by Jane Henry
“Good,” he says with a sad smile. He pats Nolan’s shoulder. “Nolan’s a good man. Follow his lead, and he won’t steer you wrong.”
I don’t expect this, and it seems Nolan doesn’t either, for we both stare at him as he leaves the room. The others leave until it’s just me, Nolan, and Keenan left.
“Nolan, stay in touch,” Keenan says. “I want a blow by blow.”
Nolan nods. “Aye. I’m sorry, Keenan. Shouldn’t have said what I did.”
Keenan looks to me then Nolan, before he nods his head. “I defied dad once on behalf of Caitlin. And because of that, I’ll forgive what happened.” His eyes meet mine, though he’s addressing Nolan. “See to it she doesn’t interfere, that you do what I’ve asked, and we’ll move past this.”
I now know that Nolan telling Keenan off probably broke some kind of Clan code.
Nolan nods. “Aye. You have my word.”
I’ve heard them say this before. It’s like a McCarthy brother thing.
We leave the room and head for the stairs. I can still hear Fiona, Tiernan, and Sam in the garden. It seems almost surreal, as if I’m existing simultaneously in two separate worlds.
I look out the window. They’re happy as can be, Maeve sitting on the lawn weaving a wreath of flowers from her garden. Fiona’s blowing bubbles with Sam, and Tiernan’s hands are in his pockets as he stares out at the sea in the distance.
To my surprise, Nolan brings us outside to join them. He talks to Maeve, while I chat with Tiernan and Fiona. They don’t know my vendetta against the McCarthys, so there’s nothing to tell them. But I have to put their minds at ease.
“I’ve a job to do,” I tell Tiernan and Fiona. I watch as Sam toddles after a large, iridescent bubble. He squeals when he reaches it and pops it.
“What kind of a job?” Tiernan asks. “And how long will we be here?”
“Just an investigative job, Tiernan,” I tell him. “I’ve promised to vindicate their family in exchange for protection.”
He looks at me sharply. He knows there’s more to the story than what I’m telling him.
“Why does their family need to be vindicated?” Fiona asks. She drops her voice to a whisper. “Sheena, are they bad men? Do they do evil things? They seem so nice.”
I honestly don’t even know how to answer that. Yes, of course they’re no innocents, but at the same time… have I been telling myself lies about the McCarthy clan all these years? Have I allowed anger and hatred to fester for naught?
“Well,” I say to Fiona. “They’ve brought you here, haven’t they? And you’re safe. That’s something that matters.”
“Right,” Tiernan says.
Nolan approaches us, bends to one knee, and picks up a bubble wand that lays forgotten on the grass. He dips it into the bottle, lifts it to his lips, and blows. A large bubble floats in the air. Sam squeals, chasing after it. Nolan grins, and my heart squeezes.
He defended me in there. He told Keenan off, at his own personal risk. He’s made sure that my family is protected.
Why?
I make it my mission in life to find out the “why” behind things, to know the reasons why people behave the way they do. And I can’t figure Nolan out.
“Sheena,” he says. “You and I need a private talk.” He gets to his feet. After what he’s done, after what his family’s done, I feel I owe him my compliance.
I nod. “Right, then. You lot behave yourselves and we’ll see you…” My voice trails off. When will we see them?
“Dinner,” Nolan says with a smile.
I look to the large, wrought-iron gate that surrounds the estate. I remember what went on at the meeting, and I’m grateful for this protection. Will my mother try to come here? Will the O’Gregors?
Nolan takes my hand and leads me back to the house.
“Are they safe out there?” I ask him.
“Aye, lass. Probably safest place in all of Ireland for them right now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Then why can’t we stay with them? Why must you—”
“Because we’ve much to discuss, Sheena.” His voice drops. “And it’s time I got you alone again. You heard what Keenan said. There’s not much that’s changed between us.”
But he’s lying. There’s so much that’s changed between us it’s unsettling.
Nolan promised with near glee to keep me under control. I haven’t forgotten what he did just before this meeting. I can still feel the punishing smack of his palm, his fingers stroking through my most sensitive parts. Just the memory has blood pumping through my veins again.
He holds my hand and leads me upstairs. “Come along, now, Sheena.”
“You talk to me like you’re coaxing a puppy,” I mutter.
He grins. “I could collar you and lead you with a chain if you wish. What’s your kink, lass?”
“Nolan, you can’t talk like that when my brothers and sister are right outside that window, and your own brothers are probably milling all about the place.”
“Is that right?” he asks. “Or what?”
“Or I’ll—” I don’t finish the sentence, because he’s got me pressed up against the railing, his fingers woven in my hair, and he’s kissing me. I lose myself in the moment, his firm body pressed up against me, his masculine scent pervading my senses, his soft lips in such contrast to the prickly feel of his beard.
“Oh, my, cousin. Get a room!”
He pulls away with a grin that makes my heart do a somersault. His buxom cousin Megan’s standing on the landing above us, her arms laden with folded towels.
“What the fuck are you doing, spying on us?”
“Spying on you? You’re the ones mugging the face off each other in the damn lobby for God and everyone to see.” She shakes her head and walks in the other direction.
“That girl needs someone to keep her in check, goddamn it.”
We head upstairs, his hand in mine again as if to remind me I’m not free to go.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “And I need a moment to just think.”
“You need more than that,” he mutters.
I swallow, my belly swooping at the warning tone he takes. “You’ve already spanked me. What else do you have in mind?”
His eyes darken, but he doesn’t reply. We walk in silence up the stairs toward his room.
When we reach it, he opens the door, and we nearly trip over boxes and bags just inside the door.
“What’s all this?” I ask.
“Cormac doesn’t want you in borrowed clothing. I don’t either. So I had Megan do a little shopping.”
“That quick?”
“Aye,” he says. “She’s got a black belt in shopping.”
“Is everyone in your family talented in one way or another?”
But he doesn’t respond. He’s leading me into his bedroom. While we were gone, housecleaning came. The bed’s made, the windows sparkle, and a tray laden with tea and biscuits sits on a little table in the room. It makes me ache a little. I’ve never had the basic comforts of home like this.
When he turns to face me, his gaze is heated, a look I’m growing to both dread and crave.
“I want a shower,” he says. “And I want you with me.”
Downstairs, he was every bit the second in line to the throne of the McCarthy Clan, the man who cracks skulls and rules the country. In here, I’m the one he rules.
I fucking love it.
He’s grabbing the hem of his shirt and lifting it over his head. I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to feel about him, how I can let go of what I’ve held onto for so long. A glimmer of excitement pools in my belly when he tugs his shirt up, revealing the hard planes of his stomach sprinkled with a smattering of dark hair.
“I could use a shower, too,” I agree.
“Aye, strip.”
I yank at my clothes and tug them off, tossing them with his into a pile by the bathroom door. His eyes roam hungrily over me a
s he reaches for his belt. He unfastens it, folds it over, and gives it a good snap.
My pussy clenches. I’ve felt that belt before. He knows how to use it. His jeans come next, and soon we’re both stripped naked. He snaps his fingers and points to the bathroom.
“Shower,” he says. I start walking toward him, but he shakes his head. I freeze. He points to the floor. “Crawl to me, Sheena.”
I fall to my knees, excitement lacing through me at his command. I hold his gaze with mine as I move toward him, the carpet soft beneath my knees and hands. I feel graceful as I crawl, moving with ease as he stands and waits. His body’s magnificent, muscled and lean, fewer tats than the rest, in sharp contrast against his skin. His eyes follow my every move until I reach him.
I’ve submitted at the club. I’ve been with men who commanded and dominated, who’ve used me for their purposes. I’ve used my body to get what I want, to get what I need. But I’ve never been with a man who’s delved beneath my tough exterior. I’ve never been with a man who knows me, the real me, the girl who came from a broken and shameful past, who’s done wrong in the name of justice.
I’ve never been with a man who’s seen me cry.
And it fills me with excitement while it terrifies me. Deep down inside, I ache to please him. He’s taking care of my family, and there’s nothing in the world that matters more to me. He’s defended me in front of his brothers. I’ve been awful to him, and yet he’s still here.
When I reach him, he cups the back of my head, drawing me to him. “Good lass. Come here.” He reaches for my hands and draws me to my feet, frames my face with his hand, and kisses me. His hard length presses against my naked skin, and I moan when his mouth meets mine.
“Tell me, Sheena,” he says. “Why’d you think us responsible for your father’s death?”
Is he doing this on purpose? Questioning me when I’m aroused and naked? He’s damn clever.
I won’t hold the truth back from him. I can’t. We have to join together or we’ll never do what we need to. So I give it to him, the bald, ugly, shameful truth. “I slept with the Captain of the O’Gregor Clan,” I tell him. My voice shakes, but I don’t let it deter me. “I wanted answers. He was the one that told me if I gave him what he wanted, he’d tell me what I needed to hear.”
Nolan’s body tightens, his green eyes narrowing. “And you believed him?”
“At the time, it was the only thing that made sense. My father was dead. I knew it was mafia that killed him, and all signs pointed to the McCarthys.”
“All signs or all accusations?”
I sigh. “Accusations. I wanted someone to blame. My mother mentioned names, men that my father interacted with. She mentioned Carson, and Father Finn, and I assumed because he’s related to you…” my voice trails off. It sounds so foolish now, so flimsy. “And once I started digging up the truth about all of you, it seemed to make sense. I knew my father had business at the harbor. He went there every night. And once I found out you were the ones that deal with arms, I just… concluded.”
“Right,” he says. “You know you’ve been granted an exemption literally no one has ever had before, don’t you?’
I nod. “I do. And I’m sorry. I’ll help make this better, I will.”
He nods. “You will. I’ll see to it you do.” He slams his palm on my backside, and I squeal and trot to the bathroom. “Now get to the shower.”
While he turns the shower on, he holds me to him, fondling my breasts almost distractedly while he checks the temperature. My body’s on fire, his earlier ministrations making my need flare at his touch.
He drags open the curtain and leads me into the shower. Clouds of hot steam fill the room, taking my breath away. I wonder what he’ll do, if he’ll master me and dominate me in the bathroom, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to talk either.
Wordlessly, he lathers me up and rinses me off. I like the feel of his hands on my scalp, massaging the shampoo in before he rinses off the suds. I let him wash me, then I turn to him and do the same. Hesitantly, I run my hands over his body. I’ve longed to do just this, to touch him, to feel his strong, masculine body beneath my fingers and Jesus, he feels even better than I imagined. I wonder if what he’s done today, both punished and defended me, has affected how I feel toward him. My body comes alive near him.
I watch his eyes as I reach for his cock. He braces, groaning when I stroke the hardened length.
“Not in here,” he says. “Shower’s foreplay. I want you on my sheets when I fuck you.”
I shiver in excitement. I want him. But more than that?
He wants me.
There’s no question in my mind it’s time. We’ve been through so much over the years in so short a time. I’m no virgin, but I’ve never been with a man I really wanted.
That changes everything.
We towel off, and he lifts me up in his arms, kissing me as we make our way toward his bed.
“I don’t like to fuck gentle,” he says in my ear, his words a husky growl that sends molten heat pulsing through my core.
“I know,” I whisper. “I’ve got eyes, you know.”
He grins. “I want to claim every inch of your body, and goddamn it, I will.”
“Do it.”
He flips me around, drops me to the bed on my belly, and slaps my bottom, hard. “Get up on your knees.”
I scramble to obey when he slaps my arse again. “I fucking love seeing my handprints on your fair skin. You’ve still got marks from the spanking you got this morning. My marks.”
I’m trembling when he arranges my limbs on the bed and fastens my wrists in cuffs he has here for this purpose. The next moment, he’s got a gag to my lips. I part my mouth, and he secures it. I freeze when I feel cold lube trickle down my ass cheeks and the cool tip of a plug gliding in and out.
I knew he was kinky as fuck.
It fucking thrills me.
I’d have a thing or two to say if I wasn’t gagged, and the forced silence heightens my awareness.
“Good girl,” he says. Pleasure at his praise warms me. “Relax.”
He glides the plug through the lube again, holds me in place with his hand against the small of my back, then eases it in and out. I’m so full, so aroused. With my wrists fastened, the power of speech taken, I’m at his mercy. The cool metal sends wave after wave of arousal pulsing through me. I’m trembling with need, and it takes me a moment to realize the groans in the room are mine.
He pats the plug approvingly, then glides his fingers through my slick, swollen sex.
“Jesus,” he curses. “My God. You’re soaked.”
Hell yes I am. I’m already ready to come and he’s hardly touched me. I shiver when metal grazes my nipples next. I should’ve expected this. Arousal zings through me when he fastens first one nipple clamp, then the next. He’s pushed every arousal button, when he lowers his mouth to my shoulder and sinks his teeth into the tender skin.
Okay, so not every arousal button, my God.
“Fucking perfection,” he growls. I feel him stroke his cock up and down my folds. I hear the crinkle of a condom wrapper, and wish for a moment that we could do this ungloved, that I could feel him in me as closely as possible.
He suckles my shoulder where he bit as he slides his cock in me. I arch my back, welcoming him in. Between the fullness in my arse and the tenderness at my breasts, the only thing I’m missing is his thick cock in my core to make me feel complete.
He holds his cock at my entrance. “You’ll do exactly what I say, Sheena.” Gagged, I can only nod.
He eases his cock inside me. I don’t realize I’m holding my breath until he stops.
“I brought you here to punish you. To question you. But when we’re this close… I can see inside you. And you aren’t the woman I thought you were. The one I dragged here to be interrogated.”
Without further warning, he thrusts into me.
My clit pulses. My body’s instantly on fire, igniting as he stretches m
e.
He bends, his mouth at my ear, brushes my hair off my shoulder and licks my neck. I shiver.
“This isn’t what we planned. But we both know this is exactly what we need, isn’t it?”
“Mmm.” I nod. He thrusts in and out, building a rhythm of perfection that rocks my core, as he continues to talk to me. I’m enjoying this one-sided conversation, because for once my mouth isn’t getting in the way. My body’s talking for me, and my body says more.
With every stroke of his cock and perfect thrust, I’m getting closer and closer to release. He tugs the chain between my nipples, bites my neck, then pulls my hair as he thrusts in me so hard I scream against the gag. His hands dig into my hips as he glides in and out. I try to groan but can’t, my moans swallowed with the gag.
“Good girl,” he says, his words pitching off in a guttural moan. “I’ve wanted in you, and you feel even better than I imagined.”
I moan and grind against him, until I feel myself on the verge of climax. As he thrusts, I move with him, until the intensity of our movements increase and I’m panting in anticipation. I can tell by the way his own breaths are quickening that he’s on the verge as well.
“You’ll do what I tell you,” he orders with a punishing thrust.
I nod.
“You’ll follow my lead,” he says, another hard thrust sending spasms of pleasure rippling through me.
I nod again.
“If you disobey me…” another hard thrust… “I’ll punish you.”
I’m nodding and submitting, something that doesn’t come easily to me, but he’s pulled the strings of my heart one by one until I’ve come undone. He thrusts again and again, until his groans fill the room. I’m trembling, on the cusp of orgasm, when he comes. My body ignites, and I’m lost to pleasure. He’s so deep, so perfect—this is bloody perfect.
He removes the gag and tosses it to the side, presses his forehead to my neck, and sighs.
“I won’t let them destroy you, destroy us. You understand me, lass?”
I nod. There are so many things I want to say, but I can’t seem to gather the right words. So I only nod. “Aye. I do.”
“This will be messy, and I need to know you won’t fight me. You understand that, too, don’t you?”