She Likes It Irish

by Sophia Ryan

  She stopped again, facing him with a spark of anger. “Girls like me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Ones with gorgeous green eyes that could stop a man’s heart and sweet lips that could bring him back to life with a single kiss.”

  Though she knew a line of bull when she heard it, that damn sexy accent sent chills skating up and down her body and left her blushing and struggling for a response that didn’t include giggling or babbling.

  “I’m not incapable of getting a boyfriend, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “I’d have one if I wanted one.”

  His eyes were staring so deeply into hers that she was sure he could read the real reason she didn’t have a boyfriend. She lost her mind completely when he reached out and brushed a thick strand of hair from her face with his fingertips. Her skin heated under his touch and her bones began to slowly melt.

  “Do you?” Sean breathed the words more than spoke them.

  Shit! She’d forgotten the question. “Do I what?”

  “Want someone?”

  “What I want is…” Oh, my God, you! “…to focus on finishing my degree.”

  “Can’t you juggle the books and a lover at the same time?”

  “I could. I choose not to.” She kept walking and took a deep breath to steady herself. He was right beside her.

  After a short pause, he interrupted the quiet night again with another question. “Would you like to know whether I have a girlfriend?”

  Oh, God, yes! “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me whether I want to know or not.”

  “I’m unattached…like you.”

  “What!” she said, increasing the volume of her sarcasm. “You mean a charming guy such as yourself hasn’t found someone special even with a whole campus full of women to choose from? Hot-blooded American women, by the way, who fantasize about dropping their drawers for a guy with an Irish brogue.”

  “Tell me, Kristin, is this your fantasy as well?” She felt his hand brush hers, and then one finger hooked hers, sending tingles up her arm and straight to her heart. “If so, I’d be happy to make it come true.”

  Her face burned hot in the cold night as her mind scanned her list of top ten fantasies and found being with an Irish hunk sitting at numero uno. It was crazy how he knew just what to say to stop her heart. It was as if he could see inside her, see all her bottled-up secrets that longed to come out and be shared with that special someone she’d been looking for her entire life. Damn him!

  She struggled for control over her emotions and moved her hand away from his. “Now I understand the problem. With that ego, I bet you’re looking for someone with the face of a movie star, the body of a model, the skills of a porn star, and the IQ of a gnat.”

  He stopped and grabbed her hand so she would stop, too. His gaze locked on hers as he slid his hand around her waist and settled it at her lower back. Applying almost imperceptible pressure, he maneuvered her closer until mere inches separated her body from his.

  “No,” he said, his voice somewhere between a whisper and a caress. “I’m looking for a woman who is so filled with passion that she’ll beat down a stranger’s door for a cup of condoms just to have me.”

  Cold air wrapped around them in the stillness, uniting them. Breaths of steam exited their mouths in sync, mated in the air, and dissipated as one.

  Shivering to dislodge the troupe of chill bumps that had settled down on her like snowflakes, she swallowed and steadied herself to speak.

  “Don’t mistake my actions,” she answered, her voice low and soft, like she was confessing her sins to him. “I just needed someone tonight.”

  “I don’t mistake your passion.” His voice matched hers in tone and volume, once again showing how in sync they were. “I saw it on your face when I opened my door.” He ran his thumb along her jaw line then touched the corner of her mouth. “And it wasn’t for Randy.”

  He was right, of course. The second he’d opened his door, she had known without a single doubt that Randy had been a mistake. The desire she had felt for Sean at that moment was still alive and well. She could feel it, and he could see it. His eyes roamed hungrily over her face. She felt the warmth of his touch and his breath on her skin. Smelled his hard body, his desire. She felt the tug of him deep inside her. He wanted her, she wanted him. All the pieces were in place.

  It would be a simple thing to shift closer, ease deeper into his embrace. Lift her mouth to his and let his kisses drive away all thoughts from her troubled mind. Let his hands remind her that she was a woman, with a woman’s need for a man. And not just any man…a man like him. No, not like him…him. Let his sexy, hard body satisfy that need. And he could do it. Of that she was fully convinced. The man radiated strength and sexual prowess. He would know how to fuck a woman, how to please her, to distraction.

  Even as she shivered at the idea of what he could do to her, she knew it would be a mistake. He was her type—a love-her-and-leave-her kind of guy who would thrash her heart as easily as he had won it—unfortunately. The type she was trying to stay away from. She forced herself to step back from his embrace.

  “Why would you think that?” she said and turned away from him to keep walking.

  “Because Randy’s not your type,” Sean said, right by her side.

  Shit! Was he a mind reader, too? “After knowing me for all of, what, five minutes, you’re an authority on my type?”

  “I know the guys on my floor. Randy’s definitely wrong for you.”

  “I hope the university is paying you mega bucks for your amazing talents of deduction.”

  “No mega bucks. But I do get to escort beautiful women to their dorm.”

  She felt her heart swell as his meaning sank in. That was twice he’d called her beautiful. “Doesn’t sound like much of a reward, if you ask me,” she said.

  “All of life’s miracles are rewarding, darlin’. Some are just more…pleasurable.” At the last word, he let his eyes roam over her body, then took a deep breath and released it slowly.

  His emphasis on the word, and the knowledge that he appreciated her body, settled hot and heavy between her legs. Realizing she was holding her breath, she exhaled.

  “Is that some old Irish saying?”

  “New Irish saying. I made it up myself. Just now. Are you impressed?”

  “I’m impressed you can still move after being out in this cold without pants.”

  “If you’re worried about me, you could invite me in.” He nodded his head toward the building looming before them. “A little body-to-body contact could save my life.”

  Sudden and deep regret filled her when she saw they were already at the entrance to her dorm. “Well, I would, but men aren’t allowed in the dorms after midnight. And it’s now,” she glanced at her wrist where her watch would be if she’d worn it, “later than that. But thanks for the escort.”

  She turned away from him and grabbed the door. It wouldn’t budge. Locked.

  “Shit.” She cupped her hands on the window and peered into the building to check for any movement. The front desk and reception area, which closed at one, were dark and deserted.

  “Lost your key in that mess at Randy’s?” he asked.

  “No. It’s in my room, sitting on my desk.” She tapped her head on the window, feeling like an idiot.

  “Can you call someone to let you in?”

  “My phone’s sitting next to my key, so I don’t have anyone’s number.”

  “Now that’s a real shame. Well, good night.” He held up his hand and turned to leave.

  Regret scurried across her skin. “You’re just going to leave me here? Alone? In the dark?”

  He turned back to her, and the warm gleam in his eyes chased away the chill sheeting her skin.

  “I’ll stay... If you warm me up.” He stepped closer as if to pull her against him, but she moved back and crashed into the glass door.

  “It’s your fault
we’re out here, Irish. If you’d just stayed out of my business, we’d both be warm right now.”

  “You invited me into your business when you knocked on my door, asking for condoms. Who’s your RA?” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Natalia something.”

  “Nattie Jones?”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  He punched in several numbers. “You’d have been warm but miserable because you slept with the wrong guy. Hey, Nattie. Sean O’Neill. Good. You? Oh, sorry to wake you, but I’m downstairs with one of your residents who needs in. Fantastic. Thanks, love.” He hung up. “She’ll be right down.”

  “My, aren’t you the charmer. I could hear her giggling from here.”

  “Now, darlin’, don’t be jealous and hating on poor Nattie.”

  “Jealous?” she scoffed. “Why would I be jealous?”

  “I saw you checking out my boxers.”

  Heat bloomed in her cheeks as Kristin fought to keep her mind and her eyes off his boxers—well, what was in his boxers. She couldn’t help herself. Her gaze went right to where the red lips seemed to pout atop the Blarney Stone. The material rose. She shifted her eyes quickly to his face. To the sexy little grin on his face. To his laughing eyes. Busted!

  The buzzer sounded and the door clicked, signaling that it was unlocked and she could turn away from those smug, knowing eyes.

  “Good night, Blarney Stone,” she said and reached for the handle, but he was already behind her, opening the door for her.

  “Sleep well, darlin’.” The whisper in his voice tickled her ear, and she turned to face him. He was so close she could smell the minty sweetness of his breath. So close she could see that his eyes were indigo not black. So close that if she lifted her face but a few inches she could taste his lips.

  Sean was absolutely right: Randy was the wrong guy for her in every way. Sean, on the other hand, was looking more and more like a wish she had made on a four-leaf clover. Despite the fact that his body shivered from the cold, he was holding the door for her until she got inside. He didn’t know her, but had escorted her all the way home in the cold February weather and stayed until she was safely inside her building. Randy hadn’t even offered and she knew him—had been heartbeats away from sleeping with him.

  The tenderness she felt for Sean at that moment lifted her hand to his shoulder. She let her hand slide down his arm slowly from shoulder to wrist, her fingers caressing every muscle along the way and helping her remember what they looked like without the jacket covering them. “Thank you.”

  He caught her hand when it ended its trek and slid his fingers softly between hers, casually linking them. “For walking you home or for ruining your night?”

  “Both,” she said. “And sorry if anything…” she glanced down, “…froze.”

  “If it did, it was worth it.”

  She smiled. “Well…see you around.”

  “Count on it.” He winked at her.

  She turned to go in, and he let her hand slip away.

  “Oh, about your breasts…” he started.

  She nearly ran into the door spinning back toward him. “What?”

  “Never mind. You better get inside. G’night.” He smiled, released the door, and moved away slowly, still facing her.

  “No, tell me,” she said.

  Sean was just out of reach. She could grab his arm, stop him, get him to finish his comment, but she’d have to let go of the door. A girl doesn’t let a comment about her breasts go she reasoned as the door locked in place behind her.

  “Sean,” she said, grabbing his arm.

  “Yes?” he teased, the ever-present smile in place.

  “Tell me!”

  He reached his hand into his sweatshirt pocket, pulled out something pink, and held it up by a strap. Chuckling, she lifted her bra from his finger, but he closed his finger over the strap before she could free it.

  “Just so you know—it’s not this pink thing that makes your breasts look spectacular.”

  Her breath left her lungs, and she longed to yank him hard against her and kiss the breath from his lungs.

  “Are you coming in or not?” someone shouted from the door.

  The voice broke their connection and they turned toward it. Nattie stood in the open doorway, hands on her round hips, blonde hair wound up in a massive clip.

  Sean released Kristin’s bra and she stuffed it inside her jacket.

  “I’m giving up my beauty sleep holding the door open for you,” Nattie said. “Not to mention freezing my ass off.”

  “Nattie, love,” Sean said. “If you get any more beauty sleep, you’ll have to keep the men away with a tazer.”

  She giggled. “Sean, you do my ego good. Now kiss her goodnight so I can get back to my warm bed.”

  Sean looked at Kristin and grinned. “You heard her, darlin’,” he said and stepped closer. “She thinks I should…” his hands settled low and hot on her hips and he eased himself against her, “…kiss you.”

  The touch of his fingertips, his palms, burned through her jeans and singed her skin all the way to her toes. Hot and achy tendrils tugged at her core as he moved even closer, the Blarney Stone brushing against her, his breath warming her lips. He was going to kiss her, and she was going to let him. There were a lot of reasons to stop him. But as her brain fogged over with desire, she couldn’t think of one.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t have to stop him. He stopped on his own. And she realized with a cold and hurtful shock that she was deeply disappointed. Time stood still as he stared into her eyes, and she waited for him to say why.

  “When I kiss you for the first time, I want you to taste only me in your mouth.” He backed away slowly then, maintaining eye contact. A few paces away, he turned and ran back across campus. Pretty fast for someone wearing half-laced boots and thin boxers, she noted before she went in, floating on a warm, fluffy cloud.

  ****

  Sean jogged the rest of the way back to his room, thoughts of Kristin warming him despite the cold.

  What the hell had just happened? That sexual tension running back and forth between them? That electricity sizzling when they touched? His hands still tingled from their brief contact with her hips. Had she felt it too? Fuck, yeah. She wanted him. He was certain of it. The thought spread through him like a licking, consuming fire.

  There wasn’t a thing about her he hadn’t noticed. A cute little nose that turned up slightly at the tip. Green eyes that set his body on fire. A perky round ass that would fill his hands perfectly. Full breasts that would give his mouth and hands hours of pleasure. A smile that sent a bolt of desire straight to his heart. A sexy laugh that made his pulse surge and his cock leap to attention. He was already imagining her long, silky chocolate hair tangling around him during sex. He could hear the sound of her sweet voice screaming his name when he made her come.

  He’d been with a few women since he’d arrived a month ago, always at their initiation, and he willingly lay with them. But he hadn’t wanted them enough to have done the asking or to have invited them back for an encore. He wanted this woman, and once wouldn’t be enough. He was going to have to touch her again. And kiss her. All over her body. Often. And she’d let him. He knew it. And he couldn’t wait.

  Chapter Two

  Kristin prepared herself for the awkwardness of seeing Randy in class by convincing herself that nothing happened.

  So they had kissed.

  So they had seen each other naked.

  So he’d sucked her breasts and fingered her pussy.

  So she’d held his little dick in her hands.

  They hadn’t actually fucked.

  Besides, he had to know that their encounter had been nothing more than a weak moment, brought on by the stress of the assignment and, for her, a long period of abstinence. There was no need for anxious explanations or hasty apologies, she was sure of it.

  That surety, however, didn’t keep her face from flushi
ng hot when Randy looked up from his seat when she walked into class. All through class, she felt his eyes on her. After class, she bolted out as quickly as she could, but he caught up with her outside.

  “Kristin, wait up.” He grabbed her arm to stop her. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?”

  “Hey, Randy.” Her voice was neither friendly nor rude. She didn’t want to be a bitch, but neither did she want him to think they had something.

  “I thought we should talk about, you know, the other night.”

  She held up her hand to stop him. “No, we shouldn’t.”

  “Yeah, but—” He stepped forward and his chest touched her hand.

  “No.” Jerking her hand away, she took a step back and folded her arms across her chest in a protective gesture. Her stomach pitched at the thought of having to hurt his feelings. But she’d do it if he persisted in his attempt to continue what she’d so foolishly started. She would, dammit.

  “Let me finish, will you?”

  She clamped her mouth closed. Fine. She’d hear him out. Then break his heart.

  “Uh, look…” He swallowed. “I regret what happened the other night.”

  A breath of relief rushed from her lips, and her heart lifted out of her stomach. “God, I’m so glad you said that. I totally regret it, too. Good thing Sean stopped us, huh?”

  His eyebrows drew together in an irritated frown. “No, what I mean is that I regret not being prepared. That we didn’t get to, you know, finish what we started.”

  Kristin’s heart dropped back into the pit at every word. Shit! She was going to have to hurt him. And it was all her fault for getting mixed up with him in the first place. She didn’t care about him. Had been willing to use him to satisfy her urges. Stupid urges!

  “And that thing you did,” Randy continued, “asking Sean for a cup of condoms—that was the best thing any girl has ever done for me. We would have used them all.” He stepped closer and tried to take her hand.

  She stepped back, away from his touch. “Look, Randy. You’re a nice guy, but what almost happened the other night is not going to happen again. Ever.”