Chapter 24
Liam
“You’re spoiling us,” Britain says, like it’s a bad thing. She’s sitting in our bed, against a wall of pillows, with her Kindle in her lap. I’m never going to get tired of that view. I drop the towel from my shower over the tub and make my way back into our room, and this time, I make sure to lock the door.
I crawl into the bed next to her and say, “Yeah, so what if I am? You all deserve it. I’m here to take care of you and I’m not going to let you forget it.” I place a kiss on her forehead before settling back with the TV remote. I’d rather be crawling all over her, but I’m trying not to smother her. She’s also made it very clear: We. Are. Not. Together. But we will be.
“Do you want to watch something? Or if you want the sound off, I can just read, too.” I stop flipping through Netflix and look over to her. She’s smiling at me. Damn, I want her smiling at me, for me, forever. “What is it, baby?”
“I was happy today.” She gets teary eyed a second later.
“Hey,” I reach over and pull her into my side. “That’s great, baby.”
“You made me happy.”
I chuckle. “Again, you’re saying it like it’s a bad thing.”
“Well, I just…there’s just this part of me that wants to stay mad at you, but you’re making it hard.” I start running my fingers through her hair. I get it. It’s hard to let the go of the anger sometimes.
“I know, baby. I’m sorry.” We just cuddle for a little while until the TV auto turns off and the room gets thrown into darkness.
“You ready to go to sleep?” I whisper over her in case she already is. She doesn’t respond, so I start to move gently out from underneath her when she stops me.
She whispers back, “No,” then sits up, pulling off her oversized t-shirt and sliding her underwear away. That’s all it takes for me to get rock hard. I don’t make a move, though. Maybe she just wants to sleep naked. I’m fully prepared for this morning to be a one-off. I have no expectation that we’ll fall back into our twice-a-day routine, as unbelievably amazing as it was.
But then she surprises me when she gets on top of me, straddling me. She leans down to kiss me and I reach for her, slipping my hands into her hair. I want her so bad. My dick, my body, my being aches for her. I crave it. I need to be inside her. She breaks the kiss and starts to make her way down my chest, kissing me.
“I love you so much, Britain,” I whisper to her. She looks back up at me, but doesn’t say anything in return. That’s okay, I don’t need her to. At least not yet.
My fingers trail through her hair in her descent. “Baby, you don’t have to. I’m the one who should be taking care of you.”
She silences me with a finger to my lips. “I want to, Liam. I miss doing this for you…I love doing this.” Fucking hell. I won’t last 30 seconds. When she finally makes her way down and slips her lips around my cock, I have to fight not to bust in her mouth. How does she do this to me? It doesn’t seem fair that I’ve met the person who is so right for me in every way. Her body, her mind, her voice, her laugh. Everything about her life blends into mine seamlessly. She swirls her tongue around my head and heat floods my groin. I’m burning for her.
“Baby, I don’t want to come in your mouth tonight.” She nods in understanding, releasing me, then crawls back over to straddle me again.
“Do you want me to ride you, daddy?” Fuck. Daddy. Sparks fly in my head at the sound of her voice calling me daddy. My head and my heart feel like they’ll explode if I don’t get inside her.
“Yes. Be my good little girl and ride it.” She slides down on me, her tight pussy pulsing already. She wants this, too. Thank fuck she wants this, too. “Britain, I fucking love you.” I place my hands on her hips and help her grind as I thrust. She lets out the sexiest little moan when I hit her in the right spot. So we keep at it, but not for long. She slams down onto me, her pussy pulling me in tight as she tilts her head back and moans my name. Loudly. Fuck.
“Baby, shhh…” Sex with kids in the house is going to be a struggle with this one. She bites her lip to prevent any more sounds from coming out as she rides out her orgasm. As soon as she’s passed it, I flip her on to her back and slam back into her.
“I’m going to have to get you a gag, Bambi.” She laughs at me, then lifts her hips to meet me as I thrust. Every thrust brings me closer, but I keep holding back. I want her to come again. I want us to come together. I want to feel my girl take what’s hers. My thrusts, my cum, my love. It’s all hers. So I slow the pace and grind with her.
Running a hand along her breast, then pulling a nipple into my mouth, I can feel her tense before she even knows it’s coming. Instead of leaving it to chance, I slam my mouth over hers and swallow her pleasure. Her pussy tightening around me brings me home, and I let go. Nothing could ever compare to this feeling of completeness, with my entire world here in my arms, in our bed. I’m home with her. My body releases, and releases, the spasms fucking pure bliss as she claws at my back and we grind out another orgasm for her. My body is satisfied, but already craving more.
“I’m never going to get enough of you, baby.” I drop my mouth back down to hers, slipping in my tongue, not leaving her body a second before I have to. She pushes hair out my face, gently, and my heart slams into my chest. I pull her hand over my heart, holding it there.
“That, beats for you. I couldn’t get out of bed some days either. And if you wouldn’t have let me back in your life, well…I don’t know where I’d be. Because truly, this is for you, Bambi. All of it. Everything I am, I have — it’s all yours, Britain. I’ve always been all yours. From the moment I saw you, I was yours.” She doesn’t say anything, but she pulls my mouth back down to hers in a kiss that could end all kisses, and I grow hard again, never having left her body.
She starts to move against me when she feels my hardness, and I move, too. It’s frantic this time, and punishing. She pushes me, asking for me to go harder. And I do. Like the deeper I bury myself in her, the harder it’ll be for her to ever get rid of me. And she’s not ever getting rid of me, ever again.
She comes before me this time, but I follow right behind her. My muscles contract and release in burning ecstasy, and I love every fucking second, wishing it would last forever. I make a promise to myself: I’ll be this person for her, forever. When our breathing finally returns to normal, I slide out of her, pressing a kiss to her bump, before heading to the ensuite. And just like we used to, I feel our routine start to come back. She uses the toilet while I wash up, and then we come back together in bed.
She doesn’t put her clothes back on, just sliding in next to me and I curl behind her, pulling her in tight to my chest. I stroke her hair for a couple minutes and then I can’t help myself, and I move my hand down to cradle our growing child. I realize with stunning clarity, this is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. With her and our family under one roof, us loving each other. I don’t think I can go back to living without her. Not now that I know what this is like.
You made me happy, too, Bambi.
When I roll over in the middle of the night and reach for her, my hand comes up empty. She’s not in bed. I flip over my phone to check the time, 4:06, then get up and head towards the bathroom, but I don’t find her there either. My pulse picks up instantly with panic. Did she leave? I throw on a pair of sweats and head downstairs in search of her.
“Britain?” I whisper her name when I get to the bottom of the stairs. Nothing answers my query, but I do hear the faintest sound coming from my office. When I get to the entrance, I see her huddled in my office chair, her knees pulled into her chest, and she’s resting her head down, crying.
“Baby? Is everything okay?” She looks up at me, surprised I’m there, but just shakes her head in response.
“What’s wrong? Talk to me. Please.” Her tear-rimmed eyes cause me anguish, and I have to fight the urge to pick her up and place her in my lap. I don’t do it, though. I just move closer, leaning against the edge of the desk.
“I just — I feel awful. I feel like a terrible person.” She stops to cry for a second before launching back in, “I slept with your best friend. Like three days ago! And now I’m here, living in your house, sleeping with you, and I feel like I’m making all the same mistakes all over again.”
“Do you want me to move to the garage apartment?” Fuck, I really don’t want that, but if she needs space and to slow down, I will.
“That’s the part that makes me awful, I don’t want that. I’m happy being here and I’m happy being with you. But I’m supposed to be mad at you. And I’m supposed to stay single because you’re not supposed to relationship hop, and I’m sure there’s some etiquette rule about waiting a certain number of days between fucking best friends. And then all of that makes me a terrible mother, right? What am I teaching the girls?” I lean forward to wipe a tear off her face.
“You’re teaching them that your, their, happiness is important. You’re showing them that life’s too short to waste time being with the wrong person. You’re teaching them that a family can grow in ways you’d never expect, but that we’re all the better for it.
We’re going to show them what it means to care for one another, and what they should expect from a partner. They’re going to learn to never accept second best because this,” I motion between the two of us, “exists, and it’s worth going through hell and fighting for. And if you’re worried about what other people might think about what’s going on here, I’m going to stop you right there. I don’t give a fuck what they think. The important people only care that you’re happy and healthy, and that’s all that matters. And I think you should sit down and talk to the girls about what’s going on. Because I think I’m right, that their opinion matters the most to you, yes?” She nods solemnly.
“You’re making it so hard to hate you, Liam.” She sniffles. “Don’t you hate me, though, for being with him?” No.
“Not even a little bit, baby. Did it suck when I found out? Absolutely. It fucking annihilated me, but I don’t hate you for it and I don’t think you’re a terrible person. I do need to know, though, are things over between Matt and you?”
“I ended things with him on Sunday morning, but then he asked me to reconsider...”
“And?” My heart rate runs rampant with fear. Please don’t rip out my heart right now.
“And I’m going to tell him today that it’s officially over.” Thank fuck. I kneel down in front of her, falling to my knees, then placing my hands on her legs. “What are you doing?” she asks with a look of confusion.
“Begging for forgiveness, Bambi.” I pull each leg down so that she’s no longer hugging them into her chest, and I move forward between her legs.
“I won’t make you any promises, Britain. I’m just going to tell you what I’m going to do. And then hopefully, someday, I’ll have earned back your trust, and your love, and the privilege of being your partner.” I take her left hand in mine, rubbing at the spot on her finger where my ring used to sit. “First and foremost, I’m going to choose you every day, Britain. I’m going to take care of you, and the girls, and our baby. I’m going to respect and support you, and I’ll move heaven and Earth just to make you smile. The only thing I need from you is a chance. To earn your forgiveness, and your love, and the place next to you. Please, Britain, can you give me that chance?” She nods, tears filling her eyes, and my heart soars. It’s not forgiveness…yet. She hasn’t said I love you…yet. But it’s a step in the right direction. She’s closing the chapter on Matt, and giving me a shot.
“This doesn’t mean we’re back together, though,” she says as she leans forward.
“I know, baby. You’re gonna make me work for it, aren’t you?” She nods, then licks her lips before she drops her mouth to mine. It’s a gentle kiss, but I don’t push for more. Not right now.
“Do you think you can forgive me?” she asks. I already have.
“There’s nothing to forgive, Bambi.” Seeing her faint, then in the ambulance — it was so clear to me that none of that matters. I don’t care if she slept with Matt. I literally left her to give her that opportunity. It’s the going forward part that matters. That’s it. And I know I have a shit ton to prove to her. I slide my hand up around her neck and stroke her cheek. “Can we go back to bed now, Bambi? You need to get some rest.”
She nods, and we both stand. “Put your arms around my neck,” I whisper to her. She does, and I lift her body, moving her legs to wrap around me. I sink a kiss onto her lips, then carry her upstairs to our bed. My dick throbs the whole way, but I don’t make any moves to do something about it. I need to show her I can take care of her in ways that don’t involve sex.
She basically said as much in the alley, that these feelings of lust will fade and without trust and communication we won’t have anything left. Well, I’m going to build that for us. I’m going to give her my consistency, my trust, and my voice, and hopefully someday she’ll do the same.
I close the door behind us in our room, making sure it’s locked. When I get to her side of the bed, I set her feet on the floor gently. She’s wearing her oversized t-shirt again and I motion to it. “Do you want to sleep with this on or off?” Before, she always slept naked, but that’s when it was just us…and we were together.
“Off,” she says quietly. I nod, and lift the shirt off her slowly, the fabric gliding over her breasts, revealing hard nipples. My dick throbs again. I let her shirt fall to the floor and take her in. It’s dark, but I can still see her curves and her pebbled nipples. I see her lacy underwear, and how it dips to accommodate her growing abdomen. I swear her bump grows every day, and I fucking love the way she looks, swollen with my child.
I can’t wait to knock her up again, but I hesitate to tell her. I’m trying really hard not to scare her off. I slide a finger under her panties at her hip and ask, “Do you want these on or off?” My voice comes out raspy with need.
“Off, please.” I nod, then use both hands to slip her underwear down her legs. My dick swells fuller when I can see all of her, but I still don't make any moves. I’ll let her initiate for a little bit. We’re on her timeline now. I’m hers whenever she wants me, but I won’t push it. I pull back the duvet and usher her to climb in. Once she’s covered, I drop my sweats and get in on my side of the bed. When I lean over to press a kiss on her shoulder, and whisper “Goodnight,” I can tell she’s already asleep. Good. She fucking needs it.
The odds of me falling back asleep now are slim, so instead, I lay there wide awake, plotting. I plot how I’m going to win her back. How I’m going to show her how much she means to me. I think about how I’ll do that, and what’s important to her. And what’s important to her are the girls, Jess, and Damian. Damian. I don’t know why he’s staying with them, or what the deal is there, but I do know I’m not worried about it because I trust Britain. I want to talk to her more about it, but it can wait.
When the clock finally hits 5:45, I crawl out of bed quietly. I scrawl a note for Britain and set it on her bedside before heading downstairs. I’ve got someone to see and work to do.
The door chimes when I walk into The Grounds. There’s no one else in here, which is typical of 6:00 A.M. on a Wednesday morning.
Sandy walks out from behind the curtained back, but stops short when she sees me. “William,” she says with surprise. Her words don’t pack the same bite they did last week, though.
“Hi, Mom.” She moves to stand behind the register, but she doesn’t come around the counter to greet me like she normally would. “I could use a coffee, but I was hoping you could talk, too.” She nods, filling a travel cup with black coffee, then brings it around to a table for us to sit.
“Is it true? The girls said Britain and them were staying at your house now.”
I smile. “Yeah, it’s true.”
Sandy chuckles, but eventually breaks out into a smile, too. “How much is that costing you?” She arches an eyebrow when she asks.
“Ha!” I laugh. “Yeah, um, quite a bit, actually. But it’s worth it.”
“Damn right they are.” I know, Mom. “So, what brings you here then?”
“Well, as part of making things right with Britain, I need to make things right with you, too. I’ve missed you, and I’m going to need your help with the baby coming, and I don’t want things to be weird between us. You’re going to be the best grandma and I just don’t want you staying away because I fucked up.”
She gives me an endearing look, sliding her hand over mine. “Honey, you couldn’t keep me away from my grandbaby even if you tried.” I laugh and roll my eyes. Of course. “And, as long as you’re making things right with Britain, we’ll be alright…”
I nod. I will make things right. “And I don’t mean to say that you need to get back together for things to be alright, but I need you to be respecting her and treating her like the goddamn queen she is, you understand?”
“Understood,” I nod. “Does this mean I can come off the shit list?”
“You’re on probation, bud. But Liam?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m real proud of you, son. Just don’t fuck it up this time.” Oh, I won’t.
“Thanks, Mom. I should probably get going. Full house and all…” I reach for my wallet, but she stops me.
“This one’s on the house, sugar.” I laugh, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek.
“Love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too, William.”