by Liz Gavin
They were silent for a while, thinking. Katherine Murphy was the first to interrupt the pause, “They looked for a man leaving the place on foot, right? But, he was badly hurt. You said so yourself. What if he got a lift out of the hospital?”
“We thought about that, too. There’s a camera at the parking lot exit. We asked the guys to check it out, but there wasn’t any image of O’Hallon leaving that way, either.”
Another long silence fell on them, as they considered the various possibilities, until Garda Murphy’s excited cry broke it again, “I’ve got it! He must have hidden inside a car, a big SUV or something. Have you thought about that?”
“Actually, we haven’t,” Heller admitted. “That’s an excellent idea, Murphy.”
“Happy to help, sir,” she replied and promptly stood up to clean the cups and dishes.
Keira noticed her red cheeks before she escaped to the kitchen. The young officer might just have cracked the case, but was blushing like a schoolgirl. She shook her head slightly and smiled, feeling sorry for Katherine. She empathized.
“What?” Declan whispered in her ear.
“Nothing. Suddenly, I feel very old, that’s all,” she said, but added quickly when his eyes glistened with concern. “I’m fine. I’ll explain it to you later.”
She didn’t want to embarrass their new friend in front of her superior officers. Declan frowned and hesitated, but finally accepted she wasn’t going to say anything else.
“We should go and get the techs working on Murphy’s theory,” Heller said, standing up and offering his hand to Declan, then, to Keira, in goodbye.
Declan shook it but Keira ignored it and kissed his cheek instead, as it had become her habit. They said goodbye to Dwyer, too, and the two inspectors left.
Keira woke up, feeling feverish and nauseous. Darkness poured in through the little window, telling her it was the middle of the night. However, she couldn’t recall where she was or how she had gotten there. She looked around and didn’t recognize the place. It was a strange, small room. She found herself naked under the covers, but she was alone. She had the feeling there should be someone there with her. She frowned, wrapped the sheet around herself, and got out of the bed to look for her clothes. As Keira checked the small closet, the door opened behind her with a creak that startled her. She turned around to find a man standing at the door. She didn’t know him, so she felt embarrassed for being naked, under a thin floral sheet, in front of a stranger.
“Who are you? Where am I?” she asked him, clinging the long cloth to her chest as if it were a shield.
The man didn’t answer her while his eyes traveled from her face down to her bare feet. His expression was hard to read because he withdrew to stand in the semi-shadows of the corridor. He lifted his hand slowly, pointed a gun at her and pulled the trigger. She shouted when she saw the gun, but didn’t feel any pain when he shot it. She didn’t feel the bullet hit her. Instead, she felt her whole body shaking. A strange sensation. She heard somebody calling her name from a very far distance. She knew that voice. She knew that man. He was supposed to be in bed with her. But, he sounded so far. Where was he?
“Keira! Keira! What’s wrong with you, baby?”
Declan’s shouts echoed in the room but he got no response from her. She looked at Declan with unfocused eyes in a blank, expressionless face. He was terrified. He didn’t know what else to do when Murphy entered the room, followed by Morris, both holding their guns. The sight of their weapons wrenched Keira from the strange catatonic trance. It took her a while to understand what was happening in the bedroom around her. When she did, her face flushed bright red, and she pulled the covers to her chin to hide herself from the gardai’s eyes. However, they didn’t seem to have noticed her nakedness. They were too busy looking for the source of danger, the reason for the heart-stopping screams they had heard. Finally, she realized what had happened and her face turned a deeper shade of red. She was mortified.
“Oh, gosh! I’m so sorry, guys. I had a dream. It was the strangest dream, actually. Did I shout? Did I wake you up, Declan?”
“You did, love, but that didn’t scare me. I got terrified when you didn’t answer me. You didn’t see me. Murphy and Morris came because I screamed like a mad man. Where’s Kerry, by the way?”
“He stayed outside guarding the door. If you don’t need me in here, I should get back outside.”
“Yes, sure. Thank you,” Declan said, absent-mindedly, searching Keira’s face for any clues to what had happened to her.
“Are you all right, Miss Ashe? Do you want me to bring you water or anything?” Murphy asked.
“Thank you, Katherine. I’m fine. I’m just embarrassed like hell,” she chuckled.
“I’ll go back to my room, then. Call me if you need me, Mr. Slane.”
He nodded and, when the door closed behind Murphy, he framed Keira’s face with his big hands, staring into her eyes, “What the hell was this dream about? You sat on the bed, screaming like a banshee. Then, you fell into some kind of trance. It was spooky, Keira. I had never seen anything like that.”
“I’m sorry I scared you. I don’t remember much of the dream. I woke up in this room, but in the dream, I didn’t know where I was or how I had gotten there. At first, I was alone and I missed somebody, but I didn’t know who. I guess it was you,” she smiled and squeezed his hand. “It would make sense, wouldn’t it? There was a man, too. He appeared at the door. He didn’t say a word. He pointed a gun at me and shot. In the dream, I didn’t know who he was. But, in fact, I know him, Declan. It was Paul. He found me here and he shot at me, Declan,” her voice was strained.
He noticed she was slipping away again. Holding Keira’s shoulders, he shook her lightly to get her attention. When she looked up into his eyes, he spoke slowly and calmly, “Keira, it was a bad dream. O’Hallon won’t shoot at you. I’d kill him first.”
She stared back at him for a long moment, then blinked and sighed. She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her, “I know you would, sweetie. This thought scares the hell out of me, more than anything else. I don’t want you getting hurt,” she touched his lips with hers, in the lightest of kisses, and Declan tasted the salt of her tears on them. He licked her luscious lips, wanting to kiss her worries away. He knew he could accomplish that, at least for some moments, but hesitated because he didn’t want to take advantage of her fragile state of mind.
As if Keira read his mind, she pulled away from his scorching embrace just enough to whisper in his ear, “I want you to make love to me like there’s no tomorrow, Declan. I need you to help me erase this dream from my memory.”
“You don’t need to ask me twice.”
Declan pulled the covers down her body. As each new inch of ivory skin revealed itself to his eager eyes, his desire grew stronger. His breathing became ragged, when her glorious perfection was finally exposed to him. His emotions showed clearly on his face, and Keira felt her pulse rising. His passion fueled hers.
He cupped a breast in one hand, kneading the soft mound and rolling its tip between his fingers to a tight bud. At the same time, his hot mouth closed over the other peak, drawing her soft flesh into his wet cave, swirling his expert tongue around her hardening bud. She gasped, then, hissed at the exquisite sensations he created. Grabbing his hair, she arched her back, desperately trying to eliminate any trace of distance between their fevered bodies. He was close but she wanted him much closer. He wanted the same, so he covered her soft body with his hard one. His legs pinned her down, but she managed to lift her hips to meet his, opening herself to invite him in, as her hand roamed down his chest, searching for his erection to guide it. However, Declan wanted to delay their pleasure for as long as possible. He knew he wouldn’t be able to do that if she kept going at that pace. His self-control was slipping through his fingers fast and her naughty ones weren’t helping matters. He caught her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing her knuckles. She inserted her index finger in his mouth an
d shivered when the moist tip of his tongue licked it.
“Why the rush, baby? We have all the time in the world. Let me love you, sweetly and slowly,” he whispered in the dark and her toes curled at the thought.
“That’s a splendid idea. Let’s try it some other time, though. I need you right now,” Keira replied, a naughty smile playing on her kiss-swollen lips.
Using her free hand, she gripped him and easily guided him to her hot entrance. Her body was more than ready. So was his. He didn’t have time to argue his point any further before his treacherous body took control. His mind told him to slow their pace down, but Keira’s movements beneath him made it clear she wanted him to go faster. She grabbed his shoulders, sinking her nails into his flesh, lifting her hips up, locking her feet behind his back, as her body tightened around him.
The familiar desire for her grew inside Declan, threatening to obliterate any thoughts, any control he still had. It was useless so he let go of it. Increasing the speed of his movements, matching her trusts, gripping her hands, and lifting them up over her head, he pinned her to the mattress with every downward trust.
They cried out when they climaxed. Their minds shut the world out while their mouths sought each other, their tongues locked together. Their fingers and souls were intertwined. Time stopped as they gradually slowed down their rhythm and sank in bed, exhausted. Their skin and muscles tingled but the smiles they shared spoke of the immense bliss they felt at that moment and the deep, strong feelings budding in their hearts.
“Are you going to town, Katherine?”
“Yes, madam.”
“Please, call me Keira. I feel a hundred years old when you call me that,” Keira laughed when Katherine’s faced flushed. They had already had that same conversation a lot of times with the exact same outcome.
“I’ll do my best, ma… I’m sorry, Keira.” she flashed a smile. “As you can see, it’s going to be hard. Do you need anything in particular?”
“As a matter of fact, I’d like you to do me a huge favor. In a few days, it’s going to be my sister’s birthday. I thought I’d be home by then so I bought a purse to give her as a present. Would you mind going by the post office and mailing it to her for me?”
“Absolutely. Just give it to me with her address. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you!” Keira shrieked, throwing her arms around the officer’s neck and smacking a kiss on her cheek. “You’re a lifesaver. I’ll go get it.”
Declan came into the living room in time to witness Keira embarrassing Garda Murphy with her enthusiasm. He smiled when the young woman looked at her feet to avoid eye contact, and Keira zoomed past him towards their bedroom.
“Can you believe she thinks she’s shy? I wonder how outgoing the rest of her family is for her to think she’s the introvert one!” he tried to mitigate Murphy’s discomfort but managed only to make her face grow redder.
“I – I – Miss Ashe’s a very sweet young woman, sir,” Katherine Murphy stuttered a little before she finally managed to overcome her embarrassment. “She’s very generous and warm. Nonetheless, she doesn’t seem aware of her many good qualities.”
“That’s right. She’s completely oblivious to her beauty or her effect on the people around her. She always tells me her sister’s the beautiful, confident daughter, while she’s the brainy, nerdy kid. I don’t agree with her assessment.”
“She’s mentioned something like that to me, sir. It’s indeed intriguing, Mr. Slane.”
“What’s intriguing, Kate?” Keira asked, handing her a box wrapped in brown paper and a small card with her sister’s address on it.
“You are, love,” Declan laughed and hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head, and inhaling the floral scent of her hair. He loved it so much.
“Me? What’s intriguing about little old me?” she disguised her shallow breathing with a little giggle. Declan’s proximity tended to jam her senses and cause them to overload.
“I don’t understand why you think you’re so shy and bookish when you’ve proven, time and again, that you’re quite the opposite. You’re gorgeous, warm and outgoing. You captivate people around you with ease yet you don’t see it.”
“Yeah, right, wait until you meet my sister.”
“See what I mean? You always do that, Keira. You undervalue yourself. Why?
“Because, Declan,” she grinned and squeezed his hand, then, turned to Murphy, who was still standing in front of them. “Talk about my sister, Kate, are you sure you don’t mind going by the post office?”
“It’s not a problem, madam… Keira. I’ll get going, then.”
“Thank you. Later, Kate.”
Katherine left and Declan thought that would be as good a time as any to go back to the previous topic. He knew the subject was uncomfortable for Keira because she avoided discussing it whenever he brought it up in the past weeks. Before he did that, though, she caught him off guard with a passionate kiss. Her arms circled his waist and her body pressed against his. When she let go of his mouth, he was panting, wanting more.
“I was on my way to the shower. Join me?” her hoarse whisper invited him while a naughty spark in her blue eyes challenged him.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
She stretched out her hand, he grabbed it and they hurried to the bathroom, shedding their clothes over the bedroom floor as they went. All thoughts about who was shy and who was outgoing in the Ashe family disappeared from Declan’s mind.
On the following morning, Keira woke up to amazing sensations. Her heart was beating fast, her breathing was elaborate, and her flesh was on fire. She realized Declan’s long fingers were teasing her body in order to wake her. She stretched herself, moaning and sighing. She heard his muffled chuckles when he kissed a very sensitive spot behind her right ear, biting the lobe lightly, too. His big hands moved up her body to cradle her breasts. He squeezed them together, his fingers played with the hardened tips. His hot chest pressed her smooth back, his long legs were entwined with hers, and his erection throbbed against her backside. These signs made it plain for Keira how happy he was to have her in his arms.
“Good morning to you, too, sir,” her intention had been to tease him, but her coarse voice betrayed her own excitement.
“I’m glad you feel that way, Keira.”
He didn’t give her time to say anything else as his hungry mouth captured hers in a wild kiss. Leaving her breasts, his hands traveled her body. One went south, splaying his fingers on her navel and holding her closer to his steaming hot body. She could feel his hardness poking the small of her back. The other held her face. She covered the hand on her lower body with hers, lacing their fingers together, pressing herself against him. She lifted her other arm and tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling his head closer to her. They ignored the awkward angle and devoured each other. When she tried to roll onto her back to face Declan, he tensed his muscles and held her in place.
“Please, don’t move, Keira. I want to try something different,” he whispered inside her ear, his tongue playing with it.
“Something different? Different how?” she frowned, but stopped moving.
“Trust me,” he asked her as his right knee moved between her legs, prying them open. “Just do as I say. Can you do that?”
She tried to answer but the air got caught in her throat when his expert, long fingers found her mound. She just choked and nodded. He laughed quietly, “That’s my girl.”
Declan nibbled at her nape and shoulder as he inserted his digits inside her and played with her soft, moist folds. He knew her body quite well and he touched her with the same reverence as a classical musician would touch a fine instrument. Her moans of pleasure sounded like the sweetest symphony to his ears. He pressed his fingers harder on her sensitive spots and her body answered quickly. Her flesh trembled under the tips of his fingers, her back arched against his chest. She was frantic.
“Declan! You’re driving me insane,” she wailed.
Her fingers grabbed his wrist and pressed his hand down harder, further inside her own body. He smiled against the side of her neck and his body mirrored her hunger when his swollen member twitched against her smooth back.
“Bend your knee a little,” he told her.
When she complied, her body opened further and he glided his knee upwards and between her legs. He moved his fingers faster, in and out of her, to get her body ready as he positioned his own. He grabbed her hip to give her support when he slowly penetrated her, inch by little inch. He moved all the way in, then, pulled back. He repeated those movements in a maddeningly languid pace. Even so, in no time, her flesh quivered around his hard body.
“Hold it off, Keira. Wait for me.”
“I don’t know that I can,” she whispered back. She had difficulty expressing herself because she could hardly think. That position gave Declan easy access to her sweet spot, which he hit every time he thrust in and out of her.
“Yes, you can. Concentrate. I want us to get there together.”
She closed her eyes and held her breath as his throbbing, hard member invaded her, again and again, bringing her the most delicious sensations. She did her best to delay her own satisfaction. She pressed her hand on the one Declan kept on her hip. She didn’t have much room for moving, but she tried to meet his thrusts as well as she could.
Declan grunted from the effort to control his own reactions, burying his face in her hair, kissing and nibbling the soft skin of her neck at the same time as his fingers found and tweaked her hard bud. His body tensed when he felt her inner muscles contracting faster around him. He used all his powerful muscles to roll Keira onto her back. He wanted to look into her gorgeous blue eyes when they at last climaxed together.
It didn’t take long. He poured his seed deep inside her exactly when Keira’s body writhed beneath him. He framed her face with his warm hands and kissed her. She buried her nails in his back and arched her body. Declan and Keira soared upwards and came crashing down at the same time. Their bodies lay tangled on the bed, but their minds were thousands of light-years away, in a place that only lovers knew how to find. A place where lovers would go to when they shared a perfect experience like the one Declan and Keira had shared.
