Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series (14 page)

“There’s a thermometer in the medicine
cabinet in the main floor bathroom, Rach.” He says calmly, having
seen it there the day before.

Rachel wonders how he knows that, but
doesn’t ask. Ethan hears the sounds of cupboard doors opening and
closing in the background. “I found it, but I have no idea how to
use it.” She pushes buttons and the led display lights up and
flashes. When she gets back into the living room she picks up the
drug store bag from the table and looks into it. “Ethan it doesn’t
look like she’s taken any of the medication.”

Ethan is already putting on his shoes. “I’m
on my way. Rachel, listen to me… If anything happens before I get
there… anything that doesn’t seem right, then call an ambulance
immediately. Don’t hesitate and don’t give Olivia a choice.”

Stuffing his wallet into his pocket, he
hands the phone back to Scott who has filled an empty container
with food for him to take to Rachel. He hands it to him as he opens
the door. “Make sure my wife eats, please.” He puts the phone back
up to his ear. “Rachel, I’m sending you some food, honey.”

“Scott, tell Ethan to hurry. I’m really
worried and I’m not good with this stuff.” Her voice is heavy with
the sound of threatening tears.

“Sweetheart, don’t worry. Ethan will be
there in just a few minutes. He’ll know what to do.” He looks over
at Ethan who is on his way out the door. “You do know what to do.
Don’t you?”

Ethan nods at him and jumps over the garden,
practically sprinting to the car. In record time he’s rounding the
corner into the parking space at the back of the house. Pushing the
door open without knocking, he startles Rachel who is frantically
pacing the floor.

“Thank God you’re here!”

“Has she opened her eyes yet?” He rushes
towards the couch where Olivia is laying and brushes the hair off
her face to feel her forehead. She doesn’t move at all, her hair
soaked with perspiration from the fever. He kneels beside her on
the floor. “Olivia.” He coaxes. “Olivia!” He nudges at her gently
but there is no response.

“Pass me the thermometer.” He tries not to
show Rachel his concern.

Rachel holds it one way and then turns it
the other way, trying to figure out how it works. “That’s why I
didn’t have kids. I’d never be able to figure this thing out.” She
walks over and hands it to Ethan who pushes a button and lights up
the display. Sitting on the side of the couch he puts the end of
the digital thermometer into Olivia’s ear.

Rachel makes a face. “I would never have
thought to put that in there.”

It seems like forever waiting for the beep.
Ethan feels the tension in every muscle of his body. Looking at her
laying there so helpless reminds him of his sister Kaylie, and how
she almost died from a fever when she was just a tiny child. His
stomach tightens with anxiety. Finally the thermometer beeps and he
anxiously looks at the digital display. “Christ, Rachel. It’s 105!
How long has it been this high?” Alarmed, he quickly gets to his
feet and looks over at her for an answer.

She’s shocked! “I... I don’t know. I just
got here an hour ago so at least that long.”

“Shit!” He rubs his head and stares are her
for a moment. “We have to get the fever down or she could start to
seizure.” He desperately looks around the main floor of the tiny
townhome trying to come up with a course of action. He looks
towards the stairs and back to Olivia on the couch. Then he looks
over at Rachel. “Take her clothes off, leave on just her bra and
her panties.”

Rachel has no idea what he has in mind but
she follows his instructions as he starts up the stairs, taking
them two at a time. The sound of running water comes from the
upstairs bathroom and Olivia opens her eyes when Rachel lifts her
head to remove her t-shirt. “Olivia? Honey are you ok?” She shakes
her head NO and then closes her eyes again. “Olivia! I need to know
if you’ve been taking your medication.” Rachel tries again to get a
response. “Olivia!” Her eyes open very slowly, trying to focus.
“Did you take your antibiotics? Have you taken any Tylenol?“

“I tried, but I threw them up.” Her voice is
nothing but a whisper. Moaning as if she’s in a lot of pain, she
closes her eyes again. “I dreamed Ethan was here. It was a nice
dream.”

The sound of running water stops and Ethan
re-appears downstairs.

Rachel glances over at him. “She woke up for
a few moments. She said she tried to take the meds but she kept
throwing them back up.”

Ethan frowns. “That means the infection is
getting worse.”

“What do we do?” Rachel asks, panicked.

“I want to get this fever down first, and
then I’ll get the meds into her.” He walks over to the couch where
she’s laying in nothing but her underwear. Any other time he would
be aroused to see her almost naked but it’s agony for him to see
her in this frail condition. He scoops his arms underneath her and
lifts her into his arms. As he carries her up the stairs her eyes
open and she stares at him and smiles. “You’re here? My prince...
you’ve come to rescue me.” Ethan smiles in amusement and glances
over at Rachel.

“Hallucinations from the fever, obviously. I
can honestly say I’ve never been called a prince before.”

Rachel starts to laugh as she follows him up
the stairs. He pushes through the bathroom door with Olivia still
in his arms but the small space forces Rachel to stand in the
doorway. When Ethan attempts to lower Olivia into the bathtub, he’s
halted by her sudden high-pitched squeal, as she wraps her arms
around his neck in a death grip! She’s holding so tight that he
can’t breathe and his eyes open wide with the lack of oxygen. “It’s
ok, Olivia. It’s just a bath.” He tries to loosen her grip.
“Olivia, let go.”

“Put me down!” She screams. “Put me down!”
Needing air, Ethan reluctantly complies. Her feet hit the floor and
her weak legs do their best to support her as she finally releases
her grip from around his neck.

“Olivia, we need to get your fever down.
Please get into the bathtub.” Rachel pleads from the doorway.

Beads of perspiration run down the sides of
her temples and Ethan wipes them away with a gentle hand. She
wobbles as if she’s had too much to drink and he reaches for her
trying to give her some support. She giggles when she sees her
reflection in the mirror. “Where are my clothes?” Tipping forward,
she lands against him, her hands rubbing across his chest in a
teasing manner. “Is my handsome prince going to join me in the
bathtub?”

Rachel is shocked and her mouth falls open.
“Olivia! Geez!”

Ethan takes both her hands in his and moves
them from his chest. Holding them up to his mouth he gives them a
little kiss.

“Perhaps another time, princess. Let’s get
you in the water and get that fever down.”

“No No No No No” She shakes her head. I’m
not getting in there unless you get in there with me.”

“Olivia, stop being difficult.” He’s getting
frustrated now and glances over at Rachel standing in the doorway.
“Help me out here would you, Rachel?”

Rachel thinks about it for a moment and then
with her hand on the doorknob she shakes her head. “I don’t care
what it takes Ireland. Do whatever you’ve got to do to get her in
that bathtub.” With that, she slams the door closed, leaving them
alone.

Ethan is stunned at what Rachel is
suggesting and looks down at Olivia, who is now tugging at his
shirt trying to rid him of it. Rachel is right. The only thing
that’s important right now is getting her into that bathtub and
getting the fever down. He shakes his head and rubs his hand
against his jaw, not believing what he’s about to do. He wants
Olivia in the worst way. He’s spent hours fantasizing about all the
things he wants to do to her… but never in a million years did he
think he’d find himself in this situation. He could never take
advantage of her, not like this.

Before he changes his mind, he lifts his
arms over his head, allowing her to pull his shirt off and leaving
him bare-chested, the jet-black tattoo on his left shoulder now
exposed. She smiles at her victory and admires the dark ink by
brushing her fingertips over it, tracing the intricate Celtic
design intertwined with a classic tribal look. “I like this.” She
whispers. His muscles flex beneath her touch and he can feel his
erection start to press against the fabric of his pants.

She turns her attention to silver chain that
hangs around his neck and at the bottom of it; a masculine silver
cross sitting just above his well-defined pectorals. He rarely
takes it off; it was a gift from his mother, reminding him that he
was raised to be a good Irish Catholic boy. A fact that he’s
seriously struggling with right now.

“And I like you.” She continues as she picks
up the shiny pendant and runs her fingers over the raised pattern
before letting it go. Leaning into his chest, she rests her cheek
against his skin and with a deep sigh. Skimming her hands down his
sides and then rubbing over his hardening shaft, she moves them
across the front of his pants and starts to undo his belt
buckle.

Ethan jumps and grabs her hands. “Jesus!
Woman!” He growls. He’s never going to be able to keep his shit
together if she’s going to be doing stuff like that.

Pouting at him, her eyes close as her weak
knees finally surrender. He grabs her just in time and lifts her
into his arms. Once again she lays her head against his chest and
whispers. “Please.” He can feel the heat from the fever burning
against his bare skin. She’s on fire!

Closing his eyes, he lets out a loud sigh,
acknowledging what he has to do. “Olivia I’m going to put you down
in the water and then I’m going to get in behind you.” She doesn’t
make a sound as he lowers her into the tub.

“How did I get myself into this?” He groans
out loud to himself. “McCabe would definitely NOT approve.” Undoing
his pants, he steps out of them, and then steps into the tub behind
her still wearing his boxers. As soon as he’s seated, she wastes no
time wiggling back so that she’s between his legs and fully resting
on his chest.

Arching her back slightly, she reaches
behind to unlatch her bra and in one swift movement removes it,
tossing it to the bathroom floor. Taking his hands from his side
she intertwines her fingers with his, pulling his arms around her
waist, wrapping him completely around her body. He closes his eyes
and tries to calm his thoughts in an attempt to stop his semi
hard-on from becoming a full-blown erection.

He steadies his movements and tries to
regain his composure. Looking up at the ceiling, he whispers.
“Lord, you have an awful lot of faith in me… and a very cruel sense
of humor.” Taking a deep breath in, he reaches for a cloth and uses
it to wash the tepid water over the parts of her body that aren’t
immersed. When she rubs her hands up and down his thighs, he tries
to ignore the feelings that start to stir inside him. In the past
few days, he has often thought about how it would feel to have her
hands on him. He’s getting hard thinking about it now as he moves
the cloth over her arms and legs repeating his movements and making
small waves in the water that splash up against her stomach and
chest. She coos… enjoying his touch.

Being this close to her slowly dissolves his
self-control and as he moves the cloth gently across her stomach
his thumbs brush across her breasts making her nipples become hard
and responsive. She lets her knees fall to the side allowing him
access to her inner thighs and after his first pass over them she
takes the cloth out of his hand and tosses it into the corner. He
knows she’s not of sound enough mind when she grabs his hand and
pushes it forward, steering it down between her legs. In this very
intimate moment, she moans and he holds his breath, unable to
prevent his already rigid shaft from thickening further.

Lying beneath her, he can feel her heart
start to race and the quickening of her breath, indicating that she
too, is aroused. His hands are soft from being in the water and
they skim across the material of her panties as she encourages him
further. Ethan can’t ignore his arousal anymore as his raging
hard-on presses against her back. Forgetting why he’s there, he
slowly draws his hand back towards her stomach moving her panties
ever so slightly, to the side, so that his fingers tease across her
as he goes.

When he moves his hand away from her, it
leaves her wanting and without hesitation, she pushes his hand back
down between her legs, this time sliding underneath the waistband
of her panties and across her clean-shaven pussy. It feels smooth
and soft under his touch and he groaning his approval, grazing his
fingertips along the outer folds. Consenting to his advances, she
lifts her hips pressing her clit against the palm of his hand
encouraging him to take action as she nuzzles her cheek against his
chest and moans. “This is the best dream ever.”

Her words jolt him back to reality like a
slap across the face. This is wrong. Very wrong. Cursing, he stops
his hand abruptly before it reaches the spot she’s longing for him
to touch. “Please.” She whispers, her tone desperate and pleading
as she tries to push him forward.

Ethan somehow finds the strength to pull his
hand away. “Sorry, love. Not today.” He presses his lips against
the back of her head in a kiss and in an effort to put some
distance between their bodies he forces her to sit up. Using the
cloth to wet her hair, he rings out the water so that it trickles
down her back. One day soon he will make her beg him to touch her
again. Now that he knows that she feels the same way about him he
won’t stop until she submits.

The water is cool now and as he washes it up
and onto her shoulders she gets goose bumps. Ethan lets out a sigh
of relief, eager to get out of this situation while he’s still able
to control himself. “OK princess, bath time is over.” When Olivia
starts to shiver, Ethan quickly gets out, grabbing the towel that
he left on the counter and wrapping it around himself.