by Henry, Jane
“Joke was on me, though,” Keenan says with a wistful smile. “When Father Finn hid among the shadows and caught me in my own game, I nearly wet my trousers.”
Maeve laughs, and Caitlin wipes away tears. It’s hard to imagine these strong, sturdy men of the Clan as young lads, but as Keenan’s stories continue, I can almost picture it. Young boys, eager to do the bidding of their Chief. Trained in academics, martial arts, and Clan law at St. Albert’s. Forged in training to be loyal to one another and the brotherhood.
The laughter dies down, and Keenan sobers.
“If there was anything Father Finn taught us, it was that family isn’t always related by blood.” He pauses, his gaze roaming to Tully and the other men of the Clan who are brothers by choice, not blood. He swallows, and he looks to Caitlin briefly. She gives him an almost imperceptible nod. He draws in a breath, squares his shoulders, and continues.
“Family are the people in your life who choose you to be a part of theirs. The people who love you for who you are.” He looks one by one to his brothers. They hold their heads up higher, and sit straighter in the high-backed wooden benches. “Family are the people who accept you. Who welcome you. Family are those who will always be loyal.”
A warmth spreads through me when I realize, I’m a part of this family.
Keenan looks out at the congregation, his gaze going from his wife to his brothers, then out to the congregation that spills all the way outside.
“And the reason Father Finn was father to us all was because he treated us all, every single one of us, as family.”
Heads nod, and murmurs of assent ring through the church.
There’s both sorrow and joy in our midst as they complete final preparations for Finn’s burial. Aileen sings the closing hymn, as we process to the cemetery. We walk quietly, soberly, and as we exit the church, clouds part and sunbeams light our path. Aileen’s voice carries bright and clear across the distance.
Go, silent friend,
forgive us if we grieved you;
Safe now in heaven, kindly say our name.
Your life has touched us, that is why we mourn you.
Tully joins me, and quietly holds my hand.
“I’ll miss him as I’ll miss my very own brother,” he says, pinching his nose and closing his eyes briefly. I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs, and I know he’s overcome with emotion. It’s powerful, seeing a man like him succumb to emotion, and for some reason, it makes me respect him even more.
“Aye,” I whisper. “That you will, Tully.”
He smiles at me. “I’m glad you’re to be one of us, lass. I truly am.”
I look out at the throng of people. I’m one of them, now.
“I am too.” I nod, repeating, “I am too.”
* * *
Back at the parsonage, the doors are wide open, welcoming anyone and everyone to come celebrate the life of Father Finn. I almost wish I knew him better, hearing the stories everyone shares. From the humblest storekeeper to the chief of police, everyone has a story of how they were touched by the kindness of Father Finn.
“Drove me up a feckin’ wall,” Tully whispers to me, taking a long pull from a steaming cup of tea. “There was a time or two if he wasn’t a man of the cloth, I’d have knocked him upside the head.”
“Tully,” I say, covering my mouth with my hand. “You shouldn’t say such things.”
He shrugs. “Telling the truth, is all. Like any real brother, he had his ups and downs, you know.”
“Did he?”
Tully nods to Boner when Boner offers him a little nip of some whiskey in his tea. “Aye, please.”
Boner upends the whole thing. I roll my eyes.
Boner chuckles. “He was always giving us ‘hints’ and ‘tips’ and ‘clues’ about various things that happened, but because of his loyalty to the church and to Ballyhock, he would only give us enough information to drive us feckin’ batty, and never enough to actually go on.”
I swipe Tully’s mug and take a long sip myself. I underestimated the searing heat of it all, and choke. Tully clucks his tongue and shakes his head.
“Naughty little girl,” he says under his breath. “You’ll get spanked for that later.”
Warmth spreads through my chest, and it isn’t from the whiskey this time. I catch his eye and ever so casually scratch my temple with my middle finger, then flick it at him.
His nostrils flare, and he shakes his head from side to side. “Oh, dear,” he says softly. “My, my.”
My heartbeat thunders.
He tugs my hand and pulls me to him so I’m perched atop his knee.
“What a naughty girl, misbehaving at such a place and time? Really, McKenna?” But I can tell he’s secretly pleased. “Did you forget the shipment that just arrived?”
I did not. It’s precisely because of that little black leather bag sitting up in our room that I’m provoking him. That, and I crave the intensity of his dominance.
“This doesn’t seem right, doing this here,” I say to Tully. From where I’m sitting, I can see Father Finn’s priest friend with Keenan by the doorway that leads to a sitting room. Children roam about, attended by their nannies. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the citizens of Ballyhock and the Clan mingling like this, and I have to admit, I like it.
“I bet you don’t see something like this every day,” I say to Tully.
He shakes his head. “You don’t. But a man like this isn’t born every day, is he?”
Father Finn was the bridge between two worlds, and I wonder what will happen now that he isn’t here anymore.
“Do you think the Clan will have trouble with the citizens now that he’s gone?”
Tully shakes his head. “No. We’ve good relationships with them intentionally. You’ll see. We’ll find a priest to take his place.” He sighs. “Not that anyone ever truly will.”
I watch people pay their respects. I watch an older man holding a baby, gazing at the steeple that glows in the brilliant sunlight, and I’m feeling meditative.
“Feels like the end of an era, Tully,” I say quietly. He holds my hand and nods. “I’m not sure why.”
“Feels that way to me, too,” he says with a sad smile. “But I think for me it’s for another reason entirely.”
“Oh?”
He grins. “Come, now, lass, as if you don’t know?” He tips his head to the side, and the way he’s looking at me makes my heart go all fluttery again.
I do know, but sometimes it feels superstitious to say it out loud. I didn’t think I’d find myself fulfilled or content with a man like Tully. I didn’t think I’d ever want to be a part of this big, powerful, out-of-the-ordinary family.
But I do.
I do.
I swallow hard and don’t respond. He gently pushes me off his knee and rises. I forget sometimes how tall he is, but even under the exquisite cut of his suit, his muscles and breadth are evident.
“Walk with me, McKenna?”
I nod, feeling weirdly shy and a little emotional.
“Yes, of course.”
A gentle breeze stirs the bushes outside the door, and a butterfly alights on a branch nestled in between bright rose-colored stems. The chill from earlier’s worn off, the bright sun taking its place.
He leads me to the stone pathway that takes us from Holy Family to the McCarthy home.
“Keenan says I can move in, soon as I’m ready,” Tully says in a husky voice. He gives me a sidelong look.
“Oh?”
He squeezes my hand. “Oh. And I want you with me.”
The warmth intensifies, this time, going all the way to the tips of my toes. Live at the mansion? With him?
“Of course I would. I’d love that. You know I love living there with you.”
For a moment he almost looks scared, a look so rare for him that it takes me by surprise. Is he nervous about what he has to tell me?
He walks down the path that leads to the cliffs, rather than the way that lea
ds us back home. When the wind kicks up, he wraps his arm around my shoulders.
“I’ve something to tell you,” he says soberly. “Didn’t seem appropriate to mention it when we were at Finn’s funeral.”
“Yes?”
He frowns. “Your mom escaped, McKenna.”
I don’t like that she even had to escape, but his words give me a jolt of surprise.
“Escaped?”
“Aye.” He looks out at the sea.
“Is Keenan terribly upset?”
He shakes his head and gives me a small smile. “No, lass. In fact, truth be told, I’m pretty certain that if questioned, we’d find we know the person who assisted her.”
“Then you have to tell Keenan, Tully! Straight away!”
He cocks his head to the side. “Oh, his own mother, is it?”
I feel my jaw drop. “Are you serious?”
“As serious as I can be. This morning, when I went to go check on her, she was nowhere to be found. I didn’t think she’d escaped, wasn’t sure how she could, but it seems Maeve did.”
I shake my head, literally unable to comprehend any of this.
“Why?”
“Ah, they were mates, lass. Maybe she couldn’t bear to see your mum locked up. Maybe she feared for what would happen to her.”
I nod. “Aye. What would happen to her if Keenan found out?”
“Oh, he’d have a thing or two to say, no question, but he can’t say anything against his mum, can he? She’s the Clan matriarch.”
“Aye.”
“In all my years in the Clan, not once have I ever seen her interfere like this.”
“She’s brave,” I say, shaking my head. “Isn’t she?”
He smiles. “You all are.”
We stare out at the sea, and I wonder where mum is. Mary’s gone back to her home in Scotland, with a promise to keep in touch. Now with Mum gone, I have no family left. I know I’d feel bereft if not for the Clan.
“Thank you,” I say shyly. For some reason, I’m filled with pride, then. To be welcomed into the fold as one of their own.
Tully stands with his hands in his pockets, staring out to the depths of the blue-green sea. White caps crash on the shores below, then lap back out to sea. The rhythmic lull seems as if it never changes, but every wave that laps upon shore brings with it a small change. Sometimes it seems as if every day’s the same, one after another, but when I look back at how far I’ve come, I’m astounded at the distance.
“I’ve stood here so many times I’ve lost count,” he says. “We all have, honestly.”
“Mm. Aye. I’d have, too, if I lived nearby such a place when I was growing up.”
“I stood here the day Keenan took office. I stood here the day Lachlan was inducted as a full-fledged member of the Clan. I stood here the day Cormac took Aileen as his wife, and Sheena and Nolan had their first baby. I stood here when Lachlan took Fiona to Boston, and when Tiernan became a member as well. When Carson’s Eve died, way back before he was with Megan, I stood here. I look out at the sea, to remind myself that some things are certain, I think.”
I nod slowly. “Some things are certain, aren’t they?”
He takes me gently by the elbow and turns me around to look at him. “Aye, love,” he says with feeling. “Like my love for you.”
And then right there, with the brisk wind whipping off the water, and the bright, blinding sun blazing overhead, my big bear of a man drops to one knee before me.
He isn’t.
Here? Today? Right now?
I stare at him in surprise, my jaw unhinged.
“Tully.”
He shakes a little as he draws a little box from his pocket. It’s navy velvet, nestled in the rough palm of his hand. I swallow hard.
“McKenna, I’ve got something to ask you,” he says, flashing me a boyish grin that makes my heart beat faster.
“Oh?”
He nods, then opens the box.
And the breath whooshes right out of me.
It’s exquisite. Other worldly. The most gorgeous piece of jewelry I’ve ever laid eyes on. The sunlight catches the diamond just so, the facets reflecting as if made of magic.
I can’t speak. I can hardly breathe. His own voice is tremulous when he asks me, “Will you marry me, McKenna? Become a true claimed member of the Clan? For now and forever.”
“Of course,” I whisper. I swallow down the rise of emotion in my chest. “Yes!”
He flashes me a rare, toothy grin, the kind that makes my panties melt, and he gets to his feet, takes the ring out of the box, and slides it onto the proper finger. Then he takes the box and throws it as far as he can into the ocean.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you did that!”
He grins. “What?”
“That was a very pretty box.” I’m half cringing and half laughing. Leave it to Tully.
He chuckles, bending down so he can kiss my check. “You have to give thanks to the gods of the sea for the gifts sent from above.”
I shake my head. “You are ridiculously romantic when you put your mind to it.”
“Jesus.” He cringes. “Still trying to get that spanking, aren’t you?”
“Oh, aye,” I say, nodding. “I have to admit, I need my arse whipped good and hard after the past days’ events.”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” he says, shaking his head. “She gets better and better.”
“Like fine wine?”
He grins. “Yeah, baby. Exactly like that.”
He chuckles before he bends down and kisses me.
“One day, we’ll have another baby. I know it in my bones, McKenna.”
I smile. “Or two… maybe three.”
“Bloody hell.”
My smile deepens.
We head up to the house, now that everyone’s dispersed from the parsonage. A bright light shines on the porch, welcoming us in. Though the past few days have worn me down, and I feel as if I could crawl in bed and sleep for hours, I can’t help but marvel that my heart is more at rest than it’s ever been.
* * *
Chapter 22
Tully
“Absolutely motherfucking gorgeous,” I marvel. McKenna’s hands are tied to the headboard, her arse is striped pink from the spanking I gave her, her ankles are spread apart with a spreader bar, and she’s wearing my collar.
She’d maybe reply, but she’s gagged. I take the end of my belt and drag it along her shoulders. She shivers and grins against the gag, her eyes hazy and lust-filled. She’s come already four times so far tonight, and I’ve yet to fuck her. I won’t fuck her until she reads to me again, my favorite way to take her.
I drop the belt, unfasten her cuffs, and carry her to the living room. She moans and nestles her head against my chest, then points to her gag. I nod, unfastening it in the back and toss it to the couch.
“Need to take this off so you can read to me.”
She grins and sighs, and her eyes are all lust-filled and hazy. I slide her down my body to the floor, but instead of going to the bookshelf she drops to her knees and grabs the back of my legs. She slides her chin up and down the length of my leg, and my cock strains against my trousers.
“Christ,” I curse, as her trembling fingers reach for my zipper. I stop her and shake my head. “No, lass. If you blow me tonight I’m apt to come, and I won’t come anywhere but between those legs of yours.”
She pouts a little, so I give her hair a little tug.
“Behave yourself, or there’s more of that punishment to come.”
She bites her lips and nods.
“Why no blow job, Tully?”
Her lower lip sticks out like a child who just got told no cookies.
Bloody fucking perfect.
“You know why, McKenna.”
I want my baby in her again. There’ll be nothing between us when I make love to her.
I lead her over to the bookshelf.
“Pick a book. Make it a good one.”
She peruses the shelf while I look out the window.
Outside our window, the moon rises over the horizon, and the shades are drawn, save for one sliver of moonlight. There’s peace here in Ballyhock, and downstairs, the staff’s likely shutting the house up for the night. She shopped with the other women in town today, helping Maeve pick out some new clothes. She’s closer to Maeve since all that happened. The two are damn near inseparable.
“This one,” she says, holding a thick volume in hand. I can’t see the cover.
“What is it?” I frown, trying to read the title.
“Now, you let me worry about that. You worry about… other things.”
I give her arse a sharp smack. Jesus, I love her.
“Over the edge of the couch. Prop the book up. Read to me. I want to hear your that voice of yours when I take you.”
She shakes her head. “You have the oddest kinks, you know.”
“Don’t fucking care. Do what I say or I’ll slide a plug in that arsehole before I fuck you, and I’ll show you exactly how many kinks I have.”
She shakes her head and grins. “Oooh. Naughty.”
She kneels, drapes her body over the arm, and spreads her legs for me. I groan at the sight of her striped arse, and the musky, sweet scent of her arousal. Jesus God.
She’s thumbing through pages, as if she’s memorized this book, then she squeals as she finds it and sighs.
I line myself up at her entrance, stifling a groan at the hot, slick feel of her, as she begins to read, her clear, beautiful voice reciting as if she’s reading poetry.
“‘Come to me—come to me entirely now,’ said he, and added, in his deepest tone, speaking in my ear as his cheek was laid on mine…”
I hold her hips and thrust in her, and her voice wavers a bit as we unite.
“Make my happiness—I will make yours.”
My heart thumps, pounding in my chest at the magnitude of this moment, as close to McKenna as humanly possible, our enemies no longer after us.
She’s mine.
Mine.
I will absolutely make her happiness.
