The O'Malley Brides (7 page)

Tess di
d not think so, although she certainly
had
been submissive this morning
,
she thought
, as heat
flooded her face.  That was different.  It
had not been by choice.  He
demanded it and she had been helpless in her desi
re to stop him.  The fire he
ignited in her body was a mystery to her.  A co
uple of boyfriends,
clumsy lovers
all
,
had not
prepared her for Rory.  It seemed as though
he knew the secrets of her body better than she d
id.  How could this be?  She
read stories of this kind of lover but she had not believed a man like that really
existed
. 
They had not truly even made love yet, although she knew they were headed there if she did not do something quickly.  Tess was not prepared for full possession from a man like Rory.  Instinctively she knew she would never be the same again.  He was too powerful and skilled for her to resist, she knew that also.  He would not need force.  If he put his hands on her body she w
ould melt like an ice cube over
a flame, giving him everything he
demanded.  She
never considered herself a hot-
blooded Latina, a stereotype in her opinion that did not describe her at all.  Most of her life she had been afraid, afraid of being abandoned, afraid of being poo
r, homeless, helpless.   She
learned to depend on herself alone but she was not b
rave.  Living with the O’Malley
s had shown her a different kind of life.  You could be outspoken
, you could argue, even fight
for what you believed in and still be loved.  Still be part of something bigger than
yourself
.  Still have people ready to take your side even if you were wrong, and they would tell you too.  Not during the crisis, no then they had your back, but after, when things calmed down.  This was a life Tess wanted, probably could have if she played her cards right, but ironically Rory brought out the fire in her blood.  He frequently made her so mad she could literally brain him with whatever was within reach.  How sad that
the one man who could send her body and her spirit soaring was also the man who would put her in a box and never let her fly.

At dinner, Tess tried to keep her eyes on her plate and not stare.  Seated next to Rory
,
she had a perfect opportunity to observe both
couples, Patrick
and Molly and Colleen and Noah.  Maggie and Nick were off on a short honeymoon as they wanted to be around when Rebecca and Mason had their baby, so she could not watch those two couples.   Try as she might, Tess could not see any cruelty in either of the men. Yes they were both much bigger than their wives, but not in an intimidating way.  They appeared loving and kind to Tess and she co
uld not imagine the twinkle
-
eyed
Patrick ever doing anything to cause Molly pain.  Noah was a little
harder to
read.  Quiet and soft-
spoken, it just did not fit with her idea of what a professor would do.  She had to admit that Colleen was sometimes
a little pushy, but surely nothing so bad it would earn her a punishment.  Molly caught her eye several time
s
during the meal, but Tess looked away quickly in embarrassment.  The usual conversation and teasing flew back and forth at the table and no one seemed to
notice her silence except Rory:
Rory
, who never missed anything.

“Babe
, I think we need to talk,” he told her quietly in the midst of a heated discussion about whether the NY Giants were headed to the Super Bowl
t
his year.

Tess nodded as she pushed the food around on plate.  She needed to make a plan.

Chapter 4

“Anyone see Tess?” Rory
asked
,
his hands deep in the pockets of
his jeans as he leaned against the kitchen door frame.

Maeve looked up and glanced absently around the kitchen.  Bridget was drying
supper
dishes and Colleen was searching through her mother’s recipe book. 

“No Darlin’, I haven’t seen her since dinner.  Do either of you girls know where Tess is?” she asked, not really concerned.  Both women looked his way and shook their heads no, but Rory noticed that Bridget did not meet his eyes.  “Have you checked her room?  She was looking a wee bit
peaked
today.  Maybe she’s not feelin’
well,
”
Maeve suggested.

“I did,” Rory answer
ed.  “She’s not there.  Bridget, d
o you know where Tess is?” Rory asked again, walking into the kitchen to stand directly in front of his sister.  “Bridget!”

“Geeze Rory, No.  I don’t know where she is.  I didn’t know it was my turn to watch her,” Bridget finished sarcastically, still not meeting his eyes.

Rory ground his teeth in frustration.  He’d wanted to talk to Tess all afternoon, but had never been able to get her alone.  A couple
of hours ago he got involved watching
the football game with his
Da and brother and the time
slipped away. 
Now she was nowhere to be found.  Bridget was lying, of
that
he was absolutely certain, but why?

“Bridget, I’m not playing games here, if you know where she is you better tell me,” he insisted, his blue eyes fixed directly on her.

“Rory, Darlin’, Bridget says she doesn’t know where Tess is,” Maeve scolded him gently.   “Why don’t you go find Molly?  Tess went to the store with her a while
ago,
maybe she knows what her plans were.”

Rory was fuming as he left the kitchen an
d began looking for Molly. 
He told
Tess they
needed to have a talk and she
managed to avoid him all afternoon.  It was time to make some decisions.  Their relationship was headed into much more intimate territory and he would not make love to her under his mother’s roof.  He’d like Tess to agree to move in with him
or at least move into her own place.  Now that she
worked most
of the day at Nick’s law office and late
afternoons
at Maggie’s helping out with the house and the kids, she should be in a much better financial
position.  If he couldn’t talk her into moving
in with him, which is what he would prefer, and his mother would hate, he was certainly able to help her out with expenses.  Finding a suitable apartment in a good neighborhood shouldn’t be
too
hard.  Rory knew just about everyone on the City Council. Surely someone would know of something decent
and
available.  The most delicate problem would be getting Tess to agree.  Rory could be very diplomatic, when he wasn’t rock hard with lust.  His gut told him to go upstairs and pack her clothes, throw her over his shoulder
when he found her
and cart her off to his place, but unless he wanted his
fifty-seven year old mother whacking
him with a broom and
telling him he was going to "hell in a hand basket,"
that wouldn’t work.

So he decided he would win her the old
-fashioned way;
he would plot and scheme to make her his.  If all else failed
,
he could always go back to plan one and wear a thick leather jacket to minimize the damage.  But first he had to find her. 

He found Molly easy enough.  She was curled up on Patrick’s lap in the parlor, pretending to be asleep.  He knew this because in all the years he’d known Molly, he’d never seen her tired enough to take a nap.  She was always full of
life; her spirit
so light she barely
touched the gro
und.  Her blonde hair was fanned out across
Patrick’s arm and he
r
face was tucked into his shoulder. 

“Molly, have you seen Tess?”

“
Shhh
,” Patrick
whispered, his eyebrows drawn together in a scowl.  “Can’t you see she’s sleeping?”

“She’s not sleeping,” Rory insisted firmly.

“Of course she’s sleeping,” Patrick hissed, his arms tightening unconsciously around his wife.   “What the fuck’s wrong with you?  Go away.”

Rory raised one eyebrow and pointed to Molly’s feet.  He cupped his hand around his ear and waited for Patrick to pay attention.  Molly was almost always bare foot in the house and she always wore an ankle bracelet adorned with tiny bel
ls.  Pretty much everyone
knew where Molly was in the house.  Now the tiny bells were emitting a faint tinkling sound, as if the wearer was trembling.

Patrick eyes opened in surprise.  If Rory’s expression were wo
rds it would have clearly said "dumb shit."
 

“Molly, Honey, wake-up.  Rory wants to talk to you.”  Patrick didn’t know what game Molly was playing and he didn’t much care.  If Molly was trying to avoid speaking with Rory, there had
to be a reason
.

Molly yawned, stretched and rubbed her eyes.  Damn, there was no place in the world safer than Patrick’s arms, but Rory could be very intimidating when he chose to be.  Molly had been hoping to avoid this, but her gifts often didn’t extend to herself, more
'
s the pity.  She absolutely hated lying in any form and braced herself for a bad time.

Rory snorted and rolled his eyes at Molly’s sleepy act.  He ignored Patrick’s narrowed stare and got down to business.

“Molly have you seen Tess?”

“Yes, I have,” she replied cau
t
iously
.  “Several time
s
today in fact.”

“Have you seen her recently?”

“Define recently?”

Rory shoved his hand through his hair and took a deep breathe.  This might be harder than he thought
.
 
“Let’s start over okay?”

“Okay.”

“Do you know where Tess is?”

“She’s not here?” Molly asked. 
One for me, she thought.

‘No…
she’s not here,” Rory growled, trying to keep his temper under control.

“Oh.”

“Did you go to the store this afternoon?”

“Yes.”

“Did Tess go with you?”

“Yes.”

“Good, now we’re getting somewhere,” Rory sighed in satisfaction.
 
“Did she say anything to you?”

“Define anything.
Geeze Rory, of course we spoke to each other.”
Two for me
.

“
Did she say a
nything about her plans?  Anything she might be thinking of doing?”

“Well, she mentioned washing her hair.  Is that what you mean?” 
Three
for me.

“Molly, please don’t be difficult about this,” Rory groaned.

“Why shouldn’t she
,” Patrick shot in,
“
you’re giving her the third degree.”

Ignoring his brother
Rory
continued.
 
“Was she upset about anything?”

“Upset?”
 
Four

“Molly, did Tess come back here with you?” Rory asked, trying not to hold his breath.

“Yes,
” Molly
answered, smiling brightly. 

By now Patrick was grin
ning.  He didn’t have to be psych
ic to see what Molly was doing and for all Rory’s experience in interrogation, he didn’t have anything on Molly.

“Good
,
at least I know you brought her back here,” Rory told her.  “God Molly, did you have to make me pry every little thing out of you?”

“Well, I am kind of tired,” she sighed, curling back into Patrick arms and resting her head on his chest. 
Bingo

“I guess I’ll go for a walk,” Rory stated.  “Maybe she’s out talking to a neighbor.  See you guys later.”

Patrick rubbed his wife’s back and kissed the top of her head.
 
“
Molly,” he whispered softly.  “You do know where Tess is
,
don’t you?”

“Yes Patrick,” she sighed softly as she tipped her face up to his.

Patrick kissed her gently, brushing the hair back from her face.
 
“Are you going to lie to me about it?” he inquired firmly, his eyebrow raised as he looked into her eyes.