The Wedding Pact (The O'Malleys #2) (23 page)

But the second Callie started down the aisle in her gorgeous white dress, its train like something out of a fairy tale, and Teague’s eyes shone, Carrigan damn near lost it.
He’s so happy. That’s all I ever wanted for him
. None of her problems mattered today. They could wait. Teague and Callie’s happiness took priority, and she was more than happy to temporarily shelve her own baggage for a while.

She clutched her miniature bouquet while Callie’s father handed her off to Teague and the priest began to talk about love and Christ and marriage. It couldn’t be more obvious that neither of the two people at the altar gave two fucks about his words. They only had eyes for each other.

Even Carrigan could admit that the wedding was gorgeous. Her mother had gone all out, and all the headaches and badgering had resulted in a picture-perfect ceremony. The bridesmaids all wore long blue gowns the same color as Callie’s eyes, and they all had lily bouquets instead of the traditional roses, which complemented Callie’s lily and rose bouquet. All Carrigan’s remaining brothers were there, polished within an inch of their lives, and they all looked genuinely happy for the first time in longer than she cared to remember.

It seemed like she wasn’t the only one putting aside her baggage for Teague’s big day.

Teague and Callie exchanged their vows and were announced as Mr. and Mrs. Teague O’Malley. No one seemed to care that they’d already been married for several months—including them. And then they were down the aisle and disappearing through the huge doors, and Aiden was there, offering his arm to Carrigan. “You managed to be on time, I see.”

“Don’t be a dick.” She spoke through teeth clenched into a smile. Aiden’s attitude might stem from legitimate worry about her, but that didn’t mean she was going to roll over and play dead for him.
He
wasn’t the one being forced into a marriage he didn’t want. Oh, she knew their father had his eye on several candidates for her older brother, but the sad truth was that ultimately it’d be Aiden’s decision on both the time and the person. Carrigan didn’t have that luxury.
I’m not worrying about it today.

Easier said than done.

They made it to the end of the aisle, and Carrigan walked over to hug Teague. “I’m so happy for you. For both of you.”

“Thank you.”

And then their mother was there, ushering them all out of the church and into the waiting limo. It was a squeeze with all of them, but they managed. Carrigan ended up sandwiched between Keira and Aiden. He frowned at their younger sister. “Have you been drinking?”

“It’s called celebrating.” She reached around to grab a bottle of champagne that had been stashed in the bucket of ice in the corner, and took a swig. “We’re at a wedding, after all.”

From the look of her, she’d been
celebrating
for a while before they got to the ceremony. Aiden must have come to the same conclusion. “Keira, we’re going to talk about this.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure thing, Dad. I’ll get right on that.”

For the first time, Carrigan wondered if maybe this was more than their sister just working her way through grief over Devlin’s death. She tried to remember the last time she saw Keira sober and came up blank. It could be chalked up to her being busy with her own drama…but what if that wasn’t it at all? She exchanged a look with Aiden, their earlier bickering falling away in the face of what might be a real problem. Carrigan shook her head.
Not today. Not on Teague’s wedding
.

Aiden nodded and sat back, causing the tension among the three of them to decrease dramatically. Across from them, Teague and Callie were lost in their own world, and Cillian and Sloan were talking quietly. No one had heard or paid attention to their exchange with Keira. It was probably for the best. If Teague knew something might be wrong, he’d set aside everything except for solving the problem. They’d put it on the back burner so that he could be happy without strings attached today.

They pulled up to the reception hall—the same one that had been used to announce Teague and Callie’s wedding—and everyone piled out of the limo. Half the guests had somehow beaten them there, and the tables were filling up as they made their way up to the main table on the platform. Carrigan gave the crowd a cursory glance, and then almost tripped over her feet when she caught sight of a familiar blond head of hair.
No way
. She touched Sloan’s arm. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay. Don’t be too long, though. I think our mother has dinner set up to go off immediately, followed by the toasts.”

One of which Carrigan was giving. She nodded without taking her eyes off the blond man. That was
definitely
James. “I know. I won’t miss it.” She moved away before her sister could say something else, winding through the tables and trying to get a better look.
This is stupid. Just walk over and tap him on the shoulder and then you’ll see that it’s not James, because there’s no way James could be here.
But then he looked over his shoulder, caught her eye, and
winked
. She changed course, determined to drag his ass out of here before one of her brothers or, worse, her father, realized he was in the room.

James stood and walked toward the door leading deeper into the building—not the exit.
That’s it. I’m going to kill him
. Carrigan checked to make sure no one was following, and then ducked after him. She barely made it three steps when an arm wrapped around her waist and a hand over her mouth cut off her curse.

“Relax, lovely. It’s me.”

She damn well knew it was him. It wasn’t like she was wandering down the hall for her health. She elbowed him and slipped free. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Nothing. Why do you ask?” He rubbed his stomach with a grimace. “You sure do like beating me up.”

“I don’t respond well to being grabbed without warning.” She waved it away. “Back to more important things—why are you here?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I was invited.”

“You were invited.” She hadn’t realized it was possible to actually feel her blood boil. “You’re a smart man, James.”

“Why do I feel you’re about to use that as a backhanded compliment?”

She ignored the question. “And, as a smart man, you have to be aware that the invitation was a gesture only. No one wants you here, and just by being here, you’re upping the chances of causing a conflict that will jeopardize the peace.”

“Ah, lovely.” He grinned, his total lack of concern making her blood pressure spike. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re sweet on me.”

“I’m not. I don’t believe in caring about idiots who have death wishes.” She smacked his arm. “You need to leave. Now.”

“Bossy, bossy.” He turned and walked farther down the hall, forcing her to chase him like a yippy dog. “Pretty wedding.”

“Yeah, it was.” She glanced over her shoulder. So far no one had come looking for her, but it was only a matter of time. “James…” What could she say? That it would kill a little part of her if something happened to him? It was nothing more than the truth, and it still pissed her off that he’d taken a risk like this. “Leave.”

James peered through a door and then kept it open with his foot. “Not until I get what I came for.”

Of course he’d come here for a specific reason. She should have known. Carrigan sighed. “Okay, fine. Hurry up and get what you came for and then you can get out of here.” She frowned when he laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“Lovely, I came here for
you
.” He grabbed her wrist and hauled her against his chest, simultaneously taking a step back that brought them into the room he’d just been looking in. She got the vague impression of a storage closet, and then he shoved the door shut and his mouth was on hers. Shock had her opening for him, shock and the fact that she was hot and wanting just by his touching her.

Torn between shoving him off and yelling at him some more, and kissing him until she forgot all the reasons this was a bad idea, it was no contest. She slid her hands down his chest to hook his belt. “I need you.”

“You’ve read my mind.” He pulled at her dress, bunching it up. The further it rose, the greater the barrier between them. “How much fucking fabric does one dress need?”

Too much. She pulled away and turned around. “Unzip me.”

He wasted no time in obeying, dragging the zipper down and shoving the offending dress off her shoulders to puddle on the floor. Then he was there, pressed against her bare back, his hand slipping around and into her panties. “You’re wet for me.”

“Always.”

“I think you have a thing for storage closets.” He kissed the back of her neck, left bare by her complicated updo. “I like it.” And then her panties were gone, joining her dress on the floor. He kicked her legs wider, taking advantage of the position to push two fingers into her. She rolled her hips, moaning, and he growled against her skin. “Quiet, lovely. This isn’t some loud-as-fuck dance club. This is your brother’s wedding.” He fucked her slowly with his fingers. “Someone’s going to come looking for you before too long, so you need to be good and quiet so they don’t walk in and see you taking my cock like you can’t live without it.”

She couldn’t catch her breath. “Oh God.”

He slowed even further, dragging his fingers out of her. “Do you want me to stop?” He circled her clit. “You can put that ridiculous dress back on and walk back to the reception and pretend you weren’t about to come all over my hand.” His breath brushed the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. “Or I can go down on my knees and lick that pretty pussy of yours until you have to cover your mouth to keep from screaming.” He kept going, his words the only thing that penetrated the rushing in her ears. “And then, while you’re still recovering, I’ll bend you over and fuck you until you’re coming again, this time around my cock.”

His hand started to slide up her stomach and she grabbed his wrist. “Don’t you dare stop.” She guided him back between her legs, whimpering when he pushed into her again. “
James
.”

“Fuck, lovely, when you say my name like that, you damn well know I’m not going to stop until I’ve done everything I promised and more.”

Chapter Seventeen

J
ames tried to keep an ear on the hallway outside them, but with Carrigan in his arms making that delicious whimpering sound, he lost it. Everything went out the damn window except for his need to bury himself inside her until they both lost control. He kept working her with one hand and used the other to get his pants off. “On second thought, I’m just going to fuck you right now. Every minute I spend without being buried inside you is one minute too many.” He grabbed a condom out of his pocket and was forced to stop touching her long enough to roll it on.

Too long.

He ran one hand up her spine, bending her forward, and used his other to notch his cock in her entrance. She was wet and ready for him, so he wasted no time sliding home. James went stock-still, the sheer bliss of being inside her never failing to take his breath away. “The things you do to me.” He moved, gripping her chin and maneuvering her so that her back was flush against his chest. His shirt was one barrier too many between them, but he wasn’t going to waste the energy to get it off. Instead, he kissed her. “You’re mine, lovely. Mine alone.” Crazy words. Words he had no right to.

She made a sound of protest, but he wasn’t about to let her start thinking right now. James slid his hand down to cup her breast, pinching her nipple even as he slipped his free hand between her legs again, stroking her clit. “Brace your hands on the wall.”

The new position allowed him deeper, and he wasted no time taking full advantage of it, fucking her ruthlessly even as he rubbed her clit. “Remember, lovely, be quiet. You never know who might be listening.”

There was that whimper again. His balls went tight at the sound, and words came out of his mouth in an unfiltered river. “I want you so much, I can’t fucking see straight.” He slammed into her hard, the sound of flesh meeting flesh filling the room. “Every time I watch you walk away, all I can think about is dragging you back into my bed, my car, a fucking storage closet. Being inside you is as close to perfection as I’ll ever get.”

She let go of the wall and slapped a hand over her mouth as she came, and he was forced to grab her hips to keep them both from slamming into the wall. Her pussy milked him, taking away his last breath of control. He slammed into her once, twice, and a third time, coming so hard he saw stars. James caught them both from falling with a hand on the wall, keeping another around her waist. “Shit.”

“That about sums it up.” She pulled away and turned around. She had the look of a woman well pleasured, but there was a hint of panic lingering in her green eyes. “This doesn’t change anything.”

He wanted to argue, to rail at her for being so damn determined to drive herself off the cliff, but that wasn’t why he’d come here tonight. He caught her chin and kissed her, moving back almost as soon as he’d made contact. “I wanted to see you. End of story.” But it wasn’t. Not by a long shot.