Page 22 of The Twins

Finn laughed. “Hey, come on, bro, we’ve got somewhere to be, don’t waste time with these losers.”

“Cillian,” I called. “Please.”

After a quick glance at the guys hovering around their fallen mate, he headed my way. “Sorry about that,” he said. “But you should know that from now on, anyone who disrespects you can expect to hit the deck.”

Chapter Six

Rebecca

I didn’t condone violence, never had, but it was clear in Cillian’s and Finn’s world there was a place for it. A pretty big place.

“So what type of martial arts do you do?” I asked as we made our way along my street. My heart was still beating fast, and I clenched my hands to stop them shaking.

“Mixed,” Cillian said.

“What does that mean?”

“It’s kind of like boxing and wrestling but you can throw in judo, kickboxing, karate, a bit of everything really…mixed disciplines like it states.”

“I see.” I paused and took a deep breath of cool air. “And how long have you being doing that?”

“Martial arts, since we were about seven.”

“That’s young.”

“Yeah, with no da around we were getting picked on at school. Kids can be cruel, right.”

I nodded.

“So,” Cillian carried on. “Our ma enrolled us in a junior karate class at the local town hall.”

“We loved it,” Finn said. “We weren’t poor little Cillian and Finn Sullivan in the dojo, that’s the name of a karate school, we wore belts that signified our skill and rank, we were soon representing the club in county competitions and winning. The bullying stopped.Finito.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“And by the time we reached senior school,” Finn went on, “we’d got into kickboxing and taekwondo, too. After that,mixed martial arts, full-on combat, was the next step, and we dived in as soon as we were eighteen.”

“And it’s been your life ever since?”

“Pretty much.” Finn shrugged. “A few side hustles to help things along, if you know what I mean.”

I laughed. “No, I don’t know and I’m not sure I want to right now.” I stopped and pointed to my shiny black front door. “This is me.”

“Ah, we’ve arrived sooner than I’d hoped.” Cillian touched my hair, moving it over my shoulder.

“Why is that?”

“I was enjoying listening to you talk.”

“You’ve listened to me all evening.”

“And I could listen to you all night.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “Though there won’t be quite as much talking involved when we get upstairs.”

Finn moved in behind me, pressing close, his long, lean body hard against mine. “We’re gonna make it so fucking good for you,” he murmured and pulled my hair back over my shoulder, tucking it behind my ear so he could speak into it. “Real fucking good.”

“I’m not…I don’t know and—” A shiver of longing lingered where his breath heated my skin.

Cillian cupped my face in his hands and set his lips over mine. It was an assertive, assured kiss, and as his tongue probed, he tilted his head to deepen our connection.