Chapter 10
chapter
ten
Liam
I finish giving Wren a tour of the house, and we go check on Keller again. He’s so focused on building one of his new LEGO kits, he doesn’t even notice us in the doorway.
“Keller, do you want to save the rest of the building for tomorrow and you can go to sleep?” Wren asks.
He looks up at his mother with an expression of incredulity. “Mom, I’m in the zone now.”
She laughs. “I thought as much. Just wanted to ask. Is it okay if I go to bed?”
“Course,” he says, his attention back on the multi-colored blocks in his hand. The instruction manual is on the floor next to him.
“You know where to find me if you need me?” she asks.
“Yep.”
“Do you have your water bottle?”
“Yes, Mom. Already filled it in the kitchen.” He points behind him, and sure enough, the blue water bottle with his name on it sits on the bedside table.
Wren laughs. “Well, okay then. I’ll see you in the morning. I love you.”
“Love you too,” he says. “You too, Liam.”
That gets me right in the feels. My throat tightens with emotion, and I nod. “I love you, Keller,” I tell him. It’s the easiest thing in the world, loving him, next to loving his mom.
Wren grabs my hand and squeezes it, then pulls on it.
“Let’s go to our room,” she says quietly.
She doesn’t have to ask me twice. So we leave the seven- year-old to his building and head down the hallway.
Once we’re enclosed in the bedroom, Wren presses up against me and kisses me. My hands go to her ass and squeeze. I change our positions so she’s the one against the door. I lift her, and her legs wrap about my waist. I’m already so damn hard.
And then I remember something I need to come clean about. I pull back from our kiss and walk us over to the bed. “I don’t want there to be any lies or untruths between us,” I say as I sit on the edge of the mattress.
She frowns.
“So I have a confession before we go any further.”
She swallows visibly and nods. “Whatever you have to say, I can take it.”
Her words are like a kick to my gut. I hate that Colt and his parents took her confidence and whittled it down to nearly nothing.
“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s wrong. This isn’t about you.” I search her face. “After we got married the other night, and we were in the car going back to the hotel. I eavesdropped on your texting conversation with Winnie.”
Her lips part, but she says nothing.
“It was rude of me to do, but being able to decipher words in the reflection of glass is a handy skill in the work I used to do.”
“So you saw me admit I’d never had an orgasm with a man,” she says.
I give her a wicked grin. “You can’t say that anymore, can you?”
“No, I suppose I can’t.”
“So first, let me apologize for reading your conversation without you knowing. Secondly, you are not frigid. Not by any means. I even want to be sorry that Colt was such a shitty lover to you, but I can’t find it in myself to feel that. Because all I feel, all I can think about is the fact that I get to have so many of your firsts.”
“My firsts?” she asks.
“I got your first climax with a partner last night.”
She nods.
“Now I can start collecting the rest. The first time I make you come on my tongue.”
She sucks in a breath and her eyes go a shade darker.
“The first time you come on my cock. The first time you sit on my face.”
“Liam,” she whispers.
“The first time I make you scream my name. Come on my fingers. Really, the possibilities are limitless. But I didn’t want to make love to you before I came clean about that. I will try not to secretly read your texts again.”
“I’m not mad,” she says.
But I sense she’s not saying everything on her mind. “What else?”
“What if you’re wrong and I can’t come in all those ways? What if it’s not you, but it’s my body not cooperating?”
“I’m not worried about it. Just because your first husband didn’t take the time to get to know your body, doesn’t mean I’m not going to do everything possible to learn how to make your body sing. This isn’t something for me to get frustrated about. Knowing I can touch you, kiss you, fuck you, is all the pleasure I need. I will enjoy whatever efforts I put in to get you there.”
“Are you sure?”
“Fuck yeah, I’m sure.” I kiss her forehead. “But I also need to say, and I’m annoyed with myself for even mentioning this. If you need more time, I can wait until you’re ready.”
“You said you’d waited for me for a while.”
I nod.
“What did you mean by that?”
“Oh, Songbird, surely you know I’ve been in love with you since high school. Hell, you’re the reason I joined the Army.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Unfortunately, the logic of an eighteen-year-old boy insisted I go away and make something of myself before I’d be worthy of you.”
“To quote one of my favorite movies, ‘you about done?’”
“What movie?”
“Sweet Home Alabama. The point is, you’ve always been worthy. You didn’t need to do anything or change to be with me.”
“Yeah, I figured that out eventually. About the time I heard the news that you married my best friend.”
She winces.
“It was my own fault. I waited. I left.”
“And that was before Colt’s accident. Before he became a selfish husk of the man he’d been before. I mean we had no business sleeping together. The only thing we ever had in common was you. I won’t regret my life with Colt. I can’t. I wouldn’t have my son and I wouldn’t trade him for anything.”
“Me neither. I think how it happened is how it was meant to be,” I say.
“While we’re being honest… ” she says, then pauses. “I want to admit something. “I’m scared, Liam. Scared of letting myself love you, scared of letting myself be loved by you, scared for my son. I’m so tired of being hurt and let down by the people who are supposed to love me.”
I cup her cheeks. “Songbird, I will never hurt you. Ever. I’d rather cut off my own arm. That goes for Keller too. Speaking of, I hope it’s not too presumptuous of me to have already initiated adoption papers for him. I figured that would be the very best way to insulate y’all from a custody issue.”
Her eyes widen and fill with tears. “You already filed for that? I now I said that to the Bishops, but that was just me talking, trying to scare them into canceling their custody case.”
“I know because we hadn’t really talked about it. But I still want to do it.”
“How do you know that’s even what you want?”
“Of course it’s what I want, you and Keller are my family. I made vows in a creepy little chapel, I intend to stick with them.”
She gives me a watery laugh. “I would like for my husband to make love to me now.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” I kiss her then, pouring all my feelings into her. I’ve loved this woman for the majority of my life and I finally get to show her.