Chapter Sixteen
“I told you we should have left sooner,” Claire said, sitting in the passenger seat of Conor's car. The time on her watch was not promising. How she could be late to her own party was beyond her.
“It’s fine,” Conor said with a grin. “I just have someplace I need to go first.”
Claire glared at him. He was doing this on purpose, and it was starting to piss her off.
“No,” she said firmly. “We're going right over to the party.”
“Okay,” Conor said but made no effort to change the direction of the car. “We’ll go to the party right after this.”
Claire muttered to herself. He was going to drive her crazy if she wasn’t careful.
They stopped outside the pretty Victorian home they had looked at so many times before. The realtor's sign caught her eye.
“Oh, they sold it,” she said. It was hard to keep the sadness out of her voice. It really was the perfect solution, with rooms for Teagan and Anna, who needed support during her separation from Jason, and even then there was still room to start a family. She sighed. The house had just felt so right.
Conor stepped out of the car and opened her door. She supposed it wouldn’t hurt to say a last goodbye.
She climbed the steps and made her way to the beautiful wrap-around porch. She had always pictured them sitting there, enjoying their morning coffee.
She peeked in the large picture window and sighed. It was hard to find a place that had been so lovingly refinished like this one had.
She turned toward Conor when he opened the screen door.
“What are you doing? Someone's going to call the cops,” she whispered.
Conor just turned to her and winked.
Her heart fluttered every time he did that.
When the front door opened, she stared at him in shock.
“What are you—”
He held up a key. “It was such a good deal that when I mentioned it to Finn, he offered to help us out.”
“What?” She followed him in and wondered if maybe their car had been hit along the way to the party, and she was hallucinating.
“I know I should have talked to you first, but there was someone else interested in it, and we just had to make a call,” he said.
“You and Finn?” She stared at his back as he excitedly pulled her through.
“Yes.”
In a couple of months, Conor had gone from being the traitor to back being family. It was amazing how that worked. Even more so when they got a call from Teagan’s very expensive doctor. He planned to continue the treatments.
When Conor had spoken with Finn, he was surprised to find that Finn didn’t know anything about the treatments. That left only one bizarre possibility, that Ennis, despite his threats, had continued paying. As Teagan pointed out, if Ennis wanted to pay for her treatments, she wasn’t going to turn them away.
Not having the expenses of her medical care opened many things up for Conor. It was never clear how tight things had been for them until he started to open up about it. Every last dime went to pay for her treatments. Most months, they were lucky if they made rent.
Claire was just glad it was easier, even if they had Ennis to thank. The man's behavior, in the end, baffled them all.
“So, this is our house?” she said, still not fully believing what she was seeing.
Conor nodded as they made their way upstairs.
She placed a hand lovingly on the rail. This was theirs.
Her heart kicked up as she stared at his back. When they reached the top, she placed a hand on his shoulder.
“This is amazing,” she said softly. Claire leaned in for a kiss but stopped when he pulled away.
“You might want to wait,” he said, slightly nervous.
Claire frowned.
“For what?”
He pulled her to the last room down the hall. She stopped and looked over at him. Conor nodded his head in the direction of the door.
Claire opened the door and entered.
The curtains were drawn. Lanterns stood around the room, casting warm shadows on the wall. The floor was lined with rose petals, and in the middle, a mattress lay on the floor. She laughed quietly at how much effort he had put into it all and was amazed with how pretty it all looked.
Claire turned around and found him on the floor, on one knee. Dryness settled over her throat.
“I know I’m not always the easiest person to be with,” he said, running a hand through his sandy brown hair. His voice wavered a little, and she knew how nervous he must be. “But I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Will you be my wife?”
She smiled at his formal proposal. It was the sweetest she’d ever seen him, and part of her just wanted to bottle that charm.
He looked up at her expectantly, his smile faltering slightly.
She held out her hand and was surprised when the ring slipped on her finger perfectly.
Claire held the ring up and stared at it. “It’s beautiful.”
Conor stood and looked at the ring on her finger. “Anna helped me.”
“This must have cost a fortune,” she said and looked up to him. “I’d be happy with just a band.”
Conor shook his head. “It was a good deal. Finn helped with that.”
She imagined her cousin did. He knew a few great dealers in town that offered him discount prices.
“Are you going to answer?” he asked.
Claire looked at him, slightly confused, and Conor frowned. His brown eyes looked pained.
“Oh!” Claire exclaimed. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, a million times.”
Claire leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. After a moment, Conor leaned back. “Thank God,” he said.
His lips slid down her neck and across her collar bone.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
Conor pulled back and stared into her eyes.
“I’m about to lose my mind. Tell me you don’t want anything,” he said. His hand slid down the side of her dress and under the front. He skimmed the line of her panties.
Claire moaned and turned in his arms.
“Take me to the bed,” she whispered.
Conor pulled her along. He pulled the zipper down on her dress and let it slip off her body. She shivered under his hot gaze. Not stopping, he unsnapped her bra and pulled down the lace thong.
She stood naked in front of him as he gazed at her.
Not willing to be outdone, she started pulling at Conor’s clothes as well. First, his shirt hit the floor, then his jeans and underwear.
“Conor,” Claire sighed. “Touch me.”
Her body felt on fire. She ached for his hands to be on her. Conor pulled her down to the floor with him and spread her out on the bed. Then, he placed his head between her legs.
“I don’t think,” she started but stopped at the first swipe of his tongue. “Fuck.”
His tongue swirled around her hard clit, and she cried out. “Conor.” She looked down her body at him and shivered at the sight of him there, with his face planted in her pussy and loving it. She tossed her head back as he slipped a finger deep inside.
He fucked her with his fingers, sometimes alternating between his fingers and his tongue.
“Please,” she whispered. “I need you inside me.”
Conor pulled back, and she looked down at him. “Just let me love you,” he said.
Claire shook her head. “Why don’t we love each other?”
He stilled. His eyes flashed with something she’d never quite seen, and she cocked her head to the side. He slipped up her body and lay firmly between her thighs.
“And do we, Claire?” he asked quietly.
She frowned. “Do we what?”
“Love each other?” he asked. She could feel his cock slip between her folds.
“Of course,” she said.
He rolled them, and she found herself on top, his dick still firmly between her slick lips. Claire tested and slipped them up and down.
“Fuck,” he grunted. She gasped when his hands came firmly on her hips. “Say it, Claire.”
She looked down at his face as he waited. All this time she’d been so scared, but she hadn’t seen how much it might be hurting him.
Claire leaned and put her face right in front of his.
“I love you, Conor,” she said and slid her pussy down on his wanting cock.
Conor groaned and bucked hard.
With each stroke, he pressed in deeper.
Claire leaned forward, pressing him deeper inside. “I have always loved you,” she said.
Conor held on to her hip and fucked upward into her, faster and faster.
“More,” she moaned.
His finger found her clit, and he rubbed fast as their climaxes approached.
“Come with me, baby,” he mumbled.
Claire felt the stars move as she came, squeezing him like crazy.
“Fuck,” Conor groaned as he came deep inside her.
They lay quietly for some time after, enjoying the quiet.
“Shit,” Claire said, jumping up. “The party.”
“They knew we were coming here,” he said and pulled her back down to him.
Claire frowned. “Great, so they knew we were going to have sex?”
Conor laughed. “I think the sex was implied.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “What am I going to do with you?”
Conor grinned. “Have sex with me all day every day?”
She laughed at his idea. “Nice try,” she said. “Up,” she said firmly. “I’ve got a victory to celebrate.”