Before Sunrise (51 page)

“
Okay.” She
smiled.

“
I want to have a
baby.”

“
What?” Kennedy stepped
back.

“
A baby, try again for a
little brother or sister for Mac instead of a puppy. That’s what
will make me happy.”

“
How do you jump to a baby?
Now?”

She tried to turn from him but he spun her
back around. “Wait, wait, hear me out. We could make a little boy
this time. He’ll be tough and cute. Do you think he’ll have your
eyes too, or maybe mine next time?”

Kennedy didn’t smile.

“
I know we got a lot of shit
to work out, but I want another kid, Kay. Don’t you see? This is
our new beginning. And this time I want to go through the pregnancy
with you. I know what you and Mac went through. It kills me that
you suffered. It’ll be different this time. Like it was supposed to
be. We can just start over, from where we left off.”

“
I can’t think of a baby
right now.” She shrugged off his hold, backing away from him.
Suddenly she felt overwhelmed. The baby question hit her in the
gut. She didn’t want to consider baby talk for months. Until all
the drama was a distant memory.

“
Don’t leave. I’m sorry. I’m
pushing you and I really don’t mean to. Just say that it’s
possible. That you want another baby with me.”

“
Liam…what I want is for you
to slow down, okay? We don’t have to cram everything into one
single moment. Of course I want a baby, maybe two, but it doesn’t
have to start now. Let’s get on our feet. Let’s talk more, get to
know each other more, enjoy each other more. Relax, soldier boy,
okay?”

“
No, Kay. We don’t need to
wait on life. Damn it, babe, if I haven’t learned anything I
learned that. Nothing is promised to us. Let’s make a baby, right
now,” he said, lifting her and placing her on the bed. Kennedy
wrapped her arms around his neck. He should just shut up and make
love to her. No more questions or doubts. Besides, she enjoyed
kissing Liam; it was almost as good as sex. In truth, she enjoyed
anything with him, because each and every touch or stroke of his
hand pulled on her heartstrings.

Kennedy deepened the kiss, fueled with wild
ministrations of her tongue that made him laugh deep in his throat.
Just as she tried to bring him back on the bed with her, the kiss
slowed to a teasing stop. Liam licked his lips, and his eyes
dropped to her breasts once more. He stood at the edge of the
mattress, deciding on something. Kennedy smirked. She rubbed her
breasts for him and tried to entice him to act.

He did. Liam drew her down, pulling her by
the ankles to the edge of the bed. He grabbed a pillow and dropped
it before him. Why, she wasn’t sure. Liam then parted her legs and
placed one on each shoulder. Now she knew why. He lowered so that
she was spread in front of his face.

“
Oral sex, huh? You let him
eat what’s mine?”

Kennedy dismissed the comment with an eye
roll. He licked her center with the broad side of his tongue and
she felt such eroticism from his lips that her toes curled. Then he
pressed a kiss there. His nose brushed against her damp slit and he
gave her another slow lick that ended with the tip of his tongue
circling and drawing her bud forward.

Kennedy dug her fingers into his hair. She
loved the feel of his scalp beneath her nails, just like she loved
to have his mouth between her legs. He buried his face and slurped
at her clit until she bucked her ass off the mattress, trying to
withstand the sexy rush of pleasure his mouth brought. It dipped
between, licked and swiped the inner folds of her labial walls. He
eased a finger inside her wet channel as his mouth continued to
drive pleasure through to her core.

The man made her insane. She needed his cock
not his finger. “Liam, do me, please…” she begged as he continued
to lick, suck and kiss her below while working his finger in and
out with back and forth thrusts. He remained determined to prolong
her torture. Kennedy reached between her thighs with both hands and
gripped the back of his head, smashing it against her achy core as
she cycled down to another climatic explosion. Her eyes rolled
under her fluttering lids and she cried out in a hoarse, strained
voice. He used his free hand to lift her hips higher to give him
greater access. Her back bowed from the bed and all of her shook
through her spasms of pleasure pulsing through her pelvis.

Liam withdrew his sopping
wet fingers from her clenched channel and rubbed his thumb over her
the ring of her anus. She was crashing with pleasure but he was far
from done.
Why didn’t he release her and
just give her what she needed?
The desire
to have his cock between her legs drove away all patience. Although
his fingers felt heavenly, they weren’t enough. “Liam, Liam, c’mon.
I want you,” she panted weakly.

She changed her mind. She wanted him to bury
his cock deeply in her rear, wanted it so badly she ached all over.
No one had breeched her forbidden hole but him. Maybe she should
tell him? He swirled his tongue around her pussy and rubbed her
anus a moment longer before slipping his thumb inside. His tongue
eased lazily down to her tight opening and then pierced her cunt as
his thumb thrust in and out of her. Kennedy’s eyes flipped open and
the bottoms of her feet curled. She tried to withstand but the next
climax reached far into her soul. She stiffened all over and
exploded. Floating on what felt like a heat wave, she enjoyed the
raw burning sensation of pleasure rippling up from her uterus and
spreading through her belly. The only thing better would be him
drilling her the way he used to, while he pulled her hair. “Liam,
give me more…yes want more….”

Liam withdrew his thumb.
Licked her juices, then rose from the floor and stood before her
with his cock in hand.
At last. he will
give it to me. I should roll over to show him where I want him
first.
She smiled, her gaze going down her
body slick with sweat to eye his thick erection jutting out before
her, as he lowered her legs from his shoulder. Liam licked his
lips. Kennedy put her hand over her pussy to stop the quivering,
and rub out the stress to her clit. “Now Liam, come here…you can
get it how you like. Come on.”

“
I’m going to get us
something to drink. You want something?” he walked away.

Kennedy shot upright. “What?”

Liam tossed her a coy smile over his
shoulder and left the room.

“
You jerk!” she yelled after
him. She could hear him laughing, and his footsteps going down the
stairs. She rolled out of the wet spot and curled up, grinning.
When the feeling returned to her legs, she would punish him. Until
then she could do nothing but lie there and smile.

***

Gail caught Phil as he walked out of
Mackenzie’s room. His face was calm with contentment. He and
Kennedy really had made a nice home for her granddaughter. Today
while she watched Mac follow him around and need his reassurance,
she knew. She had to do something to keep this family from falling
apart. With Andrew downstairs in the TV room, eyes glued to Sports
Center, now would be the best time to talk. “She asleep?”

Phil nodded. He closed the door gently.
“She’s in heaven. Yes, she’s asleep, but not after she gave me
another rundown on what she wanted for her birthday and what she
wants for Christmas, because she had to remind me that they are two
different things. She is so smart. The things that come out of her
mouth shock me and Kennedy every day.”

Gail sighed. “You are so good with her,
Phil. She thinks of you as her father, you know?”

“
I love her. Nothing will
ever change that.”

“
Not even having your own?”
Gail asked.

Phil paused. His brows lowered in
confusion.

“
I know,” Gail announced.
She crossed her arms to the front of her chest.

“
What do you
know?”

“
Let’s talk.” Gail walked
past him to her daughter’s bedroom. When she entered, she looked
back to see Phil in the hall, staring. He hadn’t followed. He
dropped his head and came inside. She’d been careful to close the
door. What she wanted to say, she couldn’t with Andrew around. He
wouldn’t stand for it. He’d just defend Kennedy and Liam as always.
He was so blinded by his daughter’s wants that he never did what
was right for her. In Gail’s heart she blamed Andrew as much as she
blamed Liam for taking her child’s innocence and making her grow up
too soon. She wasn’t able to protect Kennedy then, but she’d be
damned if she repeat the same mistakes now.

“
What do you know?” Phil
asked.

“
That she’s
pregnant.”

Phil sighed. “Who told you that?
Kennedy?”

“
Does it matter? What are
you going to do about it?”

“
This is between me and
Kennedy.”

“
Yes, and right now, she’s
with him. Are you seriously going to give up on her
now?”

“
Give up? Give up? Gail,
there is no baby. Kennedy called me today and told me she went to
the doctor.”

“
She did what?” Gail
frowned.

“
It’s done. I’ve accepted it
and I suggest you do too. I want to be a part of Mac’s life. I’m
barely hanging on here.”

“
And you believe her?” Gail
stepped forward.

“
What do you
mean?”

“
Believe that there is no
baby? Where’s the proof?”

“
She had the test,” Phil
said, feeling his chest tighten. He wanted to go. Hell, this was
his house and he already felt strange visiting it. Just two weeks
ago, he was in the bed behind him, loving his woman. She was in his
arms, all his, their bond solid. He believed in love. Now it had
all evaporated into thin air. No one knew how desperate the loss of
Kennedy made him feel. His heart had been crushed to dust. Whether
it was his fault or Kennedy’s, it was his reality.

“
She’s lying.” Gail said.
“She’ll have an abortion, if she hasn’t already.”

“
What? No, Kennedy wouldn’t
do that.”

“
Oh no? Kennedy ran away
from home when she was barely seventeen, because I told her she
couldn’t see Liam. She let me suffer for three months without a
single phone call. She never apologized to me for that, or
acknowledged it. It’s always been about her and Liam in Kennedy’s
world. And everything she does, she does to protect him. You don’t
think she would abort your child to keep him?”

“
That’s enough—”

“
Phil, this isn’t the time
for you to bury your head in the sand. You have to do something.
Before it’s too late. She’s my child. I know her better than
anyone. Liam is all she can think about, not her future, not the
safety of that sweet little girl.”

“
You and I aren’t having
this conversation.” Phil started to the door, but Gail plucked at
his sleeve.

“
Listen to me. I’m telling
you the facts. I saw Alexa, that woman that is close to Liam. She
said Liam’s sick in the head or something. That he has PTSD. She…”
Gail turned and saw the dresser. “Oh my God. Did he do
this?”

Phil’s eyes cut over to the destroyed
mirror. Kennedy had downplayed Liam’s rage, but he knew that he was
responsible. “She wouldn’t abort my baby,” he said to himself more
than anything.

“
You’re willing to risk the
life of your child, the safety of Mackenzie, on your faith in her
now? Look at this. He’s unstable.” Gail walked over and ran her
hands over the grooves gouged in the dresser surface where
something had beat against it violently.

“
I trust her. She has never
lied to me.”

“
Well, she does lie,” Gail
snipped. “She lied to me, over and over. And I don’t know what lies
she filled Andrew’s head with to convince him that Liam is some
misunderstood man. She’s emotional, and she’s in trouble and so
will be the life of your unborn child if you don’t do something
about it. Quick.”

***

Kennedy found him downstairs. She handed him
his boxers. She wasn’t going to have him walking around with his
cock swinging in front of her after his upstairs performance. Liam
pulled up his boxers, still wearing that sly half-smile on his
face.

“
So what was that upstairs?”
she asked.

“
Me getting re-acquainted
with you.” He winked.

“
You are something
else.”

Liam handed her a bottle of water. He’d
gotten a beer for himself. The place remained too empty. She itched
to decorate and fill it with all the necessities to make it home.
Kennedy exhaled a long, deep sigh. She could tell him of the
pregnancy scare. Just get it out there in the open and put it
behind them. But if the confession of oral sex sparked that
machismo a few minutes ago, she feared what more truth would do.
Baby steps, she told herself. She sipped her water, staring at
him.

“
Do you remember our first
Christmas as man and wife?” Liam smiled.

“
Yes,” she said
sadly.

“
I was so fucking
miserable,” Liam said. He leaned back on the sink, staring into
space.

“
Me too. I cried all day
that Christmas,” she said, having shared that with him over and
over. She resented the Navy for taking him away from her on the
holiday. When he broke the news and told her that he would not be
able to return to her and she would have to leave school and go
home to her parents, they had their first fight. She’d agreed to
school, said she understood when he had to leave for his last
semester. Suffered many nights waiting for his call while doing her
studies. All of this she did to please her father and Liam. And the
military got between them for the first of many times to come. She
thought he didn’t understand, but that was the young, selfish
Kennedy, as spoiled and self-centered as ever. Liam was doing what
he could to make a life for them, the best way he knew
how.