23. Ellie
Chapter 23
Ellie
“You get shit lined out?” Liam asks, when I make it upstairs. I stop at the door and look at him lying on my bed. He doesn’t have a shirt on, and I’d lay odds that he’s naked under those covers. His dark hair is ruffled and stands out against my white pillow cases and sheets. The ice blue comforter is pulled up to his hip and lazily hides all of his goodies. That thought makes me grin. “Ellie?” he prompts, and I can hear the worry in his voice. He’s worried about me.
That feels nice.
“They went to bed. I think they’re still arguing, I could hear traces of it as I passed their door, but at least they’re not screaming.”
“Your sister is a fucking mess, Ice.”
I’m wearing Liam’s shirt he had on earlier and I decide it’s perfect to sleep in. I just want to lie in bed and cuddle up to my man. I walk over to him, slide under the covers and immediately he pulls me into his warm body, his arm going around me, my head resting on his chest.
“She’s hurting, Liam.”
“I get that, Ice, which shocks the fuck out of me. I didn’t think the bitch had a heart.”
“Liam—”
This shit won’t get any better the way she’s going at it.”
“You don’t like her,” I mutter, they’ve always fought with each other and it’s definitely made it hard in the past. I don’t know why I thought it would have changed after all of this time. When I left Liam and he didn’t come and find me, Dawn’s anger toward him grew, so I should have known better.
“I’ve always told you there’s something about her I don’t trust. Still, she cares about you. She’s got grit and she doesn’t take shit—at least in life. I can respect her for that.”
I look up at him, surprised. “You mean that?”
“Yeah, baby. We butt heads, yet we both care about you. I can live with that. She wants you cared for and respected. The problem is with her. Right now, she’s not demanding that same respect from the people she’s trying to let into her life. That is a fucking recipe for disaster.
Liam is not wrong. My sister goes through relationships like water. She’s never really treated any of them that great. Things were different with Glenna, however. She seems to really care for her. She seemed really happy for once, so to see them fighting now makes me hurt for her.
“She’s going to agree to bring another person into their relationship.”
“Dawn’s okay with that?” Liam asks, his fingers rubbing against my temple, stroking my hair.
“I don’t think so. I think she’s doing it so she doesn’t lose Glenna.”
“She’ll definitely lose her then,” Liam predicts and it makes me sad, because I’m afraid he’s right.
“Maybe not? Maybe bringing a man into the bedroom will?—”
“Ice, it’s hard enough being a couple in this world. You bring a third party into the bedroom, then you better be solidly committed to each other, because feelings and emotions can trip a motherfucker up.”
“Why does it sound like you know all about this?” I ask, not liking the idea at all.
“I don’t, at least not personally. I got a buddy that I served overseas with and he was tight with this other dude, Sabre. I didn’t know Sabre as well, but he seemed like a good enough guy. Sabre brought my guy into the relationship he had with his wife.”
“It didn’t work?”
“Worked really good. The three of them seemed extremely happy. Annie is a sweet woman and Latch? He needed that. He hadn’t had that shit in his life.”
“Then, I don’t?—”
“He fell in love with Annie.”
“So? I mean you said they were happy together. He and Sabre obviously had to love each other. It sounds like the perfect situation. Unless, Annie didn’t care?—”
“I don’t think I’ve met one person that Annie doesn’t care for. She’s a good woman with a big heart, Ice.”
“Then, I don’t understand.”
“Latch and Sabre respect each other, they’re brothers in every sense of the word except by blood, but they don’t get off on each other’s dicks. Their threesome is all about Annie and giving her pleasure.”
“Oh, wow. That’s kind of amazing if you think about it. Annie’s a lucky woman.”
“That something you want, Ice?”
“What?” I gasp, my face heating, because I was imagining being a woman that had two men in her bed, focused completely on me. It seems like the ultimate fantasy. I don’t think it’s something I could do, but I can see the appeal.
“Fuck, you do,” Liam says, as he tilts his face down to look at me.
“Liam—”
“You want that, Ice. I’ll give it to you.”
“You would?” I ask, completely shocked. There are many things I know about Liam in the bedroom, but none of those screams that he shares well with others. I’ve always kind of liked that. This is a revelation and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I’m a little excited, maybe even scared, but weirdly disappointed, too. Mostly, I’m overwhelmingly confused.
Definitely confused.
“I love you, Ellie. If you want that, then I’m going to give it to you, but it will be on my terms.”
“Your terms?”
“I pick the man. It has to be someone I trust, implicitly. Also, I control what happens and it only happens in a hotel, not our bed. Our bed is ours. You and me. I don’t want to be fucking you and some other fucker be there, ever .”
I pull back to listen to Liam, and watch him as he lays it out. I don’t know how I feel about it, but I can tell he’s got very clear feelings about everything and I want to watch his face. I prop my head up on my hand, my elbow pushing into the mattress.
“What else,” I murmur, sifting through everything he says, while trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Liam is saying all of this. I mean I was married to him. We were together for a while and yet, this completely shocks me.
“His dick never gets inside of you. You have a baby, it’s mine. I come inside of you, it’s my cum. I don’t want some fucker’s there hanging out before me.”
“I uh…I’m not sure that’s how it works. The just hanging out inside of me thing, because…eww.”
“I’m serious, Ellie.”
“I can see that,” I whisper, because I can. Actually, he’s getting kind of worked up about it the more he talks, and not in good ways. He seems… upset . Heck, he might even be pissed off. “What about my mouth?” I ask, knowing I’m poking the bear at this point, but I need to see where this goes.
“Fuck, no,” he growls. “You never suck another motherfucker off. I’m not kissing my woman only to taste some other man’s jizz. That’s never happening,” he declares absolutely. “I’ve made it all this time without tasting some ball bag’s cum and I’m not changing that now.”
“I…okay, so let me get this straight. You’ll give me a threesome, but the guy isn’t allowed to actually… do me and I can’t get him off, do I have that right?”
“He can touch you, but only when and how I tell him,” Liam allows. “And you can use your hand on him, but only if you want to. He has to have a condom though. His cum is not allowed to touch your body.”
I let out a startled laugh.
“What?” Liam asks, defensively.
“It doesn’t sound like much fun for him, Liam. I doubt you can find a man to agree.”
“Bullshit. He gets to touch you and see you come, Ellie. Trust me, finding someone who wants that is the easy part.”
It’s a weird compliment, but a compliment all the same. It makes me lean up and kiss the tip of Liam’s chin—mostly because that’s all I can reach from this angle. Then, a thought occurs to me and I frown.
“Would you want that?” I ask.
“What?”
“Would you want me to bring another woman into our relationship, because I have to tell you, Liam, I don’t think I could handle that at all. I don’t want another woman anywhere near you. Ever. ”
I watch as his lips slowly stretch out into a sexy smile and if I wasn’t terrified of the fact that he could possibly want another woman in our bed, I’d definitely enjoy that smile and try to keep it on his face.
“Fuck, no, Ice. You’re the only woman I want. I haven’t wanted anyone else since the day I first saw you,” he says softly, his hand coming to my neck, as his thumb brushes against my pulse. His gray eyes go dark and intense and my entire body tingles. Heck, I think even my toes curl.
“I don’t think I want another man in our relationship either, Liam. It’s a good fantasy, but the reality of it doesn’t really appeal to me,” I confess. “You were my first and I’m praying this works out so that you’ll be the last.”
“Ellie,” he hisses, leaning down to take my mouth. This kiss is different than the others we’ve shared since he came back into my life. This kiss is sweet and slow, thoughtful, and reminds me of the kiss he gave me on our wedding day.
Full of love.
When we break apart, he settles me back against him, reaches over and turns out the light. We lie there in the darkness for a bit and I go over everything we just talked about.
“We could finish what we started earlier, if you wanted,” I offer him, knowing he has to have a case of blue balls. I hate that we got interrupted.
“Your head is full of worry over your sister, Ice. I think I could pull you out of that, but I’d rather our first time back with each other was because we’re both where we need to be emotionally and mentally.”
“Whatever happened to Latch?”
“He went back into service for a while. It hurt him to be in love with Annie, but only be able to see her when they asked him.”
“Are they still together?”
“Last I heard, yeah, but Annie’s pregnant with her second child. I’m not sure Latch is dealing with that all that well. Maybe they’ve sorted it out by now, I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him in a couple of months. I just know my man was seriously nursing a broken heart, even still being in their lives.”
“That’s sad,” I whisper, feeling my heart hurt for Latch.
“That’s why rules for bringing another person into a committed relationship need to be stated. It’s most definitely why, a couple needs to be solid to even entertain the idea.”
“Do you think it can work?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“But, you don’t think it will work for Dawn,” I murmur, my voice laced with sadness. I had hoped this was a turning point for my sister. I don’t want to say she’s been selfish in her life, but she’s definitely the type of person to put herself first. Sometimes that’s not bad, but all the time?
“No, Ice, I don’t. This isn’t something that both of them want. This is something she’s doing to try and save her relationship.”
“Which is also probably the quickest way to lose it, because Dawn will hate everything about it.”
“She’ll be okay, Ice.”
“I’m not so sure,” I murmur.
“I am.”
“How?” I ask, hoping he can convince me.
“Because she has you and you will be there to pick up the pieces.”
“You have a lot of faith in me, Liam,” I mutter with a sad, exhausted sigh.
“All the faith in the world, Ellie. All the faith in the world.”
He kisses the top of my head and I close my eyes feeling secure and loved. Liam and I have a lot to work out, but right now I feel nothing but hope and happiness when it comes to the two of us.
I pray that Dawn gets that feeling one day. I really want that for her.