Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
TWO WEEKS LATER
“What time do we leave for your grandfather’s house?” Emily called out from the bathroom, which was open to the master.
“We have two hours.” He stared at the paper in his hand, his heart leaping from his chest.
Rubbing a towel against her wet hair, Emily strode before him in a fuzzy pink robe that stopped at her thighs, showcasing her shapely body and tan legs.
“You know what today is, right?” he asked.
She clutched the towel to her chest. “I thought your doctor appointment was tomorrow.” Her eyes lowered to the paper.
He stood from the bed, his leg still hurting, but the pain was nothing like before.
He hated being away from his team and missing ops, but having six weeks alone with Emily, even though he’d been in recovery mode for most of the time had been some of the best weeks of his life.
“So, what is it?” She took the paper and scanned over it, then dropped the towel. “You want to go ahead with the annulment?” Her dark lashes lifted, her eyes stretching with surprise.
He reached into his pocket, his hand shaky—not the norm—but this moment hadn’t been in his training, either.
“I was wondering”—he crouched to one knee to the best of his ability—“if we could finally rip it up?” He popped open a black velvet box. “Emily, would you stay married to me?”
She looked from the box to the paper. Her dimples popped as her lips rolled inward.
She lightly nodded and tore the paper in half before falling to her knees. “Yes.” Her brown eyes grew glossy from unshed tears. And damn, he was pretty sure he was about to cry, too. “I would love to stay married to you, Liam James Evans.”
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against him and kissed her.
“Did you wait to propose until we could have sex?” she asked with a laugh when he slid a white gold band with a solitaire diamond on her ring finger a moment later. “The doctor needs to clear—”
“I bumped the appointment. Already saw him.” He winked. “There’s no scenario where I ask you to marry me and then not make love to you after.”
“Of course,” she said with a laugh and narrowed one eye as if the sparkle from the diamond was blinding as she eyed it. “It’s beautiful.”
“It was my grandmother’s ring.” He brushed the pad of his thumb over the fallen tears on her right cheek. “Pops wanted you to have it.”
“I love it. I’m honored.” She covered his hand with hers and smiled. “Are you sure we really can have sex?” she asked once they were both on their feet.
“Hell, yes,” he gritted out.
“Then please, please, please . . . make love to me.”
She’d kissed his entire body. From the tops of his feet and up his muscular legs to his ripped abdomen—then her mouth had landed on his lips, and her tongue had entwined with his.
He’d done his best to follow her orders and let her take the lead, but their second time around, well, he wouldn’t be so obedient.
“Liam,” she whispered as she slid down onto his shaft from her position sitting atop him. An honest-to-God cry-slash-moan followed. “These are happy tears,” she promised, her body trembling against his.
He brushed his mouth over hers, kissing away the tears that chased over her lips. “I love you,” he said as they remained connected.
“I love you, too.” She panted, her beautiful breasts bouncing each time he lifted his hips off the bed so she could fully take all of him.
“It doesn’t hurt, does it?” She glimpsed her palms on his chest as if worried she’d break him, and he placed his hands at her sides and buried his fingertips into her flesh.
“No,” he mouthed, unable to get his voice to work when she started to ride him harder, pushing more and more.
His chest tightened, and his entire body tensed with the burn of emotion shooting straight through him.
He slipped his thumb between her legs and touched her sweet spot, eager to hear the sexy whimpering sounds he knew she’d make.
Her back arched, and she tipped her head to the ceiling as her fingertips dug into his pecs, and she gave him exactly what he’d been fantasizing about—an earth-shattering groan.
She cried out his name over and over again as she rode out her orgasm, and he allowed himself to come, to fill her for the first time without the barrier of a condom between them.
Pure fucking bliss. No other way to describe it.
She collapsed on top of him, her heart pounding hard against his chest. “That was worth the wait.”
“Wait until I get my stamina back.” He brushed her damp hair away from her face. “You were incredible.”
“Mm. We make a great team.”
“That we do.” He kissed her, not ready to pull out, but at the buzzing of her cell phone on the end table by the bed, she grumbled and rolled to the side.
She grabbed the phone. “It’s Hans.”
“What?”
She stood and clutched the phone to her ear, her breathing still labored. “Hello?” She paused while he spoke. “Yes, of course. One second.”
He sat upright, trying to get a read on her.
“He’s outside. He’s here.” She did a three-sixty in the room as if not sure what to do. “Clothes,” she sputtered. “We need clothes.”
“And a wet towel. You’re a mess.” He pointed to her naked body, his semen gliding down her thighs.
“Shit.” Her hands flew to the top of her head, her eyes blinking rapidly. “Right.”
“Honey.” Liam shook his head and laughed.
“What?” She had the “deer caught in headlights” look going for her.
“You’re pretty cute when you look all flustered.”
“Liam,” she said with a playful eye roll.
She hurried to the bathroom, and he took a moment to appreciate her heart-shaped ass in the process.
“Clothes,” he reminded himself and grabbed a pair of shorts and a tee.
“What are you doing?” Her eyes widened when she came back into the room. “You can’t go commando beneath your shorts with Hans here.” She pointed to their dresser, which was still surrounded by a few unpacked boxes.
“I wasn’t thinking.” He smiled at the realization.
They hurriedly got dressed and dashed to the front door as if worried Hans would do a disappearing act before they made it.
The master suite was on the first level, which he was grateful for given he was still in recovery mode.
“It’s been six weeks since we’ve seen her.” She wrapped a hand over the doorknob but didn’t open it, her eyes flashing to Liam. Her nerves showing.
“Which is why you should open the door.” But hell, he was nervous, too.
She swung it open and immediately reached for Elaina without hesitation, pulling her into her arms. “We had no clue you were coming. I-I can’t believe it!”
Hans’s eyes were on the ground. His forehead creased, and his cheeks grew red and not from the summer heat. There was something wrong.
Liam’s heartbeat hammered in his chest with worry, but he forced his attention back to Elaina.
“Liam!” Elaina exclaimed once Emily had let her go. She threw her arms around his legs.
He lifted her into the air and hugged her, not giving a shit about his injuries. “We missed you.”
“Can we come in?” Hans asked when Liam lowered her to the ground.
Emily motioned for them to follow, ushering everyone into the living room off to their right. “Sorry about the boxes. We’re still unpacking.”
“This is a nice place you have.” Hans sat on the couch and crossed his leg over his knee and held on to his ankle. “How many bedrooms?”
Emily sat on the opposite couch and Elaina dropped between her and Liam. “Four,” Emily answered while glimpsing Liam out of the corner of her eye.
“I, um . . .” Hans started.
“He wants me to stay here!” Elaina burst out, and it was as if the world stopped rotating.
“Talia was right about me. I’m not cut out for fatherhood. I can’t focus on my work if I’m taking care of her.” The leg touching the ground began to shake. “I can’t trust myself to put my work first if she’s in my life, and it’s critical my work takes priority.”
“I don’t understand.” Liam had talked about this possibility with Emily, but they’d told themselves it’d never happen.
Hans cleared his throat. “I’m flying to Paris today. Elaina doesn’t want to go, and the project will be for two years. I was thinking maybe I could stay in her life—calls and visits . . . but you could take her.”
Take her?
“Like permanently?” Emily stood and crossed her arms.
“Is that something you’d consider?” Hans angled his head.
“What do you want?” She turned toward Elaina, but Elaina’s eyes were on the ring on Emily’s hand.
“You put a ring on it!” she squealed with a smile. “Like that song.” She jumped to her feet and reached for Emily’s hand.
“Just an hour ago, actually.” Liam matched her smile with one of his own, but he was still a bit disoriented with everything happening.
Was Hans really offering them what they wanted?
“I knew the moment I met you guys we were all meant to be together.” Elaina looked back and forth between them. “I just didn’t know if you’d want me.”
“Of course, we would.” Emily crouched before her and braced her hands on both her shoulders. “I saved a room upstairs in the hopes you’d visit, but now . . .” She looked Hans’s way. “You’re serious?”
“She needs a family,” Hans said. “I’m afraid I can’t be the kind of father she needs. I’d like to start the paperwork if you’re interested, but as I said, I want to keep in touch with her.”
God, he was talking about Elaina as if she weren’t in the room. If he wasn’t Elaina’s father—he might deck the guy.
“Adoption?” Emily murmured and stood upright.
“Please.” Elaina tugged at Emily’s hand, and it was Liam dropping to his knees this time, ignoring the pain in his leg.
“This is what you want?” He swallowed hard.
“Yes!” Elaina threw her arms around his neck. “I even brought my own Oreos with me in case you said yes.”
Fuuu—he let go of the curse in his head, realizing he’d probably need to work on his language with a child in the house.
And wow . . . there’d be a kid in the house.
Was this happening?
Elaina stepped back and placed a palm on his cheek. “You’re crying.” She angled her head.
“Am I?” He sucked in a deep breath and blinked a few times.
“You want to be my family, right?”
He looked up at Emily, tears streaming down her face as she nodded.
He stopped fighting the emotions, allowing the tears to steadily stream. “We’d love nothing more.”