“You too,” I say, trying not to stare at his bulging biceps as he relieves me of my luggage. He walks on ahead and I follow, watching his pert ass in his tight jeans, and those strong thighs feeling my face grow hot. It’s not just that he’s incredible looking, there’s something about him I’ve never seen in a man before, a kind of casual awareness of his own power. My dad being who he is I guess I’ve been around powerful men all my life, but this is something different. Almost primal.
As I get in his car I’m sure he’s avoiding looking at me. The atmosphere between us is so tense you could snip it in half.
“Is everything okay?” I ask as he pulls off. He replies without taking his eyes off the road. “You’ve changed. A lot.”
“Yes, well. The last time you saw me I was what, a few months old?”
I don’t remember Brendan ever coming over to the States when I was a kid, although I know my dad has visited Dublin a few times. He used to do a lot of ‘business’ with Brendan’s late uncle, Padraic, and took Brendan under his wing when Padraic died. The other brothers too, although they were never as close.
“Something like that.”
“You seem tense,” I point out. I see a muscle in his jaw working.
“I am,” he says eventually, but he doesn’t elaborate and I decide not to push. I don’t really know him, and trusted friend of my dad’s or not I must remember these are dangerous men.
Yet I can’t stop thinking about the way he looked at me when I walked towards him at the airport, like he wanted me. I have never felt so desirable in my life. I know I’ve inherited my dad’s coloring and Mom’s fine features, but I have my dad’s thick build rather than my mother's petite figure. My little sisters are both petite, so I’ve always felt like a bit of an elephant next to the other females in my family. I’m definitely what you would call curvaceous. But Brendan looked me up and down like I was the finest thing he’s ever seen, and it felt good.
I want to make him look at me that way again.
After a forty-five minute drive we pull up outside a bar, which takes up the ground floor of a large and expensive looking townhouse. The bar looks fancy and expensive and is named, of course, Killanney’s. I know a lot more goes on in there than just selling drinks.
“This is nice,” I say as he takes me through the front door and into the bar itself. It’s quiet, other than a pretty dark-haired bartender and two suited men in a corner booth talking in low voices. The bartender smiles at Brendan, a simpering look on her face, and I’m surprised to feel myself bristle.
Am I jealous? I watch Brendan’s face as he greets her, but although his eyes soften it’s a friendly look rather than a lustful one, and I’m more relieved than I should be.
“Keeley this is Caitlin,” Brendan introduces us. Caitlin grins at me and I notice she has the same green eyes. “My cousin,” he adds as though he knows what I was thinking. I grin back.
“Good flight?” she asks. Her accent is even thicker than Brendan’s.
“It was long,” I say.
“Well I’ve cleared out the spare room and put some fresh sheets on and some flowers in,” she tells me. “It’s small but it’s nice.”
“I’m sure it will be great,” I assure her. Brendan nods at me.
“I’ll take you up,” he says, and leads me behind the bar through a small wooden door. A narrow flight of stairs leads up to the house above. From what I see of the house it’s a beautiful building, but definitely a bachelor pad. Expensive wooden floors and leather seats, but nothing in the way of accessories or color. I’m pleasantly surprised to see a lilac satin duvet and fresh lilies in my room upstairs, but I know that’s Caitlin’s doing. Brendan doesn’t strike me as a lilac satin sort of guy.
I follow him into what will be my bedroom for the next few weeks and he puts my luggage down and turns to me. He’s looking at me with heat in his eyes and I stare back, feeling my lower body tighten with lust as he steps across the room towards me.
Then, without saying a word, he leans down and kisses me.
CHAPTER 3
Brendan
My cock is hard as soon as her lips touch mine. I feel her lips soften and give way, yielding to me as I kiss her hungrily. She tastes fresh and juicy and completely fuckable, and the longing to be inside her soft curvy body is all consuming. I want to own her.
I push her up against the wall, one hand gathering her soft curls at the nape of her neck, tipping her mouth up to mine, the other running all over her body, especially those large, heavy tits. I feel the weight of them in my hands and I want them naked and in my mouth, with her straddling my cock. She whimpers softly against my mouth and arches her back, pushing her body into mine. My thigh pushes between her legs and I can feel the heat of her pussy even through her jeans. It makes me growl low in my throat, the animal in me taking over as I smell her desire in my nostrils.
I’ve been able to smell the lust on her since I picked her up from the airport and have been doing my best not to let my urge to rip her clothes off show, but seeing the way she reacted to Caitlin tipped me over the edge. With my wolf senses heightened and sharpened by her presence I could sense instantly that she was jealous, and her relief when she realized that Caitlin was family.
I liked it. I liked that she was jealous, that she already knew she was destined to be mine.
There’s no doubt in my mind now that this is it, I’ve finally met my mate. The woman I’m going to settle down and have babies with. The thought of planting my seed inside her makes my cock throb even harder, desperate to be inside her where I belong.
Her hands are at my back, her fingers digging into my shoulders, and she is as hungry for it as I am, pushing her body into mine. My hand goes to her pussy, stroking her through her clothes and she moans again into my mouth and it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.
Then I hear something else.
“Brendan. Are you here?”
My brother Cormac. I hear him thundering up the stairs and I let Keeley go just before he enters the room, doing my best to straighten my face into a normal expression. Keeley looks slightly stunned, her lips swollen and half parted. Cormac comes in and looks from me to her and I see his nostrils flare and know that he will be able to sense exactly what’s just happened.
“Everything all right in here?”
“This is Keeley Malone. Michael’s daughter.”
Cormac’s eyebrows shoot so far up his forehead they disappear under his sweep of dark hair. His eyes flicker over Keeley and he nods politely.
“Pleased to meet ya,” he says, “I just need to have a word with your man here.”
I follow Cormac into the hall and down the stairs. When we are out of earshot he looks at me in surprise and shakes his head.
“What are you doing with the Malone girl? Michael specifically sent her here to keep her out of trouble.”
I shrug and decide to be honest with him. Aiden, him and I always tell each other everything, so I’m not about to start hiding things from him now.
“Don’t ask me how I know this Cormac but I just do. She’s my mate, I’m sure of it.”
Cormac whistles low under his breath. “She’s Malone’s daughter.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“She’s also young. Twenty-one at most.”
“Twenty,” I wince. She is young. I’m as shocked at my lust for her as Cormac is, but I’ve also never been so sure about anything in my life. It’s more than just lust. She’s mine.
“You’re sure about this?”
I don’t blame him for doubting it. We’d all grown up with Uncle Padraic telling us that as wolves we would know our life partner when we found her, just as he did with Aunty Maggie, but as all three of us have reached thirty-two without meeting her we were beginning to think Padraic was one on his own and we three were meant to be lone wolves. Now it seems he was right about at least one of us.
“I am.”
Cormac thinks for a minute, then nod
s. “Okay,” he says, ever the practical one. “Good luck telling Michael you’re claiming his daughter...and telling her what you are. Do you think you could manage not to cause havoc for the next few days at least? I’ve got to go up to Donegal; the shipment is coming in from Chicago.”
I nod. I knew he would be off any day now. With Aiden in America I was resentful about being left to look after Keeley...but now I’m more than happy to be given that role.
“When are you off?”
“Tonight. You’ll be able to manage the bar.”
I nod. We’re expecting a busy night; it’s the first Friday of the month and we have a new band playing, a national boy band that has been in the Irish charts. We should make a good profit tonight.
Not that we need it. The bar is a front for our more shady dealings. Arms mostly, although we have had no choice but to take over the bulk of the narcotics trade in Dublin, purely to try and keep some sort of order and stop the foreign gangs from taking over. And the O’Donnell’s. That’s the turf they want the most, with their cowardly tactics of using school kids as dealers and threatening families. Whatever happened to running a good honest criminal business?
“I will. You’ll be back by Monday?”
Sunday is a full moon.
Cormac nods and then goes back up the stairs and I hesitate, wanting to go back up to Keeley, but reality kicks in. My brother is right, I have to tread carefully. She doesn’t know what she’s got herself into and she needs to know before this goes any further. I’ve never had to tell anyone outside the family that I’m a wolf before and I realize I don’t know where to start. In three days I’ll change whether I want to or not. I had planned to make myself scarce for the night, but now that I’ve met her everything is different.
Then there’s Michael. Her father.
My friend.
I don’t think he’s going to be too happy about me falling for his daughter, and I don’t want to upset a man I have so much respect for.
But I know what I want, and nobody is going to stand in my way.
CHAPTER 4
Keeley
Wow.
I’m sitting on my bed in shock, my lips still aching from his kiss, my nipples stiff and tingling from where he caressed me roughly through my clothes. It feels like he has made my body come alive. I’ve never been kissed like that. I’ve never been touched like that...but then I’ve never been touched at all.
Will it put him off when he finds out I’m a virgin? I hope not, but he looks like the type of guy who would have a string of women only too ready to do his bidding. He doesn’t need to waste his time with a girl who doesn’t know what she’s doing, although the way my body reacted to him it was as though it knew exactly what it wanted. Kissing him felt so right.
Then I think about what Dad would say, and groan to myself at the thought. Brendan Killanney is trouble, and that can only be what this will cause, but part of me doesn’t care. I’m sick of being the sheltered Daddy’s Princess. I want to know what it would be like to let loose and give myself to a man like Brendan. I’m not going to be here for long and I know I will never meet a man like him back home.
When it seems he’s not coming back I start unpacking my clothes and then get changed, shocked at my disheveled appearance. My hair is a mess, my cheeks flushed and my lips look bruised from his kiss. I press my fingers to them, closing my eyes briefly and remembering the feel of his mouth on mine, and his hands all over my body...between my legs. A shudder of desire goes through me and I feel myself throb inside, my body wanting him even as my mind battles with the idea.
I get changed into a long sleeved, A-line white jersey dress that makes me look even more voluptuous. I haven’t worn it before, not sure about the way it shows off my thickness, but remembering the way Brendan looked at my body I’ve got a feeling he might like it. I run a serum through the wild Irish hair I’ve inherited from my dad, touch up my make-up and go downstairs to the bar.
They’re getting ready to open up and two guys have joined Brendan and Caitlin. I quickly learn the younger one is a bartender and the other, a beefy looking guy with a scar, is the doorman. There’s no sign of Cormac, the other brother. Caitlin smiles at me and waves me into the kitchen area behind the bar. I steal a glance at Brendan, but he’s deep in conversation with the doorman and hasn’t looked over at me since I’ve come down. Swallowing down my disappointment I follow Caitlin into the kitchen.
“There’s some cold cuts and cheese in the fridge,” she tells me. “Usually I do a dinner, but we’re expecting a busy night. That dress looks grand by the way. You’ve a lovely figure.”
“Thank you,” I say. At least someone noticed it. “Do you live here too?” I ask. She shakes her head.
“I don’t. I live down the road with my Mam, Maggie. Just the brothers live here. But I work behind the bar and do a bit of cooking and housekeeping and the like. So does my Mam sometimes, she likes to keep busy.”
I smile at that, thinking of my own mother, who employs a cleaner, a cook, a gardener and a driver rather than do anything herself.
“Do you want a Guinness?” Caitlin asks, and then says proudly, “We serve the best stout in the whole of Dublin.”
“I’ve never tried it,” I say honestly, “But I don’t really drink.”
“Ah, well, there’s orange juice in the fridge too. I’m just going down to the cellar to fetch some ice.”
I smile my thanks and fetch myself a plate of food and a drink, although my stomach is full of butterflies and I’m not really hungry. Brendan comes into the kitchen behind me and I sense him before I hear him. It’s funny, but for such a big man he moves almost silently, seeming to prowl rather than walk.
Swallowing a mouthful of ham I smile at him shyly, feeling my cheeks burn. He looks me up and down slowly, taking in every inch of me, and the way his eyes travel my body is like a caress.
“That dress,” he says in a low voice, “makes me want to get you naked.”
I gasp, feeling my pulse instantly start to throb between my thighs. “You...you kissed me. In my room,” I stammer, inwardly cringing at how naive I sound.
He nods. “I did,” he says simply, as though it were the most obvious thing to do in the world. Perhaps he treats all women that way? I feel a spasm of jealousy at the thought even though I tell myself not to be so silly. We’ve only just met, why should I expect to be special?
But I am his friend’s daughter. It’s not your usual boy meets girl.
“My dad,” I begin, then trail off, feeling tongue-tied like a schoolgirl with a crush. He nods again but I see something flash in his eyes. He feels guilty. While it shows he has a conscience at least, I don’t want him to feel guilty about it.
I want him to kiss me again.
We stare at each other for a few minutes, the heat tangible in the air between us, but then the bartender calls his name. Brendan closes his eyes briefly as if in annoyance, and when he opens them again the moment is over. His voice is brisk and matter-of-fact “I have to go. It’s going to be a busy night tonight. You’re welcome to join us. Free food and drinks of course.”
“Thank you, that’s very kind.”
“You’re a guest.” He walks out, but then pauses in the doorway to the bar, throwing me a lingering glance over his shoulder. “We’ll talk later,” he says enigmatically, then goes before I can muster a response. I’m still staring after him when Caitlin comes back up from the cellar.
Trying to keep myself busy and not work myself up wondering what Brendan wants to ‘talk’ about, I help Caitlin set up the bar. The band has arrived and she tells me they’re very popular in Ireland. I watch them set up. Three guys just a few years older than me with floppy hair, tight jeans and handsome faces, I might have been impressed if I hadn’t already met Brendan. Next to him they pale in comparison, just boys whereas he is undoubtedly all man.
Brendan is kept busy meeting and greeting as customers begin to arrive and the bar is soon packed and Caitlin and the
other bartender are run off their feet. I offer to help but Caitlin won’t hear of it, and if I’m honest I’m quite relieved. I’ve never poured a pint in my life, and watching her create a perfect shamrock pattern in the foam on a customer’s Guinness I realize it’s a lot harder than it looks. Instead I sit at the side of the bar on a stool, sipping my juice and listening to the band, which is really quite good. Killanney’s is buzzing, full of young hipster types and older professionals, as well as a few suited men who have that faintly dangerous air I recognize having grown up with my father. Career criminals, although no doubt they would refer to themselves as businessmen. I notice the respect with which they speak to Brendan.
As the night draws on I switch from juice to cocktails and another bartender arrives, leaving Caitlin free to sit at the bar and join me. She chats with me about her boyfriend and asks me about the States, but as much as I instinctively like her I’m distracted, struggling to keep my eyes off Brendan, who barely glances my way.
Three men arrive and take seats at the bar near me and Caitlin. One of them looks over and looks me up and down, a lecherous smile on his face, then looks away again. It makes me feel uncomfortable.
“Who are they?” I ask Caitlin. They don’t seem to quite fit with the rest of the crowd. They look like thugs, even though they’re well dressed, and they have a cocky air about them. She shakes her head, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“I don’t know,” she says, “But they look like bad news.”
As the night wears on the three men get louder and more rowdy, making disparaging comments about the band and the bar. Caitlin bristles next to me. As it gets later and guests begin to leave the men get louder still, their behavior becoming more obvious as the bar gets less crowded. Across the room I see Brendan walking towards us, a look of anger on his face. I can’t help but bite my lip as desire floods through me. Even angry he’s delicious, and yet there’s something dangerous about him too. Every nerve ending seems to be coiled, his muscles tense, like a predator about to pounce. He might be out-numbered, but it’s the three guys I feel sorry for.
Dad's Irish Wolf Shifter Friend (Irish Wolf Shifters Book 1) Page 2
