The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

strong for fifteen hours’ work.”
    “Ah, it’s not vitamins.” She leaned over to pat the gnarled hand of the old man who’d sat on the same stool for hours. “It’s being near my true love, Mr. Riley, here that keeps me going.”
    Riley let out a cackle. “Come give us a last pint, then, my darling, and a kiss to go with it.”
    “Well, the pint will cost you, but the kiss is free.” She glanced back at Trevor as she drew it. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
    “I need to borrow your sister a minute,” Trevor told Aidan, then took Darcy’s hand before she could move past him. “It’s your turn to walk me out.”
    “I suppose I can spare you a minute.” She set down her tray and, ignoring Aidan’s frown, strolled to the door.
    The rain was a fine mist that drenched the air. Smoky drifts of fog crept in from the sea to crawl along the ground. Through it came the steady beat of the water,and the far-off call of a horn as a boat passed in the night.
    “Ah, it’s cool.” Closing her eyes, Darcy lifted her face to the thin rain. “It gets stuffy in there by this time of night.”
    “Your feet must be killing you.”
    “I won’t deny they could use a good hard rub.”
    “Come back with me, and I’ll give them my attention.”
    She opened her eyes at that. “Now, sure and that’s a tempting offer, but I’ve work yet, then I need my sleep.”
    He lifted her hand to his lips as he had once before. “Come to the window in the morning.”
    She didn’t mind the way her heart gave one hard thud, or the tingle low in her belly. She was a woman who believed in enjoying sensations, in savoring every one of them. But she had to think past that and remember how the game was played.
    “I might.” Slowly, she ran a fingertip along his jaw. “If the thought of you comes into my mind.”
    “Let’s make sure it does.” His arms slid around her, but the forward motion stopped when she laid a hand against his chest.
    Her pulse was beating fast, an exciting feeling of anticipation. She liked the smell of the rain, and wet skin, the strong band of his arms around her. It had been some time since she’d allowed a man to put his arms around her.
    That was the key, after all. The allowing. Her choice, her move, her mood. It was important, always, to stay in charge of those parts, and of the man she allowed to touch her.
    Once you turned the reins over, you could forget that sensations, however lovely, were only fleeting after all.
    It was safe enough here to have a sample of him, she decided. And to see if she really wanted more. So she slid her hand up his chest, around the back of his neck, and with her eyes open brought his mouth down to hers.
    He took his time, she had to give him that, and didn’t go grabbing and fumbling and trying to extract her tonsils with his tongue. He had a nice style about him, firm,confident, with just a hint of bite. Not so dangerous as she’d thought, which was rather a shame all in all.
    Then he shifted the angle of his body, his hands running up her back, his lips slanting over hers.
    The edges of her mind blurred, and she thought, Oh, God! Then didn’t think at all.
    He wanted to eat her alive, in fast, greedy bites. And imagined that was just what she expected from a man.Greed and heat and desperation. She had them all churning inside him. He’d seen it in a kind of mild disdain in her eyes when he’d reached for her.
    So he moved slow, watched as he tasted, seen the shift to approval, even pleasure. Along with a measuring that annoyed him even as the flavor of her poured into him. Then he needed more, just needed more, and took it.
    He felt the change register dimly in some far corner of his mind. A tension in her mixed with a soft and slow yielding that was as quiet as the rain around him.
    His eyes closed even as hers did, and all calculation between them was lost.
    The hand at his neck skimmed into his hair. Her body lifted, pressed against his, seemed to flow into him as he moved until her back was pressed to the stone wall of the pub. Heart thundered against heart.
    He drew back, wanting to clear his head, catch his breath. Think. She stayed against the wall, then gave one long, feline sigh and opened her eyes.
    “I liked that.” A little more, she was sure, than was good for her. Still, she ran her tongue over her bottom lip, as if to steal a bit more taste, and had his blood swimming again. “Why don’t you do it again?”
    “Why don’t I?”
    This