One More Night

by KB Winters

  “Careful Shae, I might start to think you care.”

  The words were playful, but I heard the ring of truth in every syllable. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I also had no fucking clue what to say to her about it. Or what I even felt about her, if I even felt anything more than want. Need. Deep, dark desire.

  “I care deeply about your pleasure, Ivy!” She laughed. As the sound of the shower started, I hopped to my feet. “I’m a real humanitarian. Just watch me coming to your aid.”

  When she spoke again it was from inside the shower. “Yeah, how?”

  I slid the door open and gave her naked body a long, slow perusal. “I’m going to help you with those hard to reach spots.”

  Ivy looked up at me through thick lashes and laughed. It was the sweetest goddamn sound, the same husky sound she made as I drove into her tight pussy again and again as the hot shower rained down on us. She choked my cock as she came all over me, screaming my name in that sweet husky voice.

  “Was that spot hard to reach, Shae?”

  She laughed again as I pulsed inside her. “Not for me.” I kissed her before she laughed again and we spent the rest of the day inside the fucking shower.

  Twenty minutes later we were both dressed and eating part of a big ass sandwich. Ivy looked comfortable in my kitchen, eating while she checked her email on one of her eight million devices. She looked up and licked her lips.

  “You don’t have to watch over me, Shae. I’m used to taking care of myself.

  “I do have to, and I want to. You’re nice to look at, better than most.”

  She flashed a smile that was equal parts skepticism and pleasure and said, “Right back atcha, Irish.”

  “Irish?”

  “Not your mob name?” she asked innocently, trying hard not to laugh.

  “Nope, but you can call me that whenever you’re naked.”

  “Deal, but don’t you have something more important to be doing than chauffeuring me to the hospital?”

  “I have a few things to take care of, and I will. I never let my business suffer, Ivy.”

  No woman had the power to make me forget where my loyalty was and that would always be with my family.

  “I understand and respect that sentiment.” She toasted me with her glass of soda before she took a long, slow swig. “My point is that I can go to my house and get my car. That way I can go wherever I want.”

  “Ivy, we’ve been over this.”

  She rolled her eyes and pushed away from the table. “Yeah, my safety. Fine. Drop me off so I can visit with Ian while you go cobble some cement shoes.”

  She tried to run away. but I grabbed her and pulled her onto my lap, fitting her right against my cock until she moaned.

  “I don’t cobble shoes, sweetheart. And I will drive you today. And tomorrow and the next day until the Milano threat has been eliminated.”

  “Okay.” Her voice softened right along with her body, settling her right where I wanted her. “Be safe, okay?”

  “I always am, babe.”

  She kissed me hard, sucking my tongue as she ground against me. But then, as much as I enjoyed it, an unsettling feeling grew in my stomach. I didn’t know what it was, but the idea of having someone worry about me was scarier than anything I’d ever faced in the family business.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ivy

  “You look different, Sis. Happy. Maybe even like you got laid.”

  If snark was an indication of healing, Ian was well on his way to getting out of this place.

  “Did you get laid, sis?” Ian persisted with his nosy comments, greeting me with a wide smile from his bed when I entered his hospital room. Fortunately, alone.

  I was able to convince Shae that I didn’t need a personal escort into the building filled with doctors, patients and security guards. But he still promised to return later, giving me two hours alone with my brother.

  “Maybe it’s because I’ve finally been able to get a full night’s sleep. With no calls from the emergency room telling me something else has gone wrong with my only living family.”

  He rolled his blue eyes to the sky and let out the world’s most frustrated sigh. “Right? You get a few hours of sleep and stop worrying about the fate of the world and look what happens. The world is still spinning.”

  It was kind of nice, and I didn’t have that overwhelming sense of guilt pressing down on my shoulders like I usually did. “Stranger things have happened, I suppose. How are you feeling?”

  “Good enough to complain about shitty hospital food. But you seem to be doing a hell of a lot better than me, so I guess it’s safe to say you’ve reconsidered our conversation last night?”

  “How did this conversation turn back to me and my nonexistent love life?” I pushed off the doorway and stepped inside the room littered with greasy paper plates, paper napkins and empty cans, sorta like Ian’s dorm room in college. “Did you have a party here last night?”

  “No. Some of the guys from the office came by so I could help beta test some new software. Pizza and soda was involved.”

  “Plenty of it, judging by the looks of things.” The place was a mess. “And I guess you expect the nursing staff to clean up after you?”

  “Do you know how much they charge for things like aspirin and bed pans? It’s highway robbery, so yeah, they can throw in some housekeeping services.”

  I bit my tongue to resist calling him an entitled little prick because he had a point. “Well don’t let the nurses hear you say that or else you might find rubbing alcohol in your next sponge bath.”

  Ian laughed and clutched his side, wincing in pain. “Dammit Ivy, don’t make me laugh!”

  I took a seat in the gray chair beside the bed. “Any more surgeries scheduled?”

  “Nope. Everything is healing nicely and the doctor thinks it’s all thanks to my second round of injuries, twenty-four seven health care, and physical therapy, I’m healing better than anticipated.”

  Arms spread wide, Ian was the very picture of a man leading a charmed life. No matter what he did or how risky it was, he came out smelling like roses. If he wasn’t my baby brother I might just hate him for his good luck.

  “That’s good to hear. I’m so happy to know you’re going to be all right. Should make it easier for me to remember that I’m your sister and not your parent.”

  We’d had parents, good ones who loved us and cared for us. All I could hope was that my mom and dad were proud of the job I’d done.

  “You are my parent, Ivy. The best damn one a guy could ever have, but your job is done. It’s time to go back to being my sister. My friend.”

  It would be nice to have a friend. I hadn’t made time for friends right after my parents died and working from home meant there were no colleagues to enjoy cocktail hour with while commiserating over a much hated boss. So yeah, my list of friends was disappointingly empty. “I don’t have to hear about your sex life, do I?”

  “If you don’t want to, no. But my sex life is pretty damn good and you might pick up a few pointers.”

  “Ew, no. Gross. Stop!” I covered my ears and sang while he continued laughing and talking. “I’m not listening!”

  “But there’s this one move that I do,” he swirled his hips.

  “Still not listening!”

  Ian held up his hands. “Fine, we don’t have to talk about our sex lives. But we can talk about anything. Like siblings.”

  “I’d like that.” I couldn’t remember the last time I had someone I could just talk to, shoot the breeze with and get advice.

  “Good. Because I really think you should give Shae a chance.”

  “Ian.”

  “No. Listen to me. Seriously.” Ian struggled to sit up and I scrambled for the remote to help him by raising the bed.

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Good?”

  “Perfect. But don’t change the subject. He stopped in to see me yesterday.”

  “Shae?”

>   “Yep. Stopped in to check on me and talk to Shamrock.” He motioned to the door where the big man stood guard, keeping us both safe while Shae was away. “Came in and suggested you might worry less about me if I stopped being an immature prick and checked in once in a while.”

  My lips twitched because it sounded exactly like something Shae would say. “I’m sorry he said that.”

  “Don’t be. He was right. Said if I acted more like an adult, then you would treat me like one. I needed to hear it and I’m sorry, Ivy. Really, truly sorry.”

  “Well shit, I don’t have a response for that.”

  He barked out a laugh and clutched his side. “It’s not the overwhelming and emotional acceptance I expected, but I can deal with speechlessness.”

  “Thank you, Ian. You are a brat, but I love you, and I’m glad you called me last night. It was good to see your blue-green face.”

  He blinked and flashed a wide grin. “That’s why I think you need to give him a real shot.”

  “Ian, it’s not gonna happen.”

  The bed clothes had gotten knotted and Ian focused for a minute on tugging on the twisted fabric until he had pulled free of the covers trapping his free leg. “Look,” he said at last, “I don’t know why you think this, but he seems like a pretty good guy to me. And he likes you. More than that, he gives a damn about you, Ivy. That’s more than I can say about the few losers you’ve dated over the years.”

  “He is a good guy but he’s not the guy for me. Can we just leave it at that, please?” I didn’t want to think about Shae like that because there was nothing more than lust between us. As good as it felt when we were together, he couldn’t even bring himself to admit he cared about me this morning.

  “I like him and he likes me but this is all temporary, okay?” As soon as all this drama was over and Ian was free of nonstop medical care, Shae would go back to his life and I’d go back to mine and somehow learn to forget him.

  “Fine. I’ll butt out for now, but as your brother it’s my duty to bug you about this from time to time.”

  “You mean the way I plan to bug and tease you mercilessly about Nurse Candace?”

  “Exactly. She said when I finish my PT she’ll let me take her out.”

  There was a gleam in his blue eyes I hadn’t seen in a long time. I just smiled, envious that Ian had the ability to take the crap life threw at him and handle it all with a smile.

  “Then I guess I don’t have to worry about whether or not you’ll keep up with your physical therapy.”

  “Not with that ass waiting for me.” His grin widened salaciously and I rolled my eyes, wondering if I was strong enough to handle being friends with my kid brother.

  It was nice to just sit and chat and laugh with Ian. I couldn’t remember when or if we’d ever done anything like it before, but I hoped we would get the chance to do it again. “How are we even related?”

  Ian smiled and shrugged. “You can’t expect me not to notice a pretty woman in a uniform that looks like it was made just for her.”

  “I expect you to notice, but I’m not too keen on hearing the sharing part. Unless of course you want to hear about my special blow—”

  “Nope. No way. Hell no, I do not want to hear the rest of that sentence. In fact, let’s make a rule that you never say the word blow again, yeah?” He interrupted.

  I laughed until my tummy ached and my skin was red and deeply in need of oxygen. “What about head, is that a word I can use, oh picky one?”

  “No.” Arms crossed with a dark look on his face, Ian made the same face he did when we fought over his bone deep hate of green vegetables.

  “How about if I just say suck—”

  “Finish that sentence and you’re out of this hospital right now.”

  With a satisfied smile, I leaned back in the hard plastic chair and folded my arms across my chest. “I totally get the appeal now.”

  “Of what?”

  “Annoying my kid brother. It’s more fun than I realized.”

  He rolled his eyes, but I saw the twitch of amusement at the corners of his mouth. “Not for me.”

  “Welcome to my world, baby brother. Have a drink, stay a while.” I felt an odd sense of fairness that I could now annoy him as much as he did me.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Shae

  It killed me to walk into Reilly’s, our favorite pub, and leave Ivy on her own at the hospital. But Shamrock was there. He might not be family but I trusted him with my life, as if he was family. I knew he’d make damn sure Ivy was safe until I could return. Knowing she was safe helped, but I still didn’t like it.

  I didn’t even want to think about what that meant. I couldn’t, not when we had a group of filthy gangsters to take care of. After the Milano problem was resolved, then I would sort through my feelings where Ivy was concerned.

  “Well, well. Look who finally decided to show his ugly mug.” Rourke flashed a playful smile, taking a big swig of the brown ale he favored.

  Rourke and Eamon took up the high-backed, hunter green, round booth in the back with the burgundy leather piping around the edges. It had to be at least twenty years old. Outdated by now, but everything in the bar was well cared for. Besides, no one dared say a word about the décor to the owner, Maggie Reilly, great granddaughter of the original Seamus Reilly.

  Maggie was all piss and vinegar, same as her dad, and she’d just as soon gun a man down than accept his opinion on her pub. I took a seat, and Eamon groaned when I forced him to the center of the booth.

  “I had to drop Ivy off at the hospital and check in with Shamrock,” I explained.

  “What’s the deal with the girl Shae? Are you into her or what?” Rourke leaned back in the booth looking as casual as he could from the outside, but those sharp eyes missed nothing. I knew he’d already tagged the increase in my pulse and the way my foot tapped too fast under his assessing gaze.

  “What’s with all the questions?” I asked. “All you need to know is that I’m keeping her safe,” and sleeping with her, “until this bullshit with the Milanos is over. That’s it.”

  At least that was the story I planned to stick with until I had more time to worry about the relationship end of things.

  Rourke and Eamon stared at each other for a long time before a grin broke out on Eamon’s face.

  “He likes her,” they said at the same time.

  “I like all the women I sleep with.” At least at the time I slept with them I did. But usually my interest and any kindness I felt, faded soon after I was done with their bodies. It made me an asshole, but I wouldn’t apologize for who I was. Not fucking ever.

  “Yeah but you don’t bring them home, and you damn sure don’t move them into your house.”

  “Saving my life put her in direct danger. What the hell else was I supposed to do?” I flagged the waitress and ordered a beer and a shot.

  Rourke laughed, totally oblivious to the hateful glare I sent his way, while Eamon appeared far too interested. I started to squirm.

  “So you paid her back for saving your life by fucking her?”

  “Maybe we should leave him at home tonight if that’s how he shows his gratitude,” Rourke laughed, motioning for Maggie to bring another round to the table.

  “Fuck you,” I growled, but the words held no real anger because we’d spent our entire lives giving each other shit about any and everything.

  Rourke chuckled into his drink.

  “Don’t get pissed, man. I’m just worried that I might shoot someone who was aiming at you and you’ll grab my cock in thanks.”

  “Maybe you should spend less time worried about what I might do to your cock and focus on finding a woman of your own.”

  Unlike me and Eamon, Rourke rarely dated. I had no fucking clue why, only that he didn’t.

  “And wind up like you two?” he said with a sneer. “No thanks. E walks around half in a daze with a goofy ass smile that says I’m deliriously in love and getting laid on the regular. An
d you are so far gone you don’t even see it. Another one bites the dust.”

  Even if there was any truth to his words, which there sure as shit wasn’t, I wouldn’t have said so in the moment.

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Ro.”

  His phone rang and just like that, Rourke was all business once again. The quick change in his demeanor always surprised me, but that was typical Rourke, able to compartmentalize and shove extra bullshit to the side when it was time to get down to family business. His brows dipped low as he turned away from the rowdy sounds of the pub to listen to his caller, a finger plugged firmly into his other ear.

  “Yeah all right, thanks. We’re at Reilly’s and we’ll stay until you get here.”

  Rourke finished up the call, taking his sweet ass time disconnecting the call and locking his phone before shoving it into the inside pocket of his black motorcycle jacket.

  “Well? Don’t fuckin’ keep us in suspense,” Eamon growled after another minute of silence passed.

  Rourke’s lips twitched with amusement at how easily he could make the usually calm and collected Eamon lose his shit.

  “Conor’s got some info on the Milanos.”

  “Jesus fuck, Rourke, don’t make me pull every detail from you or I’ll be forced to shove my fist down your fuckin’ throat to do it.” Eamon ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and swore into his drink.

  Rourke barked out a laugh at his cousin’s tortured reaction. “Calm down, dude. It’s better that we all get the information all at once and cut down on any confusion or miscommunication.”

  Rourke was the reasonable and logical one even if Eamon was normally calm, able to diffuse any arguments with one sentence. “While we wait, Shae can tell us all about his non-relationship relationship with the lovely Ivy.”

  The shit eating grin he wore was a sure sign trouble lay ahead and it had my name written all over it.

  “Nah. Let’s talk about E-money’s wedding and which of us will be the best man.”

  Rourke frowned. “I will, of course. You’ll forget the rings and sleep with the maid of honor before she even makes it down the aisle.”