House Calls: Callaghan Brothers, Book 3 (12 page)

In response she hummed against him, half-purr, half-moan.  It sounded so wonderful he interpreted it as a good thing.  Clearly she had not regained her ability to speak yet, and he took great pleasure in that.  Instead, she flexed her sheath around him, a gentle but firm squeeze.  A surge of pure male satisfaction ran through him.

When he felt strong enough, he bundled her up in the comforter.  As he lifted her from the bed his heart clenched, for there, upon the sheets, was evidence of the innocence he had just unknowingly shattered.

“Maggie, why didn’t you tell me?”  Christ, he should have known.  He was a doctor, for God’s sake.  And he’d ravaged her like a beast.

S
he looked deep into his eyes. “I needed you, Michael.  All of you.”

“But, Christ, Maggie –“

She put a finger to his lips.  “I’ve been waiting a long time, Michael, dreaming of what it would be like.  You made it real for me.  You made it better than anything I ever could have imagined.”

If he hadn’t already lost his heart and soul to her, he would have in that moment.  Unable to reply with words, he kissed her deeply, passionately, with the certain knowledge that he would never be the same again.  He carried her back downstairs to the warmth of the fire.  For a long while they just laid there, neither saying a word.  Maggie’s warm, sated body pressed against his, her arm over his chest, one leg crossed over his thigh.  His hand moved lazily up and down her back.  He couldn’t remember ever feeling this content, this satisfied, this awed. 

Now that he was coming back down from those incredible heights, regaining some semblance of rational thought, he tried to make sense of it.  His analytical mind set to work, and the first question that came to mind was, what the hell just happened?  The second was – why?

What happened?  That one was relatively easy.  He’d just had the most amazing sex of his entire life with a woman who had given him the gift of her innocence.  Why?  Well, that one was a bit harder.

Yes, Maggie was beautiful.  She was soft and feminine, generally shy (the last two hours notwithstanding).  He found her to be smart and witty, funny, resourceful, and passionate.  Slightly clumsy, perhaps, but in his eyes, that only added to her charm.  All very attractive things, to be sure.  And Michael was a fit, healthy man.  It was only natural he’d want to be with her, right?

Except that Michael had been with smart, funny, beautiful women before.  He’d even had virgins.  None of them had ever made him feel like
she
had.  None had ever made him lose control like that, or brought him even close to the point of neglecting protection.  None had brought him to his mental and emotional knees by screaming his name in the throes of passion.  And, he thought, as he curled his body protectively around hers – not one had ever filled him with such a strong need to protect and possess.

Unlike much of his family, Michael tended to be on the quiet side, more apt to think a situation through thoroughly before acting on impulse.  He was probably the least likely to jump in bed with a woman he just met, or to exhibit what he often half- jokingly called their innate caveman tendencies.  Except here he was.  He had barely known Maggie less than forty-eight hours.  And God help any man who even thought about looking at her.

He believed he already knew the answer.  Like two of his brothers before him, he had found his
croie
.  His heart.  His perfect woman.  His soul mate.

Maggie let out a little protest in her sleep, rousing him from his thoughts and making him realize he was clutching her too tightly.  He forced himself to relax his hold, and was rewarded with a soft little sigh as she burrowed into him further.  For some reason, that simple action-reaction seemed incredibly profound.

Michael closed his eyes and let himself soak in the feel of her naked skin against his.  As he finally drifted off, he couldn’t help but think that there was no place in the world he would rather be.

* * *

I
t was insane, that’s what it was.  Maggie drank in the sight of the beautiful man beside her, his large hand clasped possessively over her hip.  His other arm sat beneath her cheek, serving as the most wonderful, warm pillow.  In sleep, his face had an angelic quality, as if it had been carved by skilled, inhuman hands.  A hint of dark shadow dusted his jawline, lending him a slightly dangerous air.

As gorgeous as he was, if anyone had told her she would jump in bed with a man she just met she would have dismissed them as a few bricks shy of a load.  That wasn’t her.  Maggie was solid, cautious, almost prudish.  A good Irish girl, clever and self-sufficient, unwilling to lower her standards for the sake of a little male company. 

But look at her now.  Forty-eight hours after meeting him, here she was, buck-naked beneath the comforters, shamelessly pressing herself against him, one leg bent and resting atop his hip as though in open invitation to slide himself deep inside her once again.  The thought gave her a shiver, even as her sex still wept with their combined releases.  God help her, she could summon none of the shame she should be feeling, only the potent desire to have him again.

Her hand traced upward from his forearm along his formidable biceps, hard even in the midst of sleep; over his broad shoulder, dipping down to his neck.  Here she paused, feeling the strong, steady pulse beneath her fingertips.  The rhythm carried through into her own body, coaxing her heart to beat in the same tempo.

With no other movement to indicate he was awake, Michael opened his lids.  His eyes were so lovely, so deep and filled with enough power to steal her breath away. 

“Michael.”  She whispered his name as she cupped his cheek.  He caught her hand with his own and turned his head to lay a kiss on her palm.

“Yes, sweet?”  His voice was husky and deep.  She wondered if it was always like this in the morning, or only after nights filled with passion.  She would give just about anything to find out.

* * *

S
o much was going on behind those eyes.  He watched, fascinated as they sparkled and lost focus, only to return with even more strength than they had before.  He waited patiently, content to memorize the feminine contours of her face as she lay warm and soft in his arms, but there were no words that either of them could say, nothing that could accurately express the depth of what was happening between them.

“I know,” he whispered as his thumb caressed her cheek tenderly.  She had given him such a tremendous gift.  He wished he could tell her how much it had meant to him, how she had crawled into his heart and soul, but he could not find the words.  Instead, he kissed her forehead and pulled her to him.

She sighed and burrowed into him again, and he knew she understood.

––––––––

T
he storm lasted for three days.  When all was said and done, nearly thirty-six inches had been recorded officially, though it was not uncommon to find drifts that topped the six and seven foot marks.  Highways had been shut down, airports were closed, and most of the northeastern United States had been declared a disaster area.  But in one isolated farmhouse, Michael Callaghan and Maggie Flynn remained blissfully apart from all of it.

They spent long, luscious hours making love.  They heated water over the fire and gave each other erotic sponge baths by candlelight.  Toasted sandwiches and roasted marshmallows on sticks.  Ate canned brandied peaches off of each other.  Made love some more.  When the wind finally died down and the snow stopped falling, neither of them was particularly pleased. 

Michael dug out his truck, but while the roads in town were reported passable, the mountain roads were in no shape to drive.  He was quite happy staying right where he was, but Ian’s increasingly aggressive texts insisted they all had to attend the final tux fittings, making it clear that those were Lexi’s orders, not his.  Maggie, unfortunately, agreed.

Now they were awaiting the Humvee, and Michael was making the most of every last moment by holding her in his lap in the big picture window seat.  He hadn’t even left yet and he was already trying to figure out how quickly he could get back to her.

“When will I see you again?” she asked, mirroring his thoughts.

Michael pulled her into his arms, devouring her mouth with his own.  “Not soon enough,” he growled.  “Sure you won’t come back with me?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” 

It wasn’t the first time he had asked.  She had explained that she needed to stay at the farm, to keep the fire going so the ancient pipes wouldn’t freeze.  Plus there was George to think of.  She couldn’t leave him alone in this weather with the power expected to be out for a few more days at least.  They had debated back and forth, but Michael discovered that Maggie, while soft-spoken, was every bit as stubborn as he was.

“Maybe I should stay,” he said, hesitating.  “At least till the power comes back on.”

“No,” she told him firmly.  “You need to be there for your brother.  This isn’t just about tuxes, you know.”  He arched a brow at her, wondering at the certainty with which she spoke.  “Besides,” she continued, “I can always just fire up the generator if I need to.”

Michael’s jaw dropped open. “You have a generator?  Why didn’t you say something?”

She gave him a slow smile, one that had him hardening again, despite the fact that physiologically speaking, he should be sated for days.  Apparently his vast medical knowledge of human anatomical needs had not quite made it down to his penis.

“Because you are one gorgeous, sexy man,” she said, pressing her palms against his chest, flexing her fingers just slightly like a cat curling her claws.  “But by candlelight, you are a god.”

Michael felt the familiar warmth spread through him.  Jesus, his toes actually
tingled
.  He groaned.  “You are a wicked woman, Maggie Flynn,” he lamented.  “I have half a mind to carry you back in there and –“

* * *

M
aggie leaned into him and pressed her lips to his, effectively putting an end to his description of exactly what he was going to do, and it was a good thing, too.  Over the last few days Maggie discovered just how explicit and descriptive the good doctor could be.

“I think your brothers are here.”  Michael cursed under his breath in Irish.  Maggie wasn’t quite sure what he said, but she’d heard her grandfather utter something similar enough times to get the gist.

Through the frosted window, they watched as the powerful H2 pushed through the snow, the V-shaped plow mounted in the front making a clean path down the long lane to the house.  Maggie heard the earsplitting thump of bass well before they drew close.  Michael shook his head, but smiled.

Michael identified each one as they became visible.  Ian was the first to pop out, followed by Kieran, Sean, Shane, Jake, and Kane.  Dressed in black coveralls from head to toe, they looked more like a black ops team from Call of Duty than a bunch of brothers heading for a tux fitting.  Maggie said so jokingly to Michael, but he barely cracked a smile.  When his eyes met hers, the intensity shocked her.

“That is the last time you drive the Hummer,” Sean was saying vehemently, clutching his stomach as they moved en masse toward the house, but even Maggie could see that he was hamming it up.   

“True that,” his twin, Shane agreed. 

Kieran roared with laughter, a smile on his boyish face so bright it would have been blinding had the snow not been so gleamingly white.  The three others – who look slightly older and mature – just shook their heads.  It was clear to see the blizzard had been nothing but an excuse for them to get out their big toys and have some fun.

“Mick!”  The shout was accompanied by an insistent pounding on the front door.  “Come out, come out wherever you are!”  Another round of laughter reached them inside.  George, coaxed from his doggie bed in curiosity, now ducked his head behind the couch.

Michael opened the door with a look of complete martyrdom.  “Jesus, grow up, will you?”

It only made them grin wider.  Maggie shrank back a little.  The closer they got to the door, the more apparent the size of them became.  Grinning boys in the bodies of massive men, all with the trademark jet black Callaghan hair and blue eyes.  She wondered absently if her old porch could possibly withstand the weight of them all without collapsing.

“Come on, Mick.  Invite us in.  Where is she?” 

“Yeah, we want to meet her.”

“Fuck off.”  He slammed the door in their faces and looked at Maggie apologetically, whose expression must have been somewhere between amused and terrified.  “Sorry about this.  I didn’t know they were
all
coming.”

“They’re... um ...”  Words failed her.  Big, loud, gorgeous, forces of nature – those might have scratched the surface of her initial impressions.  They hadn’t seemed quite so – intense – when they were sitting down and behaving themselves in the Pub (of course, the several shots she’d had that night in the midst of her performance anxiety probably skewed her perception a wee bit).

“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”  He leaned down and gave her a tender kiss that had the blood surging through her veins.  How did he do that?  “I’ll call you, okay?”

“Okay.”  The word came out sounding breathy, making him smile as a familiar heat filled his eyes.  She loved that look, and wished fervently he could stick around to see it through.

Maggie rested her back against the door as it closed behind him, listening to the good-natured ribbing Michael was taking, her cheeks blushing on his behalf.  When she heard the Hummer start up again, she slid down to the floor and gave George a reassuring rub along the back of his neck.

The sudden knock startled her so much she unintentionally pulled George’s ear, making him yelp.  She rose slowly and opened the door a crack.  A glance up the driveway revealed Michael being physically held back by five of his brothers.  One striking blue eye of the sixth was looking through the small opening at her now.

This one had eyes just like Michael, as well as the same lopsided grin.  He held out a small envelope, made even smaller by the sheer size of the man who wielded it.  Dear Lord, she wondered, were they all this big?