They stood side by side as they started to walk, Rían nudged Liadh lightly with his shoulder. Liadh reciprocated using all her strength and Rían went flying. Tripping over a tree root he flailed his arms and landed crashing on his backside, his face shocked and embarrassed.
“What the hell did you do that for?!”
Liadh put her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.
“Oh my God Rían, I’m so sorry I thought that’s what we were doing, you know, like we used to!”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think you were going to assault me you lunatic.” Rían spluttered before bursting out laughing. Liadh bent down and as she shook with laughter, she offered her hand to him.
“What are you doing,” Rían asked.
“Ah...helping you up, why?”
“Because if I were you girl, I’d be using this five second head start before I get up, bend you over my knee and slap your arse.”
Liadh stared at him open mouthed. He’s not serious! Is he? As he started to get up she closed her mouth and took off running through the trees. Liadh turned around running backwards and called out to him.
“Meet you at the waterfall. Loser carries the bags back. That’s you Rían, by the way.”
“Hope you’re feeling lucky Liadh,” he called back to her laughing.
Rían stood up, brushed the earth and leaves from his jeans, smiled and nodded in the direction of her disappearing form. Yeah little lady, that’s it. Let the games begin! Chasing her down, he tracked her for a few minutes before he figured out which path she was taking, he moved swiftly through the trees and cut her off at the clearing. Sneaking past her stealth-like he changed direction and ran down the shortcut.
Ten minutes later, Rían made it to the waterfall. The trees suddenly parted and the river came into view. No matter how many times he came here, the majesty of the scene never failed to touch him in a way that no where else in the world did. Slow moving and meandering, the river was an almost silent, protective force. Each rock was known to him, each dip and rise of the riverbed, he had spent so many days with his siblings, cousins and friends swimming in the river or standing under the waterfall, that it was like a comforting friend. His grandfather the Bossman, had sat beside him on the banks of the river recounting stories from his own youth spent in Kilvarna. Their people once were warriors, he had said.
The O’Malley’s had come from the west and fought the invaders for centuries. Stories of their people’s bravery, of their part in shaping the landscape, the very essence of the land steeped with their blood and tears. Rían had adored the old man and listened intently to his every word. His grandfather was such a gentle soul. Never too busy or too tired to spend time with his children and grandchildren, when he had died Rían had felt a hole in his heart that could never be filled. And sure why would you want to? Loving someone has two equal sides. Joy and pain. One cannot exist without the other. It’s an inevitable cruelty, but one borne bravely by all the souls who dare to let love in. Rían believed in true love and soul mates, he had felt it at various times in his life, Liadh, his grandfather and many more within his family unit. Even Annie who drove him to distraction, their connection was airtight. The love he felt for Annie was enough for him to forgive any hurtful jibes or piss taking on her part.
Rían stood with his hands on his thighs, closed his eyes and bent over breathing in and out heavily from the exertion.
“What took you so long?” Liadh asked quietly.
Looking to his left Rían raised his eyes to heaven. “How the hell did you get here before me?”
“How long is a piece of string?” Liadh giggled and pushed herself off the rock she was sitting on. She slapped her hands together to remove the moss that was clinging to them. Rían walked over to her and scratched his beard.
“No really, how did you?”
“I have my secrets too Rían, some things never change no matter how many years go by,” she winked at him.
Rían bit his bottom lip. “I’ve something to show you, a secret.”
Liadh crinkled her nose. “If this involves you taking your pants off, I’m out of here.”
He laughed at her kicking the ground with the toe of his boot. “Yeah, yeah, you should be so lucky, do you want to see or not?”
Liadh raised her eyebrows and pulled a face enjoying the flirtation between them. Something was changing; something within their friendship was blossoming into something more. After their kiss two weeks ago Rían hadn’t touched her. Liadh was beginning to think that he had kissed her on a whim to see what it would be like and had been disappointed. What does it matter if he doesn’t want you? It matters. It matters so much.
“Oh, I don’t know, let me think, hmmmm.” She put her hand on her chin and pretended to think about it.
“Well if you don’t want to see-”
She laughed at him, “Ah shut up, Rían, of course I want to see your big secret you eejit, come on show me what you got.”
Rían rubbed the back of his neck and licked his lips. I would so like to show you what I’ve got, Liadh. Liadh looked at him and held her palms out.
“Well, are we doing this or not big boy?”
Woman, you will be the death of me. If any man has ever died from lust and blue balls before me, fella I feel your pain.
“Come on,” he said taking her hand in his.
“This way.”
Liadh’s hand felt as though her palm was alive with electricity. She could feel every cell on his skin dancing off hers, every touch of his thumb as it rubbed against her made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Her heart was opening up to him, and as scared as she was, Liadh was helpless to resist the yearning inside her.
Rían brought her through the trees, a densely wooded area known locally as the grove. A mixture of well-worn familiar paths and paths less travelled stretched out in front of them. Acres of willow, beech and Irish oak trees lined both sides of the paths, sometimes having bent in upon themselves as though they were leaning towards one another in an attempt to connect. This caused unusual tunnels of trees where you would go from daylight to darkness in a matter of steps. As children Rían and Liadh had spent so much time in the woods they were almost nymphs, changeling children, barefooted and wild. Each smell, each crackle of branches underfoot was like a time machine to Liadh. Hurtling her back over twenty years before, to a time where the summers had seemed longer, the taste of life a little sweeter.
Liadh picked some berries and popped one into her mouth washing it with her spit, holding it between her fingers she spat on the ground before she let it burst in her mouth releasing the sweet juice. Rían laughed when he saw her face, eyes closed savouring each morsel.
“What?” Liadh opened her eyes and grinned at the sound of his deep laughter.
“Nothing,” he returned the grin before becoming serious, his eyes were suddenly hooded and dark. He turned from her and led the way.
Liadh felt the old connection with the land as soon as she stepped on it. Memories came flooding back and she remembered running and walking the same path as a child. Her eyes lifted to Rían’s back as he walked in front of her dragging her along, every now and then he hit his stick off some blackberry bramble, or nettles that obscured his path. So changed in appearance, she thought, but the soft gentle manner and the wide heavy gait was the same. Oh how she had missed his presence. All these years apart had been torturous, she had turned inward never looking for anything or anyone, and why would she, nothing could compare to the love and protection that Rían had afforded her as a child. She hadn’t even known how Kilvarna had wormed its way back into her soul, but it had. She loved this land as though the earth itself flowed through her veins. Liadh wondered if perhaps when people make a connection in their formative years, that that the imprint stays with them throughout their lives, shaping them into the people, they would become.
The incident that ended those glorious times wasn’t as fresh in her mind as it had been. The feelings that had accomp
anied that day were still there but not as fresh. She had felt so much anger at the shame and humiliation she had suffered. Get on with your life dummy. Stop dwelling on it.
When they came through into a clearing Rían pulled her down into the grass. She thudded onto the ground beside him. “What the hell are we-?”
“Shush…watch.” He laid half on top of her and didn’t take his eyes from hers. She felt his breath on her cheek and blushed.
“Watch what?” She mumbled. Sliding off her, Rían turned onto his belly and Liadh copied the motion intrigued.
Placing his finger to his lips he pointed at something hidden just beyond them. Liadh’s heart raced as she spotted the three deer coming through from the undergrowth. A male and two females. Rían watched Liadh as her face lit up with wonder and surprise, it brought him back to their childhood and that rush of feeling he got from impressing her with ridiculous antics. Anything to see her smile, anything to make her happy.
“Oh Rían, they are so beautiful. What kind are they?”
“They’re fallow deer, the buck has two ladies for himself. For some reason they left their group and I’ve only ever seen the three of them together. I call him Bucky and the two girls are Sinead and Fiona.”
The three deer stood protectively around each other. The buck grazed on some heather under an oak tree while the two females stood guarding him. One of them moved towards Rían and Liadh suddenly as though sensing their presence.
“Which one is that,” Liadh whispered in awe.
“Her name is Fiona, look at her belly.” Liadh turned back and smiled when she saw that the deer was heavily pregnant.
“She’s having a little fawn isn’t she? When?”
Rían whispered close to her ear. “Three weeks or a bit less. They stay pregnant for thirty three weeks, always giving birth in June or early July.”
Liadh cocked her head to the side and continued to gaze upon them.
“Oh Rían, she’s beautiful.”
Liadh’s eyes glistened with tears and she dug her nails into the skin on his arm. She felt his muscles tighten beneath her touch and looked up to find him watching her with an intense gaze. He put his hand over hers and squeezed it lightly.
“Liadh.”
“Hmmmm?”
When he didn’t answer Liadh turned her attention to him. There it was, the stillness of Rían, the very essence of who he was, laid bare to her. He held her eyes for a moment before dropping his gaze to her lips. Moving in inch by inch, he turned his head slightly to the side before smiling widely at her just at the moment that his lips grazed hers. Liadh felt her breath hitch in her throat as the coolness of his lips clashed with the warmth of her own. The smell of him, the feel of him, enveloped her in a cocoon of warmth and safety, and desire. Desire so hot it burned through the very core of her being and made her body press itself against his. Everything around her jumped to attention, her hearing suddenly picking up every sound, each branch crackling beneath an animal’s foot, each scent mingled with the scent of his skin. Lavender, bluebells, the air and the sky all had their own fragrance in these woods. Liadh felt disorientated and heady from the closeness of him, the stubble on his face rasped against her cheek and she welcomed the sudden hardness of it against the softness of her, she felt as though she were melting into him. Pooling in liquid form, becoming something other than her mortal self, she had no choice but to open her mouth to let him in further. His arms locked around her waist suddenly, and she was almost crushed in the embrace. Turning her onto the flat of her back he broke the kiss and stared into her eyes.
“My lovely little Liadh, all grown up.” She touched the side of his face and he drew his breath in sharply. Grabbing both her hands he drew them above her head and captured her mouth roughly. Liadh moaned as he moved into her, his erection pressing hard against her belly. He jumped up suddenly and Liadh mourned for the loss of his form.
“What are you doing?” She asked sitting up. He offered her a hand and when she put hers into his palm he pulled her up hard.
“Come on,” he said gruffly.
May the luck of the Irish possess you.
May the devil fly off with your worries
May God bless you forever and ever.
-Irish prayer.
They walked hand in hand back to the cottage each step a delicious sweet agony, an almost physical pain, the delaying of the sweetest pleasure. Liadh opened the door of her little Rua Cottage and he kicked it shut with a bang. Never taking his eyes from hers, Rían gritted his teeth and she felt his hands shake as he unbuttoned her blouse. He pushed her hand lightly away as she grabbed at his waistband.
“No, Liadh. I want to do it.” She nodded at him; whatever he needed to do she would let him. Dropping her blouse to the floor, he unhooked her bra letting it fall to join the blouse. Sitting back on his heels, his eyes roamed around her body. Usually Liadh would have felt conscious of her shoulder and the swell of her breast where the fire had scorched her skin and left it crinkled and damaged but with Rían it seemed different somehow, she felt safe. Looking into her eyes he cocked his head to the side and smiled at her sadly.
“So beautiful Liadh. Let me take away the hurt. Let me touch you with so much adoration you won’t remember your own name.” Liadh smiled shyly at him and rubbed her fingers through his hair and down the side of his face. She felt so turned on and something more, a feeling that she had never felt. A freedom to use her body for pleasure as well as pain. Everything she had felt in the last fifteen years had been tinged with pain, the skin grafts, the burns unit and doctors looking at her naked breasts as case studies. Kneeling in front of her, he took one of her breasts in his mouth and sucked the tip into a peak. Her breathing was harsh as he moved to the other breast and repeated the action, she threw her head back and relished the feel of him; she pinched her nails into him as his huge shoulder trembled beneath her touch. Drawing his head back he watched her as he put his thumbs into the belt hooks of her jeans and pulled her against him.
Opening her jeans he smiled as he took in her royal blue, silk panties. Stepping out of her jeans he heard her swallow deeply, all the while she clung to his shoulders to steady herself. His heart pounded in his chest as he touched his tongue off the centre of her panties taking in the sweet scent of her. His tongue moistened and he ran it up and down the soft silky material. Hearing her moan was all he needed and he clasped her thigh and lifted one leg onto his shoulder. He looked up at her as he rubbed his thumb over the soft material and felt her jerk beneath his hand.
“Jesus Rían. Jesus.”
He smiled into her pussy and continued to lick and suck the material until it was soaking wet, saturated with his saliva. Tasting every inch of her, he listened as she panted and then fisted his hair, pushing his head deeper and deeper into her.
“Cum for me Li, cum into my mouth.” He stopped then and dropped her leg from his shoulder; hooking a finger into either side of her panties he tugged them down. Looking into her eyes he could see them glazed with passion and a longing for his tongue, and his own desire reflected within them. He clasped her thigh again and guided it over his shoulder and then stood up and lifted the other thigh until he was standing up with her pussy in his face and her hands resting flat on the ceiling of the cottage.
“Rían, what the hell?”
“It’s okay, relax and enjoy it.”
Liadh gripped a wooden beam on the ceiling as he stood tall and strong with her legs wrapped around his shoulders, his palm kneading her buttocks. Feeling the rise of her orgasm she pushed against the ceiling as he licked and sucked her, flicking his tongue in and out of her pussy as she let the wave take hold.
“Fuck, Jesus...Rían.” She came like a firework exploding around his tongue and he sucked hard, tasting her and feeling his cock throb and pulse in response to her orgasm. He walked over to the bed and laid her down gently untangling her from his shoulders. She was breathing heavily and watching him, a look of pure unadulterated lust on her fa
ce. Opening his jeans Rían watched her, greedily assessing each part of her body, his jaw tight. He stopped and took a deep breath in.
“Tell me you want me Liadh, I want to hear you say it.” Liadh ran her hands through her hair and pulled it over one shoulder.
“I want you Rían. I want you inside me and I want you beside me. Make love to me.” Rían stared at her for a moment, slashes of red appeared on his high cheekbones. He nodded slowly and took off his jeans. Liadh’s mouth opened slightly and she watched him. So tanned and so tall he stood proudly, his face flushed and his cock hard and thick. Liadh kneeled on the bed and beckoned him over. He walked over to the edge of the bed and she pressed a palm against his hard belly as he moved to climb in beside her.
“No Rían, stand there, don’t move.”
Liadh watched as her hand moved as if in a dream and wrapped itself around his cock. Smiling a satisfied half smile, she bit her lower lip as his cock jerked in her hand, growing even harder beneath her fingers. She rubbed her index finger against the tip and gathered a drop of pre-cum. Looking into his eyes she sucked her finger, teasing him. Loving it, his pupils dilated with arousal, his eyes nearly black as she licked his cock lightly.
“Don’t...Liadh...I can’t last…not the first time.”
His breathing was erratic and heavy and he lifted her by the waist and threw her back onto the bed. Liadh giggled as she fell backwards for what seemed like forever, falling, falling, and his eyes burning with flames for her. There was no doubt in her mind that he wanted every piece of her. The small bed creaked under his weight as Rían knelt forward and pulled himself over her.
“Look at me Liadh. I want you to watch me fucking you, while your hot sweet pussy squeezes my cock. Watch me while I own you, as you own me.”
All she could do was nod at him. All she could do was will him to take her. All she could do was breathe.
Rían: (The O'Malleys Book 3) Page 9
