17. Liam
CHAPTER 17
liam
Today I’m marrying my best friend of the last twenty-three years, who I’ve secretly been in love with for a long-ass time. Today I make her mine in every way that matters. I just wish she was doing this for love and not convenience. I want Hannah’s love. Period.
With Bean Haven closed at its normal business hours—per Hannah’s demand—Charlie with Hannah’s sister Hailey, and us lying out the ass about where we are headed, I drive us into Clallam County for our appointment to get married. I hold her hand tightly in mine, resting on her thigh, as I keep my other hand on the wheel of my truck. I keep checking on her out of the corner of my eye, her dejected demeanor filling me with nerves, overshadowing how excited I am to make Hannah my wife.
A long, cream-colored, bohemian style dress that’s covered in a gorgeous, patterned lace, with a tie at her waist drapes perfectly over her body. I’m still speechless when I look at her. She wore her hair half up and loosely curled in large waves. She’s always gorgeous, but today she really stands out. I want to convince her to allow me to take a photo because I want to remember her like this forever. I want us to have one piece of today to look back on, I just hope she doesn’t regret it. Needing to hear it again, I ask for reassurance.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Yes.” I don’t sense any hesitation or worry in her tone, which surprises me.
“And you’re sure you don’t want a wedding? Or Charlie there?”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone more than they already will be, bear. They don’t deserve it.”
When is she going to learn? I press on the brakes harder than I should, jerking us forward, and pull over to the side of the road.
“What are you doing?”
Unbuckling my seatbelt, I lean over and place my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her toward the center.
“No one is getting hurt, because this isn’t going to end badly, Hannah. I’ll keep saying it until you understand. I will never let anything come between us or hurt Charlie. You two are my priority. Nothing else. Get out of your head and start taking control. What do you want?”
“I don?—”
“What do you want, Hannah? Don’t think.”
“Love.”
A soft, small chuckle puffs from my lips as I smile at her. Easiest fucking thing she could ever ask for.
“What else?”
“A family.”
“Done, beauty. We are a family. Whether you marry me or not we’re a family. Now, are we getting married today?”
Her gorgeous bright brown eyes turn glassy as they fill with unshed tears. She gives me a sad, hopeful smile but tells me exactly what I was hoping for.
“Yes.”
“Good. Now get out of your head, and let’s do this.”
By the time we pull into the courthouse parking lot, the air in the truck is thick with nervous energy, but Hannah’s mood isn’t as sour, my little pep talk having given her the kick in the ass she needs. Now, it’s me who’s freaking out.
I’m about to make Hannah Haven my wife.
She reaches for my hand on her own, squeezing it lightly, and together we walk into the building. My heart pounds in my chest like a jackhammer, a hard, quick rhythm slamming into my ribcage. This isn’t how I imagined marrying Hannah would go, not even close.
Having already applied for our marriage license, we pick it up and wait our turn to meet with the officiant. The hallway reeks of wood polish and dirty mop water as we sit together and let our nerves consume us. The two together create a great fucking ambiance for a wedding. We’re quiet, unable to get out of our own heads long enough to say anything. Our hands stay clasped around each other in a silent comfort that we both need.
The next thirty minutes happen in a blur. We’re taken into a room where two clerks stand as our witnesses since we didn’t have any to bring with us. The judge talks to us briefly before starting the ceremony, even cracking a joke that we both look like we’re heading in for colonoscopies instead of marriage. Hannah stands in front of me in her pretty dress, her little hands dwarfed in mine, our eyes focused on each other as the rest of the world melts away.
This is what you want. This is what she needs. I repeat the words in my head like a mantra, but the truth keeps slipping through the cracks, trying to choke me with its weight. I don’t just want to be married to Hannah out of convenience. I want her to marry me because I’m end game for her. I’m already the one she turns to when everything falls apart, the one who always has her back no matter what, the one who loves her without expectations or judgment, the one who wants to wake up beside her every morning and go to sleep next to her every night. But she hasn’t seen it yet. I’m right here, baby.
Hannah looks at me with calm, relaxed features, and my pulse spikes. She’s always had this way of making everything around her seem lighter and brighter, even when the world is crashing down. But right now, I see the weight of the decision we’re making in the slight slump of her shoulders, in her tired eyes, and in how she’s working hard to stay centered and calm. I can’t even do anything to help while I spiral out of control myself.
This marriage isn’t about love for her, I know she’s here and why she’s doing this, fuck, I pushed her into thinking it was the best thing for her right now. But, now that we’re here, now that we’re about to commit ourselves to each other, I wish the reasons were different. Just as I’m about to tell her we’ll find another way, Hannah squeezes my hands, forcing my attention back on her.
“You and me,” she mouths, giving me the smile that I love so much.
“You and me.”
Back at Hannah’s apartment, she tucks Charlie into bed as I glance down at the signed paper in my hand, the legal document that binds me to her in the way I’ve always wanted but could never pursue. A document that I’d never imagined I’d have because I couldn’t imagine a married life with anyone but her.
Hannah’s my wife.
My mind is heavy, processing how this is going to work, how I’m going to make her see me as more than her best friend. Really see me, not as her savior, because fuck, Hannah doesn’t need saving. But see me as the man she’s been searching for all along. The one she can lean on, the one she can finally let herself love. The man who’s been in front of her all along. I want to give her all of my love and get that in return.
After pouring a glass of whiskey and walking into the bedroom, I loosen my tie so that it hangs open around my neck, unbuttoning the first few buttons on my dress shirt as I take a seat in the chair that sits in the corner of her room.
Relaxing back into the chair, I sip my drink, replaying the events of the afternoon. The reality of what’s happened crashing down on me.
Hannah’s my wife.
“I, Hannah, take you, Liam, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.”
“I, Liam, take you, Hannah, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.”
“Do you, Hannah, take Liam to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do. ”
“Do you, Liam, take Hannah to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.”
“By the power vested in me by the state of Washington, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Hannah walks into the bedroom and slowly shuts the door until it clicks closed, pulling me from the visions of earlier as she took her vows to tether herself to me. I look at her over the rim of my glass, the amber liquid nearly drained. I stare at the woman I’ve looked at millions of times, and feel desperate to give everything to her. Desperate for her to see me and make this real.
“I want you, beauty, all of you,” I say the words out loud, my voice unrecognizable as my desire for her takes over.
She sits down on the edge of the bed, the large Hellraiser T-shirt she’s wearing riding up her thigh. She bites the tip of her thumb while she thinks things through, but I know she wants me. I feel the way her body melts into mine when I hold her close, the way she shivers in my arms when I kiss her, and she comes out of it lust-drunk and in a haze, the way she comes just from me talking to her. Maybe this is how we connect.
“Tell me how you like to be touched, wife . Tell me how to make you feel good.”
Her breath picks up as her eyes shutter closed for a brief moment. I expect her to say no. I expect her to give me a million reasons why this is a bad idea and why we can’t cross this line. But she doesn’t do any of that.
“I don’t even know. I’m not really experienced. It’s been so long since I’ve actually been with someone, and no one’s ever taken their time with me before, so I just don’t know . . .” Her words are barely above a whisper as she confesses what I already knew .
“Baby. I want to take my time with you. Don’t make me beg, because I will. I want to learn how to give you what you like, what you want, what you need.”
Her breath hitches, eyes lighting up quickly before her face transforms right before me. Oh, fuck. I can work with this. She wants touch but doesn’t want to ask for it? Well, I will.
“You like that idea.”
“I don’t?—”
“You do. You’re flushed, your breathing is unsteady. I know everything about you, beauty. Let me learn your body, too.”
“Liam . . .”
Moving from the chair, I bend slowly to my knees, keeping my focus on her, watching as her eyes get heavy and she struggles to get air into her lungs. Fuck, yes. I’ll take this. Anything for this woman.
“Let me touch my wife.” I lean down on all fours, taking a hesitant step forward. “ Please .”
That does it. Her shoulders sag, her thighs rubbing together slightly, and I know I’ve got her.
“Liam . . . yes.”
I’ve been prepared to beg for this woman for years, and I’ll happily do it now. I slowly crawl across the floor, our eyes never leaving each other’s, giving me a front-row view as she spirals with lust. I reach her legs, Hannah’s eyes heavy with desire and arousal, until I’m sitting in front of her, waiting.
She holds my eyes hostage as she lifts her leg and presses her bare foot against my pec. Turning my head, I brush my nose across the inside of her ankle, her silky skin so damn soft at the delicate little spot. Goosebumps scatter across her body and I hum my approval. I wonder how responsive she’ll be to other touches.
“Please, baby. Tell me what you want. Tell me what I can give you. I need to touch you. ”
“Kiss me, Liam. I want you to kiss me.”
Grabbing her foot in my hand, I lift it off of my chest, placing a chaste kiss to the arch before moving my way up, peppering slow kisses, my lips brushing across her silky skin. I kiss the inside of her knee before inching forward and hooking her leg over my shoulder. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than her. Just as my hands stroke the outside of her thighs, inching under the large T-shirt she has on, she stops me, putting her hands over mine and holding them back.
“Baby, please . Put me out of my misery already. Let me have you.”
“What do you want, Liam? Tell me.” Her words are breathy, a plea on a desperate moan that makes my dick throb hard in my pants.
“You. All of you . I want to taste you. I want to lick your pussy until you’re a mess, I want you to flood my mouth with your cum, I want to make your legs shake and hear you moan my name. Let me make you feel good. Please. ”
“Mother above, so help me. Liam, when you talk like this . . .”
My heart is racing so fast behind my ribcage, you’d think I was going a few rounds in the ring with Sawyer. But I’m just fucking desperate to touch her, even more so hearing how no one has ever taken their time to learn what makes her body feel good. I want to be the one to change that for her.
“Let me touch you the way a husband touches his wife.”
“Holy shit.” Her eyes close and my heart stops, but then she begins nodding her head. “Yes. Yes.”
Before the last syllable is released from her mouth I’m moving. My hands finally roam up the length of her thighs, pushing her T-shirt up as I go, and exposing her panty-clad pussy to me. The black lacy material barely covers her and my mouth waters at the sight. Leaning forward, I run my nose up the length of her seam, breathing in deeply as I go. She smells so fucking good—so sweet, so her .
I nuzzle my nose deeper, loving that her arousal is leaking through the thin fabric of her panties just from the anticipation alone. Sitting up straight, I hook my fingers through the scrap of material at her hips and begin dragging them down her legs. She lifts up, allowing me to peel them completely from her body with trembling hands. After freeing her, her legs fall open for me and I don’t hesitate to run two of my fingers through her center, finding out just how wet she truly is.
“Is this all for me? You’re already making such a mess, and I haven’t even kissed you yet.”
“Liam, please. Don’t make me wait anymore.”
“Now who’s begging?”
“I don’t care. I need you.”
“Anything for you. I’ll always give you everything you need.”
My eyes flash quickly to hers, taking in the desperate, needy look on her face. Leaning back in, I inhale deeply again, taking all of her into my lungs, never wanting to breathe anything else in for as long as I live.
When I finally give in to our needs, I use my thumbs to spread her lips wide open for me and take a moment to admire her glistening pussy as she squirms. With her spread open, I get a perfect view and my dick throbs violently, leaking precum from the tip into my pants.
“Fuck.” My voice is a breathy whisper. “You’re so soft, so fucking pretty. I bet you taste as good as you smell.”
Dipping my head down, I run my tongue along the entrance of her pussy, pushing inside the tight channel. I moan into her, loving her sweet, musky taste as it explodes on my tongue, and I nearly fucking lose it right there. Licking her cum from the vibrator has nothing on getting it straight from the source.
“Mmm. So fucking good, beauty. I’ve been thinking about doing this since I licked your vibrator clean.” And much, much longer.
Her hips buck and she lets out a breathy moan that goes straight to my cock. Flattening my tongue, I lick up her center, easily finding her clit and flicking it several times with the tip before moving back down and repeating the process. She tastes so fucking good. I can’t believe I’m here after wanting this for so long.
Grabbing her hips, I jerk her closer to me, lifting her ass slightly to hold her to my face while I devour her sweet pussy. Her hips start to move of their own accord, her moans getting louder, her legs straining on my shoulders as they tremble. Goddamn, I love making her lose control like this, but we need to keep it down if this is going to continue. And I have plans to continue all fucking night.
“Baby, your noises are wrecking me, but you need to stay quiet, grab a pillow.”
Her hands reach down, sliding through my hair instead and pulling my mouth harder onto her. My nose presses against the short strip of pubic hair she keeps, my tongue lashing against that swollen nub that’s making her go wild.
“Holy shit, Liam, ohmygod! Make me come. Make me come! I can’t take it anymore, please. Nothing has ever felt so good.”
Because you hadn’t been with me until now. I suck her clit into my mouth and pulse with little sucks as I plunge two fingers into her tight little pussy, feeling her walls around me for the first time ever. She’s so damn warm, and my cock leaks at the thought of pressing into her tight heat.
“Fuck, you’re tight, beauty. Your pussy is gripping me.” My fingers pump a few times before pushing in deep and motioning in a come-hither motion toward her navel. Based on the way her body spasms, I’d say she likes it. Her breath hitches, her moans getting louder and louder, even as she tries to muffle them.
“Come for me, wife . Let me finally feel you let go.”
As if her body was waiting, she falls apart, her clit swelling, throbbing against my tongue, her pussy walls clenching around my fingers, sucking them in like it needs to be filled. Fuck do I want to pump my cock inside her, feel those walls stretch around my cock while I fill her with my cum. The image and the feel of her like this makes me groan into her pussy, jerking her body impossibly close by her hips, nearly suffocating myself as I bury my face into her, wanting to consume her.
I continue to rut against the edge of the bed, her orgasm flooding my mouth with her essence. I drink up all of it, swallowing her down and loving the sweet taste of her cum. My hips move, rubbing my stiff cock against the mattress until I’m coming, filling my briefs with a load that just won’t end. I moan unfiltered and unrestrained into her pussy, licking her sweet, silky flesh through both of our orgasms.
“God damn baby, I’m addicted to your pussy.”
“Good thing you married me.”
A deep, primal growl leaves me. I stand and Hannah’s eyes go wide when she takes in the outline of my still-hard cock through the thin material of my dress pants, a visible wet spot from where I came leaking through the khaki fabric.
“Did you . . . ?” she nearly pants as she points to the spot.
“Come from eating you out? Yeah. I did. Don’t think that that means I’m done with you. That just gave me a little relief. Now, do I need to beg my wife to let me fuck her?”