The Innocent Liar (28 page)

He stopped before she could come, and she cried out at the sudden loss of his fingers. He chuckled as he pulled himself up to straddle her thighs and pushed her leg back down. “Push your bottom up.” She did, and his cock settled between the cleft of her buttocks. He pulled back, using the head of his penis to push and delve between the lips of her sex, and then he pushed slowly into her hot sheath as he leaned down over her, kissing the back of her neck.

He humped slowly against her bottom, letting his dick slide tightly into her vagina, and he used one free hand to lace his fingers with hers while he slipped the other between their bodies and down to her bottom. He plunged his middle finger into her anus, and she gasped as she felt his finger slide deep inside, and then she pushed back slightly against him. She liked it, and the movement of her body as she pushed back against his thrusts left little question she wanted more.

There was barely room for his hand between their bodies as he leaned over her, holding his chest mere inches from her back, but he needed to be closer, and as she looked over her shoulder at him, he studied her eyes and panted. His fingers that were tightly wound with hers, gripped her as he continued to rock his hips against her bottom, and when she orgasmed, every muscle tensed around him, constricting his dick and his finger still buried in her bottom, and then he came, growling against her neck as he pulsed his come deep inside her.

He stayed panting at her ear, and her muscles continued to shake as her body took its time relaxing. He moaned as her trembles pulled him through one exceptionally long orgasm, and he cursed every time the pressure on his dick heightened. “You’re going to break my finger in two.” He finally muttered against her ear, but he was chuckling, and he saw the side of her mouth pull up in a smile.

He thrust his finger into her, watching her gasp and whimper, and then he chuckled again. She rested her cheek on the pillow as he kissed her neck. “Marry me?” He whispered it against her ear.

“I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to ask a woman to marry you when you’re still in her body—two places by the way.” She was very relaxed now.

“I’m just not allowed to do anything when I’m inside you, huh?” He pushed his finger again as he spoke. “Can’t tell you I love you, can’t ask you to marry me. Tell me, what am I allowed to do?”

“That thing you’re doing with your finger is nice. You’re allowed to do that.” He pushed deep just as she finished speaking, and she cried out again and cursed.

He kneeled back on his knees, letting his dick slip from her body, but he kept his finger in place, stroking one gentle penetration after another as he watched her body accept his intrusive touch. When she slipped her hand under her body, he watched as she pleasured herself. Her bottom pushed up farther, and he could see her fingers moving over her clit as she rubbed and stroked. Her hips were moving, and he was already getting hard again just watching his finger penetrate her bottom and her fingers teasing her clit. She came again, and he quickly leaned over her body, biting her neck as she whimpered.

“That was incredible. Remind me later how much I enjoy watching you masturbate.” He slipped his finger from her bottom then. “Get some rest. I’ll be waking you in an hour to ask you to marry me again.” He climbed from the bed, retreating to his shower. He showered quickly and returned to her within ten minutes.

She was sitting against the headboard, not at all resting, and when he sat in front of her, she smiled. Her expression was nervous, and he cocked his head, waiting for her to explain. She glanced at the clock and then back to him.

“T-minus forty-five minutes until your second marriage proposal.”

He smiled at her sarcasm, but his face fell when he realized she still looked terrified.

“Enough time for you to decide the baggage is too much.” She studied him for a moment, and he shook his head. She had to know at this point how impossible that was, but given the look on her face, she wasn’t convinced at all.

She opened her mouth, pausing for a second as she regained her nerve, and then she broke his heart. She didn’t reject him, she didn’t tell him she didn’t love him, she sure as hell didn’t make him love her any less, but she was honest. She gave him the one thing she was still withholding—the very worst of it, and it hurt like someone was squeezing his heart in a vise. He stared at her chest, panting as she spoke, and his eyes filled with tears as he listened. Hers did too. They’d tortured her, they’d degraded her and disrespected her in ways he couldn’t even conceive of before she said the words, and he started crying, dropping his head to his hands as the images ate into his mind.

By the time she was finished, she was crying too, and he sat staring at her as the tears fell. Imagining the terror she must have felt hurt so much, the pain and the suffering she’d endured in a silent hell that had been hidden by a nice suburban home. He knew every last detail now of what was on the video and far more than even that. When she finally sat silently in front of him, he wiped his eyes and he sniffed his nose. She watched him, biting her lower lip.

She glanced at the clock again. “Five minutes to decide.” Her eyes were glossy and tears still sat, ready to fall again.

He reached for her, guiding her to his lap and wrapping her legs around his hips. “Marry me.”

“It’s not time yet.” Her sarcasm was so subtle he almost missed it, but her lips pulled up slightly as more tears filled her lower eyelids.

“I don’t need even one more second to decide. Marry me.”

“Don’t ask because you pity me.”

“And don’t accept to make me happy. If you accept because you love me more than anything else in this world, and you can’t stand the idea of your life being without me, and because there is nothing in this world that could make you love me less, even my past, then you’ll have some idea of just how much I love you and why I’m asking you. Now say yes.”

“Control freak, aren’t you?” Her voice was quiet.

He nodded. “Say yes.”

“Yes.” He kissed her then, and he could feel her tears touching their lips, or maybe they were his tears. He released her mouth, and when she pulled back, she cocked her head to the side. “Do you suppose I should get divorced first?”

He chuckled. “Yes, but there’s a lawyer in the other room who might be able to give you a good referral.”

She smiled, but after a second it faded. “I don’t want you to watch the video—”

“I didn’t.”

“I know. The discs are going into a lockbox, just in case I should need them. I’m going to give you access to the box—”

“You don’t have to. I’m not going to lie. It was one of the hardest things in the world for me not to watch. Not because I wanted to see you hurt, but just because…I don’t know.”

“I understand.”

“You don’t have to give me access. I don’t need to see it anymore. I thought I did, but I don’t.”

She nodded. “I’m still giving you access. It’s important to me, and you have my permission to watch if you want. I think you’ll regret it, but I don’t want to hide anything from you.”

“Okay.” He kissed her. He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t need to watch the video, and he had no intention of it. But he loved the trust it took her to give him that permission.

“Since when have you been such a nice guy?”

“Since I realized I wasn’t going to get very far with you if I couldn’t figure out how to stop being a dick all the time.”

She smiled and he did too. There was no lie to what he said. She’d made him better. There was little doubt of that. She’d given him something bigger than himself to think about, to value, to want to protect, and he was a better man for it.

“Hmm, well, you’re welcome then.”

He smacked her ass with his hand as he laughed. “Now roll over, Fifi. My finger had so much fun my dick wants to take a turn.”

She laughed and she nodded.

Epilogue

Six months later.

“S
o, would you consider having your IUD taken out?” Eli looked at Brynn nervously. Nerves were not his forte, and she smiled at the vulnerability it took him to ask.

They’d just pulled into the cabins in Cody where they’d first made love, and soon, their parents would discover they’d arrived and be clamoring all over them. “We’ve been driving for five hours, and you think to ask me this now?”

“Well, I’ve been working up the nerve to ask you for the past five hours.” He still looked nervous. “Your IUD is cramping my sperm’s style. Besides, we’re going to be married in less than two months anyway.” That was the point of the trip after all, or maybe not the whole purpose but part of it.

They were meeting their parents for a long weekend in Cody to celebrate the re-marriage of Sam and Brianna, and seeing as they’d not yet told their parents Brynn’s divorce was final and they were racing to the alter next, it seemed like an appropriate time.

There were three cabins in the small grouping, and they had all three reserved. Given Sam’s SUV parked by the two farthest cabins, they were the last to arrive.

“Hurry up and give me an answer, woman, the hens are going to be clucking about any minute.”

She looked at him, pulling his mouth to hers and kissing him gently. She knew well enough his vulnerability was a power only she had in this world, and she didn’t ever let him suffer for too long if she could help it. “Of course. You’re going to make a wonderful father.”

“Well, I don’t know about that, but I’d like the chance to try. I’m damn near too old.”

“You know what they say about thirty-eight.” She looked at him as his eyebrows shot up. “It’s the new thirty-five.”

“That doesn’t make any sense at all, you know that, right?”

“Yes.”

They climbed from the SUV, and he waited for her to reach him before they walked toward the cabin. John, the cabin owner who’d graciously let them stay when they’d gotten stranded there last time, met them on the sidewalk.

“Ah, it’s my favorite we’re-not-a-couple couple! Hope you reinforced that headboard when you rebuilt it.”

Eli chuckled. “What happened to the one I gifted you?”

“Liked it so much I kept it for myself. Try to keep my furniture intact this time.” He tossed the keys at Eli who caught them one-handed.

“No guarantees.”

“Well, you break it, you fix it.”

“Agreed.”

“Really is good to see you two.” John passed them on his way to his car, hollering over his shoulder. “Let me know if you need anything while you’re here.”

Eli waved over his head, and then he pulled her up in his arms, kissing her. But she could see his eyes were open and peering over her shoulder.

“Here come the hens.” He murmured against her lips.

“Yoo-hoo!” Donna and Brianna said in unison as they busily hurried down the sidewalk toward them, followed at a much more relaxed pace by Sam and Tom.

“I’m telling them we intend to spawn a child.”

She choked on her laughter for a moment. “Do you have to say it that way? Sounds a bit, I don’t know, sci-fi alien movie-ish.” She smirked at him, and he peered down at her.

“Very well. How about I intend to impregnate you, so you can incubate our fetus for nine months in your uterus?”

“No. Definitely no. That was actually kind of disturbing. Please be normal.”

“Fine. We intend to try to get pregnant soon?”

“Yes, but maybe we should tell them I’m divorced and we’re getting married first?”

“Right. Appropriate order of things, I suppose.”

“Still can’t believe you’re only giving me two months to plan this little wedding of ours.”

The women continued their scurry down to the cabin, and as they neared, Eli looked at her, and his brows shot up. “Your parents already beat us
back
to the alter.”

“It’s not a competition.”

“Everything’s a competition.” He pinched her hip as the women finally made it to them.

“Oh, you two! So good to see you finally made it!” Donna was talking in a rush as they were pulled into hugs. “We’re all going for a hike. You two coming?”

“Absolutely not, and we don’t want to be disturbed for the next two hours either.” Eli smirked at his mother as she hit him playfully on the arm. “However, I do want to take Brynn to the rodeo tonight.”

“Is that where they stick spears in bulls? I’m not sure I want to see that.” Brynn was actually serious when she asked Eli the question, but given those wide, dark eyes that stared back at her, she’d said something ridiculous.

No matter, Eli loved it when she was ridiculous—said it reminded him of her own inner hen coming out, and he fully expected her to start clucking like the mothers one day soon. In truth, he loved the fact that their mothers were practically best friends at this point, and he’d already confessed that their utter excitement at anything and everything that had to do with their children was the reassurance he sometimes needed that he deserved her—not a confession he would make to them, but certainly one he’d shared with her.

“Seriously?” He eyed her in amusement.

“Well, I was, but maybe…I was just kidding?” She scrunched up her face as he laughed at her, pulling her into his arms.

The men finally made it to them. “Sam, your daughter thinks the rodeo and bull fighting are the same thing.”

“Tattle.” She elbowed him in the gut. “But aren’t they?” Her face was scrunched again, and Eli was shaking his head.

“Nope. We’re not in Spain, dear,” Sam chimed in as he quickly pecked her on the cheek. “We prefer to unnecessarily torment animals in other ways.”

“You two coming? We’re going for a hike,” Tom spoke.

“Sorry, we have to unpack.” Eli was full of shit, and he didn’t even bother hiding it.

“For two hours?”

“Yep. You have fun, and we’ll see you when you get back.” Eli started pulling her toward the cabin as she waved at their parents who were laughing.

When they reached the porch, they turned to watch their parents head down the path and away from them into the hills. She was standing at the porch railing with her hands clasped along the top. He closed in behind her, pushing his groin against her bottom. “I love you.” He whispered against her neck.

“I love you too.” His hands worked around to her stomach, slipping up under the hem of her shirt as he caressed.

She followed him into the cabin, letting the memories of the first time she’d been there with him come to the surface of her mind. As she watched him look around, she knew he was doing the same. She might have realized she was in just a bit too deep with him the last time she was there, but this time, she most definitely knew there was no such thing when it came to them.

“Now, can we please see how much damage we can do to John’s furniture again?”

“Of course.”

She was the freest wild bird in the world.
He’d
set her free. He’d fought for her, and he’d sacrificed the safe, harsh persona he’d thrived on to release her from her captivity. He’d given her the safety net and security to soar again, and somehow, she’d done the same for him. No secrets, no lies.