Chapter 27 Roxy
The restaurant Liam picked was smaller than Taverna Grazia, tucked away on a quiet side street I didn't recognize.
There were candles on every table, filling the space with a rosy, romantic glow.
It was like he'd chosen it specifically to mark this as something new, rather than a continuation of whatever game we'd been playing before.
"So," I said, once we'd ordered. "Today was intense, right? Our first therapy session."
"Understatement of the century." Liam huffed a short laugh, swirling his wine glass.
The two of us had dressed up for the occasion, him in a black button-down, me in a crushed velvet babydoll dress, silver hoop earrings dangling down to my shoulders.
"I don't think I've ever talked about my feelings that much in one sitting in my entire life. "
"Laurie seems to like making us sit in uncomfortable silences until one of us cracks."
"She's very good at her job." He grimaced slightly. "Unfortunately."
I laughed, some of the lingering awkwardness from the session finally easing between us.
Laurie, in a soft-spoken yet authoritative voice, had spent a solid forty minutes walking us through the individual, granular ways we'd failed to communicate during our marriage.
There were the omissions, the assumptions, the way we'd both defaulted to projecting rather than trusting each other with the truth.
It had been uncomfortable, but it made me feel lighter too, somehow.
Like we'd finally set down something heavy we'd both been carrying separately for far too long.
"Speaking of therapy. I did the homework," Liam said, reaching into his shirt pocket and producing a folded piece of paper with a slightly apprehensive expression. "You have yours?"
I pulled my own folded list from my purse, feeling a flush of heat creep up my neck. "I do."
"Should we just…read them?"
"I guess that's the assignment." I unfolded my paper, glancing at my own handwriting, suddenly more nervous than I expected to be about something as simple as reading a list out loud to my own husband. "You go first."
Liam cleared his throat, unfolding his own paper with visible reluctance.
"Okay. Number one." He glanced up at me, something soft crossing his face in the dim candlelight.
"You're the bravest person I've ever known.
The way you rebuilt your whole life from nothing, three different times, without ever once asking anyone for help.
It used to intimidate me, actually. I felt like you didn't need me.
Now I just think it's the most impressive thing about you. "
Something warm and unexpected bloomed inside of me, like a light switching on in the dark. "Liam..."
"Number two," he continued, plowing forward before I could fully react. "You make me laugh more than anyone else on earth, even when you're furious with me. Especially when you're furious with me, actually."
I smirked. "Maybe you should've kept that one to yourself."
"Number three." He hesitated, a slow, sheepish grin spreading across his face. "You're really good in bed."
I burst out laughing, loud enough that the couple at the next table glanced over, entirely unable to help myself. "Liam!"
"It's true, though!" He was laughing too now, some of his earlier nervousness melting into genuine, easy delight. "Laurie said appreciate, not 'appreciate in a strictly platonic, PG-rated manner.' I'm supposed to be honest, aren't I?"
"Oh my god." I was still laughing, shaking my head, glancing down at my own list with a rising, mortified sense of déjà vu. "Liam, I have to tell you something."
"What?"
Wordlessly, I turned my paper around and slid it across the table toward him, watching his eyes scan down to my own third item, watching the exact moment recognition dawned across his face.
3. Good in bed. Like, exceptionally good. Right underneath Fiercely loyal and Supports family no matter what.
He looked up at me, absolutely delighted, laughter spilling out of him freely now. "No way."
"I panicked! I couldn't think of a third thing, and it was technically true, and—"
"This is objectively the most validating homework assignment I've ever received," Liam said, still grinning, reaching across the table to lace his fingers through mine.
"We should probably not tell Laurie we both wrote that."
"Oh hell no. She'll make us unpack it for another forty minutes." He squeezed my hand gently, his expression softening from delighted laughter into something quieter, warmer, more sincere. "For what it's worth, though? The other two things I said, I meant those. Every word."
"I meant mine too," I said softly, some of my own laughter settling into something equally tender. "All three, actually."
* * *
We returned to Liam’s apartment in good spirits, squinting in the light of the kitchen, which was like the afternoon sun compared to the dimly lit restaurant. I took off my earrings and heels at the kitchen island while Liam slipped into the bedroom.
“Why don’t you find us another bottle to open?” he said, his faraway voice coming from the depths of his closet.
I went to the wine rack under the counter, pulled a bottle of cabernet, and opened the utensil drawer, where we usually kept the corkscrew. Meanwhile, Liam had returned from the bedroom, and his presence loomed at my back.
“Number three,” he whispered close to my ear, the nearness of his mouth a shock that raised the hair on my arms. “Good in bed.”
I turned my face and closed my eyes as my lips brushed against his. When I opened my eyes again, I saw that Liam was holding something in his hand, directly under my chin where I could see—
“Is that a ring?” I said.
Liam lowered himself down to one knee as I gaped in shock. He didn’t have to answer my question after that. It was very obviously a ring. A Claddagh ring, similar to my original wedding band. But this one was gold instead of silver, with a scarlet gemstone in place of the heart.
“It’s a ruby. Your birthstone,” Liam said, picking up my left hand. “I thought you deserved an upgrade to replace the original, and that maybe…I don’t know. We could have a vow renewal or something. What do you say?”
The tears sprang to my eyes well before I’d had the time to fully process what he was saying to me. “Yes,” I rasped, my mouth unexpectedly gone dry.
I cupped his face as he rose to kiss me. The weight of my new ring was a constant presence in my mind as his tongue dragged over mine, as his hands pulled the straps of my dress over my shoulders.
He broke our kiss to lower his mouth to my breasts. His tongue traced each of my nipples. They hardened into points, chilled from Liam’s breath blowing on saliva-coated skin. I gasped as he held me in his hands, rubbing circles around my nipples with his callused thumbs.
“I need you so bad, baby,” he said, raising his gaze to lock onto mine.
“Your shoulder,” I said. My eyes darted to the lapel of his shirt, which covered the bandage he still wore.
“I’ll be okay,” he said with a lazy grin. Then, he amended, “Well, maybe you should be on top.”
I took his hand and brushed my lips over his knuckles. Then, with our fingers interlaced, I led him to the bedroom and sat him on the foot of the bed. He began unbuttoning his shirt as I backed away.
“God. You’re beautiful,” he whispered, transfixed.
I pushed the top of my dress down past my waist. The fabric bunched and stretched around my hips, then slid the rest of the way to the floor.
“No underwear?” Liam uttered breathlessly. He finally peeled off his shirt, revealing the white bandage on his shoulder.
“I wanted to be ready for you,” I said, tiptoeing forward. It had been a little over a week since the last time we’d had sex, and I’d quickly learned that a week was entirely too long to go without having any, when Liam had always been right there. “I’ve been needing you badly, too.”
Liam’s mouth went slack as his eyes raked over my body, his hands working furiously to undo his belt and zipper. I straddled his lap as he unsheathed his cock. Then, reaching down between our torsos, I guided his swollen tip to the slick outer lips of my pussy.
“Roxy,” Liam panted in my ear.
With my right hand resting on his good shoulder, I sank down, notching the first inch of his cock inside of my sex.
“Fuck,” Liam growled. He wrapped his arms around my body, pinning me against his chest. “You’re so tight, baby.”
I felt him shudder as I rocked my hips, pulling him deeper. “Lay down. I want to look at you,” I whispered.
Liam carefully lowered his back to the bed, knees still bent over the edge with his feet on the floor. I balanced myself with my hands on his stomach and started hitching my hips back and forth, like I was riding a pony.
Liam groaned, his eyes filled with lust as he watched me bouncing on top of him. “Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.”
He was baring his teeth. There was a red flush creeping up his neck. I could tell he was about to hit his peak, and I only had a second to be annoyed by it when he suddenly came. “Roxy!”
I raked my nails down his chest as his hips jerked involuntarily, pumping me full of his seed. He was still gasping when I eased off of him.
“Oh no, baby,” he said when I landed on the bed. He grabbed me before I could roll away from him. “I’m not leaving you unsatisfied after that. No sir.”
He knelt on the floor and grabbed my hips, pulling my pussy towards the edge of the bed in a single, rough jerk.
His tongue went up the inside of my left thigh, then the inside of my right.
He brought his mouth towards my center, close enough to brush his bottom lip against the very top of my wet slit.
“Tell me you need me again,” he murmured.
“I need you—” I croaked before his first lick choked me off.
Liam spread me open with his fingers, exposing my aching clit. “Beg for it. Tell me how bad you want it.”
I was too turned on to argue. Too aggravated to resist. “Please, Liam. Please. I need you to eat my pussy right now.”
Liam grazed the tip of his tongue over my clit, making me cry out in pleasure. He did it again, and my back jerked off of the bed. Then, nothing.
“Tell me you love me, Roxy,” Liam commanded in a low, soft voice.
I felt like screaming. I raised my head to meet his mischievous, dark green eyes. “I love you. Okay?”
Liam buried his mouth in my slick heat, and his tongue beat against my clit, maintaining an even, frantic pace with the perfect amount of pressure. Ripples of ecstasy tore through my body as I arched my spine, tilting my head back as I wrapped my fingers through his hair.
“I fucking love you, Liam,” I gasped.
“And I love you, Roxy Murphy.”
His index and middle fingers were inside me now, flexing rhythmically, matching time with the rhythmic flick of his tongue on my clit. I gripped his hair and rocked my hips, begging him not to stop.
My thighs started shaking, and I climaxed soon afterward. Liam removed his fingers and lapped at the essence dripping out of my clenching pussy, him mixed with me. I lifted my head again, blinking dazedly at the face between my legs as the world settled back into place around us.
Liam climbed back onto the bed and carefully propped himself up on his left side. His right hand trailed down my ribs and hooked around my right hip, comfortingly warm. “When my shoulder gets better, I’m going to fuck you so hard.”
Still feeling light and airy from my orgasm, I let myself laugh at that. “You better not be messing with me. I’m going to hold you to it.”
“A promise is a promise,” Liam said, smiling. He released my hip and picked up my left hand instead, thumbing my new ring, which was a little loose. “And I promise to always leave you satisfied if you promise never to leave me again.”
“I think I can work with that,” I said softly.
I ran my fingers across his cheek, bringing them to the corner of his mouth.
He turned his head and kissed my palm without breaking eye contact.
Then, he lowered his face, capturing my lips with his.
I opened my mouth and let myself surrender to the quiet, certain joy of a happily ever I’d never truly believed we'd get to have.