by Henry, Jane
He’s commanded my body. Commanded my obedience.
Does he command my heart?
“I see you’ve behaved yourself,” he says with stern approval, reaching in his pocket to retrieve the key for the cuffs.
“Bloody hard to misbehave when you’re cuffed to a bloke’s headboard,” I mutter.
His stern lips twitch, though his brows are still furrowed. He kneels on one knee beside me, reaching for the cuffs. “Oh, I can think of plenty of ways of misbehaving while cuffed to a bloke’s headboard.”
My pussy clenches at that, and my body goes all tingly.
“Oh, can you, then?” I sound as eager as a little puppy, goddammit.
Lame, Aisling.
“Oh, aye,” he says. The key’s just at the edge of the lock, but he doesn’t unfasten me quite yet.
I lick my lips. “I suppose a bloke could…” I let my words trail off a little. “Take advantage of a girl, hmm?”
He nods thoughtfully, takes the keyring, then tosses the bloody thing to the bedside table. It hits the center with a clink.
He sits on the edge of the bed but doesn’t touch me. His eyes rove over my body.
“Could kiss every inch of you,” he says thoughtfully. “Lick and suckle my way down your body until you nearly came out of your skin.”
My body heats, and my breathing hitches.
“I could eat out that pretty pussy of yours until you came on my tongue,” he says softly, stroking his beard. His trousers tent, and it makes me even more eager for him than ever. I squeeze my thighs together as he continues. “I bet I could make you come in multiples.”
“If memory serves, you already have,” I mutter. “Multiple multiples.”
“Oh, I mean just with my tongue,” he says with nonchalance that sends my heartbeat skipping even harder.
“Sounds… um, good,” I whisper.
He stands and reaches for the edge of his t-shirt. Even his fluid movements as he tugs his shirt off and tosses it to the side make me eager for him. He’s all corded strength and ripped sinew, unbridled power and grace, and I fucking want him. He knows how to orchestrate my body, and he does it so bloody well.
He rejoins me in the bed wearing only his trousers. One hand on either side of my body, he braces himself above me, leans down, and whispers in my ear, the heat of his body warming mine to my very toes. “I’m not taking these cuffs off until you’ve begged me to come. Begged me.”
I whimper.
His hand comes to my arse, cups it, and gives me a warning squeeze.
“And you know what happens if you come without permission, don’t you?”
“Oh, aye, I could imagine,” I say with a forced laugh. “I get bloody well punished, don’t I?”
“Mhm,” he says with a nod. “Of course you do.” He nips my earlobe, and I’m so primed, my hips jerk involuntarily. “What methods of punishment could I use, Aisling?”
I’m trembling and needy, and he’s hardly touched me. “A… spanking?”
“Of course. I could put you over my lap and spank you until you begged for mercy, couldn’t I?”
“Ah, yep,” I say, still trying to keep my head in the game, but I’m trembling.
“Or I could tie you up and flog you.”
I squeak a little. “Flog me? Sounds… hardcore.”
He shrugs, trailing his tongue down my neck. “Oh, I could do hardcore.”
“I’ve every confidence you could. What would… that entail?”
He kisses my shoulder gently. “Punishing your arse properly with a good spanking and a bloody good fucking.”
Oh, God.
“So that every movement reminded you of me.”
“Simple as that, eh?” I say with another forced laugh. “Couldn’t just…text me?”
Knock, knock, knock.
He scowls, and for one brief second, I imagine I can see the old Tiernan, the younger man I knew when I was only a child myself.
“Bloody hell,” he mutters. “Who the hell is it?”
He glares at the cuffs. “You stay right here.”
I roll my eyes heavenward. “Still not planning on it.”
He tugs his t-shirt on and shuts the door hard behind him. It closes with a bang. I perk up my ears, and listen for what I can hear. I’m trembling, still cuffed to the bed. Is it the doctor again? But no, the voices are feminine.
Tiernan’s voice is harsh and low, and I can’t make out the words. I expect he’ll send them away, but he doesn’t. The voices rise and fall, and a moment later, he enters the room, just opening the door enough to slip in, then shuts it behind him.
“You’ve got company,” he says with a frown, his arms crossed on his chest. My heart beats hard and fast, and I try to sit up but can’t with my wrists cuffed.
“Who the hell is it?” I ask, more than a little grumpy that we got interrupted when he was no doubt going to do those wicked, lovely things he does to me.
He kneels on the edge of the bed and unfastens the handcuffs, then reaches for my hand and sighs. He sits beside me.
“The women of the Clan have come to pay you a visit.”
My breathing becomes ragged. “Women of the Clan?” I whisper. “Really, Tiernan? You mean… your sister?”
He squeezes my hand reassuringly. “Fiona’s here, but she isn’t alone. She’s come with Maeve and Caitlin. Do you remember them, lass?”
I shake my head… “Well, a little,” I say with a frown. “But honest to God, Tiernan, I’m… indisposed to have company.”
He smiles. “They’ve actually come to help with that.”
My cheeks flush. I shake my head. “No. Please, no. I… I don’t want any visitors, especially them.”
He bends and kisses my forehead. “I wish I could honor that, but Keenan sent them.”
“Keenan?” I fucking hate him right then.
“Aye, lass, Clan Chief.”
“I know who he bloody is.”
He quirks a brow at me. “When Keenan gives an order, we obey.”
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Or what?” I snap. “Surely he doesn’t command even the women of the Clan, Tiernan?”
He smiles. “The women obey as well.”
This right here is why I don’t belong here, why I need to leave. If I’m going to retain any of my autonomy, I need to leave now. But how? I’m not free to. I’m a prisoner with certain… privileges.
“Get up and dressed, lass,” he says, lifting the bedsheet. “And I’ll bring you out to them.”
A part of me doesn’t really want to fight this, because a part of me wants to talk to a friend.
What if they judge me? What if they’re mean, like women can be? Cruel and judgmental? Will they gossip about me when they leave? Will it be weird if they know I’m prisoner to Tiernan, that he commands me?
I quickly get ready. It seems I don’t have much of a choice. I brush my hair and splash some water on my face. I tug on a pair of joggers and a t-shirt, and glance at myself in the mirror. Simple but sober. I’ll do.
I’m trembling when I go out to meet him. He’s standing with his hands in his pockets, staring out the window at the churning sea. He looks over his shoulder when I enter the room, and his eyes widen a bit.
“You look fucking beautiful,” he says.
I actually look down in surprise. “Really?” I say incredulously. “I’m literally wearing joggers and a t-shirt.”
He grins, prowling over to me. “Oh, aye,” he says with a smirk. “But I know what’s under those joggers and tee.”
My belly swoops and my pulse races. He kisses my cheek. “Honestly, Ais, you look stunning, even in simple things like that.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He reaches for my hand. “I’ll bring you out. And remember, you behave yourself. That’s my sister and adopted mum out there, you hear?”
I frown at him. “What do you think I’ll do, curse them out or something?”
He rolls his e
yes. “I don’t know. That mouth of yours is a bit unpredictable, you know.”
I stick out my tongue, and he gives me a playful smack to the arse. It does little to soothe my fraught nerves.
They must’ve heard me when I lost my mind. They know that I’ve been… addicted and… loose.
When he reaches to open the door, I bury my head against his arm and can’t look up.
“Oh, Tiernan.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t do it.”
He doesn’t scold or lecture or force the issue. Instead, he releases my hand so he can cup my face between both of his. His eyes bore into mine, making my heart stutter. We’ve only been this close for a few days, but something about my depending on him, his watching over me, has drawn us closer together. I can feel the intensity in his gaze that hits every nerve in my body, the possessive, wild look he gets when he’s intent on something.
“What?” I whisper.
“You can do this,” he says in a vehement whisper. “And you must. I know you’ve got what it takes to be brave, Aisling. You do. And those women out there are the fiercest, strongest women I know.” He kisses me full on the lips, and I come up on my toes, immediately drowning in this kiss. He releases me, and I exhale, coming back to earth. “And you are brave and fierce enough that you belong among them.”
I shake my head. “How can you say that?” I whisper. “Tiernan, I—you saw me at my worst.”
“I saw you battle fucking demons full-grown men can’t battle. You’ve been brave before. Be brave again, Aisling.”
Tears well in my eyes. I look away so he doesn’t see. Drawing in a deep breath, I square my shoulders. What’s the worst that could happen? They hate me? I’ve been there before.
“That’s my girl,” he says with a note of unmistakable pride in his voice.
He opens the door and we walk out, hand in hand. The chattering ceases. I swallow hard, but force myself to keep my eyes trained forward.
Be brave.
Fiona’s older than she was the last time I saw her, of course, but she’s got the same fetching eyes, flaming red hair, and roguish grin.
“Aisling,” she says warmly. “Y’alright?”
She rises and comes to me, crossing the room as if no time’s passed at all. Tiernan lets go of my hand and Fiona wraps me in a hug. I lean into her embrace, and my throat gets tight, my nose all tingly.
“Had a right go of it, didn’t you?” she says, pulling away so she can hold my hands and look into my eyes. The intensity of the bloody Hurston’s will do my head in.
“Aye,” I say, my voice thick with emotion. “I did. But you’ve done well for yourself, I hear.”
She shrugs modestly.
“Now, Fiona, come share the lass, will you?”
Maeve’s sitting, perched at the end of a loveseat. She smiles and rises to her feet. Her reddish hair’s gray at the temples, twisted in a bun at the nape of her neck. She looks older than when I knew her, but her eyes are still young and childlike.
“Do you remember me, lass?”
I nod shyly. “I do.”
Like Fiona, she embraces me warmly, but she kisses each of my cheeks.
“Come and sit with us,” she says. “I’ll introduce you to Caitlin.”
Caitlin’s Keenan’s woman, wife to the chief. A matriarch-in-training, then, one might say.
Thankfully, she doesn’t rise, but stays seated, her hands clasped over a knee. It puts me at ease.
“Pleased to meet you,” she says in a soft voice. She doesn’t have the Irish brogue like the others, but speaks with an American accent. Caitlin’s tall and willowy with dark black hair that contrasts dramatically with her pale complexion and stark blue eyes.
“Hello,” I say shyly. I don’t know where to sit or what to say next. Thankfully, Tiernan does.
“Tea, girls?” he asks.
“And this is why you’re my favorite,” Maeve says with a grin. “Still calls me girl. Seamus would’ve liked you, son.”
“Aye, Tiernan, please.” I’m suddenly exhausted.
I look around the room, and Fiona pats the seat next to her. “Come here and sit beside me, Aisling.”
I do.
“Now, then,” Maeve says, still smiling. “You’ve grown up to be a beautiful woman.”
“Thank you.” I feel shy and reserved.
“We’ll speak plainly, Aisling,” Caitlin says, her pretty eyes sober. “We know that you’ve seen Tiernan take a life. You were chief witness.”
I swallow hard and nod. “I did.”
Maeve’s eyes look troubled. “Are you alright, lass?”
I sigh and nod. “I’ll pay you the courtesy of speaking plainly as well, then. The night of that fight, I wasn’t sober. I was high as a kite, to be honest. And I don’t remember… much of anything except making a damn fool of myself.”
Fiona’s brows draw together. She sighs. “You looked like you were in so much pain. I felt so terrible for you.”
There was a woman who wept in the hallway when I did. It was her, then.
“It was bloody awful,” I say, my voice hoarse. “But Sebastian and… and Tiernan helped.”
Fiona’s eyes go from me to Tiernan, who’s putting teacups and saucers out.
Maeve leans in, her eyes twinkling. “Makes a bloody good cup of tea, he does.”
“Good. Could use a cup laced with the good stuff.”
Caitlin giggles, and Fiona grins. Tiernan frowns. “I don’t think so, lass.”
I roll my eyes. “It was sarcasm, Tiernan.”
“Saw that,” he mutters. I shake my head.
“Oh, they’re all the same,” Fiona whispers. “Goddamn bossy, eh?”
We share a smile. “Oh, aye.” I used to give her crap about the way Lachlan bossed her around. Now it looks as if I’ve got a caveman of my own.
“Now, we’ve come to help, Aisling. If you’re to be a woman of the Clan, we wanted to give you a proper Clan welcome.”
“Ah, no,” Tiernan says, pouring the steaming hot water. “She’s coming with me to St. Albert’s.”
“Doesn’t have to be anything formal, Tiernan,” Caitlin says. “I just meant that the women wanted to welcome her is all.”
Why would I need a Clan welcome when I’m only here for a brief time?
What will happen to me after this?
Caitlin smiles. “Would’ve brought Megan and Aileen as well, and even Sheena would’ve liked to see you again, but we didn’t want to overwhelm you.”
I nod. “Appreciated.”
“Now tell us, Aisling,” Maeve says, her eyes growing sober. I can see why she’s garnered respect from the highhanded men of the Clan. “Are you sober?”
“Aye,” Tiernan says. “Fully.”
I nod and swallow. “Aye.”
“Ah, good to hear,” she says, her eyes warming. “I’d hate for you to still suffer.”
Though the worst of it’s over, I still do feel the withdrawal symptoms. I’m ashamed I ever let any of that into my body.
“Do you have anything with you?” Fiona asks. “Any of your belongings?”
I shake my head.
“Good, then,” she says with a grin. “Will give us an excuse to shop!”
I must look bewildered, for Maeve grins at me. “We’re always looking for an excuse to shop. We’ll get you right fixed for your trip to the school.”
I look sharply at Tiernan. “School?”
He sighs. “Was planning on telling you that. We’re heading to St. Albert’s for the weekend.”
“St. Albert’s?”
He nods. “Aye. It’s the Clan finishing school. I went there myself as a lad. Keenan’s afraid if word gets out what happened, investigations will happen here. If you’re not on the premises… if neither of us are… it’ll go better for us. And there’s enough distance between the school and Ballyhock to ensure that we’ll hear notice before anyone comes looking.”
I don’t want to leave here, but this is
serious business.
“When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow morning, first thing.”
“Good, then,” Fiona says. “We’ve plenty of time.”
I’m eager to have friends again, and feel welcomed by this small group of women.
She places her hand on my knee and gives me a gentle squeeze. “It’s good to have you back, Ais.”
I sigh. Aye. It’s good to have me back, too.
Chapter 11
Tiernan
I hate being the bearer of bad news, but there’s no damn way I’ll allow it.
“Sorry, Fiona, but no,” I tell her. Aisling’s not going anywhere.
“Tiernan,” Maeve says. “Does anyone even know she’s here?”
“Doesn’t matter. The long and short of it is, I won’t jeopardize her safety by allowing her to go into the town centre.”
“Even with a guard?” Maeve asks, but she isn’t just giving me crap. She wants to truly know.
I sigh, and give them all sober looks. They need to know how serious this is, as they weren’t privy to the conversation with the men this morning.
“Even with a guard.”
Fiona’s cheeks flush pink, but Caitlin and Maeve nod.
“Tiernan, for Christ’s sake,” Fiona snaps. “She’s free to—”
Caitlin clears her throat. “She isn’t, though, Fiona.”
Maeve nods. “Aye. And y’ought to know that, love.”
Fiona opens her mouth, then shuts it, her cheeks flushing even deeper red. She follows Clan expectations when it comes to respect for Keenan, or even her husband, Lachlan. But it seems when it comes to her older brother, it’s a different story.
I cross my arms and lean against the counter, unmoved.
“It’s my hope there comes a time when you girls can shop to your heart’s content,” I tell them honestly. How I wouldn’t fucking love to spoil Aisling, give her a pocketful of cash and plastic and tell her to buy whatever the hell she wants. “But now isn’t the time. Now we need to focus on safety.”