The Mighty Quinns: Kellan (10 page)

Perhaps she’d just have to wait to tell him until it didn’t matter, until he loved her so much that nothing she said would drive him away. And if it never got to that point, he’d walk away, none the wiser, and she’d be able to keep her awful secret.

As Gelsey looked through her childhood treasures, she heard a car pull up outside the cottage. She jumped off the bed and peered through the slit in the curtains to see Kellan striding up the garden walk. With a soft curse, she quickly restored the tin to its spot in the bedside table.

“Gels? Are you up?”

With another curse, she quickly pulled a T-shirt over her head and then stood beside the bed, carefully arranging the covers. Kellan walked in. “Hi,” she said. “Just making the bed.”

He grinned, then circled around and grabbed her waist before he pulled her down onto the bed. “Don’t. We’ll just mess it up again.”

Gelsey smoothed her hand over his temple, brushing aside a lock of hair. “Why are you back here so soon?”

“I missed you,” he said. He pulled her body against his. “I missed this. You’ve made it impossible to think about anything else.”

“I find that hard to believe,” she said, unable to hide a smile of satisfaction.

“It’s true. No matter where I go, I’m thinking about your mouth…” He dropped a kiss on her lips. “And your shoulders…” He pulled aside the T-shirt and gently nibbled on the curve of her neck. “And your impossibly beautiful breasts.” Kellan wriggled down until he could nuzzle the swell of flesh beneath her T-shirt.

“You’re pathetic,” Gelsey said, laughing.

“Yes. Yes, I am.” He glanced up at her. “Actually, I came back here to get you. Jordan and Nan are helping with the painting and they insisted I bring you down. They’re making a party of it.”

Gelsey reached out for a pillow and brought it down on his head. “So you weren’t thinking about my naked body? About the naughty things I did to you last night? About the words that you whispered in my ear while you were coming inside me?”

He frowned, then groaned softly. “I wasn’t. But I am now.”

She got up on her knees and pulled her T-shirt over her head. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

His gaze slowly skimmed over her body, as exciting as a caress. Gelsey felt a familiar knot of desire tighten inside her at the look in his eyes. It was so easy to make him want her. It didn’t take much to have him hard and ready.

“Take off your clothes,” she murmured.

As she watched him slowly undress, Gelsey thought of the young boy she’d first met on the cliffs. He was still there, in the twinkling blue eyes and finely sculpted mouth, in the boyish curl at his nape and the grin that made her weak in the knees.

This was fate. They belonged together. And nothing she could say or do would shake a bond that had survived so many years. She wanted to believe it was so. She needed to believe it.

“They’re going to wonder where we are,” Kellan whispered as he pulled her down onto the bed and settled himself above her.

Gelsey drew her legs up along his hips, her toes skimming along his calves. “I’m sure we can keep it under five minutes.”

Kellan gasped, then braced himself on his elbows. “Five? Really? Why even bother, then?”

“Because five minutes in heaven is better than a day in the ordinary world.” She drew him closer and then arched against him, his shaft pressing against her sex. Slowly, he pushed inside her, filling her with his heat.

“Don’t move,” she said.

“If I don’t move, we’ll be here all day.”

“Five minutes.” Gelsey pulled him close and kissed him, lingering for a long time over his mouth until she was sure he was properly distracted. And then, in a soft voice, she began to tell a story of man and mermaid, an erotic story of two people swept away by desire. She didn’t leave out any detail, teasing him with a story of the seduction that had gone on between them from the moment they met.

His eyes were closed and Gelsey knew he was caught up in the images racing through his head. Her lips on his shaft, his teeth grazing her nipple. They didn’t need to do it in order to experience it.

She shifted beneath him, just slightly, and his breath caught in his throat. But still, she wasn’t ready for him to move. Every word she spoke was designed to bring him closer, to make his release come not from physical sensation, but from his imagination.

She sensed when he was close and then whispered in his ear. “Now you can move.”

He drew back and then drove into her in an almost desperate search for pleasure. Again and again, she felt him deep inside her and then, in a single, silent instant, he was there, tumbling over the edge in a powerful orgasm.

When he was finally sated, he collapsed on the bed beside her, his leg thrown over her hips. “I stand corrected. I’m powerless against your rather considerable charms, my dear.”

Gelsey smiled and dropped a kiss on his lips. “Five minutes.”

“Good to know,” he said. “Good for those times when we’re waiting for the water to boil for tea or for football to come on the telly. Hell, it sometimes takes five minutes to get a pint at the pub. And there’s a perfectly good closet just near the kitchen where we can—”

“Stop,” Gelsey said. “We’re only allowed to use the five-minute rule in emergencies.” She sat up. “Come on, quick shower. And then we’re going to go help with the painting.”

“What about you? Should we take another five minutes for you?”

“You can take care of me in the shower,” Gelsey said, jumping up from the bed. She grabbed his hands and pulled him to his feet, then wrapped his arms around her waist. But Kellan quickly turned her around in his arms, pressing his softening erection into the small of her back.

His hands smoothed down her belly to rest at the juncture of her thighs. He slipped a finger inside her, gently caressing her and before long, Gelsey felt her knees growing weak and her body surrendering to his touch.

His power over her body was just as startling as hers over his. She dissolved into deep soul-shattering spasms, grasping the bedpost to keep herself from collapsing. Breathless, she leaned back against him, wrapping her arm around his neck.

This had all begun with a simple kiss years ago. And yet, try as she might, she couldn’t imagine a future without him, without this passion they shared. He had the power to give her incredible pleasure. But Kellan also had the power to break her heart into a million pieces.

KELLAN GLANCED OVER at the three men sitting at the end of the bar. Known as the Unholy Trinity, the trio of pensioners were regulars at the pub. Markus Finn, Dealy Carmichael and Johnnie O’Malley stopped by every day for a pint and a chat with whomever was available to listen to their brand of malarkey.

“What are you three gawkin’ at?” Kellan asked from his spot at the opposite end of the bar. He’d been enjoying a quick beer while he waited for the takeaway lunch Riley had ordered for them all.

Markus leaned forward. “We hear you caught yourself a mermaid.”

Kellan groaned. He couldn’t go anywhere in town lately without having to answer questions about Gelsey. “She’s not a mermaid,” he said.

“How do ya know?” Dealy asked. “Have ya ever come ’cross a mermaid before?”

“No,” Kellan said, trying to tamp down his irritation. “I just know. I’ve gotten a good look at her and there are no gills or scales or any such thing on her body.”

“Of course not,” Johnnie said. “There wouldn’t be then. They disappear once she’s on land.”

“She’s not a mermaid,” Kellan insisted.

“I once saw a mermaid. Of course, I was three sheets to the wind, but it looked like a mermaid to me.”

“Supposin’ she was a mermaid,” Markus said. “Just theoretically. Supposin’ our little village of Ballykirk had its very own…what would we call it, lads?”

“Tourist attraction,” Dealy said. “That’s what you’d call it.”

Markus stood and quickly moved to the stool beside Kellan. “Just hear us out, boyo, for it’s an opportunity we’d be offerin’. You might already know that our little town got some money to help promote tourism and they made me head of the committee. And we’ve been looking for something that sets us apart from every other fishing village in Cork. And now we have it.”

“You want to use Gelsey to bring tourists to Ballykirk?”

“In a word, yes!” Dealy said.

“You’re crazy. She’s not a mermaid,” Kellan repeated.

“Well, I know that and you know that. Everyone in town knows that. But the tourists don’t. That silly Blarney stone makes millions every year and we need a share of the money bein’ thrown about. People come to Ireland because of the leprechauns and fairies and all those other silly legends.”

“I realize that,” Kellan said. “But I don’t think Gelsey is interested in that kind of attention. She seems to be a woman who values her privacy.”

“It’s not like we’d be askin’ her to swim around in a giant tank all day,” Markus said. “We just want to explore the marketing possibilities.”

“Yeah,” Dealy said. “The marketing possibilities.”

“Do you have any idea what that means?” Kellan said.

Markus shrugged. “It was in the pamphlet the tourism board sent. But I know what I know. There’s bleedin’ leprechauns all over this island. But nobody has a mermaid.” He shrugged. “You could mention it to her? See what she thought?”

“She has enough going on already. She took a job at Maeve’s shop and—”

“She’s workin’ for Maeve?” Johnnie frowned. “Oh, Jaysus, that’s not good. A few days with her and she’ll be running as fast as she can from Ballykirk. The woman is mad as a hatter, that one.”

“Not necessarily,” Dealy said. “Maeve has been talking about selling her shop. We need to convince the mermaid to stay. What if we talk Maeve into selling the shop to Gelsey? A new retail establishment run by a clever little mermaid. The tourists will flock to Ballykirk.”

“That’s it,” Markus said. “Now we have a plan.” He clapped Kellan on the shoulder. “And just to make certain, we’d like you to hide the clothes you found her in. This whole scheme will go to hell if we lose her. I don’t want to be takin’ any risks.”

“If you three start bothering her, she might decide to leave.”

“Well, then, it’s your job to keep her happy,” Markus said. “She’s…
community property.
”

“Maybe it is best that he talk to her about our scheme, boys,” Johnnie said. “He’s the one who rescued her. So she is beholden to him.”

Dealy nodded, his expression serious. “Feel her out. Find out what she’s lookin’ for. She could make a real nice home for herself here in Ballykirk. And we could help her out. It would be mutually beneficial.”

“Yeah,” Markus said. “Tell her that. Mutually beneficial.”

Katie appeared from the kitchen with their lunch order. She set the food in front of him, paper-wrapped sandwiches and bags of crisps tucked neatly into a box. Kellan drained the rest of the Guinness from his glass and pushed to his feet. He winked at Katie. “Thanks, love.”

Katie grinned at him. “Bring your girl down to the pub for dinner so we can all get a look at her. We’ve got herring on the menu tonight. And Danny says she’s a right vixen, she is.”

“You, too?”

“Ah, I’m just playin’ with you,” Katie said. “Everyone is talking. We’re all a bit curious about the girl.”

Kellan headed to the door. Their offer was made. But Kellan was willing to consider anything that might keep Gelsey in Ballykirk. He didn’t hold out much hope for her work at Maeve’s—the woman had been a bit daft for as long as he could remember. But with Gelsey’s beauty and charisma, it might just work.

Kellan recalled the phone conversation he’d heard the first night Gelsey had stayed with him. She had at least one person who cared enough to worry over her and maybe a place that she called home. But for some reason, she’d decided to stay in Ballykirk, at least for the near future.

Tucking the box under his arm, Kellan strode toward the waterfront. Riley and Nan had purchased a small cottage overlooking the harbor at Ballykirk. It was about the same size as the Quinn cottage on the hill, but it was in much worse condition. Riley had already replaced the roof and refinished the floors, but both the exterior and interior still needed painting and the windows were a mess.

Kellan had already contacted a few of the contractors who’d worked on Castle Cnoc and they’d agreed to do new plumbing and electricity at a bargain price. He’d decided it would be his wedding present to the happy couple.

When he arrived at the cottage, his brothers and the girls had decided to start work on the facade. The sun had warmed that side of the house and the breeze had died down, taking the last bit of chill out of the air.

“There he is,” Riley called. “Poor Nan is about to faint from hunger.”

Nan took a swipe at Riley with a paintbrush. “Hush.”

Kellan glanced back and forth between the two of them, watching a pretty blush stain Nan’s cheeks. “She’s been working hard,” he said. “She deserves a break for lunch.”

“Oh, it’s not that,” Riley said.

“You said you were going to wait to tell them!” Nan cried.

“Tell us what?” Jordan asked. Danny and Gelsey joined the group with curious looks on their faces.