Beautifully Revealed

by Bethany Bazile

  Chapter 18

  Isabella

  It’s been a week since I came home and I’ve holed myself up in our room. Liam’s been patiently waiting for me to pull myself out of this slump, but I don’t know how. When I’m not mourning the loss of the baby, I’m thinking about what I did to Damon. I never realized that self-defense carried such a heavy burden. The dreams are worse than my conscious thoughts. At least my thoughts are filled with sorrow and guilt, but the dreams are terror filled. I have to constantly relive that night with Damon only now I know about the baby, and I always begged him not to hurt it. I wake up from those dreams at the same point every time. The moment Damon’s fist hits my torso, I wake startled. Liam’s beyond worried and encourages me to call Cayden daily.

  I watch him walk back into the bedroom from the bathroom. His chest is bare and his pajamas pants lay perfectly on his hips. How can he still look so normal when everything seems so chaotic in my mind? He pulls the drapes open on the floor to ceiling windows facing the bed, and I pull the covers over my head to block out the blinding sunlight. I clutch onto the sheets when I feel him tugging on it.

  “Come on, Ella, you need to get out of bed.”

  “Why?” I mumble.

  “You’ve been in bed for a week, you hardly eat, and I’m not even sure you would shower if Lillian didn’t force you to.”

  “Leave me alone,” I groan as the sheets are ripped from my hands and I cover my eyes with my arm. Liam pulls me towards him and sweeps me into his arms. He walks through the room and into the shower, fully clothed. I struggle to get out of his arms, but it’s too late. Cold water sprays all over us and I yelp from the shocking change in temperature. He finally lets my feet slide to the floor and I push against his chest angrily.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” My camisole top and panties are clinging to my skin and the water pouring down my body is so cold my nipples are like little pebbles of ice.

  He pushes me back against the wall and traps me there with his arms. He’s scowling at me like I’m the one who pulled him out of bed and poured cold water on his head. “I gave you time to mourn, time to close off the world and feel what you need to feel, but I won’t let you shut me out forever. You’re coming with me to work today.”

  “No.” I shake my head at him, and his eyes tell me that he’ll get his way. Emotions rush to the surface and glisten in my eyes.

  “I don’t know how to do it anymore.” My voice is shaky and unsteady. “I don’t know how to go back to pretending everything is okay when I feel so lost.”

  His hands cup my face and he gently kisses my lips. “You don’t need to pretend, that’s not what I want. I don’t want you to give up. This is not like ten years ago when you walked out into the world alone. You have me Ella, you have anything you need or want from me. Don’t shut me out. Let me help you see that you can be happy. You deserve to be happy.”

  A tear rolls down my face and I quickly wipe it away with the back of my hand. “I’m being stupid. I don’t have the right to feel so depressed over a baby I didn’t want.”

  He pulls me against his body and I lay my head on his chest. “You’re not being stupid, but you need to stop thinking you deserved to lose our baby because you didn’t want one. From what I’ve seen in the last week I think you wanted that baby more than you realized. You just won’t let yourself accept that you would’ve been a fantastic mother.”

  I can never understand how he so easily gets into my head. From the very beginning he’s been figuring things out about me that I don’t see. I guess it’s true what they say about love. When someone really loves you, they know you better than you know yourself.

  Liam reaches over and the water that’s streaming over us turns warm. He pulls my drenched clothes off my body, leaving them in a wet puddle on the shower floor. His rough hands gently massage shower gel onto my skin. The brush of his fingers against my nipples causes shockwaves of desire to spread through my body.

  My eyelids are heavy and I lean against the shower wall as his hands move up my thigh and brush against my aching middle. He pulls me under the water and I wrap my arm around his neck, feeling his arousal against my stomach.

  “Make love to me,” I plead. I want to feel something other than this emptiness. I want to feel his love coursing through my body as he takes me, looking into my soul with those vibrant eyes.

  His responding groan makes me even more excited and I rub my body against his. His hands run down my sides and stop at my hips. He kisses my neck gently then takes a step back, robbing me of his warm body. “We can’t Ella, the doctor said two weeks.”

  My brows furrow and I try to take a step closer but his grip on my hip keeps me grounded in my spot. “That’s just an estimate, I’m fine Liam. Please.” I plead, my hands reaching out and caressing his biceps.

  “I’ll give you anything you want unless I think it may hurt you. So get dressed and let’s go to work.” I watch him walk out the shower, the pajama pants clinging to his ass like a second skin. I slump against the wall and turn the water to cool in an attempt to cool down the raging fire he left burning inside me.

  Liam

  I pull my wet pants off and throw them into the laundry basket. One look down at my treacherous erection has me growling in frustration. It had been really close for a minute in that shower. Ella threw that sexy look my way, combined with the feel of her wet skin under my fingers had me so worked up I was seconds away from driving her down onto my throbbing cock. My intent was to pull her out of that bed and bring her back to the living. I should have realized that me and her naked in a shower was going to result in a lot of sexual tension. She came back to the living in full force and was begging for something I was more than ready to give her, but I’m not willing to hurt her after all she’s been through.

  “Are you serious?” Ella’s voice interrupts my thoughts and that’s when I realize I had begun to stoke myself to relieve the straining flesh. She’s eyeing me angrily and I know I should stop, but I’m so close to coming my body won’t let me halt the impending release. She drops her towel and my balls begin to tingle. The sight of her body is quickly going to bring me over and just as I feel myself letting go, she drops down in front of me and takes me deep into her mouth. My body jerks and convulses as my hot seed spills into her mouth. She licks, sucks, and swallows everything she can get before getting up and kissing me on my cheek.

  “”I’ve missed that flavor in my mouth.” She walks away leaving me shaken and pleased with the change of her mood.

  ********

  She rides to work with me, constantly smirking at me in her wickedly arousing way, and licking her red lips enticingly. Our whole routine falls effortlessly into place and I wonder if she’s putting on a show for me. I watch her on the surveillance camera throughout the day and she seems to have fallen back into step easily. Too easily.

  By lunchtime I’m glad when I see her taking the elevator to my floor. She walks in and struts right over to me and drops into my lap. “Thank you,” she says before kissing me with an intensity that has me wishing I could bend her over my desk and bury myself in that hot, wet tunnel between her legs, and love her pain away.

  “What are you thanking me for?” I decide it would be wiser to pull away from her kiss before we get carried away.

  “It does feel better to get back to work. I can actually see that my life hasn’t exploded into pieces, it’s still here waiting for me to get back to it.”

  “I’m glad to see you being yourself again.” I push her hair behind her ear and stroke the silky skin of her face. She leans in to kiss me and I back off, shaking my head at her. She gets up and straightens out her clothes.

  “I feel like myself again. I just need to figure out how to get you to fuck me again then I’ll really be back.” She kisses the tip of my nose before turning and swaying out of my office. For the second time today I’m hard with no relief in sight.

  That woman is definitely unpredictable. The broken w
oman I pulled out of bed this morning has enough strength to function again. Losing that baby was almost as hard on me as it was on Ella. When the doctor told me she lost the baby I was shell shocked. They assumed we knew since she was already two months along, but he pulled the rug up from under me. I immediately thought of how I pushed her away and let her leave when I should’ve been there to take care of her and our baby. All the things I could’ve done differently weighed so heavily on me, I wanted to crawl under the sheets with Ella and say fuck the world. I know I needed to be strong for Ella, so I had to let go of the guilt, and hope fate had a better twist to our story in the end.

  Going to see her mother was a reaction to the anger I felt. I wanted to blame someone, and nobody was more responsible than the woman who was supposed to protect her, but spent her life destroying her. Elaina Moss was like an ice sculpture, chiseled into beautiful perfection but cold inside and out. She barely even flinched when I told her about the baby. She was too busy trying to scheme her way out of her predicament. Maybe with Damon gone she thought she would be able to coerce me into taking his place, but her proposition was laughable and sickening at the same time. I walked out once I realized there was no breaking through her wall. I’m sure what was behind that wall was just as bad as what was on the surface.

  I have to let go of the past just as much as Ella does. In five months since meeting Ella, I’ve found love; I’ve lost a mother and a baby. Though these things tore me down, it’s the journey I took to get back up that changed me. I’ve never been more satisfied with my life. The hardest lessons are usually the one’s we learn the most from and push us to be better people. I just hope I’ve changed enough to be the person Ella needs at her side, the person who deserves the love of such an amazing woman.

  Isabella

  I feel on edge when I walk into Cayden’s office three days later. The past few days haven’t been as I expected. Liam was right, dragging me out of bed that day made me realize my life didn’t end with Damon and that whole tragedy. Now when I step out into the daylight it feels different, but not in a bad way. Without the fear that Damon or Elaina were lurking in the corner waiting for me, I feel free. I can finally move on and stop running.

  “How do you feel?” Cayden asks as he settles down next to me on the couch.

  “I’m tired of everybody asking me that.” Lately, people I didn’t even know have stopped me in the hallways at work to ask me how I feel. I’ve been contemplating saying that I feel like shit, but that makes people uncomfortable. They don’t really want to know the truth so “I’m fine thank you” is the phrase I say a hundred times a day. “I honestly don’t feel too bad. I’ve been talking to Liam about the dreams and that really helps me sleep. Sharing my pain with others is what I think you called it.”

  “Pain can’t possibly increase if you hand pieces of it out to someone else. How’s that weight you carry around feel now?”

  “Not so overbearing.”

  “I’m sorry about the baby.”

  I shrug my shoulder but the sharp pain at the mention of that loss still resounds in my heart.

  “A couple weeks ago, you mentioned something about fate to me. If you believe in fate, you can’t be angry with yourself for the road it took you down.”

  “Fate repaid me for taking Damon’s life with the loss of my baby.”

  “Isabella, if you think clearly you’ll realize that Damon had already harmed your baby before you hurt him. The fact that one of you walked out that room alive is a blessing that I’m thankful for.” Cayden always has a way of opening up an ugly box and finding a beautiful diamond in it. He’s the angel who was sent to save my soul, but I finally realize my soul didn’t need saving, it just needed to heal.

  ********

  Two days later, Liam is still being stubborn about the sex situation. We ate dinner, took separate showers, and now he wants to hold me until we fall asleep. As much as I love to fall asleep in Liam’s arms, it will be so much better once I come. He usually sleeps in the nude, but tonight he walks into the room wearing boxer brief that showcase everything so well that I’m not sure if he’s trying to tease me because it’s just as enticing watching him with those on.

  Specks of water from his shower glisten off his six-pack abs, and I wonder how much seduction it will take for him to at least let me lick that trail that goes into his briefs. He notices how I’ve displayed my naked body over the sheets and shakes his head disapprovingly. Soon as he gets into bed my hands are rubbing his nipples. His ab muscles tighten when my hands travel over them then cup his growing erection through his briefs. He hisses before covering my hand with his.

  “Why are you doing this to me? I’m trying to take care of you.”

  “You’re being overprotective,” I answer as I lean over and flick his nipple with my tongue while I massage the hardening bulge in my hand.

  “Wait,” he pulls my hand off and shifts until he’s kneeling between my spread knees. Excitement races through me when I imagine him slipping into me, but he leans down and kisses my thigh and I know what he’s up to. “How many times do I have to make you come until you fall asleep?”

  “At least twice,” I smile at him.

  He dips down and the first flick of his tongue over my clit causes every muscle in my body to tense up. His fingers spread me open as his tongue explores my moist folds in a lazy, circular motion. When moisture begins to seep down between my ass he licks it all up then envelops my throbbing clit with his tongue. My body begins to quake and I twist my nipples to increase the pleasure. The moment he sucks on the nub I erupt with a scream, grinding myself into his face. He places gentle kisses on my thigh as I come down, my fingers still pinching my nipples. I look down at him and he smirks before diving back in, his furious tongue movements causing my body to shudder.

  “Wait,” I say.

  He jerks back, startled by my request. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No, but you shouldn’t eat alone. I’ll let you be nine if you let me be six.”

  He smiles at me while pulling his boxer briefs off. “What’s the difference?”

  “Six gets to top nine.”

  “So you want to top me?” He crawls over me until his lips are against my ear, “I may let you get on top, but I’m always in control.” He lies down next to me and pulls me over him, kissing me until I feel dazed. It takes a moment for me to shift around until my ass is in his face and his straining cock is pointing towards me. His hands spread my butt cheeks before his hot tongue dives back in making all types of wonderful waves. I hold him at the base, still amazed at how small my hands seem when wrapped around his thick shaft. I suck the tip into my mouth and he groans against me, the vibration making me tremble with pleasure.

  We continue to give and take pleasure from each other alternately. I begin to rock my hips, riding his tongue, and chasing my release. My hand strokes him faster and I thrust him deep into my throat. His cock twitches and I know he’s going to come with me. Before I have time to enjoy the first taste of him against my tongue, he inserts a finger into me and I return the favor by coming in his mouth. Warm liquid rushes out and he licks it all up as I lick his cum from the head of his cock. The orgasm rocks me so hard I collapse on top of him, gasping for breath against his groin.

  Liam shifts me off him and pulls me into his arms. I gaze into his familiar green eyes and wonder how we’ve come so far in five months? I don’t know what our future holds, but if the last five months are a taste of what’s in store, I’m sure we’ll never get bored.

  Epilogue

  6 months later

  Lillian walks in the room wearing the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. It’s contagious because before I know it, my face is stretched out into a similar expression. She walks up behind me, leans over my chair, and hugs me from behind. I gaze at her in the mirror in front of us, amazed at the happiness love brings. Last month Liam and I joined her and Rich for their impromptu wedding in Vegas, and now…

  “I can’t believe I
’m getting married today,” I say to Lillian’s reflection.

  “Believe it, because no one deserves a happily ever after more than you. You’re the strongest, most complicated, sometimes closed off, but loving woman I know.”

  “Thank you-I think.”

  “It’s a compliment, Isabella. When everyone can see you for who you are and love all the facets of your personality, it’s a true blessing. Now let’s get that beautiful dress on so you can go marry that hunk of a man before the vultures descend and try to steal him away.”

  I laugh at her joke but I know there’s a huge crowd forming outside because the tabloids leaked the location of our very small, very private wedding. After the Damon incident the press was relentless, constantly at my back hoping for any statement on what happened.

  It was hard.

  It’s still hard.

  Cayden’s been helping me get through what I did. As much as I prayed for Damon’s death, actually being the one responsible for it affected me more than I thought it would. One would think I would be relieved that I had my retribution, but his blood on my hands only made me feel doubly damaged by him. I had to learn to live with what he did to me and what I did to him. It’s a double-edged sword is how I look at it. But that’s my past, and today is the beginning of my future.

  Three months ago, Cayden went behind my back and told Liam his no sex suggestions. At first Liam thought he was trying to ruin our relationship but after talking to several other therapists he decided he needed to do whatever it took to help me heal. This has been the most educational yet sexually frustrating three months of my life. I learned so much about myself and the reasons for my destructive behavior. Liam and I have grown as a couple, sure I miss the sex as much as a drug addict going through withdrawal, but I like where we are now. I’m more nervous about having sex with Liam tonight than I was that first night we met. I wonder if my outlook on sex has changed. Will I still be able to satisfy him? What will it feel like to have him claim me again?