They went out to dinner that night to celebrate - Kieran, Faith, and Matt. They had shared a meal so many times together that it felt quite natural. But there was something new there that wasn’t there before. The invisible bond that tied them together was now a tangible thing. It felt right, as if the last pieces of the puzzle had finally clicked into place.
When they got back to the hotel, Matt surreptitiously excused himself and went to his room to watch some of the premium movie channels (each bedroom had a small television). Faith was about to warn him against trying to watch some of the unrated shows, but Kieran nudged her.
“He’s giving us some time alone,” Kieran breathed into her ear. “I’d say that deserves a little good faith on our part, wouldn’t you?”
Faith blushed and Kieran chuckled when they heard the television in Matt’s room come on loud enough for them to hear what he was watching, but guessed that the excessive volume was more to keep Matt from hearing anything that might be going on outside of his bedroom.
Kieran picked up the ice bucket with the bottle of champagne and two flutes and walked into the bedroom. Faith followed feeling a bit nervous. Was he planning on staying with her again tonight, even though she was no longer ill?
“You bet I am,” Kieran said, leaving Faith to wonder if she’d voiced her thoughts out loud. “Now that I’ve finally got you, there’s not a chance in hell I’m letting you slip away again.”
He chuckled softly when Faith said she really needed to take a shower, granting her a generous hour to do whatever she needed to do, but warned her that he would come in and get her if she wasn’t out by then. Faith wasn’t sure if the thrilling shiver that ran through her body was a result of anticipation or nerves.
She used every minute of her allotted time. She scrubbed, shaved, plucked, exfoliated, flossed, and brushed until she was hairless, smooth, and glowing from the neck down. With five minutes to spare, she spritzed a soft musk along her pulse points. Spotting Kieran’s shirt hanging from the hook on the back of the door, she decided to slip it on.
She swore Kieran’s eyes glowed when she stepped somewhat shyly out of the bathroom. He was propped up on the bed, shirtless and barefoot, remote in hand. He stilled when he saw her. Only his eyes moved; she felt them on her as keenly as a caress. With every step she drew closer, the sheer hunger on his face intensified.
“I need a shower, too,” he said, his voice somewhat strangled. Kieran leaped out of the far side of the bed just as she approached the other and sprinted into the bathroom, leaving Faith looking uncertainly at the back of the door.
She heard the water come on. The muted sounds of a zippered bag opening and closing. A few muttered curses (the reason became clear shortly afterwards).
In less than five minutes, Kieran emerged from the bathroom, his hair towel dried, a few nicks along his jawline (she guessed he had shaved a bit hurriedly), and a towel slung low on his hips. It really had been an eight-pack she’d glimpsed that one day so very long ago. An eight-pack that was nestled into the most perfect “V” of muscle and dark hair she’d ever seen.
“Lord have mercy,” she whispered.
Kieran slid into the bed beside her, dropping the towel on the floor as he did so. He sat next to Faith, his left leg rubbing up against her right. It was all she could do not to stare at the very prominent erection he sported, but what she glimpsed in her peripherals was enough to have her core burning and preparing itself for him.
They sat in silence for several minutes. Faith felt like a pubescent teen, jumping slightly when Kieran made the first move by placing his hand lightly on her thigh.
“Matt’s in the next room,” she breathed, her heart fluttering like a hummingbird’s.
Kieran exhaled slowly before turning toward her. “I guess we’ll have to be extra quiet then.” His hand reached up under the shirt she wore – his shirt – and skimmed across her flesh. “No matter what happens,” he said softly, his voice a sensual caress in itself, “don’t scream.”
* * *
Faith whimpered. Kieran moaned softly when his fingertips soon discovered she had neglected to put on panties. His lips met hers, capturing her outcry when his fingers found her slick wet center.
He was going to do everything he could to bind her to him. He’d already openly laid claim upon her heart, now it was time to imprint himself on her soul.
“How I’ve dreamed of touching you like this,” Kieran breathed as he kissed his way down her jawline, her throat, stopping only to place his fingers upon his tongue. “Like the sweetest honey,” he murmured.
He made quick work of the two or three buttons she’d fastened, opening the sides slowly and with anticipation, as if he was unwrapping a present. “So beautiful...” he praised, the only words he managed before drawing one hardened tip into his mouth. At the same time, his hand found its way back down to her molten core. Faith hissed loudly, arching beneath him, her hands tangling in his thick, silky hair.
“Sssshhh,” he scolded, nipping the underside of her breast and then licking away the sting.
He made sure to treat her neglected breast with the same attentiveness, while his fingers continued to strum along her center. Without warning, he began to ease a finger inside her. Reflexively, she tensed all over and clenched hard on his fingers.
“Damn, baby,” he choked around her breast. “You’re going to unman me before I even make it inside you.”
Faith was too highly strung to even consider penetration any time soon, he realized, which did very little to ease the horrible ache that had taken root deep in his groin. His cock was thick and heavy with need, the tip already wet and slick. If he tried to take her now, as his body was screaming for him to do, he would hurt her. He needed her softer, more pliant before he could even consider claiming her.
With that in mind, he called upon his inner control. As if he had all the time in the world, he licked, teased, and suckled her breasts, leaving not a spot untouched, as he continued to thumb her now-swollen nub and coax another finger inside.
“Don’t fight it, baby. Let it take you.” He nearly sobbed with relief when he felt her inner muscles tightening. He stroked faster, sucked harder, and scissored and curled his fingers with consummate skill. Faith released the death grip she had on his hair and grabbed a pillow, slamming it over her face to cover the sounds of the wail she could not completely contain.
Kieran chuckled against her skin, pleased with her response. “Oh, Faith, sweetheart, I can’t wait for the day I have you alone and you don’t have to be quiet.” He lightened the pressure on her sex, bringing her down gently. His fingers were coated in her creamy heat, her sex swollen and hot in his hand. His cock pulsed in agony.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he breathed as he drew himself over her. “I wanted to make our first time last all night, but I can’t wait any longer. I need you, Faith. I need to be inside you more than I’ve ever needed anything in my entire life.”
Faith moved the pillow aside and opened herself to him, allowing him to settle in the cradle of her thighs. She felt the thick head of his erection nudging against her entrance, her ultra-sensitive nerves more than ready to welcome him.
“Then come inside me,” she whispered huskily. “Come inside me and make me yours.”
Kieran didn’t need to be told twice. He kissed Faith, a passionate, soul-searing kiss, and rocked his hips forward. She was so well-lubricated that it eased his penetration, but it was still a very tight fit. He felt her stretching to capacity all around him.
Faith held her breath, as did he, caught somewhere between awe and ecstasy at the feel of entering her for the first time. “Breathe, baby,” he commanded with the last of his ability to speak. She did, and when she took that first big inhale, he slid in up to the hilt in one smooth, final thrust.
He stayed like that, suspended and still, as he let the wonder of finally being joined with his croie overtake him.
* * *
It gave Faith the opportunity to adj
ust to his girth. If she’d had any doubts about being too stretched down there from giving birth, they were quickly laid to rest. She tried to imagine what it would have been like to accommodate someone of Kieran’s size without having the benefit of natural childbirth first. Granted, it was a long time ago, and she’d been very young, but she still believed it had to have helped somewhat. He was as big there as he was everywhere else.
Despite his size, there was none of the pain she’d expected, none of the discomfort she’d felt the one and only time she’d ever had sex. On the contrary, this was the most wonderful thing she’d ever felt. Kieran’s big, hot body held over hers, the feel of all that hard muscle and silk beneath her fingertips. His thickness lodged snugly in the very core of her, filling her, heating her, joining them, making them one. It went far beyond the physical. As she stared into his eyes, she understood what he had been trying to tell her all along. It was not only their bodies that were now connected, it was their very essences.
Faith and Kieran. Kieran and Faith. No longer two separate entities, but One.
* * *
Even though he wasn’t moving, she was. Her internal muscles were working his cock, flexing and rippling against his intrusion. After a few minutes, he realized that she could make him come by that alone. Maybe he’d test that theory one day, but today he wanted his first climax inside Faith to include hers as well.
With that specific goal in mind, he began moving inside her. Extracting himself, then pushing forward, penetrating her again and again. What started as slow, thorough strokes soon became faster, shallower, as they both did nothing to fight the apex coming fast and hard. Kieran buried his face in her neck and pistoned his hips, heeding her breathy but near silent moans for more. Some part of him worried that he would hurt her if he let himself go, but then another part reminded him that she was his croie, and that she had been fashioned for him, just as he had been for her.
He felt her sheath clenching his cock even as his balls tightened and the seed rose in his shaft. She was almost there, and he was going to come so fucking hard...
He thrust once, twice, three more times until Faith opened her mouth in a silent scream. Kieran was right there with her, his body tense and stiff as he began to fill her. He pushed harder, settling himself deeper, shooting right into the entrance of her womb.
She held him close to her, milking his body with hers, demanding everything. He reveled in the feel of his liquid heat scorching her insides with every powerful pulse. He was powerless to do anything but give it to her.
An eternity later, he rolled to the side, taking Faith with him. Still joined, they passed out in each other’s arms.
It was the first of several times they would do so that night.
* * *
It was hard to drag themselves out of bed the next morning, but the sound of Matt very deliberately banging around the living area and the smell of coffee proved to be adequate motivators. Faith had trouble looking her son in the eye at first, but Kieran had no such compunction.
Sean was beaming from ear to ear when they met him at the private airport. He spotted the ring on Faith’s hand right away and hugged her, saying he was glad to be the first to officially welcome them into the clan.
The plane ride home was more pleasant than the ride down. Sean let Matt sit up front in the cockpit with him, which, according to Matt, was “beyond sick.” Faith felt none of the unease she had on the commercial flight, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of Sean’s mad skills or because nearly all of her attention was focused on the impossibly perfect man she now found herself engaged to marry.
Kieran started moving some of his things into Faith’s cottage as soon as they got back. One night, he said, had only made him realize he never wanted to sleep alone again. Matt, surprisingly, was accepting, though he did manage to let Kieran know it was only because they were getting married right away.
Less than a month was not a lot of time to plan a wedding, but the Callaghans rose to the challenge. Apparently Taryn, Lexi, Maggie, Nicki, Rebecca, and Lacie had been mentally planning the event since mid-summer (after the infamous county fair incident), and already had most of the details worked out. It had been relatively easy, they said, since both Faith and Kieran were very much alike in preferring the simpler things, neither one being prone to lavish or extravagant tastes.
Christmas was a blur. A near foot of powder painted everything in glistening white. The Callaghan men – much less concerned with the myriad of details involved in pulling together a last-minute wedding, made sure that Matt got the full benefit of experiencing his first NEPA winter wonderland. They took him skiing and snowboarding and snowmobiling over the mountains. Sean even let Matt ride along in the big plow truck, much to Matt’s great delight.
Faith was shielded from much of the details, a fact she was secretly happy for but felt slightly guilty about. It became clear very early on that it would take time for Faith to adjust to the skills and resources of their clan, and accepting so much help was proving a hard thing for her to do.
Kieran did his part by attempting to distract her at every opportunity, but letting others do for her after so many years of doing for herself took a lot of effort on her part. After nearly hyperventilating when she caught sight of the pricelist for various wedding items, they decided it was better for everyone involved to just tell her where to be and when. That worked for her.
They broke up into teams. Maggie and Lacie took Faith for her gown (a classic and simple candlelight white with a fitted bodice, modestly full skirt and train, and off-the-shoulder long sleeves) and all the necessary accessories (shoes, purse, veil, and bustle). They handled the flower arrangements, too, selecting colors that best complimented the bride, but tried to stick to a wintry theme with deep cranberries, forest greens, and pale, shimmery silvers.
Lexi and Aidan naturally assumed control of the reception arrangements. They reserved a private ballroom at the Goddess – one with an entire wall boasting a spectacular view of the valley in its snowy splendor. They planned the custom menu and had their professional decorators make sure everything was picture-perfect.
Taryn, Nicki, and Rebecca threw together one hell of a bachelorette party, and were ultimately in charge of the extra-special tradition among the Callaghan women that had Kieran shackled to a bed in his room at the Pub and Faith arriving in nothing but sheer veils via a dumbwaiter. It was the special gift offered from one croie (or several croies, as the case was) to another: a night of total sexual domination over her alpha male. It was a tradition and gift Faith embraced heartily.
The wedding was a simple but breathtaking candlelight ceremony, held in the church in Pine Ridge. Kieran and Faith exchanged vows before the entire Callaghan and Connelly clans. Matt gave his mother away, then proudly took his seat next to the stunning blonde in the first pew.
Epilogue
Faith sank into the chair, rubbing her feet discreetly beneath the table, feeling deliriously happy, but exhausted. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this worn out. Granted, the last few weeks had been a whirlwind of activity, and her nights with Kieran left her a bit sleep deprived. And last night’s stint as a Domme – the one night when she might have been able to sleep soundly for more than a few hours – had her running on fumes. It was only adrenaline keeping her going now, and she feared even that wasn’t going to last much longer.
Thank goodness Rebecca’s gift to her had been a pair of cloud-soft satin slippers that matched her gown. She never would have made it through the last few hours without them; tradition required that the bride dance with each and every one of the Callaghan and Connelly males. It was a rite of passage that every new bride was expected to take, though it had the obvious benefit of annoying the groom as well.
Poor Kieran had been trying to get to her for the last hour, but was foiled by several well-executed defensive maneuvers. When Faith expressed concern, Ian laughed and told her that she should not feel sorry for him, given that
he had gladly partaken in the tradition when it was everyone else’s bride involved.
“Congratulations, Faith.”
She looked up into the slightly exotic golden eyes of Aidan Harrison. He was every bit as imposing close up as he was from a distance, and Faith could not help but feel a little nervous. Even as she had tried to embrace and become accustomed to her new lifestyle – which included the financial security of the Callaghan family - she was unused to being in direct contact with someone as wealthy and important as the CEO of the Celtic Goddess.
Technically, she was rather well-off herself now, too. Nathan dropped his challenge of Ethan’s bequeathal after their visit to Georgia, but her mind was still having trouble adjusting to that. All she knew was that Shane was handling the legal aspects and Kane was already creating a financial portfolio.
She forgot about all of that in the presence of the powerful man next to her. Her falling adrenaline levels made a valiant rally to at least appear relatively coherent.
“Thank you,” she said, feeling the words woefully inadequate. She still hadn’t been able to wrap her mind around the fact that all of this had been done for her wedding. “Everything is beyond perfect.”
He grinned easily, pleased, as if he was a regular guy and not the wealthiest man she’d ever met. “Mind if I sit for a moment?”
“Of course not. You do own the place, don’t you?” Faith immediately lifted her hand up to her mouth, mortified that she had allowed the words in her head to be spoken aloud. She had a sneaking suspicion that the last drink someone had placed in her hand was made by Brian McCain, the devil.
Aidan’s eyes glittered with amusement. “So I do.”
Faith sipped her drink and sighed. Yep. If she hadn’t been so distracted she would have recognized the signature taste of a Brian McCain special, a.k.a, the potent Virgin Slayer. She glanced over toward the bar, and Brian gave her a big smile and a friendly salute. It was impossible to be annoyed with him, but she really wanted to be.
Having Faith: Callaghan Brothers, Book 7 Page 23
