Irish Charm; St. Patrick's Day Romance Collection, page 45
On the positive side, he was at least in his early 50s, and I was fairly confident that I could easily outpace him if it came down to it. I made sure to be on a side with a clear line to the door. One that put me right next to Garrison. At least I had a good example of irony if anyone asked for a definition again.
“I didn’t think you would be here,” Darcy said to her dad.
“I’m sorry.” He lowered his head. “Well, about everything, particularly for trying to force your hand like I did. You are your own person as well as an adult. It is up to you who you choose to marry.”
“Has he been at the scotch again?” Darcy asked, leaning over to Matilda.
“Nope, I hid it too well.”
“I’m serious, honey. Can you possibly forgive me?”
Her lips narrowed.
“For basically trying to sell me to a business associate to seal a business deal.”
His chest puffed out.
“Well, no, I don’t know if that’s—”
There was a thump under the table and a yelp from Garrison, Matilda looking very stern indeed.
“Fair enough, yes. I was wrong. Very wrong. Can you forgive an old fool?” Garrison asked, rubbing his chin.
“I guess so,” Darcy said, relenting. “Just don’t ever do anything like that ever again.”
“Never, I swear,” Garrison vowed, left hand on heart, right hand to the heavens.
“And promise not to give me any shit about my future.
“I have no real objections. I did at first, but that was mostly because I thought he was just trying to marry you for my money. Now I see it really is love. I might be foolish and stubborn, but not enough to stand in the way of that. Not if you love him enough to move to Ireland and if he’s willing to give up a million dollars for you. I still can’t quite believe that. Just tore it up into confetti, right in front of—”
“It’s okay, dear,” Matilda said, placing a comforting hand on his arm.
The wink was subtle, but I caught it. Garrison might have been at least on the fence, but Matilda was definitely on our side. Particularly after she’d tested me a bit. When I showed, to her satisfaction, that it wasn’t just a con or a fling, that I really did love their daughter, she was all behind it.
“Does that mean you’ll walk me down the aisle?” Darcy asked.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
It was something from a dream. Everything panning out almost a bit too well. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Why didn’t you tell me you ran a butcher shop?” Garrison asked.
Thump. There it was.
“How did you know? Have you been investigating me?”
I looked over at Matilda and Darcy, who were busy discussing which bouquet Darcy would be carrying. They probably wouldn’t notice even if I got up and did an Irish jig.
“Of course, I did. Not at first. In the beginning, I just thought you might be a gold digger or a conman who was after Darcy’s money or mine through her. Even when I made the offer, I wasn’t sure. I thought maybe you were holding out for a bigger payday. MacBride’s Fine Meats. Ranked in the top five food merchants for the last five years.”
“It’s a living,” I said with a shrug.
“And modest too, still you really are what you seem, aren’t you?”
“Try to be, aye.”
“So that wasn’t just bullshit at the garden party. You really do love our Darcy.”
“With all my heart.”
“Be careful with her? She’s already been hurt enough, particularly by me, but I’m going to do my best to repent.”
“Yes, sir.”
Garrison held up a glass for a toast. I was glad the low-key animosity between us seemed to be resolved. I really didn’t want to be getting between Darcy and her father.
“Can I call you dad?” I joked.
“Hell no, but Garrison is fine.”
The bouquet was selected before the cantaloupe slices came, the last decision to be made before the official arrangements were set into motion.
“It’ll be tight,” Matilda warned, “but you should be able to get married by next Saturday now that we have another week.”
“Still seems a bit quick to me,” Garrison grumped theatrically, “then our baby will be whisked off to the wilds of Ireland.”
“Only for a couple of days, dad. Then it is straight back to Belfast and Sean’s family. It is a city, you know.”
“A foreign city far from what you’re used to.”
“Don’t worry, Garrison, I’ll be there, and my brothers besides. We’ll look after her.”
“See that you do,” Garrison glowered but with a smile behind the sound.
I was pretty pleased myself, giddy even, so much so that I took Darcy’s hand and kissed it right then in there in the restaurant, in front of her parents. There was nothing to hide anymore, not that there ever was much, but even that was over. We could finely be together properly.
Chapter Thirty - Darcy
Brunch was great in every possible way. Though at the end of it, we were still hungry, at least in the way of food.
“Easy there, tiger,” Sean coaxed, rubbing my gurgling belly.
“I think I might need lunch too,” I confessed, “brunch was nice, no surprise considering how much it cost, but they really didn’t give much.”
“Probably how the heiresses stay stick thin.”
“Probably.”
We walked hand in hand while the birds tweeted in the trees. Life was good and couldn’t get any better. My phone rang, and I fished it out of my purse.
“Hello?”
“Well, you did it,” Nicole enthused.
“Did what?” I asked.
“You got the bastard,” Nicole clarified, “the firm is blowing up with gossip and panic after those recordings you sent. Emil has been seen cleaning out his office, and there is talk of a class-action lawsuit from his previous victims. It’s too late for a criminal case, unfortunately, but the civil settlement should be crippling. No one is even allowed to say his name, and no one will look him in the eye, even other senior partners. He’s basically become Voldemort.”
“How do you know all this? Weren’t you fired?”
“Oh, I was reinstated. It was a no-brainer when they figured out what he was doing. I’m not blacklisted anymore either. In fact, I’m heading up the class action civil case against him. There are others too. Emil has a lot of enemies, apparently. Most of them called me and asked if they could get in on it. Most of them aren’t even taking a fee!”
“Wow, isn’t that, like, a sign of the apocalypse?” Sean asked, listening in.
I pushed him away gently and tried to process what Nicole was telling me. Emil wouldn’t be going to prison but had suffered a fate that would have been considered worse than death for him. He was a non-entity in a field he once dominated and was about to lose a considerable chunk of his fortune.
“Oh, and apparently, Emil is in trouble with the taxman. He hasn’t paid full income tax in like twenty years. No wonder the prick was so rich, he had it stashed in a private account in Zurich.”
I grinned. “Oh, so he might go to prison after all.”
“I would be very surprised if he didn’t.”
It really did feel like justice in the true sense. God only knew how many careers and lives Emil destroyed in his time and how many girls he’d hurt. For him to be ignored and destitute, stripped of the position that would allow him to do that again seemed like the perfect punishment. The potential of prison was just the cherry on the sundae.
“Ooh, sundaes.”
“Sundaes?” Nicole and Sean asked in unison.
“Sorry,” I said, just to Nicole. “What are you planning to do next? Still practice other kinds of law?”
“I think I’ll stay where I am actually, at least for now, until I find someone and fall in love. Then I’d like to take some time off to have a baby. After that, I’ll probably want to go back into law and start looking for a new firm. The other senior partners promised to give me a good reference. Partly as an apology, I think.”
“Well, that and you are the best junior partner they have. They would be idiots to risk losing you, especially because of a prick like Emil. You could have asked for a solid gold Mercedes, and they would have given it to you.”
She laughed long and hard. “Shit, I should have asked for that, oh well, too late now.”
“Live and learn, right? Anyway, see you later.”
I hung up and took Sean’s hand again, and we continued on to lunch, my heart set on an extra-large pizza like we’d had before, followed by a strawberry sundae. That was the last pleasant thing I thought before the ghosts of doubt started to swirl.
Was I really getting married? It seemed so fast, but also, I had to admit, not fast enough. It could have happened even sooner had there not been so much fear of what others might think.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing. Are you worried about the wedding? Maybe it’s all happening too fast?”
I sighed. He knew me too well.
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“Do you need more time?”
That was really the question, wasn’t it? How much time would I need? Would there ever be a time when I was fully ready, or was I just overthinking myself out of happiness?
“No,” I said, direct from my heart, “I don’t need more time, I’m sure. I’m excited to be marrying you, and I’m ready to start a new life together in Ireland.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
We kissed to seal the promise and headed off for lunch.
Chapter Thirty-One - Darcy
I still couldn’t believe it. In a matter of days, my mom had managed to put together a beautiful wedding. Just the sort of beautiful old-fashioned wedding I’d always wanted to have.
I held onto a mixed bouquet of my favorite flowers as my dad walked me down the aisle to where Sean was waiting to make me Darcy MacBride-Matthews. Daddy wasn’t over the moon about the hyphenation or playing second fiddle, but mom brought him around like she usually did.
I never quite figured out what power it was she had over him, but it must have been potent. That much was for sure.
In a switch around which felt right, Nicole was my maid of honor, with Amy and Ciara as bridesmaids. Maggie was suffering from horrendous morning sickness and couldn’t stand for long periods but was still very much part of the wedding. She snapped photo after photo on her cell phone to make sure I hadn’t dreamt the whole thing.
We wrote our own vows, and just for fun, we did them in Irish. Translation sheets were provided, so everyone knew roughly what we said. It took a lot of practice, but I was pretty confident I hadn’t butchered Sean’s mother tongue.
Both families had come at short notice. Matthews and MacBrides had arrived from all over, though there were still a few more of my family than Sean’s, not that we were keeping count. The MacBrides were jetlagged, but they insisted that a few beers would help sort them out.
After the ceremony, the reception was held at a beautiful hotel in Palm Springs. Both cultures came together beautifully. California casual mingled with Irish lilts of various strengths as everyone drank and danced. Mom even managed to coax dad out onto the dance floor for the most adorably stiff version of the foxtrot I’d ever seen. I hadn’t forgotten what dad tried to do, forcing me into a loveless marriage, but I had forgiven him. I was mostly just happy we could be a family again.
“Have you seen Amy?” I asked as I danced with my husband, both of us deliriously happy.
“Kinda hard to miss her,” Sean said with a knowing smile. “She and Jim have been hiding in that corner since we got here, only coming out for food.”
I looked to where Sean indicated with his head. Sure enough, there was Jim and Amy cozy as could be, sparks flying between them. I had the feeling they would be making out if Aunt Tricia wasn’t there. Though she seemed to be busy keeping Mr. MacBride away from the bar.
“Oh, there he goes again,” Sean said, as Brendan made another break for it. “I’m not even sure he knows what he’s doing.”
“At least he’s off the booze,” I said, trying to accentuate the positive.
“True. For keeps this time, I think.”
“Oh, what changed?”
“His sister laid down the law. Aunt Tricia said she would let him die in the gutter if he touched a drop again and that she would make sure his sons cut him out of their lives. According to Eoin, she’s been sticking to him like glue when he’s not at the sober-living facility.”
It seemed a bit drastic, but maybe that’s just what she had to do to keep him alive. Still, it was touching in a way. Sean and I had only been married for an hour, but I already felt like part of the family. They certainly treated me like I was.
“You want to sneak up to our room?” Sean asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
I giggled.
“Sure, what did you have in mind?”
“Oh, a few things,” he said, gently squeezing my ass through my dress.
Hand in hand, we ran through the sliding doors, my white pumps in one hand, while Sean held the other.
“Hurry up,” Sean urged, jabbing the button for the elevator again.
“Come here,” I said, pulling him into a kiss, only broken when the elevator arrived.
We were still in the corridor when Sean scooped me up, carrying me all the way to the door of the bridal suite, which he opened with an impressive flick of his wrist.
“How do I do this?” he asked, puzzling over the fasteners on my dress.
“Here,” I said, undoing two of the bottom ones.
The dress was an old-fashioned design, like something from Pride and Prejudice, and had a complex system of fasteners running up the back. With some time and patience, Sean managed to get them all undone, easing the front of the dress down and massaging my tits as he kissed the back of my neck.
“That’s really nice,” I said, putting my head forward to give him more room to kiss and lick.
“You’re really nice.”
Before long, I was out of the dress, the white stockings the last remaining element. Deciding to leave them on, Sean positioned me on the edge of the bed. Before I could ask what he was going to do, his intentions were made clear. His soft, wet tongue gliding lightly over my sensitive pussy, making me rise and moan with pleasure.
He continued like that until I nearly climaxed. He backed off a little until I’d calmed down, then he went back in again, devouring my pussy until I screamed with sweet release, running my hands through his hair as I shook. Undaunted, he turned from heavy licks to light, gentle strokes focusing on the outside of my pussy as I came down and started to recover.
“Come here, you,” I said, pulling him down onto the bed.
With no resistance from my husband, I got up on all fours and took his cock deep into my mouth. I nearly got all the way down to his balls but had to back off at the last minute. I tried again and actually made it, Sean moaning his delight at my success. After a few more deep dives like that, I ran my lips up the length of his beautiful cock and started working the head. Attempting every trick I knew, and a few I was trying for the first time. I worked him to the edge several times before finally dropping my mouth to half-mast and going hard. Sucking my darling husband until he blessed me with his cum, which tasted as good as ever.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Always,” he said.
“You on top, or me?”
“First you, then, when you’re tired, I’ll take over.”
“I like how you think, husband.”
After stroking his cock with both hands to get him hard again, I eased myself down onto his magnificent member, the solid warmth slipping into me, pleasuring and comforting me like nothing else.
Comfort was an underrated part of sex. It usually only happened with partners you could trust, but when it did, it was magical.
I put my hands on his chest as I pumped, working his cock in and out of my pussy, the change in leverage allowing for new depths and different angles. I didn’t quite get him all the way inside, but we sure did give it a good try, and getting there was half the fun.
Easing to a comfortable position, I started bouncing hard, bringing us both to orgasm, his cum filling my pussy, my inner walls holding him tight as I collapsed against his chest.
Sweet Sean held me and kissed me as I panted against him, his cock still deep inside my pussy.
The situation which had come to make me feel most whole. True to his word, Sean wrapped his arms around me and turned me over, so I was on the bottom, and he was dominating me from the top.
At least, that was how it would have felt if we’d had a different dynamic. I’d never really liked guys being on top, but with Sean, I loved it. It didn’t feel like a loss of control but a new way to pleasure each other.
Wrapping my legs around his waist, Sean came down within kissing distance and started to move, working his cock deep inside my pussy.
“Harder,” I managed, between gasps of pure joy.
Right away, he started going a little harder, so I said it again and again until he was absolutely pounding me, the headboard banging out the beat of our love against the painted wall.
“Check the nightstand,” I panted after we had climaxed in sweet unison.
Gently withdrawing his cock from my pussy, he did just that. I’d stashed the box earlier, hoping to surprise him.
“What is it?”
“Consider it a wedding gift.”
“But I didn’t get you anything.”
“Baby, you’ve given me everything,” I said, gently squeezing his cock and giving him a kiss.
