Luck of the Irish: Complete Edition (19 page)

She had also had doubts about giving herself to a man she had met so recently. She didn’t have doubts about that anymore. She had waited all her life for a man like Declan. A man who made her feel safe when he was around her, and made her see stars when he touched her. Her feelings for him were also strong. She hesitated to say she loved him because she had always believed she would have only one true love in her life, like her mother. Although it was too soon to say that he was the one, Declan was a strong candidate for that position. On the other hand, she had never planned on saving her virginity for Prince Charming. She just hadn’t met a guy she wanted to sleep with, before she met Declan.

Unable to resist, Keira leaned down and brushed her lips over his cheek. When he didn’t stir in his sleep, she moved down to his strong mouth. She didn’t want to wake him up so she controlled the impulse to kiss him properly. It was hard but she changed her focus to the sheets coverings his wide chest. She pulled them down to expose the hairy expanse of flesh that fascinated her so much, running her fingers over the soft, curly hairs and down to the waistband of his sweatpants. She hesitated for a fraction of a moment before inserting her hand in his pants, searching for her prize. She found him, closed her fingers around his member and began stroking it gently, spreading open-mouthed, butterfly kisses on his chest.

He sighed and opened his eyes with a start. She stopped her explorations and waited. He was drowsy and took a few precious seconds to take in what was going on, to realize it wasn’t another pleasant dream. When he moved to grab her hand and pull it out of his pants, she had already straddled him, trapping both their hands between their bodies.

“What do think you’re doing?” his voice was rough from sleep and something else.

“Isn’t it obvious, my love? I’m seducing you,” she gave him a wide grin before leaning down and capturing his mouth. Not giving him time to reply, or stop her, she let go of his hardening erection to frame his face as she kissed him with passion and abandon, opening her heart to him, showing him how much she needed him.

Declan fought a losing battle against his treacherous body, trying to summon the faint shreds of self-control he still had about him. The resistance was short-lived before he surrendered with joy to the fire she had awakened in him without much effort. The truth was that he could have resisted their physical attraction, but that kiss bared Keira’s soul to him. What he saw inside her mirrored and completed his own feelings. He had no doubt about where they were heading that night and he was thrilled to go there.

He grabbed her hips, pressing her down on him as he moved his body upwards. She moaned inside his mouth as delicious tingles started where their bodies were jointed together and spread through her. She kept playing with Declan’s rough tongue and soft lips, biting them lightly. He moved his hands, up and down her spine, kneading her flesh. His warm palms ignited her skin and she undulated under his expert touch stoking his fires higher.

Her inexperienced movements made him harder and he fought to keep his body in check. He feared he would go off too soon if she kept going at that pace. He had to take control of the situation so he broke the kiss, rolled over and pinned her under him. He rested his forehead on hers to catch his breath. He laughed and the sound came out as a snort because he was panting, “Slow down, baby. I need a second here.”

“I want you to make love to me, Declan.”

“I’ve got that, sweetheart, but you won’t have much fun if we rush things up,” he explained as he moved down her body.

His mouth covered her nipple over the rough cloth of her top and the friction made her see colorful sparks behind her closed lids. She threw her head back, enjoying the sensations, feeling them melt her bones. He suckled at the sensitive, hardening bud, his tongue wetted the material and made it cling to her skin. She arched up to meet his demanding mouth, buried her fingers in his soft hair, tugging at it, pulling him closer as he moved to her other breast to worship it in the same way. His expert hand wandered down her stomach and navel until he cupped her sex. She trembled and whimpered under his touch when a lightening of pleasure stroke her core.

“You’re so gorgeous, so responsive,” he whispered. “I love how you sound.”

“I love how you make me feel. Don’t stop it, Declan.”

He raised his head to pull the wet top over her head. His eyes caressed her exposed, silken skin. She was a vision of innocent seduction. Her tousled hair, flushed skin, and swollen lips evidenced their passionate kisses while her bright blue eyes shone with wonder. He rubbed a thumb over her lower lip.

“Keira, honey, are you sure about this? I need to ask while I can still control myself.”

Instead of answering him, she raised her hips and slid her shorts down her legs, leaving her gorgeous body clad only in a flimsy pair of red lacy panties. He stopped her hand when she tried to remove them.

“Let me do it, please,” he whispered, his voice caught at his throat.

His mouth went suddenly dry when he bent his head and kissed a scorching hot, wet trail from the top of her breasts to her navel. She arched up, moving her head from side to side, clenching the sheets in her fists, when he grabbed the thin red material between his teeth to slide her panties down her body.

Then, he kissed his way up her legs until he reached the apex of her thighs. He spread them apart and smiled his wickedest grin before he dipped his head down and blew a cold breath inside her throbbing flesh. Before she could recover from the surprise, he covered her with his mouth. Keira lost the ability to talk or to think. She closed her eyes and basked in the tingling sensations his tongue and teeth unleashed in her. She wriggled, moaned, and whimpered as sparkling waves of pleasure started building up inside her. She feared he’d repeat what he had done at her hotel in Dublin. Out of breath, she managed to whisper, “Please, Declan, this time I want you to make love to me, to take me. I want you inside me.”

“Relax, love,” he brushed his nose against her inner thigh, kissing her soft, trembling flesh. “We’ll get there.”

He resumed his wicked ministrations but knew he shouldn’t go much further because her passionate responses and total abandon drove him nuts. He ached to claim her. His throbbing erection was threatening to explode inside his pants. He got rid of them and returned to her mouth, feasting on her sweetness as he positioned himself between her legs. She crossed her arms behind his neck, pulling her knees up. He teased her lips with his tongue mirroring the movements of his fingers inside her. Spreading her body with two fingers, he shivered when she yielded to him and her flesh trembled beneath his finger pads. He caressed her deeper, preparing her body for his much bigger member. When she was ready, he guided the head of his erection, stopping at her entrance, and waiting for her body to adjust.

“It’s going to be uncomfortable, love. And it’s going to hurt. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Declan. I’m fine,” she kissed his lips.

He grunted and moved further inside her body until he felt her natural barrier. She was so tight around him, but the feeling was so exquisite, that he had to use all his willpower to keep from sheathing himself to the hilt. He needed to slow things down for her sake.

Keira gasped at the foreign but delicious feeling of his steel-hard member inside her and buried her nails in his shoulders to brace herself for the pain. Instead of pushing in, he pulled out. She opened her mouth to complain and Declan kissed her, muffling her cry when he pushed in again past the barrier, and further inside her.

The quick, sharp pain didn’t bother her because Declan’s hands kneading her sensitive breasts, and his mouth playing with hers, took her mind away from it. Her body swam in the sea of pleasure only he knew how to create for her. He set a comfortable rhythm for his movements. He went in and out of her, stoking her fires until she felt like she was in a furnace, burning for him, with him. Her skin ignited, her flesh trembled as the waves of pleasure rolled over her body, pushing her over the edge. She clung to his solid frame for support as the world exploded around her into a million colorful flashes of light, like tiny stars - her own solar system where Declan was the sun showering her with life and warmth.

He held his own release back as much as he could while he watched her closely. He wanted to make sure Keira wasn’t in too much pain. He hadn’t expected her to climax in her first time. He never dreamed it would be so amazing. Her body, wrapped around his, quivered from head to toe. She moaned, scratched his back, whispered his name, and grunted. He would love to go on watching her but he couldn’t delay his own pleasure much longer. He buried himself deeper inside her narrow passage one more time as he exploded, wailing her name. He couldn’t remember the last time he had had a mind-blowing orgasm like that. Most probably, never. He moved in and out of her until his body stopped shaking. He plopped himself on the bed beside Keira, and gathering her spent body in his arms, kissed her hair.

“Thank you, love,” he whispered, thinking she was asleep.

“My pleasure,” she uttered back, giving him her famous catlike smile, snuggling up against him, and draping an arm across his chest. She was a very satisfied, but exhausted woman, who just wanted a good night’s sleep.

* * * *

CHAPTER 7

Keira woke up feeling sore and happy in equal parts. She lay quiet and motionless for a long time, listening to Declan’s deep breathing and soaking up his warmth.

I could wake up to this every day, and it wouldn’t be enough.

She snuggled up and fell asleep again. Next time she woke up, Declan was staring at her, his expression was relaxed, and a sexy smile curved his lips up, as his index finger traced a straight line from her nose to her belly button. She wriggled as he tickled her there.

“It’s about time, Sleeping Beauty. How are you feeling? Too sore?”

“I’m sore, but I can manage,” she returned his intent gaze, holding the hand he had forgotten on her navel. “Declan, if this is another dream, I don’t want to wake up. Ever.”

“This isn’t a dream, love. This is real. You are real,” he gave her a lazy smile, leaned down and Keira lifted her chin to meet his tempting mouth halfway, but he stopped an inch before their lips touched. “I am real.”

“You’re a real tease,” straining her neck and lifting her head, she grabbed his face with both her hands, pulling him down, and eliminating the distance between them.

She pulled his lower lip inside her mouth, smiled when she heard him sighing, and felt his hardness poking her inner thigh. Declan’s hands felt hot on her breasts as he cupped them and his lower body pinned hers to the mattress. She couldn’t move her hips the way she wanted to, but she pulled her knees up and cradled his body between her soft thighs. He ran a hand from her ankle to the top of her thigh, stopping there. As his tongue stroke hers, his thumb caressed the soft skin between her thigh and crotch. She sighed and let go of his mouth to take a deep breath. His intoxicating scent filled her nostrils. Keira threw her head back and arched her back, releasing the air from her lungs in a mixture of a moan and a whimper.

“Hmm, you sound sexy.”

“I feel sexy,” she chuckled but her voice got raspier when his thumb pressed against her trembling flesh, searching for her sweet spot. “Oh,
you
make me feel sexy.”

He moved down her body, kissing her eyes, nose and mouth until he found her breasts. He worshipped them as she moved her hips upwards to grind herself against his hard body. Declan took her breath away when he closed his teeth gently around a nipple, rolling it over his tongue. Keira arched her back again but took advantage of his distraction to roll him onto his back. She ran her hands up his hard chest and grabbed his shoulders, straddling him, when he bit the soft flesh of her breast.

“You’re getting very naughty, love,” he whispered without letting go of her breast.

Delicious shivers ran down her spine as she moved over him, staring into his eyes and smiling. It was his time to moan and lift his hips, crushing his hard body against hers.

“Would you rather I stopped?”

“No way!” he begged as his nails grazed the soft skin of her back when she leaned forward and kissed him deeply and for a long time.

Once again, their bodies found a rhythm of their own, timeless as time itself. Keira’s softness surrounded Declan’s hard angles, when her hand guided him into her expecting, ready body. He controlled her pace by gripping her hips, moving her up and down as she swayed on top of him. She let go of his mouth and sat up to look into his green eyes. They were dark and heavy with desire. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. That was a heady sensation, a surprising realization - that she had that much power over him. She smiled at the beauty of that thought. Then, closing her own eyes when the now familiar, sweet desire coiled up deep inside her, spreading out from the point where their bodies were so intimately connected, awakening every muscle and nerve.

“Please, don’t close your eyes, Keira, look at me.”

She made a great effort to comply with that simple request because her eyelids were heavy, too. She did open them and gazed into the wilderness of green that were his eyes.

“Thank you,” he beamed and his gorgeous features lighted up. “Your eyes are so expressive. I want to lose myself in them as you make love to me.”

And, she did exactly that. She rode the waves of pleasure, heard his elaborate breathing every time she pressed her body down on his, then let her hands roam up and down his chest, kneading his flesh, coaxing his responses, stoking their fire. His body trembled beneath hers, and he lifted his hips to meet her increasingly fast movements. Their bodies were slick with sweat, theirs hands hungrily explored each other’s secrets, yet their gazes remained locked together.

Suddenly, Declan sat upright, holding Keira close to his chest in a tight embrace. She quivered, on the brink of another massive climax. His body was also about to explode. Their ragged breathing mingled, their arms fastened around each other’s torsos, and yet they stared into each other’s eyes without wavering. They didn’t use words to communicate. Their emotions translated into sighs, gasps, and moans. Their feelings shone clearly in the sparks of light dancing in the depths of their eyes.

Declan kissed her, drinking in Keira’s cries of pleasure, when he poured his essence deep inside her body. Her release was so intense she lost touch with reality, feeling as if she were spiraling through the night air, stars colliding all around her, and the only solid, real thing in her universe was Declan’s hot body, around and inside her, keeping her from vanishing into thin air. Clinging to his shoulders, her being expanded - endless, limitless.

He locked his arms behind her back, pulling her closer, kissing her deeply. Keira tasted like the finest wine and had a similar effect on his senses. He was lighted-headed, both from their inebriating kisses, and from the raw emotions that raged inside his chest. He felt his heart beating fast against his ribcage. It seemed about to explode, as well. He wanted to shout his love, his need for her, but held back. He didn’t want to scare her away. It was too soon to say it, even though he had never been more certain of anything in his life. It was clear to him why he had postponed making love to her for so long. Deep down, he knew that once he claimed her, he would never want to let her go again. So, he held her close as they tumbled onto the bed. Their bodies were, sweaty, languid, and sated as they fell asleep.

* * * *

Keira and Declan spent most of the following week in bed, exploring each other’s bodies, finding new ways to pleasure each other. There were no restraints, no limits for their imagination. She had never dreamed of a more generous, caring lover. He had always longed for a fiery, seductive partner as Keira had become.

When they weren’t making love, they explored other interests they had in common. Their morning jogging had become a treasured experience for both of them. The time they spent cooking, talking, and reading brought them even closer together.

The gardai that protected them had turned out to be an important part of their lives, as well. Although Katherine and Keira had started off on the wrong foot, she soon discovered the young officer was a sweet, funny woman. The three of them would sit down to play poker or blackjack in the afternoons, and not even the rain bothered them. Heller and Dwyer were in charge of buying the house supplies, but Murphy sometimes went out to buy female items, like shampoo and other personal hygiene products, for Keira.

Murphy protected the inside of the house, while James Morris and Nicholas Kerry, watched over the outside perimeter. Each one of the officers took turns of four-hour sleeping breaks, so that, during the day, the three of them would guard the safe house, and during the night, at least two would stay up watching over Keira and Declan.

Inspectors Heller and Dwyer had also become part of their routine. They would come by the house to visit every day, around the same time, bringing information about the investigation and Keira’s family. They looked forward to those visits. Garda Murphy always had a kettle full of water at the ready to brew them some fresh tea, but rarely joined their conversation. One afternoon, at Keira’s insistence, she sat down with them.

They had been talking and drinking tea for almost an hour, when Declan asked, “Inspector Heller, did you hear from the Killarney Garda Station yet? It’s been over a week since you last mentioned them. Have they found O’Hallon’s hiding place?”

“Unfortunately, they haven’t. We had to go to Killarney yesterday because the gardai there haven’t had any luck following the leads we had given them. As it turns out, the house we had thought O’Hallon might be hiding in has been empty and closed for a couple of years. It took the investigators there a long time, and a lot of persuasion, to get a warrant issued to search the place. The judges didn’t think there was enough evidence of probable cause to justify searching a third party’s empty house. But, there was no evidence of anyone having been in the house in a while,” Heller answered.

“What about his cousin, Ms. Green? Has he talked to her?”

“We’ve been in contact with her. He hasn’t showed up or phoned,” Dwyer replied.

“Have you finished analyzing the footage from the hospital’s security cameras and the street cameras?” Garda Murphy asked.

“We tried to retrace his steps after he left the hospital. The technicians finished their analysis, but they couldn’t find him,” Heller confessed, then hesitated, looking embarrassed.

“Why? You told us, the other day, you had followed Ms. Green from the hospital to her neighborhood. You said she never met with Paul on the way, so I assumed you had followed him as well,” Keira added.

“So did we, Miss Ashe. The footage isn’t exactly high definition. There was a man, in uniform, leaving the hospital around the time O’Hallon escaped, who matched his height and general built. He moved slowly. We figured he was Paul O’Hallon because he was severely injured and wouldn’t be able to move fast. The technicians followed this man to his apartment. He lives near the hospital and he’s a nurse there. He walked slowly because he was texting his wife. She’s on vacation,” Dwyer answered.

“We even considered the possibility that O’Hallon had hid inside the hospital for a while before leaving. So, the techs went back to the recordings and examined the images from up to three days after he escaped. Nothing.

They were silent for a while, thinking. Katherine Murphy was the first to interrupt the pause, “They looked for a man leaving the place on foot, right? But, he was badly hurt. You said so yourself. What if he got a lift out of the hospital?”

“We thought about that, too. There’s a camera at the parking lot exit. We asked the guys to check it out, but there wasn’t any image of O’Hallon leaving that way, either.”

Another long silence fell on them, as they considered the various possibilities, until Garda Murphy’s excited cry broke it again, “I’ve got it! He must have hidden inside a car, a big SUV or something. Have you thought about that?”

“Actually, we haven’t,” Heller admitted. “That’s an excellent idea, Murphy.”

“Happy to help, sir,” she replied and promptly stood up to clean the cups and dishes.

Keira noticed her red cheeks before she escaped to the kitchen. The young officer might just have cracked the case, but was blushing like a schoolgirl. She shook her head slightly and smiled, feeling sorry for Katherine. She empathized.

“What?” Declan whispered in her ear.

“Nothing. Suddenly, I feel very old, that’s all,” she said, but added quickly when his eyes glistened with concern. “I’m fine. I’ll explain it to you later.”

She didn’t want to embarrass their new friend in front of her superior officers. Declan frowned and hesitated, but finally accepted she wasn’t going to say anything else.

“We should go and get the techs working on Murphy’s theory,” Heller said, standing up and offering his hand to Declan, then, to Keira, in goodbye.

Declan shook it but Keira ignored it and kissed his cheek instead, as it had become her habit. They said goodbye to Dwyer, too, and the two inspectors left.

* * * *

Keira woke up, feeling feverish and nauseous. Darkness poured in through the little window, telling her it was the middle of the night. However, she couldn’t recall where she was or how she had gotten there. She looked around and didn’t recognize the place. It was a strange, small room. She found herself naked under the covers, but she was alone. She had the feeling there should be someone there with her. She frowned, wrapped the sheet around herself, and got out of the bed to look for her clothes. As Keira checked the small closet, the door opened behind her with a creak that startled her. She turned around to find a man standing at the door. She didn’t know him, so she felt embarrassed for being naked, under a thin floral sheet, in front of a stranger.

“Who are you? Where am I?” she asked him, clinging the long cloth to her chest as if it were a shield.

The man didn’t answer her while his eyes traveled from her face down to her bare feet. His expression was hard to read because he withdrew to stand in the semi-shadows of the corridor. He lifted his hand slowly, pointed a gun at her and pulled the trigger. She shouted when she saw the gun, but didn’t feel any pain when he shot it. She didn’t feel the bullet hit her. Instead, she felt her whole body shaking. A strange sensation. She heard somebody calling her name from a very far distance. She knew that voice. She knew that man. He was supposed to be in bed with her. But, he sounded so far. Where was he?