Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Still, she’d done her duty. She had mourned her husband the appropriate amount of time and thought she’d be spared any repercussions for his ill-considered philandering. She’d soon found that wasn’t the case and, since she was tainted goods as far as the clan was concerned, she was unfit for remarriage. The things that she was fit for were all equally unappealing.
If she’d had any ill-conceived notion that she might be allowed to just live out her life as the widow of the Alpha’s son, they had been put to rest the very day she’d seen her husband put in the ground. Her place was clarified for her in no uncertain terms, and the memory of that lesson wouldn’t soon leave her.
It had only been a stroke of luck that the Alpha deemed her worthy of a task that might offer a solution for both of them. He saw it as a way of saving face, though she doubted anyone thought his son’s demise had any bearing on either him or her. She saw it as a way of finally being free of the shame and the violence that she knew would befall her tenfold more if she didn’t escape the monsters Sean had left her behind to face.
Thus, here she was in the States, compounding her problems with the likes of Olcan McNally. She closed her eyes and imagined him touching her softly. He’d been rough with her at times, but she’d enjoyed it, and somehow, she felt him capable of being tender, if he wanted to be. A shiver scattered down her spine as her body reacted to his invisible touch, and the longing for him only grew deeper.
CHAPTER SIX
Olcan
HE COULDN’T SLEEP. He’d been pacing like a caged animal all afternoon and well into the evening. Now, he lay in his bed, wide awake. She clouded his thoughts, ate at his brain. Every thought of her resulted in his getting so hard he could fuck his way through a brick wall. He wanted to cross the street and take her again . . . and again.
What the fuck had he done? He still didn’t even know who she was. He wasn’t even sure how it had happened. One minute she was dropping off food, and the next, he was on her. It was if something had taken over his good senses and pushed his primal needs to the forefront, making them the only thing that was important to him at that moment.
Morning was brutal. All he could think about was her. He had to get out, away from her, away from her scent. He glanced at his phone as it rang, noting the caller ID. It was about time.
“Decided to finally call me back, James?” he growled into the phone.
“Hey, sorry about that, Olcan. I’ve been a bit busy out here. What’s up?”
“What’s up? Did you forget to tell me something?”
“I, um, oh. You mean the girl.”
“Yeah. The girl.”
“Sorry, man. I just didn’t think about it. I take it you’ve seen her.”
“You could say that.”
“Well, then I guess it’s covered,” James said, followed by a nervous chortle of sorts.
“No. It’s not covered. You left a stranger in your house without telling me. You know how I feel about people in this neighborhood without proper vetting.”
“We vetted her. My business associate, Liam Donnelly, recommended her to housesit for us. I’ve known him for years. He played golf with her husband and gave her a job as a clerk for his firm last summer.”
“She’s married? Where is her husband?”
“Nowhere. He died. That’s why she’s here. Liam said she was a good girl who just needed a change of scenery, so I am letting her watch the house and the dog while we’re gone. It’s not a big deal, and it’s our house. We can damn well do as we please, Olcan,” James squeaked at him.
“Can you, James?” Olcan growled.
There was silence on the other end for a few moments before James spoke again. This time his voice was soft and more reverent.
“Did you need to know anything else?”
“No. That’s all for now,” Olcan replied, ending the call without waiting for any further discourse.
He pondered what James had said for a moment, feeling what might be a twinge of guilt at how he had dismissed her from his bed. It wasn’t an emotion he felt very often. It didn’t help that he still felt the pull toward her. He had to get out of there.
Grabbing his keys, he went to the garage, hopping into the black Charger parked there. He pushed the button to open the garage and backed out onto the street, quickly roaring out of the neighborhood, hoping he didn’t see her along the way.
Twenty minutes later, he was parked in Fergus and Eimear’s driveway and heading up their walkway. Fergus met him at the door with a look of surprise. It quickly turned to concern when he saw Olcan’s expression.