Always and Forever

A/N: This story is the direct sequel to Always, Then and Now. If you haven't read that book yet, go there first, and then come back here! Thank you! Hope you enjoy!

HANNAH

“Liam!” I cried out, back arching, as my orgasm shook through me. My eyes were closed tight against the pleasure, my fingers digging into his shoulders, and a moment later, Liam came too, with a loud groan. He captured my lips in a searing kiss as our bodies shuddered with aftershocks. I slid my hands to the back of his neck and tightened my legs around him, holding him against me, inside me, as I wholeheartedly returned his kiss.

Finally, he pulled away and rested his forehead against mine, both of us smiling as we struggled to catch our breath. “I love it when you wake up excited to see me,” I said with a breathless little laugh, then groaned when he pulled out of me and took care of the condom before gathering me against him again.

“Mm, I’m always excited to see you,” he murmured against my throat as he licked and sucked at the pulse point there.

I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, biting my lip and sighing in pleasure at the feel of his mouth on me. Every morning had been like this since we’d finally gotten together a handful of days ago, Liam waking me up with his talented mouth and hands and body. A girl could get used to this. He was insatiable, and I found that I was too. Eight years had been a long time to go without sex, so I felt like Liam was helping me make up for lost time. I wasn’t complaining.

“You know we can’t spend all day in bed though,” I told him, reluctantly trying to pull away, but he wasn’t having it.

“I disagree.” He nipped at my throat, his hand coming up to cup my breast, fingers pinching my nipple and drawing a moan from my lips. Insatiable, like I said. “As far as I’m concerned, I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life with you in this bed.”

I let out a husky laugh and slid my hand up over his hard chest to the side of his neck, urging his mouth up to my own. I kissed him deeply, biting his lower lip lightly and then sliding my tongue along his. “Mm, and what about responsibilities, like work? What about Emily?” I asked against his mouth.

He groaned against my lips as he hungrily returned my kiss. “Work can suck it. I’ve got more than enough money to last us for the rest of our lives,” he said against my lips, and I giggled against his. “Are you sure Emily’s not old enough to look after herself?”

My giggle turned into a full-blown laugh, and I pulled away again to let it out. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure she still needs some help with a few things.”

“Dammit.” He groaned, pressing his forehead to mine again, no longer trying to draw me back into more lovemaking but also not willing to let me go either.

At that moment, a text message chimed on my phone, and I sighed. Liam looked at me curiously. “That’ll be Jai, wondering where the hell I’ve been for the better part of the week.”

“You still haven’t told him about everything?” Liam asked, his eyebrows drawing together, looking both concerned and a little hurt.

I hated seeing that look on his face. Hated putting it there even more. I shook my head. “Not yet. I kind of wanted to live in our own little bubble for a bit before letting everyone else in, in case...”

“In case everything falls apart,” he finished, frowning at me. He cupped my face in his hand and looked at me tenderly, sliding his thumb across my cheek. “I promise I’m not going anywhere, Sunshine. And I’m sorry for putting you through all that, for giving you even one doubt about us. I don’t blame you for being unsure sometimes. I ripped the rug out from underneath you, so of course you’re worried it’ll happen again. All I can do is show you how much I love you, and hopefully, one day, you’ll fully trust me.”

I smiled at him, tears in my eyes, grateful for his patience, though I felt guilty for needing it in the first place. I loved him for it. “Thank you. I do trust you, Liam. It’s just that I’ve also always been taught to expect that other shoe to fall.”

“I promise, there’s no other shoe. Just us. I love you, Hannah.” He gazed into my eyes so that I could see the truth there.

“I love you too.” It was all I could say, all choked up with emotion.

He leaned in and kissed me one more time, then reluctantly peeled himself away from me. “Alright, you were right; responsibilities can’t be ignored. I’ll deal with work, and you call Jai back. Let him into the bubble and assure him it won’t break.”

“You are in big trouble, lady,” Jai said, narrowing his eyes at me as he opened his door to me later that morning. I hadn’t even had a chance to knock or anything; he’d just been there, waiting for me. That was not good. He held the door open but didn’t step back to offer me more room as I stepped inside with Emily on my hip. He just stared me down as I squeezed past him in the small entry way, and I couldn’t help but shrink back a little bit under his glare.

“Hello to you too? ” I responded, trying to make light of the situation, but he was having none of it. I could feel him glowering at my back as he followed me down the hall from the entryway to the living room.

I set Emily down on the floor with a handful of toys and a couple books, then sat down nervously on the couch as Jai sat beside me. It took me several long moments to work up the nerve just to raise my eyes to his, and he waited silently while I did. I felt like a child in trouble with a parent. It took everything I had not to look away from him again when he just raised an eyebrow at me, looking wholly unimpressed.

When it was clear that he wouldn’t be the first to break the silence, I knew I was in real trouble. He was pissed. Really pissed. I chewed my lip as I felt the words bubble up inside me, on a massive wave of anxiety.

“Okay, look, I’m so sorry for being MIA for most of the week. It was a crappy thing to do. I needed some time, but I should’ve at least texted something.”

“Yes, you should have,” Jai agreed, his expression hard.

I could see him clenching his jaw, and I shrank back a tiny bit. I couldn’t remember the last time he was this angry with me. I chewed on my lip again.

“Well? Are you going to tell me what happened, or am I going to have to guess?” he demanded, exasperated, and I could sense that a tiny bit of his anger with me was dissipating. Neither of us could ever stay angry with the other for long. We’d been through too much together. “Your date with Nate obviously either went really well or really badly. Which was it?”

“Ugh, bad. So bad,” I responded, rolling my eyes and shaking my head as I remembered that night. “He’s such a—”

I cut myself off before I said an inappropriate word in front of Emily. I glanced down at the toddler before looking back to Jai again. “Well, let’s just say he’s not a great guy. He only asked me out because I was clearly upset about Liam. Fully admitted to it and everything. He basically offered to be a rebound...lay, and when I turned him down, he got belligerent. Tried to guilt trip me into it. Said since he’d bought me an expensive dinner, the least I could do was kiss him.”

“Seriously?” Jai exclaimed, and I nodded. “Ew. What a—jerk!” I chuckled a little, appreciating that he’d curbed his language for the toddler at our feet. “I mean, we knew that he definitely wasn’t the settling down type, but to go off like that because you wouldn’t sleep with him? Wow.” Jai looked shocked, as shocked as I’d felt when I’d experienced it myself a handful of days ago.

“Yeah, he clearly isn’t used to being told no, and he definitely doesn’t deal well with it,” I agreed with a shake of my head. “I mean, to go from charming and easy-going one minute to what basically amounts to a child throwing a temper tantrum the next? I was not expecting that.”

“Oh Hannah, I’m so sorry. You were put into that position because of me. Because I accepted that date for you. No wonder you didn’t want to talk to me for days.” Jai gave me an apologetic frown, dark eyes wide, looking guilty. At least he wasn’t angry with me anymore.

“I will admit, I was a little angry that you accepted that date for me in the first place, because I would have said no,” I admitted, dropping my eyes. I hated even the thought of making someone else feel bad, for any reason, even if what I was saying was the truth. I chewed on my lip for a moment, then looked at him again and smiled reassuringly. “But it’s okay, Jai. You had no idea it was going to turn out like that either. I can’t hold that against you. Just…the next time you have an idea like that, that puts me that far out of my comfort zone…maybe think twice? Or at least talk to me about it first?”

He nodded, eager to right his wrong and put this behind us. “Of course. I’m sorry, Han. I feel like I can’t say it enough.”

“It’s okay,” I repeated and then hugged him, reassuring him that our friendship was intact and as strong as ever.

“So, then what happened? Did Dickface do what he should and step in to tell him off? This was partially his fault too, for breaking your heart in the first place.”

I shot Jai a look for already forgetting his words around Emily, and he cringed, looking chagrined.

“No, actually, I took care of Nate myself, though Liam saw the whole thing and was ready to step in if I needed him.” I smiled at the thought of Liam stepping in to defend me. Knowing that he would have done it for me if I’d needed him to, made me feel all warm inside.

Jai, on the other hand, looked skeptical.

“I had it covered.” I was pretty proud of myself for handling it on my own. It was strength that Liam had helped me build over the past few months, and I couldn’t be more grateful to him for that. I said as much to Jai now.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Okay, I know I can’t be hearing this correctly. Why are you praising Liam after he broke your heart like that? There’s no way you got over him that quickly.”

I shook my head and gave him a nervous smile. “I um…I didn’t have to get over him,” I told him, chewing on my lip again and worrying my fingers in my lap. I realized now that this may have been another reason I hadn’t reached out to Jai before this. There was a distinct possibility that he wouldn’t accept my relationship with Liam after everything that had happened. I couldn’t really blame him. I’d feel the same way if our situations were reversed, if some guy had broken his heart.

Jai narrowed his eyes at me again. “And what exactly does that mean?” There was warning in his tone.

I was breathless for a moment as a wave of nerves sent my stomach up into my throat, making it hard to speak. “We’re together, Jai. Liam and me. I’m not sure what it was that finally nudged him into action, but he apologized, and he told me he loved me. He loves me, Jai. Can you believe it?” I couldn’t keep the awe from my voice or the smile from my lips.

Jai smiled tenderly at me. “Of course, I believe it, Babe. You’re an amazing woman, and no one deserves love more than you do. Except maybe me.” He grinned cheekily at me, then paused for a moment, and concern settled in his eyes. “But he’s already broken your heart once, Hannah. How do you know he won’t do it again? How do you know that this isn’t just a game to him?”

“It’s not a game,” I responded immediately. “He was dealing with some issues from his past. Kate told me all about it, and Liam and I have spoken about it all as well. So, I believe him when he tells me he loves me. I can see it in his eyes, Jai. I can feel that he truly loves me. Will he break my heart again? Maybe. But I believe that he’ll do everything he can to keep that from happening.”

Jai was silent for a long moment, and I fidgeted as I waited for him to respond. Finally, he took my hands into his and held them tightly, as much, I suspected, to stop me from fidgeting as to reinforce the connection between us. “If you trust that he loves you the way you deserve to be loved, then I’ll try to trust him too. I can’t promise it’ll be easy, after everything he did, but I’ll try.”

I heaved a huge sigh of relief as he pulled me in for a tight hug. I hadn’t realized until now just how much I needed Jai’s support in this. I loved Liam, but I also loved Jai, and I couldn’t bear it if they didn’t like each other. I needed them both in my life, and not just one at a time.

“Now,” he said, pulling away from me and giving me a conspiratorial grin. “I can imagine you have a very good reason for taking four days to come up for air to text me, and I want to hear every sordid detail. So, spill, girl, and don’t leave anything out.”