Chapter Six
Conor
Seven years ago, I left the MMA to join the family business.
This choice was forced on me, after an accident that left me in a coma for weeks.
Once I came out of the hospital, I knew I would never fight professionally again.
With Roarke off in the military, someone had to start learning the ins and outs of the family business.
So, at twenty-five, I left the ring and donned a suit to start working for the firm.
And for the last seven years, I’ve poured blood and sweat into helping turn the O’Shea security firm into one of the best in New York City.
For the first few years, I worked exclusively in the field, guarding everyone from celebrities, politicians, wealthy businessmen, and their wives—yet not once did I feel any attachment to those clients.
Once the contract was over, I was done and on to the next project.
After mere days of traveling across different states with Arianna Marino, I’m already dreading the moment we’ll have to go back.
In the last couple of days, we’ve visited the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater in Denver, visited the Arches National Park and the Canyonlands in Moab, made love like animals in just about all those stops, and yet, I can’t get enough of her.
I can’t stop wanting her. And as we leave the Grand Canyon, yet another breathtaking landmark we’ve seen in the last four days, I realize that I can’t wait to get Arianna alone in that little cramped van.
My hands gripping her thighs as I pound my cock into her tight pussy, driving her as insane as she drives me.
The thought of her wetness wrapped around me is enough to have my cock hardening in my pants.
“Oh, sweet baby Jesus. You can’t be serious, Conor!”
I turn to the girl walking by my side to find her watching me with something akin to horror, and immediately, my thoughts run to danger. “What?” I ask, positioning myself in front of her as my senses turn razor sharp, looking for a threat. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re what’s wrong,” she says, sounding exasperated. She glances around to make sure no one’s watching, then steps closer, her voice dropping. “How are you hard again? After this morning?”
There’s heat in her eyes even as she scolds me, and I don’t miss the way her gaze lingers on the bulge in my jeans before she catches herself.
Fuck, now she’s gone and planted that memory in my lust-fogged brain—this morning, her riding me in the cramped van bed while the sun came up over the canyon rim. There must be something in the air because I haven’t been able to keep my hands off her in the last couple of days.
With no threat of danger, I allow myself to relax, leaning forward to speak in her ear, brushing my lips discreetly over the shell.
“There’s no condition, a rún. Just you,” I whisper, my hand winding around her waist and pulling her close.
“Do you want to know all the things I plan to do to you when we get back to the van?”
“Yes,” she whimpers, her eyes growing dazed with desire for a second before quickly shaking her head as if to right her thoughts. “I mean no. You’re insane.” Her voice comes out in a sharp exhale as she nudges me back. “You are to stay at least ten feet away from me in public.”
With one last glare at me, she spins around and speed-walks to the van. I laugh as I follow her around and don’t fight her when she offers to drive. I’d rather watch her on the ride to the campground we’ll be staying at for the night.
During the ride, I realize that we’re completely different people from who we were when we left New York.
And these past few days have revealed that I’m not just physically attracted to her body but drawn to her as a person too.
I like it when she smiles or gets visibly excited about something.
She makes my heart clench with affection like no woman ever has.
With Arianna, I’ve shared parts of myself that not even my siblings know.
Hell, I can’t believe I told her about feeling lost before I found MMA.
Roarke always knew he’d join the military, and Fiona’s love for computers was obvious from the moment she touched one, and I…
well, I had nothing. I could fight but that was about it.
I found my purpose in competition, in the discipline of training, in pushing my body to its limits.
I was scouted from a local gym after winning a string of amateur fights, and the rest is history.
It’s been something I’ve always kept to myself. I didn’t expect Arianna to understand, but the look on her face when I opened up about this was one of understanding. Which led me to opening up more about myself than I intended.
But why won’t she open up to me?
I question whether to bring up the fact that she’s clearly hiding something from me. I’ve stopped myself from pushing too hard, but I’m beginning to think that maybe I should.
Hell, we’re running out of time, and I don’t want there to be something between us. Tomorrow, we go to Vegas for a few days before heading to Los Angeles for the final stop. There’s no telling what will happen about this heated but delicate relationship we’ve formed once this trip comes to an end.
No, I’ll have to make her open up to me about what’s bothering her so we can get past it.
I consider broaching the subject when we arrive at the campground, but Arianna seems distracted, so I decide it’ll have to wait. Maybe later tonight. After dinner, when we’re both relaxed. Whatever the case, it’ll have to be tonight.
We both go about a routine we’ve perfected.
Setting up the van in comfortable silence after which Arianna heads out first to take a shower.
I only leave for mine when she comes back.
I linger in the shower, giving her space as I search for how to broach the subject.
I could seduce her…make love to her first and get her to relax so she can open up to me.
Hell, that’s the only time she seems to let down her guard a bit.
It bothers me that she won’t open up to me. And isn’t it odd? That I would be the one to let down my guard first when I was sure no woman would do that to me. But Arianna strips off my walls, knocks them all to the ground, and grinds them to dust until there isn’t a barrier between us.
Now, I just have to figure out how to knock down hers.
When I return from the shower, I’m surprised that Arianna is not seated outside the van with a cup of hot chocolate and some of the cookies her sister packed for her, enjoying the sunset. That has become something of a tradition, and it doesn’t sit right with me to break it.
I find her in the van, seated on the bed with her phone in her hand, her face pale. All alarm bells ring in my head as I immediately shift into bodyguard mode. I look around the van to make sure we’re alone before turning to the clearly terrified girl.
“Baby—”
The words trail off when she lifts those eyes to me, and I see tears swimming in them, which scares the hell out of me. Who the fuck did this to her? Who do I fucking need to kill for putting that sad look on her face?
“I’m scared, Conor,” she says before I can ask, sniffing back the tears. “I…I can’t take it anymore!”
I drop to a crouch in front of her, taking her trembling hand in mine as I search her face. “Talk to me, baby. What’s wrong?”
Arianna turns her phone for me to see the screen, and my brows knit as I stare at the picture of us, taken at the Grand Canyon.
It takes me a second to realize what’s wrong with the picture.
It’s not a selfie. No, it’s a picture that seems to have been taken by a third party, except I don’t remember Arianna asking anyone to take a picture of us.
In the picture, I’m standing several paces back, holding Arianna’s phone and recording her.
All the while, someone was photographing us.
And I didn’t notice it.
Fuck!
I take the phone from her hand and realize that it’s part of a message thread.
Quietly, I scroll upward and through the messages and other photos taken before.
There is a picture for every stop we’ve made on this trip, and not once did I notice anyone taking them.
They were all tourist centers, and everyone had their goddamned cameras out, but I shouldn’t have missed it.
I should not have fucking missed this asshole—a stalker.
I was careless. I believed that everyone who’d been bothering the Marino women had been dealt with. Hell, I didn’t even believe there was a real threat when I agreed to accompany Arianna on this trip. I only did it to ease her family’s worries. And in my ignorance, I was careless.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Arianna’s voice pulls me back from my own guilt. “I thought it was just a fan, and I didn’t want it to ruin the trip, but…I can’t take it anymore. Knowing someone’s watching our every freaking move—”
“Sshhhh,” I murmur, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into an embrace. “It’s okay, baby. It’s fine. You’ve told me now, and I’ll take care of it.”
“You’re not mad?” she sniffs into my shoulder.
“No, baby,” I say, running my palm over her head. “I wish you’d told me sooner, but I’m not mad. The only person I’m angry with is the person who’s been tormenting you. Now, relax, and let me deal with them.”
I hold her close until she’s calmed down before grabbing my phone to call my sister.
I tell Fiona everything that’s happened, and she promises to look into the account messaging Arianna.
After sending her several photos from Arianna’s phone, Fiona informs me she’ll start work immediately and hangs up.
There is no one I trust more than my sister to work on cases, and with tech skills like hers, it’s a wonder she is content with just working for the firm.
I start work on securing the van and locking up before returning to Arianna.
She hasn’t moved from her spot and seems lost, staring off into space.
I wrap my arms around her and pull her down on the bed with me, holding her tight as I vow to punish the person who put that look on her face.
Seeing her this way, my stubborn little secret, all helpless, breaks my heart.
It makes me want to put a smile on her face. Anything.
“Nothing is going to happen to you,” I say firmly, my grip tightening around her.
“You know my family’s reputation. We’ve never lost a client.
Not one. And you’re not just a client anymore, Arianna—you’re mine.
Whoever this coward is, hiding behind a screen and anonymous messages.
.. they picked the wrong woman to stalk.
“You really think Fiona can find them?”
“My sister can find anyone,” I tell her. “And once she does, they’ll wish they’d never heard your name.”
I lean in and brush my lips over her nose, cheeks, and lips—softly and to soothe— before pulling back.
“Do you trust me, a rún mo chroí?”
The secret of my heart.
My love.
The endearment rolls off my tongue so perfectly that it feels right. Words I’ve never spoken to another woman before. A language I’ve never used outside my family’s home.
My heart.
I am in love with Arianna Marino. I don’t know when it happened, but it has, and now, my heart seems to beat only for her.
"I trust you,” Arianna whispers, making my heart pound even faster. "I need you, Conor. Please make love to me. I feel safe when you touch me.”
Our lips meet in the softest of touches before the fire grows too strong, deepening the kiss.
My hands trace her perfect curves, lips stealing the breath from her lungs even as my heart swells with affection for a woman I had no business falling in love with.
When I slide into her, it’s gentle and loving, my hands soothing as I guide her body into feeling the ultimate pleasure.
My lips are filled with words of love I’ve never spoken out loud, in a language she doesn’t understand.
My love, my heart!
Words I cannot speak out loud yet, so I let our bodies do the talking for us. It’s slow and heart-wrenching, and when we come together, it’s her name in my heart. In my soul. In my head.
A rún.
Mo chroí.