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None of that explained why I wanted to hold her close. I wanted to know more about her.
No, Ineededto know more.
Her light green eyes sparkled with darker green undertones, caught in the light of the streetlamp as she’d turned to face me. I’d seen something there that had said so much even though she’d been totally silent.
She’d been through hell. Someone had hurt her in the past. Maybe she was on the run, but whatever it was, she’d survived it and was making it on her own even if it was a struggle. She was proud of herself for it, and she should be. I was proud of her for it too. There were plenty of people who weren’t strong enough to do what she was doing out there.
She deserved so much better than this though.
I glanced upstairs to see one of the lights shine through the semi-sheer curtains. She’d made it safely home.
I was going to make things easier for her.
I had a feeling she was going to fight me along the way, and I couldn’t suppress the grin that broke over my features at the thought of punishing her for it. My cock hardened immediately at the thought, aching to be deep inside her as she screamed for me.
I would take it slow, though, because she needed me to.
With a sigh, I turned away and made my way back toward the pub. The entire way, my thoughts were consumed with visions of that perfect little redhead, of her smiling back in my direction, of her calling out for me, of her pouting on her knees before I fucked her mouth.
I’d never been overtaken by thoughts of a woman like this before and it unnerved me. I wasn’t a man who needed a woman by his side. I’d lived my whole life without one. Sure, I enjoyed them from time to time, but my world was a dangerous one and I wasn’t willing to throw an innocent woman into the ring. I had an empire to run and adding anything else into the mix would simply mean more violence and at worst, death.
Leah O’Connor would know none of it.
With a deep breath, I tried to quiet my mind. I opened the door to the pub and strolled in, allowing myself to smirk at one of the Shelbys chugging down a beer until he choked. His buddies clapped him on the back. That was one thing he wasn’t going to live down, not in this crowd.
“Now, who’s ready for a drink? Next round’s on me,” I yelled out. The entire crowd erupted in an excited roar as I walked through and rounded the bar.
My men had already begun helping by waiting on tables and taking orders. I served more pints of Guinness than I could count and when there was a slight lull in activity, I cleared my throat.
“This is an Irish pub, isn’t it?” I shouted.
“Aye!” the crowd roared.
“I don’t hear any singing. This can’t be the right place,” I smirked.
Raucous laughter echoed throughout the room. Declan’s eyes were rife with amusement when he shouted back at me. He was a massive well-built guy, one of my enforcers, but when he drank, he turned into a big ole teddy bear.
“Sing us a song, boss,” he pushed.
I pressed both palms down on the old wooden bar. The surface was covered in scratches and marks left by past patrons, but it simply gave the place character. The stained wood wainscoting on the walls and the forest green paint made the place a bit dark, but to me, it felt like home.
Like Dublin.
With a grin, I started to sing my favorite Irish drinking song, the one I’d sung on the night before I left Ireland and came to live in America.
What shall we do with a drunken sailor,
What shall we do with a drunken sailor,
What shall we do with a drunken sailor,
Early in the morning?
I poured the man sitting at the bar two fingers of whiskey as the rest of the bar roared with approval, recognizing the well-known drinking song almost immediately. By the time I got to the second line, they were already singing with me. I broke into the chorus next.
Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
