by Maura Rose
“You really want this, don’t you?” he asked, marveling.
She tightened her hold on his shirt. “Kiss me and find out.”
Oh, like he was going to turn down an invitation like that. With a growl he pressed himself against her, growing harder as she melted against him, eager. Kath opened her mouth for him the second he pressed their lips together, letting him lick into her, kissing her fervently, wildly. Kathleen wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping them pressed together, her legs spreading so that he could fit between them and roll his hips against her.
Kathleen moaned, and god, yes, that felt so good, to have her against him—but he needed, wanted, more, and so did she if the way her nails clawed at his shoulders was any damn indication.
Brian slid his hand between her legs, groaning at how goddamn wet she was. Kathleen shuddered against his fingers. “Please,” she whispered. “Oh, god, I want—been thinking about this for so long, please—”
He kissed down her neck, careful not to leave marks, but fuck, he wanted to, bloody hell, he wanted to mark her up all over so that every time she looked in the mirror she remembered this moment. Kathleen panted and whined softly as he slid his fingers in and out of her, careful not to work her clit too much, wanting to tease her and drive her crazy.
“Brian,” she moaned, jerking on his fingers.
“You’re starting to make me think you want something,” he murmured, pulling his hand away.
Kathleen pulled his face back up to hers and kissed him, slick and demanding. “Get inside me, please, I want you to fuck me.”
Fuck yes.
He undid his pants and lifted Kath up, so that he could get inside. It also put his face at her breasts, which was a lovely bonus. He pressed his mouth to her shoulder to muffle his growl as she reached between them, her hand wrapping around his cock and stroking.
…oh, shit.
“Fuck, Kath, I don’t have—I don’t have anything.” Of course he was an idiot who didn’t have any condoms on him, bloody goddamn…
“It’s okay,” Kathleen whispered. “I’m clean and I’m on the pill. I trust you.”
“I’m clean,” he promised her.
“Besides,” she added, shyly. “I want to feel all of you.”
Oh Jesus. “Definitely gonna kill me,” he murmured, and then she was helping him to line up and he was sliding inside of her.
It took him a moment to get his bearings as he was enveloped in warm, tight heat. It had been a damn long time since he’d done anything with anyone, and even longer since it had been with someone he actually had feelings for rather than a fling. And he’d certainly never cared about anyone the way he cared about Kathleen. He’d move mountains if she asked him to.
Kathleen was making desperate noises in the back of her throat, clinging to him, clenching around him. She was so eager for it, she wanted it so badly and that fed the roaring beast inside of him, made it growl in victory.
He thrust once, short and sweet, just to make sure she was ready. Kathleen whimpered, her head falling back, biting her lip to keep the noises in.
Brian kissed along her breasts, mouthing at them through the fabric of her dress, finding a nipple and pinching it lightly with his teeth. Kathleen clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the noise she made, and then Brian thrust again and he heard her moan beneath her hand.
After that he lost all reason. Again, and again, he thrust into her, hard and fast, chasing that high and trying to make her lose control. He got a hand free and shoved the top of her dress down, shoved her bra down, pinning her arms and exposing her breasts to his mouth.
“Oh god,” Kathleen whispered, and he felt her pulse around him, felt himself get even slicker. “Oh, fuck, yes.”
“Turns you on?” he whispered, kissing up to her collarbone. “You like when I get a little rough with you? Good girl Kathleen, getting it on like this in the bathroom, you love it.”
Kathleen let out a high-pitched noise of desperation, her hips thrusting wildly, trying to get more of him inside of her. Brian took one of her breasts in his mouth again, thrusting harder, until Kath was shaking uncontrollably in his arms and whispering yes yes yes over and over.
She felt perfect, she sounded perfect, she was falling apart for him and he was the one doing this to her, he was the one making her like this, and it was like a fucking tsunami inside of him, power and overwhelming and he had to slide a hand down between them, find where she was slick and aching, stroke her to make sure because he wasn’t bloody well coming and leaving his girl bereft, and Kathleen clapped a hand over her mouth again as she let out a muffled scream and went limp in his arms.
Brian bit down on her shoulder, out of control, lost in the sensation of it. He jerked, once, twice, shoving himself into her, all of it leaving him in a rush.
He sagged a little against the wall as the two of them shook together, coming down from the high.
Kathleen laughed breathlessly. “I’ve never been like that before,” she admitted.
“I bet you say that to all the boys.”
She laughed again, and he helped her to get back on her feet. “Good thing we’re in a restroom,” she pointed out as Brian grabbed some paper towels to clean up the mess.
Brian caught her arm in his grip. “Hey.” He pulled her in, kissing her. “As fun as that was, the hotel idea is still open.”
Or his apartment. That was in Donaghue territory, though, and he didn’t want to accidentally have questions that he couldn’t answer. It was best, until he told her the full truth, that he wasn’t bringing her somewhere she’d find out about his family business in the worst way possible.
“I’ll think about it,” Kathleen promised him. She kissed him again, her hands sliding slowly down his chest, and fuck if he’d been a teenager he would’ve been getting it up again just from that. “Shall we slip out and pretend we weren’t just being terribly scandalous?”
“Lead the way.”
He slapped her ass as she grabbed the door handle, making her laugh. Kathleen was so serious and worried all of the time—he loved that he could help her be a little more lighthearted.
He didn’t just want stolen trysts in the bathroom, though. Wild party days were behind him. He wanted Kathleen in his life permanently, and that included in his bed. He wanted to be able to take his time with her, to worship her, get his mouth absolutely everywhere.
He’d find a way.
Chapter Four
Kathleen was just setting her coffee down on the table when she felt a pair of hands grabbing her from behind. She stiffened, terrified—and then caught the smell of leather and oranges, and felt Brian pressing a kiss to the back of his neck.
Brian used a citrus shampoo, so he always smelled of oranges, and his cousin had gifted him a leather jacket that he wore all the time. Kathleen was certain now that if she was in a pitch black room, blindfolded, she’d still know which person was Brian just by smell alone.
She relaxed, standing up fully and pressing back against him, smiling. “Hi.”
“Hey, jackrabbit,” he teased. She tilted her face up and he kissed her properly. “What’s got you spooked? It’s just me.”
Kathleen held in her sigh. She was going to have to tell him about her family at some point. Brian was talking about getting them a hotel room for the day so that they could take their time with each other, but she wasn’t sure if she could even get away for that long. Going out during the day was one thing. But being gone for hours and hours? Without telling her mother where she went?
Brian caught her facial expression and helped her sit down, taking a chair next to her. She felt so safe with him, like she could tell him anything, or like anyone could come at them, even her mother, and Brian would take care of her. But she still wasn’t sure how to tell him the full truth about her family, and why she was still so nervous about it.
“It’s your mother, isn’t it,” Brian guessed. “Kath… you know that I don’t see you as helpless, but do you need to
come and live with me? I wouldn’t expect anything, honestly. But you’d be safe from her with me. I’d make sure of it.”
Kathleen shook her head. She didn’t know where Brian lived, in Sokolov territory or somewhere else, but if he brought her into another person’s territory, her mother would use it as an excuse to declare a war.
She couldn’t have that.
Mom had been angering for war forever. She thought their territory was too small and, well, with all the drinking Dad had been doing, he’d mismanaged things and had lost them part of their territory, making it smaller. Mom wanted to move in against the Donaghues, but with the Sokolovs in the way they’d had to result to some underhanded methods and that hadn’t panned out and Mom was just getting more pissed by the day.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” she said slowly. Brian reached out and took her hand and she realized that it was shaking. She grasped back tightly. “I do trust you. And if I thought I could get out of this situation by going with you then I would. But my mother… I’m worried that you would end up hurt.”
Brian looked confused, his brow furrowing. “Kath, what kind of person is your mum? Seriously, is she going to take a baseball bat to me?”
Kathleen laughed. “No. No, it’s just… I want to leave on the right terms. Otherwise she’ll just keep making my life a mess. And if I did move in with you, or anyone else, I wouldn’t want to be a charity case. I’d want to be able to hold my own, in rent and things. And I haven’t had a job outside of my family business and so to get a job anywhere else, the only references I could use would be my mother and… well. And working at McDonald’s or somewhere wouldn’t get me enough to really help with bills.”
“I get that you want to do this the right way,” Brian replied. “But… if you feel unsafe, I just want you to know that you can come to me, all right?”
Kathleen nodded. She hated that they only saw each other like this. That they couldn’t go on other dates, or spend time at each other’s houses, or do any of the things that other couples normally did.
But Brian was good about it and never once complained.
Brian let go of her hand, digging into his pocket. “You have a cell phone?”
“Technically.” She had little doubt that it was bugged.
Brian checked his phone, then wrote his number on a napkin, handing it to her. “Just got it for the states, not used to the number yet,” he told her with a crooked grin. “If you ever need me to come get you, I promise, I’ll come, doesn’t matter what time it is or what’s going on, all right?”
She shook her head. “I can’t ask that of you.”
“You can.” Brian picked up her hand, his fingers curling underneath hers to expose her knuckles, bringing it up so that he could softly kiss them. “You’re my girl, aren’t you? You can ask anything you like of me.”
Her breath caught in her throat. Of course she… well she wasn’t seeing anyone else and she didn’t think that Brian was, she hadn’t expected him to be, but they hadn’t spoken out loud about what they were, they hadn’t… defined it.
It looked like that was what they were doing now.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m your girl. If that’s what you want.”
Brian scoffed as if it was a ridiculous thing to say. “Of course you are.”
He kissed her softly on the cheek, and Kathleen’s heart just about melted.
She didn’t quite know how to say it yet—not when she couldn’t really be all of herself with him, not when she had to hold back so much of her life—but god, she loved him.
“You know,” Brian teased, “you could just bump off your old lady. Seeing as you’ve been helping her run the thing for so long, you could take over. I’m sure nobody would miss her.”
Kathleen laughed. “I couldn’t possibly run it,” she said—and then paused.
Well… couldn’t she?
She knew how it all worked. She was close with all of the lieutenants and knew the routes and the runners, how much everyone was paid, how the shipments came in, and all the rest. She was present at meetings. She balanced the books. It was part of why Mom didn’t want her to leave, she was too damn valuable.
Huh.
“Maybe I could run it,” she admitted. “I never thought about it like that.”
“Would you want to?”
Now that was a dangerous question.
She was the oldest, and that meant she was technically the heir. Mom had never made it clear if Kathleen was going to take over or if she wanted one of Kathleen’s brothers, Pat or John, to be in charge instead. But if something did happen to Mom and Kathleen took over nobody would bat an eye, unless one of her brothers wanted to make a power grab. She was the oldest sibling and she’d been the one helping Mom all this time while the other two did god knew what, partying it up or serving as half-hearted lieutenants. All the others in the family would most likely support her.
“I might,” she said. “I’m not sure. I’d have to think about it.”
“Well, something to think about.”
“Killing off my mother is definitely something to think about,” she said drily.
Brian shrugged. “Hey, I know a guy.”
She laughed. “Oh no, if we’re going to bump my mother off then I’m doing it myself, that’s my job.”
“Oh, of course, my mistake.”
Kathleen didn’t really want to talk about this anymore—she wanted to get onto the nicer topics of conversation—but it stayed in the back of her mind. Not that she was considering killing her mother. That was a step too far. But… what if she found a way to lead a coup? Take over?
It wouldn’t be the first time someone had done that in a family. And she could get others to help her, she was sure of it. The lieutenants liked her. Kate Sokolov could persuade her husband Ivan to be on her side, surely. Perhaps Kathleen could even get the Sokolovs to reach out to the Donaghues. She’d never met them, personally, but if she promised them a ceasefire to the family war, perhaps they’d agree to help her take the throne.
It was definitely something to think about.
Chapter Five
Brian left his meeting with the other runners and Sean only to run smack into Bridget. She gave him a smile he didn’t like—a smile that said she knew a little too much.
“Walk with me.”
Brian followed her downstairs. Since marrying Sean, Bridget had really come into her own. She’d been in university studying business and economics before her parents had gotten sick and she’d had to drop out to take care of them, and it was clear that she was the one helping to run the finances in the Donaghue family now. Being the wife and partner of a mob leader suited her. She was confident, in control, calm, in a way that he hadn’t seen from her before.
Bridget let him into the kitchen, where she set about making herself a snack. “The cravings have come out in full force,” she explained. “Feel free to sit.”
Brian sat down, watching her.
“So.” Bridget grinned at him. “Who is she?”
“Who’s who?”
“The girl you’re seeing.”
Brian had only mentioned to Sinead that Kathleen was a friend, but he hadn’t given her name or said that he was dating her. Their relationship was good, but… different. Kathleen couldn’t be away from her mother for too long and there weren’t too many safe places she could go. He didn’t want to tell people about her only to then have to say she was with a domineering mother and look like a cad for not getting her out of the situation yet.
Not for lack of trying, though. But he thought that Kath liked the idea of being in control of her family business. She’d gotten a gleam in her eye that he’d rather liked, an ambitious one.
“I don’t have any girl,” he lied.
Bridget scoffed. “You’re a horrible liar, always were. So’s Denis. I think it’s a family thing.”
“What makes you think I have a girl?” he hedged.
“You make your runs in good time bu
t then dawdle getting back. You’ve got this ‘friend’ that Sinead’s editing a novel for and you always come back from your runs with stars in your eyes and I know it’s not from looking at Pavel’s wife, or you’d’ve been dead in the river long ago. You get a feel for when people are in love, once you’ve been in love yourself. So, who is she?”
Fair enough. Brian knew when he’d been beat. “There’s this girl I ran into—literally, ran into her, her papers were blowing everywhere and I helped her pick them up. She always writes at this little coffee shop on the far edge of Sokolov territory. It’s near enough the drop that I was taking the scenic route back, getting a feel for the new city and all. And this gorgeous bird just smacks right into me.”
“What’s she look like?” This was probably the best bit of gossip that Bridget had gotten sine her brother-in-law had proposed to his now-wife.
“Blonde, but strawberry blonde, with these big hazel eyes, tall, kind of delicate-looking. Her name’s Kathleen, she’s Irish too, said her grandparents came over. She speaks Gaelic better than I do, she’s been helping me.”
Bridget paused, frowning a little. “Huh. And what does she do?”
“Works as an administrative assistant for her family’s company. Her mother’s a right arse, though. Controlling, manipulative. She won’t let Kath get any other kind of job and always tries to monitor where she goes. I guess her father was a drinker, died of it, and now her mother’s got a death grip on the family.”
Bridget stopped making her food and braced her hands on the edge of the counter. She looked a little pale.
“Bridge?” Brian looked her up and down, especially the floor between her legs in case there was a puddle of water there. It had been a few months since he’d started working for the Donaghues, and he’d done good work for them, they all liked him—but in those few months’ time had been passing for Bridget’s pregnancy as well, and she was close to term.
