Her breathing hitched, and that tug grew stronger. I liked the way she looked at me. The way her eyes raked down my bare skin like her nails had only a few days ago.
“Scoot over and lay down.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
The mattress dipped when she climbed in beside me. “Head here,” she said, patting her left breast.
What did she want me to do with that? I knew what I wanted to do with it, but I was fairly certain I was missing the point. She patted her chest again.
I settled my head against her heart, letting myself be drawn into her embrace. If being inside her was heaven, then this was the next best thing. And when she started playing with my hair, I let my eyes fall closed, matching my breathing to hers. Her fingertip traced my ears, sending chills down my spine.
“That tickles.”
“Sorry.”
“You don’t have to stop. It’s nice.”
She went back to my ear. I may have liked it a little too much and had to have a serious chat with my lower half.
“What are you going to do about your curse?” she asked.
Ah, my curses. There was nothing I could do. Not really. “I can either wait for Fiadh . . . Or beg you to stay married to me.”
Imagine that. Staying married. A year’s respite.
Keelynn spoke in hushed tones. I was too far gone to hear anything but the sweet husky notes of her voice. What if this was real? What if she cared for me the way I cared for her? What if she actually loved me? I let myself dream of that. Just for tonight.
If Keelynn loved me.
I love you.
“I love you too.”
26
I love you too.
No amount of cursing would get the confession out of my brain. But I gave it a good go anyway. What had I been thinking, showing up to that short, unimpressive human’s house three sheets to the feckin’ wind?
I was good at hiding away. Why hadn’t I done that instead?
Drink. That’s why. Made everything worse.Everything. But only if you sobered up. The black walls in the back room of the Arches suited my black mood. I’d woken with a start, my wife draped across me like a quilt. Her leg hitched over my hip. Shift bunched around her waist. My hand on her arse. And my cock hard as feckin’ marble.
I had no plan on leaving, hoping Robert accidentally found us like that.
Then I remembered what my cursed mouth had said.
I love you too.
My hand shook as I reached for the fresh glass of puítin I’d gotten for myself from behind the bar. I would stay drunk until Friday. Give my wife what she wanted. And give in to the darkness.
A woman called my name from somewhere behind me. My heart leapt until I realized the woman’s accent wasn’t right. No sense checking to see who she was. I didn’t give a shite.
“Tadhg?”
She stood at my side now, watching me. A pretty thing with short, bouncy red curls framing a round face. I gave her what I thought was a smile. Mustn’t have been since she didn’t return it.
“Do you remember me?” she asked.