Chapter Seventeen
J ames tried to keep an ear on the hallway outside them, but with Carrigan in his arms making that delicious whimpering sound, he lost it.
Everything went out the damn window except for his need to bury himself inside her until they both lost control.
He kept working her with one hand and used the other to get his pants off.
“On second thought, I’m just going to fuck you right now.
Every minute I spend without being buried inside you is one minute too many.
” He grabbed a condom out of his pocket and was forced to stop touching her long enough to roll it on.
Too long.
He ran one hand up her spine, bending her forward, and used his other to notch his cock in her entrance.
She was wet and ready for him, so he wasted no time sliding home.
James went stock-still, the sheer bliss of being inside her never failing to take his breath away.
“The things you do to me.” He moved, gripping her chin and maneuvering her so that her back was flush against his chest. His shirt was one barrier too many between them, but he wasn’t going to waste the energy to get it off.
Instead, he kissed her. “You’re mine, lovely.
Mine alone.” Bold words. Words he had no right to.
She made a sound of protest, but he wasn’t about to let her start thinking right now. James slid his hand down to cup her breast, pinching her nipple even as he slipped his free hand between her legs again, stroking her clit. “Brace your hands on the wall.”
The new position allowed him deeper, and he wasted no time taking full advantage of it, fucking her ruthlessly even as he rubbed her clit. “Remember, lovely, be quiet. You never know who might be listening.”
There was that whimper again. His balls went tight at the sound, and words came out of his mouth in an unfiltered river.
“I want you so much, I can’t fucking see straight.
” He slammed into her hard, the sound of flesh meeting flesh filling the room.
“Every time I watch you walk away, all I can think about is dragging you back into my bed, my car, a fucking storage closet. Being inside you is as close to perfection as I’ll ever get. ”
She let go of the wall and slapped a hand over her mouth as she came, and he was forced to grab her hips to keep them both from slamming into the wall.
Her pussy milked him, taking away his last breath of control.
He slammed into her once, twice, and a third time, coming so hard he saw stars.
James caught them both from falling with a hand on the wall, keeping another around her waist. “Shit.”
“That about sums it up.” She pulled away and turned around. She had the look of a woman well pleasured, but there was a hint of panic lingering in her green eyes. “This doesn’t change anything.”
He wanted to argue, to rail at her for being so damn determined to drive herself off the cliff, but that wasn’t why he’d come here tonight. He caught her chin and kissed her, moving back almost as soon as he’d made contact. “I wanted to see you. End of story.” But it wasn’t. Not by a long shot.
“Promise me you’ll leave.” She rummaged around and found her panties. “We’ve already been gone too long.”
“So determined to see the back of me.”
She yanked on her dress and, even in his frustration, he made sure he zipped it up slowly so he didn’t damage the fabric.
Carrigan turned around as soon as he was done.
“Apparently I’m going to have to be the one who has enough common sense for both of us.
You can’t be here. This can’t happen like this. Not where we could be caught.”
Her reasoning was sound, but that didn’t stop the bitterness on the back of his tongue. “Got it. I’m your dirty little secret.”
“Do you want a war?” She shook her head. “You know what, no. I’m not doing this. Not now and not like this. If you want to have a conversation like reasonable adults, call me later.”
She was right. He knew she was right. But that didn’t kill the urge to drag her back into his arms and kiss her until she stopped telling him all the reasons they were shitty for each other. He opened the closet door and motioned for her to precede him. “After you.”
“You… God, you drive me so wild.” She grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him, moving away before he could do anything about it. Right into the hallway where two of her brothers stood, shock written across both their faces.
Well, fuck .
Aiden grabbed her arm and the younger one grabbed him , slamming him against the wall. “I’m going to fucking kill you.” James didn’t fight back, just let the little shit shake him.
“Cillian, no!”
Aiden gave Carrigan a shake, too, and that set James’s temper off. He grabbed the kid and glared at the O’Malley heir. “You can be pissed at me all you want, but you hurt her and I’ll take your fucking hand off at the wrist.”
Aiden didn’t let her go, but he didn’t shake her again, either. “I think it’s time you left.”
Hell, James agreed with him. He caught Carrigan’s gaze.
Unfinished business, lovely . She frowned, obviously worried her brother was going to take him out back and shoot him.
“I think you’re right.” He shoved Cillian away and made a show of dusting off his shirt.
“I’ll be seeing you around.” He turned and made it all of one step before Aiden’s voice stopped him.
“My sister might be ready to forget what you almost did to her, but I damn well haven’t. You fucking touch her again and it really will be war.”
* * *
Carrigan’s brothers dragged her back to the reception.
Aiden stopped just inside the door, his grip on her arm tight enough to bruise.
“You will go to the banquet table, sit your ass down, and smile like nothing’s wrong.
You will give your planned toast. And then you will sit there like someone who isn’t a fucking traitor until it’s time to go home. After that, we’ll deal with this.”
She’d never feared her brother before, but she’d never seen him with another man’s murder in his eyes, or with that bone-deep disgust he turned on her.
She’d fucked up, and they both knew it. Carrigan gave a jerky nod, and walked to the wedding party’s table on shaking legs.
Teague sent her a questioning look, and she somehow managed to dredge up a smile for him. “The food looks great.”
The rest of the reception passed in a blur. Every time she looked up, she found Aiden or Cillian glaring at her, a physical reminder of the talk she had coming. She tried to dredge up some righteous indignation. Good lord, she tried. But there was nothing.
She’d been sleeping with the enemy.
Worse, she could still feel the imprint of his mouth on her skin, his hands on her body, his cock inside her. Even knowing the trouble that was coming, she still wanted James almost more than she wanted her next breath—which just proved she was too stupid to live.
They saw Teague and Callie off in a flurry of bubbles.
Carrigan was an island of misery in the midst of all the joy, her glowering brothers flanking her as she walked to the waiting town car and they got in on either side of her.
She barely had time to take a breath before Aiden started in.
“What. The. Fuck. Is. Wrong. With. You? James fucking Halloran? Seriously, Carrigan? How fucking stupid can you be?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, staring straight ahead. “I’m not stupid.” They didn’t know James. They didn’t understand that what he and she shared was something she couldn’t make herself pass up. “You don’ t understand.”
“No, I goddamn well don’t. He kidnapped you. Christ only knows what he did to you when you were in his house.”
Carrigan turned to glare at him. “Christ has nothing to do with it. I know what happened—and, more importantly, what didn’t happen—to me. And it’s a moot point now anyway.”
“No, it’s not a fucking moot point.” He pointed a finger out the side window. “That guy is the enemy. He might be someone you’re attracted to or whatever the fuck was going on back there, but he’s a Halloran. He’s not for you, and you damn well know it.”
Yeah, she did. Not too long ago, that forbidden aspect would have been enough to make James even more attractive to her.
Was that all this is? The lure of the untouchable?
She hunched lower in her seat, every instinct crying against that belief.
It was different with James. He was different.
Maybe she’d originally entertained thoughts of him because he was the one man her father would lose his shit over, but that had quickly morphed into something… genuine.
Aiden gripped her shoulder. “Look at me, Carrigan.”
She wanted to dig in her heels and shut her eyes like she had when they were kids and he pissed her off.
But they weren’t kids anymore. They were adults, and she was facing real-life consequences.
So she turned and met his gaze, doing her damnedest not to drop her eyes.
Her brother’s face seemed to have acquired new lines in the last few hours, and every single one of them was because of her. “Aiden—”
“He is not for you. I’ll keep this from our father, because we both know what he’d do if he knew.”
Nothing good. Seamus’s potential reactions ranged from locking her in the attic for the rest of her life to marrying her off right away to the first man he could find that wasn’t an enemy of the O’Malleys.
Nowhere on the list was him smiling, patting her on the head, and telling her that he just wanted her to be happy.
Her happiness was, and always had been, secondary.
On her other side, she could practically feel Cillian seething. He shifted. “You can’t seriously be thinking of letting this go, Aiden. He defiled our sister.”
“Are you serious right now?” She turned and smacked him. “I’m a grown-ass woman, and no one defiled me.”