Beastly Lights

by Theresa Jane

  I shook my head and smiled before I leaned closer and pressed my lips against his. It took him seconds to reply, and as the car rolled to a stop, I was crushed against his chest and nearly sprawled across his lap.

  I barely had the chance to catch my breath as fire burned through my body. I wrapped my arms around him to hold him closer.

  I loved the way he could make the world disappear. I especially loved the way that he made me feel like I was the only person that would ever matter. I vaguely heard someone clear their throat in the back of my mind, but I was too enthralled by the kiss to react.

  When I thought my lungs might explode, I felt Liam draw back. His eyes were closed and his hands were firmly on my waist, keeping me steady, but my attention was on his smile. It made his tiredness disappear, and it made my heart beat an irregularly jubilant pace.

  “Hey baby,” he murmured, pressing a kiss against my forehead before pushing back a loose lock of my hair. I hummed a reply and leaned in closer when I heard someone clear their throat again.

  “Mr. Henderson, we have arrived,” Martin announced, and I felt my eyes go wide before my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. I had completely forgotten they were there. In fact, I had forgotten we were in a car at all. Seeing Liam’s smirk, I buried my head in his neck and groaned. How did he do this to me?

  “You know Freya, we could go straight home and continue what you started…in private,” he murmured suggestively, and it only made my cheeks flush a deeper shade of red.

  “Liam,” I grumbled, my voice muffled against his neck.

  “I mean, it was your idea to come here. I wanted to go home and catch up on lost time. We can see these two and their terrors anytime.”

  “I promised them,” I answered uncertainly. I secretly liked where his mind was heading. It had been a long six months or more without being in his arms.

  “I promised Ryan I would exfoliate. Whatever that hell that means. Promises were made to be broken.”

  “Really?” I challenged, leaning back and raising my eyebrows at him. Almost instantly, I saw his face fall. I could almost see his mind ticking over as he tried to backtrack. “So, you’re saying your word means nothing?”

  “Shit,” he hissed, grabbing for me as I slid off his lap and reached for my door. “Freya, that’s not what I meant.”

  “That’s what it sounded like,” I shrugged, trying to hide my smile by keeping my back turned.

  “No, you just had me flustered. I…I wouldn’t break my promise to you. I was just-”

  “Trying to get in my pants?”

  ’No, well, it was on my mind but…God, I’ve messed up already, and we’ve only been back in New York for an hour.” He had a slightly hysterical edge to his voice, and it was getting harder to hold my laughter in.

  “The Liam I left never kept promises.”

  “I’m sorry. Please, I’ll do whatever you want,” he pleaded, tugging lightly at my hand he was holding in both of his. "I’ll never back out of a promise. I’ll…I’ll even do that thing Ryan wanted. I don’t know what it is-”

  “Liam,” I giggled, taking pity on the poor soul and turning back to see his panicked expression. “I was messing with you.”

  “You-you what?”

  “Ryan will be happy to hear you are taking his advice on board,” I smirked, pressing a kiss to his cheek and pulling back to see his dumbfounded look replaced with a playful glare.

  “You’re evil,” he accused, and then he pulled me close and stole a real kiss. “You’re in so much trouble when I finally get you alone.” I felt my body flush again when there was a tap on the tinted window behind Liam. I started at the intrusion and saw a squinting Jarred trying to see inside with an eager Davis on his hip. When we didn’t respond, Davis started slamming his little hand against the glass, causing Liam to groan.

  “Showtime, rock star,” I smirked, shoving him toward the door. I heard him mutter something obscene under his breath but I chose to ignore it, eager to see my friends again.

  “Freya!” Davis squealed, almost leaping from his father’s arms and into my own.

  “You’ve grown so much,” I cooed, straightening his glasses as we walked up the steps to the house. Liam lagged behind with his hands stuffed in his pockets, still mumbling under his breath.

  “I missed you so, so much Freya,” he yelled, gripping my neck tightly and almost crushing me in his hold. “You are never allowed to leave ever, ever again,” he scolded, pointing his finger at my nose with a cute, menacing look on his face.

  “I promise, I will never leave again,” I smiled, giving him a kiss on the nose as Jarred held the door open for us.

  “Hurry up, wonder boy,” Jarred said as Liam shuffled in after us.

  “LeeLee,” came a cute voice, followed by the waddle of a toddler as Charlie stormed over to Liam and latched onto his jeans. “Up, LeeLee,” she demanded and I waited for Liam to shoo her away.

  “Hey munchkin,” Liam replied, and I was shocked by the affection in his tone. The last I remembered, he thought children were the devil’s spawn and broke out into a cold sweat whenever he was left alone with them.

  I was shocked to see him bend down and pick up the bubbly toddler, bouncing her on his hip.

  “If his fans saw this side of him, they would lose their collective minds,” Lucy whispered as she waddled over to me.

  “I-I…when…what?” I stuttered, unable to process the sight in front of me. One thing was for sure, seeing him tickle Charlie had my heart doing backflips. Who was this man?

  “He has changed a lot.”

  “Slug-boy,” Liam nodded at Jarred. I didn’t miss the smile on Jarred's face as he shook his head.

  “I-I don’t understand,” I frowned, setting Davis down. He instantly took my hand and entwined our fingers, his eyes watching me closely behind his frames.

  “He’s less dragon now,” Davis explained.

  “Davis, what have we talked about?” Lucy scolded, looking down at her son.

  “No calling Liam a dragon," he droned, heaving a dramatic sigh as he looked over at Liam. He was now on the floor with a giggling Charlie singing her a quiet song. If she weren't under the age of two, I would have been jealous of all the attention he was giving her.

  “And?” Lucy prompted, pulling me back into the conversation.

  “And a poo poo head.”

  “Good boy,” Lucy smiled before she turned and waddled back over to the couch.

  “He’s still a meanie pants,” he muttered, glaring at Liam as I tried to stifle my laughter.

  “You’ve gotten so big,” I said, walking over to sit beside Lucy. As soon as I was seated, Davis jumped on my lap, and I instinctively wound my arms around him.

  “If I get any bigger, they’ll need a crane to lift me to the hospital,” she huffed, rubbing circles on her swollen stomach. I didn’t envy her, although I couldn’t deny that I was jealous of what she would have at the end. I wasn’t sure I wanted children yet. In fact, before Liam, I hadn’t really thought about it.

  “My baby brother or sister likes to kick really hard,” Davis beamed proudly. “Daddy says they’re going to be a soccer superstar.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep, and I’m going to help Mommy and Daddy look after them. Just like I help with Charlie.”

  “And you do a wonderful job, baby boy,” Lucy smiled tiredly, reaching over and squeezing Davis’s leg affectionately.

  “I’m not a baby,” he frowned, pushing her hand away. “I’m a big boy, and I can take care of myself and Charlie.”

  “Of course you can,” I agreed, hugging him closely to my chest. Davis was just about to complain when we heard Charlie yelling loudly at a bewildered Liam.

  “LeeLee play! LeeLee play!” she kept shouting at a wide-eyed Liam. “LeeLee play!”

  “I think she wants you to play something, superstar,” Jarred smirked, ruffling his daughter’s hair as she continued to sc
ream at Liam. “I hope you brought your guitar.”

  “It’s in the car,” Liam answered in a daze as Charlie tugged on his jeans.

  “Better hurry up then. Our Charlie takes after Lucy. Has a temper that puts Hades to shame.”

  “I-I’ll be right back,” he stuttered, getting to his feet and stumbling toward the door.

  “LeeLee up. LeeLee up!” Charlie shouted. Liam sent me a worried look as Charlie crawled over to him and wrapped herself around his leg.

  “Well?” I said. “Take her with you,” I chuckled, earning me a glare and a murmured response. I didn’t catch all of it, but I got the general gist, and most of it was about how we could be home right now.

  “She has him wrapped around her little finger,” Jarred chuckled, sitting on the arm of the chair I was seated on.

  “It’s so surreal seeing him act that way,” I mused, and Jarred nodded in reply.

  We all sat in silence as we waited for Liam to return until we heard a loud snore and found that Lucy had fallen asleep. Jarred moved to her side and wrapped her in a blanket, caressing her stomach as he tucked her in. The smile on his face said it all.

  “Lee play!” Charlie clapped as the two returned. Liam held his guitar in one hand and Charlie in the other. He looked none too pleased about the situation, but he hadn’t dumped her on the floor yet, so that was a positive.

  “I’ll play, Charlie,” he sighed, setting her down on her blanket and sitting across from her. His guitar was laid casually across his lap.

  As soon as he played the first note, Charlie squealed in delight. She crawled across to Liam and bounced in front of him in tune with the nursery rhyme he was playing for her. However, that wasn’t close enough for her. Instead, she weaseled her way in between Liam and his guitar. She sat in his lap as he continued to play around her. He seemed unfazed by her move, and it had me wondering how many times he had done this before.

  “He’s been coming over quite a bit,” Jarred spoke as if he had read my thoughts. “He likes to talk to her about you.”

  “I’m sure she was a very attentive listener,” I smiled, my eyes welling with tears at the sight in front of me.

  “Mostly, he would play her the song he wrote for you. It’s her favorite.”

  “Mine too,” I whispered, swiping at a stray tear as it fell. When he started playing my song, I couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. Silently they fell, splashing against my cheeks as I watched my beautiful rock star play.

  When his eyes met mine, he sent me a warm smile before it turned to concern when he saw my tears. I shook my head, telling him not to worry but as soon as he played the last note, he set his guitar aside and was on his feet crossing the room for me. Jarred took Davis from my hold and seconds later Liam’s arms were wrapped tightly around me, pressing me firmly into his chest.

  He whispered soothing words against the shell of my ear as my tears continued to fall and I clung to him like I would slip away if I let go.

  “I love you,” I whispered into his chest. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too, baby,” he murmured, his hand running circles against my back as my final tears started to dry.

  When my body stopped trembling, he pulled back and looked down at me or more accurately, he looked down at my lips. Slowly, he inclined his head until his lips hovered just above mine. Just as I thought he was going to kiss me, there was a loud crash from the other side of the room, and we both sprung back, looking over in the direction of the noise.

  I almost laughed when I saw what had happened.

  “Davis,” Jarred scolded as a startled Lucy pushed up from the couch. We were all looking at a grinning Davis, who was surrounded by the debris of what once had been Liam’s guitar.

  “Davis, why did you do that?” Jarred demanded, but all Davis did was hold the neck of the guitar and drag it over to where Liam and I were standing. He reached up and handed it to a bewildered Liam, who accepted it without a word.

  “Now we’re even,” Davis announced, turning his back on us and strolling from the room. We all just watched him with open-mouthed shock.

  “Arlie smash.” We all looked back at Charlie to see she had climbed on one of the couches and pushed over a vase that was sitting on the table beside it. It shattered among the debris of Liam’s guitar as Charlie squealed in delight.

  “What have you raised?” Liam said in disbelief as Jarred stepped among the pieces of the guitar and grabbed Charlie from the couch. Without warning, a giggle burst from my chest and after that, I couldn’t stop the stitches in my side. After several seconds of my laughter, the others joined in until we had all dissolved into fits of laughter. Everyone but Liam, who was still looking at his ruined guitar in disbelief.

  “That was my favorite,” he muttered before he looked over at me with a lost look.

  “Don’t worry, superstar,” I gasped, trying to better compose myself. “I’ll buy you a new one,” I smiled, wrapping a hand around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss.

  “That’s what you get for breaking his guitar,” Lucy shrugged, clutching her stomach as she continued to laugh. “My Davis knows how to hold a grudge.”

  “Wonder who he gets that from,” Jarred muttered as he walked past with a broom, Charlie still in his arms.

  * * *

  We stayed for just over an hour, but when Liam saw that I was drifting off in my chair, he announced that it was time for us to leave. That, and Davis had returned with a game for us all to play, and he was destroying Liam. Monopoly Junior was not Liam’s game.

  “Please come and visit us again soon,” Lucy said, wrapping me in an awkward hug.

  “Maybe the next time I see you, there will be a new addition to your family.” I winked, taking Liam’s offered hand and moving to his side.

  “Don’t go, Freya,” Davis cried, launching himself in my arms and wrapping his own tightly around my neck. “I missed you so much.”

  “I missed you too, big guy,” I smiled as Liam grumbled something from beside me. I could have sworn I heard the word ‘murderer.’

  “Alright mini destroyer, let my girlfriend go,” Liam complained, trying to pry Davis’s arms from around my neck.

  “I still don’t like you,” Davis glared, somehow tightening his hold on me. “You’re a-”

  “Davis,” Lucy warned.

  “Mom,” he whined before Jarred came up to us and held his sides.

  “Come on big guy, how about we go to the comic book store?” he suggested, and suddenly, Davis let me go and was bouncing in his father’s hold excitedly.

  “Bye, Freya,” he shouted, tugging his father back in the house to get his wallet.

  “I see how it is,” I laughed. Liam was instantly by my side with his arm wrapped tightly around my waist, as if he was afraid Davis might just change his mind and steal me from him again.

  “We’re glad you decided to come back,” Lucy smiled.

  “I’m glad I’m back, too.”

  “Can we go now?” Liam whined, his hand slipping into the back pocket of my jeans.

  “I guess we’re leaving.” I gave Lucy one last hug before Liam and I climbed back into the car, and we were on our way.

  * * *

  “I’m exhausted,” I sighed, leaning into Liam as we crawled through New York traffic.

  “It wasn’t my idea to stop," Liam answered, running his hands through my hair until I was so relaxed I didn’t even realize my eyes were closed.

  “You were very cute with Charlie,” I mused, snuggling closer into his chest.

  “She grew on me.”

  “I can see that.”

  “The verdict is still out on the other monster,” he grumbled.

  “Davis is a sweetheart,” I cooed, stifling my yawn.

  “He’s a criminal in training. He broke my guitar.”

  “You broke his first,” I argued, not able to hide the smile on my face. He didn’t answer after
that, and we both fell into a comfortable silence as the car continued to roll on.

  * * *

  “Freya, we’re here,” I heard Liam whisper, and slowly I pried my sleep-deprived eyes open, but the sight I found made me think I was still dreaming.

  “This is your house?”

  “Well," he started nervously. “I was hoping it would be our house.” However, I was too busy trying to take in the mansion that was just outside the car window.

  It was magnificent. It had shingled roofs and a stone-walled exterior. Vines covered a lot of the stone, and beautiful lush green trees cast the house in the shade. The garden surrounded the house in a sea of green giving the house a more homely feel.

  “It’s beautiful,” I murmured, trying to remind myself that it wasn’t all just a dream. Even when we had lived back in L.A., we had never lived in anything close to this.

  “Do you want to have a look inside?” Liam asked, pressing a gentle kiss behind my ear. I think I nodded before I climbed out of the door Martin now held open for me. I bounced eagerly on the balls of my feet, waiting for Liam to follow me out and when he joined me, I grabbed his hand in mine.

  “Let’s go,” I ordered, filled with anticipation for what I might find inside. My imagination was running wild, and I needed to see before it consumed me.

  “All right,” Liam chuckled, taking out a set of keys as I dragged him in the direction I hoped the front door would be. There were two glass doors with pale green wooden frames giving me a small glimpse of what I might see inside. There were three stone steps leading up to the door. Garden pots were exploding with pink and purple flowers on each one. Vines were climbing the stone walls on either side.

  Running adjacent to the main door were several more doors, and I couldn’t wait to open them all up just to see where they might lead.

  As soon as the door was open, Liam stepped aside so I could go in first, and I wasn’t disappointed.

  The entryway wasn’t grand, but it immediately gave you the sensation of coming home. It wasn’t floor-to-ceiling marble but instead warm hardwood floors.

  Liam’s shoes were lined up against the wall perfectly, and I didn’t miss some of the shoes I had left behind there also. Just like Liam’s apartment, the walls were bare, but there was plenty of time for me to fill them if I stayed.