Chapter 15
Rowan led the way back to the foyer. She’d really let things go further than she should have so soon after their first serious talk. Her body disagreed, of course. It felt boneless, well-loved, and ready for more. “I need some time to think. I appreciate that you finally opened up to me. I hope that by speaking about your first marriage, you might find some real healing. But—” she paused.
“But?”
“You’re a runner, Hugh. You’ve been running from true intimacy, I believe, long before we met. If we agree to…us, I want to make sure I’m willing to take the chance of you pushing me away again. River once told me that Patrick had destroyed her with what he’d done. I was furious she would even consider herself destroyed. I told her that Pat had hurt her terribly, but he could never destroy her because she was stronger than that.
“If we were together, really together, and you left or decided you weren’t ready for that level of commitment…if someone told me I was too strong to be destroyed…I wonder if I would believe them because I think if you pushed me away one more time…I think it would destroy me.
“When you left me in that hospital room, my heart, my love, was in my outstretched palm. You walked away from it. I felt pretty destroyed then.” Rowan didn’t realize she’d started to cry until Hugh grabbed a towel from the bar counter and pulled her against his chest, using the towel to blot her tears.
“I destroyed myself that day.” She could feel his body shudder as he held her close, rubbing her back in comfort. “Rowan, while you think things through, will you promise to consider something?” At her nod, he made her a vow. “I promise, with all the love I hold for my father and mother, for my boys, that I will never run from you again. I humbly accept your love and offer you mine. I don’t care how long it takes. I will prove myself to you.”
Oh God, Hugh was going to kill her with all this overflow of emotion. He wouldn’t go back on the promise he’d just made. He had too much honor for that. He might regret making the promise, though. She still needed to think.
Placing her hands over his chest, Rowan leaned toward Hugh’s warm body, tilting her head up so he would lean down. She placed a soft, almost reverent kiss on his lips before stepping back. “I love you, Hugh. Give me a little time to sort through everything, and I need to talk to my sisters and Nan.”
Hugh took one step forward, his fists clenched. “Fine. I’m playing golf again tomorrow. Is a day long enough to decide?”
“Hugh,” Rowan admonished.
“Your eyes are smiling. I’ll take that as a maybe.”
“You’re impossible.” And if she had to stare at Hugh’s naked chest one more minute, she’d say screw thinking things over and drag him to the nearest bed.
“I don’t want to let you go, but I will. I love you, Row. Even though I don’t deserve it, at least call or text me while you’re thinking things over.”
Rowan smiled as she opened the front door. “I will.” Giving Hugh an impish smile, she added, “I might even send a picture.”
It wasseven in the morning when Hugh used his phone app to turn his mother’s alarm system off. He knew Rowan needed time to think and talk to her family, but he couldn’t not see her all day. He’d been deprived of not seeing her and hearing her voice for weeks before coming to Oklahoma, and now that he had those pleasures back, he couldn’t resist.
Admittedly, he could resist if he had to…but after tasting her mouth last night, his brain wasn’t driving the decision making. He felt zero guilt as he opened Rowan’s bedroom door to sneak inside, closing it quietly behind him.
Through the light slipping around the window blind’s edges, he could easily see Rowan sleeping. She was on her back, arms raised, creating a circle around her head, and all that glorious black hair spread about her. It looked like dark rivulets of water enveloped her body.
A sheet covered her from the waist down. Her full breasts pushed against a white tank top on full display. He slowly pulled the sheet off, revealing white cotton panties with purple flowers. He tossed the sheet to the side and shucked his shoes before bending over her body. He placed a soft kiss on her mouth. Her eyes sprang open and then widened when she recognized him.
“Hugh! What in the hell are you doing here?” She quietly hissed. Probably not wanting to wake his mom any more than he did.
“You didn’t send me a picture last night. I wouldn’t have had anything to look at while I golfed today. So, I came to take one myself.”
Shaking off her surprise, Rowan raised her brows in question. “Is that the only thing you came for?”
“A kiss,” he admitted as he climbed onto the bed to straddle her legs. “You’re so tiny.”
“I imagine most women appear small when they lay underneath you,” Rowan countered. “You’ll be in so much trouble if your mom catches you in my room again,” she huffed a laugh, probably imagining it—and imagining retelling the story to her sisters.
“She sleeps in every chance she gets. I’ll be long gone before she steps foot out of her room,” Hugh assured. “So, do I get my kiss and picture?”
“Since you went through the trouble of breaking and entering, I suppose you can.”
“There was no breaking, only entering,” Hugh countered. Looking over her body, he let his eyes touch every part before asking, “Where do you want your kiss?” Hugh heard her quick intake of breath. “Here?” He ran his thumb over her lips before running the same thumb over one of her pebbled nipples. “Or here?” Leaning back on his heels, he gently ran his thumb over her cotton-clad mound. “Perhaps here?”
He was breathing heavier than Rowan. The image of his broad shoulders spreading her thighs wide made him hard as stone. Making sure Rowan was watching, Hugh adjusted his growing erection.
“You’re playing dirty, Mr. O’Faolain.”
Hugh could see Rowan’s body no longer lay still. She was subtly arching her back and squeezing her thighs together. “I should tell you that wherever you choose to have my mouth, you have to take a picture while I’m kissing you.”
She propped herself up on her elbows in outrage. “No way, Hugh!”
“You owe me a picture, and you agreed to let me have a kiss. Consider this multitasking,” he growled, hardly able to look away from the barely covered breasts on display. Her current position made them impossible to ignore.
“Where do you want my kiss, Rowan. We’re running out of time. Where?”
Rowan studied him a moment longer. “Take your shirt off. I want your bare skin in the picture,” she ordered huskily.
As Hugh obeyed, pulling his golf tee over his head, Rowan sat up and pulled her tank off. She’d chosen breasts then. “Fuck, baby, I’ve dreamed of having those in my mouth.”
She lay flat, palming both of her breasts in her hands before pinching her nipples. “Have you,” she asked.
Hugh almost came in his pants. “Get your phone ready.” As she stretched toward her side table, he took advantage of her position and pinched both her nipples. Rowan screeched and then giggled. Her phone dropped on her head before she could grab it again. They were laughing as Hugh bent to kiss her, sweeping his tongue inside her mouth. When she moaned inside his mouth, he deepened the kiss and began to massage her breasts.
Hugh reluctantly ended the kiss and watched Rowan’s eyes flutter open. Her dazed expression, along with the phone hanging limply from her left hand, gave Hugh immense satisfaction.
Smirking, Hugh said, “Whoops, I kissed the wrong body part.” Watching her eyes widen was a sweet victory over the vixen.
“You ass! That was your kiss. Now get the hell out of my room and go golf!”
She slapped his chest in a teasing way, but her hand never lifted. Instead, Rowan let her fingers trail over his chest, her palm settling over his abs. She looked very interested. Hugh couldn’t help but feel some masculine pride over that.
Hugh didn’t give Rowan any warning before he leaned forward and sucked one of her nipples deep into his mouth.
“Hugh, God.” Rowan gasped, arching her chest, offering him a feast.
He spent several minutes worshipping her breasts and under, her scar. She could have died that day. He would happily love that scar because it meant Rowan was still alive, still here with him.
Hugh felt her hands on his scalp, anchoring his mouth exactly where she wanted it. Her hips were rocking against his stomach where he’d flattened his body over hers. He licked, sucked, and bit his way over both breasts. His sex ached and throbbed with every moan.
He’d been a second away from freeing himself when someone knocked on Rowan’s door. They both froze, one of her nipples deep inside his mouth.
“Hugh Darcy O’Faolain. I am walking back into my room to get dressed. You had better be outside of Rowan’s bedroom before I’m done. Is that clear?”
Jesus. Hugh was positive he was too old to get scolded over being in a woman’s room. He slowly let Rowan’s breast slide from his lips. He gave one last kiss to her wet, distended nipple before answering his mom.
“Very clear, Mom.” Rowan’s shoulders were shaking, and when Hugh shifted his body off hers, she was laughing so hard tears were silently streaking from her eyes. “Do not say a word, and if this moment reaches my sons’ or your sisters’ ears, there will be payback.”
Wiping her eyes, she swallowed back her mirth enough to choke out, “I wouldn’t dream of it, Hugh.” Since Rowan was still topless, he was distracted, but he didn’t miss her sarcasm. “You better get dressed before you get in big trouble.”
“Perfect timing,Row. We just finished lunch. Pat and I did a Mexican spread. My sweet boy, Jonathan, was quite satisfied with the effort. He’s always hungry. Rave and Bran are almost finished clean—” River gasped and stopped talking.
There’d been a ton of racket in the background when Rowan had called River, now it was pin drop quiet. It finally clicked. “Oh my God, Riv! I love the name Jonathan for my sweet nephew.” Rowan knew Matilda would cry her eyes out.
“What the hell, River?” Patrick complained in the background. “You said we had to wait to tell, and you just spewed it to everyone.” At River’s whispered apology, Patrick must have moved closer because his voice was louder when he added, “No, babe, I’m glad everyone knows. I’ve been dying to tell! I get to tell the middle name, though,” he teased.
Everyone was laughing now. Raven must have been talking to River’s belly because she heard her say, Auntie Rave loves you, Jonathan. “Hey, put the phone by your belly, River. I want to say hello too.” After Rowan got in her hellos, she got to say hello to a wide-eyed Daniel. “Auntie Row can’t wait to get home and see her sweet boy.” It was missing these types of events that made Rowan super homesick.
“I can’t wait to come home,” Rowan admitted. “So, Patrick, what’s the full name to be?”
“His full name is Jonathan Sean O’Faolain, named for both great-grandfathers,” Pat announced proudly.
Bran and Raven, and Rowan exclaimed how perfect it was. “I still think we should wait to tell Nanand Tilly. I promise to not let pregnancy brain or food comas let me tell them,” River laughed at herself.
“Are you going to tell Hugh?” Rowan would love to hang knowing the name of his newest grandson over his head.
“Yeah, I will. Bran and I were about to call him anyway before he heads to the Club. They’ll be playing all day with the lunch breaks and cocktails, I’m sure.”
“Oh, he left about fifteen minutes ago. You might want to try him pretty quick.” When neither Patrick nor Bran responded, Rowan thought maybe she’d lost the connection. “Did I lose you guys?”
“No, no, we’re here,” Raven assured.
River snorted, “We were just taken by surprise that you’re admitting Hugh was in your bedroom.”
“With the door closed, I heard,” Raven added.
Rowan could feel embarrassment burning her cheeks. Obviously, she’d planned on talking things through with her sisters—but not everything, and certainly not in front of Hugh’s sons. “H-h…how…who said that?” she finally asked.
“Gran called me.” Rowan could hear the smirk in Bran’s voice.
Raven butted in then. “Your grandma called my phone when I was in the shower. You answered it and wheedled it out of her.” Rowan could hear the exasperation in her sister’s voice.
“That’s what I meant, babe.” Bran had the nerve to chuckle. “Gran said she wasn’t sure what you to were ‘getting up to,’ Gran’s words, but it wasn’t knitting, she said.”
“Was Dad installing a new shoe rack for you, Row? Is that why he was in your room?” Patrick was quite the comedian this morning.
Rowan knew exactly how to shut both boys up. “He wasn’t, but I imagine he would be an amazing carpenter. I’ve learned his hands are quite…handy.”
“Jesus Christ! I’m leaving, River. Tell your sister to stop being disgusting.” Patrick’s mantrum was priceless.
“For fuck’s sake. Tell your sister to never speak of naked things or…Dad’s…whatever,” Bran whined.
As soon as Rowan heard the front door thud shut, all three sisters began to laugh. Men were all big talk until a mom or dad was mentioned.
“Oh my God, Row, I ate way, way, way too much to be laughing this hard, but damn, did you ever put our husbands in their place,” River chortled in glee.
“The disgust on Bran’s face was—oh God, priceless,” Raven finally got out between bursts of giggles.
“They deserved it,” Rowan said after her laughter ran its course.
“So, tell us about last night.”
“And this morning,” River added.
Rowan told them about Hugh finally opening up and some of his revelations. Not everything, though. Some of the stuff to do with his ex-wife was too personal. Raven and River had dealt with Bran and Patrick’s own shit where that woman was concerned, so they would understand what a big step that was for Hugh without needing details.
“I’m so happy—happy for both of you. It’s been really hard watching you two hurt and be so lonely. I’m relieved,” Raven admitted. “Whatever happens, I hope Hugh is finally able to properly heal. No matter if you guys stay together or not, which you better, he needs closure from his past.”
“She and Hugh will be together. Right, Row?” River demanded.
Rowan hesitated, wanting to choose her words carefully. “I want that. More than anything, but you know Hugh. He’s complicated. He wants a relationship with me. He made that clear. Will he talk himself out of it next week? The answer is, I don’t know.”
“Does he love you? Did he admit it?” River asked.
“Yes, and yes. I love him too, and I told him.”
“I understand that you’re afraid, and rightly so. He’s broken your heart before. Of course, you would hesitate. I only know this, River and I had to make tough decisions for the men we loved. We had to take a chance that they meant it when they promised us forever.
“If Hugh comes to you and offers you forever, then I think you should be all in. He’s your person. Your other half.”
“I agree with Raven. Last time I checked, my youngest sister didn’t shy away from a challenge. You’ve been locking horns with that growly grump since the moment you laid eyes on the man. Don’t give up now,” River encouraged.
Rowan took several deep breaths. Her sisters had laid some pretty big truth bombs on her head this morning. “If he wants forever, I’ll give him forever.” Her sisters were instantly whooping and clapping and prematurely congratulating her. Rowan loved them for it.
“Not to put a damper on this moment, but William said he’d be in meetings all day. He’s having some issue at work but said he will call me tomorrow and discuss his jet picking me up Friday afternoon for a weekend in Houston. I’ll have to tell him about Hugh when he calls. God, I feel like such an asshole!”
“You couldn’t have foreseen Hugh storming your castle. Don’t be so hard on yourself,” River encouraged.
“If William’s half the man you thought him to be, even though he isn’t the love of your life, I believe he’ll understand,” Raven reminded.
“Thanks, you guys, and thank you so much for all the support. I’m going to hang up so I can call Nan and fill her in on the Hugh Havoc. You guys know she’d never forgive me if I didn’t keep her in the loop, and for some reason, she has a sweet spot for all the O’Faolain men.”
Five more minutes of goodbyes and three minutes of promises to give them more of her and Hugh’s sexual exploits, she was finally able to hang up and call Nan.
“How’s my sweet girl?”
That’s how Rowan’s grandma always answered the phone. “You call all of us your sweet girl, Nan,” Rowan laughed.
“Because you are,” Nan defended. “River is more like my sweet and salty girl, but I’ll deny that if you choose to tattle.”
This was why everyone in the world should have a Nan, Rowan thought. “Is Devlen there? Tell him hello if he is.” Rowan absolutely loved her grandma’s new husband. He may be a man of few words, but he fiercely loved his wife. He had Rowan and her sisters’ loyalty forever for that.
“Dev says hello. He planned a picnic by the lake for us today. We were just about to leave so I’m glad you called when you did.”
Rowan could hear love in her grandma’s voice. So much love. “Well, I won’t keep you, but I thought you might want to know that Hugh came to Oklahoma, and he told me he loves me, Nan. What do you think of that?”
“It’s about damn time! Oh, that sweet boy. Finally.”
And that was that.