The O'Malley Brides (32 page)

Tess blushed and held her small hand out, the diamond sparkling in the light from the chandelier.

If Dell was surprised b
y Bridget’s outburst, nothing could have prepared him for the mayhem that followed.   People were out of their chairs, hugging Tess and pounding Rory on the back.  Maeve was crying and Sean was grinning from ear to ear.  Rory kept Tess close to his side as everyone spoke at once.  Dell released Bridget and she flew around the table throwing herself into her brother’s arms, kissing his cheek. The noise woke up the baby and she added her cries to the bedlam.  Three little girls held hands and jumped up and down until they apparently realized they were hungry.  Caitlin started pouring gravy from the gravy boat onto everyone’s plate and the twins took turns plopping a roll right in the middle of the gravy.
 

Catching the bowl of olives now making its way around the table, Maeve finally stopped the girls and ordered the children
to take the olives off the end of their fingers and get
back to their seats.  Apparently no one minded the gravy as they all obeyed and resumed passing food around.

“
Tess, I’m so thrilled to have you
for a daug
hte
r,” Maeve told her.  “Have you set a date?  Do you
want to have a big wedding?”

“We want a small wedding
,
Ma.  Tess would like for us to be married here if that’s alright?” Rory answered his arm around Tess.

“Tis’ a wonderful idea,
the
garden is lovely in the spring.  Is that what you
’
r
e thinkin’,
dear
?”

“I was hoping we could be married Christmas Eve?  I don’t have any family really…”

“Tess that’s nonsense, you
have us dear, we’re your family and a Christmas Eve wedding would be perfect.  I think it’s a grand idea
.”

Maeve’s words were echoed around the table as the girls all started talking at once, offering help and suggest
ions.  The food was delicious if
a little cold, but nobody complained and before long all the men were cleaning up.

Dell took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, pitching in.  Pie would be served later in the afternoon and the
y hurried, not wanting to miss the football game. 

“So Dell,
how familiar are you
with my
daughter?” Sean asked as he dried a baking sheet before handing it to Rory to put away.

Dell
coughed, loosened his tie, and finally
removed it hanging
it over his suit coat on the kitchen chair. “Excuse me
, S
ir?” he managed to croak out as the other men hid their grins and kept quiet.

“I could not
help but notice your
hands on her backside when you
tried to sit her back in the chair and I was wonderin’ if you’re fond of her?”

“I’m sorry about that
, S
ir.  Bridget’s the kind of girl that makes you act first and think later, no offense intended.  I find I am quite fond of her
, S
ir, although I’m not sure how that happened.”

“None taken
,
lad,” Sean replied as the snickers in the kitchen turned into laughs.
“Quiet” he order
ed.  “There’s not a man among you
that haven’t been where young Dell is right now, so don’t be pretendin’ otherwise, my
self included.  It’s our duty to
help him out if we can, man to man.”

“I agree
,
Sean,” Nick replied, elbowing Patrick out of the sink and taking his place. “I’ve already discussed this some with Dell so I’ll wash, while you share the benefit of your wisdom.”

Sean took a seat at the table and motioned for Dell to join him while the others continued to work.  “
Bridget
is
an O’Ma
lley through and through
,
lad
.  A
wilder lass you won’t find this side of the old
sod.  I probably put my hand to
her backside more when she was little
than the rest of my
children all together, including these boys here.  But she also has a lovin’ heart
,
son, and I would not hold with a man abusin’ her in any way,” Sean told him, looking square in Dell’ eyes before he continued.  “There comes a time when a girl gets t
o
o grown to go over her Da’s knee. Now I know some won’t agree with me but tis true.    I haven’t ta
ken a hand to Bridget in over ten
years and I won’t now, much as she needs it. 
Her Ma and I keep hopin’ she’ll find a nice lad and settle d
own a might, but so far it has not
happened
.  We’re not blind, we see her leavin’ the house to go out in her short skirts an
’
low cut blouses, but there’s naught we can do.  She’s of legal age and can do as she pleases, whether it be drinkin’ or what have ya.  Any one of the boys here would give her a good lickin’, if I just say the word.  They all agree somethin’s got
ta be done and soon, but I cannot
do it.  It’s not fittin’ for a young woman to go over her Da’s, her brothers or her brother
-in-
laws knee and get her bare ass paddled. 
It needs to be done by a young man who cares for her.  Are you that man
,
Dell?” Sean asked.

Dell didn’t know what to say.  It all seemed a little surreal to him.  Rory, Nick, Noah
,
Patrick
and Mason
all stopped what they were doing and looked at him.  Sean waited for his answer. 

“I don’t know the first thing about spanking a woman,” Dell admitted honestly.  “I can see where you’re coming from and I admit I have often thought the same thing.  Bridget is wild and out of control at times.  I worry about her on the weekends, even though I try not to think about her.  There’s something about her that just grabs at my heart, when I don’t feel like choking her,” Dell stated simply.  “Say I did spank her, what makes you so sure it will work, that it will change anything?”

“It won’t work,” Sean replied,
“Not unles
s you love her. 
S
panking isn’t
to be taken or givin’ lightly.  It’s a commitment of sorts.  It says
“
I care for you and I will
not
let you continue to behave this way.
”
  It says
“You are
important to me
and
to my happiness.
”
  A man who let
s his woman ride roughshod over him may love her in the beginnin’ but he won’t at the end.  He’ll feel like less of a man and she’ll begin to hate him and herself.  They might not even be friends at the end.”

“I’ll think about this
, S
ir,” Dell promised, not quite believing what he was agreeing to.  “If things work out between me and Bridget, is there some place I can go and take lessons?”

Their laughter was heard all the way in the other room and the girls wondered what was going on.  Molly smiled and kept writing the list of everything they would need for the wedding.

“It’ll either come naturally to
you
, or it won’t,”
Sean told Dell
smiling.  “Either way
,
it won’t be pleasant.  Not at first anyway.  Women kick, and fight and yell
their heads off.  The important thin’ to
remembe
r is don’t stop till she comes round to your way of thinkin
g,
no mat
ter how long it takes.  After you
can cud
dle and sooth her, but durin’ you
got to be firm.”

“Now that you two got out of
doing
dishes,” Rory grumped smacking Del
l in the head with a damp towel,
“
h
ow about we go watch some football?”

“Alright,” they agreed, grabbing some cold beer from
the fridge
.

“Come
on
Dell,” Rory said flinging an arm over Dell’s shoulders
, “
I’ll explain the game to you and anything else you have questions about.”

Chapter 18

Time was slipping away from Tess and lately she felt like she was on a runaway train, moving faster and faster to an unknown destination.  With her wedding only two weeks away, Christmas gifts to be
bought,
working at the law office, attending class two
nights
a
week
and
trying her best to make progress on the house, she felt desperate and frustrated.

Rory was next to useless in making any decisions about the house.  She knew he was working hard, but if she heard “Whatever you think, Babe
,
” out of his mouth just one more time she was going to beat him with her new frying pan.  
His kitchen was woefully under stocked with cookware, dishes and assorted utensils
,
so Tess had reluctantly broken in her new bank card and gone shopping.

Apparently he did not care what color carpeting, drapes or walls they had.  Furniture was not high on his list of priorities either.
In fact
,
Tess was beginning to think he actually preferred having only that overgrown monstrosity of a chair to sit on and his huge bed.  If they watched TV
,
he would make her sit on his lap where he would tease and torment her for hours, which usually resulted in several
earth shattering climaxes for her before he would carry her to the bedroom for a further demonstration of his authority over her.

He did go grocery shopping with her
,
picking up several items that were not on her list including the mysterious ginger root he had referred to the night he had blistered her ass.  Tess almost fainted when he picked up several long, large cucumbers testing t
heir weight in his hand smiling suggestively.
 

“I’m allergic to cucumbers,” she lied quickly.

“Oh that’s too bad.” he replied smoothly, reaching for a squash that was much more intimidating.

“Give me those,” she snapped, tossing his first choice in
to
the cart with a thud.

“Babe, you lied to me,” he said sadly with a sigh. “You know what that means
,
right?”

Tess left him in her dust as she pushed the cart away from him, but she could still hear him laughing as he followed her.

Rory unpacked the bags in the kitchen while Tess took cleaning products to the pantry.  When she came back to the kitchen
,
he was washing the green vegetables in the sink.  Her heart was in her throat as she started backing away from him.  Taking a knife, Rory cut a large piece of the cucumber in half, sprinkled it with salt and began munching.

“You jerk,” she cried, picking up a dish towel and smacking him with it.

Laughing he captured
her
in his arms.  “Want a bite?” he asked innocently.

“I thought…”

“I know what you thought, and while it’s an appealing idea, I don’t think you’re ready for that,” Rory whispered as she relaxed in his arms.  “At least no
t
ye
t,” he continued,
laughing when
she tried to wiggle away.
Sweeping her up into his arms he strode to the bedroom, kicking the door shut with his foot.

“Rory, the groceries,” Tess protested when she landed on the bed with a bounce.

“They’ll keep,” he r
eplied undressing quickly.
Stark
naked he moved to his dresser taking out several ties.  Approaching the bed
,
he grinned at her wide-eyes expression.  He had
threatened to tie her several times, but so far he hadn’t needed to.  “Where does my naughty little bride think she’s going?” he asked as she started to scramble off the other side of the bed.

Tess looked at him, frozen in place.  God
,
he was magnificent.  Tall, strong with supple flesh over muscles
that
were be
autifully defined,
he took her breath away.  With his thick black hair, blue eyes and firm jaw he could have come of
f
the pages of any magazine that featured the best looking men.  She did not know who chose the sexiest man in the world, but they were oh so wrong.  He was standing right before her, looking at her with lust and determination.  How she was lucky enough to find him, and have him want her above all others she would never know.