His arms tightened around my waist, holding me against him like a vice. I felt a shudder rake his body. “I love you more.”
A small laugh escaped me. “Not possible.”
His lips brushed over my forehead as he pulled back enough to look down at me. “Wanna bet?” Before I could even open my mouth to tease him, he was letting go of my waist and grasping hold of my hands as he knelt on his good leg before me.
My heart stopped, my breath freezing in my lungs. Oh, my God! my brain shouted as my eyes burned with the tears that tried to blind me. Surprise mixed with disbelief and overwhelming joy rocked through me and I couldn’t move, couldn’t even blink as I looked down at him.
I watched through my tears as he swallowed hard. I thought maybe Natalie put something in his hand, but I couldn’t be sure because my focus was completely on Liam. “I’ve loved you from the moment I set eyes on you. You’ve made me a stronger, better man and I will strive to always be someone you will be proud to call your own. I want to be beside you every day for the rest of my life.” His voice cracked and he swallowed roughly again. “Will you let me, little Brie?”
I could feel everyone’s eyes boring into me as I stood there, completely dumbfounded by what was happening. I’d wanted this for so long, had been determined that this was exactly what I wanted. But I’d thought that I would be the one to have to move us in that direction.
This? I wouldn’t have expected this in a million years. I couldn’t believe Liam was doing this, putting himself out there like that in front of his friends in such a vulnerable way. It just showed me once again how much he had changed and I couldn’t help falling that much more in love with him.
Still unable to speak, barely able to see through my tears, I nodded my head joyously at him. I felt him slide a ring onto my finger before he was on his feet and I was in his arms, sobbing so hard that my still slightly sore chest ached. Liam pressed his lips to my ear, telling me over and over again that he loved me. I felt something damp on my neck and realized that he was crying too.
My arms tightened around his neck and I buried myself against him as much as humanly possible. “I love you,” I croaked out. “I love you so much.”
LIAM
It took hours before everyone finally left. I was exhausted so I knew Gabriella had to be as well. She’d gone upstairs as soon as our last guest had left ten minutes before and I’d started cleaning up the disaster our newly furbished home had become.
I had picked up all the paper plates and empty cups in a trash bag before I decided to let the housekeeper that Natalie had hired for us deal with the rest the next day. I wanted a shower and the new bed Annabelle had picked out with the help of Marissa and Alexis. The inside of the house was just as perfect as the outside, or so Gabriella had assured me when I’d shown her around. Of course it was my first time seeing everything up close and personal rather than just in pictures. From the evidence of my new home, I had to admit that between Emmie, Natalie, and Annabelle, I figured they could have ruled the world with ease.
Shaking my head at that thought, I opened the door to the master bedroom. From our connecting bathroom I could hear the water still running for Gabriella’s shower. Just thinking of my girl standing under the stream of steaming water, touching herself as she washed, caused my body to instantly wake up. Grinning, I pulled my shirt over my head on my way into the bathroom, before quickly taking care of the rest of my clothes.
The bathroom was full of steam as I entered and I could barely make out the shape of the little Italian goddess as she sang softly to herself and swayed those damn amazing hips to the rhythm in her head. If I’d still been wearing my jeans, I knew I’d have hurt myself with the way my dick went from semi-hard to full attention in less than a second. My mouth went dry as I stood there watching her dancing under the spray of the shower.
It was sweet torture to watch her like this. I’d been aching for her for far too long and the need in my body was trying to block out every rational thought my brain was trying to process right then. I clenched my jaw, trying to rein my demanding body in. It was a difficult struggle, though. The last time I’d had sex was with the little goddess behind the shower door.
Twenty-two months.
That was how long it had been since I’d last had sex. That was how long it had been since I’d been deep inside of my girl. It was probably hard to believe, but it was the truth. There had been plenty of opportunities to hook up with any number of chicks—I was a fucking rock star, after all, and girls constantly threw themselves at me—problem was, I hadn’t been interested. Not one of those chicks had tempted me.
Yet just the thought of the water running over Gabriella, touching her in all the places I wanted to touch her, turned me into a motherfucking Neanderthal. I couldn’t think past how quickly it would take me to slide deep into her tight little body.
Groaning, I opened the shower door. Gabriella stopped singing, but her hips continued swaying to whatever tune was playing in her head. She grinned up at me and pulled me into the shower with her. I didn’t even see the angry scar on her chest as her wet breasts rubbed over my chest while she wrapped her arms around my waist and ran her fingers up and down my back. To me, that fucking scar wasn’t even there. She was alive and perfect. That was all that mattered. Shivering, I pulled her closer and lowered my head.
The damn little tease turned her head away and my lips landed on her jaw. I reached out, my hands gripping her perfect ass and trailed kisses down her neck until I reached the tender flesh where neck met shoulder. Sinking my teeth in, I heard her cry out with pleasure and knew that that had been exactly what she had wanted.
“Don’t tease me,” I growled against her ear. “Give me your lips.”
She looked up at me through damp lashes. “Tell me you love me first,” she commanded.
“I love you. I adore you. I fucking need you.” I tightened my hold on her ass and lifted her a few inches off the tiled shower floor. Her delighted gasp filled my ears as my throbbing dick brushed over the outer lips of her wet pussy. “Now let me have your mouth.”
She pouted her lips at me and I lowered my head, capturing that sassy mouth. Her taste exploded on my tongue, making my entire body weak with need. I backed up until I felt the bench touching my calves and lowered to the stone seat. Her legs wrapped around my waist, opening her sweet-scented pussy up for me. My dick jerked, wanting inside that hot little haven.
Muttering a curse, I ended the kiss and sucked in one deep breath after another. I needed to slow down. I’d told her earlier that there would be no rough sex until the doctor said she was completely healed. There was no way in hell I was going to risk hurting her.
Gabriella pressed her forehead to mine, breathing just as erratically as I was. “Please,” she whimpered. “Please, Liam. I need you inside of me.”
I gritted my teeth as I tried to fight for control over my damn body. “Is it okay? Are you still on the pill?” She nodded her head quickly and I nearly lost my mind. “Fuck,” I growled as I reached between us and grasped hold of my pulsing dick. “Ah, fuck.” I could feel the heat radiating from her pussy even before I brushed the tip over her drenched slit.
She bit her lip and half closed her eyes as she watched me position my dick at her entrance. With my free hand, I spread her lips wide and brushed my thumb over her clit, making her gasp and arch her back, opening up her pussy even more for me. Carefully, I pushed up into her. My eyes rolled back into my head as her tight walls sucked me in. Her wetness made the first thrust glide smoothly, but she was still as tight as an undersized glove.
When I was in as far as her little body would let me, I lowered my head and buried my face in the valley between her luscious tits, pressing kisses to her scar. Fucking hell. I could have died a happy man right then. I had everything I wanted, everything I fucking needed, right there, holding onto me just as tightly as I was holding onto her.
This was the ultimate high. This was paradise.
EPILOGUE
Gabriella
I picked up my water glass and took a sip as I glared across the table at Emmie. “Why not?” I demanded with a pout.
Big, green eyes rolled at me. “Because you’re eight months pregnant, that’s why. You should rest, not watch after an eight-year-old.”
“But I’ll be good, Momma,” Mia promised, giving her mother the same pout that I was still sporting. “Please? I’ll be a good girl and help Aunt Gabs if she needs anything? Please? Pretty, pretty please?” When it didn’t look like Emmie was going to relent, Mia played her last card. “Roger will be there. He can stay in the extra guest room.”
I glanced over Emmie’s shoulder at the hulking guard sitting inconspicuously at a neighboring table. Roger was more or less Mia’s shadow these days. The poor little girl couldn’t even go outside in her own backyard without Roger standing over her. I understood Emmie’s reasoning, especially after what had happened with not just the attempted kidnapping, but what had come later. I still had nightmares about both those terrible days so I knew that Emmie probably did too.
I also knew how smothered Mia felt. She told me all the time how much she wished she was a normal little girl, from a normal family. Mia loved her mother and father, and she would never have asked for someone else to be her parents; she simply wished they were ordinary people, with ordinary jobs.
In the last three years, the bond that Mia and I had developed after the attempted kidnapping had strengthened. I had Emmie to thank for that—and yeah, having a reason to be thankful for Emmie Armstrong still messed with my head a little—but I did. She’d let my relationship with Mia develop. Hadn’t stood in the way when the two of us needed to talk about that terrifying night. She’d even let Mia spend a few nights with me over the years.
Through my bonding with Mia, Emmie and I had been able to find a workable middle ground as well. I wasn’t going to go as far as to say we were best friends, but we were somewhat friends. Especially since Liam had admitted to never having feelings for Emmie. I’d nearly slapped his beautifully masculine face for setting that particular ruse up. Emmie and I had put it behind us, though, and I’d even apologized for the whole ‘lying about sleeping with her husband’ thing. It was water under the bridge now. We had lunch together at least once a month, sometimes with Layla and the other Demons’ wives, or with Alexis or Annabelle and if Marissa was in town she always joined us.
The first time one of the paps had spotted me having a meal with Emmie, they had sold the picture for a small fortune and the article had been titled “IS THE END COMING?” like the two of us eating together was the sign of an apocalypse or some crazy shit. I’d laughed my ass off while reading that stupid piece of trash. Really? Was it so hard for people to imagine that Emmie and I could sit down at a table and talk without killing each other?
Okay, so maybe it was a little farfetched for people to imagine that, especially given our history. But things change and so do people. Liam had proven that to me over and over again in the last three years.
Emmie blew out a frustrated breath. “Okay. Compromise with me here, ladies. Mia can spend tomorrow night with you, Gabriella, if she does well on her reading test tomorrow morning.”
I glanced at Mia, who was frowning at her mother. “You’re trying to extort good grades out of me?”
“You got a C on your last test, Mia. You didn’t even try. Your teacher said you just rushed through it and then turned the test over and started drawing on the back. Get an A tomorrow and you can have your sleepover at Gabriella’s.” Emmie sounded stern but reasonable and because I knew the responsible thing to do was back her up, I nodded at Mia.
“You get an A and we’ll go shopping and have a sleepover,” I promised her. “But if you get anything lower, we have to wait until next weekend.”
Mia’s lip pouted out even more for a moment before she blew out a dramatic sigh and gave in. “Okay. I will strive for an A. But only because I want to sleep over at Aunt Gabs.”
Emmie muttered something under her breath, causing Mia to roll her eyes before she picked up the rest of her grilled cheese sandwich.
Our late lunch date ended a short time later and I hugged Mia goodbye before climbing into the back of the waiting Lincoln Navigator. My own personal bodyguard was behind the wheel and ready to drive me back to the house in Malibu. Over the years, I’d been able to talk Liam down from three goons in a suit to just one since the threat of imminent danger was no longer an issue. I only put up with the one because I knew how much my husband worried when I left the house without him.
I leaned my head back and rubbed a hand over my very distended stomach, a happy smile on my face. It was hard to believe that Liam was my husband, even after two and a half years of marriage. It felt surreal that I had everything I’d always wanted but thought I would never have. Sometimes I thought it was all a dream and then I would rub my fingers over the scar on my chest and remind myself that it really was possible to have it all.
My driveway was full of vehicles that didn’t belong to me when Miles, my driver/bodyguard pulled to a stop. Five rockers were standing on the front lawn with my husband, obviously getting ready to leave. Zander, Devlin, Axton, Jesse, and Nik had come over to do some song-writing before both bands got back into the studios in a few weeks. Wroth was noticeably absent, but he only came to the West Coast when he had—or Marissa had—a hankering to see her brother.
On Nik’s shoulders was Jagger, who was laughing down at Axton’s son, Cannon. The younger little rocker was rolling around on the grass and I knew Dallas was going to be less than thrilled when she saw the grass stains on her son’s white shirt.
Not waiting for Miles to open the door for me, I stepped out of the Navigator. Pulling my shirt down over my baby bump, I started toward the six men. All eyes turned to me as I approached, but I had eyes for only one man. Liam stepped forward to meet me, wrapping his strong arms around my waist tenderly and dropping a gentle kiss on my lips.
“Mm,” he growled. “You taste good.”
I licked my bottom lip, savoring his taste on my tongue. “You too, rock star.”
“Well, I think that’s our cue to head home.” Axton laughed and picked his son up like a sack of potatoes, tossing the adorable little guy over his shoulder. “Tell Jags bye, Cannon.”
Cannon wiggled around so he could see his dad’s face and pouted his full lips at him, having obviously inherited that particular trait from his gorgeous mother. “I don’t want to. Can’t we stay and play a little longer? Oh, oh. Can I sleep over at Jagger’s? Please, Daddy? Please?”
“Momma said the next time I came home without you I would be sleeping in your bed.” Cannon’s chin wobbled and Axton shook his head. “Not tonight, little dude. Maybe Momma will say yes tomorrow since it’s Friday.”
Nik chuckled, tightening his hold on Jagger’s ankles. “Don’t worry, Cannon. I’m sure we can work something out. Right, Jags?” Always the quiet one, Jagger gave a simple yet completely serious nod. “Right. Well, we’re heading home. See you guys tomorrow.”
I nearly groaned at that. They were going to take over my house again? Weren’t they done yet? It had been two weeks now. I wanted all those freaking men out of my house.
As if he could read my mind, Liam pressed a kiss to my ear. “We’ll be over at Nik’s tomorrow.”
I let out a relieved sigh and leaned into him as we said goodbye to everyone. Jesse and Nik got into the same vehicle after Jagger was secured in his booster seat. Devlin drove off behind Zander, leaving Axton and Cannon the last of our guests. Ax stuck his hand out his window as he drove off, waving, and I lifted my hand to wave back. “Tell Dallas I said hello,” I called after him.
“You could call her and tell her yourself,” he called back with a smirk.
If his son hadn’t been in the car, I probably would have shot him the finger, but I refrained just in time. Like Emmie and me, Dallas and I had a better relationship these days as well. By ‘better’ I mean
t she was over the fact that I’d once had a relationship with her husband and I was content to be on speaking terms with her that didn’t include us calling each other nasty names. It was definitely a step higher than our email ‘friendship’ from a few years before.
Once his car was out of sight, I turned in Liam’s arms. “Been getting into trouble while I was out?”
“Nope. I was a good boy, Momma.” That sexy grin that never failed to get my panties wet spread over his face, making me a little weak in the knees. Large hands cupped the swell of my belly. “What about this little guy? Did he give you any problems?”
I rubbed my hand over my stomach. “She has been just fine,” I assured him. The truth was, we didn’t know what we were having. Both of us had wanted to wait and be surprised when our baby arrived. I didn’t care what we were having, but I loved teasing Liam about it. If he said ‘he’ then I said ‘she’. If he said ‘she’ then I always said ‘he’. It drove him nuts.
Releasing a snort of laughter, Liam bent slightly and swept me up in his arms. Surprised, I let out a shriek as he started climbing the steps to the porch. “Liam!” I tried to wiggle free. “Stop. Put me down. Please, I weigh a ton and I don’t want you to hurt your leg.”
He tightened his arms around me and continued to walk with my heavy weight not seeming to bother him in the least. “You barely weigh anything, woman. Now sit still before you cause me to drop you.”
I glowered up at him but quit struggling for freedom. Once we were in the house, I figured he would set me down, but he started climbing the stairs to the second floor instead. “Liam, please. Your leg.”
He rolled his blue eyes at me. “My leg is fine, little Brie. I’m good, sweetheart. Now stop. I’m trying to be romantic here, okay?”
“Sorry.” I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Please continue.”
I thought he was going to take me to our room but he bypassed it and went to the room directly across from it. The nursery. Carefully, he shifted me so he could deal with the door without putting me down and used his foot to push the door all the way open. Once we were over the threshold, he set me on my feet and reached for the light switch.