by Maura Rose
She immediately jumped up, reaching, trying to get it from him, but he had the height advantage. “Brian, come on. I need that!”
“No, you don’t.” He held it high in the air over his head, laughing a little as she tried to yank his arm down. “It’s going to be a success, all right? A watched pot never boils and all that.”
Kath sat down at the kitchen table. “I know, I know. But—what if it’s not? What if people don’t like it, what if it’s—”
“Babe.” Brian loved his wife. And Kathleen had grown in her confidence in the months since the takeover. She was starting to realize that the lieutenants and other family heads actually liked her, and that she could do a good job not only at leading the McCourt family but at her writing career. But she still suffered from bouts of insecurity, especially right now, the day her book launched. “It’s going to be fine, it’s going to sell. The advance reviews are great, you’ve had good preorders… it’s all going to be great.”
He set the phone aside and took her hands, sitting down next to her. Kathleen squeezed his fingers tightly, giving him a small smile. “You’ve always believed in me.”
“Of course I have.” Kathleen was amazing. Anyone with eyes and half a brain could see that.
She kissed him softly. “I didn’t want to tell you right now, because of the book, and all… I thought it would be best if I told you afterwards so it could be a separate celebration but I think… I think it’ll help me relax.”
“What will?” Brian scrambled to think what she could mean by celebration. Had they gotten a good alliance and he hadn’t known it? Was another family falling from grace, giving them an opportunity?
He felt like if it had something to do with family business, though, that he would’ve heard about it before now. The mob world was just as full of gossip as any other. It was rare that something happened that others didn’t know about.
What could it be, then?
Kathleen moved across, sitting sideways in his lap. Brian grinned up at her. “Well hello there, love.”
She took his face in her hands and kissed him softly. “I’m pregnant,” she whispered against his mouth.
For a moment, Brian wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly.
Of course, it was only a matter of time. They’d wanted a child and now that they were married there was no reason why there wouldn’t be one when they’d been doing quite a lot of the ‘making’ part of it and not bothering with anything that would prevent pregnancy.
But it was one thing to know in the back of his mind that they would like a child and were hoping, vaguely… and another thing entirely for that to actually be a reality.
“You’re pregnant?” he repeated, like an idiot.
Kathleen nodded, smiling at him. “Yes.”
He picked her up, whirling her around, and Kathleen laughed, clutching at him, shrieking in surprise. “Brian, Brian put me down!”
He set her gently back onto the floor. “When did you find out?”
“Two days ago. I wanted—I was going to have something special, you know, make it really nice, after the book came out but—it’s been so hard to keep the secret, I’ve wanted to tell you so badly.”
He kissed her, getting an arm around her waist so that he could dip her. Kathleen laughed into his mouth, smacking him lightly on the chest. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And we’re going to be parents,” Brian pointed out, standing her upright again. “I think I’m allowed a little celebration, don’t you?”
Kathleen’s phone went off, vibrating with a call. Her eyes got wide and she just about jumped.
“It’s my agent,” she whispered, clutching the phone.
“Well go on,” Brian said, nodding. “Answer it.”
Kathleen clutched his hand in a death grip as she sat back down at the kitchen table, answering the phone.
Brian was still reeling a little himself. Kathleen’s book was finally published (under a pseudonym, of course, given the mafia connection with her real name), they were married, the family was doing well, she was pregnant…
It was all so much, and yet, he didn’t feel overwhelmed. Just glad. He’d come to America to make more of himself, to find a new life, and he’d gotten that and then some. He was Kathleen’s partner as head of a family, he was successful and respected. He had his cousin and her family and various friends. He had his beautiful, whip-smart, talented wife.
And they were going to have a child.
Kathleen hung up the phone. “She says…” She paused and took a deep breath. “She says that sales are through the roof. The book’s a success.”
Brian grinned as Kathleen started to smile dazedly, like she wasn’t quite sure if this was a dream or not. “I knew it would be, love. I told you.”
“You did.” She took the hand of his that she was holding and kissed it. “And it’s thanks to you that this is even published. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Brian felt she would’ve been able to do it anyway. Kathleen was stronger than she gave herself credit for. But he was glad that he’d gotten to be a part of it. That he’d got to help her get the better life that she deserved.
“I couldn’t have done any of this without you,” he pointed out. He wouldn’t be head of a family without her, or have a wonderful wife if Kathleen didn’t exist. “So we’ll just have to call it even.”
“Oh no,” Kathleen teased. “How awful.”
Brian laughed, kissing her, kissing his pregnant wife.
How awful indeed.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maura Rose is a long-time lover of the written word with a penchant for cooking (and eating) copious quantities of Eastern European food. When she isn’t busy wrangling her two adorable children or spending time with her patient and eternally supportive husband, she can be found cruising the back country roads of the California county she calls home with the music cranked up to full blast and singing along at the top of her lungs. It is during these moments of solitude that she dreams up most of the plots of her spicy romance novels.
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If you liked reading BRIAN, check out these other books by Maura Rose:
SEAN (IRISH MOB NOVELLAS BOOK 1)
PATRICK (IRISH MOB NOVELLAS BOOK 2)
BEHOLDEN TO THE BRATVA (SOKOLOV BRATVA BOOK 1)
BURNING FOR THE BRATVA (SOKOLOV BRATVA BOOK 2)
BLAZING FOR THE BRATVA (SOKOLOV BRATVA BOOK 3)
BALLERINA FOR THE BRATVA (SOKOLOV BRATVA BOOK 4)
SOKOLOV BRATVA: THE COMPLETE SERIES
CRAVING MY COSTAR
OFFSIDES LOVE
BILLIONAIRE'S BOND
Check out this sneak peek from another novel by Maura!
BILLIONAIRE'S BOND
By Maura Rose
Warning: This title contains graphic language, sex and steamy, star-crossed romance!
Excerpt from BILLIONAIRE'S BOND:
The moment the elevator doors closed behind them he was on her and she was the one up against the wall, one of Dan’s hands coming up behind her head to cushion it and keep her from banging it on the hard marble. He kept kissing her and kissing her, until Heather’s entire world spiraled down into the narrowness of just the two of them. The feel of his body against hers, the sheer weight of him, and the hot, slick feeling of his lips and tongue were driving her insane. She couldn’t even remember if they’d pressed the button for her floor. Was the elevator even moving? She didn’t know and she kind of didn’t care.
Dan’s hands slid underneath her shirt at her back and her stomach, his fingers gliding over the skin as if seeking to map her out. “god, you’re so beautiful,” he admitted in a rush, as if it was a secret. “You’re gorgeous like this, you’re gorgeous always.”
Heather kissed him again to shut him up. Her heart was soaring at his words
, wanting to drink them in, but her stomach was clenching in shame and she wanted to swallow his words down, muffle them until they were silenced and she didn’t have to think about it anymore. Instead she focused on the way his tongue felt stroking hers, his fingers digging roughly into her skin, and the feelsgoodalmosttoomuch sensation as she hooked a leg around his and ground up against him.
Dan pulled back to nose at the skin behind her ear, and that was when Heather saw that the elevator doors were open. They’d reached her floor.
“Dan,” she warned. Dan just made a humming sound and Heather pushed at him so that she’d have room, then grabbed two handfuls of his shirt and started dragging him out of the elevator. “The elevator stopped.”
“I mean, we don’t have to go to your place,” he pointed out. “I’m okay with the elevator, really. We can just hit the emergency stop button.”
“And then we get interrupted when the fire department arrives,” Heather replied dryly, yanking on his hand. “I don’t think so. C’mon.”
Dan grinned at her, letting her pull him down the hallway to her apartment. Heather tried to get the key into the lock, which was a little difficult when Dan kept crowding her up against the door, kissing the back of her neck and sliding his hands back underneath her shirt to slide up just shy of her breasts.
“Not helping,” Heather said, her hands shaking as she finally managed to shove the key into the lock.
“I’d say that I feel terrible, but I’d be lying.”
Heather turned around and let him pin her up against the door, kissing him slowly, then hooking her leg around his at an angle to neatly turn him so that he was the one against the door. Dan made a groan of appreciation, his hands sliding over her ass and squeezing gently, and then Heather found the door handle and promptly opened it, sending Dan reeling backwards and almost tumbling to the ground.
“Okay that,” he panted, pointing an accusing finger at her but smiling all the same, “Was a dirty trick.”
“Oh no, he’ll never sleep with me now,” Heather said in a completely flat, deadpan voice.
Dan laughed and grabbed her hands, reeling her back into him, and Heather kicked the door closed behind them. “What the hell am I going to do with you, you little spitfire?”
“Fuck me?” Heather said brightly, smiling.
The humor went out of Dan’s face and he growled, his hands coming up under her thighs to lift her up. Heather gave an involuntary shriek, completely startled, her arms and legs wrapping around him out of pure instinct because holy shit Dan could pick her up and carry her like she was made of nothing. Something. Something lightweight. She couldn’t really be expected to think up good metaphors at a time like this.
Heather had to give him directions to the bedroom, laughing as Dan tried to kiss her and carry her and stumble to the bedroom all at the same time. She peppered kisses all over his face, raking her fingers through his hair, laughing into his mouth until he finally dropped her onto her bed, so hard that she bounced a little.
“You’re an awful person,” Dan informed her, pulling his shirt up and off, “Laughing at me like that.”
“I’m an awful person in many ways,” Heather said, ignoring the pang in her chest at that. “That’s really the thing that tipped you off?”
“You’re lucky I like you,” Dan replied, crawling up the bed between her spread legs. He put his hands on her thighs and spread them wider, making fresh heat run through Heather’s body. She was so turned on from this, his hands on her legs, his dark eyes gleaming, a teasing smile on his face. “Let’s get this stuff off of you, hmm?”
Heather nodded, eager to comply, shucking off her shirt and letting Dan help her get her pants and the rest off. She ran her hands over his chest, feeling the skin jump and twitch underneath her, and then grabbed at his belt loops. “Off,” she chanted. “Off, off, off.”
“Bossy,” Dan teased, getting his pants off himself when Heather’s hands started shaking too much, and oh, god, Heather needed her mouth on his dick this very instant.
She considered the merits of grabbing Dan and flipping him over—growing up with a boy for her best friends and numerous cousins had meant she turned out to be a bit of a pro at wrestling—but then thought that might lead to accidental flailing and injury, so she licked her lips pointedly, then looked up at him through her lashes.
“Can I blow you?” she asked.
Heather had never seen someone have a heart attack, but she was pretty sure that Dan’s expression right now was the same expression that they’d have on their face if she did. “I, uh.” He flushed red. “Yeah, yes, I mean, please.”
Heather laughed, helping him flip so that she was straddling him. She liked that she could throw him off balance like this, reduce him to stuttering and pure want. She gave him a wink, and then slid her mouth over the head of his dick. He wasn’t the biggest she’d had but honestly, thank god for that, and he was nice and thick which was what she preferred. She hummed around him, dragging her tongue up the underside, then tonguing his slit. Dan swore, and she encouragingly put one of his hands in her hair so he could hold on. He tugged a little and she moaned around him, taking him in as deep as she could, encouraging him to tug at her hair again. Someday she’d take her time and figure out all the little ticks and quirks of him, the things that made him thrust up into her mouth and the things that made him shudder, but right now she was feeling a bit too impatient for that. So she just set a slow but deep pace, taking him in as far as possible and then pulling off until only the tip was inside her mouth and she could suck on it, swirl her tongue around, and then go back all the way down again. Dan kept swearing above her, tugging at her hair every time she did that thing with her tongue. Once she could feel his hips starting to twitch with more force, she pulled off completely, smiling up at him as she licked her lips to catch the last of the salty tang of his precum.
“You look like…” Dan’s voice seemed to catch in his throat, his pupils blown wide and his face flushed. “You look like sin, get up here.”
Heather obliged him, crawling up his body so that he could kiss her and lick the taste of him from her mouth, his hands sliding down her back to her ass so that he could guide her into grinding against him. She wanted him inside of her, rocking into her… she reached up, blind, trying to find the lube she kept in her bedside drawer. “Condoms?” Dan asked. “I brought a couple in my wallet, if you don’t have any.”
Heather helpfully held up the condom she also kept in her bedside drawer, one of several she’d bought that morning. Dan grinned at her wickedly, and then she was definitely flailing and almost hitting Dan with her elbow as she suppressed her instinct to fight back when he flipped her, ending up between her legs again. Dan nosed at the inside of her thigh, scraping her teeth along the sensitive skin there, and Heather moaned.
“I’m going to have fun with this,” Dan promised her, his voice low and making her shiver. He kissed his way up her thighs, then started to lick around and through her folds. Heather arched up, her body responding to the teasing touch of his tongue. He was purposefully avoiding her clit, swirling his tongue around and lapping into her but not putting it where she wanted it, needed it, most, driving her crazy until she was grabbing at his hair and shoulders, arching her hips to try and get him to go where she wanted.
“Something you need?” Dan asked, chuckling darkly.
Heather resisted the urge to kick him in the head. “You know what I need.”
Dan cocked his head, as if thinking. “Hmmm, do I?”
Heather tossed her head back. “Please,” she begged. “Okay, fine, please, please, just—”
Dan gave her a proud look, like he was congratulating her for asking so nicely. Then he finally, finally, lapped at her clit, sucking on it, and Heather was keening, grabbing onto the sheets so that she wouldn’t dig her nails into Dan’s skin too much. Then he slid a finger into her, crooking it upwards, getting her clit from the inside and the outside, and Heather was panting, eve
ry nerve ending on fire and then Dan was adding one, then two more fingers, in rapid succession, speeding up a little as if he knew, he knew that she liked the feeling of that burn, that stretch, the blurred line between pleasure and pain, and Heather was going to honestly kill him if he didn’t—
Dan raked his teeth over her clit, ever so lightly, just a hint, but it was enough. Heather arched up, her hips giving a spasm, her mouth falling open in a silent, chocked-off oh of pleasure and surprise.
She was still panting when Dan crawled up her body, looking probably about as smug as she had a few minutes ago. “I’m going to get you back for that,” she said weakly.
“I look forward to it,” Dan assured her, rolling the condom on. “Are you still up for…?”
Heather hooked her leg around his ankle and executed the same move that had gotten him into her apartment, flipping him over and landing on top. “I wrestled a lot as a kid,” she explained, grinning at Dan’s shocked expression, and then she was lowering herself down onto his cock and forgetting that wrestling or anything else existed outside of this present moment between them.
There was still a voice at the back of her head telling her that she didn’t deserve this, that this was incredibly wrong of her, that she was setting herself up for disaster and going to break Dan’s heart. It was far too hard to care about much of anything when she was feeling stretched full, all of that building tension now being wound tight inside of her, growing with a pulse of heat and pleasure each time she sank down onto him. Dan watched her with wide eyes, his hands sliding up and down her body, light pinching her nipples and trailing down her stomach, like he just couldn’t stop touching her, like was starving for it.
She could tell that Dan wanted to set a faster pace, but she was on top, so she was drawing this out and keeping it slow. She could see that it was killing him, the way she was raising herself up, then sinking all the way down, rolling her hips a little with it, and then repeating the process again slowly. She loved the thick stretch of him, the slowly rising pleasure in the base of her spine, but after a while she was starting to get impatient too, wanted to ride that wave until it crested and consumed her, so she leaned down and kissed him.
