Page 17

CHAPTER 17

F i braced her forearms on Patrick’s chest and grinned down at him. His face was more relaxed than she’d ever seen, and the soft glow in his eyes was solely for her. The rhythmic stroking of his fingers along her spine caused her blood to thrum through her veins and amorous feelings to build again. After the ride they’d shared, she wasn’t certain once would be enough.

“I’m beginning to like it here,” she confessed. “With the exception of my worry for Tadhg, I could spend every day trading stories, stealing the tastiest bits of food, and licking Belgian chocolate off your skin.”

She felt his chuckle in her sternum, and when he lovingly brushed back her sweat-dampened hair, all her insides turned to goo. It had become a habitual gesture of his, and she was growing fond of the feeling his absent-minded action created.

“And I’d treasure each of those days if we had them,” he assured her.

Noah, practical and work-minded as he was, would never say something so sweet in return. He’d have laughed off her fantasy, smacked her bare arse, and told her he had to place an order for the pub.

But Patrick was proving to be a dreamer, like her. Sure, it wasn’t practical for two dreamers to coexist, but it did lend to romance in place of practicality. And Fi desperately longed for some in her mundane life.

“You’ve a beautiful soul, Patrick O’Malley,” she whispered past her thickening throat.

His blissful expression morphed into a troubled one. “Your heart is too soft, love. I’m not worthy of your praise, but damned if I’m not honored by it, all the same.”

“Why do you think you don’t deserve it? You’ve been kind to my parents, determined to help me find Tadhg, and even when you’re cross, you are gentle and considerate.” She traced his frowning brow with her finger, attempting to smooth it. “Yeah, you’re a bear when riled, but it doesn’t last.”

“It doesn’t last with you ,” he corrected. “Ask anyone else, and they’ll tell you I’m a right proper bastard.”

“I don’t believe it. Your family holds you in high regard. Their respect for you is endless.”

He smiled, soft and sweet. “My children are my blessing. And maybe my curse.” He laughed at her gasp. “Cian, he’s always looking for mischief, or he was as a child. Carrick is my quiet one. Fell in love with his forever mate when he was but a young boy.” Patrick resumed stroking Fi’s back. “Bridget, now, she’s as fierce as they come. She’s been in love with the neighbor boy, Ruairí, for as long as I can remember. In as much as I hate he’s an O’Connor, he’s probably the one good thing to come from that horrid family.”

“And your twins?”

“I didn’t get to know them well. I went out for a pack of fags, and on my return home, I was captured by Loman O’Connor. He kept me caged for years, and when I escaped, my family wasn’t my own.”

“What does that mean? They had to be worried about you?”

“They seemed to be thriving under Bridget’s care, and I wasn’t in my right mind, able to raise the twins.”

“Where did you go?”

“I lived the life of a traveler for a bit. Trying to learn tricks for when I sought revenge on Loman.”

“What happened to ya?”

“I lost myself for a time, and I could never get the better of that gobshite. It became my obsession.” Patrick sighed, shifted her, and rolled to a sitting position. His legs were bent, tenting the sheet but leaving his slim hip bare, and he leaned forward, draping his arms over his knees. With seemingly unseeing eyes, he stared at his palms as if they’d somehow failed him. “I wanted so badly to kill him, Fi. So fucking badly. But he won, time and again.”

He met her gaze, and his was so damned tortured that her heart spasmed.

“How does a mere mortal win against someone who possesses unimaginable power? Against a fucking evil so great they can’t comprehend the depths of depravity their enemy will sink to?”

“He sounds horrible.”

“Aye. He was. And my youngest has tied her future to the man’s son.” Patrick balled his fists. “Sure, and you say I’ve a beautiful soul, but I’d rip him from her life if I could. He’ll destroy her one day. Like his father did Rose.”

“Rose?”

“Loman sought to tempt her away, and he succeeded.” He scoffed and shook his head. “One more strike against the hated O’Malleys.”

“But surely she had to know he was using her? How does a woman fall for her husband’s sworn enemy?”

“The sworn enemy pretends to be someone he’s not to gain her trust.” Patrick scrubbed a hand over the back of his head as if to rub away his frustration. “Ronan did the same to Dubheasa. The man has a greater power than his father, and he lives amongst us. If he stays true to the O’Connor form, he’ll take down the entire O’Malley clan.”

Faced with such a dilemma as his, Fi could well understand why Patrick was distrustful.

“Tadhg told me Ronan was the one to stop his da. That he, along with a Traveler and two Death Dealers, finally ended his reign of terror for good.” Fi rubbed Patrick’s back, hoping to reassure him. “Maybe he’s the opposite of Loman. He’s got to be good if your daughter sees something in him, yeah?”

“I don’t know.”

“The O’Malley family members I’ve met don’t suffer fools. I think they have you to thank for that, Paddy O.”

He snorted at her new nickname for him.

“I’m trying endearments on for size,” she said with a grin.

His impossibly green eyes burned bright as he locked gazes with her. “Endearments are for lovers who have strong emotions for one another. Are you telling me you’ve developed feelings for me, Fionola Bohannon?”

Never breaking eye contact, she rose to her knees and clasped his face between her hands. “And what if I am?”

“I’d say you could do far better than the likes of me, love.”

“And what is ‘love’ if not an endearment?”

His lips twitched an instant before his knee-weakening grin broke free. “Oh, aye, it’s an endearment, to be sure.”

“What if I said you could do far better than the likes of me?” she returned.

“I’d tell ya true it will never happen. Not in this lifetime or the next.” He reached for her, tumbling her back onto the bed and triggering her happy laughter. For one heart-stopping, poignant moment, he stared down at her, and Fi was able to see his naked longing. It called to her soul, leaving it raw and aching to bond with his. To become true soulmates. She was beginning to suspect Patrick O’Malley was her twin flame.

“This is real,” she assured him, remembering his comment about never being certain if his situation was made up or if it was reality.

“I’d like to think so, or I’m going to wake up and find a helluva sticky mess coating the sheets.”