by Leigh, Elisa
“Those women give it all away. There’s little left to the imagination when you look at them. When a man looks at you however, he can only guess at the beauty hidden beneath your clothes. Those men are dying for a chance to get a peek, a taste, a feel of what they’ll never have.”
“What is that supposed to mean? Not to say I want any of them, but it’s awfully presumptuous of you to say who will and will not see me naked.”
“A ghrá, I presume nothing. Those men will never see what isn’t theirs.”
I stand, done with this conversation. The man is infuriating. “Ready for your bill?”
“Not in the least.” He growls, challenging me.
I walk away needing to clear my head. How dare he talk to me that way, I’m a lady. Within minutes, the pub starts filling up, and I get slammed making drinks for Jenna and Elise’s tables as well as taking care of the customers at the bar. Jenna ends up switching sections with Elise before things get crazy. Elise doesn’t even try to flirt with Gareth, probably because she was warned off by Jenna. Every time she walks to his table my eyes are on Gareth. He speaks to her, ordering another pint, but his eyes never leave mine. The night goes on, and the pub stays busy.
I continue to sneak glances at the man who has been staring at me for a couple of hours. Needing a potty break, Elise stands behind the bar while I make a break for it. When I exit the restroom, Gareth is standing there, his thick, muscular arms folded across his chest, his eyes on me. He’s taller then I remember when he walked in earlier tonight.
Someone opens the door behind me, so I step out of their way. Like an animal waiting to attack, he pounces on me, caging me in, his palms flat against the wall near my head. Gareth dips his head and runs the edge of his nose up the length of my neck, dropping a kiss on a pulse point behind my ear, making me whimper.
“Fuck Caitlin, you smell so good.” He whispers, placing nips and kisses down my neck.
Every place he touches tingles with pleasure and I need more, so much more. In an instant, he pulls away and stands against the opposite wall staring down at me with hunger.
“Gareth.” I moan wantonly, needing him to touch me. The amount of desire coursing through me is far greater than I’ve ever felt. What is this man doing to me?
“Ah, lass. If I touch you again, I won’t be able to stop. The things I need to do to you, I can’t do here. No one should see us like this. I’m-”
“No, you’re right. I can’t believe I did that. I have to get back to the bar before Elise has to make a drink.” I brush past him mortified I let him get to me like this. What was I thinking? How far would I have allowed him to take it?
“I’m back. Thanks for covering for me girl.”
“What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?” Elise shoves the back of her hand against my forehead to check and see if I have a temperature.
“Huh? Oh. Uh, no I’m fine.” I brush her hand away and get busy refilling everyone’s drinks at the bar. After a few minutes, Gareth walks back to his table and tries making eye contact with me, but I refuse to look at him. I keep looking away not willing to go there again. I’ve never so much as been on a date with a guy my own age. I have no idea what I’m doing in the guy department. For the past ten years, I’ve been too depressed about my family, that men were never even on my radar. All I know is the way I felt when his lips touched my skin was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I know I’m playing with fire, but damn, what would it hurt? It’s not like it could be any worse than what I’ve already been through.
Chapter 3
Gareth
It’s after midnight, and there are still a few stragglers hanging around finishing their last pint and enjoying tonight’s festivities. My driver was right to bring me here. Nothing will ever compare to being home, but it was more authentic than I thought it would be.
I’ve been keeping an eye on Caitlin all night. She scampered away like a scared little bunny running from the hungry wolf the second I gave her some space. She’s right to be scared of me. There’s nothing I won’t do to make her mine and keep her with me always. I’ve been watching the men at the bar who have been seated there all night. She might not see it, but they are all dying to get a taste of what’s mine. No way in hell I would I let that happen.
Ever since I came back from the bathroom and my run in with my woman, I’ve been drinking only water, wanting to keep my head sharp so she wouldn’t get away from me at the end of the night like I know she wants to.
Caitlin grabs a bag of trash and heads to the back. I’m already up and moving to make sure she is safe when Jenna steps in front of me, stopping me from going after her.
“I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier.”
“It’s fine.” I go to push past her, and I walk into her tray of discarded drinks.
“Oh shit! I’m so sorry. Here let me get a towel.” Elise throws her a towel from where she’s standing behind the bar, and she starts dabbing at my shirt.
I grab the towel from her and start drying my shirt off so at least I’m not dripping. When I’m done, I walk to the bar and notice that one of the guys who has been here all night is gone. Getting a bad feeling, I rush out the back of the pub into the alleyway behind the building only to find that fucker pressing himself against my woman.
She’s trying like hell to push him off of her, but he’s got at least eighty pounds on her tiny frame. She shoves her knee up and curses and backhands her across the face. “You stupid fucking cunt.” He screams as she crumples to the ground in front of him.
I grab him and throw him to the ground recognizing him immediately as one of the arseholes who hung at the bar tonight. “You don’t fucking touch her. Don’t fucking talk to her. Don’t look at her. You don’t step one fucking foot back into Finnegan’s again. Do you hear me?” I yell, laying kick after kick into his side.
“Fuck you!” The fucker wheezes in pain.
I kick him in the face. “I must not have heard you right.”
He rolls over and folds himself into the fetal position. I’m about to go at him again when Caitlin grabs my arm and starts pulling me away. “He touched you!” I growl.
“I know, but you are going to kill him. You have to stop!” She begs. “Gareth, please. Just stop, he isn’t worth losing it all for.”
I grab her hand and pull her into the light to get a better look at her face. I caress the hair out of her face and see that there’s already a nasty red mark swelling on her cheek. “A ghrá, I’m sorry I didn’t get to you in time. This should have never happened.”
She surprises me by wrapping her arms tightly around my middle. “Shh, I got you, sweetheart. I won’t let anything hurt you.” When she starts to shake, and her little sniffles hit my ears, I pick her up bridal style and walk her back into the bar. There are only a handful of people left drinking, too bad I’m about to ruin their fun. “We’re closed! Get the hell out!” I roar not wanting to put up with anyone or their shit. When no one moves, and I only get blank stares, I’m done. “I said get the fuck out!” That gets them moving. When no one throws down any money, I groan. “Pay your fucking tab you fucks and tip your waitress. They didn’t put up with your shit for hours for free.”
I set my girl down on the bar top and search around to find some ice and a clean towel. Elise shoves me out of the way, realizing what I’m doing, and quickly hands me a towel with ice in it for Caitlin. “Thanks, lass.”
“Of course. Caitlin, what happened?”
I put the ice against her cheek, and she winces but takes it from me. Doesn’t she know I’d do everything for her? “Drew O’Malley cornered me outside when I went to take out the trash. He was drunk. I didn’t think I had given him that much tonight.”
I slide my hand over her shoulder and up her neck and squeeze lightly. “Lass, it doesn’t matter how much he drank. No man gets to put their hands on a woman without them wanting it.”
She quirks her eyebrow at me. “Tell me you don’t want this and I’ll w
alk away right now. Then I’ll be back tomorrow to make you fall so deeply in love with me that by the time the sun is setting you won’t even realize I’ve stolen your heart and made you mine for eternity.”
Her eyes go soft and the way she’s looking at me I know I won’t need to walk away. She feels this undeniable connection as much as I do. My father was right. When you find the woman that you’re meant to give your heart to, it doesn’t matter how long you have known them. She’s my forever, my soul mate, mo shíorghra.
Elise clears her throat, and Caitlin blushes and looks at her. “Sorry.”
“Babe you’ve got nothing to be sorry about.” She grins in my direction and then winks at Caitlin. “I completely understand.” Caitlin’s eyes go wide, and I laugh at the face she makes. “I’m going to go ahead and get out of here since someone cleared the bar for us.” Then she looks at me. “You be good to her. I’ve got brothers who wouldn’t mind coming after you for hurting her. Everyone around here loves Caitlin. Do you hear me? Everyone. We know people in Ireland too.”
“Settle lass. I will never hurt her. You can trust me on that.” I pull my wallet out of my back pocket and hand her my card. “If you’re ever in need of a change of pace, we could use your kind at my company. You’re a real ball buster.”
She smirks and takes the card from my hand. “I might just do that.”
Elise kisses Caitlin on the cheek and whispers something in her ear making Caitlin’s blush deepen and shift her legs together on the bar. Interesting.
When we are finally alone, I step between her thighs and grip her hips. “Look at me, sweetheart.” Her eyes snap to mine. My woman is an open book, and I love that I can read her perfectly. She’s a little bit afraid, but more than anything she is turned on. “How are you a chroí?”
“I’m fine. I can’t believe that happened or that it was Drew to do it. Thank you for stepping in by the way. It could have been so much worse.”
Her words have me enraged all over again. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”
Caitlin places her tiny hands on my chest. “It’s okay Gareth. I’m not yours to save. I’m only glad you were there. Thank you.”
“Stop thanking me for something any man should do for a woman,” I tell her, frustrated that she keeps saying it.
“Fine.” She folds her arms over her chest. “Well I’ve got it from here,” she says, pushing me out of the way and sliding down off the bar. “That’s not going to work for me.” I grab her and place her back on the bar in front of me, grip her hair in one hand guiding her to me, and slam my lips on hers. When she kisses me back, I tangle both of my hands in her hair and move her head to my liking and kissing her deeper. Her mouth opens when I slide my tongue across her lips, and I groan at how sweet I knew she’d be. Sliding her arms around my neck, she pulls me as close to her as she can and does her best to keep up with our kiss.
Chapter 4
Caitlin
The way his hands are holding onto me is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It’s like I can feel his need for me and it’s intoxicating. For so long I’ve felt like a burden, and someone people have had to make a spot for out of obligation. He makes me feel like he’d push the world away to worship at my altar. That’s a heady feeling to get from a kiss, but it’s something I crave. I hold on with both hands, grabbing onto him and all that he’s offering.
“Let’s get out of here a chroí.”
I don’t know what it means, but it's something my father used to say to my mother when they were still alive, and it always made her smile. I nod, and he makes a call to someone telling them he’s ready.
I straighten up as best as I can. There’s still at least an hour left of work that needs to be done, but I’m not going to pass this up. I’ll come in early tomorrow and do everything that needs to be done. If Uncle Finn gets mad, I’ll gladly take his disappointment for a night with this man.
Once we’re in the town car that arrives out front of my uncle’s pub, I begin to realize that this man isn’t just from out of the country. Gareth must be important if he’s got a driver picking him up whenever he calls. Those thoughts are fleeting thoughts when Gareth pulls me onto his lap and takes my lips in a searing kiss that isn’t appropriate for anyone to see. When the car pulls to a stop, he pulls my hair tie out of my messed up hair and puts it on his wrist. He smooths out my hair and tucks it behind my ears. “Don’t want anyone seeing you like this a chroí.”
I must give him a look because he smiles at me. “Ah lass, I don’t want anyone knowing what you look like when you give into our pleasure. You’re too beautiful for words, but like this, you’re like a siren calling to everyone. I’d hate to ruin our night because I had to prove to everyone how much they couldn’t have you.”
His words are enough, and I nod, smiling at his explanation. He opens the door and holds out his hand for me. Taking it, he pulls me out of the car and then laces his fingers through mine, walking us into the fanciest hotel I have ever seen before. I didn’t even know a place like this existed in Chicago. I’m so in awe of the place and can’t help but stop and stare at the beautiful architecture and rich embellishments boasted from every corner of this hotel.
“Who are you?” I whisper.
“Just a man a chroí. Come, I need you.”
He leads us to four ornately decorated elevators, two on each side of us, pushes the button to call us an elevator. When the doors of one slide open, there’s an empty red velvet bench inside, further proving what a different world I’ve stepped into. We stand in silence, me doing my best not to freak out until the elevator stops at the fifteenth floor and the doors slide open. Gareth walks us down the long corridor until we’re standing at the last door. He deftly pulls his room card from his back pocket and flashes it in front of the door.
When he opens the door, he places his hand behind my back and guides me into the suite. The place could be an apartment. There’s even a full kitchen and dining room table. It looks like whoever decorated the place hung irreplaceable paintings on the walls and statues on the tables. I’m afraid to move, not wanting to mess anything up. I have no idea who the artists are, I never was very good with art, it never called to me the way music does.
“I’ll be right back sweetheart, I have to take care of something. Help yourself to whatever is in the bar.” He kisses me on the cheek and walks into the adjacent bedroom and closes the door.
The room is just as fancy as everything else about this place. There’s a bar on one side of the room with a couch and oversized chair on the other. What catches my eye though is the large sliding glass door that leads out to a terrace, overlooking the glittering city.
I place my purse on the glass dining room table and walk outside. Oh hell, it’s freezing out here, and at this height, the wind whips at my hair. I go to pull it up with my hair tie but remember that Gareth stole it earlier. The cold March air cools my frenzied body and life comes crashing back into consciousness. I have never done anything like this. I mean I had my first kiss less than an hour ago, now what? I’m going to give my virginity to a man I hardly know? His kisses were intoxicating though, and the way he makes me feel like I’m the only person in his world is powerful. I should probably go inside, but this view is magical, and it’s perhaps the only time I’ll be this high. I pull my light sweater tightly around my middle and hold my arms around my middle trying my best to stay warm. My sister would probably have loved this. She was a daredevil and talked about wanting to skydive the day she turned eighteen. I’ve got a huge smile on my face when Gareth wraps his arms around me, warming me up immediately. “It’s freezing out here. We should go inside.” He says softly, nuzzling my neck.
“A few more minutes. This place reminds me of my sister. She would have loved this view.”
He’s quiet for a moment, probably putting together what I said. “How long?”
“About twelve years ago. My family passed away in a car accident.”
He turns me around,
pressing me against the railing. “And you made it out alive?” He asks in wonder.
I smile sadly at him and shrug. “I didn’t go with them. I was home studying.”
“O ghràdh milis. Cha leig mi a-riamh thu a 'faireachdainn a leithid de phian a-rithist.” He murmurs caressing my jaw.
I can only make out a few words since it wasn’t a language we often used at home. My love, never feel pain.
“You can’t promise me that Gareth.”
“Don’t doubt the power of my convictions a chroí. How do you know what I said?”
“I might not be from Ireland, but I am Irish. My parents were born there. I can understand some words.”
His eyes flash. “Interesting.”
His lips crash down on mine and the moment is frozen in time. For right now, just these moments, it’s only Gareth and I. We are, in essence, the only two people on the planet that matter. The kiss turns heated and out of control faster than I expect. Gareth turns us around and picks me up, my legs going around his back as walks back into his room, slamming the door closed behind us. When he makes it to the bedroom, I’ve kicked off my shoes, and my sweater and t-shirt have already been tossed to the side.
He drops me to the bed, and I scoot back until my back is resting against the pillows. I watch him watching me, eyes glued to my heaving chest. Slowly, I reach behind my back and unhook my bra, then pull it down my arms, and throw it to the ground. Like a caged lion, he attacks his prey.
“I’ve been watching you all night and never in a million years lass did I imagine your tits were what wet dreams were made of. Jesus Christ.” He groans and grabs one in each hand and pushes them together before pulling one nipple into his mouth and sucking.
Combing my fingers through his hair, I grab on tight when he nibbles on my nipple, and buck my hips. “Mmm Gareth, so good.”
“You like that sweetheart?” He asks grinning up at me sexily, then sucks my other nipple into his mouth, making my hips buck wildly beneath him. I never knew how sensitive my nipples were until his lips showed me what pleasure felt like.
