Chapter 7
chapter
seven
Liam
After Butch and Brenda had stormed off with a “this isn’t over!” threat, we’d made quick work of packing everything Wren wanted.
I hadn’t intended for us to get on the road today, but I knew as soon as we had some miles between us and the Bishops, my girl would relax some.
What the fuck kind of crazy world has she been living in the last several years? I had so many questions. Had things been different when Colt had been alive? Had he insulated her from his parents? Stood up to them?
What the hell did they even want with a gentle, sweet kid like Keller? He was the very antithesis of Colt.
I remember the Bishops being uppity and snobbish about their money. They’d liked me because I had a way of grounding Colt. He’d always been a bit of a wild child. They’d said he was precocious, but it had been more like rebelliousness than anything.
Wren was still wringing her hands in her lap as she stared out the window.The tall pine trees that lined the interstate as we crossed from Tennessee into Alabama made the road dark. I’d forgotten what these roads felt like. So much of Texas is spread out and wide where you can see miles at a time.
“I think I’m gonna find us a hotel,” I say quietly.
“You must be so tired,” she says.
In truth, I wasn’t all that tired. My mind was far too occupied for that. But they needed to rest. In an actual bed.
“I think we could all use a hot shower and a nice bed.”
“Sounds great.” Wren peeked over her shoulder to check on her son.
We drove for another hour before I turned off in Tuscaloosa. I found us a hotel and booked adjoining rooms. She was unlikely to be ready to share a bed with me, but I wanted them close.
About forty-five minutes later, I’m showered and coming out of the bathroom with a towel around my hips. Wren steps into my room from our adjoining doors, then her eyes widen.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude,” she says.
“You can’t intrude, Songbird, you’re my wife.” I go to my bag and grab a pair of boxer briefs, drop my towel, and pull them up. In the span of those actions, I hear a very distinct gasp come from Wren’s lips. I turn to face her then.
Her eyes are wide, her mouth round in a silent ‘o’. She’s wearing an oversized t-shirt that looks older than me. I don’t see any shorts or anything, but the shirt hangs down pretty low.
“Did you need something?” I ask her.
She steps closer to me. “I wanted to thank you for earlier.”
“Earlier, when?”
“You didn’t have to invite Winnie to come and live with us in Texas, but I really appreciate the gesture.”
“I was serious. Your sister is always welcome in our home. Wren, I want you to be happy.” I frown. “I’m pretty sure your life has had a considerable lack of joy and happiness these last several years. I want to make up for that.”
She gives me a sad smile. “That’s not your job.”
“No, I think it might be.”
She bites down on her bottom lip, but doesn’t turn to go back into her room.
“Did you need something else?” To busy myself so I don’t reach out and touch her the way every molecule in my body is screaming for me to do, I plug my phone in. “Remember what I told you, anything you need, you come to me.”
Her inhale is sharp. “I was wondering if you could… if you would hold me for a little while?”
“I’ll hold you for the rest of my life, Songbird. It would truly be my pleasure.” I take her hand and lead her over to the small sofa. I sit, pull her down onto my lap, then wrap my arms around her body.
Fuck me if this doesn’t feel like the most right thing in the whole world.
Her face nuzzles into my neck, the warmth of her breath a reminder that she’s mine now. Eventually she’ll give me all of her body, and then I’m coming for her heart. I won’t settle until I have all of her.
“Were they always like that with you?” I ask.
“Not initially. Or maybe early on, I just didn’t notice. They were very insistent that Colt and I marry when they found out I was pregnant.”
Damn. And here I thought my buddy had wooed and won her. “I didn’t realize you were pregnant when y’all got married.”
She sits up a little so she can see my face. “I don’t know that Colt was planning to ask me, and it wasn’t really on my radar either. But Brenda and Butch were adamant that we marry. They didn’t want any of their friends to ‘talk’ as they put it.”
“They are stuck in a previous time.” I rub circles on her lower back. “So, explain the house and furniture thing to me.”
“They had built that house for Colt, and Brenda had decorated it and filled it with furniture that was either heirlooms or things she purchased. It was made quite clear when I moved in that everything was to be left alone.”
“And you just went along with it? Colt never told her no?”
She shrugs. “Colt would never say anything to his parents. I mean, he didn’t obey their wishes for him, but that was never discussed. We all pretended that Colt didn’t get hooked on those pain pills after his motorcycle accident. Hell, I think they pretended the accident had even happened. For me, it was like living on the inside of a snow globe. Things would get shaken up, but then everything would fall right back into place to make a pretty scene. Nothing was real. Except for Keller.”
That makes her smile, and the transformation on her face is breathtaking. I can’t help it, so I reach out and touch her face. “You’re so beautiful, Wren.”
“Thank you,” she says. “They wouldn’t allow me to get a job. I mean, I wanted to stay home with Keller, especially once I realized that he had slightly different needs than a neurotypical kid would.”
That makes me smile. “He’s an amazing kid. When you fell asleep briefly in the car, he was telling me all about these robots he can build with his LEGO bricks. After that, he told me the capital cities of all the countries in South America. He’s smarter than I am. I don’t think I knew Uruguay was a country.”
“And you’re smiling about it,” she says.
“Of course I am. I’m in awe of what a great job you’ve done raising him. Especially in the environment y’all have been in. You must be so proud of him. I feel proud, and I didn’t have anything to do with it. He’s truly a great kid.”
She throws her arms around my neck. “Thank you for seeing him and not thinking he should be fixed or different in any way.”
“He’s perfect just the way he is.” We stay this way for a while, her clinging to me and me rubbing her back. But some of my questions can’t wait. I shift her on my lap so she’s facing me, her thighs on the outside of my thighs. “Did Colt ever hurt you, Wren? Will you tell me that much?”
She licks her lips. “He never hit me, if that’s what you’re asking. He was indifferent mostly, selfish and self-centered. Once I knew he was sleeping with other women, I kicked him out of our bedroom. Well, really, I just moved myself into the bedroom next to Keller’s. We shared the Jack-and-Jill bathroom.”
“And the drugs?”
“Mostly OxyContin. That’s what he died from. Too many of those mixed with vodka. I don’t think it was intentional. He just had no limitations. He was a spoiled child.” She lifts a shoulder as if that explains everything.
“Why didn’t you ever just leave him?”
“I wanted to. Planned to even. But the lawyer I spoke to was a friend of a friend of Butch’s and soon enough they came knocking to tell me what would happen if I left their son. Threats. So many years of threats to take my son away.” She shakes her head. “It was exhausting. That’s the best way to describe the entirety of my twenties. I mean aside from Keller and Winnie.”
I stare into her beautiful face. Those honey-gold eyes, her full lips, the pile of brown waves looped in a messy bun, and her abundant curves. She’d been curvy back in high school, but now she had this lush softness that made me want to do wicked things to her. To watch all of those thick curves jiggle when I pounded into her. Fuck, as if I wasn’t already fighting a hard-on with her snuggled on my lap.
My hands go to her hips. It’s easy enough to tell that she’s not wearing shorts, just panties under that t-shirt.
I know I shouldn’t ask because I likely don’t want to hear the answer. Still, I find myself asking, “Did you love him?”
“At one time, I did, I think. But it feels like it was another lifetime.” She takes a breath. “I don’t think I’m the same woman now that I was then.”
“Probably not. I know I’m not the same guy who left all those years ago to join the Army. Kinda like one of those rock tumblers, only in reverse. You put the shiny, fresh rock inside, then life rumbles and tumbles, knocking you against surfaces until you come out jagged and a little dull- looking.”
“That’s exactly what it’s like. Never thought about it that way before.” Her eyes flick to my lips.
I want to squeeze her hips and pull her pussy flush against my cock which is now hard and stiff in my boxers. If she looked down at my lap, at the space between our bodies, she’d see it clearly outlined by the tight cotton.
“What if you don’t like the me that I am today?” she whispers.
“Impossible. You’ll always be my favorite person, no matter how you change.”
Her eyes once again drop to my lips. This time, I lean up to meet her, and our mouths crash in the middle. Lips and tongues, our kisses are heated and full of pent-up desire. I squeeze her hips and pull her against me. The heat from her pussy hits my dick and I groan.
And still we kiss. I lift one hand and bring it up to cup her tit, over her shirt. Copping a feel while we’re making out, like I always wanted to do in high school. Her nipple is already hard, and she arches into my touch. The movement drags her pussy against my cock.
She feels good. She tastes good. I want nothing more than to pull our underwear aside and sink into her slick heat.
“Fuck, Wren, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted you in my arms like this.” I kiss and lick down the column of her throat.
“Liam, you feel good.” Her words come out a little breathy.
I rock myself up, loving the friction we’re creating.
She takes the hand on her tit and lowers it enough to lift the hemline of her shirt. Then I’m snaking my palm against her hot, naked skin. When I touch her breast like this, we both moan. She’s fucking perfect.
Her mouth finds mine again, and her tongue slicks against mine. And fuck I’m already feeling close enough to come.
I tweak her nipple, pinching and tugging on it lightly, finding the things she likes. Her hands find my shoulders and she shamelessly works her body against mine.
Then she shudders against me as an orgasm rocks through her body. And I come too because it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.
She pulls back from my lips, her eyes are wide and her mouth is open. “Oh God. I can’t believe that just happened.”
“You made me come in my boxers,” I tell her with a grin.
“I did? Oh.”
“You’re gorgeous when you come, wife. It’s going to be my new hobby, finding all the ways and places I can bring you to climax.”