15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Rhys

L iam’s words echoed in my head for a long time. We made our way back to the kitchen and found seats at the enormous dining table. Mina failed to keep the amusement off her face as she put two plates of cookies on the table.

“These turned out so well,” Liam’s mum said. “You are an artist, Rhys.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” I shook my head, but Liam’s hand on my thigh distracted me.

“They are gorgeous. Almost too good to eat them.”

“Oh, I bet you’d find something else to eat, wouldn’t we, Liam?” Mina grinned over at him. My cheeks warmed but he just snorted and poured first me, then himself, a cup of coffee. He added milk for me and leaned back in his chair, his cup in hand and rested an arm on the back of my chair.

Gods, I never knew I was such a sucker for these public displays of affection.

The kids filed in one after the other with the exception of John Jr., Mina’s oldest son who had received a small mountain of books from his family and hadn’t surfaced yet.

Liane chose the seat next to me, Molly the one next to her nan, and little Edgar climbed into his mother’s lap. With his mop of ginger hair and the freckles on his nose, he looked so much like Liam that I couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Rhys?”

“Hm?” I looked around at the girl next to me and her predicament became apparent to me. “Need help with the cookies?”

Her arms were so short that even standing on her chair she couldn't reach the plate.

“Come here, darling.” I reached for the plate and offered it to her. It took five painful minutes for her to pick just as many cookies, two of them I had decorated, one of Liam’s clumsier ones, and two she had made herself.

“I don’t want Uncle Liam to be upset,” she told me in a carrying whisper.

“That’s very sweet of you,” I told her, picking only the ones he had decorated for me before I put the plate back. Mine might have been objectively prettier. But his cookies reminded me of the fun we’d had, and how cute he looked when he focused on the icing.

“I love Uncle Liam. And he loves me and Fergus and you.” I hummed noncommittally.

“He is pretty amazing, your Uncle Liam.”

“Will you get married?” Liane asked me with her mouth full.

“Uh.” I gaped at her, choking on my coffee, only noting in almost passing out that he had added the exact amount of milk I liked to it.

“Lila, we talked about this. Do you remember, hen?” Mina told her daughter, shooting me an apologetic glance.

“Oh, yes. I forgot.” She rolled her eyes, then looked at her mum who had both eyebrows raised at the kid. “Sorry, Rhys,” she told me in a singsong voice.

“It’s okay.” I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry.

It was Liam and Mina’s mum, Jenny, who swooped in to save the day.

“I think we’re going to have cold cuts for dinner tonight. I am too full and tired to cook.”

The tension broke, and I dared to look around at Liam, who watched me with a pained smile on his face.

“Can you come outside with me for a moment? I need to talk to you.” His voice was suddenly earnest and urgent.

“Now?”

“Yes, please.” Liam’s fingers dug into my skin. “Be right back,” he told his family as we left the room. He urged me into the library upstairs, closing the door behind us.

I’d barely taken a step or two inside the room, when he held me back and spun me on the spot.

“What do you,” I began, but a hand wrapped around my throat. Liam’s eyes met mine, then dropped to my mouth.

He licked his lips before biting them.

Gods . That man brought me to my knees .

“Pup.” He hesitated, and I thought he would spill what he wanted to talk about.

Soft lips met mine in a kiss. It stayed chaste for a few moments, then he tilted my head and slid both hands into my hair. His tongue parted my lips, making me groan. And get hard.

“Well, a happy Christmas to you, too,” I said when he broke the kiss, throwing him the kind of cocky grin I knew riled him up.

Maybe a nice spanking later, Daddy?

Liam didn’t laugh.

“Pup, there’s something I…”

Oh no. I knew he’d be sick of me by now.

“There’s no need to say it. Do you want me to leave now?”

“What the fuck? Why would I want you to leave?”

Oh, you’re making me say it? Thanks for nothing.

“Because you are sick of me like everyone is.” I rolled my eyes and shrugged off his hands. Crossing my arms before my chest, I stared at him with one eyebrow raised. “Could you let me through? I’ll call a cab.”

He did not step aside.

“Like fuck you won’t,” Liam growled. He actually fucking growled at me, sounding like a big cat. An angry big cat. I met his eyes.

“Hestia, I want to bend you over the sofa and spank some fucking sense into you!” We weren’t that far apart in height but he towered over me, all up in my personal space. His lip curled up in a dangerous snarl. “What I actually wanted to say is that I can’t bear to think this might be our only Christmas.” Liam bit out every word.

Oh fuck. He’s seething.

“And that it will break my heart if I let you go back to Kirkmuir without telling you how I feel.”

What?

“Damn it, Rhys. You…” He searched for the right word for a moment but gave up and kissed me instead.

“I don’t understand.” My lips felt numb. I felt numb.

“I don’t want this to be all we have, pup. You make me lose my mind, you fucking brat, but damn me if you’re not everything I want.” He cupped my cheek, bringing our foreheads together. “Being with you is magical, and I want you to be mine, Rhys. Tell me, can I have you? All of you?”

Fear bubbled up my throat.

Fuck. Am I ready for this? Ready for commitment? But weren’t you just upset he didn’t want it, Rhys?

Damn, my head swam with all these confusing thoughts.

Can I get that spanking now? Maybe that’ll help me think.

His eyes drew me in like they had done from the moment he’d gotten out of his van at Lone Fox Distillery all those months ago.

“I’m so far gone for you,” Liam murmured, scrunching his nose. His eyelids fluttered shut. To block me out? I hated it.

“I’m scared,” I confessed.

“Of me?”

“Maybe a little.” He chuckled at my pout. “Of the logistics, of you getting sick of me, of my feelings.” I had to admit it and wanted him to help me sort this situation out.

How did he become this? After so little time we spent together? The person I turn to. My comfort zone.

“We can worry about the logistics later. I have a car, you have a car, and there are trains.” Liam shrugged. “I’m self employed so I can structure my time around you.”

I snorted.

“What?” He gave me a stern look. “Don’t you think I would do that? Fuck, Rhys. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make you happy.”

The first tears slipped unnoticed out of my eyes. It was only when my sight blurred that I understood what was happening.

“I won’t get sick of you, pup,” he added in a low voice, brushing my tears away. “The weeks since the fair have been the worst of my life.”

Mine too.

“When I saw you two days ago it was as if I could breathe again. Falling asleep with you in my arms is like coming home.” He cracked, too, and I had to be closer. Liam drew me in. I gravitated towards him and had done so from the moment we met.

“I’m scared.” It wasn’t what I had meant to say. Again. Oops .

“That’s okay, baby.” Strong arms hugged me tightly to his chest. “I can be brave enough for both of us until the fear goes away. If you want me… Do you want me, Rhys?”

Baby ? Fresh tears sprung up in my eyes but I couldn’t stop smiling either.

“I like it when you call me that,” I sniffed.

“What? Baby?” He leaned back to see my face, and I nodded. “Fuck, Rhys,” he said with a laugh, “I’ll call you whatever you want so long as I get to keep you in my life. I’m so in love with you,” he added in a whisper.

That did it. I pulled him down for a kiss, my body arching when he dipped me back and kissed me like they did in the movies.

“I’m in love with you,” Liam confessed again.

“Gods, me, too. I wanted you from the moment I saw you. And yes, you can have me but only if I can have all of you, Liam Bell.”

He gave me a shy and defeated, but happy, smile. The kind that made my stomach swoop.

“You own me, baby. I have to warn you, though. Fergus and I are a package deal. There is no him without me and vice versa.”

“That’s…I understand that. I would never expect you to get rid of him.”

“You don’t understand,” he hedged. “Fergus will likely live longer than you or me. He will stay with me until the end.”

“So we’ll still be going on walks when we’re ninety, got it.” I redoubled my hold on him. “I like Fergus, and you said he found me okay, too.”

“More than that.” Liam gave me a sheepish smile. “He feels what I feel about you.”

Swoon . But also, did that mean his hellhound was in love with me?

“Minus the fact that I want to be inside you all the time,” he chuckled, hugging me tightly and kissing my brow.

Humming, I palmed his gorgeous backside through his kilt. “Only a few hours before we’re alone again.”

“I can’t wait. Will you come back to my place for a wee bit when Fergus and I leave? Or do you have to go back to work? It’s all right, I’ll take you home.”

“Yes and no, I don’t have to go back to work yet. The boutique is closed until after Hogmanay. We needed a break. And I’d love to spend a few days with you two.”