Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series (64 page)

Meeting his movement on the downward
strokes, she lifts her hips and hooks her legs around him. His pace
quickens, his thrusting becoming harder as his head falls to rest
on her neck, the sound of his hips pounding against her thighs
echoing in the room. His body tenses and he releases her hands,
moving his forearms to the side of her, using them to leverage his
body as he continues to thrust in and out, driving them both closer
to release. Free from his hold, her hands grasp his sides,
desperate to touch him, digging her fingers into him and pulling
him forward.

Feeling his control waning, he groans
against her skin. “I’m not going to last much longer, baby. What do
you need to get there? I don’t want to leave you behind.”

She pants, her body on the edge, as his
constant delivery of pressure in exactly the right spot promises
her own quick release. “I’m right there.” She moans.

Ethan sets a punishing rhythm, moving faster
and harder, his body tensing as it collides with hers. As he feels
the ripples of her orgasm start to overtake her, he completely
unravels, cursing at the intensity of his release. She screams out
his name, and with one last thrust he pulses inside her, filling
her with a steady stream of his seed that seems endless. It’s like
nothing he has ever experienced with anyone else. Only with Olivia
has he ever felt this raw. Impassioned. Out of control.

When their breathing settles back into a
normal rhythm he adjusts his weight, allowing himself to slowly
withdraw and then slides to her side. His hands never leave her
body, always touching, tenderly caressing her skin as if he’s
assuring himself that this is not a dream. Brushing the slightly
damp hair from her forehead, he brings his lips back to hers in a
sweet kiss. When she adjusts her position, she winces at the
stiffness already setting in, moaning as she slips her feet over
the side of the bed and sits up.

“I’m going to be sore tomorrow.” She smiles,
her body feeling tired and heavy as she makes her way into the
bathroom.

“I’m so sorry, are you ok?”

Turning to look at him sprawled out buck
naked across the bed, she teases him. “Sorry for what, exactly? The
best sex I’ve ever had in my life? Yeah, you should be real sorry
for that.”

Ethan grins and lays back, stretched out
covering the entire bed. Folding his hands behind his head, he
thinks about how easy it is for him to lose himself in her. When
the water stops running the door swings open and the bright light
behind her makes him squint. Standing with her arms crossed,
wearing nothing but his t-shirt, she looks really angry. “REALLY?”
She says scowling at him.

He sits up, concerned. “What’s wrong?”

She shakes her head and lifts the edge of
the t-shirt to reveal his teeth marks on her hip. “You couldn’t
have just asked me to take them off?” She’s not amused at all.

Ethan grins, admiring his little love bite.
“Where’s the fun in that?” A dirty little smirk forms at the corner
of his mouth and he pats the spot on the bed next to him. “Come
back to bed and I’ll kiss it better.”

“Don’t you think we should get some sleep?
We both have to work tomorrow.”

Ethan sighs and gets to his feet. Reaching
the doorway, he presses his naked body against her and gives her a
kiss. “You’re right, we should get some rest.” He rubs his hand
over her hip, frowning when she winces and then kisses her once
more. “Go get into bed, I won’t be long.” In a moment of thought,
he turns back to her, looking unsure. “Don’t leave, ok?”

She smiles and nods. “Ok.” As if she would
leave now that she’s finally admitted that she belongs to him. Why
would he think that?

When he’s done, he joins her under the
covers, pressing his chest against her back and wrapping his arms
around her. “I like this.” He whispers in her ear.

“You like what?”

“I like you… in my bed, staying with
me.”

She sighs drowsily. “Me too.” The feel of
his naked body pressing against her is distracting. “Ethan? Where
are your boxers?”

“On the floor. I don’t need them.” His voice
is sleepy and he yawns loudly.

She smiles remembering how freely he could
strip down to nothing at the soccer field. “You don’t have any
problems with being naked, do you?”

“No, not really. Especially around you.” He
presses his hips against her backside and his dick starts to
respond.

She looks at him over her shoulder. “Would
you please control that thing and go to sleep?”

He grins against the base of her neck. “I
don’t want to sleep. I want to stay up all night and watch you.
It’s like having one of Gods own angels sleeping next to me and I’m
afraid if I close my eyes you’ll disappear.”

Olivia’s heart thumps against her chest.
“Hush now, I’m not going anywhere. Please go to sleep.”

“Ok, but just so you know. I’m not letting
you go. Not even for one second. I’m going to hold you in my arms
all night long and that will most definitely make my dick hard. So
you’ll just have to deal.”

Ethan wasn’t kidding. When she opens her
eyes a few hours later she is covered in over 200lbs of an
extremely warm, incredibly muscular Irish blanket. His legs twisted
around hers, his arm draped heavily over her middle and a rock hard
erection pressing against the small of her back. His head lay
beside her, sharing her pillow and exhaling his warm breath softly
against her neck. She smiles at the incredible feeling of him
around her. What woman wouldn’t want to wake up every morning
wrapped in Ethan O’Connell? Suddenly she hears the sound that woke
her.

“Ethan, you’re phone is ringing.” She says
sleepily. No response. Nothing. How the hell can he sleep through
that? She nudges him with her elbow. “Ethan, your phone.”

“Hmmm? What time is it?” He releases her and
rolls onto his back, stretching as he yawns.

She looks over at the blue glowing light of
the alarm clock. “It’s 5am.”

Ethan bolts straight upwards. “Shit!” He
grabs his phone. “O’Connell. Good morning, sir. I’m sorry, I had
stepped into the other room for a moment.”

He looks at Olivia with an expression that
slightly resembles panic. Picking his boxers up off the floor, he
tries to step into them, using one hand to pull them up while
holding his phone to his ear. He looks almost embarrassed and she
wonders why he’s worried about putting his boxers on now? Does he
think the person on the phone knows he’s not wearing any underwear?
She chuckles, watching him trying to maneuver into them with one
hand and listens curiously to the conversation.

“Friday? Yes sir, I can have it to you
before next Friday. It outlines my plan to increase our presence in
international markets. I think there are some huge opportunities in
Australia and South Africa. Carter Brant is here with me now. I’ll
be working with him myself over the next week to nail down a
business plan. Yes sir, he’s the right man for the job, you won’t
be disappointed. Landon Scott will be on point in South Africa, I
haven’t decided yet if I should go there to work with him. We can
go over the presentation when I’m back at the end of the month. I
like Canada just fine, but I’m looking forward to coming home. Yes.
I have no doubt that Miss Quinn will get to the bottom of it. Yes.
Ok. Have your assistant send the dates to John and I’ll make sure
to attend. Thank you sir, you have a good day as well.”

Olivia is dumbfounded and it shows on her
face. “The BIG boss.” He explains after he hangs up. “It’s already
mid morning over there.”

“Oh, I haven’t really thought about you
having a boss.” But that’s not what got her attention.

“One day, I plan on being the BIG BOSS, if I
haven’t screwed that up already.” He sits back down on the bed and
pulls her into his lap.

“You’re going back to Ireland?” She tries
not to sound upset.

“Yes, after the grand opening of the
restaurant. I have a couple of events that are mandatory for me to
attend, as well as some personal things I need to tend to.” His
head snaps up, suddenly wide awake and realizing that it means
he’ll be away from her for a very long time. He doesn’t like that
idea at all. “We can talk about it later.” He says, already
thinking about how he can shorten his trip… or convince her to go
with him. Somehow he’s pretty sure she will never agree to that.
Rachel has already told him that she won’t leave work long enough
to even take a vacation.

There’s a long dramatic pause then she
finally asks. “Are you coming back?” She had never thought to ask
him if he would be in Canada permanently. She suddenly feels
panic.

Raking his fingers through her hair, he
plays with the long strands. “Of course, originally I planned to be
gone for about a month.”

A month! Her stomach does a flip-flop and no
matter how good of an actress she is, she’s certain that he can see
the horror on her face. WTF? She finally gives in to him and agrees
to be in a relationship and he’s leaving?

“You don’t look very happy about that.” He’s
glad that she doesn’t seem to like the idea any more that he
does.

“I… I just didn’t know you were going. It’s
a long time, that’s all.”

He nods. “Yes it is.”

His phone rings again and he grabs for it,
looking at the display. “Oh this can’t be good.” Placing Olivia
back on the bed beside him, he gets to is feet. “Mom? Is everything
alright?”

“No, not really Ethan.”

“Madison? Why are you at Mom’s house? Is she
ok?”

“Yes, Mom is fine. Ethan, Jess phoned here
this morning.”

“SHE WHAT?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because I only found out yesterday. I’m
dealing with my lawyers. Maddie, there is no way that baby is mine.
You believe me right?”

“She says it is.”

“I know. We’re trying to arrange for a
paternity test to be done when I get home. Who else knows about
it?”

“Everyone.”

“Fuck.” He scrubs his hand across the
bristles on his jaw.

“Kaylie is here, she wants to talk to you.”
She hands the phone to Kaylie who answers already extremely
upset.

“Hi” She says, sniffling.

“Hey, don’t listen to what everyone is
saying Kaylie. It’s not true. Everything is going to be ok.” Taking
a deep breath, he looks over at Olivia who tries to give him a
reassuring smile. “Kaylie, you’re killing me. Don’t cry,
sweetheart.”

He hears a muffled voice in the background
and then the sound of Kaylie breaking down into a hard sob.

“You’re a right asshole, you know that?”
Comes the voice of an extremely angry Irish woman.

“McKenna? Jesus Christ… are you all
there?”

“Yes and Mom wants to talk to you.”

“McKenna, wait… don’t put mom on the phone.
I don’t want to talk to her right now.”

“Ethan.” His mother says dryly into the
phone.

Ethan closes his eyes and his shoulders
slouch. “Hi, Mom.”

“What are your plans son?”

“Mom, I’m dealing with it through my
lawyers. I’m going to be home in a couple of weeks and then we’ll
do the tests to confirm that it’s not mine.”

“You sound pretty sure that it’s not
yours.”

“I’m positive it’s not mine Mom, I was very
careful. I think it’s Reese’s.”

Whoa! Reese Wilson? Olivia tries to hide the
look of shock on her face. Reese Wilson is sleeping with Ethan’s
ex? No wonder Carter looked uncomfortable when she asked questions
about him at dinner. Oh My God! Her heart dips and her stomach
bottoms out. Reese is the man that she was sleeping with while they
were together! The reason he left her. She cheated on him with his
best friend? For Pete’s sake. What is wrong with some women?

“Well, you listen to me Ethan Joseph
O’Connell… if it turns out that this child is yours you will make
sure they are both properly looked after. Nothing short of that
will be acceptable son.” Her voice is stern as she lays down her
expectations.

Ethan stands up tall and stiff responding to
her tone. “Of course, Mom. Does Dad know?”

“Yes boy… You can’t keep a secret like that
in this town.”

He becomes agitated. “No, I guess not. Can
everyone just believe me this time? Is that too much to ask?”

“Of course we believe you. I never trusted
that woman, she always seemed right crazy to me.”

Ethan curses under his breath. “Well I had
no idea that there was an “I hate Jessica Club” until after I left
her.”

“Just get home and look after your business,
Ethan. This is difficult for all of us, son.”

“I will, Mom. I’ll be there in a couple of
weeks. Is Kaylie ok?”

“She’ll be fine. She’s been very emotional
the past couple of days. I think she’s on her period.”

Ethan cringes. ”MOM! I don’t want to know
that stuff!”

He’s sure he hears her snicker after a brief
silence. “I love you, Ethan. No matter what.”

“I love you too, Mom. Can you put McKenna
back on the phone?”

Olivia is sitting on the side of the bed
listening to the conversation as he paces back and forth in front
of her. Reaching out and grabbing his hand, she makes him stop for
a moment and look at her. Giving him a sympathetic smile, she lifts
his hand to her mouth, kissing it, to show her support. Her heart
feels sad.

After a few moments, McKenna comes back to
the phone. “What do you want, dick?”

“Nice mouth, McKenna. I hope Mom’s not in
the room. Listen, I need you to handle this with Dad.”

“Not a chance. Grow some balls and come home
and talk to him yourself.”

“McKenna, I’m not asking. I’m telling. When
you get to the office you need to tell him the truth. That Jess is
only looking for ways to get money from me and that he should NOT
give her any if she contacts him. Be pissed at me if you want, but
you will do that one thing for me.”

“Fine.”