Page 87 of Because of Liam

Chapter Fifty-Four

After we explained allthe details on how we got Jon to my parents, and they went back home, exhaustion hit me. All the excitement and tension of the day finally caught up with me. We said our goodbyes, Mom’s and Dad’s hugs were extra tight and extra- long. A lot was said in those hugs and in the way they both looked at Liam and Logan. Their gratitude is palpable. Knowing all the boys did to right this wrong and how much Logan is risking to get Jon behind bars—he’s putting his job at stake. What they did, what we did, isn’t exactly legal. But it served a purpose.

When we come back into the house, the air is heavy with silence as we look at each other. This has been a day of celebration but also of confessions and pain. We didn’t intend to say anything to Mom and Dad today, but there’s only so much we can keep from my mother. Sooner or later, she figures things out. Had she been around from the beginning, she would have known months ago. Of that I’m sure.

Logan puts as an arm around Skye’s shoulders and walks her to the door.

“See you tomorrow,” he calls out before closing the door behind them. As if by some kind of mutual agreement, Skye leaves with Logan, but Liam stays with me. He looks at me, uncertainty in his demeanor. I extend my hand to him and he comes to me in an instant, pulling me into his chest and dropping his head to the curve of my neck.

“I’m so tired,” I say.

He kisses my forehead. “Come, I’ll help you get ready for bed.”

“I’m sure you will,” I joke.

“Nah, I think you could use a hot shower to relax you and then a long night of sleep.”

“It sounds good to me. Now I just need to find the energy to do all that.”

“I’ll take care of you.”

Before I can reply, my feet are off the floor and he’s carrying me like a baby. He walks to the bathroom and stands me up. Unzipping my dress, he guides the sleeves down my arms. When I step out of it, Liam folds the dress and lays it on the side of the bathtub, then unhooks and removes my bra. I’m barefoot as my shoes came off as soon as we walked through the front door.

“You won’t need these either.” His gentle thumbs hook in my panties and he brushes his fingers all the way down my legs as my panties go with them. I step to the side and he tosses the panties in the hamper and then reaches around me to turn the shower on. Grabbing a hair tie, he makes a high ponytail on top of my head and turns it into a bun.

My back is still turned to him, I can hear as his shoes and clothes come off and land on the side of the tub next to my dress. One thing I always loved about this bathroom was that it has a separate tub and shower. Skye loves baths. I’m more of a shower kind of girl. We can share the bathroom and neither of us gets mad about the other taking too long. It works perfectly.

Liam’s hands on my hips bring me back to reality and he walks me into the shower, then adjusts the water spray so it points down and doesn’t get my hair wet. I step under the stream of hot water and moan. I’m a firm believer that a long hot shower cures most things. Liam’s hands find my shoulders and start kneading. The combination of heat and touch undoes the tension that has been building up all day. He reaches for the soap and starts to wash me. His big hands cover way more skin than mine do. I let him. I stand there and let him wash me. His hands everywhere. It’s not sexual, but it’s sensual. After several minutes of his hands touching, massaging, and soaping me, he guides the spray along my body. He presses his chest to my back and I can feel how hard he is. My eyes have been closed this whole time, but as I turn around, I open them. A dripping wet and hard Liam is an image to behold. All my tiredness evaporates and I feel a surge of energy.

“Take me to bed, Liam.”

The water turns off. A towel wraps around me. His hands are gentle when he dries away the drops on my skin, patting here and there, the movements a caress. He dries himself quickly and with way less gentleness that he dried me.

“Take me to bed, Liam,” I say it again.

“Are you sure? This was a hard day for you.”

“Every time you kiss me, every time you touch me, every time you make love to me, you chip away at all that hurt me before and you give me new, beautiful memories to hold onto.”

His mouth is on mine in an instant. He tastes like forgiveness, like sunshine and happy days ahead. I thrive on his kisses.

* * *

As I lieon my stomach, naked still, the sheet down to my hips, Liam brushes my hair off my shoulders and over to the side. His fingers trace random designs on my back, light as butterfly kisses. I relax even more and close my eyes, enjoying how gentle he can be considering the almost violent intensity with which he’d just taken me and I start to drift to sleep as his fingers continue to play on my back.

I realize the touch is not random at all and he’s tracing letters on my skin. And just before sleep claims me, I make out the words . . . I LOVE YOU.

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