Where the Streets have no Name

by Taylor, Danielle

  Suddenly, Amelia smiled and said, “Hey, I think there’s a ferry boat around here. Can we take it?”

  Daniel tried to recall if he’d ever taken a ferry before. Not a single memory came to the forefront of his mind. Maybe he hadn’t. There had never been much money to go around growing up and from birth until the day he was arrested and sentenced, he hadn’t gone on any vacations.

  “Sure,” he said.

  He followed the directions she gave and they ended up on the ferry crossing River Shannon. They’d miss Limerick completely. Good. Just another place to get recognised. Even the hat he picked up from an outdoor clothing shop when they bought raincoats didn’t do much to disguise his face. Just like Da, Daniel’s features were very distinctive. Sometimes it worked in his favour.

  Most of the time, however, he thought his face was like a curse. Especially since the bombing that took his life away. People either recognised him – which he couldn’t do a damned thing about – or they stared, and that made him just as uncomfortable.

  When Amelia stared at him, his pulse sped up and he wanted nothing more than to kiss every inch of her face, then spear her with his cock and watch the look of ecstasy in her eyes. Feel her heat gripping him tight. Feel her lose herself in his arms.

  The car was parked in with the rest and since they’d spent a good few hours sitting today, he suggested the stretch their legs. Amelia stood overlooking the river with her arms wrapped around her midsection. How he wished he could take their place and hold her tight. Feel the heat of her body pressed to his; enjoy the curve of her arse hugging his erection. Instead he stood next to her with an arm draped over her shoulders. And it was deplorable, but damn he wanted her, even now.

  “Tell me about your parents, Daniel.”

  Nothing brought a man from sixty to zero like asking about his deceased parents.

  “Not much to say.” He shifted his weight, nervous from the change in the air. “Why eh, why do you ask?”

  A soft sigh escaped her. “I have to call my parents in a bit. I got an email from them. They’re…worried.”

  “Ring them then.” He didn’t want to be the reason she neglected her family. “I’ll go wait in the car, give you some privacy.”

  Selfishly, he stole a kiss from her. A light peck on the lips turned into something deeper. Something sensual. Her body flowed against him like liquid silk. Arms weaved through his hair at the nape of his neck, beneath the edge of his hat. With each possessive swipe of his tongue he told her without words how he felt.

  Before he dragged her back to the car with him, stripped her bare, and plunged his throbbing cock into the sweet, moist heat between her thighs, Daniel ended the kiss, resting his forehead against hers. The words were on his tongue.

  Rather than letting them slip, he touched his lips to the top of her head, then made his way back to the car to wait and give her some privacy.

  Amelia hated to lie, but she needed to call her private investigator and discuss the information he gathered without Daniel listening in. In the email he sent her, Mark Butler uncovered a lot more than he thought he would regarding Daniel and the false charges against him. And Mark said he had some very good news to share with her.

  Quickly, she dialled his number and hit the call button, glancing around to make sure Daniel wouldn’t overhear anything. He was in the car with the door closed almost thirty feet away. No chance of being overheard by him. Good.

  She still felt terrible for going behind his back, but if it meant his name would be cleared and he’d be granted a second chance, she’d take any anger directed at her for going behind his back.

  “Amelia,” Mark said when he answered the phone. “Thanks for returning my call.”

  “Of course. Tell me what you’ve got.”

  “Enough to get Daniel Byrne pardoned and issued a formal apology from the government,” Mark told her, explaining in detail his findings. “And I’ve got Riley, on tape, admitting his part in the bombing. He said, and I quote, ‘I hit two birds with one stone; my ex and my bit on the side. The wife never found out about the two extra kids I almost had.’ The guy is a first class son of a bitch.”

  The words hit Amelia square in the chest with enough force that her breath stuttered and nausea roiled in her gut. “He…he didn’t…”

  “I’ve got the entire conversation recorded,” Mark said. “Want to hear it?”

  “No!” Amelia would no doubt lose her lunch if she heard the bastard’s voice. “No, that’s fine.” She could not sit through the admission of a man killing two innocent women and their unborn children just to hide his infidelities. “Just…get it where it needs to go to clear his name.”

  “Want me to do it in person?”

  “Of course.” Amelia didn’t trust any other method at the moment. Too much was at stake. She’d not risk Daniel’s freedom on a technicality. “All your expenses will be paid. Coordinate with Gabriella Swanson – you’ve got her number. She’ll make sure payments go through.”

  “Sure thing, Amelia. I’ll do what needs to be done and call you when I’m finished.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Amelia disconnected the call and tucked her cell in her shoulder bag. Peering over her shoulder through a curtain of her hair, she glanced back at the car to find Daniel’s eyes on her. He looked away, then flicked his gaze back, like looking away from her for too long was a crime.

  A smile played on her lips as she made her way to the car and she realised that Daniel filled up the cracks in her heart from losing Poppa. He might be gone, but he’d always live on in her heart, and letting the organ remain smashed to pieces served no purpose.

  It was like living in a broken house. People got their houses repaired instead of living in drafts. So although she’d lost Poppa forever, he’d had a full life, and he would want her to enjoy hers. All the injustices in the world weren’t hers to fix, but she couldn’t sit idly by when it was in her power to do something for Daniel. And making sure his name was cleared gave her a sense of accomplishment.

  “What do you look so happy about?” Daniel asked when she dropped into the passenger seat of the car.

  She turned to him, ignoring the ferry boat docking and people milling around them, and fought the urge to hold his jaw in her hands and kiss him senseless. He made her so happy she could dance like no one was watching.

  Amelia took his hand, threading her fingers in his. “Just glad to be here with you,” she admitted truthfully. “That’s all.”

  Daniel laughed. “You’re likely to give me a complex if you keep this up, lass.”

  The dock master motioned for them to pull up and whatever response she’d come up with drifted in the fresh late summer wind. Amelia enjoyed being in public with Daniel when he was relaxed, but at times she wanted and needed nothing more than his hands on her skin, his lips on her mouth, and his cock buried deep inside her.

  They stopped for the night at a bed and breakfast overlooking a beach near Doonberg, facing the Atlantic. Dinners weren’t served here – they had to travel to the pub back up on the main road – which suited them just fine. They had plenty of time before they needed to get something for supper and the pub served meals until nine o’clock at night. They had four hours to do whatever they wanted.

  “So,” Daniel said, looking nervously around the room.

  “So,” Amelia spoke at the same moment.

  They both laughed. In the next beat of her heart the tension in the room was so thick she could scoop it up with a spoon.

  She wanted to do something for him. To feel him at her mercy again. And if the straining fabric at the zipper of his jeans told her anything, he’d have no problems letting her do what she wanted. Kneeling in front of him, Amelia worked his belt buckle loose, then focused her attention to the bulge in front of her. She unzipped his jeans and reached inside for his erection, sliding her tongue out to taste the pearly white liquid squeezing from the tip.

  Before Daniel could stop her, she sucked
him into her mouth and pulled him deep, until he hit the back of her throat. One of his hands caressed her cheek and Amelia moaned. She wanted to please him. Needed to please him. This was her way of showing him how much she cared, even if she couldn’t find the words to say how she felt out loud.

  Amelia’s mouth on him became Daniel’s undoing. Her soft, sexy moans vibrated the length of his cock. This time she wasn’t hesitant. She took him deep, curling her tongue along the underside, sucking and licking him like her favourite treat. His body tightened. Thighs trembled. Cursing, Daniel thrust his hands in her hair, trying not to force the entire length of his cock down her throat.

  His release shot through him with the force of a freight train, pulsing into the wet heat of her mouth. Greedily, Amelia sucked every last drop from him, her eyes looking up into his through those black rimmed glasses. Jaysus, she hadn’t a clue how feckin’ sexy she was.

  Daniel yanked her to her feet a little rougher than he meant to. But damn it, she made him lose control. Made him bloody mad with wanting her. Now he planned on showing her just how much fire she played with each time she took the control of his body and its reactions out of his hands.

  The blue of her eyes darkened. Her lips parted, breaths quickened. He lost himself again and crushed his mouth to hers, filling his hands with her curves. Her body responded to him instantly; just as his did with hers. Nipples tightened beneath his palms. She arched her back, melting against him, flowing like satin.

  “Daniel,” she moaned, head thrown back in reckless abandon.

  “Aye love.” He kissed his way down to her throat, brushing his thumb over her nipple, feeling the bud tighten further. She shuddered in his arms, her moans spurring him on. “What do you want, Amelia?”

  Her long legs scrambled around his waist and her core rubbed against his growing erection. “You, Daniel.” She rained hot, open-mouthed kisses along his jaw while her hips continued grinding. “God, I want you so bad. I can’t stand it.”

  His cock was bare, hard and wanting again. Delicious heat. Friction. And she was so feckin’ wet, soaking through her trousers, sliding over him.

  Daniel dropped her roughly to her feet and in seconds, he stripped her to nothing. For a moment he stared, taking his fill. She stood there with nothing on, not bothering to cover herself. Her cheeks were flushed, hair mussed from his fingers, lips swollen and ruby red from his kisses.

  His gaze dropped to her chest, flushed with arousal. Dusky rose-tipped nipples erect and needing his mouth on them. The flat, smooth expanse of her abdomen, leading to trimmed curls glistening…

  Daniel dropped to his knees, yanking her towards him. He filled his hands with the curves of her arse, angling her where he wanted her. So soft. Amelia gasped, staring down at him, desire swirling in the depths of her eyes. He licked his lips, then inhaled her musky-sweet scent. Amelia sunk her hands into his hair at the same time he ran his tongue along her slick folds. When he reached the firm bud at the top of her, Daniel sucked her clit into his mouth.

  “Oh!” she cried out, clutching his hair, forcing his mouth deeper.

  Chuckling, he obliged, working his tongue harder, faster. Her hips bucked and writhed, body trembled. Her breath did that thing when she was coming, hitching and gasping mingled with pleasured moans. Daniel pushed on, showing her two could play the game. He was every bit as capable of making her lose herself in the moment.

  Except it was he who lost control again, lifting her in his arms and thrusting his cock into her snug heat, sheathing himself fully. Bracing their weight on his own two feet, he slammed in and out of her, swallowing her cries with his mouth. Daniel went wild. Primal. He took and gave and nothing mattered but the feel of Amelia, accepting him as he was, wanting him with the same intense and unyielding need.

  She clenched around him, her orgasm milking him, tearing his self-control to shreds. Daniel came with a hoarse shout of her name, his seed jetting inside her. They trembled together, clutching one another tight. Tension flickered around them, hot and thick and wild. Again, the words made their way to the tip of his tongue. And again he held them back. Though he felt like one, he wasn’t some eejit schoolboy trying to tell a girl how he felt.

  Amelia shuddered, draping herself on his chest. Their heartbeats slammed together, chest to chest, slick with sweat. Daniel walked backwards until his thighs felt the bed behind him. Keeping their bodies joined, he dropped down on the mattress. Amelia’s legs were wrapped tight around his waist, her arms in a death grip around his neck. She touched her lips to his jaw and earlobe in sweet little kisses.

  He felt them all the way down to his soul. His woman was satisfied. His woman. Daniel like the sound of that. Mine. Hers. He was hers, aye. No question about it.

  “Daniel,” she sighed, her breath still shaky.

  “Aye, love.” Working his way to her lips, he kissed her soundly, once again saying with his body what his brain wouldn’t let his tongue admit.

  I love you, lass.

  His tongue swiped against hers, curling, like an intimate embrace.

  You’ve got my heart, Amelia.

  He tightened his hold on her body.

  And you always will.

  She whimpered and her core squeezed him. Daniel felt all his blood rush south and he grew hard inside her again.

  Too busy making love and talking about mindless things like their ideal dream home and books and places they wanted to visit, they’d missed dinner. Amelia didn’t care though. Yesterday they’d picked up a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and some plastic picnic cutlery, just in case. She’d eat plain peanut butter sandwiches at every meal if it meant she could spend eternity in Daniel’s embrace.

  Finished with their meal, Daniel and Amelia cuddled in bed, the television on but the sound low. Neither paid much attention to the older movie playing. She was too busy staring into his eyes, loosing herself in their stormy depths.

  “You’re staring, love.” He smoothed a hand over her hair, curling around her ear, stroking her cheek, following an invisible line to where her neck met her shoulder.

  “I can’t help it.” The urge to kiss him overpowered her. Amelia leaned up and pressed her lips to his jawline. “You’re just so…” She swallowed down her nerves “…sexy.”

  Daniel laughed and pulled her closer, wrapping her legs around his. “I don’t think I’ve been called sexy before. Ever.”

  She pressed her face to his throat, revelling in the warmth and his spicy male scent. “You are.”

  “Sure, lass. Whatever you say.” Deep, sensual laughter rumbled in his chest. “But you’re the gorgeous one. And not just on the outside, Amelia. You…you make me feel like I’m important, love. Like I matter.”

  Anger built up in her chest, burning hot. She sat up, ignoring her nakedness and his eyes on her breasts. Amelia framed Daniel’s face in her hands. His stubble felt rough against her palms. “You are important, Daniel. You do matter. You’re important to me. So important.”

  “Amelia–”

  “Don’t.” She pressed a finger to his lips…lips that had touched parts of her no other man ever had. “Don’t deny it, Daniel. You can’t. You don’t know what’s in my head.” Or my heart. “Only I do, and I’m telling you, you’re important.” You’re everything. “I wouldn’t lie about that. I wouldn’t deny it, either.”

  “Ah love.” He pulled her into his arms again, holding her close, like he couldn’t get enough of her. “Amelia…you’re important too. More than I can express, you’re important.”

  The lit numbers on the alarm clock on the bedside table flashed ten forty-three as Amelia relaxed in Daniel’s arms, a smile on her lips and hope in her heart for the future. Their future. Maybe, just maybe…

  She and Daniel might be able to work. Regardless of the past, she’d help him with the future. She hoped he wanted her in his as much as she wanted him in hers.

  Two weeks after the day they met, Daniel drove into all too familiar territory. Nerves on full alert
, he considered trying again to tell Amelia who he really was and where he’d been for the last fifteen years. But now that he was so far gone, so wrapped up in love with her that he’d never be able to untangle himself, fear of losing her kept him from making that call.

  Tonight she wanted to go out, to a pub, and have a few drinks while listening to a band. If only he’d gone into the shop instead of her, she wouldn’t have known about the little ceilidh celebration happening tonight.

  He shouldn’t have come in here, but Amelia insisted, so Daniel acquiesced. The pub had live music tonight, which of course meant plenty of drunks and rowdies, maybe a few brawls in the not too distant future. And, just the same as every other door he opened, on the other side Daniel was greeted with stares. Fifteen years after the fact and not a single person in the tiny village he grew up in failed to recognize him.

  At least the music never stopped, though it did skip a few beats and the band took a moment to right themselves. Amelia grabbed two of his fingers, the most she could fit into her little hand, and dragged him towards the bar. Seemed the lass had put herself on a mission of sorts, but he didn’t have the mind to figure her out with nearly fifty pairs of eyes on him. Nor did he truly hear her when she asked what he wanted to drink. So she ordered a pint and a cup of coffee; no doubt who would be getting what there.

  Trouble. He knew it well and right now, the air had a scent to it. This was too close to home and Daniel never should have agreed to stop for the night. It wasn’t yet too late and they had the tent in the boot, as well as plenty of guest houses along the way. These people were just aching for a fight. That scent, a mixture of warmed bodies, heated with rage, stale cigarettes, snuff and alcohol permeated the small building. No, trouble wasn’t just brewing. The bottle had been shaken and the top was about to blow off.