Burning For Claire (The O'Connell Family Book 2) (9 page)

“Claire, I know you’re only twenty, but how come you were still a virgin?” I asked, curious why she waited.

“I always wanted to be successful like my father and brothers, so I focused on my business and my skills.”

“You didn’t date?” I was feeling irrationally jealous at the prospect of her seeing other men.

“Actually, I just broke up with my last boyfriend a few days ago because he was trying to get me to give it up,” she replied nonchalantly.

“A few days ago?” I asked angrily.

“Yes, the day after Sam and Rick met, and we’d seen each other.”

After I shook off my jealousy, I thought about the fact that it could have been him to set the fire. “Was he angry about the breakup?”

She immediately registered where I was going with my question and in disbelief stammered, “You don’t think…no he isn’t like that. He wouldn’t.”

“Baby, I just wanted to know who your enemies are,” I stated.

She shook her head and rejected my theory. “Jake isn’t like that. He’s a really nice guy. I just didn’t want to do it yet.”

“But you did it with me,” I gloated. How could I not? It wasn’t something she could give away to more than one person.

“So. Your point being?” 

I gave her a grin and shrugged as I responded to her. “Nothing, sweetheart. I’m just gloating.”

“Ass,” she said as she whacked me with a pillow

I nodded and devilishly remarked, “Yes, you have a very nice ass.”

“Do I?”

“Yes, you do. I don’t want you to get dressed yet. Thankfully it’s bed time.”

“So from now on you want me to sleep naked?” she asked playfully.

“Hell yeah,” I crowed.

She looked over at her alarm clock before she asked, “Do we have time for one more or are you too tired?”

“I’m not too tired for you. We do have time, Claire. We do.” That was the last thing I said before I pushed back into her.

We woke up after our last round of hot sex, and it was still only nine thirty. Everyone should be up in the house. I heard some movement, but no one seemed to be looking for us. Eli said he would be here already, but knowing them they’d be late.

She was sitting up in bed trying to wake up when something dawned on her. “I need to get a new phone. I just thought about it. It was in the fire, and I probably missed so many important calls.”

Any time the fire was mentioned my blood would boil. “Yes, we need to see if any of those broads called you. We could get clues to what happened and if they were involved,” I muttered.

“I haven’t talked to Tad. He’s probably worried about me.”

“Why hasn’t he been here to see you? I’m sure he must have seen the news. Has he called?”

“He’s out of town, visiting his family. He probably called my cell, but I’m not sure why he didn’t call the house. He would be worried by now.”

“If he doesn’t know about the theft and the fire, would he normally be worried after not hearing from you since he left the office?” I asked.

“No, but I called him after we found out about the theft,” she blurted out like it wasn’t anything important.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you talked to Tad before we went to bed that night?” I growled.

“He’s my best friend. I didn’t think I needed your permission to call him.” She jumped off the bed and tried to get away. I jumped up too and pulled her back to me.

I whispered in her ear. “That’s not what I meant. I was talking about the fact that he could have been involved.”

“He couldn’t be involved,” she denied. “Like you said it had to be the people who are after Sam.”

I angrily added, “That’s before I found out you let someone know that you found out about the theft. He could be a suspect.”

“He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. I know he wouldn’t do that to me.” She was adamant that he wasn’t involved, but you never knew about people.

“Then how come he hasn’t called?” I dared her to rationalize that.

“I don’t know,” she cried. Her tears were a killer.

I wrapped her up in my embrace and kissed her forehead. “Babe, I’m not trying to hurt you, but I want to solve this.”

“I know, but I can’t believe he would do something to hurt me.”

We could get to the bottom of this really quickly. “Do you know his number?”

“Yes,” she murmured with her head pressed into my chest.

I pulled back and said, “Here’s my phone. It’s time to give him a call.” I handed her the phone, but she just looked at it, terrified to believe it could be true. “Claire, you’ve got to do this. Maybe he isn’t involved, but we won’t know until we find out. Put it on speaker so I can hear him too.”

“Okay,” she murmured. Putting it on speakerphone, she dialed his number as she sat back down on the bed.

“Tad. It’s me, Claire.”

“Girl, why haven’t you called me back? I’ve been freaking. I left you like five messages and twenty texts.” His voice was full of relief. “Did you run away with the hunky cowboy? I would have called your parents, but I knew they never really met your boyfriends.”

“No, I couldn’t call you back. I lost my phone in the fire,” she answered meekly.

“Fire! What fire?!” he shouted. His concern was evident. I was getting a feeling that he wasn’t involved.

She started to sob as she said, “The salon was set on fire a few hours after I called you.”

“Are you okay? Please tell me you didn’t get burned or anything.”

“Yes. If it wasn’t for Travis, I wouldn’t be alive.”

“Who’s Travis?”

I interrupted, “I’m Travis. I’m a federal agent and was acting as Brady, but my cover is no longer needed. Did you tell anyone about what we found out that night?”

“Oh, no. It couldn’t be,” he said in a faraway contemplative tone. 

“What couldn’t it be?” I growled. I didn’t like the sound of those words. He did something.

“I…I…I texted the girls,” he stuttered.

He was going to be a dead man. “Why the fuck did you do something like that? Are you fucking helping them steal from Claire?” I roared.

“I wouldn’t. I’m sorry, Claire. I was just so angry about the whole thing, so I thought I’d let them have it. I didn’t think they would do anything about it.”

I continued to tear into his ass. “They stole over forty thousand dollars. What the fuck did you think they were going to do about it? Just surrender to the police?” My anger was getting ready to burst. I wanted to climb through the phone and choke the shit out him.

His voice shook as he tried to explain his stupidity. “I wasn’t thinking. I was so mad. They told me that I was wrong and that they would talk to Claire in the morning and straighten all this out and that I shouldn’t be spewing lies.”

“What makes you think I believe a fucking word you’re saying?”

“I have the texts I sent them and theirs to me. I can forward them to your phone. I promise I wouldn’t do anything to harm my Éclair. What can I do to make it right?”

I could hear the remorse in his voice and it was truly sincere, but if he didn’t want to go to jail he may be trying to look innocent, not sorry.

“Send me the text messages via screenshots,” I ordered.

“Okay. I’ll figure out how to do that and send them right over.”

“Hold the side button and the front button at the same time,” Claire answered.

“Thanks. I’m really sorry, Éclair. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. I swear.”

I ended the call because I didn’t want to hear his pathetic ass excuses and apologies. I looked down at my woman who sat on the bed with her head hung low.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She huffed out a deep breath she’d been holding and whined, “I just feel like so much has happened, and I wish I could get a do-over.”

I sat down with her and started rubbing her back. “Babe, we survived. We have a chance for a do-over.”

“You’re right. I’m just feeling sorry for myself. I need to stop.”

I moved her hair to the other side, and nuzzled her neck. I wanted to make her happy, but I knew that happy moments were few and far between when she was going through so much shit. “Claire, there is nothing wrong with feeling the way you do. You just can’t let it keep you down.”

“I guess when you’re older, you do get wiser,” she joked.

“Ha-ha. While we wait for his text let’s get ready for the day.”

“Oh, yeah. I still have to meet your sister and her family.”

“Yes, you do and their probably here already or on their way. Eli and I still have a lot to do. I don’t know if these are two different cases or if it’s all related, but I need to get some answers. Time is of the essence.”

We showered together. It may have not been the best idea, but I wanted to get down to business and to see if Tad was really an innocent fool, or a conniving criminal. I tried to avoid looking at her, but she was too tempting to miss. I was strong enough to not bury myself in her, but now, I had a major case of blue balls.

After dressing, I grabbed my phone and looked at the messages that pinged in from Tad. He wasn’t lying. He’d let them have it, and they claimed to be innocent. I let Claire look at the messages, but it was a mistake. She started crying all over again. I wanted to kick my own ass.

“Baby, this shows he didn’t do it.”

“I know, but it still hurts knowing that people I trusted could steal from me. Even worse, they could be involved in the fire that almost killed us and destroyed my livelihood.”

“Come on we need to get a move on so you can meet my sister and the kids. We have a future to plan for, and I want you to look at all we still have to look forward to.”

“Oh, no. I’m a mess,” she screeched as she looked into the vanity.

Looking at her through the mirror, I smiled and said, “You look beautiful.”

“Bullshit, my face is puffy and streaked with tears.”

“So, everyone knows what you’ve been through, and your tears are only normal.”

She shook off her worry and demanded I get a move on. “Fine. Take me to them.”

I stopped her in her tracks before she opened the bedroom door. “Wait, I need to do one thing first.”

“What?”

“This,” I whispered as I held the sides of her face and lowered my mouth down on to hers. Ours mouths met in a kiss that only messed with my heart even more than I could handle.

“I love you, Claire.” I didn’t mean to say it so soon, but I wasn’t going to take it back or ask that she return the words. I’d been moving fast in every way. I wanted her to mean it when she said it.

She just stared up at me and her eyes smiled along with her lips, then she whispered, “I love you too.”

“My family can wait,” I growled as I lifted up the dress she slipped on to get at her pussy. I moved to undo my belt and she slid my zipper down, caressing my cock as she did it. I closed my eyes as I tried to calm myself. All parts of me were set in overdrive. I was shaking in a need to possess her.

I slammed my mouth on hers, pressing her head into the door. My hands gripped her waist, and I lifted her up, pushed her panties to the side, and slid her down onto my cock. Our bodies hit the door hard as I pushed my cock deeper into her.

I growled as I whispered, “You’re so sexy, Claire.”

“Say it again.”

“You’re so fucking sexy,” I moaned.

“No, the other thing.”

“I love you, Claire. You’re mine, and I knew it from the moment I first saw you.”

“Oh, God. Harder,” she begged.

“Not until you say it again,” I growled.

“I love you, Travis.”

“Not that. Tell me how much you want me to come in your heat.”

Her body shook as my words turned her on. “Harder, I want it all, Travis.”

“Okay, baby,” I groaned as I pulled her away from the door and moved backwards to the bed and sat down.

“Ride me,” I demanded as I spanked her ass.

“Ah,” she cried out as she lifted up then down on my cock. 

I took her ponytail in my hands and pulled on it. “Bounce, babe.”

My mouth latched on to her neck as she rode me hard. She started going crazy on my cock. She squeezed her pussy as she lifted up. It was getting me wild. I growled as I watched her fuck herself on me. I lifted her dress up and off her body, and then pulled her bra down because I needed to taste her plump breasts.

“Ah,” she moaned as I took her breast into my hot mouth. She pushed my head into her chest, silently begging for more as she clawed at my neck and shoulders.

I became an animal as I felt her coming on me. So I picked her up and flipped her on the bed as I leaned over pumped my seed into her. I knew there was a slim chance I could get her pregnant since she just finished her period a few days ago, but I knew soon she’d swollen with my baby, and it only spurred me on more.

“Mine,” I roared before I took her mouth.