Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 81504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Every room in the Craic has an entrance and exit for safety’s sake. He’ll be back any minute, and when he realizes I’m gone, he’ll search for me.
My conscience pricks me a little. I hope he doesn’t think anything happened to me.
He’ll be angry when I go to him tonight. He might even punish me a second time.
But make-up sex is the best damn sex, and I won’t let a big, burly man like Tully have the final say with me. Not now, not ever.
My body still trembles at the memory of the proper belting he gave me, and my arse cheeks clench at the thought of round two. Will he punish me?
I hope so.
It’s hard for a girl like me to admit I like how he is, so heavy-handed and bossy and damn near domineering. Women like me shouldn’t want a man like him.
I’m Oxford-educated with a double master’s degree. A schoolteacher at St. Albert’s, in charge of educating the McCarthy Clan boys. If I don’t have my nose in a book, I’m pecking away at my laptop, writing my epically-long fantasy novel that may really never be published.
I should be with a man who wears wire-rimmed glasses and recites poetry, not a cigar-smoking man twelve years my senior with silver at his temples and the devil in his eyes, covered in ink, scars bearing testament to the hardened life he’s led.
And yet… when I met Tully…
I shake my head and quickly hail a cab to take me back to his place. He’ll make it back eventually, and when he does, he’ll find me naked in his bed. I grin to myself. I don’t know what it is about Tully, but he brings out the most outrageous sides of me I never knew existed.
The taxi swings round to the front, and just before I duck inside, I hear my name.
“McKenna?”
Jesus, no.
I look up to see Cormac’s Aileen staring at me. She’s holding the door handle of a sleek black car, one of the fleet the McCarthys use.
“Where are you going?” she asks, tipping her head to the side. A pretty blonde, she’s married to Cormac McCarthy, the co-leader of the McCarthy Clan. As wife to Cormac, she’s nearly royalty herself.
I hold my finger to my lips. “Shhh,” I say. “I’ve got a bit of a surprise for Tully.”
She looks at me, abashed. “You can’t do that,” she whispers. “He thinks something’s happened, lass. He’s alerted nearly the whole damn clan. They’re looking for you now.”
Oh, God. I didn’t mean to take it that far. I wince.
“Oh no. I’m terribly sorry about that,” I say. “It was only part of the game, you see—he’ll understand.”
She shakes her head. “You can’t play games like that, McKenna. The men of the Clan…” Her voice trails off and she repeats herself. “You can’t.”
The quickest way to get me to dig my heels in is to tell me I can’t do something.
My temper rises.
“Can’t I? And I’m not sure it’s any of your business.”
I like her, but she’s butting in where her arse doesn’t belong. But Aileen’s no pushover.
“Aye,” she says, her own temper flashing. “You don’t play with the men of the Clan, McKenna, or you’ll get burnt. They won’t tolerate it.”
“I’m well aware of what the McCarthy men will and will not tolerate,” I say, glaring right back at her.
“Are you, now?”
“Aileen?”
Jesus, it’s Cormac behind her. I make up my mind. I heave myself into the taxi and slam the door. Thankfully, this is a taxi meant for transportation, large and roomy inside for one to put luggage or the shopping. There’s a privacy screen between the driver and me, so I lean in and give him Tully’s address. Tully’s never brought me to his place, but it was easy enough to find his address at school.
“Right-o,” he says, pulling into the main section. I lean back against the seat and breathe out.
Will Tully be angry at me? I tell myself he likes playing these games with me.
Doesn’t he?
He loves when I disobey him and give him reason to exert his authority and strength over me, to dominate me.
To be honest, I can’t even remember why we fought last time, there’s the interesting part of it all. You’d think it’d be something big, but unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at the situation, with the two of us it’s rarely anything of importance. A little misunderstanding. A hasty word. Two stubborn souls too proud to admit wrong.
I sigh, and shake my head.
Tully lives up by the McCarthy family mansion on the craggy cliffs of Ballyhock, overlooking the Irish Sea. Those related to the Clan by blood often live at the mansion itself, but the other members live nearby in houses built for this purpose.
The McCarthys believe that nearness and the strength of family solidify them, and they’re not wrong. All are within a few minutes’ walk to the main house.