Uncrushable (Forehead Kisses #3)

by Abby Reynolds

  She bit her lip when she was through, moaning as she winded down. Watching her face glow in the color of pleasure made me shake with anticipation. I missed making love to her every night, and feeling the connection with her erased my pain. Our hearts melded into one, and our minds became linked. She was my everything, and I was even more to her. With a final breath, I released inside her, moaning loudly while I filled her the way I used to every night.

  When I was finished I stayed on top of her and didn’t pull out. The sweat fell from my body and dripped onto her. The valley between her breasts was wet, and I leaned down and licked it away. Not wanting to be separated from her, I held her close to me then lay on my side, still staying inside her. Not having her for so long made me determined to make up for lost time.

  She caught her breath then stared at me in the darkness. Then she found my hand and interlocked her fingers with mine. “Without you, I am strong. I can do things I never thought possible. No longer am I scared. No longer do I fear anyone. But together, we are uncrushable.”

  My eyes softened while our hands were combined. I lay my head on the pillow and stared at her face, seeing her look back at me. I was exhausted from the day but I didn’t want to close my eyes. I didn’t want to lose a second of this time. I could stare at her forever.

  When the sun finally crested the horizon, my eyes grew heavy and I let myself fall asleep. But I knew she was still looking at me, watching me rest.

  Chapter Ten

  Keira

  Everything was right between Liam and I. All the pain and suffering we’d been through was in the past. He finally forgave me for everything, absolving me of my sins. And he trusted me again.

  Living with him made me realize just how compatible we were together. We had silent routines in the mornings and the evenings. I always took care of the dishes and the kitchen, and he always took out the garbage and did the laundry. Our duties were divided evenly but never said.

  We finished the semester and enjoyed our break from school. Liam wasn’t going back, but I was soon. I was still waiting for my acceptance into the credential program. I hoped they would pick me. Being a teacher was my greatest dream. Not only did I love it, but I knew the kids would love me too.

  “Where are you going?” Liam said as he walked downstairs shirtless. The water drops were still on his chest because he just stepped out of the shower.

  “Um…now I can’t remember.” I shouldered my purse but didn’t move. I was too memorized by the perfection in front of me.

  He smirked, a tint coming into his cheeks. “You were just about to leave.” He hooked his arm around my waist and leaned close to me. His natural scent moved into my nose, making me think dirty things.

  “Oh yeah…”

  “I love the effect I have on you.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  He kissed my forehead. “It’s nice to be lusted after but loved at the same time.”

  “And I do love you.”

  “I know.” He dropped his hand. “So, what are you up to?”

  I stopped staring at his chest. “I’m going to swing by the house and get the mail.”

  “Okay. Hurry back.” He patted my ass then gave me a quick kiss.

  “Well, you make it impossible for me to leave…”

  “I’m all yours when you get home.”

  I turned around and got a good look of his backside before I walked out.

  When I arrived at the house, Scotty was watching a basketball game on TV.

  “Who’s winning?” I asked.

  “The Clippers.”

  “Cool.” I walked to the counter and collected the mail. Most of it was junk.

  Scotty turned off the TV then came to me. “How’s it going?”

  “Good.” I couldn’t stop smiling. Liam and I were perfect.

  “Cool.” He shifted his weight and ran his fingers through his hair.

  I eyed him, knowing something wasn’t right. “Something on your mind?”

  He sighed. “Actually, yeah…”

  I put the mail down. “What’s up?”

  He walked to the house phone and pointed to the blinking light on the machine. “You have a message.”

  “Oh.”

  “I think you should listen to it.” He hit the button then stood back.

  “Hey, Keira. It’s Mr. Vick.” He was my lawyer. He prosecuted Finn and put him in jail. And he took care of my parents’ will and gave me the deed to the house. “Sorry I’m calling out of the blue but there’s something I need to discuss with you. Give me a call.” He hung up and the beep sounded.

  I felt my ears pound with circulating blood. For some reason, I felt nervous. I hadn’t spoken to him in over a year. What did he want to say to me? What else needed to be said?

  I looked at Scotty and he had the same concern in his eyes.

  “Call him,” he said.

  “What does he want?”

  He shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  My past was something I put behind me. I didn’t like thinking about Finn and all the pain he put me through. Dwelling on all the suffering would just make it more unbearable. I was free of him forever. My life was put back together. “I’ll call him later.”

  Scotty grabbed my arm. “Call him now.”

  “Why? What do you think he’s gong to say?”

  “I don’t know. But I’d rather know now instead of letting my imagination run wild with me.”

  I wanted to avoid it as much as possible. “Okay.”

  He picked up the phone and handed it to me.

  I sighed then dialed the number. Hopefully he wouldn’t answer.

  “Vick’s Law Offices,” a woman answered.

  “Hi, this is Keira Strately…is Mr. Vick available?”

  “Are you returning his call?”

  “Yes,” I answered.

  She put me on hold then transferred me.

  Mr. Vick picked up the phone. “Keira, how are you?”

  “Well. You?”

  “Busy, but good. Thanks for calling me back.”

  “Sure. What’s up?” I looked at Scotty while I stayed on the phone. His arms were across his chest and he stood still.

  “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I got a call from San Diego Central Jail the other day…”

  I didn’t like where this was going.

  “It seems that Finn was released on probation.”

  The words echoed in my ears. They repeated indefinitely, replaying in my mind. Sweat appeared out of nowhere and drenched my hands and forehead. My heart was pumping so much I thought it might give out. My worst nightmare was becoming a reality. I never thought he would get out of jail so quickly. I knew it would happen eventually, but a little over a year seemed too soon. “How can they let him out? He was convicted of attempted manslaughter.”

  He sighed into the phone. “I’m sorry, Keira. As you know, jails are already overpopulated. Judges are trying to reinstate less serious criminals back into society. Every year, San Diego Central Jail receives sixty-nine thousand more inmates…they just cut some of them loose.”

  This couldn’t be happening. Finn was already on the streets.

  “Keira, he’s on parole so someone is always checking on him. He won’t come near you.”

  My worst nightmare was seeing him on my doorstep, this time his intention to kill. “I hope you’re right…”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “No…but thank you for calling.”

  “I thought you had the right to know. Take care, Keira.”

  “Yeah…” I hung up and dropped the phone.

  “What did he say?” Scotty demanded.

  I could barely get the words out. “Finn’s out of jail…”

  Scotty’s eyes widened but he didn’t react in any other noticeable way. “They let that lunatic out?”

  I nodded, unable to speak.

  “Fuck. So, the justice system is officially worthless?”

/>   I was still processing the truth.

  He paced in front of me before he finally stopped. “Well, you live with Liam now, so even if he does come here, he won’t find you. You shouldn’t have to worry about anything.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” If Finn wanted to find me he would have a hard time. But what are the odds he would try something? If he did, he would just go back to jail, and this time for a longer sentence. I’d never been to jail but it didn’t sound like a vacation.

  “Tell Liam.”

  I didn’t want to…

  “Keira,” he pressed.

  “He’ll get mad.”

  “Either tell him or I will.”

  Why is this happening? “But we’re happy… Why can’t we have no drama in our lives for once?”

  His eyes softened. “I’m sorry, Keira. But this is how it needs to be.”

  “I know…”

  He put his arm around my shoulder and held me close. “It’ll be alright. I promise.”

  “Are you scared he’ll come to the house?”

  “I’m not scared of anything,” he said seriously. “If he wants to come here, I’ll deal with him. And I’ll deal with him good.” He rubbed my back then stepped away. “Remember, you said you weren’t going to live in fear anymore.”

  “I know…I’m not. It’s just taking me a while to process this. It’s just so soon.”

  “It’s definitely not fair.”

  I grabbed the mail from the counter and sighed, knowing I needed to go home to Liam and tell him the truth.

  When I got home, Liam was working out in the basement. Wanting to stall as long as possible, I stayed upstairs and watched TV on the couch. Normally, I would go down there and train with him, but I wanted to avoid him at the moment. When his muscles were pumped with blood and he was in an aggressive mood, it wasn’t the best time to give him bad news.

  An hour later, he emerged from the basement, covered in sweat.

  “You’re just in time, baby. I’m about to jump in the shower.” He gave me a cocky smirk.

  Even his ridiculously sexy body couldn’t get me in the mood. I said nothing, staying on the couch.

  Liam eyed me for a moment, seeing the fear in my eyes. Then he slowly approached me, his gaze locked onto me. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

  I remained in my spot. “Sit down.”

  He flinched at my request. His eyes grew darker. “Tell me.”

  I waited for him to sit.

  He clenched his jaw then sat beside me. He gave me a fierce look, threatening me if I didn’t start talking.

  “I talked to my lawyer today…” Why did I have to tell him this? Everything was perfect with us. Now it was going to be ruined. “Finn’s out of jail.” I couldn’t look at him when I said it. I imagined the pissed look in his eyes. They would scare the hell out of me.

  Liam didn’t react. He stared at the ground with his hands pressed together. Then they formed fists, clenching tightly until his knuckles turned white. He jumped to his feet then paced the living room, his face tinting in anger. He never said anything, just moved across the room like a bloodthirsty shark.

  “Liam…”

  He ignored me.

  “He’s on parole so I doubt he’ll bother me.”

  He finally stopped and looked at me. “You think that means anything to me?”

  I fell silent, knowing his wrath was about to emerge.

  “How could they let a psycho like him out of jail?”

  “I don’t know…”

  He turned away, hiding his face. After a few deep breaths, he came back to me then kneeled in front of me. His eyes studied mine. “Baby, I promise I’ll never let him hurt you. I’ll keep you safe.” He pressed his forehead to mine, closing his eyes.

  “I know, Liam. But he doesn’t know where I live and Scotty would never tell him. Even if he wanted to hurt me, he wouldn’t be able to.”

  “I’m not relying on that. If he comes anywhere near you, I’ll kill him.”

  “I’m sure I could take him on my own if I had to,” I whispered.

  “You never will,” he said firmly. “I’m a concrete mountain. He will not come in my house, and he will not come anywhere near my girl. When it comes to my territory, I mark it very clearly. And if he trespasses anyway, I will demolish him into pieces. The FBI won’t be able to identify his body because there will be nothing left.”

  I believed him. “I don’t want to live in fear anymore, Liam. I’m not going to look over my shoulder every second. I already lived that way and I refused to do it again.”

  “Then I will look over your shoulder for you.”

  “We can’t let this ruin our lives.”

  “We won’t,” he said firmly. “But it’s my responsibility to take care of you. And you bet your ass I will.”

  Liam was on edge for the next week. He was less talkative and he spent even more time in his gym downstairs. And he went to the workout facility in town for the extra weight machines.

  I could tell he wanted to rip someone’s head off.

  He didn’t talk to me much. His eyes didn’t carry the love they used to. He was too upset to be affectionate with me, to return to the blissful relationship we had before. I gave him the space he needed and didn’t bother trying to calm him down. I knew he was too far gone.

  I knew it was pathetic to feel scared of Finn, worried that he might try to hurt me. I’d already been afraid of him during my youth, and I couldn’t be that way again.

  But I was.

  Sometimes I feared he would track me down and make me pay for putting him in the slammer. I remembered the hatred in his eyes when I testified against him. There was an undeniable blood rage simmering deep within.

  And having Liam, an MMA champion, as a watchdog and protector decreased my anxiety by tenfold. He was home with me every night and went with me everywhere. His muscled mass and the threat in his eyes would scare anyone off. When his naked torso touched my back while we slept, I felt safe. Finn was a pathetic coward, and one look at Liam would make him take off with his tail between his legs.

  By the following week, Liam calmed down slightly.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been distant with you.” He lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. Our bedroom was dark so I couldn’t see his face.

  “It’s okay. I understand.”

  “Do you want to know what I’ve been thinking?”

  I think I already know. “What?”

  “If I should kill him.” The truth of his words resonated in my ear. “If I should hunt him down and make it look like an accident. Do the world a favor and take a life not worthy of being on this planet.” The bitterness was heavy in his voice.

  I knew he wasn’t just saying this out of anger. It was a thought he truly had. Taking a life was still taking a life. The emotional repercussions of that were catastrophic. I would never want Liam to suffer through that, even if he wasn’t caught. “No, you shouldn’t.”

  He turned his head and looked at me. “Why not?”

  “I don’t want that blood on your hands.”

  “And what if I do?”

  “Don’t. You’ll regret it later. Maybe not now, maybe not in months. But one day you will. You’re better than him, Liam. You may be a fighter, but you’ve never been a killer.”

  He turned his head and focused on the ceiling again. His mouth was immobile.

  I cuddled into his side and felt his warmth wrap around me. “Let’s just forget about him and go back to our lives. He’s not going to bother me, and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t. I want to stop thinking about him and just be happy. Can you do that?”

  Silence stretched endlessly.

  “Liam, that’s what I want.”

  More silence.

  “Please.” My voice was barely above a whisper.

  Liam seemed to identify the pain in my voice. His arm tightened around my waist and he pulled me closer to him. “Okay. Let’s just forget about it.”

  “Thank you
.” And with those words, the weight was lifted off my shoulders.

  Chapter Eleven

  Liam

  When Keira told me her tormentor was free on the streets again, something snapped inside me. My punching bag got the bad end of the deal, and after ripping it into pieces, I had to discard it and get a new one.

  I truly considered taking him out. A sick fiend like that didn’t deserve to breathe air into his lungs. He didn’t deserve life. He didn’t deserve freedom. If he came anywhere near my girl, I wouldn’t hesitate. He would be the opponent I always wanted to fight. He wasn’t Derek but he was an excellent substitute.

  Keira seemed stress about his possible reappearance, but then I realized she was more stressed by my reaction. She hated the bloodlust in my eyes. She wanted the gentle man underneath my layers of hatred. Our relationship had returned to its former beauty, but just as quickly, it was taken away. Instead of frightening her more, I chose to bottle it inside and drop the subject.

  But just because I didn’t mention it doesn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about it.

  A part of me wanted him to make a move against Keira. I would take the opportunity to kill him in self-defense. The nuisance would be forever gone from our lives. But I knew Keira wouldn’t want that.

  Despite all the pain she’d been put through, she wouldn’t want me to kill him, to carry that burden for the rest of my life. Despite her violent past, she was still a peaceful person. Well, except when she flipped out on Adrianna.

  I put on a face for her and pretended I wasn’t thinking about Finn every day. He was always on my mind, hovering and suffocating my thoughts. I daydreamed of killing him in the most brutal and intimate ways, taking a knife to his throat and choking him until the life was gone from his body. I never told Keira these thoughts, making her think I’d put it behind us.

  But I was always thinking it.

  Wanna go out tonight? It was Scotty. The guys and I are going to be at the Gaslight.

  I hardly went out anymore. I usually stayed home with Keira. Even when we were just watching TV on the couch, I was entertained. Going out to the bars and socializing with people didn’t appeal to me like it did when I was single. Besides, I liked to keep an eye on her… Nah, I’m staying in tonight.