“Get in, sweetheart, and don’t come out until your fingers turn to prunes and you’ve no bones left in your body. I’m going to change out the sheets, and there are some things I neglected today because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Just don’t fall asleep, okay?” Miranda nodded and stepped into the tub with a sigh of pleasure.
As she stepped out, she felt revived, and as she applied lotion her body came alive in anticipation. She let out a chuckle that turned into a sigh. How had her body so quickly become sexually alive, she wondered? There had never been a hint of the woman she was in Declan’s bed. Not once in her years of marriage to Michael did she ever look forward to having Michael’s hands on her, let alone sex. Then again, Michael had never seemed to care whether or not she was satisfied. Sex had typically lasted less than five minutes, and she had been grateful for that, not doing anything to entice him for anything other than him coming so he could get off her. While there hadn’t been pain with Michael, which wasn’t really surprising, as he’d been about six inches and not very thick, there had never been any enjoyment either. Several women’s magazines had urged her to find her own satisfaction, but although she had managed to bring herself to an orgasm, she hadn’t once considered finding a man to be the one to do it. There simply wasn’t any appeal to her at all. Empty though her life might have been, she had no desire to change it.
Yet here she was falling over herself to practically move in with someone she barely knew. Who just happened to head the criminal aspect for the IRA in Chicago. Miranda sat down on the closed toilet with a flop when her knees gave way as it all hit her. What would her father think of what she was doing, what she was willing to ignore to be with Declan?
The answer was her father would have loved Declan. Her father would have swooned over each and every thing Declan did to see to her smallest needs. He had been ridiculously old-fashioned and he’d done his best to educate her that the world wasn’t just black and white, there were varying shades of gray. She also remembered distinctly him telling her he’d take a criminal over a cop any day, especially in Chicago. A criminal you knew was dirty, but a cop wasn’t supposed to be, and half the time just as dirty as the people they put in jail. His bitter words had come after he’d paid off a cop not to run Peter in for being found drunk and with weed at only thirteen. Desperate to keep Peter from going into the system, he’d sold her mother’s tiny engagement ring to pay the cop. Her father wouldn’t have blinked at her involvement with Declan for what he did. His only concern would have been over how Declan treated her.
Then there was the help and assistance she’d heard Declan provide to pretty much anyone who asked for it. So he wasn’t all bad, but then again, he wasn’t all good. She sighed. She had to admit, it didn’t matter, nothing mattered to her but being with Declan. It was just that simple and just that complicated.
Miranda opened her small suitcase and found a soft silky black camisole that matched the black silky lounge pants she preferred, and went downstairs, figuring she would begin the second audit, as she wasn’t in the slightest bit sleepy and it was only a little after nine. Now that she knew what she was looking for from the first ledger, it would be easier to see and pin it down in the second. Declan was on the phone when she entered his office, and he smiled when he saw her. She motioned to the desk she’d been using for the audit. He nodded and went back to his conversation. She was settled into the books and engrossed by the time he finished his conversation, and she soon felt his hands on her shoulders.
“Feeling better?” he whispered in her ear as he ran his hands down her arms.
“Yes.” She sighed as he pressed small kisses to the flesh behind her ear.
“I’m glad. Now, I do not want you down here working unless you feel up to it.”
Turning to him, she kissed him at the corner of his mouth. “I feel much better, really. This one shouldn’t take long at all, after knowing what to look for from the other ledger. I know it sounds silly, but I love finding and unraveling the thefts in audits. If I’m in your way, I can take it into the dining room.”
“No, sweetheart, you are not in my way at all. If you want to work then so be it. I do have to step out, but I should be back within the hour.”
“Hmm... are you sure me being here isn’t an inconvenience to you?” she asked hesitantly. “I mean, especially since I’m not able to... you know? Would you rather I went home?”
Declan pulled her up out of the chair, and his hands weren’t as gentle as they had been so far that night. His kiss was savage, hot, and commanding. He was branding her. Her head swam, and her focus was lost when he at last raised his head, his eyes burning amber. “You are mine and you belong with me. Do you understand me? Convenient or not, you aren’t going anywhere. Here is where you belong.”
Miranda shook her head, frightened for a moment at what she had unleashed in him. She sought to soothe him. “I’m sorry, Declan, I didn’t mean it.” Laying her head on his chest and hearing his heart beating fast calmed her. His grip gentled, and she was able to hug him to her. “It was just a question. I don’t want to go.”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I swear I don’t know what comes over me at the thought of you leaving me. I’m sorry, Miranda. Please do not ever apologize to me when I have been a bastard to you.” He hugged her tightly and sighed heavily. “Forgive me for being a bastard, and I will forgive you for asking such a stupid question.”
She pulled away and wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him down to her. “You’re forgiven,” she whispered as
she kissed him.
Gone was the command, leaving only the passion and need that burned her inside out for him. He responded in kind, and they were lost. Only the slam of the heavy front door brought them down. A discreet cough sounded at the door, and she turned her head to see Paul smiling at her.
“I’ll be right out. Give me a minute,” Declan ordered and Paul nodded and left. Declan’s thumb rubbed gently over her bottom lip. “I really am sorry. I’ll work on not being a caveman, but I need you to help by being a good girl and just bowing to my every whim and command. Okay?” His face was straight, and she nodded for a moment until she took it all in, and then she stroked him and found the smallest bit of skin and pinched him hard.
“No more talk of me leaving. That command thing works for us in the bedroom. Outside of that, it will have to be further discussed.”
“Ouch, yes, I deserved it, my bloodthirsty witch. Okay, I better go before Paul leaves without me. I’ll be back in a bit.” With a last kiss, he was gone.
Miranda finished the audit a mere half-hour later, and, left to her own devices, she studied his office with a freedom she had never had before. The walls were lined with beautiful oak bookcases, and the wainscoting below the shelves was covered in a dark chocolate paint that gave the room a feeling of heavy warmth. Books filled the oak bookcases to almost overflowing. There were a few rows of leather-bound books, but for most part it was clear, as she ran her hand over some, that they weren’t simply for show. Titles varied from philosophy, to poetry, and even to the latest thrillers by some popular writers. The titles directly behind his desk seemed to be the ones most worn. Pulling out one with an extremely tattered edge, she saw it was a book on Plato and smiled.
There was so much to Declan that she wanted to know about. He fascinated her, the way spoke so lightly of an economics degree from a top-notch school as if it was fun. She loved the way he seemed so open to talk about everything. Even that first day he hadn’t hidden who he was, he’d told her the truth. As she slid the book back into place, she knew she would love to hear his thoughts on it. She could admit that she just loved to hear him talk. It made her tingle to hear him whisper in her ear in that sexy brogue. She never thought she’d be one of those women into accents, but when he spoke it just made her melt. With a glance at his desk, she was as surprised as she had been that first day at how bare it was. A cordless phone was to the side, and there was an antique desk clock, simple in its design. Besides a basic desk lamp, the only other thing was a laptop.
With a sigh, Miranda forced her thoughts away from the things that he might have done at the desk and laid the paperwork in the middle, along with the one sheet of the details of her findings. Shannon had once again been involved, and another man with the same last name as Ian, which made her wonder if they were family. After Declan’s request for the information on The Black Swan, she included the amount they had likely managed to steal, well over forty thousand. Miranda told herself it was out of her hands, that any men who had been stupid enough to steal from their employers got what they deserved, but it felt bitter on her tongue. No matter that they would have been found out by someone else, the result would have still been the same, but this time it was her who had ensured they were found out and would pay for what they had done.
Walking to the door of Declan’s office, she stared at the front door. She could walk out now, before he got back. She had kept her end of the bargain and given him what he wanted, on more than one level. Miranda had the oddest knowledge that, despite his flash of anger when she spoke of leaving him, if she did, he would let her go. He wouldn’t go after and push her. She was here because she wanted to be, and if she left he would honor her decision. Yet she only turned off the light and, leaving on a lamp for Declan for when he returned, made her way upstairs and got ready for bed. Leaving Declan wasn’t an option, no matter what she might tell herself. Until he told her to leave, she would stay, and she would forget everything about what Declan did, except when it came to her.
Much later that night, she was woken from a deep sleep as Declan removed her nightshirt before fitting her body to his. She sighed with appreciation and went back to sleep.
Chapter Eight
Almost three weeks later, Miranda listened as the mass exodus began at five o’clock. Well, the mass exodus for support people. Most of the accountants would remain for at least another hour, most of them for two. With a longing she hadn’t felt in years, she watched them go, one by one, past her office. Her head turned back to the numbers in front of her, but she didn’t see them. All she saw was the smile on Declan’s face when she walked through the door at night. He had forbidden her from using the El when it was dark, and so at night she would text that she was ready. Most nights it was Mark who picked her up, but sometimes, if she was really lucky, it was Declan. On those occasions, they would go out to dinner and linger over each other’s words until the heat had built so strongly they couldn’t always make it home.
With a snap, Miranda closed her laptop and that was it. She was done. She wanted to go home and be with Declan. If her boss had a problem with it, he could talk about it tomorrow, because for now she just wanted out. As she left her office she got a few looks, but no one said anything, and she let out a sigh of relief as she walked into the sunlight. It was a gorgeous, clear April day, and she considered the bus but decided to walk a bit to the El.
Only a half-hour later, she let herself into the house. It was quiet and she didn’t see anyone. She went upstairs, but Declan wasn’t there either. As she came down the stairs, she saw Mark about to leave through the front door. “Mark, where’s Declan?”