27. Always & Forever

Chapter Twenty-Seven

ALWAYS & FOREVER

There wasn’t a price Layne wouldn’t have paid to see Liam’s face when he received the picture of Jonthan’s dead body. She hoped he shit his pants and was prepared for her to begin executing anyone else that got in her way.

Thanks to finding an unexpected ally in one particular Russian, her brother had to know about good ol’ Nick’s demise by now. May that fucker be suffering in hell alongside Jonathan.

With two birds down, she couldn’t afford not to press forward, full steam ahead. Liam needed to feel the pressure to a point where he would royally fuck up. If he didn’t make a mistake, she sure as hell wasn’t going to stop until he did.

As for the note that her former associate had partially deciphered, it seemed they had less than a week before Liam expected her to roll up to the old Ellis residence and wave a white flag.

Good thing she didn’t plan to surrender if things didn’t go as planned. No, she would march over there beating her war drums for all of New York to hear if it came down to it.

Layne came downstairs wearing nothing but a black silk kimono robe overtop a silk lingerie set. O’Reilly Manor was expectedly quiet at eleven at night. With Gage meeting up with his friends to set up a plan to keep tabs on the perimeter of their home there on the Upper East Side, it was just her and Joey holding down the fort.

Joey had been stuck in the garage working on his car since dinner. It had been his way of busying his mind before he made the next strike in the early hours of the morning.

She quietly opened up the interior door that led into the garage and leaned against the frame as she watched him.

He was leaning over the side of the black Challenger, working on something under the hood of the vehicle. From this vantage point, she was happy to be standing there appreciating the view of his jean-clad ass.

Joey’s tee was draped over the seat of his motorcycle parked next to the car, leaving him shirtless and enhancing the already delicious sight. Each muscle in his back flexed as he worked.

Without turning to look at her, he spoke, “Eye-fucking me again, Layney?” Smirking to himself, he gave another twist of the socket wrench. Layne wasn’t nearly as stealthy as she thought she was.

After being called out, she convinced herself that if she had been trying to be sneaky, he wouldn’t have known she was there. Stepping onto the cool concrete of the garage floor, she was careful to watch where she walked to avoid tripping on any scattered tools.

“Was just seeing when you were planning on heading out.” Layne stopped at the front bumper as she looked at him with gentle green hues.

He sighed and rested his forearms on the edge of the car and looked over at her. She may have tried to silently admire him moments ago, but Joey made no such effort to conceal the way his eyes appreciated the woman standing there in the garage with him.

The silk robe was tied around her slender waist and draped over the rest of her petite figure. Its length fell to just above midthigh, making it unlikely she was wearing much of anything underneath. If he was lucky, she was wearing nothing at all.

Joey straightened up and tossed the wrench into the open toolbox next to the front tire. “I’m almost done here.” He wiped his hands on the thighs of his stained pants, though it did little to remove the black smudges on his hands.

Crossing her arms in front of her stomach, her hands lightly grasped onto her elbows. “Everything all set for Liam?” The plan they had conjured seemed karmic considering the last time an O’Reilly was executed. However, just thinking about some of the ways it could go wrong had Layne feeling incredibly uneasy.

Picking up on her restlessness and the concern settled in her stance, Joey stepped up to her. “It’s going to be okay. You forget how long I’ve been doing this, Layne. I will head over to Eric’s old place, install the explosives on the truck that Ethan says matches the description of the one that was involved in your accident, and hightail it the fuck out of there. With any luck, Liam will get what’s been coming to him. If not, it will take out whoever is helping him.”

“I know.” The tension in her body didn’t let up.

Sullied hands or not, he decided he couldn’t hold back from using his touch to reassure her. Joey lightly wrapped his hands on either side of her neck just under her jaw, his thumbs caressing the lower lines of her face.

Cocoa brown eyes stared at her as he searched for what was weighing on her mind. “What are you really worried about?” he asked.

Trying to beat down her heart’s emotions, she blinked back a few tears. War came with unexpected casualties, ones that you didn’t get to pick or choose.

“Don’t make me ask twice.” He gave a small smile at her that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Filling her lungs with a heaping amount of air, she tried to steady her voice. “There’s been a lot going on. When are we all just going to get a break and have a shot at normalcy again?”

His hands fell from her so he could draw her up against his bare chest, wrapping his arms around her upper body into a tight embrace. “We’ll get our chance, I promise.” If his new deal with Commissioner Saito held up, their opportunity would get here sooner rather than later. “Did you make the call we talked about?”

“Yeah…” The tone of her voice carried a mixture of regret and hesitation. Layne wrapped her arms around his waist as she rested her face against the warmth of his skin. Her cheek pressed against the scarred shamrock tattoo over his heart, the disrupted inkwork around the scar was a souvenir of him saving her life.

Joey’s fingers smoothed back a few stray locks of hair away from her face. He hesitated as his words began to stick to the back of his throat, refusing to come out easily. Briefly, he shut his eyes tightly and kissed the top of her head, finding the strength to open up the last piece of him to her.

With eyes back open, he eased her face away from him so he could look at the woman who had changed him before he had even met her. “Layne, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Scrunching her eyebrows together, she wasn’t sure what emotion she should prepare for. “About what?”

Immediately, his heart felt a pang of guilt seeing that she was already hesitantly putting up her defenses. His large hands grabbed her face so he could make sure she saw the honesty in what he had to say.

“Layne, you are both my biggest regret and my greatest salvation. I never want to know life without you in it.” In a rare moment, his eyes glistened as his sight remained locked on her. “There isn’t a day where I don’t regret all the negative impacts I’ve had on your life, but you saved me before you ever knew me.”

As she began to part her lips to ask questions, his thumb sealed her lips shut. “Let me finish telling you what you deserved to hear long before now.”

She stood there with her eyes filling with the heaviness of emotion as he began his final confession.

Joey’s thumb rubbed across the perfect shade of pink of her lips. “You were never meant to be mine. Hell, you were never meant to become the woman you are now. I…” He braced himself for the moment he wished he could erase from his history. “You were supposed to be in the car with your mom.”

Layne felt a whirlwind of confusion as she tried to wrap her brain around his words. “W-what?”

He frowned. “The contract was for both of you. I did months of surveillance, watching and waiting for the right time. The day I set the device on your mom’s car, I realized I could never come back from taking your life before it even began. So, I made an anonymous call to your dad, threatening your life knowing he would react by becoming even more overprotective.”

Her eyes searched his face, noticing all the years of guilt coming to the surface. She struggled with the new revelation that her life could have been cut short at Joey’s hands not once, but twice. On the day she lost her mother, she couldn’t understand why her parents wouldn’t let her go out, and now it was all becoming clear.

Joey dropped his head down shamefully. “Layney, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you before now. It never felt like the right time.”

Seeing a fresh line of moisture trail down his cheeks she frowned.

“Hey,” Layne said with gentle reassurance. “Look at me.” Her fingertips came up underneath his scruffy chin to tilt his gaze back up to her.

His eyes met hers, expecting the worst of words to be spoken.

“I have learned to open myself up and lower the walls I have spent years building up because you make me feel safe. I have chosen to love you even knowing your past. You have always protected me, even when I didn’t know I needed you to. That’s not something I can be angry at you for.” God knew she hadn’t made his life any easier some days, but Layne wouldn’t change their pasts no matter what she was offered in exchange.

No matter how you looked at it, Joey had spared her twice in her lifetime when he could have snuffed out her flame.

Her hands cupped his cheeks, her fingertips swiping away the pain expelled from his eyes.

Layne brought her mouth to his, kissing away all the doubts and regrets he had about his past. Lovingly her lips pressed to his to do her best to put his conscience and soul at peace.

After feeling his body soften into her affections, she eased out of the kiss with a sweet smile.

Gradually relief filled him and Joey leaned in to steal another quick kiss from her. “You’ll never know how much I love you, Layne.”

Her hands slowly trailed down the front of the hard muscles of his stomach. When she spoke, her words were just one notch above a whisper. “Try showing me.”

She didn’t need to ask him twice. Joey’s fingers purposely unknotted the sash around her waist as he began backing her up to the workbench at the far wall of the garage.

His hand slid up the back of her neck with a gentleness as his tattooed fingers embedded themselves into the depths of her silky chestnut hair.

As the sash came undone, the kimono fell open to reveal the forest-green lingerie underneath. Joey’s desire for her still had a fiery edge to it, despite the way his touch had become gentle.

Quickly, he cleared just enough space on the workbench for her ass before he lifted her and set her down on it. With his hands on her waist, he stood between her thighs as he took his time kissing her. First, it was reveling in the taste of her mouth, then it was exploring across her jaw and down along her throat.

Layne dropped her shoulders so the silk material of the robe slid off her upper body, pooling around her as she let him spoil her with his affections. Quietly, she moaned as his tongue flicked out across the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder.

Her body was already reacting to their deep emotional and physical connection, her core growing damp with arousal. The tips of Layne’s fingers hooked onto the front of his jeans, tugging him closer to her center.

When he pressed himself against her core, her breathing hitched at the sensation of his hard cock struggling against his jeans.

“Joey,” she said, his name already sounding breathless. “I need you to fuck me.”

His palms ran over the front of her bra, taking in the feel of her breasts held captive in the cups. He shook his head at her request. “I’m not going to fuck you; I’m going to do better than that. You’re going to feel how deep my feelings run for you, Layne.”

After his hands drifted behind her, he popped the clasp on her bra to free her rounded breasts and hardened nipples from the fabric prison. The stubble on his face brushed against her fair skin as his mouth continued its mission to love every part of her. From her collarbone, down over her chest where her heart was beating excitedly, each curve and peak of her breasts, and down the center of her stomach.

Layne’s hands held onto his shoulders as he lowered himself down her body, continuing to slowly drag his lips across her flesh. Eventually, his fingers shimmied the thin straps of her thong away from her hips until it popped free and easily slid down her legs onto the floor.

For all the attention he was giving her, he passed by where she hoped his mouth would end up. Instead, he worked his kisses down one leg and then up the other. When he was finished, he straightened up and lifted her from the workbench, wrapping her legs around his hips.

Joey pecked her lips and smiled. “Don’t give me that look.”

Her arms wrapped around his neck to keep herself close to him and she rolled those lively green eyes of hers. “What look?”

“The look where you get impatient and want my cock bad enough you don’t realize you’re pouting.” He chuckled and walked with her out of the garage, carrying her through the house until they came to the living room currently cast in darkness.

Carefully traversing his way through the room, he made it to the gas fireplace. Using one arm to support her against him, his hand reached out to flip a switch on the wall so that the soft glow of flames illuminated the room.

Arguing, Layne responded, “I don’t pout.” She pouted stubbornly.

He lowered them both down to the floor, setting Layne on her back. Joey kicked off his shoes to the side before he stripped himself out of his jeans and boxer briefs. The amber lighting from the fire at their side danced across his body, revealing the long length of his dick.

Kneeling between her legs, his hands ran up along her inner thighs. “Don’t lie to me, Layney,” he playfully teased her with a grin. His tongue ran over his lips as he looked down at her pussy. There was just enough light that he could see the gleam of her excitement across those pretty lips.

Whimpering quietly, she shifted her hips, her body ready to feel the pleasure of his touch.

Leaning down, his fingers spread her folds to expose her even further to him. Joey’s tongue ran from her opening up to her clit in a languid stroke.

It triggered a delightful shiver from Layne as she gasped out.

He continued to taste her arousal, his tongue progressively teasing her sensitive nub. Every contact made with her body was purposeful toward incrementally getting her closer to the cusp of an orgasm.

Nearing her release, Layne’s hips rode against his mouth to seek out the key to her ecstasy. One hand grasped onto the top of his head while the other clawed at the soft area rug underneath her.

She was getting so damn close and Joey knew it would only take one more graze of his teeth across her clit before she would be swept away in her release.

Opting to pull back, he shifted himself over top of her. Passionately he kissed her, letting her taste the flavor of her own body on his tongue.

Positioning the tip of his cock at the opening of her cunt, he spoke against her mouth. “I’m yours, always and forever, Layne.”

He took his time as he slid himself into her, basking in the feel of the slow stretch of her walls around his thick cock.

Layne moaned out at the gradual entry into her body, the pleasurable sensation being drawn out. Her hands ran over his shoulders onto his upper back as she held him close.

“Mmm, yes, Joey,” her sweet sounds were made on the cusp of each of her breaths.

Continuing at the same pace, he pulled back out so the rounded head of his cock nearly popped free from her entrance. Then, he sank himself back into her.

Meanwhile, his face pressed against the side of her neck, inhaling the scent of rain-kissed daisies on her skin. He needed to be as physically close to her as possible while cherishing all of her body. Her breasts were pressed up against his chest, allowing him to feel the rise and fall of her lungs seeking out oxygen while her heart pounded just beneath the surface.

Each movement of his hips built a slow burn of sensations inside her body. Layne’s hips matched his movements, ensuring he was buried far into her at the base of every thrust.

Hooking her ankles behind him, she began to lose control of the sounds she was making. Each push of his cock into her had a deep spark growing with intensity inside her lower stomach that threatened to burn her alive.

Looking up into his eyes she gasped for air after a long moan. “I love you. So much. Always and forever will never be enough time with you, Joey.” Her hands never wanted to let him go.

He groaned, feeling the tight space of her pussy begin to bear down around him. “Layney…I’ll always need to feel this way with you.” Joey’s words were rushed out at the end as his hips began to falter in their relaxed rhythm. His dick now rocked into her quicker and with more force.

Her fingernails dug into his back as she shuddered and it felt like an eternity left on the cliff of her release. Then, there was nothing but a flood of warmth and a spike of sudden ecstasy as she cried out. Layne came hard, her body latching onto him as she surrendered to the carnally induced high.

Despite the way her cunt squeezed him tightly, refusing to let go, Joey kept rolling his hips into her fighting the resistance. With an eager growl and several more thrusts, he felt the electricity ricocheting down his spine. Every inch of him pulsed as his cum was unleashed deep inside her, all too quickly filling up the home his cock had made for itself.

He continued to love all of her for several more rounds until Joey had Layne passed out contently in his arms as he lay there with her on the floor of the living room. Both of them were covered in each other’s sweat and bodily fluids, and most importantly their love for one another stained their souls.

Joey eventually carried Layne upstairs to their bedroom, tenderly tucking her into their bed. Making her understand the depth of his love had been his top priority. Now, it was onto the next—blowing her fuckin’ asshole brother to kingdom come.