On His Knees (Stronghold Book 3)

by Golden Angel

  They'd always managed to share a lot of clothes, unless they were particularly fitted. Hilary didn't quite have the generous curves that Jessica did, her own hourglass was slimmer and not as well defined. More than enough for Liam though.

  Shimmying the dress on over her head, Hilary turned back to the mirror. The dress was stunning. Elegant and sexy at the same time. Twisting, she watched the way the fabric spun around her legs, showing off her calves and a bit of thigh. The top hugged her snugly, all the way down to her hips where the skirt flared out. The bright colors of the flowers kept it from being too simple, although the classic lines of the dress were incredibly flattering. It really was perfect. So perfect that she ignored the smug expression on Jessica's face as the other woman peered over Hilary's shoulder to look at her reflection in the mirror.

  "This is hot," Hilary said, grinning. She turned and hugged Jessica, feeling her excitement starting to rise again. Just being in the dress made her feel all sexy and ready to go. Plus, it was something Liam hadn't seen her in before. "Thank you."

  "You're welcome. Now get your hot ass home, and get ready for your big night."

  Something in the tone of Jessica's order niggled at Hilary's brain the entire way home. Did her best friend know something?

  ******

  Feeling strangely nervous, Liam waited impatiently for his girlfriend. He was sitting on the couch, arms sprawled out (probably wrinkling his suit jacket) and resting the ankle of one leg on the knee of the other. His leg jiggled with pent up nerves. Even though he wasn't going to propose to her tonight, he still felt weirdly nervous about their date.

  Maybe because he rarely suited up for going out. Hilary was still in the bathroom getting ready. She'd practically barricaded herself in there an hour ago. It was a good thing he hadn't needed to use it. Glancing at the clock, he leaned back and looked down the hallway.

  "Honey-girl, are you going to be ready to go in a few minutes?"

  The bathroom door opened and she stepped out. Liam thought his heart actually stopped for a moment. She turned towards him, her feet encased in strappy gold heels that showed off her shapely calves, the uneven hem of the skirt flirting around her legs as she walked towards him. The dress clung to her in all the right ways, emphasizing her slim waist and the swells of her breasts and hips. It wasn't low cut, but the scooped neckline gave her just the hint of cleavage. With her hair pulled up, a few tendrils loose to frame her face, she looked like the embodiment of a summer wet dream.

  "I'm ready now," she said, her voice filled with feminine satisfaction as she watched him watch her.

  "Yeah you are. You look amazing."

  Liam was up on his feet, moving towards her without even thinking about it. He just had to get his hands on her. All over her. Did they really need to go out to dinner?

  Sliding his hands over her hips to the small of her back, he kissed her, claiming her mouth. Hilary's hands wrapped around the lapels of his suit, her body arching against his, pressing her breasts into his chest. But when his hand dropped down to cup that gorgeous ass, she wriggled away.

  "Uh uh, mister," she said, teasingly, her eyes sparkling as she poked her finger into his chest. "You promised me dinner."

  Sighing, Liam adjusted the front of his pants. "Dinner. Right."

  ******

  The restaurant was definitely conducive to a romantic atmosphere, Liam thought. Unfortunately, right now he was feeling more lustful than romantic. All he really wanted to do was get Hilary home so he could peel her out of that dress.

  With his teeth.

  Although at least he could enjoy just sitting and admiring her from across the table, their hands entwined on the surface, while he told her about one of the kid classes at the dojo. Some of the little hellions had been watching too much DragonBall Z, and they were making the most hilarious sounds while they tried to "power up."

  "I had to explain to them that it doesn't really work that way, and then of course Lenore says that she's seen videos online of people doing that and then breaking bricks."

  Hilary laughed. "Ah ha! Can't fight that, can you?"

  "I just pointed out to her that no one's hair got bigger from doing it."

  That made Hilary laugh even harder. Grinning, Liam squeezed her hand, running his thumb back and forth over her soft skin. He was glad he was doing this little practice run. They should go out more often like this. A lot of the time when they went out on a date together, it was to do something active, but it was really nice to just sit and have a dinner out at a restaurant with her. To be able to relax and enjoy looking at her, watching her, talking with her. Plus, she'd obviously been excited to get dressed up to go out.

  The server appeared at their table, with dinner, and he reluctantly relinquished his hold on her hand. Underneath the table, almost as if to make up for the loss, her feet immediately searched out his, and he trapped one delicate ankle between his. Hilary gave him almost a shy little smile. Not that his desire to be in constant physical contact with her was anything new, but he had to admit that he'd been feeling it even more so lately.

  "So have you heard from Rick?" Hilary asked, just before she took a bite of her salmon. As soon as the fish hit her lips, she made a little happy humming noise and her expression melted into bliss. "Good grief this is good."

  "Good," said Liam, grinning at her. He loved watching her when she was eating something that she really liked. She made a lot of the same expressions and noises that she did when they were in bed and he was doing something that she really liked. "And no, no word from Rick so far."

  The face Hilary made in response to that wasn't nearly as happy. "I really hope he and Maria work everything out. I like her. I don't know why he's having such an issue just communicating with her."

  "I probably have more sympathy for him than you do, in that regard," murmured Liam, winking at her. He took a bite of the rockfish that he'd ordered, enjoying the salty flakiness of the fish. Damn. They really did have good food here. Plus, no clean up afterwards. He and Hilary should definitely go out to eat at a good restaurant more often, at least once a month or something.

  Hilary giggled. "You probably do. But seriously, I was so much more prepared than she was at first."

  "I'm sure they'll work things out," Liam said, trying to ignore the way Hilary was practically licking her fork as she took another bite of salmon. That little pink tongue, combined with her little black dress, was starting to make his pants uncomfortable again. "Rick likes her, and he's gone for too long without having a woman that he really likes. Now that he's found one, I don't think he's going to let her go without a fight."

  "He better not." The slightly fierce expression on her face made him chuckle. Heaven help the Dom that got in the way of the subbies once they had a firm opinion about something. Especially when it came to match-making. Even though Hilary hadn't shown up on Rick's doorstep, like Angel and Lexie had along with Maria, he didn't doubt his honey-girl had been one of the instigators. Rick was incredibly lucky he hadn't had the whole posse descend at once.

  "My friends are smarter than that," he said, grinning. "Almost as smart as me."

  "You tried to push me away," she said, accusingly, but with a smile on her face.

  "I was trying to protect you."

  "Tomato, tomato," she said, enunciating the different pronunciations. "You did a terrible job of both."

  "Luckily for me."

  They grinned at each other, her ankle rubbing against his, and he was pretty sure that he looked a little loopy. But he couldn't help it; being around her, he felt so happy that he might burst.

  ******

  Hilary really didn't know what to think. They were in a gorgeous restaurant, Liam was all dressed up and looking like a million dollars, and yet the anxiety seemed to have drained away from him. The conversation was flirtatious, but also joking, and he didn't seem like he was anticipating anything or waiting for anything. The feeling that something momentous was coming had completely dissipated.
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  At least it was hard to feel disappointed when Liam was being so sweet and attentive. She did feel a little let down, but she knew that it was her own fault. After all, they hadn't really talked about a timeline for getting married, ever. Maybe she would bring it up to him. But not tonight, because she didn't want him to know that she'd been hoping for a proposal. She didn't want him to feel like she was pressuring him, or to feel guilty that she'd been expecting something he wasn't ready to give. Obviously she'd been reading too much into his behavior. He just loved her and was being particularly lovey lately. That was great.

  But she really wished she hadn't said anything to Jessica.

  Pushing all of that down, she just smiled at him and concentrated on enjoying the present. There was a lot to enjoy. Liam looked delicious in a suit, something that he rarely wore, and she was definitely appreciating that. It hadn't escaped her notice that both of them had been getting checked out all night. It was the best kind of admiration; she didn't really care what anyone other than Liam thought, but she could appreciate the attention, and she could smugly enjoy that Liam was all hers.

  The fabric of his pants rubbed against her leg. She had to grin. They'd been playing footsie all night and there was something incredibly satisfying about it. Like they were two magnets, who just couldn't completely stay away from each other.

  Dessert was amazing, like the rest of the food, and afterwards they decided to go walking around the streets. The night was particularly nice out, not too muggy with enough heat to keep Hilary warm, and yet not so hot that Liam was uncomfortable. Although he did take off his jacket and drape it over his shoulder, tucking her under his other arm. She reached up to take his hand, snuggling up to him on the other side, as they walked down the sidewalk.

  It was busy, with lots of other people walking, going in and out of the shops and restaurants, and walking their dogs. Yet it felt like she and Liam were the only two people in the world as they ambled along, looking in the shop windows, chatting and laughing about nothing at all. One of those perfect moments, the kind that would have an uplifting soundtrack playing if they were in a movie.

  "Look at the moon." He squeezed her hand, directing her attention to the right. The moon was hanging low in the sky, huge and round, with a few delicate clouds floating across it like a lacy draping.

  "That's beautiful," Hilary said wistfully, leaning her head onto his shoulder. "I wish I could see more of the stars though. It's so hard to see stars around here. Too much light pollution."

  "Yeah. Maybe we could go find somewhere a little less populated sometime, do some star gazing."

  "I'd like that." Trust Liam to take an offhand comment and make it into a date. Or maybe he just heard the wistfulness in her tone. Hilary had loved taking vacations to more remote locations when she was a kid, because it had meant that she could look at the stars. They were absolutely gorgeous out in the country, and completely unappreciated around here. "I used to go out and watch the Perseid meteor shower whenever my parents took me on vacation to the beach."

  "When is that?"

  "Middle of August. It's the best meteor shower to see for this area, although there's one in July in a couple of weeks that's not too bad either."

  "Sounds like a date. Two dates."

  Hilary kissed the bottom of his jaw, and then giggled and kissed him again when he turned his head, trying to catch her lips. She knew that Liam would find a spot for them to watch, if one could be found. There was no need to feel disappointed that he hadn't proposed tonight. They loved each other and they'd get there eventually.

  ******

  "You could always propose to him."

  "I couldn't even ask him out on a date, what makes you think I'll be able to propose to him?" Hilary asked, amused. Liam was out for the day and so Jessica had come over to keep her company. She seemed more frustrated than Hilary was, that Liam hadn't proposed last night. They had the television on, to bad reality TV, but neither of them were paying any attention to it; it just provided background noise. "You know I'm old fashioned."

  "Yeah, but you don't have to be. Women can totally propose to men now. Equality of the sexes and all that jazz."

  "Says the woman who's waiting for her men to talk to her about marriage so that she can tell them she doesn't want to."

  Jessica made a face. "That's just to teach them a lesson about leaving me out of major decisions."

  "I'm sure that not talking to them about not talking to you will totally show them," Hilary said dryly. Jessica threw a pillow at her, making her laugh.

  Sighing dramatically, Jessica slumped back against the couch. "Seriously, I've been researching online and we can basically just draw up a legal contract that will give us all the rights and things that married people have, except that it can be between the three of us. It'll basically be the same as being married, to both of them instead of just one of them. But does anyone ask me? Noooo, they're too busy trying to work out between themselves which one is going to legally tie himself to me, and they think they're being so super secretive and successful about not letting me know."

  "You could always just tell them that you're in the loop, and you do not approve."

  "It's definitely getting to that point," Jessica said with a grimace. "I mean, it's not like they talk about it all that much, but sometimes I walk into the room and they suddenly stop talking. I never know if it's because they're planning something deliciously dirty, or if they're talking over the marriage thing again. I end up feeling all warm and fuzzy because I know that they're trying to take care of me, and at the same time I'm pissed because they're leaving me out."

  Patting her hand sympathetically, Hilary reflected that she was glad she was a one man kind of woman. She wouldn't take on Jessica's issues for the world. It was a long, hard road and it never seemed to get easier. Even though people were becoming more open-minded about relationships and sexuality, there were still a lot of people who thought that other's private lives were there business. Jessica had lost a few friends over it already. She knew that Jess worried about what having two daddies would mean for their kids. On the other hand, she also seemed absolutely determined that other people's judgments weren't going to stop her from being happy in life.

  Hilary really admired that. She was also glad that it wasn't something she would ever have to struggle with. In that way, Jessica was far braver than anyone else she'd ever known.

  "Listen to us," Hilary said with a little smile, hoping to cheer Jessica's spirits back up from where she'd inadvertently dropped them. "Talking about marriage and stuff like we're real adults."

  That got a little giggle. "I know, right? It feels almost surreal, doesn't it?" Then Jessica's face turned more serious again. "Do you think we're moving too fast? I sometimes wonder... I mean, look at Angel. She's refusing to live with Adam until they've been together for a year."

  "Well Adam's a bit different," said Hilary. She liked Adam, she really did, but the man was much more intimidating than Liam or Chris. Justin came kind of close, but even then, he seemed more relaxed about a lot of things than Adam did. Especially with Chris' behavior rubbing off on him the way it had been. "I don't think I'd want to move in with him very quickly either. I feel like he'd easily run right over me."

  "Angel manages to stand toe to toe with him."

  "Angel likes getting spanked." For a moment Hilary wondered if she should mention the current punishment Angel was getting, but then she decided not to. Since Angel hadn't mentioned it to anyone, as far as Hilary knew, she must be pretty embarrassed by it. Hilary wasn't going to embarrass her further by talking about it with other people. "But yeah, I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel like Liam and I have moved really fast, but it also feels right, you know? I'm comfortable with him. He makes me happy. Plus, we've had at least one really big fight."

  Right after they'd moved in together, in fact, while they were still adjusting to living together. Now Hilary couldn't even remember exactly what started it; she just remem
bered that she'd been upset because she'd felt that he wasn't respecting her space and he'd been upset because he thought she was overreacting. They'd worked through it. That kind of thing was important to Hilary, especially with a guy like Liam. Knowing that she could hold her own in a fight, seeing how they reacted as a couple to a fight, and being able to actually resolve it instead of just pushing it to the side, were important things to know. Angel and Adam bickered all the time, but Hilary and Liam didn't, so it had been reassuring to know that a fight wasn't going to change things between them.

  "And you get to fight without a mediator," Jessica said, laughing. "Not that I'm complaining. I'd much rather have someone always mediating rather than two being against one."

  "Especially when you'd probably be the one," Hilary teased.

  "Right?! Stupid boys."

  Both of them giggled, and Jessica curved around to snuggle in with Hilary. Girl time cuddling was the best, and Hilary was happy to offer her shoulder, because she knew that the marriage stuff was really bothering Jessica. She'd hinted to Chris that they should include Jessica in those discussions, but he'd evaded really talking about it. Which, she understood, because it really wasn't her business, but she just hoped that they all worked it out soon. Both he and Justin seemed unusually tense lately, and it was effecting Jessica, whether they realized it or not.

  At least she didn't have to worry about stuff like that with Liam. Nope, at the moment her biggest problem was reading too much into the way he was acting, although at least it was in a positive way. She was still a little disappointed that she'd been so wrong about him proposing, but misinterpreting what seemed like extra affectionate behavior was a lot better than if he wasn't affectionate at all.

  Chapter 4

  Walking into Stronghold with his naughty nurse, Liam felt like he was on cloud nine. It had been a great week. Ever since he'd bought the ring, he'd been feeling both buoyant and nervous. Everything seemed rosy. The dojo was doing great, his friends were doing great, and he and Hilary were doing great. Next week they'd be going to her parents' for dinner and he was going to ask her Dad for his blessing to propose to Hilary. Although he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to arrange time alone with her Dad to ask him, but he'd find a way.