“We definitely would have.” She grins, then lets out a sigh.
“Why the sigh, love?”
“Well. You know, I was interested in you, but it wasn’t you.”
“Explain that one to me?”
“Well I…” she clears her throat. “I was sort of interested in the Clan.”
“Is that right?”
She nods. “Oh, aye. I saw how happy Fiona was, and I… well, you know, I just had the idea that perhaps it would be nice to be…” her voice trails off. She bites her lip, a sign I now know to be bashfulness.
I squeeze her knee. “Let’s hear it, lass.”
“I thought it might be nice to be claimed by a man of the Clan. Not necessarily you, but… well, one of you.”
“Not me, eh? Who, then?” My temper’s rising again even as I smile at her.
“You, you twat.”
I laugh out loud and slap her knee.
“Hey! What’s that for?”
“For making me want to kick the arse of every fucking brother of the Clan for being even in your damn sight, that’s why.”
“Oh, makes perfect sense,” she says with a half-smile. She’s still upset. She won’t be better until we make this right.
“Do you know what being claimed by a man of the Clan means, lass?”
She nods, and speaks in a low voice. “I do, Tiernan. Fiona told me when Lachlan claimed her, and the other day when I spoke with Maeve and Caitlin, they told me as well.”
“Tell me in your own words.”
I want to hear her say it.
She swallows hard. “It means that you’re… owned,” she whispers. “It means that your needs are taken care of physically and financially, and in other ways as well. It means that you’re wed for life, that you live in the McCarthy family home or nearby.” She sighs. “It means that you belong to a family.”
I squeeze her hand. “Aye, love. But you know what it means to be claimed by me?”
“Oh, I… well, I think so.”
I smile. “Let’s hear it.”
“Well. You’re not much of a fan of back talk or anything like that.”
She’s had my hand across her arse enough times to know.
I nod. “I take my job as leader of the home seriously, like all men of the Clan do.”
“Aye, I know it,” she says. “I’m not a docile little lamb, though, and you know that.”
“Never said I want a docile little lamb.”
“Some men do!” she says, her eyes flashing.
I nod, trying not to show my amusement. “Ah, well, and some men prefer missionary sex as well, don’t they?”
She covers her mouth with her hand and giggles. Adorable.
“I’m not ‘some men,’ Aisling. And you’re not ‘some women.’ You are who you are, and I am who I am. And we’ll fight, but then we’ll kiss and make up like any couple.”
She smiles. “I… like that part.”
I chuckle. “And I like that part, too.”
We drive in silence home. She’s quiet, and I don’t have much to say either, but it’s a comfortable silence. I think about the days ahead. What we have yet to do. The danger we’ve escaped, and how grateful I am that she’s safe, and that she’s coming back with me.
We’re almost back when she says in a soft voice, “Tiernan, I… they tempted me with drugs again, you know.”
I grip the steering wheel so tight my knuckles whiten.
“Did they?” I keep my voice modulated with effort.
“Aye.”
“And what did you do?”
“Took the needle and almost fucking stuck her with it.”
“Good girl,” I say warmly, tucking her hand into mine.
“I like when you say that now.”
“Do you?”
“Aye.”
“Why’s that?”
“Maybe because you’re not a man that minces words,” she says with a shrug. “Since you speak directly, I suspect that I know you mean it now.”
“I’ll say it every night when you go to sleep. And in the morning, when you wake, until it becomes a part of who you are.”
She leans her head on my shoulder, just as we pull up to the large, wrought-iron gates.
“I’ll learn what you need from me, too, Tiernan. And I’ll make it my job to give you that.”
I look at her pretty head on my shoulder, her hand tucked in mine.
“You already have, love,” I say, leaning over to kiss her cheek while the gates open for us to enter. “You already have.”Chapter 19AislingI’ve never had a home that felt nice to return to. Back when I was younger, I didn’t like where I lived. My mum was unhappy, and it showed. My father never measured up. He’d come home from working all day to sit on the sofa and drink.
But now… God, but it feels good to be back here already. I wonder where Fiona is, what she’s up to. Lachlan’s coming home to her tonight. I wonder where Maeve is. Is she fluffing the pillows in the dining room, praising the staff for their excellent dinner, or reading a story to one of the grans? I wonder who’s home. Tully and Keenan are still at St. Albert’s, but I can count dozens of lights on in so many rooms. My heart is full.