Page 117 of Liberate Us

They headed back down the hall, talking amongst themselves abouttheir own weddings and how they planned on buying something special for theirfiancées. The moment I was once again alone, I slipped back into my bedroom.

Amber was sitting on the edge of my bed in one of my t-shirts,looking at her phone. Her head lifted, her eyes finding mine. “Just reading thelast texts between me and my mom.” A shuddered breath left her. “She offered tocome see me after I told her I was pregnant. I should have said yes.”

My stomach twisted. Shutting the door behind me, I went up toher and knelt at her feet. “Marry me.”

Her eyes widened.

“I mean…” I shook my head. “No, that’s exactly what I mean.” Ihooked my arms around her waist and gently pulled her off the bed and down ontomy lap. “Listen, I love you and I’m so fucking sorry for what you’ve beenthrough. I don’t expect you to want to talk about it. If you want to speak to aprofessional, I’ll help you get that set up. If you want to fuck until thewalls shake, I’ll help you. If you want to just sit there in the dark and notsay a single thing, I’ll help with that too. But no matter what you want to do,I am not going anywhere. Am I bothered that Will…” I looked down, not evenrealizing that my fingers were lightly brushing the bandage wrapped around herinner thigh. “Yes, I’m bothered. I won’t lie to you, Red.” I met her gaze then.“But I don’t want you thinking that I love you any less because of what he did.I don’t want you thinking that I don’t want to touch you, make love to you...”I leaned my forehead against hers. “…kiss you, all because of what he did. Noneof it is your fault.”

Her shoulders shook with silent sobs. Throwing her arms aroundme, the cries deepened, her body trembling against me.

“I’m not okay,” she whispered. “I’m not. I’ve tried faking it.But I haven’t been okay in a long time.”

“I know.” I ran my fingers through her damp hair and held herhead while I looked deep into her eyes. “But I’m here and I’m not goinganywhere. I haven’t been okay for a long time either. Losing our parents fuckedme up. But you…being with you, falling in love with you, getting youpregnant…you are my strength, pet. You are the reason I’m not so damn moodyanymore. You are the sunshine in my darkness.”

Her chin wobbled, her eyes welling with fresh tears. “Yes, I’llmarry you.”

A shiver rippled down my spine at her words. “Good.” I kissedher hard on the mouth, tasting the salt of her tears on my tongue. “Oh, by theway, we’re not waiting to get married.”

Amber gave me a small smile. “Let’s give my mom and the guys theservice they deserve and then I’m yours.”

Standing with her in my arms, I placed her gently on the bed andlaid down beside her. Not giving her a chance to say any more, I crushed mymouth to hers.

She sighed, cupping my cheek and for the next couple of hours,that was all we did. We held each other, touching and kissing between ourwords.

When I first met Amber, I thought she was just an unhealthyobsession. But little did I know at the time, that she was exactly what Ineeded all along. Now I understood what Jaron and Cyrus went through and howthey felt. While every relationship had their moments and issues, I made asilent vow right then and there to never not tell Amber how I felt.

She was my liberation.

She made me realize that even though my parents were gone fartoo soon, I could still open up and allow myself to love. Amber did thatwithout even realizing it. We went in wanting some fun, only to fall in love inthe process.

Because of her, I was no longer scared of giving pieces ofmyself that only she ever saw. She kept them safe within her clutches and gaveme pieces of herself in return.

It would take a while, but Amber would heal. Mentally andphysically. And no matter what, I would be there every step of the way.

By her side.

As her lover.

As her husband.

And definitely as her Dom.

Amber

Sam and I gotmarried a couple of days after weburied my mom and members of his club. I was with him when he had told bothCheesy’s parents as well as Locke’s. It was something I never wanted toexperience ever again. But my respect for Sammy grew then. He didn’t want totell them over the phone. So, we drove hours to both sets of parents anddelivered the news.

With all of us pulling together, they were both beautifulceremonies. I never had a chance to talk to my mom much about Sammy before shedied. I knew that she liked him, but I still had never been sure if she thoughthe was right for me. She never said in that motherly tone like she had withAaron. Maybe that meant she wasn’t worried about it. I chose a good one.Finally.

While I was Sammy’s first wife, he was my second husband.Technically anyway. But I looked at him like he was my first. Aaron had been apart of my life when I was young and naïve. Sammy was now a part of my lifewhen I was older and stronger. Although I had days where I didn’t feel toostrong.

During the funeral, I broke down and begged for my mom to comeback to me, which caused stress on the babies, and I was put on instant bedrest.

Sammy never left my side for those remaining months of mypregnancy. Shawnee and Emma came to visit often. The first time I had seen themafter the explosion at the club, was weeks later. Our little reunion resultedin tears and apologies. So many tears shed between us and while I was sick ofcrying, the tears lifted some of the heavy weight that had rested on myshoulders ever since Will came back into my life unexpectedly.

“I should have tried harder to find out what Will had wanted,”Shawnee said through her tears. “I’m so sorry, Amber. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t.” I hugged her to me and reached out for Emma.

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