Spiralling Skywards: Fading (Contradictions, #2)(15)
“Here’s to my beautiful, amazing, sexy shoed wife and her dickhead of a husband. I’m so sorry for what I said on the phone. It’s no excuse, but I was scared, angry, and just missing you so fucking much. I lashed out, and I shouldn’t have.” He kissed my lips, chin, eyelids, and cheeks as he spoke. “Thank you so much for coming. How long do I get to keep you?”
I smiled against his lips that were pressed against mine.
“As long as you need me.”
“You took unpaid leave?”
I let out a long breath.
“I handed in my notice.”
“Babe . . .”
“It’s okay.” I shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how long we’d be here for and seeing as how I didn’t bother packing my pills, and you plan on having me pregnant within a month, I didn’t think it was fair to mess them about.”
I pushed his hair back and looked over his face, waiting on a reaction. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had dark circles beneath them. I felt so guilty right then. None of what he’d been having to deal with over here could’ve been easy, and I’d done nothing to help the pressure.
He stared right at me but didn’t respond to what I’d just told him.
“I can call and retract my resignation if you don’t—”
He kissed me again, silently demanding I not finish my statement and making me spill my champagne.
“Let’s start making babies, Sarah. Lots, I want lots. Four—no, six at least.”
“Four or six? Six kids?” I groaned out as his mouth took in my nipple and his thumb rubbed over my clit.
He put down his glass and took my free hand, wrapping it around his dick, which was hard again.
“At least,” he stated as we both looked down at what we were doing to each other.
“Did I tell you how much I love you?”
“No. Not ever.”
“Then I’ll just have to show you.”
“I thought that was the whole reason you stepped over here when you first came through the door.”
“I best get on with it then.”
And so he did. We drank. We fucked. Then, at some point, we showered, ate, and then fucked again. We were both naked sweaty, tired, and just a little bit drunk. Liam’s front was pressed into my back as he spooned me from behind. My skin and my hair smelt of me, him, and sex. I felt beyond relaxed and extremely happy and content when Liam whispered, “Everything feels better now that you’re here, pretty girl. My heart beats stronger, and I feel like I can breathe properly for the first time in two weeks.” He kissed my shoulder before continuing, “Everything about my life is better because of you. Thanks for coming all this way to be with me. Thanks for being my wife and wanting to make babies with me.”
He then made love to me slowly, gently, reverently. Our marriage was well and truly consummated by the following morning.
It was late September before we arrived back in England. The company had been cleared of any blame at that stage, but a full enquiry would be carried out the following year.
I spent some of my time in Australia just hanging about Liam’s hotel and waiting for him to get home. I had also flown back to Perth for a few days and spent time with his mum and sisters in his old hometown. They showed me around the beaches and bars where Liam used to hang out, and I even saw the house he still owned, which he used to share with Olivia.
I had an irrational girl moment then. He was mine, and we were married, happy, and very much in love. But my belly still set itself on a spin cycle whenever I thought about his life before he met me.
Maggie told me that Olivia had a little boy the previous March and was living alone back in Sydney. Apparently, Olivia wasn’t coping well with motherhood and the impact it had on her social life so her baby was living nearby with her parents, who were raising him. Call it morbid curiosity or a plain ol’ female thing, but every time we went into town, I desperately wanted to bump into Olivia’s parents, just to take a look at the child myself. I believed he wasn’t Liam’s, but I just wanted to see him for myself. We never saw them, though.
Right before we left Australia, we managed a “mini” honeymoon and took a guided trip to the Kimberley, an area at the very top end of Western Australia and possibly the most beautiful place on the earth. We’d visited Windjana Gorge National Park, where we’d spent time riding four-wheelers, visiting caves, searching for fossils, and taking sunset boat rides. We visited ancient settlements, where I learned a lot about indigenous Australians and their culture, I saw crocodile’s in the wild, and more birds than I had ever seen in my life.
I’d always considered myself a complete homebody, but after spending over a month in Australia, I figured that as long as Liam was with me, it was somewhere I could most definitely call home.
***
I had spent my days since returning from Australia shopping for Christmas and putting the finishing touches to our house. Liam threatened to smother me with the next cushion, pillow, or throw he came home to, but I figured he was secretly pleased with the way the house looked, not that he seemed to be there much.
He warned me at the very beginning he would have to put in the hours for the first few years, and I totally understood that the business was still growing and establishing, but it sucked big time regardless. I was not sure if it was because I was at home all day or if it was that we were newlyweds and I just wanted to spend every minute with him, but as each week passed, Liam seemed to spend more and more time at the office. I couldn’t remember him doing this as much before we were married, but that was probably because I was still working myself and just didn’t notice it so much. He’d been going in on the odd Saturday morning and even on a Sunday evening if there was something important he needed to discuss with the Australian team. Time zones were another thing that sucked. Why couldn’t we all wake up and go to be at the same time? It would make life so much easier.