This Is Where I Sleep (18 page)

“Aw shit, ride that cock, CeCe.”

I grew wetter at hearing the nickname only he called me and I quickened my movements. Sliding up and down his cock I reached back with one hand to grip his testicles and squeezed as I rode him. Liam let out a stream of curses and I knew he was only seconds away from coming, but so was I.

“I need you to come first,” he insisted when he let go of my waist with one hand and used it to massage my clit.

“Aww,” I moaned as I threw my head back again and allowed my orgasm to take over. I closed my eyes as he intensified the pressure on my exposed nub and I felt as if I was soaring. I lost my rhythm and gripped his arms to brace myself. At that time Liam took over and pushed himself up into me and soon enough I felt him erupt inside me as he grunted and moaned. His fingers dug into my waist pulling me down towards him. Our lips made contact among our hectic attempts to catch our breath.

“We’ll finish this upstairs,” Li said after pressing another kiss to my swollen lips.

I let out a huge sigh as I pushed up and he slipped from inside me, feeling the sense of loss. It didn’t last long. After pulling his pants back up, Li swooped down, picking me up and carried me up the remaining steps and down the hall to our--I mean his bedroom.

****

Liam

“I don’t like seeing other men touch you.” Just thinking about that bastard’s hands on Coral while they were dancing and again when he kissed her, had me wishing I’d done more than break his nose.  

I felt Coral’s smooth skin slide against mine as she rose from my chest to look up at me. We were lying in the bed, naked after another round of earth-shattering sex. Fuck that. What we did wasn’t merely just sex. We made love. Yeah, I admit it, I was in love with this woman--always had been. When we fucked our bodies fully conveyed that love to one another. I knew she felt it too, but she held back.

Though the room is dim, I saw those hazel eyes as she rolled them, dismissing my earlier comment. “It was just a job. Don’t get all crazy possessive,” she said, waving her hand before resting her head back on my chest.

“It’s way too late for that.” My voice was deadpan as I looked down at her. I adjusted slightly to press a kiss to her forehead and then pulled her even closer to me.

“We haven’t used protection.” 

My body stilled at those words. It was said low, almost tremulously. I wasn’t easily shocked, but hearing the almost timid tone coming out of this woman’s mouth was surprising.

“I’m not saying I’m pre--I’m not saying that. I’m just saying we haven’t used condoms and I’m not on birth control,” she admitted, looking up at me through those long lashes.

A stirring in my cock started both from her words and that look. I shrugged, “I haven’t been with anyone since Laura’s mother. Other than that…” I let those last words hang in the air, so she gets my meaning.

She sat up fully staring down at me, eyebrows raised. “You haven’t been with anyone else in the last five years?” She was clearly surprised. Her eyes watched me as I ran my hand through my hair, and sat up against the headboard.

I smiled when she stared at the bunching and rippling of my chest and stomach muscles as I shifted.

“No. Any other questions?”

“I don’t make a habit of having sex without protection. You’re the only person I’ve ever not used protection with.”

I would have much rather preferred her stating she hadn’t had sex with anyone else, but I already knew that wasn’t the case.

“Not even Nate?” The question slipped out without me even thinking about it.
Shit.
By the way Coral’s mouth turned down into a frown, I knew that wasn’t a good question to ask. But I couldn’t control my jealousy. I’d lost five years with this woman due to shit beyond my control.

“Don’t bring him up when we’re sitting here naked in your bed.”

I held up my hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. That was out of line,” I said to appease her and calm her growing anger. That’s the last thing I want right now. What I really want to do is flip her over, bury my cock deep inside her and shoot off another load, hopefully fertilizing an egg. Nothing would make me happier than Coral carrying my child.

She sighed. “We should start using condoms. I’ve been tested, and I’m clean. And as I said, I always use protection, but…” when she paused I made my move.

I pulled her face into mine and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. Using condoms wasn’t going to happen so she should probably get comfortable with the fact she’d be carrying my kid soon, if she wasn’t knocked up already. I could guarantee she’d be wearing my ring on her finger before she birthed a kid for me, but right then I was enjoying the feeling of my lips on hers. I pulled back, still holding her face between my hands. I looked into her eyes and saw the dazed, glossy look. I realized I’d effectively changed the topic. “You were saying?” I said in the cockiest tone I’ve ever used.

“Umm,” was all she said.

I smirked.

“You’re a bastard,” she whispered, trying to hide her smile.

“You’ve always known that.”

She pulled back slightly, and her eyes roll over my naked body. They paused once they reached my lower abdomen. Tentatively, she reached out and ran her fingers lightly across the rigid surface of the scar. “Does it still hurt?”

I shook my head. “Not for the last month.” That was the truth. The injury had long since healed, but every now and again I’d felt slight pain or discomfort. It’d happened off and on for the last five years until recently. But since Coral had been back it hadn’t bothered me. “Do you remember what you said when it happened?”

Her trailing fingers paused, still on my scar, but she kept her head lowered.

I placed my hand under her chin, not allowing her to avoid eye contact with me. “Do you remember what you said when it happened?” I asked again more demanding.

“Of course,” she answered just above a whisper.

I could see her mind go back to that day in Iraq. We were stationed in Fallujah, and out for a sweep of the city looking for this one guy in particular. We all knew it was a fucking ridiculous mission. We were basically being used as bait to smoke out this insurgent who supposedly had ties to Al-Qaeda. We’re in the middle of this densely populated city. Everyone was on high alert because just the week before an IED was set off killing one of our team. It was also the same explosion that caused Brian’s injury and nearly killed him. Our squad got word that the guy we were looking for was hiding out in this shop. We made our way down to the two story building. We made entry and scoped out the rooms. Out of nowhere I saw someone running out of the corner of my eye. In a second, I saw the target had a huge knife and was moving towards Coral. On instinct, I pushed her out of the way and took the plunge from the knife in my side. Shots rang out, and all hell broke loose as I felt the warm, sticky blood as it oozed from my body. I remembered hearing Coral’s, commanding voice, directing the rest of our team here and there, and then yelling my name. I grew more and more tired and just wanted to sleep, but the thread of fear I heard in Coral’s voice wouldn’t let me.

“I said, as long as I have you, I can get through anything.” Her voice was soft, contemplative bringing me back to the present moment.

Those were the exact words she said as she begged me not to die as I was rushed to the Medevac. And just as it had done in that scorching desert, her words energized me. I moved fast, flipping her on her back and pressing her against the mattress with my body. “Did you mean it?” I questioned staring down into her shocked eyes.

“Liam...”

“
Did you mean it?
” I asked, bracketing her face between my hands, and brushing my leg against her inner thigh. She looked me directly in the eye, and I hold my breath awaiting her answer.

“Of course.”

I relaxed slightly at those words but braced myself again for my next question. “Do you still mean it?”

Her eyelids lowered for a brief second before she looked at me again and nodded.

That wasn’t good enough.

“Say it,” I demanded.

“I can get through anything as long as I have you.”

In the next second, Coral cried out as I drove my rock hard cock into her. I kept her face between my hands needing to keep the constant eye contact between us. I pumped my hips into her driving her body into the mattress. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and her fingernails dug into my shoulders. Her cries and moans pushed me to drive deeper, harder until we were exploding together, staring into one another’s eyes.

“We don’t need condoms. You’re going to be the mother of the rest of my children,” I said hoarsely, as we both strove to catch our breaths. I didn’t even pull out of her as we drifted off to sleep our bodies entwined.

Chapter Eighteen

Coral

We don’t need condoms. You’re going to be the mother of the rest of my children.

Those damn words echoed around in my brain for the last four days. I wanted to say they angered me or completely turned me off, but I only lied when it was necessary for work. I stared across the table at Liam as he settled Laura into her chair for dinner and it made my heart swell at the little giggles he elicited from her. We’d been having family dinner every night. Most of the time, it was a dinner that Ms. Mary had prepared earlier in the day. Tonight, dinner was courtesy of yours truly. Yeah, I even found myself not hating cooking as much as I always had. Not when I was cooking for these two.
Who the hell had I become?
I asked myself as Liam set the plate of steamed broccoli, chicken parmesan, and wild rice down in front of me. That’d became a part of this routine too. When I cooked, he cleaned and served.

I looked up to see those damn green eyes on me, a twinkle of laughter in them. He knew exactly what I was thinking, and he was getting a kick out of it. To him, it was a foregone conclusion that this would be our life. I was not all the way there.

“After dinner can we make cookies?” Laura asked, breaking into my thoughts.

I felt my face soften from one of consternation to something gentler.
Love.
I realized as I looked across the table at this sweet little girl. I’d definitely fallen for this little one as well. I looked at Liam, and again, the smirk on his face told me he’s been reading me this entire time. I simply rolled my eyes at him before answering Laura.

“Only if you eat all your broccoli.” Liam and I actually said at the same time.

Laura began to pout, but the rise of Liam’s eyebrow quickly shut that down. “Okay,” she grumbled and used her little plastic fork to eat her broccoli.

We spent the rest of dinner listening to Laura talk about her day in the animated way three years olds love to share. Afterward, Liam collected the plates and cleaned up while Laura and I baked chocolate chip cookies. We had music playing in the background, and I spun and twirled Laura around to the music, once we put the first batch in the oven. I saw Liam watching us out of the corner of my eye, and I was...happy. Not just happy, but filled with joy, like this was where I belonged. And that feeling began to scare the shit out of me. Thankfully, before I could delve too much into my feelings of panic, the intercom buzzed alerting us that there was a visitor at the front gate. Liam threw the dish towel on the counter and told us to continue baking while he tended to whoever is at the door. I shrugged and was again distracted by the antics of the little one in front of me. We got lost in our own little world, giggling and playing as we watched the chocolate chips in the cookies slowly melt as they baked. I was so into the light-hearted feeling I didn’t even hear Liam as he re-entered the kitchen with our guest. I only realized we were no longer by ourselves when the music stopped. I turned to see Liam standing there with a very stone-faced Quincy. My stomach dropped.

Liam looked curiously between us two, frowning. I briefly contemplated what words were exchanged between the two men from the front door entrance to the kitchen. Quincy was probably the one person who was angrier at Liam than I was in the last five years.

“Hi!” Laura waved at Quincy, greeting him.

He looked down at her, studying her face, nodding in greeting. “Hello,” he greeted her then looked back up at me.

“Quince,” I said, clearing my throat. “What are you doing here?” 

“That was my question,” he retorted.

I sighed, knowing shit was about to get real.

“Liam, can you excuse Quincy and me?” I asked, moving towards the door, hoping Quincy would follow me and Liam wouldn’t.

No such luck. Quincy remained still as a statue and Liam stepped in front of me eyeing me suspiciously.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

I looked down at Laura, not wanting to make a scene in front of her. “Nothing, I just need to speak with my cousin. Alone,” I said, stepping around him. “Quincy, follow me.” My tone was clipped, and I didn’t look back as I exited the room. Eventually, I heard his footsteps following me as I entered the private dining room area. When he entered, I shut the sliding door, leaving only an inch or so of space open.

“Quincy what are you doing here?” I hissed at him.

His frown deepened. “That’s a good ass question except you’re directing it at the wrong person. Why the fu-” he paused when my eyebrow rose in warning. He knew not to talk to me like that. “Why are you here, Coral?”

“We were hired for a job,” I stated, simply.

“We’re hired for a lot of jobs and turn down jobs all the time. So again, why are you here?”

“How did you even know I was here? I thought you were in California.”

“My case wrapped up early, and I returned to Savannah to find out my little brother and cousin hiding the fact they took this case,” he said.

Jabari was two years younger than Quincy, but hardly anyone’s definition of little. Still at six-foot-two he is an inch shorter than Quincy’s six-foot-three frame.

“We weren’t hiding anything,” I waved off his claim. “I expected to be finished with this case sooner.”

“Oh, so that makes it alright. I can only guess what has held you up,” he mocked.

I squinted at him, “Remember who you’re talking to,” my voice was low with a lethal undertone.

“I remember who I’m talking to. Do you? Do you remember being devastated after he left? Do you remember the nights I spent in the hospital with you afterward?”

That reminder was like a slap in the face. It actually stung to think about that time.

“Now you’re playing step mama to
his
kid with another woman. How is his wife by the way?”

“She’s dead,” the deep voice that reverberated around the room stunned both of us. “Died a month after giving birth,” Liam offered.

“Sorry for your loss,” Quincy spit out at Liam.

Liam looked between me and Quincy. “Why, were you in the hospital?”

I avoided Liam’s gaze and shot Quincy a look with narrowed eyes, silently letting him know I was going to kick his ass for this. “Nothing,” I said, waving off Liam’s concern.

“Nothing?” Quincy’s angry voice boomed around the room. “That’s what we’re calling it now? Nothing? Now, she’s over here playing stepmother to your kid like she didn’t lo—”

“Quincy!” I yelled, to stop him from saying anything else. If Liam was going to hear the rest, it should be from my mouth.

Quincy glared at me but remained silent.

I looked at Liam’s perplexed facial expression. “Can you give us some privacy?” I asked Quince.

He remained staring at us for a few seconds before nodding and heading out the door.

“What the hell is going on? Were you sick?” Liam asked, concerned.

I let out a harsh breath. “No, I wasn’t sick. I was pregnant.”

The look on Liam’s face told me a small gust of wind could have knocked him over. He obviously wasn’t expecting that. “You had a baby?” he whispered.

I shook my head. “No,” I sighed. “The pregnancy was ectopic.”

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

“It means the fetus started to grow in my fallopian tube instead of the uterus where it should have. The baby couldn’t survive there. I didn’t find out until I was nearly ten weeks and by then my fallopian tube had ruptured.” I paused knowing this was the most difficult part. “I didn’t know I was even pregnant until I began hemorrhaging and was in so much pain that I passed out in my apartment. Quincy was the one who found me and got me to the hospital. I told him not to tell the rest of the family. I had to have emergency surgery to remove the baby and save my ruptured fallopian tube.”

Liam’s face was a mask of confusion, anger, and guilt. His eyes traveled from mine down to my stomach and back up again. “You were carrying my baby?” His voice was just above a whisper.

“Yes, but…”

“And you almost died because of it. Meanwhile, I went off and got fucking married.”

The guilt and anger in his voice pulled at my heart strings. “Liam, it wasn’t that bad,” I lied, trying to console him. “Quincy was there for me.”

“I should have been there!” His tone was sharp. “I should have been there.” He slapped his chest harshly for emphasis. “I thought I was protecting you by leaving, and I ended up hurting you more,” he said out loud, but it was obvious he was talking to himself.

“Protecting me from what?” I questioned.

He stopped, realizing he’d said that out loud. We still had never addressed the reason he left in the first place.

“From shit you shouldn’t have to worry about. I’m so sorry.” He pulled me into his arms, stroking my back soothingly.

I was nearly pushed to tears remembering those days in the hospital realizing I had been carrying Liam’s child and then lost it all in a matter of a few hours. Then finding out he was getting married while I was in the hospital.

“It was after that you went to work for the CIA?” he asked, pulling back to stare down at me.

I sighed and nodded. “I was being recruited heavily for months before then. I hadn’t made any decisions. Then when you and I happened, I thought,” I paused and shrugged. “Anyway, one night in the hospital I saw your engagement announcement on CNN. Three days later I was at The Farm.”

“Fuck!” Li cursed, hearing how I ended up at the CIA’s infamous training camp. He stepped back, hands tightly fisted, chest heaving as he tried to reign in his emotions. He began pacing back and forth, and I gave him space to let everything sink in. I understand it’s a lot to take in.

“Why aren’t you still with them?” he suddenly asked.

I frowned in confusion. “What?”

“You were with the Agency barely, what? Three or four years?”

“Three and a half,” I confirmed.

“What happened? Why did you leave?” He stopped directly in front of me.

I didn’t feel like getting into all of that right now and thanks to a knock on the door I didn’t have to.

Liam grunted at the interruption. “What?” he asked at the intruder.

“There’s someone named Brian at the front gates. Says he had something important to share,” Quincy answered, “And I still haven’t fully explained why I’m here. It’s about this case.”

I immediately perked up at his last words. “What is it?”

“Jabari was able to get past the security passwords Larry had in place on the drive. You both should take a look at this,” he explained.

“Let’s go. You should let Brian in. He’s been questioning Rodrigo and chasing down that John guy for the last few days,” I reminded Li. I moved closer to the exit and am stopped by Liam’s strong grip around my wrist. 

“This isn’t over. You will tell me everything and soon.” The command in his voice and the promise in his eyes actually turned me on. He didn’t give me a chance to respond before he was leading me out the door.

I knew before this was all over that all of our secrets would be exposed.