure. “But you underestimate how little I care about my surroundings when you're beneath me like this,” he confessed, capturing my full attention in curiosity. “When you're close to me, I forget that the world even exists. In my head, it's really just you and me.”

I couldn't help but smile at his words. Despite me slowly getting used to the more affectionate side of Daniel, I still couldn't help the way my heart skipped a beat every time he opened his mouth and let his sweet little words slip past them. I didn't think I could ever get used to this.

I lifted my hand to his face, gently tracing my thumb over the light stubble on his chin which he hadn't yet gotten the chance to shave. “I adore you,” was all I said, making a warm smile spread across his lips as he leaned down again and continued to place kisses against my chest.

“I know. Now let me adore you,” he said cheesily before, to my surprise, he had taken a nipple into his mouth, making me let out a breathy moan as the pleasure shot straight down my spine right to my pussy. There had to be some kind of nerve or blood vessel that connected my boobs to my clit because the way things were going, I was on the brink of getting off without him even touching me.

Daniel had flicked this warm tongue over my hardened bud, his eyes remaining on my face and taking in my expression as he continued to play with my nipple until it almost ached. He diverted his attention to the other one, showing it the same treatment before he continued his journey further down, along my stomach and past my naval. He had placed a small kiss on my pelvis before dipping his legs between my legs.

I had let out a shaky breath at the feeling of his knuckles ever-so-gently caressing me outside my underwear until he had decided to stop teasing me and peel them off, revealing my soaking wet pussy to the cold air.

I had kept my eyes focused on the stars above my head, deciding to focus my attention on them because if I instead gave my attention to Daniel who was placing chaste teasing kisses along my inner thigh, I would probably lose my mind and demand for him to fuck me already like a sex-crazed woman.

He had let out a chuckle at my refusal to meet his gaze, before — without a word of warning — he had finally let his lips fall on me right between my legs. My lips had parted slightly, letting breathy moans slip past them as my eyes fluttered closed. Daniel had flicked his tongue against my clit, licking and sucking the sensitive bud in just the way he knew I liked it as I rocked my hips against him.

He had placed his hand a little above my pelvis, holding me down as he continued to devour me until the familiar ball of immense pleasure had began to build up in the pit of my stomach again. I had spread my legs wider for him, burying my hands in his unruly curls and pushing him more into him as I arched my back, desperately chasing the familiar feeling until I had finally felt my orgasm wash over me.

I pressed my hand to my mouth in an effort to suppress my cries of pleasure, my other hand still maintaining its death grip on Daniel's hair as he continued to eat me out like a starving man, not minding how I was practically seeing stars from how hard I was climaxing. And no, not the stars in the sky.

My trembling legs had finally began to calm as my climax faded, leaving me in a sex induced daze as I stared blankly up at the sky, a satisfied little smile on my lips. Daniel's face had suddenly popped into my view and, before I could say anything, he had immediately claimed my lips, the taste of myself flooding my senses as I hastily kissed him back. My fingers had made quick work of unbuttoning the few buttons he had done up on his shirt before I pushed the thin material off his broad shoulders. I let my hands trail along his abs, over his side and to his back, revelling in the feeling of his familiar bare skin underneath my fingertips.

I knew him like the back of my hand now. I knew every little bump and minor indenture of his skin. I knew where his scars and his birth marks were. I could tell the story of how Daniel came to be so easily now; because he let me. He allowed himself to trust me. I would never break his trust.

I began unbuckling his belt, making quick work of unzipping his pants and wrapping my hand around his dick, making him let out a hiss of pleasure as he pulled away from the kiss. He easily kicked off his pants before kneeling back between my legs again and spreading them further apart.

“You know,” he began lazily as he traced soft circles onto my abdomen mindlessly. He let his hand inch down to ny clit, stealing my breath away again as he worked the sensitive bud. “You look so angelic when you wear white.”

I couldn't help the small, lazy smile that had appeared on my lips at his words, my eyes closed in satisfaction. “That's a shame then,” I said softly, feeling my heart beat faster in my chest at the feeling of his tip pushing ever so gently into me.

“Why's it a shame, amor?” he asked, making me open my eyes to give him a devious smirk.

“Tou tell me,” I said seductively, pulling him down to my level so I could place a chaste kiss against my lips as he pushed another delicious inch into me. “Tell me all the less than holy things you're going to do to me now that I'm in white,” I whispered, making him grin before thrusting the rest of his length into me without a single word of warning.

My moan had bordered between one of pleasure and pain as he immediately pulled himself almost completely out again just to fill me back up. I let smaller little moans as I held tightly onto his shoulder, allowing the pressure from my pussy spread out through my whole body and fill me with warmth. Daniel's chest hovered right above mine as he continued to fuck me, his face buried into my neck before trailing down lower and taking a boob on his mouth. I moaned at the sensation, feeling my clit throb as well.

Suddenly, Daniel had come to a stop, making me quickly meet his gaze to see what was wrong, yet on his face was a small smile. It was almost as if he hadn't pressed the pause button on our freaky session. It was almost as if he wasn't still balls deep in my aching pussy which continued to clench around him.

Daniel only took my face in his hands, almost squeezing my cheeks in the process as he leaned down to kiss me passionately. “I love you,” he whispered breathily against my lips, making them stretch into a smile as he continued to speak. “I love everything about you. Everything,” he emphasised, “your eyes, the way you smile, your nose, your hair, your stomach, your legs. Everything, Araceli. You don't have a single flaw in my eyes,” he confessed, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I had barely managed to get out before he had resumed thrusting into me, making me let out a low moan as my eyes squeezed shut from the pleasure he was giving me.

To my surprise, he had straightened himself out and grabbed the both of my legs, placing them on his shoulders before he had again gone back to fucking me deeply. The new angle only seemed to make the pleasure seeping through me more intense to which he only added more fuel to the fire when he started rubbing my clit.

My vision had exploded with stars. Immediately my stomach had filled with the familiar intense feeling that came with my orgasm, my hips bucked and squirmed against him as I yearned for more, ached for him to give me just enough to send me over the edge. I trailed my hand past my stomach to my own clit, easily pushing Daniel's hand away and replacing it with my own as I rubbed myself with more fervour and pressure compared to his lazier strokes.

He let an amused chuckle slip past his lips as he instead brought his hand to my breasts which had ultimately been the thing to throw me over the edge. I squeezed my eyes shut, my lips parting to let out one loud moan of immense pleasure as I arched my back. The pleasure washed through me in waves, having my eyes almost roll to the back of my head as I remained still for a couple seconds until I had finally calmed down from my high.

Daniel had chuckled as he very carefully helped me lower my legs and withdrew himself for me. An ache had filled the place he had been, making me realise just how much pain I was going to be in the next day but I was soon to realise that we were far from over.

“I especially love your orgasms, amor,” he said as he placed a teasing kiss against my lips. I sat up, wanting to steal a longer one from him but he had used that opportunity to flip me onto my hands and knees. He gently pushed down on the middle of my back creating the perfect arch before he palmed my ass. “I could probably watch you come a million times and I would never get tired of it; of your sexy little moans and how desperate you get to reach that high. That's it,” he said as if he had finally put his finger on something. He buried his hand into my braids, roughly yanking it from the roots so the integrity of my hair wasn't compromised; not that I cared much anymore. “Your desperation, amor. That's what drives me crazy. That moment that you're so high up but not at your peak... so you just take it from me. Fuck me back; fuck me harder. I love that about you too. Whatever you want, you'll get. No matter how much work it takes,” he said his hands now caressing the skin of my ass as he positioned himself again at my entrance. “What do you want, amor?”

“Nothing,” I said almost immediately, not really having to think about it all too long. “I don't want anything. You've given me everything I could ever ask for.”

“I don't believe that,” Daniel said, sounding humoured as he played with my clit, slowly building me up for what was to come. “I have everything, said by you, yet I still want.”

“Want what?”

Daniel had remained quiet for a minute as he slowly started to push into me again. This time he had slipped in so much easier with how wet and turned on I was already from our previous escapade. I tried to hold my moans in as I felt him fill me up to the brim, the pressure never seizing to have my fists clenching.

“Well for one, I want to get you pregnant,” he confessed to which I shrugged because that was the both of our wants. “But beyond that,” he said as he began thrusting into me again at a much slower pace, “If I told you my wants, you'd probably run for the hills.”

“I'm more resilient than you think,” I said, biting back a moan as if to prove my point. “Hit me.”

“I want you.”

“You have me.”

“No, I want you. I want you all to myself. I want you to crave me,” he said as he slowly began to pound into me a little harder, making it more difficult to bite back my sounds of pleasure. “I want you to need me. To rely on me. I want to break you. I want to break you for every other man. I want to create a space in your heart that only I can fill so even if there'll ever be another man, Ara,” he said as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and tugged it back, letting his lips brush against my ear as he spoke, “I know that there's no way you'd be able to be with him without thinking about me.” He let me go before bracing his hands on my waist. “I want you to be mine, mind, body and soul. I want to possess every part of you.”

Without another word of warning, he had began fucking me long and hard again making tears of both pleasure and pain fill my eyes as I rested my head on the blanket, my hands clawing at the soft material. As he merciless pounded into me, I couldn't help but feel like I was being punished for something I didn't even do and I loved every minute of it.

I loved him. With every fiber of my being. He was stupid to not realise that all the things he listed as a want, he already had. Well, almost all of them. That pregnancy one was yet to come but with the way he had stilled a second before letting himself come into me, coating my walls with his warm seed and conversely triggering my own orgasm as well, I wouldn't have been surprised if our status quo quickly changed.

I was pretty sure I was ovulating as well.

I collapsed onto the blanket, taking a minute to catch my breath as Daniel rolled onto the side beside me, allowing himself to drape his arm over my waist as he drew lazy circles into my skin. I stared up at the night sky, astonished by the beauty that always surrounded me before letting my eyes fall on Daniel. Astonished by him.

I let out a content sigh as I ran my fingers through his hair and pressed my almost naked body to his; craving his warmth.

*****

I know I know I know. It took my ao long to post the epilogue. Mostly because I don't know what I want it to be.

Here we are! Someone asked for smut and I decided to deliver.

I just want to let yall know that there will also be bonus chapters. I'll put them up whenever I feel like writing but I already have one bonus chapter lingering in background and this was actually someone requested so feel free to leave requests of what you may want to see as well. I'll try to write them if I have time!

Saving Emyra has also been posted! The first chapter might be a bit of a bore but I assure you, it picks up very quickly. And believe me, you'll come to love Morgan and Derek. Forget everything you've seen in this book, their story is so vastly different from Li's and Danny's so do give it a chance.

I have so many more books coming in the future as well and I have a feeling you might love them so keep an eye on my profile to see when chapters and new stories drop!

Alright see ya