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I do not demand that you kneel, but I ask that you bow.
Niall clears his throat, and then inclines his head deeply.“Mar dhuine agaibh, ní ghéillim ach duit.”
As one of you, I bow only to you.
“Then stand tall, Niall Flanagan, and be one of us, at the table of the Irish Kings.”
The mood afterwards is jovial, celebratory. Connor and Saoirse speaks perfunctorily to me, welcoming me into their home along with Niall, and though they’re carefully not rude, it’s clear that we’re never going to be close. It’s fine with me, and I answer their questions about the baby and how things have been, and let out a breath of relief when they move on to other guests.
The dinner is delicious, an absolute feast. There’s roast lamb, shepherd’s pie, roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes with garlic and butter and Irish cheddar, boards of meat and cheese, and a variety of other dishes. With my sickness from the first part of my pregnancy past, I’m able to enjoy all of it, and thankfully Niall and I are seated next to Viktor and Caterina, so we have guests to talk to whose company we enjoy. The dinner goes on for a long time, with dancing and mingling afterwards, until the night gets late and Niall and I slip away, back to the warm comfort of our home.
“An Irish King, hm?” I tease him as we walk into our bedroom, pulling him in for a kiss. “Should I get on my knees, then?”
He makes a growling sound low in his throat, his hand threading through my hair as he kisses me deeply, his tongue plunging into my mouth. “You know I’d never say no to that, lass.”
“Well, then, let me show my King just how much I want to serve him,” I murmur teasingly, kissing him once more before sinking to my knees. “All night, if he desires.”
I go down on Niall like that for a long time, using every trick I’ve learned, until he’s rock hard and throbbing with desire, on the verge of coming, thrusting into my mouth hard just the way he likes. Then, I stand up, guiding him to the bed and urging him back against the pillows, stripping off my dress so I can ride him. He strokes my clit as I slide down onto him, and when I try to tell him that it’s his pleasure I’m concerned with tonight, he just grins.
“Nothing pleases me more than seeing you come, feeling you come on my cock.” His fingers move faster, his other hand sliding over me. “I love pleasingyou, my beautiful bride.”
He keeps going until I come, shuddering atop him, and then I lean forward, tangling my fingers in the dark hair on his chest as I kiss him, hard and deep, and I feel him throb inside of me, the heat of him filling me up.
“I love you,” I whisper as he pulls me into his arms, holding me close. “I always will. Forever.”
“And I love you, lass.” Niall kisses my forehead, my nose, my cheeks, and then my mouth, rolling me onto my back as he deepens the kiss all over again. “Forever.”
EPILOGUE
ISABELLA
Igo into labor two weeks before Christmas.
“I swear to Christ, almost everyone’s babies came around the holidays,” Niall says, shaking his head as he goes for the bag we’ve had pre-packed. “It’s something in the water.”
“I got pregnant in Mexico,” I point out, panting through another round of contractions. “Oh god, this is awful.”
“Fuck, are you alright, lass?” Niall is back at my side in an instant–without the bag, and I nod, trying to suck in a breath. We’d gone to the classes, practiced how to breathe, all of it–but no one told me just howbloodyhard–as Niall would say–it would be to actually do it once the contractionsstart.
“I’ll be fine,” I manage. “Just grab the bag and call Clarke, would you?”
It takes longer than either of us would have liked for Clarke to get here, despite being on alert for the call. One of the downsides of living just outside of the city–but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Every day since Niall first brought me here has been blissful, and I’ve never been happier in my life. Together, we’ve turned his childhood home intoourhome, and it feels to me, truly, as if it’s the first real home I’ve ever had. From the living room that we’ve turned into a cozier version of Art Deco, to the library full of Irish decor and a roaring fireplace, to the soft grey and blue kitchen and our bedroom left largely the way it was that first day, a basement with a bar and pool table and couches–including the one that I’d insisted we keep–and the sprawling backyard with my much-loved garden, there’s nothing about the house that I don’t find perfect.
Niall had worried I’d find it too simple, that I wouldn’t be happy here, but I’d never minded leaving behind the finer things of my life before. Since his induction into the Kings, we’ve been looking at homes in Ireland, planning to visit again when Aisling is old enough to travel. Even there, we’ve been looking at small country estates, cottage homes, something we can pass on to our children to leave the Flanagan name both here and in Ireland, but nothing too grand.
I wish my mother were here with me, to get me through the birth, and I miss my sister desperately, but I have no desire to go back to Mexico. Boston, a place I’d feared could never feel like home, and Ireland, a place I’d never dreamed of going to before all of this, feel more like my home than I could ever have imagined.
“Ana and Liam are on their way,” Niall tells me breathlessly as we bundle into the car. “I’m going to need Liam to holdmyhand the entire bloody time,” he says wryly, and I laugh, gritting my teeth through another wave of contractions.
“Oh bloody hell, lass!” He grabs my hand, steadying me. “I’m sorry. I’m not the one going throughthis–”
“It’s fine.” I force out another laugh. “I’m going to need youandAna.”
And I do. Most of the labor is a haze of pain and instructions and being told to do things likepushover and over again that feel absolutely impossible, but Ana stays by my side the entire time, Niall letting me crush his hand nearly to dust, and Liam hovering somewhere around my head, next to Niall. Liam had tried to beg his way out of it, but Niall had told him under no bloody circumstances was he leaving, and frankly, I found that brotherly friendship to be the most adorable thing I’d ever seen, under the circumstances, when I was able to pay attention to it.
By the time Aisling makes her way into the world, screaming healthily, I have no idea how long it’s been. I feel boneless, tired, exhausted in a way that transcends words, but when the doctor hands me my daughter, something breaks loose inside of me as my chest fills with an unexplainable ache. I feel tears fill my eyes as Liam and Ana look at each other and slip out of the room without a word, and Niall comes closer, holding my hand as he looks down at me and his daughter.
