Chapter 19 Ronan
RONAN
I held Bree against my chest as she trembled. Small shakes started in her shoulders and worked their way down her spine and into her legs. Something happened downstairs that sent her running up here with fear written all over her face.
I’d noticed the shift. One second she’d been leaning over the blueprints, asking about heaters for the patio. The next, she’d gone rigid, her face drained of color, and her breathing went shallow and far too fast.
Then she bolted.
I’d stood there a solid ten seconds, trying to figure out what happened. The blueprints were still on the table, my palms on the edges. The scattered lunch crowd paid no attention to anything except their food and the gossip stirring around.
Gossip.
Bethany’s voice had pierced the haze of questions locking me in place.
She sat with a table of her friends with their heads bent together and voices pitched low enough to mean they were up to no good.
One of them had glanced toward the stairs when Bree disappeared, and something ugly flashed on her face.
My jaw locked thinking about it now, the pressure hard enough to make my teeth ache.
I’d forced myself to roll the blueprints up slowly, acting like nothing was wrong and I’d meant to be finished and pack things up.
A low, angry pulse beat in my chest. It told me to get the fuck up the stairs and check on Bree.
But before I could do that, I had to maintain our secret, which meant pretending nothing was wrong.
After putting the blueprints away, I’d nodded at Declan and told him I needed to ask Bree a question before climbing the steps with slow, measured strides.
It lasted until I reached the top of the stairs and the absolute silence from Bree’s apartment shattered my control.
I’d find out what the fuck they said to make her run, and I’d make them pay.
Bree pressed her face into my chest, her entire body quivering. There was only one acceptable reason for whole body tremors, and it wasn’t because of something some bitch said.
I smoothed a hand down her back. “What happened?”
She shook her head without lifting it. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
Right. If fine meant a shaky voice and trembling limbs, I’d eat my work boots. I held her tighter and waited.
My pulse slowed now that the panic had passed. I hated her silence, but she had every right to it. She’d let me in when she was ready, and not before.
The spike of adrenaline that had hit when I knocked on her door and found her sitting in the floor with her knees to her chest cooled, leaving me steadier and more protective than ever.
Bree pulled back and wiped her red-rimmed eyes. They remained dry, but the shimmer of tears remained. “I think they were talking about me. No.” She shook her head. “I know they were talking about me.”
“Who?” I knew, but I needed to hear her say it.
“Those women at the table by the window.” She wrapped her arms around herself like she could hold the pieces together through sheer will. “I heard them say something about curves and flirting.” Her voice cracked. “And something about one man not being enough.”
“Fucking Bethany and her cronies.” My stomach dropped.
Of course Bethany would choose to gossip about Bree.
“You can’t listen to anything she says. She’s never met a piece of gossip she won’t spread, even if it’s a bald-faced lie.
She’s never forgiven Finn for breaking up with her years ago, and she’s made it her mission to make his life as difficult as possible.
Everything she says is a lie, or a half-truth at best.”
“She and Finn dated?” Bree paled. “Oh shit. That’s…god that’s awful. I should have known that. I needed to know that. If I’d known I was dating her ex I would’ve–”
“You would’ve refused Finn?” I arched a brow at her. “You would have given that petty, cotton-headed ninny who no one trusts or believes the chance to ruin something for you?”
“I–” Bree sighed. “I don’t know, but it feels like something someone should have told me.”
“You know all the things about us that matter. Finn’s extinct relationship with Bethany is nothing.”
My reassurance went nowhere. “You said it yourself. She’s petty. Do you have any idea how far a petty woman is willing to go to ruin someone else’s life?”
No, I couldn’t say that I did know that.
I cupped her face, forcing her to look at me. “Bethany likes to make up stories. She’s wrong more often than she’s right. The whole town knows it, and no one listens to her.”
“How do you know?”
“I went to school with her. We all did.” I ran my thumb along her jaw, relishing the softness of her skin.
Some of the tension left Bree’s shoulders, but the fragile look stayed locked in her eyes. One wrong word and she’d shatter. I hated seeing her like this.
I dropped my hands to her waist. “Besides, it gave me a good reason to steal a moment alone with you.”
A small smile tugged at her lips. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I pulled her closer. “Been wanting to do this all morning.” I kissed her. Soft. Careful. I poured everything I couldn’t say into the press of my mouth against hers.
She melted into me with a sigh that made my chest tighten and ache at the same time. The bone-deep feeling was one I’d thought gone forever after my wife passed. I thought I’d used up my allotment of happiness and would never get another chance at this kind of connection.
Bree proved me wrong.
She slid a hand over my cheek and to the back of my neck, breaking the kiss but not moving away. “It’s scary getting this close to someone again.”
Was she a mindreader? How had she known exactly what I was thinking?
Her breathing hitched in a tiny hiccup. “After Mom died, I told myself I wouldn’t love again. It hurt too much to lose people and it was safer to keep everyone at arm’s length.”
My throat constricted. Love. Did she love us? Did I love her? I knew the love I’d had for my wife. I’d lived with it for years, followed by the grief Bree mentioned. I’d built walls so high I thought nothing could breach them.
“You make it feel easy.” She rubbed the tip of her nose alongside mine. “You and Finn and Declan, you make it feel safe.”
God this woman would end me. Every word settled deep, unlocking the pieces of my heart I’d hidden away.
I should tell her it scared me too. Every time I let myself care about her, part of me waited for the other shoe to drop.
I waited for the moment when the universe ripped her away from me.
Loving someone felt like standing on the edge of a cliff with no safety net.
But I couldn’t make myself say it. Giving voice to the fear living in the back of my mind made it real.
It gave the shadow a form, and if it had a form, it could become a tangible reality.
I kissed her again, deeper this time, hungrier. I showed her what I couldn’t say.
She made a sound in the back of her throat and clung to me as I stood, pulling her up with me. I walked her backward to the couch without breaking the kiss. Our mouths moved together, breaths matching and hands grasping.
The back of her knees hit the couch, and she sat down hard. I followed her down, caging her in my arms and supporting my weight so I didn’t crush her.
“Ronan.” My name on her lips nearly undid me.
“Do you want me to stop?”
She shook her head, her hair falling across her shoulder in a waterfall of red. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
Exactly what I wanted to hear. I tugged on the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head. She arched up to help me, and the movement pressed her breasts against my chest. The heat of her spread through me, drawing me forward.
I took my time with her bra, tracing the line of lace with my fingers before reaching around to unhook it.
The fabric fell away, and I tossed it aside without looking where it landed.
I needed to see her. Nothing but her. Her bare skin with freckles scattered across her collarbone and the way her chest rose and fell with every breath.
“You’re staring.” She didn’t sound self-conscious. A little amused, maybe. Definitely pleased.
“Can’t help it.” I ran my finger from her collarbone to her hip, drawing a line around her nipple on the way and grinning when she shivered beneath the touch. “You’re perfect.”
Color flooded her cheeks. “I’m not–”
“You are.” I cut off the protest with a kiss to keep from arguing with her over the absolute truth.
She was perfect. I lowered my mouth from her lips to her breast, taking my time, kissing my way across her soft skin and making circles around her nipples with my tongue.
When I finally sucked a nipple into my mouth, she arched against me, crying out as her hands fisted in my hair.
I moved to her other breast and gave it the same attention. Her ragged breathing spurred me on, but I refused to rush. Not today. I savored every second, every touch and gasp as I kissed my way down her stomach. I reached the waistband of her jeans. “Lift up.”
She did, and I unbuttoned her jeans and dragged them down her hips along with her underwear, baring her completely.
Beautiful didn’t begin to cover it. I settled between her thighs and kissed the inside of her knee, working my way up inch by inch.
When I finally put my mouth on her, she cried out, her hips lifting off the couch.
I licked her. Then did it again, savoring the taste of her and finding the spots that made her gasp.
“Ronan.” My name came out as a plea. “Please.”
I added my fingers. One at first, then two. I worked them inside her and circled her clit with my tongue. Her thighs tensed. I curled my fingers and thrust deep, repeating the motion until she cried out, her whole body going taut as she clenched around my fingers.
I worked her through it, gentling my touch as the waves subsided.
“Come here, Ronan.” She reached for me.
Grinning, I crawled up her body and let her work my belt open, then my jeans. She wrapped a hand around my cock and squeezed. “I need you.”
I groaned into the valley between her breasts when she stroked me. “You have me.”
She guided the head of my cock to her entrance and raised her hips, taking me in when I pushed into her.
“Deeper.” She gripped my ass in both hands and whimpered when I backed up, then sighed when I plunged forward.
“So tight.” How had she managed to take all three of us and still feel so damned tight around my cock? I stopped questioning it and let myself feel every inch of her.
“Perfect.” She wrapped her legs around my waist. “You feel so good, Ronan.”
I thrust into her slowly, dragging my cock all the way out, only to drive deeper with every pump of my hips.
She gasped my name. Gods I needed this. Needed her.
I picked up the pace, making her eyes go hazy and her nails dig in harder.
I worked her clit with one hand, the added pressure of my fingers bringing a shudder to her entire body.
“Ronan.” She sucked in a ragged breath. “I’m coming. Oh fuck. I’m coming again.”
“Let go.” I kissed her. “I’ve got you.” Always.
She came apart beneath me, and the tight squeezing of her pussy sent me over the edge. I buried my cock as deep as I could, my toes digging into the couch cushion as a tremor worked its way up my spine, tightening my balls and emptying my cock inside her.
We lay tangled together on the couch in a patch of afternoon sunlight, catching our breath and grinning at each other.
I didn’t know if she’d had moments alone like this with Declan and Finn. I didn’t care. Just like they wouldn’t care when they found out I’d been here with Bree today. There was no need for jealousy between us anymore.
Bree lifted her head and frowned. “Ronan, not to sound completely ungrateful, but people are going to realize you’ve been gone a hell of a long time.”
I grunted.
She poked me in the chest, her smile all soft and warm. “You can come back anytime, you know.”
“I doubt anyone who saw me come up here is even down there anymore.” I brushed a tendril of hair from her cheek. “But I’ll leave if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t want any trouble with the town. That means protecting you too.” She sat up, raking her nails lightly down my chest. My cock twitched inside her, and she raised a brow.
I groaned and pulled out, reaching for my clothes and handing hers to her before she had a chance to stand. “I’ll go out the window so no one will see me coming out of your room.”
“Thank you.” She gathered her clothes in a bundle and stood to kiss me. “You’re a good man, Ronan.”
I pulled her in for a proper kiss before patting her ass and climbing out the window. I wasn’t as adept as Finn but I made it without breaking my damned neck.