Brothers

by L. A. Casey

  Kane rolled his eyes. “You can control what other people choose to do now, huh?”

  “Don’t be a smartass,” I scowled. “You know what I mean; that chick jumped her because of me.”

  “She’s fine,” Kane said, glancing down at Aideen. “Her friend will be here soon, and she’ll be home and tucked in bed before she knows it.”

  I sighed. “This Keela chick sounds pissed. She damn near shouted my ear off when I called her.”

  I had been amused with her attitude when I was on the phone with her, but the longer I thought about it, the more I wondered if she would follow through with her threat to kick my ass when she got here.

  “I wanna go home.” I sighed. “I don’t even wanna hook up tonight. I just wanna sleep.”

  “Looks like we’ll be able to leave sooner than you think.”

  I looked at my brother. “What do you mean?”

  “Here comes her friend.”

  “How do you—”

  “Aideen!”

  I turned my attention to the heart-stopping siren that ran towards us at full speed. I raise my brows as my eyes scanned over her banging body. Her hair was the colour of a sunset, her skin as fair as snow, and her legs ... Christ above, they were long and looked soft to the touch. My cock hardened with one glance of her, and instantly, I changed my mind about wanting to go home to sleep. I still wanted to go home, but I wanted this woman to come with me, and sleep would be the last thing on my mind. She had the tiniest dress on that I had ever seen. The material looked threadbare, and I itched to rip off her.

  Once she was close enough to do so, she dropped down to her knees and pulled Aideen into a fierce hug. I winced on her behalf when I noticed the redness of her bare knees as they pressed against the cold, concrete ground. She either didn’t seem to notice or she ignored the pain I was sure she had to be feeling.

  “Are ye’ okay?” she asked Aideen, pulling back from their hug so she could examine her. “What happened?”

  When she pushed Aideen’s hair from her face, Keela gasped. I cringed, knowing what she saw. Aideen had a small cut over her eyebrow, and the right side of her jaw was swollen.

  “Some bitch jumped me.”

  “Who?” Keela snapped. “I’ll fuckin’ deck ‘er!”

  That drew a smile from me. She was an itty-bitty thing, and I couldn’t imagine her hurting anyone in a fight, but she sounded confident in herself. Or maybe that was just her anger on her friend’s behalf shining through.

  Aideen pulled Keela in for another hug. “I know ye’ would, but I just wanna go home now. Can I stay with ye’ tonight?”

  “Of course, ye’ bloody eejit.”

  Kane and I chuckled, and this seemed to draw Keela’s attention. She looked up at us, as if just remembering we were there. Her eyes flicked between us, and then widened to saucers. My lips twitched. I knew what we looked like, and I had no doubt this women felt intimidated ... until she glared at us.

  Keela helped a slightly tipsy Aideen to her feet and hooked her arm around her friend’s waist, steadying her just in case she fell.

  “This is Alec,” Aideen said, but I was too busy roaming my eyes over Keela’s body, “and Kane.”

  I flicked my eyes up to her face and watched Keela swallow as her eyes landed on Kane. She stared at him, really stared at him, and I watched as her hold on Aideen tightened. I understood that reaction, and I was sure that my brother did too. All of his scars made eye contact difficult, and it was easy to be afraid of him based on his looks alone.

  “Hi,” she managed to say.

  Kane didn’t respond.

  “Kane came to me rescue when Alec’s girlfriend hit me,” Aideen purred at Kane, who smiled right back at her.

  “She was my lay from last week, not my girlfriend,” I said with a grunt. “I also apologised for her actions.”

  Things seemed to slow down for a moment as Keela let what her friend said process in her mind. I watched as a spark ignited in her beautiful eyes, then a fire blazed. She released her hold on Aideen and all but rushed me. She placed her hands on my chest and shoved me as hard as she could. She caught me completely off guard, so when she pushed me, I lost my balance and fell back onto my ass with a grunt.

  “That is for your bird hurtin’ me friend, and if I find out who the bitch is, I’m gonna do hard time for ‘er!”

  Aideen pulled Keela back to her side while I looked up at Keela with wide eyes. I looked at my brother, who stared down at me with his mouth agape. A few silent seconds passed until we both burst out laughing like what just happened was the funniest thing ever.

  “I told you, bro. She’s a fucking hellcat!” I cackled as I gripped Kane’s outstretched hand and was helped to my feet. “I can’t believe this shit.”

  Kane shook his head, thoroughly amused.

  “I wish the twins had seen that!”

  Keela wasn’t amused by our laughing, not in the slightest.

  “Keep laughin’, pretty boy, and I’ll scratch up that face of yours!”

  I stepped forward, a huge grin tugging at the corner of my mouth. “I’m finding myself highly attracted to you right now. Would you like to come home with me since you’re already dressed for bed?”

  Keela’s jaw dropped in shock while Aideen drilled holes into my head with her death glare.

  “Give over, Alec! I appreciate ye’ both helpin’ me, but I won’t have ye’ treatin’ me friend like she is one of your old clients. She is a good girl.”

  I inwardly flinched at her mentioning my escorting days. It still grated on my nerves that Branna had shared that information with her, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I didn’t want that to be the focus on the conversation, so I focused on Keela.

  “Oh, I’m betting there’s a bad girl deep inside her somewhere. I’ll just have to use my fingers, mouth, and cock to bring her out to play.”

  Keela’s lips parted with what I think was surprise.

  “Who the hell d’ye think ye’ are, mister?”

  I grinned. “Alec Slater, your next—or only—great fuck.”

  She scowled at me, a cute wrinkle creasing her forehead.

  “You’re about to be Alec Slater—murder victim—if ye’ don’t shut your filthy mouth!”

  Kane cracked up with laughter as he reached for Aideen’s arm and pulled her to his side and away from Keela.

  “Please, don’t interfere,” he almost begged the woman. “I’ve never seen a female, besides Bronagh, backtalk him like this before.”

  That was true. Bronagh got a kick out of going toe to toe with me. I was staring at Keela, so I saw the moment she noticed that Aideen and Kane were getting pretty comfortable with each other, and she didn’t appear to like it.

  Her eyes flicked back to mine as I took a step towards her. “Take another step and ye’ won’t ever be able to have kids. I’m warnin’ ye’, buddy.”

  I folded my arms across my chest, thoroughly amused at the turn in events. This woman had a backbone, and even though she spoke with venom and tried to be tough, I could tell she was acting this way because she was unsure of myself and my brother, and her attitude was her go to defence.

  “I’d appreciate it if ye’ would stop lookin’ at me.”

  I looked from her body to her chest.

  “Why would you come outside dressed like that if you didn’t want people to look at you?”

  I was being a dick, and I was fully aware of it, but when she was irritated, she reacted with fire, and I liked that a lot.

  “I came outside dressed in me nightdress because me friend needed me. Gettin’ dressed didn’t cross me mind when ye’ rang me to tell me she was hurt, ye’ eejit.”

  I had been called that word a million times since I moved to this country.

  “You sound like my bro’s girl. She calls me an eejit a lot, too.”

  “She must be kind ‘cause there are a lot of words that would suit ye’ much better. Batty boy would be two of them,” she quipped, then
turned in Aideen’s direction and found her kissing Kane. Keela walked forward, took hold of Aideen’s arm, and tugged her not so gently next to her side.

  She not so quietly muttered, “D’ye not remember the stranger danger film we watched when we were in school?”

  Aideen sighed. “They aren’t dangerous. Kane saved me from danger.”

  Keela jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. “Yeah, and batty boy’s bird put ye’ in danger, so let’s go.”

  “I get the feeling that you’re calling me gay,” I mused. “Am I right?”

  Keela ignored me and continued to tug on Aideen, who frowned over her friend’s shoulder and said, “She is callin’ you gay, but she doesn’t mean it as an insult or anythin’. She’s not homophobic. She just said it because she hoped it would piss ye’ off.”

  “Ye’ aren’t supposed to tell ‘im that, Ado.”

  “Ado?” Kane’s voice purred from my left. “I like that nickname.”

  “Listen,” Keela said directly to Kane, “thanks for helpin’ me friend after she got hurt, but she isn’t goin’ to thank ye’ with some personal pole dancin’, so give the flirtin’ a rest. Please. It’s too late for this kind of carry on.”

  Kane raised his eyebrows as he looked at Aideen, and asked, “You’re a stripper?”

  “No, I am a teacher,” she answered a little too quickly. “No pole dancin’ means no shaggin’.”

  Kane blinked. “Your friend is banning you from having sex with me?”

  “Yes,” Aideen and Keela said in unison.

  That intrigued me.

  “And you’re going along with it?” I asked Aideen as I rounded the women and leaned back against our car.

  “Yeah,” Aideen grumbled. “She is pretty big on no sex with strangers, and ... so am I.”

  Kane’s eyes bore into Aideen’s as he said, “Pity.”

  “Uh-huh,” she agreed with a sad sigh. “Such a pity.”

  Keela nudged her friend, and said, “I’ll give ye’ some new batteries for your vibrator to get ye’ through the night. Ye’ll be grand.”

  “Keela!”

  Kane and I laughed.

  Keela looked between us, then at Aideen, she said, “Maybe they could apply to Perverts ‘R Us. They fit the bill with those stares.”

  Aideen giggled.

  “Excuse me?” I said, confused.

  Aideen was grinning as she said, “Keela’s neighbour, Mr. Doyle, is a man who stares a lot, so she named ‘im Mr. Pervert and imagined ‘im bein’ the CEO of a company called Perverts ‘R Us.”

  Clever.

  “We’re leavin’,” Keela said to Aideen when she shivered. “I have to go home to Storm.”

  Who the fuck is Storm?

  “Storm?” I quizzed.

  “Storm is ‘er—”

  “Boyfriend.” Keela cut Aideen off and gave her a pointed look.

  “Storm is pretty protective of ‘er,” Aidden said, bobbing her head up and down. “Like, crazy protective.”

  Bullshit.

  “If he is so protective, then why did he let you come out here alone while dressed like that?”

  “Storm is very hard to rouse durin’ the night,” Aideen explained. “He probably didn’t even hear ‘er leave, but he is still a great ... lad.”

  “Yeah, he is great,” Keela said with a nod, “and he will kick your arse for how rude you’re bein’ to me.”

  I leaned to the right, locked my eyes on hers, and said, “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

  “Ye’ better back off then because I’m tired of your shite.”

  I bit down on my bottom lip, trying my best not to laugh. She was like a little puppy who thought she was a big scary dog. She had more bark than bite, and I think she knew it. She seemed to know that she amused me greatly, so she scowled at me to show her displeasure, which caused Kane to shake his head. I glanced his way and saw his eyes were lit up with amusement.

  “Can we keep her?” he teased. “I like hearing someone put you in your place. The fact that she is a woman is even better. You don’t affect her, bro. You’re losing your touch.”

  “We just met,” I mused. “Don’t shoot me down so quickly, Kane.”

  “This has been ... interestin’,” Aideen said, breaking the sudden tension. “However, Keela is right. We really have to get goin’.”

  Keela audibly thanked God and blessed herself.

  Kane tilted his head to the side as he gazed at Aideen. “I guess I’ll see you around, Ado.”

  “Ye’ have to be family or a friend to use ‘er nickname.”

  Kane flicked his eyes to Keela, and after a few seconds of sizing me up, he said, “I like you.”

  I looked at him, surprised. My brother didn’t like anyone. Accepting Bronagh and Branna had been a big deal for him, so for him to say he liked Keela told me that her standing up to us when she was obviously wary of us impressed him. That, in turn, impressed me too.

  “Well, I’m afraid I don’t like you or your pervy friend—”

  “Brother.” I cut her off. “I’m his pervy brother.”

  “I don’t like you or your pervy brother.” She continued speaking to Kane as if I hadn’t interrupted her. “You’re nothin’ but trouble. The people ye’ pal around with attack women for no reason. You’re both very rude, and I don’t like bein’ in your company. Good night to ye’ both.”

  She turned, grabbed hold of Aideen’s hand, and took off walking away from us in the direction of her car.

  “What? No goodbye kiss?” I shouted, watching her legs as she walked away. ”Now who is being rude!”

  “I said good night!”

  “I’ll make the end of your night very good, kitten, if you give me the chance.”

  Aideen laughed as she and Keela got into her car. I stared after the car as it pulled out of the lot and drove off, feeling my heart pound against my chest. That encounter hadn’t been long enough for me to have my fill of Keela’s body. I knew it’d be a wonderland, and I had a need for her that I hadn’t had for anyone in ... ever.

  “I want her so fucking bad.”

  Kane chuckled as he clapped his hand on my shoulder. “You say that about anyone who makes your cock stiff.”

  “Nah.” I shook my head. “She’s different. I can tell.”

  “She doesn’t seem to like you very much, Alec.”

  I smiled as I looked at my younger brother.

  “Exactly. It’ll make the chase all the more interesting if she’s repulsed by me.”

  Kane laughed as he walked towards our car, shaking his head at me. I followed him with a spring to my step and a big ass smile on my face, and it was all because of one fiery Irish redhead. I knew I’d run into her again, and I had never looked forward to seeing someone who loathed me so much in my life. A game had started between us, whether she knew it or not, and little did she know that when I played a game, I always played for keeps.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Twenty-eight years old ...

  * * *

  “What’s the face for?”

  I looked up from eating my breakfast, and when I realised Dominic was speaking to me, I raised my eyebrows.

  “What face?”

  “That face.” He chuckled. “You look like you’ve eaten something sour.”

  I shrugged my shoulders but didn’t answer.

  “He still feels bad over Branna’s friend getting jumped last night.”

  I turned my head and scowled at Kane, who shrugged, unbothered.

  “You don’t need to feel bad,” Ryder said from the refrigerator as he searched for something to eat. “You can’t control what other people do.”

  “I guess.” I sighed. “I just hope she’s okay. She has to be sore today.”

  “Branna called her this morning, and she’s okay. Banged up, but okay.”

  That didn’t make me feel better.

  “How are you this morning?” Kane asked, his lips twitched. “You got beat up last night, too.”

 
Dominic and Ryder’s attention snapped my way.

  “Who beat you up?” Dominic demanded. “Tell me.”

  Before I could say a word, Kane said, “A little redhead named Keela.”

  My brothers shared a looked, relaxed, then laughed.

  “She didn’t beat me up.” I rolled my eyes. “She shoved me because she was angry her friend got jumped. She blamed me because she thought it was my girlfriend who was at fault.”

  “Doesn’t sound like she beat him up,” Dominic looked at Kane, grinning. “What else happened?”

  I shook my head and continued to eat my cereal.

  “She knocked his ass to the ground when she shoved him.” Kane chuckled. “And she surpassed Bronagh when she chewed him out as well.”

  “No way,” Dominic said, his lips parted with surprise.

  “Yup.” Kane bobbed his head. “She insulted him and turned him down multiple times when he hit on her.”

  “Well, fuck.” Ryder laughed. “I want to meet this woman.”

  Ha, ha, ha.

  “You’re all fucking hilarious today.”

  They all laughed and continued to rag on me when the doorbell rang. Ryder went to answer it, leaving me with the two youngest who were talking utter shit. I nodded to them, accepting whatever shit they threw my way, but I stopped when Ryder suddenly shouted, “Alec, a woman is here to see you!”

  My eyes widened as I looked at my brothers. They each shrugged as I got to my feet, left the kitchen, and crept down the hallway towards the front door. I kept out of view and to my brother, I whispered, “If she has blonde hair, a mole on her left cheek, and huge tits, close the door right fucking now.”

  I fucked a woman with that description a few weeks ago, and I guess I fucked her a little too well because she swore she’d find me and make me give her babies. She scared the shit out of me, and I was about to piss myself if she was the woman talking to my brother.

  “I don’t have blonde hair, a mole on me cheek, or big tits, so it’s safe to come out!”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I knew that voice, that voice had been the cause of at least six erections since I last heard it the night before. I straightened to my full height and walked to the doorway to stand next to my brother. My eyes landed on Aideen first, and she wiggled her fingers at me in greeting. She looked much fresher, and apart from her black eyes and slight bruise on her jaw, she looked untouched. I grinned at her, then moved my eyes to the little rocket beside her.