Page 15 of Dark Succession (The O’Malleys #1)

A part of her, simple and selfish, wasn’t sure she even wanted to know.

He made her feel good, and that was enough for now.

The more they talked, the greater the chance was that she’d find something completely unforgivable—and vice versa.

What if he thought her goals to bring the Sheridans onto the legal side of business were laughable?

The idea turned her stomach. No, it was better that they kept things physical, where at least they knew they matched up.

“Callie?”

She blinked. From the tone of his voice, he’d said her name more than once. “I’m sorry, I missed that last part.”

“I could tell. I asked you what you wanted for dinner.”

Her answer sprang from her lips before she had a chance to call it back. “You.”

Teague moved through the market, Callie’s last word ringing in his ears the same way it had been all afternoon.

You . There was no mistaking her meaning, and he still hadn’t decided what he was going to do about it.

His first instinct was to take her up on the implied offer.

But then common sense was quick to jump in and say that rushing things with the woman he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with wasn’t building the foundation in the most effective way possible.

Sex was all well and good, but he wanted this shit between them to be about more than that.

He had to talk to her, to figure out where she was coming from.

If she thought she could use her body to manipulate him…

well, part of him was more than happy to go along with it.

He wanted her like he hadn’t wanted another woman in living memory, and it was more than her tight body and the sweet sounds she made when she came.

She was strong in an understated way that he was drawn to despite himself, and there were still the bruises on her throat to consider.

He was nowhere close to willing to walk away from finding out who had laid a hand on her.

He paid for the groceries and walked back to his apartment, keeping an eye on his surroundings.

This neighborhood wasn’t anything like some of the ones he was forced to frequent on family business, but danger could reach out and touch him anywhere in Boston.

It paid to be aware of his surroundings.

It was only because he was watching that he saw Callie walk up.

She frowned, looking around as if she wasn’t sure she was in the right place. “Hey, angel.”

She jumped. “I didn’t see you there.”

“That’s less my being stealthy than your being distracted.

” He nodded at the doorway behind her. “This is me.” As he led her up the narrow stairs to his door, he wondered what she’d think of the place.

It was a far cry from the opulence of his family home—or the Sheridan residence.

He’d never gotten close to either the Sheridan home or the Halloran one, but he knew enough to know both buildings were as large as the O’Malley residence, and surrounded by a similar-sized property.

Compared to his little apartment, they might as well be on the moon.

But she smiled as she stepped inside. He set the groceries on the counter of the kitchen and put them away while she wandered around, pausing in front of the bookshelf filled with movies and video games.

She picked up the photo on the top of it, and he didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know it was the one of him and his six siblings that his mother had insisted upon a few years ago.

She spoke without looking up. “You all look so happy.”

It was one of the rare moments when they had been.

It was in the time firmly planted before .

Before Carrigan started shrinking under the pressure of a future she didn’t want.

Before the shadows appeared in Sloan’s eyes and she stopped talking almost completely.

Before Cillian’s attitude got so out of control that he was damn near unbearable.

Before Aiden turned into Seamus O’Malley 2.0.

He pushed the beer aside and set the various vegetables in the fridge. “We were.” Past tense. Always past tense.

“Sometimes I wish…” She set the picture back onto the bookshelf and squared her shoulders, seeming to force herself to finish the thought. “Sometimes I wish I had more siblings. Ronan and I weren’t as close in recent years as we were growing up, but his loss was still earthshattering. ”

And now she was alone. He shut the fridge and tried to picture life without his siblings.

Over the years he’d loved them and damn near hated them to varying degrees, but he’d always had the comfort of their being there .

He couldn’t imagine how deep the loss would go if something ever happened to any of them.

Yet another reason to put a stop to this war.

“I’m sorry about your brother.” He crossed over to her and did what he’d wanted to do ever since he saw her standing there on the sidewalk. He pulled her into his arms, something settling in his chest as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Sometimes I’m so angry at him. How could he be so stupid to drink and drive when we have half a dozen men ready and waiting to take us where we need to go if the situation calls for it?” A shudder worked its way through her body. “That makes me sound like a horrible person, doesn’t it?”

“No.” He smoothed his hand over her hair. “Death is bad enough when it’s unavoidable. It’s hard not to resent someone for bringing it to your door.”

“Yeah.” She sounded strange, choked up and rigid, but he kept holding her until she relaxed against him. “I’m sorry. It’s been a trying few days.”

“For me, too. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do, or what arguments I come up with—everyone is hell-bent on moving this war forward.

” Which had only solidified his determination to use the identity of Brendan’s killer to leverage the Hallorans to back off.

If they did, then the O’Malleys and Sheridans would be forced to do the same, since things hadn’t escalated to a point where they couldn’t take it back.

He just had to pin James down for a meeting and convince him that vengeance would have to be enough to make his father happy.

“Teague…” His name sounded so damn sweet coming from her lips, somewhere halfway between a sigh and a plea. Her hands coasted up his back on either side of his spine.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Kiss me instead?”

His body responded even as his mind hesitated.

That first night, she’d kissed him to distract him from questioning her about the bruises on her neck.

On the surface, it didn’t seem like she was doing the same thing now, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that that was exactly what was happening.

He kept his arms tense so she couldn’t wiggle out of them—not that she seemed to want distance between them, not when she kept up those distracting circles on his back, lightly dragging her nails over the thin fabric of his shirt.

“Our problems aren’t going to go away just because we stop talking about them. ”

“I know.” It was little more than a whisper.

She tilted her head and pressed a kiss to his neck.

“But I’m in danger of breaking under this stress if I can’t check out for a little while.

Please, Teague, please help me check out.

” She had to know what her saying his name did to him. There was no way she didn’t.

But still he resisted. “Angel, you’re making it fucking hard to do right by you.”

She laughed against his skin. “You don’t have a bed in this place?”

Fuck . He closed his eyes, but that only made it worse, his entire world narrowing down to the feel of her in his arms, warm and more than willing.

She wanted him. He should be thrilled to figure that shit out.

But she didn’t want him because she was so overwhelmed with feeling or desire or…

anything except the need to “check out.” He’d had sex for a variety of reasons in the past—and some of those were pretty flimsy—but this was the first time it’d stung to be used for his cock.

He’d wanted more with Callie.

He tangled his fingers in her hair and used that hold to move her back so he could meet those baby blues.

“I’ll help you stop thinking for a while, angel, but we’re doing it on my terms.” She opened her mouth, but he talked right over whatever argument she had ready.

“I’ll give you everything you need and more—but we’re not fucking tonight.

” It felt wrong to term it that way, but if he gave in tonight, that’s exactly what it would be.

Fucking. He’d barely known this woman a week, and he already knew that he wasn’t going to be happy with just sex.

No, he wanted it all.

If they survived this conflict with the Hallorans, he might even get it. But only if he played his cards right.

So he waited for her to work through it, and saw the moment she decided not to fight him on this. She frowned. “You don’t want to have sex with me.”

“On the contrary, I want it a whole hell of a lot. But not like this.”

“You’re a very strange man, Teague O’Malley.” Her frown cleared. “But I’ll agree—on one condition.”

She’d agreed far too easily. He braced himself and asked, “What’s your one condition?”

“You let me take care of you tonight, too.” Her smile had a wicked edge that promised all sorts of pleasure .

“I think we can work something out.” He framed her face with his hands and kissed her, the smallest taste to herald a night he planned to make unforgettable. “Stay with me tonight. I want you in my bed when I wake up.”

She smiled against his lips. “Okay.”

It was a start. He couldn’t ask for more.