“Aye, lass,” I say, as I hold her to me. “That’s it precisely.”
I walk her over to bed. “And some sleeping in between.”
She grins. “And one would hope some proper Irish meals as well?”
I give her a teasing spank. “And don’t forget some proper Irish fucking.”
“Incorrigible,” she says with a laugh. “But I love you.”
“And I love you.”
I dress for bed in silence, and she watches me, propped up on pillows. And soon, I join her.
“Any word on my mum?” she asks, her brow furrowed. As I climb beneath the covers, she snuggles up to me. I hold her against my chest. I know she’s wondered this question, but perhaps only now had the courage to ask. Maybe she didn’t want to hear the answer.
“She’s in our custody. She won’t be harmed, but we need to make sure she won’t pose a danger to us again.”
She nods. “Understood.”
“It looks like she was blackmailed by Patrick in coming here tonight, and he was on the payroll of the Welsh as well.”
She shakes her head.
“And that will grant her at least some immunity.”
“I see.”
Her voice is small, and I can tell she’s afraid.
“Tell me what it is, McKenna.”
“I’m just… nervous about what it means being a member of the Clan, really. What will be expected of me? Will I be subject to the same rules you are?”
It’s a fair question. “You’ll be expected to follow my lead, McKenna. As you know, the men of the Clan are old-fashioned on principle, taught to be leaders of the home.”
She gives me a look I can’t quite decipher, then laughs. “We’ll figure that one out.”
God, I love her. “We will. Second, you’ll show respect to the Clan Chief. You won’t defy or disrespect him in any way.”
“Got it. And I’m guessing you mean both Cormac and Keenan.” She’s a clever one.
I smile. “Aye, love. Third, as a claimed woman of the Clan, your every need will be provided for. You’ll be taken care of in every possible way, as long as you draw breath.”
“That’s a pretty big deal,” she says. “Like… life-changing, isn’t it?” She’s so adorable, I roll her over and kiss her. When I pull back, I frame her face with my hands and hold her gaze.
“You’re a pretty big deal.”
She snuggles up to my chest. “Oh, Tully,” she says, getting all bashful and flushing the way she does when she’s pleased. She swallows and nods, thinking. She shrugs. “Well. My cats live here, and it’ll make commuting to school much easier. So I suppose it’s worth all the bossing around and such.”
“Is that right?” I ask her, giving her a warning look, but she leans right into the teasing.
“They do have nice tea, here, really top of the line,” she says thoughtfully, stroking her chin.
I growl, and she smiles, but keeps going. “And the best damn soda bread I’ve ever had.”
“They do.” I fix her with a glare. “Are you using me, young lady?”
She’s giggling like a little schoolgirl now. “And that shower, honest to God, it’s like a damn spa in there. Anybody’d be a fool not to stay.”
“Is that right?”
She nods and waves vaguely in the direction of the windows. “Crackin’ good view of the Sea as well—”
I roll her over, pin her to the bed beneath the weight of my body, and hold her wrists above her head.
“Oh, my,” she says in a whisper of a voice.
“You forgot something, baby.”
“Did I?”
“Aye.” I bend and kiss the hollow of her neck, that sweet, vulnerable spot that pulses with life, and she sighs into me.
“What’s that?” she asks in a whisper.
“I won’t actually let you leave, so whether or not you like the tea or the view or the scones with the little currants in them’s a moot point.”
“Moot point?” she says teasingly. “We’re using the fifty pence words now, are we?”
That’s it.
I release her, hike myself up on the bed, and haul her over my lap. She screams and giggles and flops like a fish out of water, but I quickly pin her down and arrange her over my lap.
“You’re a little brat, you know that?” I slam my palm against the fullest part of her arse, immediately hard from the way my palm connects with her soft, tender skin. She squeals.
“Can’t help it,” she says, panting, her legs scissoring in that way that makes me fucking harder.
“Oh, you can, though, love.” Another searing smack. My cock throbs. “As I was saying…” I adjust her so that she knows I’m getting comfortable, just warming up as it were. I pat her heated bottom. “Leaving isn’t an option now.”
“It isn’t, is it?” she says, looking at me over her shoulder and tossing me that cheeky look that I love.
“Nope.” Smack. “You’re mine now.”
“Like a prisoner?”
“Oh, aye,” I say, waving toward the closet. “I’ve got the cuffs and everything.”