Connelly Crime Family Trilogy

by Winters, KB

  “There won’t be a next time. Try it again and I’ll have your kidnapper arrested.”

  I snorted at her naiveté. “Have at it. Provided you can find a cop who doesn’t have Connelly money in his pocket.”

  “Kidnapping is a serious charge, and if you’re telling me I can’t count on Rocket PD to keep me safe, then I’ll be forced to protect myself.” She tapped her chin and gave me a daring look. “It’s a good thing I have a carry permit.”

  “What the fuck? You have a gun?”

  “How I choose to exercise my constitutional rights is none of your business.”

  I closed the gap between us, finally, and cupped her face. “I love it when you get all feisty. It makes me want to see more of that sassy side of you.” Ivy’s breath hitched, calling out the lie to whatever denial she was about to issue.

  “Don’t,” she whispered. The word was more of a plea than a command.

  “Why, when we both want it so much?”

  She could attempt to deny it all she wanted, but her body told the truth, from the racing pulse at the base of her throat to the way her eyes burned dark with desire. Ivy wanted this too.

  “Yeah, well I’d like chocolate for breakfast everyday, but it’s unhealthy.”

  I was pretty sure that was an insult but with her soft tits brushing against my chest, I didn’t give a damn. “But sometimes chocolate for breakfast is okay. Why else would God have created chocolate Rice Krispies?”

  Her laugh huffed out and her warm breath fanned my face.

  “Yeah well some of us don’t have the luxury of indulging in unhealthy behaviors. Besides all that,” she stepped back and found her back pressed up against the window, “I have to make sure I’m healthy and whole. In case my brother needs me. Especially now that you’ve got us mixed up in your bullshit.”

  That was a direct fucking hit. “It’ll be taken care of, sweetheart. Just let me do this. Okay?” I could see the argument forming on her lips, the doubt in her eyes. The indecision.

  “Fine. Ease your conscience if it’ll help Ian. In the meantime, I’m out of here.”

  It was an asshole move to press my body against hers, making it impossible for her to slide free. “Not yet.”

  “I said I’m leaving, Shae.”

  I closed my eyes and groaned. “Say my name again. Please.”

  Ivy gasped when she felt my cock harden against her. “Shae.”

  “Fuck, yes.” The way my name rolled off her tongue, breathless and sexy. Full of need. “Ivy, I want you.” My teeth scraped against her neck and she let out another one of those strangled moans.

  “Shae.”

  “Not helping,” I groaned in her ear, pressing my cock against her and grabbing her earlobe between my teeth. “I know you want me too, Ivy.”

  “Yes,” she moaned. “Even though I shouldn’t.”

  “It would be a crime to deny chemistry this powerful.” I only wanted to hear one answer. Only one word would fulfill the desire turning my blood to lava.

  “Yes.”

  That was the fucking word.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ivy

  “This doesn’t mean I’m not still pissed at you.” I couldn’t decide if I wanted to kiss him or ball up my fist and send it flying at those big gorgeous eyes of his.

  “It’s okay. I like you all fiery.”

  He said that because a guy like him, rich and powerful and too damn good looking, wasn’t used to rejection and that was what I’d done. I rejected him. So he was determined to make me want him, which was working because I did want him. Too bad I would never tell him that. “So you keep saying.”

  “Because it’s the truth.” Shae pulled me close by the hem of my t-shirt just a second before he tore it over my head and tossed it behind him.

  “Never doubt how much I want you, Ivy.”

  “I don’t need to hear your pretty little lies, Shae.”

  “It’s not a lie how much I want you.”

  “Yeah? Show me.” I was done with words. I didn’t need to hear any other words than the ones that would make me feel good. I wanted to forget what a hot mess everything was.

  “Gladly.” Shae grabbed a handful of my hair and tightened his fist around it before his mouth crashed down on mine. I wanted to resist, but the taste of his tongue on mine, so potent and intoxicating made it difficult. His tongue swept across the seam of my mouth in an erotic move that soaked my panties in a hot minute, and then he dipped back inside and blew my mind.

  He ripped the moan from me and then laughed, so I sucked his tongue until he moaned, smiling against his mouth when he pulled me close enough to feel the outline of his cock pressed right where I wanted him. We kissed like it was the first time, like neither of us had ever kissed before, or if we had, it hadn’t been as impressive or as life-changing as this kiss. Because it was.

  Dammit.

  “Ivy,” he groaned and let both hands leave my hair, roaming slowly down my back to cup my ass before he pulled me into his arms as if I weighed nothing. My legs wrapped around him automatically, and that devastating grin flashed when not even a breath of air could pass between our bodies. “You’re too fuckin’ tempting, Ivy.”

  I smiled, not at his words but at the grittiness of his voice as they came out, the tightness in his jaw as he worked hard to be half a gentleman and not fuck me up against the wall. It was sweet but that was the last thing I was after, so I licked my lips as a slow smile played across my mouth.

  “Think you can make me come up against this wall, Shae?”

  He growled and stepped back, a menacing darkness crossed his face that I couldn’t look away from. “Naked. Now.”

  For about a half a second I thought about disagreeing but my body throbbed with need for him, for how I knew he would make me feel. For how I knew it would make me feel when I was the reason he lost control. I stripped the rest of my clothes off like I was a teenager in the backseat of a Ford, not that I had ever been that girl, but it was what I imagined it felt like. When Shae looked up at me, I gave him a saucy smile. “I thought maybe you could take these off for me.”

  His gaze raked over me, slow and hot, sending goosebumps shivering up and down my spine.

  “Happily,” he growled and kicked his pants and shoes away, stepping close to me and gripping one side of my panties before he tore them away. “You won’t be needing those.”

  “Not for the next fifteen minutes, anyway.”

  He let out another growl and dropped down on one knee. “You’re gonna pay for that.” Before I could tell him how much I was looking forward to paying for that particular sin, he was spreading me open and licking me long and slow. His gaze trapped mine as he lapped at me, holding my legs around his shoulders so his hands and the wall were the only things holding me up.

  “Yes.” It was a soft plea but it made Shae smile and that smile twisted me up as he brought me closer and closer to ecstasy. Even when he teased me, taking me to the edge before pulling back and starting all over again.

  I could only moan, “Shae, yes!”

  He laughed and the sound vibrated through me, making my legs quiver. And then the fucker stopped, laughing louder at my murderous look. “Told you I’d make you pay.”

  “That’s okay, I’m used to taking care of myself.” I moaned when my fingers slid over my swollen clit and Shae groaned.

  “Not while I’m here.” Again like I weighed nothing, he lifted me up and lowered me down the delicious length of his cock. “Always so fucking tight.”

  “Shut up and fuck me, Shae.”

  “Yeah?” He gripped my thighs and I screamed in surprise. A breath whooshed out of me when my back slammed against the wall. “You’re being bossy.”

  “You have a problem with bossy?” He struck me as a guy who could go either way with a bossy woman, but I didn’t want to hear him calling me sweetheart and all that sweet lovey-dovey shit. I couldn’t bear to hear it.

  “Not even a little bit, sweetheart.” Shae�
�s chest pressed into mine and he adjusted his grip, flipping my thighs over his forearms in a move that sent him deep. So deep all I could do was lean back and close my eyes, let my body adjust to the feel of him so deep and thick. I felt full. Completely full. “Oh yeah, your pussy is even tighter from this angle.”

  “Happy to oblige,” I panted.

  “Well let me show you my gratitude.” Being the recipient of his gratitude was exactly what I wanted. Shae fucked like a machine, with expert precision and the dedication of a professional athlete. His big cock rammed into me slow and fast, deep penetrating strokes and quick shallow bursts that sent sparks shooting off behind my eyes. Fucking him felt like a religious experience, and I cried out his name like a prayer.

  “Shae.” Over and over his name fell from my lips, so much so that it probably would have been embarrassing if I didn’t feel so damn good. “Shae.”

  “A little bit louder, yeah?”

  “Cocky bastard,” I panted at him.

  “You like my,” he withdrew slowly and slammed back in, “cock. Don’t you?”

  I loved his cock but my throat wasn’t cooperating. Thank God for small favors.

  “Don’t you?” He withdrew again, slowly. And stopped.

  “What the hell, Shae?”

  He laughed. Laughed while my body was burning up with need. The need to come, hard and long. He kept on laughing but I loosened my muscles just enough to add more weight to make his arms bend a little more. “Yes.”

  “You’re naughty.” He was impressed, and I tightened around him, pulsing until a roar erupted form his throat. “Ivy, fuck!”

  “Exactly.” I smiled and Shae took a step back so only the top of my back was up against the wall while he fucked me, hard and fast, moving faster every second. I was in a trance, completely at the mercy of the pleasure coursing through my veins, sending heat through my whole body.

  “Shae, yes. Oh fuck me, yes!”

  “A little louder.” It was pointless to argue when he gripped me tighter and pounded even harder into me until I did exactly as he commanded.

  “Shae!”

  “Much better.” His grin came out tortured as he fought against his own pleasure, stepping closer so he could change the angle and he licked his thumb before sliding it between my thighs, rubbing in slow circles that grew faster every second. “If you could feel how wet your pussy is right now, Ivy, God!”

  Shae pulled out of me and slid two fingers deep, pulling them out and putting his cock back where it belonged. “Look at that.”

  Like I could look away.

  “Be a shame to let it go to waste,” he said playfully and wiped my juices across my nipple, leaning in to suck it off while he fucked me to an intense orgasm. It was the dirtiest, hardest, most filthy orgasm of my life and it felt like it might never end.

  Somewhere in the distance I felt and heard Shae’s growl of pleasure a moment before I felt the heat of his pleasure inside me. As pleasure swamped my body and threatened to carry me away, nothing else mattered. Not how inappropriate this whole situation with him was and not how badly this would probably end. For me. I couldn’t even remember those things as Shae pumped into me long after his orgasm faded because he didn’t want it to end as much as I didn’t.

  It was perfect.

  Too fucking perfect, and we were both damned.

  Shae’s tongue curled around my nipple and sent shivers skating along my skin. “I can’t get enough of you, Ivy.”

  If only that were true. If only I didn’t want it to be true.

  ***

  After spending hours having sex, a smart woman might sleep the rest of the day. Sleeping with Shae was the best few hours of my adult life, even if it was another in a long line of mistakes I’ve made. But the man had inadvertently gotten my brother beat up. And I had to find out who was responsible. I also had to be with my brother, sit by his bed in case he needed me, regardless of Shae’s need to protect me from the creeps who’d hunted down Ian.

  Shae’s arms tightened around me the second his breathing changed. “I hope you’re spending all that energy thinking about whether you wanted to sit on my cock or my face next.”

  “Neither,” I said. “I have to go.”

  “Where do you have to rush off to? You said you work from home?”

  “I do, but maybe you’ve forgotten that my brother is in the hospital and I want to find the creeps who almost killed him.” I tried really hard not to sound bitter because I didn’t blame him, not as much as I blamed myself.

  “I didn’t forget, Ivy.” There was something strange in his voice, a steeliness I hadn’t heard before in our short acquaintance. “In fact I’ve got a guy I trust with my life keeping an eye on Ian. Shamrock won’t leave the hospital until Ian does. He’s safe.”

  I sat up and tried to put some distance between us, feeling like it might be necessary soon. “Then what’s the big deal if I go see him? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “No, Ivy. It’s just that it’s not safe for you to be out right now. The Milanos aren’t the most stable people around and right now my guess is that they’re losing their shit. I don’t want you caught up in that.”

  I knew bullshit when I smelled it. “What does that mean, Shae?”

  He sighed, obviously frustrated with my questions, but I was well past giving a damn. “It means that they’ve acted and we have retaliated. Recently.”

  “So you’ve pissed them off and now you’re worried that I’ll be a target?” Shae nodded, looking homicidal at the thought.

  “So what am I supposed to do, become a prisoner in my own home?”

  “No.”

  My shoulders fell in relief. “Oh good because—”

  “I want you to stay here.” He said it so quietly and so calmly, not even expecting a refusal that I almost laughed.

  “No. That isn’t a good idea.”

  I returned his steely glare. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

  He shook his head, like he was trying to negotiate with a toddler. “Not against two crazy Italian motherfuckers, Ivy. Just stay here for a few days. My security is better than yours and it would make me feel a lot better.”

  It pissed me off and still sounded like a special kind of hell.

  “I’ll be gone most of tonight if that helps. We can pick up some stuff from your place, grab some takeout and I’ll leave a couple of men here to keep you safe.”

  That didn’t sound as bad. “You trust me in your house without you here?”

  He shrugged but his smile was pure boyish mischief. “I’ve already told you my biggest secret Ivy, now I’m an open book. Read me, baby.”

  That was damn tempting but I shook my head with a laugh. “You’re a book I’m not quite ready for, Shae.”

  He had lust in his eyes, but I was over it for now, my mind consumed with Ian. I kissed him on the neck and pointed to the door.

  “Now go take care of business.”

  Shae left me in his big gorgeous house to ponder the crazy choices I made while my brother hovered between life and death in a hospital bed.

  Chapter Twenty

  Shae

  “How is he, Shamrock?” I was a man of my word and when it came to protecting Ivy and her brother, I took it seriously.

  “Fine,” the Rock said. I adjusted my Bluetooth to hear him better over the traffic noise. “A grumpy little fucker but the meds are working, his pain is being managed, and no one’s stopped by other than his little pissant friends.”

  That was exactly what I wanted to hear. I had no doubt Ivy would ask me about her brother when I got back home, that is if she didn’t try to sneak out and go see him on her own. My men had been instructed to watch her and make sure she didn’t get herself in any trouble. Knowing Ivy, though, as little as I did, I knew there was a good chance she might try because her agreement had come too easily. I could be damn persuasive when I needed to be, but I think she just wanted to get me off her case, and she knew
I couldn’t watch her today.

  “Good, Rock. Let me know if anything changes.”

  “Will do, boss.”

  “Thanks.” I disconnected the call and pushed my blue Lambo through the congestion that sometimes made living in Rocket un-fucking-bearable. But I had plans to meet E-dawg and taking Virginia Street was the most direct path, even if it was the street most likely to make me lose my shit. Thankfully, I had memories of a night filled with Ivy to keep me distracted.

  By the time I pulled up to the rear of a future gaming room location—Eamon said we’d work out a plan for the Milanos in the parking lot—I was focused. And hard. There was only one cure.

  “I’m working,” Ivy snarled without a greeting when she answered the phone.

  “That just means I didn’t wear you out sufficiently.”

  She let out a husky laugh that did wicked things for the boner that refused to go away. “Good sex always energizes me, Shae, and I’ve already finished off one project and started on another. If your ego needs a little stroke.”

  I smiled at her playful words. She was one woman who didn’t spare my feelings, but she didn’t withhold compliments either. It was a troublesome combination.

  “Speaking of stroking, what are your hands doing right now?”

  “Oh they’re stroking, Shae. Hard and fast.” I heard the laughter she tried to hide and my smile grew wider. “Stroking the keyboard while I try to airbrush these cover images. Nothing all that sexy, I’m afraid.”

  “Tell me you’re at least working in nothing but those little black panties?”

  “You really are a special kind of freak, Shae.”

  It didn’t sound like a bad thing falling from her lips so I didn’t try to defend myself.

  “I wanted to wear those panties but someone ripped them off of me so I’m sitting here wearing no panties at all, Shae. None. At. All.”

  I groaned. “Are you trying to kill me?”

  “Isn’t that why you called, to see if I was wearing panties?”

  “You’re not,” I groaned, just as Eamon knocked on my window. “Stay that way until I get home.”