Summary: The nightmares still wake Allie, weeks after she’s back in Cordonia. Set in the same general time-frame/universe as Losing Sleep, but they can be read separately.
Bad dreams still plague her several weeks after returning to Cordonia. She’s never really been prone to recurring nightmares before, but Allie finds herself jerking awake in the middle of the night more times than she cares to admit with dreams about the Coronation. Sometimes in them, Liam refuses to look at her, no matter how much she screams his name. Other times, the crowd backs her up to the balcony, roaring with laughter, and she can’t wake herself up until she’s falling over the ornate railing.
The worst one is when Liam himself forces her out of the palace, pushing against her and telling her she never belonged here, that he never loved her and it was all a joke. It’s the one that wakes her tonight, tears streaming down her face as she rolls over and reaches for him.
Liam is asleep on his side next to her, his slow, deep breathing reassuring as she wipes her tears away and then touches the inside of his wrist gently with her fingertips. He almost always wakes up when she has these dreams, sensing her tension and the shifting of the bed when she reaches out for him. She tries not to wake him when he manages to sleep through them, though he’s told her repeatedly to wake him up.
“I just hate the thought of you laying here wide awake by yourself,” he’s said on more than one occasion, his brow creasing as he hugs her.
The first time he woke up to find her crying, he was alarmed, almost frantic, as he pulled her into his chest and buried his hands in her hair. She’d felt silly telling him that she was crying over a dream, but he’d just held her, reassuring her it wasn’t silly, and that he knew how she felt.
Allie inches closer, trying not to wake him, just wanting the quiet comfort Liam brings when she’s curled up next to him. She slips her hand around his neck, tangling her fingers in his dark hair, then rests her forehead against the bare skin of his chest. She feels him stir, a sense of guilt creeping over her as he slides his arm around her waist.
“Bad dream?” he murmurs sleepily, his eyes still closed.
“Mmm-hmm. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispers.
He sighs quietly against her, sliding down so he can brush his mouth over hers. “Don’t apologize,” he mumbles. “You can wake me up whenever you need to.”
His lips are soft and reassuring against hers, and she bites back a whimper as she presses against him and kisses him more deeply. She means to let him fall back asleep, she really does, but his mouth and his hands and the solid warmth of his chest feel so good against her.
Liam’s eyes open slowly as his kisses become more insistent and he rolls her on to her back. Allie threads her hands into his hair as he moves over her, his mouth becoming more desperate and hungry, his tongue seeking hers. She arches up into him and he quietly groans her name, sliding a hand under her thigh and pulling it around his waist.
She bites at his lower lip as he slips his hand under her shirt, his fingers warm as they dance across her stomach and then under the waistband of her pajama pants.
“Liam,” she breathes out. She sits up briefly and together they pull her shirt over her head, her cheeks flushing at his heated gaze as he stares at her, his face illuminated by the moonlight.
“You are so beautiful,” Liam murmurs, pressing kisses across her breasts, sucking and gently biting her nipples, the sensation making her moan.
Liam slowly unties her pajama pants and slides them over her hips and off her legs. A whimper escapes her mouth as he traces his tongue along the lacy edges of her underwear, then tugs them down.
Her hips press up towards him, his name a moan on her lips, and she cries out when his tongue presses into her, her hands clenching into the soft sheets next to her.
Oh, he knows what he’s doing.
She twists her hips underneath him but he pins them down to the bed, his movements slow and unhurried until she’s moaning his name and trying desperately to move against him. Liam brushes his thumb over her and Allie cries out as she comes, closing her eyes and dropping her head against the pillow. Liam presses slow kisses up to her mouth, and she tangles her hands in his hair lazily.
He brushes his nose against hers, then kisses her neck and shoulder. Allie slides her hand down over his chest and stomach, through the smattering of dark hair, tracing over the lines of muscle. Liam sucks in a breath and jerks against her when she pushes his pajamas down and wraps her hand around him.
“Allie,” he groans.
“I want you,” she whispers.
“I always want you,” he murmurs, and the words make her flush and move restlessly against him.
Liam slips his pajamas over his feet and moves down, pushing into her, and she sighs in pleasure at the feel of him, a quiet “Oh” as she rocks against him.
His lips are warm against hers as he kisses her deeply, nipping at her lower lip, bracing himself above her. Allie wraps her legs around his back, running her fingers through his hair as he slides in and out of her.
The physical comfort as they make love never fails to soothe her, reassure her that she’s really here with him and that he’s not going anywhere. She loves the slow, unhurried pace, the warm whisper of his “I love you” in her ear, the way her name sounds as he murmurs it against her.
Allie presses her hips up against him and Liam starts moving faster, kissing her more insistently as she rakes her fingers down his back.
“Liam,” she moans in his ear, burying her hands in his dark hair and tightening her legs around him as she reaches her peak.
Liam thrusts into her as her muscles clench, groaning her name and dropping his head to her shoulder as he comes. He goes to move off of her after a minute, but she keeps her legs around him.
“Just lay here for a little bit?” Allie asks.
Liam smiles as he leans up to kiss her. “I’m crushing you.”
“You’re not, I promise.”
He indulges her, his weight pressing her into the bed, his eyes closing while she runs her hands through his hair. Eventually she loosens her grip on him and he moves to the side, pulling her back against his chest.
“Want to tell me about it?” he asks, dropping a kiss to her bare shoulder.
“The usual,” she murmurs. “You drag me out of the palace, tell me you never loved me, that this was all a joke.”
She can almost feel him frowning as he wraps his arm around her and nuzzles against her neck.
“I wish I could make them stop,” he says.
“It’s not your fault. Just my overactive brain.”
“Still. I love you, Allie. More than I ever thought I’d get the chance to love anyone. I just want you to be happy.”
She can hear the concern in his voice, rolls to her back and takes his face in her hands. “I am happy,” she reassures him, leaning up to brush her mouth over his. “I’m here with you, and I know you’re not going anywhere.”
He smiles at her gently. “Good. Because you’re stuck with me now.”
“I’m okay with that,” she sighs as he lays gentle kisses against her neck. “You’re stuck with me too, you know.”
“I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be stuck with.”
She smiles as he tucks her back against him and laces his fingers with hers, his arm wrapping tightly around her.
“I love you, Liam,” she mumbles sleepily as her eyes drift shut.
“I love you too. Good night, my love. I’ll be right here.”