Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
KIERAN
The damp air at the wharf tastes like rust and salt.
I crouch low behind a stack of shipping containers, my gun heavy in my palm and my eyes fixed on the stretch of concrete where Sean O’Keefe paces up and down like a caged animal.
He’s here, exactly like Lorcan and Callum promised. But that doesn’t mean shit unless I manage to take him down.
Sean’s voice carries over the sound of the wind howling, raw with rage. “That bastard thinks he can cheat me? Steal from me? I’ll gut him alive!”
I smirk.
It seems he’s too busy screaming at his suppliers to notice the noose tightening around his neck.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I glance at the screen.
Brennan: Everyone’s in position.
I quickly type back, Wait for my signal.
We need Sean distracted, because the second he realizes what’s happening, he’ll bolt, and I’m not letting that bastard slip through my fingers again.
Headlights sweep across the dock as a truck rumbles into view, brakes squealing as it halts beside Sean.
Men pile out of the back, but from the looks of it, they’re nothing but hired muscle.
Sean storms forward, spitting venom at the driver.
“Ye think I wouldn’t notice yer dealing me short? Ye think I’m some fool?” He shoves the man before jabbing a finger in his chest.
The driver stammers something, too quiet for me to hear, but Sean doesn’t let him finish. Even from a distance, the rage burns on his face, and I know that the driver has only seconds to live.
I wait for his blood to be spilled before finally raising my hand and giving the signal to my men to move.
Gunfire erupts in an instant.
Sean’s head whips around, his eyes wide, but instead of facing the bullets, he grabs one of his own men and shoves him forward, using his body as a shield.
The poor bastard takes every round meant for Sean, collapsing in a bloody heap.
Sean barely hesitates before dragging another man in front of him as he reaches for his gun and starts blindly firing bullets as he sprints for cover.
“Cowardly fuck.” I break out from behind the shipping containers, my whole focus locked on him, tracking the way he weaves through the chaos.
His men drop one after another, cut down by the rain of bullets.
Brennan’s shouting orders, but I tune him out.
The only thing I see is Sean.
I chase him across the dock.
My blood thrums in my ears as I aim, but the bullet still manages to miss Sean’s ear by less than a millimeter.
“Give it up, Sean!” I roar, but my voice barely carries over the sound of the gunfire.
He keeps running, showing no signs of slowing down.
I’ll give the fucker credit, he still has some decent stamina.
But I know for sure he’s going to give up before I do, and that’s when it’ll all be over.
“Kieran, get down!” Brennan yells.
I don’t have time to think.
I drop to my knees as a bullet zips past me and lodges in a metal container in front of me.
One second is all it takes, but if I hadn’t dropped, that would have taken up residence in my spine.
I jump to my feet and sprint around the side of the container.
One second to save my life. One fucking second that cost me.
“Fuck!” I slam my fist against the nearest crate, fury roaring through me.
Sean has vanished into the maze of containers.
He was right there.
Right fucking there, and I lost him.
“You get him?” Brennan jogs up to me, as I stalk back toward the main warehouse.
His face is slick with sweat and blood crusts his hands, but he looks unharmed.
Sean’s men are scattered on the ground like broken dolls, riddled with bullet holes. It seems none of my men held back.
I just wish their efforts hadn’t been in vain.
“That near hit cost me.” I kick at the body at my feet.
“Shit.”
“Yeah…shit.”
“At least we got him.” Brennan indicates the body at my feet. “Sean’s second-in-command.”
“That means nothing when the one man I wanted dead is still breathing.”
Hours later, the cleanup crew is still at work, disposing of bodies and hacking into the security system to erase all footage when Jace approaches me with a grave expression.
“What?” I shut the doors to the van and knock on it twice to let the driver know it’s ready to go.
He holds out his phone. “I intercepted a call from Sean. But I have a feeling he wanted it to be heard.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Just listen.”
I take the phone and press play on the audio file.
“Tell Kieran Sullivan I’ll put his whore in the ground. Tell him Riley’s next.”
My blood runs ice cold.
If he thinks he can drag Riley into this, then he’s mistaken. If anything, he’s just stamped a High Priority sign on his already signed death warrant.
I hand Jace back his phone. “You’re officially reassigned to Riley. Immediately.”
“No problem.”
“You know the rules.”
“She goes nowhere without me, no exceptions.”
“If she so much as sneezes, I want to know about it.”
“Rest assured, boss. She’s in safe hands.”
“You better hope so; otherwise you’ll end up just like them.” I nod in the direction of the van that has just left with a dozen body bags.
Jace doesn’t even pale. He knows what I expect from him, and he’s willing to put his own life on the line to make sure that the people I care about don’t get harmed. It’s what makes him invaluable, and the very reason I’m assigning him to Riley.
She won’t like it, of course. But I would rather her be mad at me than dead, so she’ll just have to deal with it.
Until Sean’s blood is on my hands, I’m not taking any chances when it comes to her safety.
It’s past midnight by the time I arrive home. I’m running on nothing but fumes, and I’m in desperate need of a shower, but I head straight for Riley anyway.
Hearing her name on Sean’s lips ignited something primal inside me.
I need to have her, to hold her, to know that no matter what, she belongs to me.
The door creaks softly as I push it open, and as I step inside, I catch the faint scent of her perfume.
The room is cast in darkness, but as I open the door wider, the light from the hallway casts over the bed, and there she is, all curled up with the sheet tangled around her naked body and her auburn curls spilling across the pillow.
Christ, even when she’s asleep, she wrecks me.
The sheet has slipped low enough that her bare back is exposed, and the curve of her hip is just visible beneath the thin fabric.
My exhaustion is instantly forgotten as my cock thickens.
I strip off my jacket, my shirt, boots thudding softly against the floor. Then I slip under the covers, the heat of her skin searing against mine.
“Kieran?” she murmurs, half-asleep, when I press my mouth to her neck.
“Yeah, dove. It’s me.” My voice is low and rough with need. My hands roam her curves, pulling her back against me. “I need you.”
Her sleepy giggle melts into a gasp as I roll her onto her back and kiss down her stomach.
She wriggles under me, but even half-asleep, her body already yields to me as she parts her thighs, and I dip my head between them.
At the first lick of my tongue along her pussy, my cock starts to leak.
Fuck! I can’t remember the last time I tasted her like this, and my body knows it.
It’s not often I curse Ronan for handing over the responsibility of the family to me, but right now I do because I want nothing more than to spend every damn night with my face buried between my wife’s soft thighs.
“Taste so good, dove,” I murmur before licking along her core.
Riley lets out a contented sigh as her fingers sink into my hair.
I take it slow, memorizing every inch of her with my tongue as she writhes beneath my touch.
My cock throbs, and I’m desperate to take the edge off, but I don’t want to take any attention away from Riley. From her quiet whimpers, I know she needs release just as much as I do.
Sinking my fingers into her ass, I hold her flush against my face as I sink my tongue inside her.
My eyes roll at her sweet taste, and my hips buck against the bed.
Fuck, I’m pretty sure I could climax right along with her without even needing to stroke myself, that’s how on edge I am.
“Kieran.” She tugs on my hair.
“I know, little dove.” I rub my hands along the backs of her thighs. “I know how badly you want it.”
“Please,” she gasps.
Smiling against her pussy, I give her what she so desperately wants.
I slide my tongue out of her core and run it along the center before flicking it over her clit.
Riley cries out, arching off the bed, and I grunt as my balls tighten.
Not yet. Not yet. Not yet.
“My girl loves it when I suck on her sensitive little clit, hmm?” I flick my tongue again.
“Oh, God.”
“How close are you, dove?”
“So close,” she gasps.
“Do you want to come on my tongue or my cock?”
Riley lets out a choked sound that has me smirking.
“Both.”
“Are you sure you can handle my tongue as well as my cock?”
Riley answers by tugging on my hair, and I chuckle.
“I love how needy you get when I’m between your legs.”
“Kieran.”
“Is this what you wanted, little dove?”
I don’t give her a chance to answer before I wrap my lips around her clit and suck.
She’s so worked up that it doesn’t take long for me to send her over the edge.
When she finally comes, Riley tugs on the roots of my hair as she arches off the bed, but I continue to lick and suck at her clit until she’s soaked both my face and the sheet beneath her. Only then do I pull back and lick up the arousal that has dripped down her thighs.
“Well done, little dove. You did so good.”
Riley whimpers as I kiss my way back to her mouth, making sure to take my time kissing along her breasts. There isn’t a part of her that doesn’t turn me on, but as fun as it would be to explore her limits, right now there is only one part of her that I need.
“I need to be inside you, dove. Turn over for me.”
I sit back on my heels as Riley does as I ask, moving beneath me until I have a perfect view of her ass.
Groaning, I grip my cock by the base and slowly run the slick tip along the seam, hissing through my teeth when Riley wiggles her hips against me.
She moans. “So good.”
“It’ll feel even better inside you, dove. Now, spread your legs for me.”
My girl doesn’t need to be asked twice. She parts her thighs as I settle myself between them, making sure to hold all of my weight on my left forearm as I line my cock up with her pussy.
I push my cock in slowly, savoring every sound that she makes as I stretch her.
“Christ, you take me so damn well.” I groan as I pump my hips.
“Kieran…” She sinks her fingers into the sheet to keep her steady.
“I’ve got you, dove.” I grunt as I slide my cock free and slam it back into her, all the way to the hilt.
Riley cries into her pillow as she clenches around me.
It takes every ounce of control I have to keep my pace slow when my body is screaming at me to fuck her senseless.
She’s so warm and wet, and my cock is practically begging for me to spill inside her.
It doesn’t help that with every thrust of my hips, sends Riley’s ass bounces against me.
“Riley,” I groan as I reach down to palm her cheek.
“I’m all yours.”
I bury my face in her neck, breathing in her sweet vanilla scent as I slide my cock in and out of her pussy.
“You are everything,” I murmur in her ear.
“Kieran…”
I reach out to place my hand on top of hers and lace our fingers together.
“I’m all yours too, dove.”
I never thought I would be the type of guy to prefer this kind of sex to a quick, messy fuck in a club bathroom or against a wall. But being in this bed with Riley, feeling her sweat-coated skin against me and hearing her moan my name as I fill her is a whole different kind of pleasure.
It’s addictive in the best way, and feeling her come undone is not something I will ever tire of.
She squeezes my hand. “More.”
I do as she asks, thrusting my cock harder as I kiss along her neck.
Her breathy moans make my balls tighten, but I’m not going to spill until she has her pleasure.
“Oh, God,” Riley groans into the pillow.
“That’s it. Come on, baby.” I take her earlobe between my lips and suck as I pump my hips faster, making sure to sink my cock as deep inside her pussy as I can.
When I hit that sensitive spot, we both groan, and Riley shudders beneath me before she finally climaxes.
“Oh, fuck, yes,” I grunt as her pussy pulses around my cock.
I can’t hold back any longer. With one last thrust, I empty myself inside Riley before collapsing against her.
“That was worth being woken up for.” She sighs, and I laugh.
I kiss along her shoulder. “Glad you enjoyed yourself. I could stay buried inside you forever.”
“Mmm… That would be nice.”
I let myself stay inside her for a few minutes, just so I can take in the sight of her flushed cheeks and blissful expression, before freeing myself and heading into the bathroom to grab a towel to clean up.
After, Riley curls into my chest, her eyes already fluttering closed.
But I’m wide awake.
Holding her in my arms is nothing but a reminder of what I have to lose, of what Sean O’Keefe could take from me if we’re not careful.
“I need you to promise me something,” I say quietly.
“Mmm…”
“I need you to be extra careful from now on. Can you do that?”
“Promise…” she murmurs.
I pull her tighter against me and press a kiss to her forehead.
She lets out a sigh before drifting off to sleep, warm and safe in my arms, leaving me to lie awake and stare into the darkness.