Reaper's Claim Book 3

Abby

“Abby?”

That voice was so warm. Reminded me of slipping into a hot bath—the perfect temperature.

I didn’t even need to look up to source it.

“Hey, Liam,” I murmured through my hands.

I was still sitting on the top step, elbows propped on my knees. Tears streaming down my cheeks.

Just above a whisper, he said, “Let’s go somewhere quieter. Find you some privacy.”

He offered me his arm, helping me to stand. Shaky, I let him lead me upstairs and down the hall.

“They were just taking the whole thing so lightly,” I ranted as we approached his bedroom.

“Suggesting I name my child Damon?” I continued. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“That was really uncalled for,” he agreed.

I collapsed onto his bed, warping the neatly made sheets and folded comforter.

“All I want to focus on is work,” I continued, through gasps. “Task by task. It’s a perfect distraction.”

Liam produced a bag of organic tobacco and a pack of papers. He rolled his own to make sure they were natural.

“Cigarette?” he offered.

“No, thanks. I’m gonna wait to see how all this…plays out,” I confessed.

Without a second thought, he put the materials back onto a shelf.

“I hate this attention, Liam, you know? Everyone thinks it’s a good thing. But really, they have no idea what’s best for me. No one understands.”

Our eyes met. His gaze shot straight to my soul; my heart skipped a beat.

“I understand, Abby,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

I almost started crying all over again.

Because the thing was, I think he did understand. And legitimately was sorry.

Had he ever been in this position, pregnant by surprise? No, of course not.

But he wasn’t pretending he had. He didn’t feel the need to offer any input, or tell me to relax and calm down, or fucking congratulate me.

He just listened, which I appreciated.

“I know you do, Liam. Thank you.”

Wait a minute…

Is my vision still blurred from the tears, or…

Is Liam’s face moving closer to mine?

So slowly. Centimeter by centimeter.

I tilted my own, let my lips part just a bit, and closed my eyes.

And then his mouth found mine.

His lips, like his demeanor and everything else about him, were so soft and clean.

Like his cotton button-down and his hair.

His hair. Ruffled, and light brown like his eyes. Both streaked with gold. So warm and bright compared to…

Nope. Don’t think about that right now, Abby.

Don’t think about him.

As Liam cupped a hand around the back of my head, I purged every thought and preconception and warning from my brain. I just…

Felt.

I felt his fingers undo my shorts and tug down the zipper. I felt them slip down under the denim and explore.

And he touched me there, over my underwear. Not even skin to skin, but the subtle touch was so explosively electric, like some crackling energy surged between us.

He kept kissing me lightly.

Ever so slightly, I felt his tongue tickle mine.

I felt his unoccupied hand brush my neck, run along my ear.

I felt his sensitive, supportive presence in every movement.

And, with all that combined, I felt a building in my core. So strange and new compared to anything I’d had before.

A moan escaped my lips as he stroked a little more insistently.

I felt… I felt….

Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!

Brought with a jerk back to reality, I pulled away.

“Ugh, sorry Liam. I should check…”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” he stuttered, quickly removing his hand.

Immediately, I missed his touch.

Guilt and confusion confounded me.

Bzzzzzz!

I reached into my pocket for my phone.

What now?

I huffed a sigh.

“Who is it?” Liam asked, clearly concerned.

“Kim. My sister.”

“Doctor Kim.”

It was sweet, how he remembered such small details. “Right.”

“What’s she saying?”

Reangling my body so that he could read over my shoulder, I said, “Here, see for yourself.”

Then I froze, catching myself mid-movement.

What the hell am I doing?

Letting Liam into my personal life like this? My private world?

That was hardly professional.

Although, I supposed, ~what we just did wasn’t quite business-oriented, either.~

And, I mean, Liam wasn’t Blake. Liam and I were friends.

But if we were friends who supported each other with kindness and humor, and then also satisfied each other sexually…

That qualified us as…friends with benefits?

Fine. Good. Perfect, even.

Perfect place to draw the line.

Because anything beyond that—for example, sharing secret spaces and family conversations like this—became something else entirely.

Something I wasn’t ready for. Something I, judging by my pathetic track record, wasn’t really capable of.

A healthy, well-rounded relationship.

No, thank you.

Plus, I already had a relationship, obviously. An incredibly complicated one.

So, why wasn’t I stopping this one?

Why was I…inviting it?

What the HELL am I doing? I wondered again.

Fortunately, Liam didn’t even notice this contained freak-out of mine. To him, the small gesture that just sent me spiraling probably meant nothing.

I took a slow breath, trying to calm myself.

“Okay, so…?” Liam prompted, when he was caught up. He cocked his head. “I’m sorry. I’m not really seeing the problem with this.”

“It’s just another attempt at roping me back into Satan’s Sons,” I explained.

“Like, ‘We trust you, we respect you, yada yada,’ and then comes the but…”

“They’re all tossing their lassos out this way and trying to seem so innocent about it, coaxing me right into the traps.” I stepped forward.

“So, what’s the but this time?”

“Let’s see,” I said, glancing back down at my phone.

But there was no but. Instead, the first word starting Kim’s next message was and…

Liam and I both watched the screen as I read and replied.

With that, I silenced my phone. Then, feeling especially resolute, I instead turned it off and placed it on Liam’s bedside table.

Liam slipped his arm around me. “You okay, Abby?”

“Uh, yeah,” I lied.

Liam looked at me skeptically.

I sighed. “Kim just really bothers me sometimes. She’s Little Miss Perfect. All studious and hardworking and career-focused, but not in a cut-throat way.

“Because then she’s also all doting and caring for the family,” I continued. “It’s like, how’s she do it all? You know?”

He nodded. “I’m familiar with the type. I’ve got a perfect brother.”

“Really? What’s he do?”

“Law,” said Liam. “Or, technically, he’s a prosecuting attorney; lots of cases involving murder. He helps grieving families and totally provides for mine on the side.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah.”

“I used to be like that... Like your brother and, I guess, like my sister is now...in a past life,” I admitted.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Long story.”

We sat in silence.

Then I said, “Can I stay here for a while?”

Liam pulled me closer. After a second of hesitation, I rested my head on his chest. Not nearly as broad as Kade’s, but still firm. Liam was a leaner body type.

“Of course, Abby. Always.”

My eyes roamed his room until they landed on the wall clock. It was only a little past eleven p.m., still so early.

Suddenly, I felt bad for keeping Liam from a fun night. I decided to lay out my terms, just to make myself clear.

Then if he wanted to kick me out, he could kick me out. I’d go, no questions asked.

“Okay, thanks, Liam,” I said. “But, uh, by staying here I mean… No cigarettes. No alcohol. No sex, or sexual activity of any kind. Not again. No way. And maybe even no talking. Just like, laying here.”

That sounded so ridiculously prudish. I could hardly believe it had just come from my mouth.

But Liam only smiled. “Sounds great to me.”

“Thank you.”

Then he perked up, like an eager puppy. “We could watch a movie? I have a massive DVD collection.”

“DVDs? Who the hell still owns DVDs?”

“Collectors, Abby! I know it’s dorky. I just like finding things,” he said, sheepish.

“Alright well, let’s see it then.”

Excitedly, Liam rolled off the mattress, crawled under his bed, and began dragging out a large cardboard box.

“What’re you feeling?” he asked. “Action-packed? Crime? Comedy? Romance?”

“Hm…” I stalled.

Well, it was time to make a choice.

Don’t think, Abby. Just do. As always.

I knew I was supposed to be working on curbing my impulsive nature, but I didn’t care. This felt different.

While most of my impulses were usually wrong, maybe some were right. Right?

Of all the wrongs in my life, could Liam be the opposite? A right?

“Uh. Let’s go with the last option,” I heard myself say.

A beat settled in the air between us.

The energy felt instantly even more palpable.

And Liam said, “Romance it is.”