Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series (9 page)

“Yes, I know. We’ve met.” Olivia says loudly
over the music, while trying to steer her towards the door. She
glances over at him and smiles. “Let’s get her to the car before
she drops.” With strained effort, they finally get her through the
bar and into the car waiting out front.

Ethan buckles Rachel safely into the
passenger side of Olivia’s ‘64 Mustang and climbs into the back
seat. “Nice car.”

“Thanks.” Olivia isn’t interested in small
talk. She just wants to get back home to bed. “I can drop you off
first if you like, where do you live?” Olivia turns her head to
look at him.

Ethan stares at her for a moment feeling a
little awkward. “I live with Scott and Rachel.” He finds it odd
that Olivia didn’t know that. How is it that he has been there
nearly a month and Rachel’s best friend had no idea? Deep down he
knows it’s another effort by Scott to keep him away from her. He
scratches his head and waits for her reaction but there is none.
She remains expressionless and doesn’t say a word. Just drives. She
will deal with the two of them tomorrow when she’s feeling better
and has the strength to kick some ass.

Rachel is asleep within moments in the front
seat, her body slouching forward like dead weight. Nothing but the
shoulder strap on the seat belt is keeping her from smashing her
head on the dashboard. In a hurry to get her home, Olivia turns the
corner a little too quickly, causing Rachel’s limp body to swing to
the side heavily as her head hits the side window with a thud.
Olivia puts her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God! Rachel, I’m
sorry.” She reaches her hand over and puts it on her head trying to
steady it but Rachel is still out cold. Olivia tries to contain her
laughter by pursing her lips tightly together but when she looks
back at Ethan and sees that he’s snickering, she can’t hold
back.

When she pulls into the driveway, Ethan gets
Rachel out of the car and steers her to the front door. Olivia
pushes it open quickly and stands aside letting them pass. He stops
at the bottom of the stairs and looks over at Olivia. “I’m thinking
that’s not happening.”

“Not under her own power anyways.” Olivia
slips in under Rachel’s other shoulder and with her and Ethan on
either side, they manage to get her up the stairs. Sitting her on
the side of the bed, Olivia tips her backwards so that she’s laying
flat on her back and slips her shoes off her feet before covering
her with the blanket. Scott is passed out on the other side of the
bed and is completely unaware of their intrusion. Ethan shakes his
head. “Must be bloody nice to sleep that soundly.”

Heading back downstairs, Olivia suddenly
realizes that she has left Rachel’s stuff in the car. “I’ll be
right back. I need to get her purse.” She turns towards the door
and gets a sharp searing pain in her thigh that forces her to stop
dead and take a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?” Ethan watches her movements
with concern.

Not wanting another lecture about making a
doctor’s appointment, she lies. “Nothing.” She takes a small step
and carefully tries to bare some weight on her leg. He crosses his
arms and wrinkles his brow. “You’re a terrible liar. Sit down.” He
motions toward the bench in the front hall. “I’ll go and get the
stuff out of the car.”

Olivia keeps moving towards the door and
Ethan quickly steps up behind her. “Olivia.” He reaches for her arm
as his voice takes on a much more commanding tone. “I said I’ll get
the stuff out of the car.”

“It’s ok. I can get it myself.” She’s
determined to be as stubborn as he is persistent.

He firmly takes hold of her elbow, making
her heart race as she stops and turns to him. Her eyes return his
steely glare. Why is this woman so stubborn? He has already given
in to her once today and it’s not going to happen again. Ethan
stands firm. His tone is militant. “SIT DOWN.”

Olivia’s legs bend obediently under his
command, sitting her down on the bench in the front hall. Her head
down and eyes to the floor she makes no further objections. Ethan
is aroused by her compliance and standing over her, his heartbeat
quickens as his dick starts to throb and grow. He wants her right
now. Right here. He wants to claim her mouth in a forceful kiss
until she surrenders the rest of her body. She would submit to him.
He’s certain of it now. Rachel’s warning stops him. Damn it! He
swallows his desire in a heavy lump, exhaling a torrent breath of
air and forces himself to walk away. “Thank you. Was that so hard?”
He growls in frustration, his dick twitching inside his pants
without promise of release.

She says nothing as he opens the door and
heads out to the car. Once he’s out of sight, Olivia puts her hands
over her face, appalled at her reaction. What just happened? Why
did she do that? This is how it starts every time and she has to
stop making the same mistake. She just can’t seem to stop herself;
it’s as if she’s hardwired to submit to dominant men.

He returns only a few seconds later and as
he comes through the doorway Rachel’s purse slips out of his hands
and falls, spilling all her stuff onto the floor in front of
Olivia. She’s thankful for the opportunity to move from the bench,
dropping to her knees on the floor to pick everything up. Ethan
groans. The sight of her on her knees in front of him is not
helping to discourage his erection. She grabs a black leather
wallet and flips it open to see Ethan’s driver’s license. She looks
up at him.

He looks surprised. “Is that my wallet?
What’s it doing in Rachel’s purse?”

Olivia hands it up to him. “Knowing Rachel,
I’d say we’re victims of a little meddling.”

“What do you mean?” He furrows his brow,
confused.

“I think she was looking for a way to make
sure I had no overnight guest.”

“I see.” It occurs to him just how sneaky
and manipulating women can be. “She took my wallet so that you
would have to come pick us up?”

“Exactly. Effectively ending my date.”
Suddenly from upstairs, there is a huge thud. They can tell from
the sound, and the cursing that follows that Rachel has fallen out
of bed. Olivia stands up alarmed and limps painfully to the bottom
of the stairs. “Rachel?” She hollers.

A muffled voice yells. “I’M OKAY!”

Olivia puts her hand over her mouth to
stifle her laughter. “Poor thing is going to be black and blue
tomorrow and won’t remember a thing.” She’s sympathetic but she
continues to chuckle in amusement. Suddenly, feeling tired herself,
she zips up her hoodie and heads towards the door with Ethan right
behind her.

On the way to the car, she tries desperately
hard not to limp at all. He places his hand on the small of her
back as they walk and she finds his touch so warm and soothing that
she forgets about her earlier upset. She must be exhausted because
she can’t think of any other reason to explain why she finds
herself wanting to be near him for a short while longer. She
surprises herself when they reach the car and she stops and leans
back against the hood, staring at him. He moves to her side eager
to be close to her, the thought of her earlier submission still on
his mind and the remainder of his erection, still a noticeable
outline in his pants.

“Thank you for coming out in the middle of
the night to get us home safe.”

She smiles. “Yeah… well, it’s not the first
time I’ve had to pick her drunken ass up.”

The air around them starts to crackle with
excitement as he positions himself as close to her as he can get.
This time she’s certain that he feels it too as his body tenses
against her and his semi hard dick presses against her hip.

“So… how was your date?” He has to know,
it’s been chewing at him all night.

The truth stabs at her, making her feel
wounded all over again, but there is no way she’s going to let
Ethan see her upset. “It was just fine, thank you.”

Ethan can’t stop himself. He slowly raises
his hand to the back of her head and gently takes hold of the
elastic that’s holding her ponytail. What is he doing? Butterflies
take flight in her stomach with the anticipation of his touch.
Slowly and carefully, he pulls the elastic out and then uses his
fingers to comb through her hair, letting it fall softly across her
neck. What the ever-loving-fuck? How hot is that? She feels his
chest expand against her side as he brushes the hair from her
shoulder and lowers his mouth to whisper in her ear. “Did you kiss
him?” There is an emulous tone to his question and the rippling
muscles of his abs tense while he waits for her reply.

“What?” Olivia is unnerved by the feelings
that are stirring inside her. He continues to twirl the soft
tendrils of her long hair around his fingers, occasionally brushing
the tips of them across her neck and shoulder, making it hard for
her to think or breathe.

“Did you kiss him?” He repeats in a very
serious and demanding tone. She can smell his cologne and feel his
breath on her skin. He’s close, too close again. Evidence of her
attraction rolls through her body, confirming that his authority
influences her. She hates that he senses it. Turning away from him,
she looks up at the stars, jiggling her knees nervously. She
doesn’t want to tell him what really happened but he has gotten so
far into her head right now that her mind can’t even think of a
lie.

Unfortunately for Olivia, a man doesn’t grow
up with three sisters and not learn how to read female body
language. He can tell something has upset her so he changes gears
from controlling into caring. “Hey, what happened?” He raises his
hand to her face and with one finger, tucks a loose piece of hair
behind her ear.

That one tender gesture somehow erases her
ability to control the communication between her brain and her
mouth and she blurts out the truth. “He cancelled.” She’s instantly
filled with regret and her shoulders slouch. Why did she tell him
that?

“Is that why you were crying?” He asks
softly, his lips dangerously close to her neck. He tries not to be
glad of that news, since he had tried to convince her to brush him
off. Instead, he positions himself as a caring friend, trying to
gain her trust. She doesn’t answer, only shrugs her shoulders in a
slight gesture, but it’s as good as an admission.

“Why did he cancel?“

“Well… funny thing.” She begins. “I was
going to ask him why, but I couldn’t.” Her hands fidget with the
cuffs of her hoodie and he reaches down and holds them still in one
of his large strong hands.

“Why is that?” The muscles in her stomach
tighten as he brings the other hand up and lightly brushes his
fingertips up and down her arm. The night air is cool against her
skin but she doesn’t feel it at all. She tries to convince herself
that it’s the fever and not Ethan that has her feeling like she’s
on fire.

“His mouth was full.” She looks up into
Ethan’s gorgeous green eyes. Even in the dark of night, they look
like a summer meadow all warm and inviting. She resists the urge to
run her hands through his hair and down his cheek, brushing her
fingers over the few day old growth of facial hair, letting it
prickle roughly against the soft skin on the pads of her
fingertips. Her stomach squeezes and dampness pools between her
legs at the thought.

“Full?” He looks at her in confusion. “What
do you mean his mouth was FULL?”

Olivia takes a short breath as she speaks
the painful words. “Full with the tongue of the blonde he was
kissing.” Her tone is sarcastic and bitter and saying it aloud
gives her the strength she needs to move away from him. Knowing
that a relationship of any kind with Ethan O’Connell would surely
be a disaster, she slides off the hood and starts towards the side
of the car. Not wanting her to leave, he grabs for her wrist,
making her body stiffen and stopping her in her tracks. “Olivia,
wait.”

She doesn’t turn to look at him. If she was
to look into those wickedly sexy Irish eyes, she knows she’d give
in. She keeps her eyes down. “I should go.“ Feeling the intense
anxiety in her body language, Ethan reluctantly releases her and
follows her to the door. He reaches past her, grasps the handle,
and pulls it open. When she gets in, he closes the door and then
gently knocks on the window with his knuckle. Against her better
judgment, she opens it to hear what he has to say.

“Olivia, that guy is douche bag.” She stares
straight ahead at the steering wheel. She can’t think. She needs to
regain control of her thoughts. He brushes the hair out of her eyes
and then gently skims his thumb across her cheek. The expression on
her face looks like his touch has caused her physical pain. He
feels sick at heart when she moves to the side withdrawing from his
touch. She lets out a heavy breath. “Don’t.”

“Olivia, please.” Ethan attempts to calm
her. “I know you feel it too.” He reaches for her again.

“Don’t.” She repeats shaking her head. “You
and I… it’s never going to happen.”

Once again, she leaves him standing alone,
watching as she drives away. It doesn’t matter what she says. Now,
more than ever, he’s determined to possess her, his desire stronger
than gravitational pull. As she disappears in the distance, his
thoughts are focused only on her. Always running away from me, Miss
James. We are going to put a stop to that.

When she gets home, she returns to her spot
on the couch and tries to settle, finding it extremely difficult to
rest comfortably, with the throbbing pain in her leg. This whole
friends with benefits thing is a bad idea. Maybe when she talks to
the doctor she should take her sister’s advice and have her
hormones checked. Maybe there is some imbalance there that would
explain her unwanted reaction to Ethan O’Connell. Suddenly her cell
phone beeps with an incoming text message. “What now?” She
groans.

From Ethan: Hi, it’s Ethan. I’m checking to
make sure you got home safe.