39. Jamison

Opening her eyes, Jamison sucked in a scream. Darkness surrounded her, and as she slowly woke from the nightmare, the room came into focus.

Dee and Ty's guest bedroom.

Tangled in the sheets, she twisted to see Liam's spot empty and listened for any sign of him moving through the house.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

Getting out of bed, she searched for clothing, but finding none, went across the hall to Dee's room. She grabbed a T-shirt from the dresser and headed downstairs, pulling it on as she went. It was close to dawn, and she had a feeling she knew exactly where to find him.

The smell of the salty air hit her nostrils halfway down the steps, and just as she expected, he was standing in the open sliding glass door. Firewater Beach wasn't named after its sunrises, but for its burning sunsets. An evening show of fire and color melding into one.

Sunrise was an entirely different affair. The sun greeted the sky closer to the bayou near Haven House, not showing itself on the beach until well and done with the business of rising. It was Liam's favorite time of day, coming first as a midnight blue. The quiet glow would illuminate the world just enough for him to surf, and if Samuel were to join him, the two would remain out on the water until called in by her or Evie for breakfast.

Forever on alert, Liam wasn't startled when she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Good morning."

He turned to give her a quick kiss. "Take a walk with me?"

"I'm only wearing Ty's shirt."

"And I'm only wearing his shorts. It's a good thing Dee is sentimental and kept his clothes."

Frowning, she glanced behind her to the living room. "Where are your pants?"

"I really don't know." He chuckled and took her hand to step outside. "And I really don't care right now."

Yanking at the hem of the shirt, she attempted to cover her butt as they went out on the deck. The four townhomes sat stacked side by side, each with its own patio and steps leading down to the sand.

"I'm going to flash anyone who might be on the beach."

He didn't seem at all worried. "You have the most perfect ass in the history of asses. If someone sees us, they won't mind."

Walking to the water, their uneven footsteps squeaked over the sand. The gulf ahead churned and whipped waves about, creating a perfect break line.

"Did you want to grab a board and go out?" she asked when they reached the last section of sugar white. A step further and the gulf would pulverize their feet. "Yours is still stored in the end unit."

"No, I just want to enjoy the morning with you."

Securing her at his side with one arm, he gazed out over the water, and wrinkled his nose at the solitary seagull battling the waves for whatever food it thought it might catch. "At least it's not an entire flock."

She rested her head on his shoulder, soaking in the moment, and feeling humbled that every morning would forever be with him.

"I've started dreaming about my mom again," she admitted. "Laura Jean was in the one I had where you turned into Michael after he tried to take me, and then a few more times since."

"You never told me the full dream, just that I turned into a terrorist while we had sex." He waited patiently for her to elaborate, and when she didn't, he sighed. "Spill it, Jamison."

Since these bizarre dreams of her mother began shortly after Toby's attack, Liam always listened and interpreted them in his analytical way that drove her insane. She didn't want to hear how these nighttime visits from her mom were nothing but visions derived from stress, or how they were some hidden fear she kept buried from everyone, including herself. She liked pretending the dreams were real. She liked thinking that she was important enough for her mother to visit from beyond the grave. It wasn't true, of course, but what was wrong with wanting something fantastical to be real?

"In the first one, I was sitting with her in the rocking chairs on Haven's porch. It was strange, and not like the other dreams I've had with her in them. She faded right as CeCe appeared."

"Adult CeCe or kid CeCe?"

"Adult."

He snickered when a towering wave knocked the wayward seagull out of the sky. "I noticed Simone has changed some of the photos in the library, and there's an adult CeCe in one of them. That would probably explain why she's showing up in your dreams."

She held him a little tighter. When they finally learned what little they now knew of CeCe's life with Toby, Simone had gone into a deep depression. To help her find closure after Toby's arrest, Liam recovered photos of CeCe as an adult and brought them home to Haven House. There weren't many, but at least she looked happy in them.

"CeCe was kind of terrifying in the dream, and she called me out for being afraid of her."

"Don't you love it when the monsters of our minds tell us that we're ridiculous for being afraid of them," he mused. "It's extremely counterintuitive."

"Stop."

"Sorry." He gave her a swift kiss. "Go on."

"She turned into a monster from there, and I freaked out and ran into the house where the rest of it played out."

"It was only a dream, and there are hundreds of reasons you could have had it."

Arms around his neck, she snuggled against him. "The one last night was even more crazy."

"I'm almost afraid to ask."

"My mom and I were having coffee in a café with Michael, and a girl came in. She was blurry and distorted, like a bad signal coming through."

Staring off at the waves swiping across the shore, she tried to recall the next part. When she woke and found Liam missing, it felt as if she had run a marathon, with her heart nearly beating out of her chest.

"Mom was lecturing Michael about the forest, but he wasn't listening because he was too busy watching the blurry girl. I think he was crying. I could feel this awful pain coming out of him, and that's when the girl turned into a ball of white light and exploded."

Liam stroked her back lightly. "The explosion is because Sinclair blows stuff up, and the girl is probably one of the kids he killed. It's just your subconscious messing with you."

"Thank you for analyzing my dream, Dr. Cohen."

"It's what I'm here for."

She lifted her head and kissed him. "And I love you for it."

"Are you still on birth control?"

Her smile wavered, not expecting the question. "Yes."

"Good."

A gusting shot of salty air circled them, ruffling his hair. She toyed with the wavy curls on top, pushing them back from his face. "Why do you ask?"

"We didn't use any protection last night."

And there it was. That stupid ball of doubt, bouncing around in her gut. "Worried I'll get pregnant?"

Peering down at her, Liam cocked an eyebrow. "I didn't exactly restrain myself." His hands slipped lower to give her ass a squeeze. "And honestly, the sex was so good last night I'm kind of worried I might be pregnant too."

She cackled, happy to have the king of bad jokes back. "You are such a dork."

"Yeah, but I have a big dick and look extremely good naked, so that makes up for me being a dork."

He kissed her laughing mouth, the midnight blue of the morning fading around them.

"I don't want us putting your health in danger, and until we speak to a specialist, I'm not risking it," he said. "I'm not risking you."

Down the beach, people were coming out to enjoy their morning coffee or set out on a morning walk along the beach. Regardless of his perfect ass compliment, she did not want to give everyone a show, and pulled her shirt down with two hands to run back to the townhouse.

They made it in just as the sun entered the scene, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "What time are your parents arriving?"

Liam locked the door and closed the curtains. "Early in the afternoon."

"And what time will Izzy be here to pick us up?"

"In about an hour or so."

"Wonderful." She tossed her shirt off. "All those extra muscles are turning me on, and I'm going to need you to do something about that."

He winced. "What?"

"Uh, what?" Naked and confused, she didn't understand how he wasn't receiving the message here. "I like your muscles?"

He moved closer, standing directly in front of her. "Do you?"

"Yes?"

"You don't sound very sure."

She fidgeted in place. "Are we doing this or what?"

"I don't know. First there was the lame line you used at the party, and now it's, I like your muscles?" He fought a smile as if his life depended on it. "Once upon a time, you had the dirtiest mouth, but now," he swooped her up into his arms to kiss soundly on the mouth, "you've turned into kind of a dork."

She rolled her eyes. "You were just waiting to get me back for calling you a dork out there, weren't you?"

"Yep."