Before Sunrise (49 page)

She stroked the stubble that covered his
jaw. “No, sweetheart. Never. I’m so proud of you. I know how hard
going was. I know you’re doing this for you, too. I just want you
to stop suffering.”

How does a woman stop
missing her man, even after he’s returned to her?
Kennedy wished she knew. She missed her Liam so
desperately. Would she ever have him back? Truly?

Liam braced his hand on the other side of
her thigh. Desire burned in his eyes. She saw kindness behind their
sad veneer. He wasn’t the monster that lived inside of him, that
tortured him. He wasn’t.

Liam’s lips drew closer. They stopped just a
centimeter from hers. Could he feel it too? Feel the air suck out
of the room, that electrical current that made every hair on her
body stand on end. God help her, but if he didn’t kiss her soon,
something would combust between them. He did. All regret and worry
melted when his lips touched hers. It was Kennedy who opened her
mouth to draw him inside. She possessed his tongue, savoring the
strength and love that only a man claiming his true love could
give.

Tears rose under Kennedy’s closed lids, then
burned away when she opened her eyes and tried to focus on his
face. She wanted to be close to him, to have him inside of her. She
wanted his forgiveness and to give hers. She needed him to believe
in them again, completely. Her hand went down his face to rub his
chest. Their tongues chased each other as she moved her hand down
to his groin. His cock was hard as a boulder. He moaned in his
throat when she rubbed it through his zipper.

“
I have a surprise for you,”
he panted in short gasps into her mouth.

“
You do?” she asked,
dragging her lips from his to his chin, then under his neck. She
tried to kiss him again, now working his belt buckle loose, but he
drew away.

“
I know you wanted to go
furniture shopping but this, I um, I’d already done something
yesterday. “Come on.” He rose awkwardly, then pulled her to her
feet.

Kennedy liked surprises. She had one of her
own. As he led her toward the staircase, she stopped to grab her
shopping bag, then followed him up. There was an unexpected gift in
their bedroom. A bed. She shook her head smiling. A mahogany wood
sleigh bed fit for a king and his queen. It filled more than half
the room.

“
They delivered it this
morning right after you and Mac left.”

Liam was behind her now. She loved it when
he was behind her, covering her. He eased both strong arms around
her waist and her lids fluttered. “I know you wanted to go shopping
today, but I hoped we could delay shopping for a while.”

His hands slid over her flat tummy to the
bottom of her sweater. He drew it up over her head and she lifted
her arms without objection. Kennedy pushed her ass back into his
groin and he immediately touched and rubbed her nipples. She
stifled a smile at his attempt to spread a sheet and blanket over
the mattress. It was so ill-fitted it couldn’t be tucked down at
the corners. His effort meant so much.

“
It looks like our first
bed. In our other house,” she said as he started to unbutton her
dress slacks. He kissed her shoulder. He ran down her zipper and
cupped her left breast with his free hand.

“
I got it from the same
furniture store. I couldn’t believe they had our bed waiting for me
to come and reclaim it. Remember how you would give it to me on
this bed? Do you?”

She turned in his arms to face him before he
could work his hand down into her panty. “Let me get ready for you,
Liam. I got a surprise, too.”

He walked her back to the bed, kissing her
neck. “Why? I don’t need any surprise, I just want you.”

“
I know, but I want it to be
special,” she said and forced her hands in between them.

“
Model it for me later. I
saw that pink shopping bag. I know what it is. Don’t want it. Don’t
need it. No more waiting, no more, Kay, please, I’m fucking dying
here sweetheart.” He kissed her. He dipped his hands into the back
of her pants to grab both halves of her buttocks and squeezed.
Kennedy laughed. She shoved at his chest.

“
Wait. I’m not going
anywhere. Calm down. We got all night. Let me get dressed for
you.”

Liam groaned. He threw his hands up in
defeat. Kennedy bubbled with excitement. She hurried around him and
found her bag. Kennedy quickened her steps into the bathroom. She
shed her bra, pants, undies, and ankle boots. The only mirror in
the bathroom was above the sink. Kennedy turned around and rose on
her toes to look at her skin, back, ass, to make sure she wasn’t in
need of lotion or anything. She freshened up the best she could.
Then she pulled the black negligee from the bag. Sadly, Liam had
never cared for lingerie. She would find cute pieces and surprise
him when he returned from the field. He’d grunt and rip and tug at
it, just wanting to get between her thighs or at her breasts. She’d
ask him later if he liked it and he’d barely recall her wearing
anything at all. He had a blind spot when it came to sex sometimes.
He was always so hungry, he never stopped to appreciate the
appetizer. Well, she wanted to be pretty for him, like a dream.
Make his fantasies come true. So damn it, he would have to be
patient and allow her this.

Kennedy slipped on the camisole. It stopped
at her curvy hips with a sexy split at the sides. It was black and
so was the lace trim over the bodice that dipped low and cupped her
breasts. The delicate fabric was snug to her curves. A perfect fit.
Kennedy used her fingers to comb her hair away from her face. She
would give anything for a brush, but her purse was downstairs. It
was the best she could do.

“
Kay! What’s taking so
long?” Liam called for her.

Kennedy laughed. She chewed on her bottom
lip and said a silent prayer. She hadn’t been with him in a long
time. She wanted it to be perfect, for nothing to come between
them, namely the sex she’d had with another man. Would he notice?
It was stupid, but she was so nervous her heart beat wildly.

“
Kay! What are you
doing?”

Kennedy steadied her nerves
and stepped out of the bathroom. She tiptoed into the room. She
paused and posed for him. He smiled. She didn’t. One look at his
bare chest and her heart dropped. The scars.
What have they done to him?
“Liam?”

Liam blinked at her, confused at first, then
his gaze lowered to his torso. He stepped back and sat on the
bed.

“
Wait, sweetheart. Don’t get
upset.” Kennedy went straight to him. He couldn’t misread her
reaction. She wouldn’t let him think it for a moment. Her hands
gently went to the sides of his face and she lifted his head so she
could stare down into his eyes. “You know me. I’m not disgusted or
turned off. I’m just so very sorry that you were hurt. Oh baby, I’m
sorry.” She ran her hands lower to graze his wounds with her palms.
The hard definition of toned fitness was there, though his body was
smaller than she remembered. He was still all man, every square
inch of him. She let her fingers examine the detail of his
suffering. The slashes cut across the center appeared like three
sharp claw marks from his left breast down to his navel. The split
skin had healed crudely. Kennedy swallowed. She feared the rest of
the story, was afraid to look at his back. The healing must have
come painfully slowly. Without salve, the skin had raised and
covered his torn flesh the best it could. “I wish I could have
spared you this.”

“
Kay. It’s all right.” He
took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “It’s over. None of
it hurts.”

Kennedy read false bravado in his eyes. She
forced a smile, though she could feel the corners of her mouth
twitch at the strain. Even her hands trembled. She reached for the
top button of his jeans and pushed it through the fabric slit. He
kept his eyes trained on her so she had to be strong. He was
looking for her to show pity. She knew it. She didn’t pity him. She
was terrified for him. If he had suffered such physical brutality,
what had it done to him mentally? Sweet merciful God, it killed her
to imagine the darkness he’d crawled out of.

Kennedy pulled his jeans down. Her eyes
dropped to his knees. The operation performed to remove the bullet
in some barbaric hospital was brutal. It left his knee mangled,
half of it sunken where bone and cartilage once lay. She found it
inspiring that he could stand and walk with just a cane. He was so
strong.

“
My brave soldier boy.”
Kennedy laughed softly. She lowered to her knees. Closing her eyes,
she leaned forward and brushed her lips over his scar. He ran his
hand back over the top of her head so she knew he liked it. Kennedy
pressed her cheek against his battle scar. “For the rest of my
life, I’ll never stop aching for what you’ve been through,” she
whispered.

“
I don’t want pity,
Kay.”

She rose. She put a hand to
his cheek then the other to the crudest scar over his chest. “You
are the strongest man I’ve ever known. Mac is a smart little girl.
The first time I showed her your picture and she could say your
name she said you were a hero. You
are
our hero. What you did, how you
overcame, makes me believe in us even more, Liam. I knew it when I
first saw you at that house party long ago. I was standing next to
Sierra and I saw you walk into the room and other boys step aside.
I wasn’t intimidated. I was in love. I believed in us being
together in that instant. You were the man for me. I’ve never
doubted or regretted my choice, Liam. Everything we’ve shared makes
me whole. Do you understand what your survival means to us?” she
asked. “These are my scars too. We earned our happiness,
baby.”

“
Can we have sex now?” he
gave her a lopsided smile.

Kennedy laughed outright. She pushed his
shoulders and he slowly went back against the mattress. Liam moved
up the sheets and she crawled over him. She let her tongue run over
the scar that came dangerously close to his heart. He responded
with a deep groan. His head tilted back, and his Adam’s apple made
a single bob as he swallowed. Kennedy’s heart raced. She would love
every inch of him until the pain was gone.

Hands so graceful, so soft, removed so much
hurt as she ran them over his body. Those wonderful lips of hers
layered his wounds with gentle kisses. This woman had saved him.
Once when he was twenty-two and didn’t give a shit about anything,
and again now. The words of remorse choked in his throat as her
tender mouth went down his shaft. The pleasure of her sucking and
swallowing every inch of him exploded in his pelvis and brain. Liam
gasped hard. Her head bobbed up and down on his cock and he glided
over her tongue. Honest, raw passion slammed against his chest,
making him struggle for breath. His entire body became slicked with
heat. She jerked on the bottom half of his shaft with her fist,
taking the rest as deep as her slender throat would allow.

“
Yes, Kay, mmm, don’t slow
down….” he groaned, grabbing a fistful of her thick hair. She
obliged by sucking harder, stronger, making his balls draw tight.
Her mouth drove all pleasure to his cockhead and bands of color
played behind his closed eyes. “Ugh!”

Kennedy licked the sensitive line of his
dick to ease his suffering and kept going and going. The storm of
emotions in his heart and pleasure in his cock raged, leaving him
breathless. He was so close and she knew. And just as he readied to
explode, she let his cock go with a wet plop. Liam paused to catch
his breath and not shoot off all over her chin and chest. At
length, he opened his eyes. A gentle smile eased out of hiding on
her face.

“
You’re so wicked,
babe.”

His Kay had grown into the most desirable
woman. She possessed more than beauty. There was something so
genuine and pure about her that he’d willingly go to hell and back
for her, even after everything he’d been through. He rose to take
control and she pushed him back down. His cock stood erect and at
attention. It bobbed between them. Kennedy eyed it as if she wanted
to suck it dry. God, as much as he enjoyed that, he wanted pussy.
Not her mouth. She must have read his mind. She lifted and
positioned herself over him. Her eyes latched on to his with fierce
determination. Liam stilled his breathing again. Kennedy eased down
on his erection. Tight, wet heat sheathed his dick as her silken
walls slowly constricted, squeezing every inch of him.

A deep, guttural groan rumbled in his chest
as her slick channel tightened around him. She rolled her ass and
thrust her hips and it was too much. Liam’s eyes slipped up into
his skull. When his body stabilized enough to understand and
register the pleasure rocketing through his shaft to his
fast-beating heart, he opened his eyes. He watched as she slowly
raised her black camisole over her head. Her beautiful tits bounced
free. Liam’s mouth watered to see full, firm breasts tipped with
nipples the color of chocolate. He found them rounded and perfect
at every angle. She licked her lips. Her lids lowered so low he
barely saw her soulful brown eyes beyond her lashes. She pinched
her nipples for him and his torture was complete.

Liam grabbed the tops of
thighs as smooth as buttercream. When he failed to gain control, he
grabbed her hips to help ratchet his own upward with deep thrusts,
reaching as far as he could. He had imagined loving her, remembered
it, but admittedly he’d forgotten the sweet rhythm to it. She was a
good teacher. Liam nearly laughed out loud. His lady was schooling
him!
Teach me, babe! Teach!