29. Liam
CHAPTER 29
liam
The next day goes by in a blur and not being able to spend yesterday evening with my girls at home and my night inside Hannah, has made me a huge asshole today. The bomb that was dropped last night at dinner didn’t rattle me. I don’t give a fuck if Hannah kept that news to herself, it means that she wanted to stay married to me when she could have bailed now that there wasn’t a reason for us to stay married for Bean Haven. For however long she’s known, she has been choosing me every day and not doing it because of the arrangement or her situation.
But not knowing how she feels about me for sure has slowly started to eat me alive, not knowing where we stand is killing me. I need to hear the words from her lips. The last twenty hours have ripped me open. When I couldn’t find her at home, at Bean Haven, or the apartment, I knew there would be only one other place she could be. Reid Knight. He’s been known to go above and beyond to help women—his redemption, he calls it.
He sent me a text letting me know that she was picking up Charlie and heading back to her apartment above Bean Haven, which I appreciated. I didn’t mean to offend him by insinuating that he would ever cross a line. The man just belongs on the cover of a fucking magazine and women seem to flock to him as their best buddy. Hard not to be slightly insecure. Even Sawyer was nervous he’d be able to steal Ivy away from him.
My phone vibrating in my pocket pulls my attention from the massive to-do list I’m staring at.
Sawyer: You ready to finally talk?
The sibling group chat has been annoyingly incessant since I bolted after Hannah at dinner the night before. I’ve talked to my mom and explained, and thank fuck she’s the most understanding, accepting human on Earth because all she did was call me an “idiot, just like the rest of the men in our family.” But I’ve been ignoring everyone else, the only person I want to hear from is Hannah.
Me: I’m fine
Dallas: We can smell the lies from here
Sawyer: We don’t hold it against you
Dallas: I mean, I told you this would backfire
Carter: Wait, dickhead knew?
Sawyer: ???
Dallas: But we don’t hold it against you. Any of us would have done the same thing
Me: That’s what Mom said
Sawyer: So this is what you’ve been working through all this time?
Dallas: Yep
Me: I can answer for myself dickhead
Me: Yeah. But, I’m in love with her and I’m going to fix it. Hannah is mine.
Carter: For fuck’s sake you sound just like shithead and dickhead
Kins: I agree with you, Li. You two were made for each other. Who cares how things started? Get your girl.
Carter: This will never be me. You all have fun
Kins: Just because you haven’t felt love yet doesn’t mean it won’t wreck you once it hits you in the face. Never say never.
Me: *eyeroll emoji* I’ve got it handled
Pocketing my phone with a frustrated sigh, I stand and head for the door.
“You’re grumpier than usual. Starting to confuse you with Sawyer,” Graham quips from where he’s currently walking next to me to check on our crew working with the mash for the straight bourbon whiskey.
“I’m not grumpy, just agitated.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
Changing the topic, not wanting to get into my issues at the moment, I turn the conversation onto him. “How’s it going with Hailey?” Hannah’s younger sister started working full-time for Graham as a live-in nanny.
“She’s incredible. Mila’s mood has changed so much since Hailey moved in. As much as I was trying to convince myself that only having a dad around was enough, she’s getting to that age where she clearly needs a woman’s touch. Hailey’s been a huge help. I know you’ve got your issues with Jay and Cynthia, and I would agree with you about Cynthia, but Jay is a good man, and he did good by those girls. Hailey is well-rounded and a good role model for Mila.”
“They’re good girls. I’m glad you’ve finally accepted some help. You needed it, old man.”
“Don’t I know it. It worked out. And Jay feels good knowing that his baby girl is being taken care of and making their move to California easier on him. Everyone’s happy.”
I nod, feeling like an ass for not communicating much today. We walk into the building to check on the progress and ensure the mash will be ready for fermenting when my phone goes off with a chime that’s only for one person, alerting me to a text from Hannah.
Beauty: We need to talk
My heart drops into my stomach, bile churning around and making me feel nauseous. No one on planet Earth wants to hear those four little words. When have they ever not caused immediate alarm in the person receiving them?
Me: Are you and Charlie okay?
Beauty: Yeah, can you meet me at the apartment? Charlie’s with Hailey and Mila.
Me: Of course I will, anything for you. Be there in 10
“Hey, Graham, something’s up with Han, do you have this covered? I need to take off.”
“Yeah, man, you got it. Let me know if you need anything.”
Pocketing my phone, I jog out of the mash house and get into my truck, ready to do whatever it takes to show her how much I love her. I just hope that she loves me in return, or she’s in for one hell of a fight, because I’m not letting them go.
After a quick drive into town, taking those familiar roads faster than I should, I park behind Bean Haven and jog up the stairs, letting myself into the apartment just like I always have.
I find Hannah standing in the living room, pacing, waiting for me. Everything I was going to say goes out the fucking window as I see her red-rimmed, puffy eyes. Fuck, her tears bring me to my goddamn knees.
Walking right up to her, I clasp her face in my palms, holding her head as I bend my knees to look her over in concern.
“You were crying?”
She nods slightly, a tear slipping free and trailing down her face.
“Baby, please don’t cry. It kills me when you’re hurting.”
I pull her into my chest, wrapping one hand tight around her waist, the other holding her head to me. She grips me back, her arms snaking around my thick waist, fisting the loose fabric of my T-shirt. I give her a few moments before pulling back slightly, my hands resuming their position framing her face, my thumbs gently sweeping away the lingering tears.
“You are so fucking beautiful. Tell me you feel this, Hannah.”
“Bear . . .” she whispers as she pulls away from me, taking several large steps backward. There might as well be a fucking cavern between us with the way my heart is aching right now. Distance, arguing, these things have never existed between us.
“No. No, don’t do that. Don’t put me back in that zone. I want more than that. I’ve always wanted more than that. We have more than that, Hannah. You have to feel it, baby.”
Her eyes glass over as tears pool, threatening to spill over the edge again. A crack forms in the center of my heart, a knife plunging in and dragging. She doesn’t feel the same. Fuck. My hands begin to shake as my knees threaten to give out on me.
“Everything that my grandmother said is true, Bean Haven is mine. My parents never had the rights to Bean Haven, they—mostly my mother—assumed that my dad would inherit it and they’d be able to sell it if I didn’t conform. But it was never going to be theirs. It was always mine. My grandmother signed it over to me. She didn’t want to wait until she passed away and chance leaving me to be devoured by the sharks.”
“How long have you known?”
“A little bit. I didn’t want to chance you leaving me now that we didn’t have a reason to be married.”
“Han, I would never leave you. You’re my fucking wife, the most important thing next to Charlie. You’re all I’ve ever wanted,” I remind her, pulling her into me, grateful that she allows it. I nip at her bottom lip before scraping it with my teeth. “I can’t believe you kept this from me, though.”
“Yeah, well, you manipulated me into getting married so you could try to get me to fall in love with you, so consider us even. How long?”
I know exactly what she’s asking. She finally wants to know the truth. How long have I known I was in love with her. Took her long enough to ask.
“How long? Han, I’ve always loved you. There hasn’t been a day that you weren’t my first thought when I woke up, you and Charlie my last thoughts before I fell asleep. I’ve only fallen more and more in love with you as the years pass.”
“But, wh?—”
“I’m not done yet. I realized it was more than just the way a best friend should love you when you left me at college. It was the first time we’d ever been apart, and it was fucking torture. It’s why I drove back home almost every fuckin’ weekend. Do you remember the day you told me you were pregnant?”
“Of course I remember.”
“You remember I had something to tell you?”
“Oh my god.”
“Yes, Han.”
“You were going to tell me?”
“Was hopefully gonna make you mine. See if you were willing to give me a shot.”
“So, what, bear? You’ve just been slinking around waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in?” Her voice raises as she steps out of my arms, her fists at her sides. “You used the worst time in my life to get closer to me, then you made me fall in love with you, instead of just being open with me and giving me a choice? Just been biding your time? I’m not some damsel that needs rescuing and I’ve been trying to just keep going, but I know we need to face this in order to move forward!”
“What did you just say?”
“I’m not a fucking damsel in distress!”
I’m on her before I realize my feet have moved, grabbing her face between my large palms and tilting her head up to look at me.
“You’re in love with me?”
“Of course I’m in love with you, you idiot!”
She barely has time to finish the last word before my lips are on hers, crashing down on her like a tidal wave. Her arms wrap around my neck, pulling me closer as I angle her face to take the kiss deeper, my tongue plunging into her mouth. It’s a frantic race to strip each other of our clothes, my hands only leaving her body to grab at fabric and bare the perfect body underneath.
Once she’s completely naked, her arms return to my neck, my hands grabbing her ass and lifting, legs wrapping tightly around my waist. I walk us toward the bedroom, and she reaches between us to grab my cock, lining it up with her core. Bracing her in my arms, I drive home, filling her completely in one smooth thrust.
“Ohh, fuuck!”
My hips piston into her, driving her back harder into the wall. It feels like nothing we’ve ever experienced before, it’s frantic, primal, consuming. Her soft, silky walls grip around my cock so tightly, her wetness coating every inch of my thick shaft, already dripping down onto my balls. Soft hands grab my face, pulling me back into a kiss, tongues tangling, teeth clashing as we fight to devour each other.
Holding her in my arms and not withdrawing, I let us fall back onto the bed, my body collapsing on top of hers. Her legs stay wrapped around me, heels driving into the top of my ass, holding me close to her.
“Baby, you feel so good.”
“So damn good. I’ve never . . . it’s never felt like this. Only with you, Liam.”
“Fuck, I love you, Hannah. ”
“I love you, too. I’m sorry I didn’t see it.”
“I wouldn’t change a goddamn thing, baby.”
Pulling from her body, she relaxes her legs from my waist, letting them fall open. I kiss across her jaw and down her neck as her hands run across my back and shoulders, her thighs rubbing against my hips and thighs. Her skin is so soft and smooth against mine, warm, and absolutely perfect.
I shower her body with a mix of delicate pecks and deep French kisses as I reach her breasts, sucking and lapping at each pierced nipple, taking my time to worship each one, grasping them in my hand, and feeding them into my mouth. I suck on each peak, flicking the barbell with my tongue, her breasts heavy and aching in my palms. I move downward, her heavy breathing increasing the lower I get. My tongue circles her belly button, taking a moment to flick the barbell that’s pierced through the skin there.
Dragging my tongue over the curve of her hip and across her pelvis to repeat the same motion on the other side, she wiggles under me, trying to force me where she needs me the most. Face-to-face with her sweet pussy, I slide my palm down across her pelvis and over the light tuft of hair there, and I slowly drag my middle finger through her slick folds until I get to her center, wetness dripping out of her and onto the bed. I circle her entrance lightly before dipping in and out, torturously slow.
“Liiiiiaaaaaam,” she moans, eliciting a grin from me, I’ll never get used to how responsive her body is. I want to give it attention every moment of every day, always wanting to make her feel good. And now that I know Hannah loves me, I plan to do just that.
I plunge my fingers deep, finding that spot that makes her wild, and use my mouth to suck on her throbbing clit until her orgasm makes her body shake, and my name echo off the walls. After her body has come down, she lays there languidly, blissed-out, legs open wide for my big body to settle between them. Sitting up on my knees, I grab her hips and hoist her ass into my lap, her back still lying flat on the bed, and run my cock through her overly sensitive lips.
“Fuck, you feel so goddamn good. But I need to get a condom, baby, ’cause I’m not pulling out.”
She grabs my wrist, using my body to lift herself up on top of me, straddling my thighs. Reaching between us, she grabs my hard dick in her fist, lining it up with her center. Her eyes are hazy and heavily lidded, but she’s coherent, so I hope she knows what she’s doing.
“No condom. I want to feel you.”
I hold her hips firmly, only letting her hover over me, just the tip of my dick rubbing against her entrance.
“Don’t want anything between us, wife? You want to feel your husband’s bare cock fill up your pussy?”
“God, Liam, when you talk like that . . .”
“Say it, my pretty wife. Tell me you want your husband’s bare cock.”
“Yes! I need it. I want my husband’s bare cock inside me. Nothing between us.”
I slam her down onto me, impaling her on my hard dick. She doesn’t miss a beat, grabbing onto my shoulders and riding me hard.
“Jesus, fuck. You feel so goddamn good,” I praise her, running my hands all over her soft skin, pulling her body close as she grinds her pussy against me. She stays seated, rocking back and forth hard, popping her hips out and changing up the motions, moving however it feels natural. I love that she’s using me to figure out what she likes, I want her to explore, to let go and be wanton and lost to the feeling we’re giving each other.
“God, it’s building again, I’m going to come, Liam. Fuck! ”
“Who’s making love to you right now, Hannah? Say it. Let me hear it.”
“My husband.”
“That’s right, wife. Your husband. The only man that’ll ever get to make you feel this good, who will ever know what it’s like to fill you and have all of you.” I thrust hard into her. “Your mind.” Thrust. “Your heart.” Thrust. “Your body.” Thrust. “All of you belongs to me.”
“Yes! I love you, Liam. I love you so much it feels like my heart could claw its way out of my chest to get to yours.”
“We’re a part of each other, baby. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You and me?”
“You and me.”
After sucking my fingers into my mouth, I slip my hand between us, finding her clit and circling, it’s only another minute before her pussy is clamping down around my cock, choking the shit out of it as she comes again.
“Shit, baby, you’re gonna make me come. You’re so damn tight.”
“Ahh!” Her moan is louder than it can be for such a small apartment, so I grab her around the neck, jerking her mouth to meet mine and capturing her lips in a searing kiss. She continues to ride out her climax as I swallow each of her moans, my orgasm rapidly approaching. Just as she relaxes against my chest, I thrust up into her once. Twice. Three more times, before I’m filling her pussy with my cum for the first time. My balls draw up, my cock throbbing violently inside her, her walls fluttering from aftershocks around me and prolonging my orgasm. Coming inside her feels fucking incredible. My forehead rests on hers, sharing air as I unload.
“Hannah. Fuuuuuuck.”
Her hands reach up, holding my face between them, forcing me to look at her. Our breaths are coming in hard pants, our bodies slick with sweat and cum, but she’s never looked more beautiful than she does right now.
“I love you, husband.”
“I love you, wife.”
Flipping her onto her back, I drive back inside her and spend the rest of the time we have reminding her who she belongs to and how good it feels to be truly wanted.