His face drooped in that sympathetic frown he puts on, and his arms spread out wide.
They practically had to push me into the chilly breeze out the back of the car. I didn’t want to go anywhere near Jack or his spooky old house.
Jack stands in the big doorway now, stretches his arms out for Liam O’Malley.
Liam lopes up the steps, prowling like a big cat. He has a glow, a magnetic energy. He’s as big as a bear, but he moves with power, like a king.
As soon as he’s in the doorway, there’s a change in the air. A charge. I’m trying to get myself out of the way, but his pale blue eyes catch mine and lock.
My stomach drops. My breath turns thick and solid, and I’m rooted to the spot. A faint shock of the dark, musky scent of him makes me squirm. I’m hot and breathless.
Jack greets him. Liam’s face is like granite. Jack says, “It’s a great pleasure, Liam.”
Jack can put it on. If you didn’t know him, you’d think he meant it.
While he slaps Liam O’Malley’s back and pumps his hand, without even turning to look at me, he says, “Tegan, bring us a bottle of the finest malt and some snacks. Down into the den.”
Liam’s eye glints straight past him and wanders over me, stroking every inch of me. From my feet all the way to my eyes, then slowly all the way back.
I feel like I’m being unwrapped.
He pauses on my face and twinkles with a look that’s like, Well, hello! before he allows Jack to guide him to the wide, carpeted stairs.
My tits are perky and my panties are drenched. And my buds are all swollen and buzzing. All three.
“If it’s a girl you want,” Jack is telling Liam, “Just say. Tell me whatever you have a craving for. Not Tegan, though. Look all you like at our little mousey there, but don’t touch. Tegan is family. Well, she’s adopted. So hands off.” He touches Liam’s arm. “Besides, I have plans for her.”
Liam stops dead and looks down at Jack’s hand on his forearm, then back up into Jack’s face.
Jack snatches his hand away like it’s scalded. Liam turns slowly to look back at me. His pale eyes are hard. They shine like diamonds. The two men turn the corner.
I quiver inside and melt.
He’s more than twice my age and he looks like he could eat me alive. I try to tell myself that would be terrible.
If I was still a practicing Catholic girl, I know that I’d be going straight to Hell for the thoughts I’m having. They’re beyond sinful.
Or just for how filthy wet my panties are now. They make it hard for me to walk back to the kitchen.
With the loaded tray, I’m crossing the hallway when I catch sight of Aaron, Jack’s eldest, slipping through a door. The sight of him sets me on edge.
Glasses rattle on the tray as I take it into the den. Liam O’Malley gives my over-stuffed assets another slow once-over.
The two men sprawl in the big armchairs. Liam looks into my eyes with a respectful and courteous nod. I’m not used to chivalry. Dimples poke in his cheeks.
Jack tells Liam, “Tegan is a stray we took in. Out of kindness. But she’s a lucky girl. She’s destined to marry my favored son, Aaron.”
Liam watches me. I return his gaze as steadily as I can. Inside I’m trembling.
Liam’s voice scrapes and drawls. “Maybe Tegan can make up her own mind.”
The glasses rattle again as I set the tray on Jack’s carved table.
I serve Liam his drink, and I try to return his gaze. I study him, head to foot and back. Like he did with me. My visual tour of his body gets stopped at his pants. A huge ridge lifts and slowly bulges, pointing at me.
A jolt shakes me deep inside.
I don’t dare look at Jack. And I can’t keep staring at the front of Liam’s pants. It twitches again. My feet shuffle and I stumble.
The whiskey I’m serving Liam splashes out of the tumbler and all over his pants. I reach for a white linen napkin to wipe him before I realize what a bad idea that is. Still hot, flustered and befuddled, I limply hand him the napkin.
While I shakinly pour Laim another shot, Jack laughs.
“You see? She really is a rescue pet. But we’ll nurse her into shape.” And he tells me, “Thanks, Tegan. Leave the glasses and the tray. You’d best head back to the kitchen. You’ll be safer.” His laugh erupts again. “We all will, too.”
Liam’s eyes have not left me once.
Fumbling with the door, I almost stumble again, struggling to get myself out of there.
I hurry back to the cold, sterile kitchen.
Annoyed with myself, I lean against the kitchen counter for breath. I shouldn’t beat myself up about how my body responds—it’s just the effects of excitable hormones. Chemical fireworks and fizzes—it’s physical. Nobody can help that.