Page 124 of Backup Plan

He locks his door as I stand next to the bed, and when he turns around, he pauses for a beat by the door. “I can’t believe I got so goddamn lucky.”

I’m not sure any feeling has ever been more mutual in the history of time.

“Come here,” I beg.

He does, strolling confidently across the small space separating us until he’s standing right in front of me. He doesn’t touch me, though—not yet. I reach out and grab a fistful of his shirt and haul him closer, and he chuckles as he wraps his arms around me.

“I missed you,” I say softly.

“Missed you more.”

“Doubt that.”

His hands move down until he’s squeezing my ass. “I missed this ass.” His hands trail up to my back and around my torso until he’s grabbing fistfuls of tits. “I missed these tits.” He drops my breasts and moves upward, burying his hands in my hair. “I missed this smart mind and these gorgeous eyes.” He drops his lips to mine in a whisper of a kiss. “I missed this mouth. I missed all of you, Penny. I knew all along I’d come back. I knew I had to. I can’t live without you, and the last month has shown me how fully, totally, completely, madly, desperately in love with you I am.” He drops a kiss between each of the adverbs, as if to punctuate the extent to which he felt each one.

His words are fucking poetry, a beautiful song that illustrates how far we’ve come.

He doesn’t allow me to respond to that since his mouth covers mine at the end, but honestly, words aren’t enough at this point anyway.

It’s been so many highs mixed with so many lows over the last few weeks, but this right here tells me that every steep low was worth the battle to get back here into Liam’s arms.

He kisses me until we’re both in a total frenzy, hands moving with need and hips thrusting, and then he flips me around, yanks my pants down, and pushes me down so I’m bent over the bed. He slides his cock straight into me, as if he can’t wait another second, and I’m soaked for him, waiting and needy as he starts to pump in earnest.

“Fuck, Pen, you’re so goddamn wet. You have no idea how much I’ve needed this…needed you.”

“Oh, Liam! Your cock feels so good inside me. And your hands—” I cut myself off with an erotic moan as he reaches around me to massage my tits. God, I love it when he does that. He reaches down with one hand to stroke my clit, and that’s it. My total undoing. It’s too quick, but my body betrays me as I start to convulse with contraction after glorious contraction, my orgasm plowing into me with a force I’ve never felt before.

The way my pussy grips onto him sends him into his own climax, and he grunts as he comes inside me, growling my name as he lets go and holds onto the pleasure.

When he pulls out, he carries me to his bathroom and sets me on the edge of the tub. He runs the water, adds bubbles, lights a candle, and then we get in together. He sits behind me and massages my neck and shoulders, and he washes me gently, and it feels like he’s cleansing away my past, cleansing the time we spent apart, and it’s a symbolic clean start for the two of us.

He heads downstairs to check the baby, and I sit with him on the couch until she wakes again for her next feeding. We take her upstairs, and I sleep beside him.

When Liora wakes up three hours later, I get up with her. He gets up three hours after that.

We rotate without ever really talking about it, and it’s like we already have a system down that allows the other one to get a few extra hours of uninterrupted rest. It’s yet another thing that bonds us together, and it’s only the start of our entire future together.

When I found out Brent was cheating on me, I figured I’d never fall in love again. I was certain I was done with that nonsense, that I’d never even think about getting married again, that I was used goods now, who wouldn’t find someone who loved me and accepted the package that comes with me.

And then I ran into the younger brother of my best friend, and now that gorgeous house is off market, and so am I.

CHAPTER 40: Liam Bradley

The Seven of Us

“State your name for the record.”

“Archer Bradley,” Archer says up on the stand.

I wonder if I’ll be called next, but I somehow doubt it. Madden was the most tangled in Dad’s business, but he extracted Dad from the company before he took over as CEO. Dad had us all sign different papers for various projects over the years, and I think a lot of what he had us sign for were shell companies to hide other illegal activities. But Archer? He made out the worst.

“Are you the son of Thomas Bradley?”

“Yes.”

I glance over at Millie, his fiancée, and she looks nervous for her future husband.

“Do you remember this document?” The prosecuting attorney nods at the screen, and we all glance over there and see Archer’s signature.