Page 106 of Spiralling Skywards
In the room that had been designated as mine since my brother bought the house, I watched in silence as Liam slid into bed beside me. I wasn’t shy, I wasn’t nervous. If anything at all, I was desperate. Desperate for his touch, his taste. I needed to feel him inside me. Ineededthe intimacy that I’d only ever found with him.
He climbed between my legs and held himself above me on his elbows. His forehead rested against mine.
“Fuck I’ve missed you.”
My hips were raised off the bed, circling and searching for what? A connection? Friction?
“Keep still, pretty girl.”
His words vibrated against my throat as he kissed, licked, and sucked, right in that part where it dips into a hollow. It drove me in-fucking-sane—sweary insane.
I shuddered.
He chuckled.
He sat back on his knees and looked down at me. The very tip of his tongue swept across his bottom lip, and I couldn’t stop myself from raking my teeth over my own bottom lip as the memories of what pleasure that tongue was capable of floated in my mind.
I watched his face intently, my breaths becoming heavy as I fought the urge to squirm whilst his eyes roamed my naked body.
He swallowed so hard I saw the column of his throat move with the intensity. His blue eyes met mine.
“Looking at you naked . . .” He paused, his voice was thick with emotion and he cleared his throat, aiming, I think to gain some control of what he was feeling. I, on the other hand, just let my tears fall. It had been too emotional of a day for me to hold anything back.
And why should I? I’d spent years hiding from what I wanted, looking from the outside in. I always felt unworthy of love. Tainted by my mother’s actions. I knew now that wasn’t the case. I was as worthy and entitled to love and to be loved as the next person and was prepared now to give Liam my all. Every part of me.
“Looking at you naked.” He started again. “Feeling your legs wrapped around me. Knowing that you’re mine.”
He stopped talking again and drew in a shaky breath.
“I could cry, Sarah. You make me feel so fucking much that I don’t know exactly what I’m supposed to do with it. These past few weeks without you . . .” He shook his head slowly as he looked down over my body again. “I don’t know how to say, how to explain in a way that would justify how painful it’s been without you and how fucking happy I am to be with you, here, right now.”
Tears slid backwards across my face and pooled in my ears and around the back of my neck. My breaths became ragged and shaky as I tried to control the sob that was becoming desperate for release.
“What made me think I could live without this? What the fuck was going through my head when I thought I’d be able to walk away and leave you with him?”
The noise I made was more of a whimper than a sob when it finally came. He leaned in and kissed both my eyelids.
“Saying ‘I love you’is putting it in the plainest, simplest terms and doesn’t even begin to cover what I actually feelforyou. All of me, every aspect of my life, every beat of my heart and every breath from my lungs. Each and every thought that crosses my mind... All of everything aboutme, will now become all aboutyou. Are you ready for that, Sarah Carter? This isn’t my proposal, not here right now, not like this, but one day soon. Very fucking soon, I want you to become Sarah Delaney.”
The next sound I made was most definitely a sob.
“Will you say yes, pretty girl? Will you let me make you my wife?”
I nodded.
“Yeah?” He smiled down at me, his own eyes shining with tears.
“Say the words. I need to hear them. I need us to tell each other everything.”
“Yes. Yes, Liam Delaney, I’ll be your Mrs Del, your Mrs Pretty Girl. I’ll be your wife. And yes to telling each other everything. No more lies. No more not mentioning things, and no more hiding our own feelings from each other. Life’s too short, let’s just live it and see where it takes us.”
“Back to you, baby. You are my life, so it’ll always take me right back to you.”
***
I was woken Christmas Eve morning by Liam’s phone vibrating on the bedside table next to where he was still sleeping soundly.
I reached across and picked it up, saw it was his sister Mags, and answered.
