Darkness Series Epilogue by Claire Contreras Page A

beats and my chest rise and fall heavily in anticipation. His footsteps stop in front of me and I crane my neck to look at him. My eyes dragging along his defined jaw, the smiling lines around his mouth that have become a little more visible over the years, and lastly, stopping on his eyes. His blazing, hooded, sexy, mischievous, tantalizing eyes. I try to control my breathing, which is increasing and embarrassingly loud at this point.   
    “You,” Cole starts, his voice low and raspy as he caresses the side of my arm with the tips of his cold fingers, making me shiver. “Look too beautiful to clean this up.” I nod slowly, agreeing to anything he says, anybody would at this point. “So perfect,” he whispers dipping his head and placing a soft nibbled kiss between my neck and my shoulder. My head tilts on its own accord to give him easy access. “The hottest mom on the planet,” he continues in a husky voice, trailing the tip of his nose along my neck and jaw. Suddenly his head snaps up and he looks into my eyes; his eyes wild and full of need. “I want to take you back to our bed so bad right now,” he says hoarsely, taking my hand in his and placing it over the front of his shorts. “So. Bad.”  
    He holds my hand there and ducks back in to place his lips on my jaw, raining soft kisses along it up to my ear. His heavy breathing prominent over it, before his tongue flicks over my earlobe. “I want to taste you so bad right now,” he whispers in my ear as he nibbles on the lobe. My eyes flutter closed and I bite down on my lip with a groan. “You should go shower,” I say breathily.   
    “You should shower me,” he retorts as his mouth continues to work on my ear, my neck, and over my throat.  
    “You should go right now,” I respond, my voice full of longing.  
    “You should take me,” he rasps.   
    “I should,” I breathe.   
    “You should,” he confirms as he hikes up my sundress and runs his hand along the inside of my thigh.  
    “Daddy!” Carley calls out behind us, making us both groan loudly.   
    “Yes, sweetheart?” Cole asks into my neck, his voice muffled.  
    “Miles took dolly outside!” Carley whines.  
    “Oh fuck, Miles. I completely forgot about that dog,” Cole mutters.   
    He lifts his head and fixes my dress, looking at me intently. “I still need a bath,” he says, his lip forming a slight smile. “A good one. A really detailed wash,” he continues, sealing my impending response with a kiss. He turns around and jogs outside, shutting the kitchen door behind him as I watch.   
    I’m still watching the door, my mouth hanging open when it opens back up and Cole reappears. “And don’t clean up! Go to the store with Carley and buy more cupcakes. I’ll pick up the mess the dog from hell caused.”  
    I laugh at his accurate description of our rescue Boxer, Miles. He’s really the most adorable dog, but he is absolutely insane. The kids love him to death, though. Especially Logan. The thought of Logan jars me out of my thoughts and I begin to scramble around the house, picking up the scattered puzzle pieces and tossing them in the nearest toy bin.  
    “Carley, did you pick up your dolls?” I ask when I find her playing with some in the living room.   
    “Yes,” she mopes. “Miles has dolly.”  
    I look at her, cupping her thin little chin and tilting it up to me. Her big gray eyes are sad when they look into mine and I offer her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, daddy will get her back. You wanna go with mommy to the store?”  
    She instantly perks up and bobs her head. “Yes!”  
    Once I load Carley into her car seat, I take out my phone and dial Aubry’s number to check on their status. My nerves begin to kick in at the thought of them bringing Logan over too soon and him seeing the mess of the house.  
    “Hello?” Riley answers, his breathing loud and audible.  
    Shortly after Cole and I got married, Aubry and Aimee followed