Page 21 of The Forever (When the World Fell #3)

Eighteen months later

“ C ome with me.” I grabbed Liv’s hand and led her down the side of the house, taking her around the back so we’d have some privacy.

We’d just finished our shift in the new watchtower at the entrance to town, and with an hour to go until Willow’s sixteenth birthday party at the Ridge, I wanted to make use of every minute.

“What’s going on?” she asked, hurrying to match my pace. “We don’t have time for your shenanigans.”

“No back chatting, just follow me.”

Six weeks after we arrived at Bridgehill, Liv and I moved out of the compound. After being alone for so long, she’d found it tough to adjust to the noise and activity, so we chose a place just for us.

Within less than a week, the rest of our original group followed, and we now called three houses on the last street before the hill our homes; all in a row, with neat, well-maintained gardens and bikes at our front doors for getting around town. Still close, still a family, but without living under one another’s feet.

“Why the official voice?” she asked. “Am I under arrest?”

I gave the area a thorough scan to ensure we were alone. Just the usual table and chairs where we sometimes ate breakfast, patchy grass, and a tree with oranges weighing down its branches. No corpses—we only had to worry about those when we left the town boundary.

“Not yet, but you look suspicious,” I said, guiding her toward the rear wall of the house. “I’m pretty sure you’re hiding something.”

“Me?” she asked with a confused look, then she caught on to my expression and gave me a slow smile. “Oh, well, it’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

I eased her against the wall face first, and as I nudged her feet apart, she gasped in a way that made me desperate to get my hands on her. “Stay nice and still while I pat you down, and we won’t have any trouble.”

This would have broken every damn rule back in the day, but whenever one of us came up with a new game, the other jumped on board without hesitation.

“Yes, Detective Murphy.”

I almost broke character and groaned, but somehow maintained my composure. Her voice had taken on a husky edge, and she flattened her cheek against the wall in complete submission.

Mi amor. My sweetheart, my reason for breathing.

I ran my palms over her, from her hair to her back and around to her breasts. My hands slipped under her arms, then trailed down to her stomach and outer thighs. When I reached her inner thighs, her breath caught in her throat, but she held her position and remained compliant.

“Doesn’t look like you’re hiding anything, but—“

“What?” The word came out sounding like a sigh, and she closed her eyes as if silently pleading for more.

“I’ll need to do a more thorough search.”

Before she could answer me, I dipped my hands under the back of her shirt and unfastened her bra, sliding my hands around to the front to cover her bare breasts. I drank in every sound, every subtle shift of her body, loving and learning more about her each day. Her nipples were tight and firm, her skin soft as silk. She let out a heavy breath and pushed back against my groin, rocking her hips.

“Did you find anything?” she asked softly. “Am I in trouble?”

“I’m not done.”

Her moan almost broke my self-control. I wanted to yank every piece of clothing off her and lay her down in the grass. Take my time with her and push her until I had her screaming and writhing under me—but we had somewhere to be, and I needed to move fast.

I lowered my hands to her belt, loosening the buckle and slipping it free. As I pushed her jeans and panties down, her breath hitched, and she toed off her boots to step out of her clothing.

“You think I’m concealing something?” She turned to face me, naked from the waist down, and her blue eyes filled with storms.

“Can’t say for sure unless I check.” I lowered my own pants and moved in against her, gripping her thighs to lift her against the wall.

She made an eager, animalistic sound and curved her hands over my shoulders to drag me closer.

Desperate to end the wait, I reached between our bodies and eased inside her, groaning as her warmth surrounded me.

Liv let out a guttural sigh and dragged my mouth to hers, giving me a deep, tongue-filled kiss. As the sound of male laughter drifted from inside the house next door, I kicked off a slow, steady rhythm, pulling back to watch her.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes blazing with desire. A soft sigh moved through her, and she gave herself over to me, just like all the other times.

“ Te amo ,“ she said. “ Eres el amor de mi vida.”

You’re the love of my life .

Hearing those words from a woman who meant everything to me had pleasure spreading through my body and my heart pumping harder.

She’d dedicated herself to learning Spanish since we’d settled here, and although she wouldn’t be fluent for a while yet, I loved that she never gave up.

Everything with Liv kept getting better.

Our connection, our life together.

“I love you, too,” I said, burying my face against her neck and losing myself in her.

“I can’t believe they did this for me.” Willow scanned the backyard at Harmony Ridge as our original group stood on the periphery of the action.

Kids were running around playing and adults were gathered in groups, enjoying the food and drinks. Someone had found balloons and decorated the veranda posts, and a table hosted a collection of wrapped presents surrounding a cake.

“Don’t look so surprised,” Liv said. “They love you. We all do.”

Willow had become the resident babysitter in town, and her experiences had led to an interest in becoming a teacher when she was older. She looked more like a young woman now than a child, and I still hadn’t wrapped my head around knowing someone long enough to witness that change. Everything seemed so temporary before I met Liv and the others. Now we had permanence. Routine.

“Go mingle,” Ro said, giving her a push, “and make sure you say thank you.”

Willow rolled her eyes and took her time wandering over to the main group.

The smell of barbecued meat and vegetables wafted toward us, and the early spring sun washed the scene in warmth.

Jacob caught sight of her from the other side of the yard, and his features lit up as he met her halfway. My eyes narrowed as I watched the exchange, but I couldn’t fault the guy. He’d been respectful, kind, and pretty much a textbook gentleman.

“Aw. Cute.” Liv rose on her toes to kiss my cheek. “I can’t decide if you look like a protective big brother or a disapproving father. Either way, I like it.”

I exhaled a laughing breath and drew a lungful of ocean air, telling myself it was all about progress. We’d spent too long trying to survive that it took a while to adjust to the concept of living.

“Come on.” Ellie grabbed Tae’s hand. “Let’s go join the party. See you over there,” she said to the rest of us.

Ro shot me a smile. “Why don’t you look after me the same way you take care of Willow?”

“Because people need protecting from you, and not the other way around?”

She threw back her head and laughed, still as much of a handful as she’d been on the day we met. “Wanna make out later?”

“No,” I said, as Liv choked on a laugh.

Her connection with Garrett—or G-Mack as she called him—had shown promise in the beginning, but fizzled to platonic a few weeks after we moved into Harmony Ridge. Ro was convinced he just needed more time to get used to the idea, but I wasn’t so sure about that. Whatever happened between them, she brought out a lighter side of Garrett that his friends claimed they hadn’t seen in years.

“Speaking of the grumpy silver fox,” she said, “I better go remind him of my presence.”

As she left in search of trouble, I wrapped my arm around Liv and pulled her against my side. She hugged my waist and addressed Jonah, Remy, and Gabe. “Are you guys getting something to eat? It smells good.”

Garrett had taken all three of them on as his fishing and hunting proteges, and they’d found their feet here in no time, making friends, discovering their purpose.

This was exactly what Dawn had wanted for Jonah, and I liked to think of her looking down on him, content that he’d spend the rest of his life surrounded by people who loved him.

“I’m gonna grab one of Celia’s fish burgers,” Remy said. “Those spices are…” He closed his eyes and made an exaggerated groaning sound.

“I’ll come, too. I’m starving.” Gabe accompanied him and left the three of us alone.

Liv watched the twins as they walked away. When her gaze shifted to Jonah, her expression turned bittersweet, and I figured her thoughts must have headed down the same track as mine.

Out of nowhere, she reached for him and made a little sobbing sound as she pulled him close. Her emotions were easily triggered these days, and it never took much to set her off.

He slipped his arms around her waist and threw me a surprised look, hugging her tight for a moment before he backed away. “What was that for?” he asked.

She clasped his face and planted a kiss on his cheek that turned his skin pink. “I’m just proud of you, that’s all. Your mum would have been so impressed with the man you’ve become.”

He swallowed and looked away while he composed himself.

My chest tightened as I watched the exchange, but when his eyes met hers again, the embarrassment had disappeared and an expression I knew all too well took its place. “Does that mean you’re finally ready to ditch this old man and choose me?”

I shook my head and bit back a smile as I tried to grab him. “No matter what Liv says about you, you’re still a little shit. Get out of here.”

Jonah sidestepped me with a grin and did a comical run to join the others.

When we were alone, my heart filled to capacity as I drank in Liv’s features. I swept some strands of hair away from her face and stroked her temple with my thumb. “Are you feeling all right?”

She nodded and blinked away the sheen of tears. “Just a few memories popping up. My hormones are all over the place.”

I pressed a kiss on her forehead. Her face had taken on a fuller, healthier look since we’d been eating better, and the sun had put lighter streaks in her hair. Seeing her happy was all I’d ever wanted, and it felt like the world’s biggest achievement to have reached that goal.

She didn’t push herself as hard these days and spent her working hours directing self-defence lessons for women, performing security checks, and tending the gardens at the Ridge. In her downtime, she read books on the beach while I surfed.

It was the best result we could have hoped for given how bleak our futures were when we met.

There were still times we had to fight corpses, but Liv had agreed to retire her sword in the short term and stay out of the action.

As her husband, I wanted to protect her. As a father-to-be, I was compelled to guard the life she carried within her.

In seven months or so, our baby would be born, and I hoped for a girl who turned out just like her mum—strong and resilient, soft and sweet, with a take-no-shit attitude that helped her navigate the changed world she’d inherited.

And I’d hold her hand through it, stick with her every step of the way, just like I intended to do with her mother.

THE END