CHAPTER 16
Liam stood at the back of the living room, leaning against the wall, watching Reagan and Felicity together. They were watching a home movie – a beach trip from so long ago. They giggled about how small Reagan was and her silly faces. Felicity tossed popcorn in her mouth, missing on purpose and hitting Reagan with it just to earn another laugh.
They were at such ease with each other. They loved each other. Felicity noticed him standing there when she helped Reagan get the popcorn out of her hair. At first, she paused with surprise, then a soft smile rested on her beautiful face. She had been a gift to them at a time when they needed something special. He wasn’t recognizing that for the first time, but he was finally accepting it.
Liam wandered to the couch, picked up the pillow next to Reagan, and took its place. She gasped with a startle, not expecting him, but eased into a similar soft smile like City had. Reagan stared at him like she was seeing him for the first time, and if Liam were honest, she probably was. His presence was lighter, his wounds less gaping, and his heart mending.
Liam patted Reagan’s knee when she leaned into him, a single tear streaking her cheek. With his arm resting over her shoulders, he pulled her in for a tight hug and held her. When she looked up at him, she wiped the tear, he didn’t even know he’d shed, before turning her attention back to the family movie and giggling.
With his eyes closed, Liam took in a cleansing breath and sat there motionless, taking the time to feel. Feel the joy that his daughter exuded. Feel the love she held so close and so strong. Feel the calm after the storm. This was what he was missing, he was certain of that. The void he carried around was nothing more than a façade that he hid behind because he had a whole heart, a whole life, people to love, and joy to be had. He’d just hidden from it. Afraid because he was a rich man with so much to lose, and he’d already lost more than he’d been prepared to lose. He was still a rich man; the difference was he was ready to live in his riches.
Reagan laid her head against his chest and her breathing became light, so did the weight of the whole world. He’d missed this – missed her – his sweet little Ragin’ Reagan.
Liam had carried Reagan to bed after she’d fallen asleep on his chest. Sure, he’d checked on her every night after she went to bed, but he hadn’t tucked her in, in ages. She was probably getting too old for that, but he’d figure those things out as they went.
He stood at the balcony window off the living room, looking over the twinkling cityscape. Felicity joined him there when she was done cleaning up their movie snacks. They stood there, side by side, for a measure of time – quiet, relaxed, renewed.
“Are we good?” she asked, referring to the heated rooftop talk.
He smiled for a moment, his gaze still on the city. “You’re not her mother.”
Felicity gasped subtly, stunned by his words until she noticed the lightness about him. “I know I’m not her mom. She already has one of those.”
Approving of her answer, he turned to face her, meeting her eyes with his. “I’m not trying to replace my wife.”
“I’m not trying to replace your wife, either.” She nodded, matter-of-factly.
Liam opened his mouth to speak but hesitated and looked down for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “I don’t know if I could ever love again – like the way I loved her.”
“None of us could,” she replied.
“I…meant it when I said I can’t lose you too, City.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said with a shrug. “Is that what you needed to hear me say?”
He nodded, “I can’t be all the things you may want me to be, but I can be…something.”
With a smile and tilt of her head, she stepped closer, narrowing the space between them. “Okay, then I guess we’re good.”
Liam snaked his hands around Felicity’s neck and cupped her head. With his hands threaded in her hair, he pulled her head back and stared into a sea of blue, searching for something, anything that said this was what she wanted too. Sensing his hesitation, she lifted on her toes and gently kissed him. It was soft, sweet, and far too short.
When he continued to stand there, his eyes still closed from the kiss, she said in a low sultry voice, “Liam?”
His eyes sprung open – dark, heavy, and full of desire. If that was from one kiss, the second kiss could be their undoing. Liam shook his head lightly as a mischievous grin fell into place, and he spun Felicity around with her back to the balcony door.
Dropping his mouth to hers, he kissed her hard while dragging his hands down her shirt, unbuttoning it as he went. He kissed a trail down her neck to her collarbone where he nipped and licked, earning a sweet moan before he continued his descent. At the crest of her ample cleavage, he took his time, appreciating her perfect breasts before her pebbled buds against the thin lace of her bra gave away the heat he was generating.
Liam bit at her hardened peaks, one at a time, while his hands filled with her perfect ass. He lifted her from the ground and wrapped her around his waist, resting her heat against the hardened ridge she was responsible for. Felicity gasped when she felt him. Excitement overcame her, remembering how perfectly he had filled her before – years before.
Without breaking their kiss, Liam began to move toward the bedroom. He didn’t want to be quiet or careful. He held Felicity against the door as he locked it behind them. He wanted more of her. All of her. His libido had been dormant for so long, it awoke in a frenzy fueled fire – hot, wicked, and explosive.
He backed his way to the bed, sitting at the edge with Felicity’s toned legs still hugging his waist. He brushed the unbuttoned shirt from her shoulders while she unbuttoned his. It fell off his shoulders but hung from his elbows, unable to go further because his hands were busy with releasing the clasp of her bra, the only barrier between his mouth and her sweet tits.
Her head fell back the minute her breasts were free and in his hands. He worked them gently, remembering how sweet she felt. Pinching and tweaking the aroused rosy points, he watched her fall into pure bliss, ecstasy, until he couldn’t take it anymore. He abruptly stood, turning to the bed where he crawled across and placed her in the center.
In quick motion, he slid her low slinging shorts and panties down her legs, leaving her completely bare. With her hands above her head and her golden hair fanned across his blankets, he hovered above her and took in all that he had been missing. Her perfect curves, soft sun kissed skin – she was a beauty to behold, inside and out, one he wouldn’t take for granted again.
Felicity squirmed under his heated gaze, tempting him, taunting him with every heavy rise and fall of her breasts, every swipe of her tongue against her pouty lips, the sultry expression in her heavy-lidded eyes. He shook his head in disbelief. Why had he waited so long for something so perfect? He held himself hostage and was afraid this wasn’t real – that someone like her, waited for him. She was fucking beautiful, every man’s wicked wet dream.
As if she sensed his thoughts, Felicity dragged one hand down her shoulder to her breast and arched her back before opening her legs wide to him. Inviting him to take her because she knew it was what they both desperately wanted – desperately needed.
“God, you’re fucking beautiful,” he said in a rough timbre. His eyes trailed her body and rested on her swollen mound. “And so ready for me.”
“Liam?” she whispered. When he raised his eyebrows, she said, “Shut up.”
Liam stepped off the bed and shed himself of what was left of his clothing, his hard shaft on display. The view he provided earned him another moan as she drank him in. The sound of her desire drove him further to the edge of seduction. He buried himself between her legs and took his fill.
It was his turn to taunt and tease her. He laved her swollen bundle of nerves with his tongue, swirling and flicking as he did. With every mewling sound that escaped her, he increased the pressure, and speed, responding to her need. When he slipped one and then two fingers inside her, she cried with every stroke and every lash of his tongue.
He brought her to the edge, anxious to give her the pleasure she was seeking but selfishly wanting to prolong it and take it for himself too. When he felt her begin to tighten, he withdrew his fingers, abandoned her hard, swollen nub and moved up her body, peppering her with kisses as he went.
Her breasts had his attention while his shaft rested against her slick heat. She began to move against him, trying to pull him in and finish what he started, but he resisted. He’d waited too long for this to end it so quickly.
It was a game of give and take, each taking their selfish fill, then offering pleasure to the other. With his mouth around one nipple, pulling and biting, his other hand mirrored his mouth so as not to leave the other untouched. She slid against him, up and down, grinding, trying to find the gratification that she needed to fall over into sensual bliss. It drove him crazy, to the point he couldn’t get enough. Sweet, kind, and sometimes quiet, Felicity was an arousing, lascivious, seductress. All he wanted to do was bury himself inside of her and stay there forever.
The moment he finally got lost inside her, it felt like home – something he hadn’t felt for so long. He drove harder and faster, giving her all she could take until she finally tightened around him, and they both fell into a sensual state of euphoric delirium.
As the night went on, Liam and Felicity consumed themselves with each other, over and over again. They explored each other – and every space from the shower to the private bedroom balcony. There was a sense of comfort he had been missing and couldn’t get enough of while he was with her. This is healing, he thought. This is joy.
It was a new beginning for Liam, and for Felicity. The life he was supposed to be living found him. She had waited for him. It wasn’t perfect, and he was far from mended, but it was a start. He was letting go of that which plagued him and held him hostage within himself. He was weathering the storm.