Braver (24 page)

Liam drew one of my legs up straight, putting it against his shoulder, plowing into me with that majestic dick of his.

“I want to be as deep inside you as I can be,” he said, brushing my forehead lightly with the back of his hand.

“I want all of you,” I answered breathlessly. “All of you.”

The angle of our lovemaking accommodated even more of his length inside my body. It was the most fulfilling — in many different ways — sex session I’d ever experienced. He stroked places inside of me that most men never even knew existed. And the fact that I had feelings for him — and suspected he might have feelings of his own for me — made the sex even more special.

When I came, he came with me, our moans a harmony in my ears. When we drifted off into slumber, we did it together, our bodies still joined as one.

How did life get so good?

I had been so certain that I would never want to have sex again after being paid to do so at Mama’s nightclub. Now, that’s all I wanted to do. Liam was my drug and I was addicted.

It gave us even easier access to each other once he asked me to move in with him after a few months of seeing each other. I definitely wanted to be with him all the time at that point, but it still made me sad to leave Casey.

“Don’t feel sad,” she said. “I’m just happy that you’re happy. Get that sex, girl! And tell me about it — don’t forget about that cell phone!”

I left that happy apartment laughing and in a lot better shape than I entered it. I knew that I had Casey to thank for the bulk of my recovery.

And for the rest, like opening my heart again to the possibility of a relationship, I had Liam to thank.

We couldn’t get enough of each other. We made love in the morning, before either of us got out of bed. If he couldn’t hold out for the rest of the day, I’d find him back in the penthouse during his lunch break. We’d have a quickie, then we’d share a sandwich or wrap for lunch. We’d go out for dinner every night, even if I told him I could whip something up. And sex before bed, always. He said it made him sleep soundly.

It had a different effect on me. I started dreaming again. I hadn’t experienced anything but deep, imageless slumber ever since I’d been raped as a youngster. Now, I had lush dreamscapes full of bright colors, strange but delightful sights, and the feeling when I woke up that I’d been spending my time somewhere magical again.

Liam had brought my dreams back to me.

Still, I felt his absence when he wasn’t in the penthouse. I fidgeted, pacing the rooms, looking out the windows, and feeling like there was something I needed to be doing. Strangely enough, I complained when he told me to stop doing chores.

“You’re my girlfriend, not my cook,” he said. “And stop cleaning the house. There’s someone else to do that.”

“I just feel bad,” I said. “I need to have something to do, you know. You work all day. What should I be doing when I’m not with you?”

“Thinking about me,” Liam said, grinning because he knew it was an outrageous suggestion.

“I need to get a job, Mr. Millionaire,” I said. “That’s what needs to happen.”

“But you don’t need the money,” he countered. “I want to take care of everything you ever need.”

This made me pause. I knew that he didn’t want me spending any money, but this was a new shift in tone — anything I ever need. I never dared to hope for anything, but Liam made me hope for him — hope for a future with him.

“Here’s an idea,” he said, distracting me from my thoughts. “How about you volunteer somewhere? You could spend your time doing something rewarding while helping people who need it.”

“Is that why you make the big money?” I asked, leaning into his arms. “Because you have the big ideas?”

“Because I have the big dick,” he purred, kissing my forehead and leading me to the bedroom.

Neither of us could get enough sex, it felt like. I was sometimes scared about it. But the climaxes were so powerful and so fulfilling — and something I had missed out on for so long — that sex became almost like breathing. Even if we were out to dinner or doing something non-sexual, we always had to be touching each other — my hand on his knee while he was driving, his foot against mine while we were at a restaurant.

However, I couldn’t live on sex alone. I started volunteering my days at a center for the elderly. There, I read to the residents, played games with them, and just kept them company. More often than not, I listened as they told me about their lives. I helped the employees there deliver meals and feed those who couldn’t manage to do so themselves.

“You’re becoming pretty serious about volunteering at that senior center,” Liam observed as I got ready to leave the penthouse at the same time as him.

“They love having someone to visit with,” I said. “Plus, it’s fun.”

“That’s the most important thing,” he said, kissing me goodbye for the day.

The elderly residents became my friends. I found that I looked forward to seeing them each morning as much as they did to see me.

One morning was different. There was an almost visible ripple of energy in the air.

“What’s going on?” I asked the wheelies, as they called themselves — the residents in wheelchairs who rolled themselves to the entrance to greet me every day. “Is it bingo day already? I thought we already had it this week.”

“Better than bingo,” one sweet old woman promised, grabbing my hand and shaking it.

“I don’t know that there’s anything better than bingo,” I said. The residents sure were serious about that game. It sometimes got cutthroat.

“You’ll see,” another man said.

I walked down the hall to the common room with my wheeled escort. It was a daily tradition that I arrive with my honor guard on wheels, as the employees called it.

Many of the other residents were standing at their doors, I noted with surprise.

“For you, Cocoa,” a woman said, giving me a rose.

“Why, thank you!” I exclaimed, accepting the flower and lifting it to my nose. It smelled wonderful.

“This one, too, Cocoa,” another woman said, holding out a rose.

“Well, this is very special,” I said. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but thank you!”

I looked on and my eyes widened. Every resident in the hallway was holding out a single rose for me.

“What’s going on here, guys?” I asked, accepting each flower as I made my way down the hall.

“Better than bingo,” the woman in the wheelchair repeated.

When we reached the common area, every table place was set with a wedge of cake and flute of sparkling apple cider.

“Is it someone’s birthday?” I asked. “Now, this is fancy.”

“Guess again.”

I whirled around at the sound of a familiar voice. Liam was standing at the entrance to the common room, surrounded by employees and residents alike. By that time, I was holding an entire bouquet of roses.

“What is all this?” I asked, laughing. “This is pretty elaborate.”

“Collette Bell,” Liam said, his eyes shining, “I love you.”

Residents cooed as my heart swelled. I loved him, too. I knew that I did.

“I know it might be a little soon, since we’ve met each other,” he continued, “but these last few months have been magical.”

“You can’t make love wait,” one resident said.

“That’s why I wanted to ask you to do me the favor of being my wife,” Liam finished.

Then, right there in the common room of the senior center, he dropped to one knee and held a box up toward me.

My hand covering my mouth, I approached him and dropped to my knees in front of him before holding him close.

“Of course I will,” I said into his ear. “We don’t have to make love wait.”

“What’d she say?” a resident said from the back of the room.

“I said yes!” I laughed, standing up with Liam. Everyone applauded.

“You didn’t even look at the ring,” he said, looping his arm around me. He opened the box and slid a gorgeous diamond onto my ring finger.

“I didn’t have to,” I said, trying not to ogle the rock now weighing my hand down. “You’re all that I want.”

We sat down and shared cake and drinks with the residents.

“You’ll want to let people know, won’t you?” Liam asked. “We could host a brunch at the penthouse. Invite your friends, invite your parents, invite everyone.”

With a small stab of regret, I realized that there was still a lot that Liam didn’t know about me.

“Actually, I’m an orphan,” I said. “I’ll invite Casey, though.”

A momentary look of pain crossed Liam’s face, but he chased it away with a smile. “Of course you’ll want to invite Casey,” he said.

I knew I should write Granny a letter or something. Maybe I’d just make mention of it in the next envelope of money I sent to her.

“Well, you’ll get to meet my parents and my brother,” Liam said. “You’re my family, now.”

I smiled and leaned forward, kissing him as all the residents tapped their plastic flutes with plastic knives.

I took a moment to text Casey to tell her the good news.

“Get it, girl!” she shot back. “Get that booty on lockdown!”

I laughed out loud at that, showing Liam the screen.