"Hey!" Cait shouted right before the cool, glowing water of the cove closed over her head. The shock of the cold water had her stiffening. Breaking the surface, Cait glared at him.
"I spent a lot of time on my hair and makeup you know," Cait said, treading water.
"You look even more beautiful now. A pagan sea goddess," Shane promised and dove in next to her. Cait gasped out a laugh as he grabbed her leg and pulled her into the glowing water. Together they hung in the blue glow, Cait trying to keep her eyes closed against the sting of the salt water. Shane pulled her against him, kissing her in this suspended world of magick, their love floating around them much like the blue water. Cait sunk into his kiss before he kicked them to the surface, his arms cradling her body.
Cait wrapped her arms around Shane, allowing the warmth of his skin to heat her body. The heat of his body and the coolness of the water made her want him all over again. She was about to say as much when Shane pulled her hips down against him and entered her in one smooth motion. Cait moaned as he stroked deep inside of her, touching her very core. Her muscles clenched around the length of him and Cait held on with all her might as he thrust gently into her. This seemingly never-ending wave of lust and love washed through Cait again. She writhed against him, allowing her head to hang back in the water as Shane rode her into a mind-numbing orgasm.
Shuddering against him, Cait buried her face in his neck as Shane found his own release. The cove continued to glow happily around them and Cait wanted to stay right here, cocooned in this magickal moment, forever.
A lightness filled her and Cait broke away from Shane, laughing before she dove deep into the water. The light of the water lit her path and she swam almost to the bottom. A glimpse of gold caught her eye and Cait almost swam toward it, but stopped. Keelin had told her of the cove's tricky ways. Eyeing the gold, Cait nodded at it and turned back to Shane, breaking the surface with a laugh.
"Thank you for showing me your secrets," Cait whispered to the cove and swam towards Shane, loving the feel of the cool water against her naked skin.
"Ready to go home?" Shane asked.
"Whose home?" Cait said as she wrapped her arms around Shane.
"Mine. Ours. Wherever you want," Shane said against her mouth.
"Yours is good. Plus, I like your horses," Cait said as they walked from the water. Ronan came running over to them and barked and whipped around in circles at their feet, his joy evident. Reaching out, Cait scanned his thoughts.
"Happy. Like Shane. Happy, Happy," Ronan said.
"He likes you," Cait said.
Shane stopped in his tracks and looked at Cait.
"You can read his mind too?" Shane said in disbelief.
Cait nodded and waited for the dots to connect.
Slowly, the realization caught up with Shane.
"That day in my stables…" Shane gaped at her.
"Yes, Baron told me where he was hurt," Cait said and watched as Shane tried to register the thought. A sliver of nervousness slipped through her.
A huge smile broke out on Shane's face.
"That's awesome! I've always wanted to talk to Baron. Now you can communicate for me. Oh, this is going to be great!" Shane pumped his fist in the air and, chattering excitedly about all the animals on his farm that she could talk to, he wandered away to collect the blanket. Cait just stared after him in awe for a moment before looking down at Ronan.
"And, just like that, he accepts it," Cait said.
Ronan wagged his tail against her legs and smiled up at her, his happiness contagious. With a laugh, Cait raced after Shane and into her future.
Epilogue
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Cait whispered to Shane as they packed the rest of Sarah's things into a moving van. Sarah sat on the last chair in the apartment, a bemused expression on her face.
"She'll be fine. This is the best thing for her," Shane said.
"Mom, it's time to go," Cait finally said and walked over to crouch in front of Sarah. Recognition barely flitted through her eyes as she looked down at Cait.
"Okay, dear," Sarah said easily and got up. Cait helped her down the steps and into the front seat of the van. Cait got in the back and Shane got behind the driver's wheel.
"Where are we going?" Sarah asked brightly.
"On an adventure," Shane promised and Sarah laughed freely.
"I love adventures!"
Cait closed her eyes against the tears that found their way there. She stared out the window as Grace's Cove flashed past her.
It had been two months since that life-changing night at the cove with Shane. Little had changed in her world, yet in the same breath, everything had changed. Her days were now filled with laughter and light, the occasional argument, as was wont to happen with her and Shane, and oh so much love.
Cait peered up at her mother. Fiona had been right about Sarah. Her mental condition had deteriorated quickly. In a weird way, it had also freed her. In her dementia, Sarah and Cait's relationship had blossomed into one of love and laughter. It had taken losing her mind for Sarah to let go of her negative outlook and now she embraced life with an ease that she had never had before.
Cait gulped. It would be hard for her to put Sarah in this assisted-living facility, but she knew it was for the best. With 24-hour assistance, Sarah wouldn't be a danger to herself.
An hour later, they pulled into Sunnyslope's beautiful facilities. Shane had found the center and was generously paying for full room and board for Sarah. It still burned a bit that Shane was paying and Cait wasn't. He had called it an early wedding gift and she had laughed at him. They weren't even engaged yet. Somehow, she would figure out a way to pay him back.
Cait helped her mother from the car and together they walked into the front lobby and were directed to Sarah's new apartment. Similar in size to her last place, it held a small kitchenette, minus the stove, and a living room and bedroom. The large windows overlooked a thriving garden and the green hills beyond.
Cait smiled when Sarah gasped at the room.
"This is for you, Mom," Cait said.
"This is beautiful! Oh, my shows," Sarah said and stood awkwardly before the television. There was no chair for her to sit in. Distress crossed her face as she looked around.
"Here you are, Mrs. Gallagher," Shane said as he came through the door with Sarah's favorite armchair. Setting it down in front of the television, Shane helped Sarah to sit and turned the channel to her favorite soap. In a matter of moments, Sarah was clapping her hands and laughing at the television.
The man didn't miss a trick, Cait thought, and smiled at Shane, hopelessly in love with him. Shane smiled back at her and ran his finger down her face.
"We have a date at the pub tonight," Shane said. He had insisted that she close the pub, and as it was a Sunday night, she'd agreed.
Cait went over to her mom and crouched in front of her.
"I'll come to visit often. You'll be happy here," Cait said and hugged her, trying not to cry.
Sarah smiled and patted her on the arm.
"Shh, don’t cry, it's not good for the baby," Sarah said.
Cait's heart skipped a beat and she shot a glance to the door where Shane talked to the nursing assistants. Thank God, he hadn't heard, Cait thought. She'd only just confirmed that fact for herself this morning. Sarah must have picked up on it when she touched Cait's arm.
"I won't, Mom. I'll see you soon," Cait said and went to meet Shane.
On the drive back, Cait debated telling him a million different ways but no words came out. She knew that this had happened from their impetuous night of lust at the cove. Since then, they'd been more careful with their precautions.
Shane pulled to a stop in front of the pub.
"Why are we here?"
"Come on, I have something to show you," Shane said. Getting out of the moving van, he came around the hood of the car and opened the door for Cait. Smiling, she looked up at him.
"No mind reading! Promise," Shan
e said sternly.
"I told you that I rarely do that," Cait complained as he took out the keys to unlock the front door of the pub, ushering her in front of him. Cait came to a halt.
One of the small tables sat in the middle of the floor, nothing around it. A small envelope lay amid a circle of small candles. Cait gaped at the pub. Candles were everywhere…on every available surface.
"What is this?" Cait whispered. Her heart thudded in her chest and she felt the blood rush from her face. Shane nudged her in the back.
"Go on, open it," Shane said.
Cait crossed the room and stood before the table, looking down at the envelope. Finally, with trembling hands, she reached out and opened it, sliding a piece of paper out.
"Deed to the property at 232 Main Street," Cait read and then saw her name listed under property owner. Her heart skipped a beat and she whirled around to see Shane on his knee on the floor, a box in his hand.
"Shane! Wait, what are you doing?" Her emotions in a whirlwind, Cait trembled as Shane smiled at her.
"I love you. All of you. Your stubbornness, your grit, your light and laughter. I want it all with you, Cait Gallagher. Businesses, babies, family…will you marry me?"
Clutching the deed to Gallagher's Pub, which was now legally hers, Cait stared blindly at Shane as happiness threatened to burst her heart open. Nodding, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, catching his lips in a breathless, teary kiss.
"Yes, a million times yes," Cait said against his mouth. Shane laughed into her mouth as he swung her in a circle and walked her across the pub and into the courtyard. Cait jerked as a round of applause hit her.
"She said yes!" Shane shouted to the crowd that waited there.
Cait stood dumbstruck as she looked into the faces of all of her friends and family. The Donovans cheered in a corner, holding hands. Fiona smiled at her and wiped a tear from her eye. Fairy lights ringed the courtyard and a table laden with food ran along one line of fence. Somehow, Shane had managed to surprise her, the one who could read minds, Cait thought happily.
Deciding she needed to one-up him, Cait stood back and turned to everyone.
"Well, since we are in the nature of surprising people tonight, I suppose that I can do the same…" Cait turned to Shane. "Dad."
She laughed as Shane's mouth dropped open and his eyes dropped to her stomach. Cheers rose as Shane dropped to his knees and kissed her stomach.
"Really?" he said, looking up at her, love ringing true in his eyes.
"Really," Cait said and bent to kiss him, all the parts of her world falling neatly into place.
"Oh, she's going to be trouble," Shane said and Cait laughed.
"Nothing we can't handle."
Wild Irish Soul
Book 3 in the Mystic Cove Series
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Copyright © 2014 by Tricia O'Malley
All Rights Reserved
Cover Design:
Alchemy Book Covers
Editor:
Emily Nemchick
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without express permission of the author. This includes reprints, excerpts, photocopying, recording, or any future means of reproducing text.
If you would like to do any of the above, please seek permission first by contacting the author at: [email protected]
“Art is the stored honey of the human soul.” ~ Theodore Dreiser
Chapter 1
“Aislinn, wait!”
Aislinn swore under her breath as Baird yelled to her from the door of Gallagher's Pub. Pasting on a polite smile, she turned to face him.
Baird Delaney.
Tall, dark and yum is how Cait had described him and Aislinn couldn't agree more. Or maybe it was the wire-framed glasses that had sunk her. Baird had come into her shop earlier in the week to pick up some art for his new psychiatry office and Aislinn's world had shifted.
“Sorry, Baird, I didn't mean to duck out, but I've had a long week,” Aislinn said smoothly as she clenched her fingers around her purse. All of Baird's heat and glow seemed to pulse at her and it was almost like looking into the sun. Aislinn squinted and put her mental shields up, trying to act normal.
“Ash…sorry, can I call you that?” Baird stopped and asked politely, twisting Aislinn's heart even further.
“Sure, thanks for asking,” Aislinn said demurely and tried not to look directly at his smoky gray eyes fringed by the darkest lashes she'd ever seen. To keep her mind from the tight body packed into the black t-shirt he wore, Aislinn tried to place a name to the color of his eyes. Graphite? No, too dark. Slate? No, still too dark. Sleet.
“Ash? Hello?”
Startled from her thoughts, Aislinn blushed. And then wanted to kick herself for blushing. She never got like this.
“Sorry, what were you saying?”
A slow smile crept across Baird's face, almost as if he knew where her train of thought had gone.
“I wanted to know where you were going. It isn't that late.”
“Ah, well, you know, running a business can be taxing; I wanted to get up early to finish some projects,” Aislinn said in a rush of breath.
“But the main band hasn't started yet. I was hoping that you would dance with me,” Baird said and stepped closer to Aislinn. His nearness was like a punch to the gut, and Aislinn felt a little dizzy. She did her best not to step back.
“Another night,” Aislinn whispered, trying her best not to stare at his mouth.
“Am I reading this wrong? I was quite certain that there was an attraction here,” Baird said directly and Aislinn jumped. Leave it to a psychiatrist to be forward with his feelings, she thought.
“I just…I just have to…” Aislinn trailed off lamely as she stared into his face. His very essence seemed to hypnotize her and helpless to stop herself, she closed the distance between them and brushed a kiss across his lips.
A flash of heat, of rightness, seared her and Aislinn stumbled back quickly.
“Oh no you don't,” Baird said quietly and grabbed her arms, pulling her close until her breasts brushed against his hard chest.
Aislinn trembled against Baird as he took her lips with his own, nibbling ever so softly. She sighed into his mouth as he seduced her with his kiss, coaxing her to open up to him, to give just a little more. Soon, she found herself all but wrapped around him as their kiss intensified. Aislinn moaned into his mouth just as a wolf whistle broke their embrace.
Unable to look at the person who whistled, Aislinn stared at Baird's chest, happy to see that it was heaving just as much as hers was. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. Neither said a word.
Reaching a decision, Aislinn sighed and took his hand. “Take me home with you.”
“What? No. I'd like to take you on a date is what I'd like to do,” Baird said stiffly, his honor clearly offended. For some reason, it delighted Aislinn and she laughed up into his handsome face.
“By the book, are you?”
“Not always, but in this instance, yes,” Baird said.
“Don't you want to live a little, Doctor?” Aislinn said and raised an eyebrow at him. She was enchanted when she saw a blush heat his cheeks.
“It's not that I don't want to live a little, it's that I want you to take me seriously,” Baird said quietly.
“Oh, I promise I'll take you seriously. Very seriously,” Aislinn whispered and leaned in to nip at Baird's bottom lip.
Baird sighed and rested his forehead against hers.
“You know that I want you,” Baird whispered.
“I know,” Aislinn said.
“But, this feels wrong,” Baird said.
“It isn't. It will be right. So right,” Aislinn said and smiled up at him. Aislinn was surprised at herself. As an artist and a woman supremely confident in her own being, she wasn't necessarily free with the partners th
at she chose to share her bed with, yet at the same time, she wasn't opposed to starting something up when an attraction was evident. Rarely, though, did she move this fast – with anything in her life.
“My place is in shambles, I've barely unpacked. Shouldn't we go to yours?” Baird asked; resignation warred with excitement in his voice.
“No, let's go to yours. We'll make you feel at home,” Aislinn said with a laugh. She wasn't ready to let Baird into her home. Very few were invited up to her apartment, her haven, and Aislinn was certain that if Baird went there with her it would be dangerously hard to erase the memory of him in her space.
“On one condition,” Baird said.
Aislinn tilted her head up at him and waited.
“I get to take you on a real first date. A nice one, like adults, where we do all the first date stuff and get to know each other better,” Baird said firmly.
Aislinn smiled up at Baird despite the worry that ran through her. Oh, yeah, she could easily fall for him.
“Deal.”
Chapter 2
Aislinn's palm warmed in Baird's large hand as he pulled her down the sidewalk with him towards his office and apartment overlooking the harbor. The sounds of the small village settled around them and Aislinn took a deep breath to settle her sudden nerves. So sure of herself seconds ago, now she wondered what she was doing.
It wasn't the sex that scared her. It was the after. The date that she had promised to go on. Aislinn shook her head. What she should do was run far away from Baird. There was no way that this proper doctor and her were ever going to work out in a real relationship.
“Nice night,” Baird said and Aislinn jumped.
“Yes, it is,” she said as he laughed at her.
The Mystic Cove Series Boxed Set (Wild Irish Books 1-4) Page 33
