The O'Malley Brides (12 page)

“What kind of trouble?” Dell asked, beginning to really worry about Tess.

“The kind of trouble that will probably end with her over my knee getting the spanking of her life,
Delbert
,” Rory answered
truthfully
.

“I believe that would be police brutality,” Dell informed him,
shocked
.

“No, I will not be spanking Ms. Martinez in any professional capacity.  It will simply be a man, taking the woman he loves in hand.  Now where did you drop Tess off?”

“At the bus station,” Dell answered, still stunned a
t the turn of this conversation,
“and no, I didn’t see what bus she got on.”

“Thank you
,
Delbert,” Rory replied as he turned to walk away. 
Halfway back to his car, he called back over his shoulder.

“If you’re planning to date my sister, you might want to remember this conversation.”

“I have no intention of furthering my acquaintance with Ms. O’Malley,” Dell called back stiffly.  He could have sworn he heard Detective O’Malley laugh.

Damn
,
Rory thou
ght as he drove away.  Great de
t
ect
ive I am, I can’t find one small woman in this town.  Picking up his cell
phone
he called his best friend on the force.

“Anything
,
John?”

“As a matter of fact
,
I’m following your little girl right now.  I just happened to get a glimpse of her at the bus station. At first I couldn’t figure out where she was going, but I’m about a block and a half behind her and I think she’d heading to the pub.  It’s not a g
ood area for her to be walking
alone at night
, B
ro. 
Want me to catch her?”

“No,” Rory answered.  “Just keep an eye one her and make sure she gets in safely.  I have other plans for her.  Call me and let me know how she enters.  The pub is closed on Monday’s so I want to know if she has a key or what.”

“No problem,” John answered ending the call.

Ten minutes later Rory’s cell rang.
 
“Bro
,
she went up an outside stairway and let herself in the door.  I watched for lights but didn’t see any, must have some heavy duty black out shades or she has the eyes of a cat.  You want me to hang around? 
Are y
ou heading this way?”

“No
,
buddy,
thanks.  G
o
on home.  She’s safe there for the night.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want.  See you tomorrow.”

Rory headed downtown and cruised slowly past the pub several times, trying to decide the best course of ac
tion.  He wasn’t used to second-
guessing himself and his first instinct had been to beat down the door and take her home with him for some serious conversation.
His hand was aching to have
an
up close and personal talk with her beautiful ass but he wasn’t sure about the wisdom of that tonight.  This was no time to make a tactical error.  He was in it for the long haul and she had already run from him.  Thankfully, she hadn’t gone far, but she could have.   For the time being she was in town, in a safe place.  Until he found out exactly what was going on in her head, he had to be careful.  Sure
,
physically he could cart her out of there, take her home and show her why running away from him was not a good idea.  He could take her silky little body to his bed and
force her submission in a hundred subtle ways.  But Rory wanted more than that.  He wanted her to come to him on her own.  At least that was the plan.  Whether he could hold out that long remained to be seen.  One thing he did know, once he made her truly his, once he had buried himself balls deep inside her hot little body, he was never going to be able to let her go.  Kidnapping and
imprisonment
would not look good on his record
,
he thought with a grimace.  Damn
,
that girl had him tied up in knots. 

Didn’t it just figure that the first woman he really fell in love with, wanted to marry, would also be the
one that wasn’t throwing her body
all over him.  Gorgeous woman had been after him most of his adult
life and if truth be told, a good part
of his adolescence. 
Tall, leggy blondes,
sensuous
brunettes
, smart women, women with money, waitresses and lawyers, it didn’t matter.  Christ, most of
Maggie’s
friends had made a play for him at one time or another, and some of Colleen
’
s too.  Some he had taken up on their generous offers, he was only human, but no one touched his heart.  Until Tess, sex was recreational
which was fine with him.  No ties, no promises had always been his motto.  He had no intention of leaving broken hearts in his wake and would purposely stay away from women he felt would become too attached. 
Settling down had not be
en
high on his list of
priorities. His
parents had plenty of grandchildren, he enjoyed his work and never lacked for company, both family and friends. 

The
n he met Tess.  Something ca
me over him that night.
He had gone back to the park three nights in a row to check on her.  He couldn’t stop thinking about her, worrying about her.  It was inconceivable that she was still defying him after two warnings. 
He had never spanked a complete stranger in his
life but for some reason it
seemed totally natural to upend her over his knee.  His protective instincts amazed him where
she was concerned.  It was as though
his mind immediately recognized her as family.  The little spitfire had tugged at his heart from day one
,
becoming more important to him with each passing day. 
Now, he had to have her.  He could not imagine a life without her.  She was as necessary to him as air.

He would wait, he decided.  He would be patient.  He would give her time to make up her mind and
come to him, and if she didn’t,
well,
then he would
take her.

Tess left the lights off and peeped
out of the window.  She saw
the man following her and cursed the heels she was wearing.  There was no way she could outrun him.  He stayed about a half a block behind her, never getting any closer, matching his steps to hers.  Fear choked her and she was almost certain she would not be able to scream even if there had been someone to hear her.  Why had she left the safest place she’d ever known?  The O’Malley home was full of light and l
aughter and yet she fled.  Ra
n away like a child.  No wonder
Rory treated her as though she was
five years old
,
l
ook how she
had
act
ed.  Most women would give their eye teeth to have a man like Rory O’Malley pursuing them.  In his arms
,
she felt more alive than ever before.  So what if he took
control, obviously her body liked it.  She never ca
me so hard and fast in her life and not once
,
but twice.  Tess had no doubt it was not a freak t
hing.
Just thinking about it
made
her
panties wet and
set
her knees shaking.
  She
wanted him to finish, wanted him to take her.  He was the one who remained firm.  If it had been up to her they would probably still be in that bed, she thought sighing.  Oh
,
wher
e was a cop when you needed one?
  That man was still outside, across the street in the dark, talking on his phone. 

Tess rechecked the locks and got a soda from the fridge.  Peeking back out the window she saw the man had moved on.  A dark car drove slowly by and Tess shivered.  It l
ooked like the same car that
followed her to the bus station.  Letting the shade drop back
,
Tess kicked off her shoes and climbed into bed fully dressed. 
It couldn’t have been Rory in that car.  Rory would have marched upstairs and pounded on the door until she answered.  Tess had a pretty good idea what
else he would have done too, and a
t this point she wished
he had
.  Taking a spanking would have been better than shivering alone in the dark.  Oh
, she was such a brave
girl
: N
ot! Rory
would have taken her home
,
she sniffed. 

The rain be
ating against the window
began to drown out the sounds of the creaking building.  Tess put the drink on the nightstand, pulled the covers over her head and prayed for morning.

Chapter 7

It was still incredibly
dark in the bedroom when Tess
a
woke, disoriented and cramped.  Stretching gingerly
,
she got out of bed and stumbled to the window.  Weak sunlight greeted
her when
she pulled back the shade.  Thankfully it was morning
,
she th
ought.  Figuring it was safe to
turn on the lig
ht
,
she glanced at the wall clock.  She had to hurry if she was going to get out of the apartment before any of the staff came to open up. 

Although they didn’t serve alcohol this early, Molly had warned her that several locals came in for coffee
. They
did serve a daily lunch special
,
which required a coo
k and he was usually there by eight in the morning
.  Patrick didn’t
come
in until
around nine
,
after he dropped the kids off at school and
Molly not
until
eleven.  During the week they had a sitter who provided after school care for the kids and they both tried
to get out of there at seven
,
leaving the night bartender to close up at two.  Friday and Saturday nights were busy
;
bot
h Molly and Patrick stayed late
and on those nights Tess didn’t have to worry about being quiet. 
No one downstairs
would ever hear
her over the music and laughter. 

Tess was a little ashamed of herself
after her behavior last night,
crawling
into bed and hiding like a two-year-
old afraid of the dark.  It was true that she was unfamiliar with the neighborhood and that man did appear to be following her, but she had been fine.  Showering quickly
,
she dressed in a gray skirt and pink sweater.  Her hair was much easier to care for now that she had cut it and her makeup took
only a few minutes.  She threw
a pair of jeans, crew
socks and sneakers into her bag
and decided she would change from now on before he
ading home.  Tess made the bed, shut off the lights and by seven forty-five she was slipping quietly down the back stairway.  Head down
,
she set out
towards the bus stop, never noticing the dark car parked in an alley.

Rory kept his distance watching her
, waiting until she was safely
on the bus.  Then he followed her
.

Tess saw the dark car as soon as she turned the corner a block from the office. 
Her steps faltered as she came closer and saw Rory leaning against the doorway, his long legs crossed and holding two cups of coffee.  Her dark eyes took in everything about him from his relaxed stance to
his
huge hands that gripped the cups.  Slowly she dug in her purse for the keys.
 
“It was you,” she whispered tipping her head back and looking into his eyes.

“Of course,” he answered. 

“Then you know?
”

“That you’re staying over the pub?  Yes.  Come
on Babe
, open the door
,
my
hands are on fire.”

Tess
unlocked the door, praying his hands
would be the only thing on fire.  She had absolutely no idea if he was angry or not. 

“Did Molly tell you?” she asked, feeling a little betrayed.

“Babe, ever heard of surveillance?  It’s what I do.  Now open the door.”