Chapter Eleven #2
“Shane doesn’t like me drinking much. I’ll just have some ginger ale.”
As the women learned the crochet patterns, Cheyenne was on her third glass of wine.
Katie, worrying a bit for the talk she had heard of incidents of Cheyenne over drinking asked, “Should you have any more, Cheyenne? I’m pretty sure you’ve had enough.” Her voice was quiet but with some authority.
“Yeah,” Caoimhe added, “Even when I wasn’t pregnant, my limit is two glasses unless Andrew allows me three.
I have kids, and it isn’t that smart to be out of it or sleep too hard.
Sometimes, if we are staying home or just going to bed afterward, it would be okay, but I don’t like that leftover feeling.
And Shane hardly ever has anything to drink. ”
Katie added, “Well, I just remember when we drank without eating last summer and how upset our guys were.” She went on to explain that she and Cheyenne had a few drinks on an empty stomach and then Cheyenne had driven, sending Quinlan over the moon.
When Ciarán had heard of it, Katie didn’t fare too well herself.
“I don’t want him that irritated again. He has such a presence, you know. It’s different with him. He and Liam can shake my world with a look. It’s downright creepy.” The other women laughed nervously.
Alcohol having loosened her tongue and lowered her inhibitions some, Cheyenne felt comfortable enough to start talking more about her fears and questions about these men in their lives, so she decided to go fishing for information.
“Um, Jocelyn keeps saying things like, ‘it’s just the Dom in him’ when Liam gets that stern look when they are talking, or he overhears something said and reacts. What exactly is she talking about?”
“You should be able to answer that better than us, Cheyenne, you’re with Quinlan,” stated Caoimhe, and she continued when Cheyenne shrugged.
“Quinlan O’Connor is one of the most dominant men I know. You already said he has taken over. All the O’Connor men are so sure of themselves, I’m positive they would argue with St. Peter at the Pearly Gates on their place in heaven.”
They all laughed. Kelli and Jocelyn wandered into the room at about the same time.
“What are we laughing at?” asked Jocelyn, grabbing a cola from the little fridge.
“Our men,” answered Katie.
“Ah. So, who did they irritate this time?” asked Jocelyn, putting the littlest O’Connor back in the center of the room before sitting.
“No, see, Cheyenne was just asking about why you refer to them as ‘Dom-like’ or ‘the Dom in them.’ We were saying she should know better than all of us because she has to deal with Quinlan.”
“No kidding,” agreed Alesha as she rolled a ball back to the center of the room.
“He’s younger than both Shane and Liam, and I would deal with either one of them before Quinn,” punctuating her statement with a mock shiver.
“But not Ciarán, if it’s safety. Ciarán and security is a terrible thing to experience. ”
“Really?” asked Katie in surprise. “I’m never worried. He doesn’t yell, often that is, and he’s so predictable. I know if I’m in trouble before he even walks in the door and I know when to tease him or play it cool. And when he runs his hand through his hair...”
“Oh, yeah, Liam does that too,” agreed Jos.
“And Shane,” added Alesha.
“They all do, every male including Da does that. Frustration. Sometimes it was the only clue I had that they were getting to the ‘I’m going to take control and fix this or fix you’ stage,” added Kelli.
“So,” continued Cheyenne, “Do you all think you have a take-charge husband?”
“Yep,” everyone agreed. “If you mean dominant, alpha male, bossy,” clarified Katie.
“Although Andrew is, he doesn’t irritate me with it as much as those brothers of mine do because Andrew seems to show more patience, usually.”
“Huh. Well, Shane has to talk everything out with me, and I do mean everything,” said Alesha, rolling her eyes in exasperation and giggling.
“Geez, makes you wonder how you ever got to the baby making stage without falling asleep?” laughed Alesha as she grabbed her son before he climbed the bookshelf.
“I know, right? No, really, Shane has more patience I think than anyone, well, maybe Cián is better.”
“I don’t know about that,” said Jocelyn. “Ciarán seems pretty darned patient if you’re not on your way to Sheridan by yourself that is, and your husband hasn’t left him in charge of your safety.”
“And then you and Liam had already discussed it. That’s what burned you,” declared Kelli as she relocated to the sofa.
“Oh, sister-girl, what made you even do that? I couldn’t have sat for a month if I went against Quinn like that,” shared Cheyenne. “How I know what Quinn’s response would be to that is because he was he told me loud and clear after the Jocelyn incident.”
“Wonder what would have happened if the situation was in our court?” asked Katie.
“Well, in that case, I think we would all have had a hard time convincing our respective husbands that we were fine.” Everyone agreed.
“But back to those men. Cheyenne, you really don’t think that Quinn is the most bossy?” asked Kelli.
“I wouldn’t say that, exactly, but I haven’t had any run-ins with anyone else really. Oh, except Da. He’s fierce when he isn’t happy.”
“Where did you think they all learned it from?” Caoimhe asked as she moved her growing belly into a more manageable spot and made a space for her daughter.
“No kidding,” Katie added. “When I didn’t want to go to the clinic because of my ankle I thought he was going to have Quinn bundle me up, kicking and screaming. That was after he decided whether to paddle me or not.”
Cheyenne asked, “Was he serious?” She handed Liam’s son over to his mom for his afternoon snack.
“Oh, yeah, he was dead serious, and I’m sure he would have had no remorse.”
“Well, Quinn says that he already told the guys that they could ‘swat for attention’ if the need arose when he was not available, but they would not do more than that. So, I think Da and Ciarán’s threats were just that, threats to get compliance. I doubt Quinn’s was.” Katie said.
Cheyenne agreed. “Probably, but I’m going to do my darnedest not to test that theory.” The other women nodded in agreement.
Jocelyn added, “And when I walked in the door after Ciarán had filled everyone in on my little driving adventure, Da started. He told me that if it weren’t that he completely trusted Liam to take care of the issue, he would be doing it himself.
And I had no doubts that he was telling me the absolute truth. ”
Everyone laughed, but no one doubted the veracity of it. Jocelyn was juggling two children in her lap and another at her feet before things settled down again.
“If you think that’s bad, ask me or Caoimhe about growing up in that house.” Kelli groaned in remembrance, and Caoimhe laughed. “Yeah but I believe that you got it more than me.”
“You’re probably right.”
Alesha said, “Okay, so I think Quinn is the most hard-core husband we have, and I would not doubt that he’s into erotic pain.” Everyone looked at Cheyenne.
“What?” Kelli screeched. “Are you kidding me? You mean spanking benches and crops and crap like that?”
Alesha shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe, but fun things like fire play, hot wax, and so on. You know the fun spankings and stuff.”
All the women looked back at Cheyenne, who was sporting a fire-engine red face.
Jocelyn jumped in. “Sorry ladies, TMI. I don’t want to know about any of them or you for that matter. Our men would each light our collective asses’ firecracker hot if they knew we were talking about information that personal.”
Alesha was feeling sorry about embarrassing Cheyenne, even though she privately noted that she didn’t deny the conversation.
“All right, we agree number one Dom husband is Quinn, but then who is next? I vote Liam.”
“Yeah, probably Liam because he’s just so dang hardcore lord of the manor,” declared Kelli, who had recently had the privilege of experiencing that persona in him.
Jocelyn sighed. “Unfortunately, I have to agree. I think that the next in line after Liam must be either Shane or Parker.”
“No, not Shane, I think Ciarán more than Shane. And Parker right there with Ciarán,” corrected Kelli.
“Mmm, okay, I might go with that. Then what about Shane, and Andrew and Cián bringing up the rear?”
“Right, that sounds right although I think Ciarán and Parker, Shane and Andrew jockey for their positions. So, back to why the term Dom-husband and why Quinlan is the worst.” Caoimhe said.
“They are Doms because they just are. Every last one of them is master of their domain and fixers to the core. They are bossy, dictatorial, my way, or the highway kind of guys even if their way is the wrong way.” Jocelyn drew chuckles from everyone at the reality of it.