Oh, honey, if only I could.
We exit the kitchen, and I swear that I don’t even know what alternate universe I just stepped into.
How long were we in there?
Clearly long enough for the guys to change into full gear and paint their faces as if they were on some mission in Afghanistan instead of shooting the shit in my living room.
“Liam Dempsey!” I yell as he hoists his gun over his shoulder. “Are you on drugs?”
“It’s not loaded.”
“Not the point!”
“I’m just introducing the kid to what it’s going to be like to date my daughter.” He grins through the face paint, and I could get lost in those blue eyes I’d know anywhere.
Then I remember I’m pissed at him.
“Come on in, son,” Jackson’s voice is booming as he pulls the boy inside.
Aarabelle marches through them, pushing their chests so she can get there. “Don’t listen to any of them, Chase. They’re all . . . dead to me.”
The kid looks like he could shit himself. I sort of feel bad for him.
Shane comes running down the stairs to watch the shit show. “Hey, Chase.” He grins. “Remember what we talked about . . . this isn’t even half of it.”
“You’re so stupid.” Aarabelle sneers at her brother. “Go away.”
“You can say that to me, but what about Athair?”
Her face pales as Liam walks over, wipes his brow with his sleeve, smearing the paint. “So, you like my daughter?”
“Ye-yes, sir,” Chase stutters.
“Do you think you’re good enough to go out with her?” Mark steps in.
He looks over at the tallest of the men crowding my living room. “Yes, sir.”
“So you think you’re better than Aara?” Liam takes a step closer.
“No, no, sir. I just mean . . .”
Jackson clears his throat. “He just means that Aarabelle is good, but not as good as he is.”
“I didn’t say that,” Chase tries to clarify.
“So, wait, you’re good enough for her, but she isn’t better than you?” Quinn asks as he slips a knife out of its sheath and acts as if he’s cleaning his nail.
“I think Aarabelle is great,” Chase tries.
“But not amazing?” Liam asks.
There are no right answers here. No matter what he says, they’ll twist it.
“Mom!” Aara looks at me for help.
I’m always the one trying to keep these idiots out of trouble, but the mother in me is also enjoying this boy being aware that there are four very skilled men ready to protect her. It leads me to believe he will be on his best behavior.
“Chase,” I smile warmly, “why don’t we head outside for some pictures?”
She practically throws him out the door just to get away from the firing squad. When I get to the door, I turn and face them. “You guys are bad, but that was funny.”
Liam steps forward, takes my face in his hands, and presses his lips to mine. “I’m having fun with this.”
I roll my eyes. “It shows.”
He kisses me again, surely getting green and black on my face.
“All right, let’s line up for a photo!” Jackson says as I stand in the doorway laughing.
“You can’t say it’s not a good photo,” Liam says as he leans against the doorframe with nothing but a towel on.
“It’s ridiculous, but it’s a good one.”
Aarabelle endured another twenty minutes of her father and uncles giving her hell before she was finally able to get into the limo.
She sent both Liam and me a text with a photo from her phone.
It has her on one end, Chase on the other, and the idiots in the middle. It’s really comical, but it’s also a sad reality of her dating life. She’ll always have these dopes in the middle of it if they have a say.
I put the phone on the table beside me and climb up onto my knees. “You know . . . I thought it was really sexy seeing you in your gear again.”
He smirks and steps toward the bed. “How sexy?”
“On a scale of one to ten?” I bite my bottom lip and pretend to ponder. “An eight.”
“Just an eight?” Liam asks as he reaches the bed.
“I think I know what would bring it to a ten . . .” I lean closer, pull his towel free, and then toss it across the bed. “That for starters.”
“I like the way you think,” he says and grabs my hips.
Liam tosses me down onto the bed and pulls my shorts off. “Am I getting warmer?”
I love when he’s this way. His confidence that borders on cocky makes me thankful that he’s mine—all mine.
“Definitely.”
He kisses my stomach before moving lower. “Now?”
“Liam.” I hiss his name when his tongue swipes across my clit.
“Am I at a ten now, sweetheart?”
I moan, unable to form words.
“Or are we at a nine?”
Why is he talking? “Don’t stop,” I beg.
“Yes, ma’am.” He chuckles and then gets back to work.
My hands grip the pillow, pulling it over my face so when I scream I don’t wake the neighbors. He circles my clit, making my legs shake as I climb higher. I’m hovering on the edge, sitting in that place where it’s almost painful because I need to release. Liam knows exactly what he’s doing, and I’m not complaining one bit.
I start to twist when it becomes too much, but his strong hands hold my legs down. He moves his tongue in lazy circles, keeping me on the edge, and it’s as though I’m being ripped apart.
“Liam!” The muffled sound of my voice is desperate. “Please!”
“Take the pillow off your face, I want to hear every fucking noise tonight.”
Aarabelle is at the after prom, and Shane is at a sleepover. For once, we don’t have to worry about kids hearing us.
I do as he says and toss the pillow onto the floor. “Yes,” I whimper as he circles my clit. “God, Liam!”
My head thrashes from side to side as pleasure overtakes me. I writhe beneath him, my pulse races, and I bite down on my lip.
I’m hanging on the edge, ready to go over, needing to release the pressure. Liam continues his slow assault, taking his time to bring me to the brink. “Yes. There. Oh. Jesus!” My fingers grip his hair as he sucks hard while flicking my clit, and I explode.
My orgasm rages on and on as he continues to pull every ounce of pleasure from my body.
Once he’s satisfied, he climbs up so we’re face to face.
My eyes open, and a blissed out smile tugs at my lips. He’s perfect, and he’s one of those men who look better the older he gets. I touch his strong jawline, which is covered in a beard long enough for me to run my fingers through it. His crystal blue eyes are filled with so much love that it takes my breath away.
I’m a very lucky woman.
“Why are you smiling?” he asks.
“Because you’re mine.”
He moves my hair off my face and smiles back. “Damn fucking right you are. Now, I’m going to make love to my wife and make her scream my name a few more times.”
I move my fingers through his hair. “She would really like that.”
Liam shifts as I part my legs, giving him the in that we are both craving.
He pushes forward, taking me, owning me, loving me the way that only he can.
Our eyes stay trained on one another. “You feel so good,” he says before kissing me.
“You always feel good.”
“I love you so much, sweetheart. So much.”
“I love you more.”
He starts to rock back and forth, giving me all the love in the world. When we’re together, life makes sense. We’ve been lucky that he hasn’t deployed in the last two years.
Liam is the other half to my soul, and being a SEAL’s wife means I have to share him . . . and possibly lose him.
I never want to live in a world without him, and my eyes fill with tears before I can push the thoughts away.
He’s here. He’s alive and came home to me, just like he promised he’d do.
“Am I hurting you?” he asks quickly.
I shake my head and wipe the tears from my cheek. “No, baby, I’m just allowing myself to feel how much I love you.”
“Fuck, Natalie.” Liam groans as he moves faster, pushing so deep inside me that we’re completely one.
I need more. I need all of him.
His fingers tangle in my hair, and he squeezes as he roars.