Celtic Evil: A Fitzgerald Brother Novel: Roarke (35 page)

Cameron Young wondered up,
eyeing the pair. “Should I tranq him?”

“Leave him be. Ryan or Mac
will know if the fight gets too loud,” Kerry replied, eyeing the
field even as Ian cleansed it without a problem. “Ry, we really
need to test Ian’s power range.”

Ryan laughed as he also
watched their youngest brother. “Hell, I knew that when he was nine
and like to reshape things while he slept.”

Mac and Kerry both turned
to stare at him. “I want to know just what you haven’t told us,”
Mac muttered, feeling Maggie’s arm around him. “Let’s go
back.”

Fiona waited at the front
door, her lips pursed in an amused smile. “Your brother isn’t
happy,” she spoke calmly.

“That’s probably the
understatement of the bloody year, Gran,” Ryan laughed, heading for
the parlor and a drink.

Roarke had remained silent
until he got to the bedroom upstairs where he gently placed his
friend on the bed, then stepped into the bathroom for water and
towels.

“Are you going to say
something soon or just brood?” Jessica finally asked, head hurting
from where it had hit ground.

Sitting back beside her, he
pushed his long black hair out of his eyes as he took one arm to
start cleaning the scratches manually, but did remove the sting.
“Did the part where I told you to stay in the house escape you or
what?”

The absent, tense tone to
his accent told her he was angry and hiding it, yet his touch was
gentle.

“You needed the time to do
the spell and I knew Sebastian would send his goons so they needed
a distraction,” Jessica shrugged, wincing slightly as the long red
scratches on her back pulled. “Just wasn’t expecting so bloody many
of the buggers.”

“They knew that if you were
hurt I’d feel it and lose concentration,” Roarke sighed, sitting
the towel aside and motioned to her shirt. “Let me see your
back.”

Clearly hesitant on that,
Jessica’s fingers fiddled with the material for a few moments then
slowly then lift it over her head and shift so he could see the
minor wound back there.

The other scratches had
come from the lesser demons, but these he knew came from the
stronger one. These he wanted removed totally, so he carefully
placed his fingers on them and worked on removing them.

“Roarke, what…?” Jessica felt the sudden
power and shivered but didn’t move as his other hand stroked
through her hair.

“Just breathe through the
pain, luv,” he murmured, gritting his teeth as it hurt to take
these wounds, but felt it ease as she took his free hand in her own
and closed them over the rose quartz heart he’d given
her.

Smiling as he leaned his
face into her hair, Roarke felt the wounds going away, and when he
ran his fingers gently over her back and shoulders, he felt no pain
or anything else except for her soft skin.

“We need to come to an
agreement about your plans that give me strokes,” he commented,
looking back at her eyes and seeing the concern. “I’m not angry,
Jessica… well I was, but it scares me now to know how easy you can
get hurt.”

“Roarke, we’ve been friends
over twenty years and we’ve worked together on cases where we’ve
both been hurt,” she reminded him with an eye roll that usually
made him smile.

Nodding, he couldn’t
disagree with that. “The difference being here is I’ve accepted
being in love with you and I don’t want to see you
hurt.”

“Then I see a lot of fights
because you can’t baby me, Roarke,” Jessica replied firmly, lightly
touching his face. “I love you but you have to trust I know what to
do.”

“I do trust you, luv but…”
Roarke closed his eyes. “I’m scared.”

Jessica had known that was
his biggest issue. The fear of losing those he loves again. “I
trust you, Roarke, but you need to trust me and yourself.” With
that, she took his hand in hers and placed it lightly over her
heart then let it slide down.

“I know
a gra
,” he whispered, frowning
slightly as she pressed his fingers so that they slid over the
swell of a breast. “Jessica…”

“Trust is a two-way street,
Roarke, and it isn’t only about sharing the danger of facing either
magical bad guys or modern urban terrorists. It’s also about
letting you trust in other ways too,” she spoke quietly, holding
his hand still as she saw his indecision, then she leaned up to
kiss him lightly. “Trust and love don’t have to be scary, but we
both have seen the bad sides of both.”

The young Irishman
remembered he’d heard those words from his mother recently as he
gave in slightly to return her kiss, his fingers gently molding her
flesh while going on sudden instinct and moving forward until he
was lying next to his friend, but kept his hand on her.

Lifting her eyes, Jessica
let her fingers touch his long black hair, then murmured lowly as
his fingers stroked over her breast and she felt the nipple strain
the fabric of her bra.

“Bloody hell,” he
whispered, sitting up on the bed for a moment before looking back
at her, then pulled his t-shirt off in one quick movement, then his
mouth was on hers for a long deep kiss.

The one thing he had always
made sure of since his childhood experiences was that whenever sex
had been in his life, it had usually only been a release for him or
part of an assignment. This would be the first time that it was
important to him, that it would matter to him that his partner also
enjoys it since he knew she’d be more wary of it.

“Keep your eyes open,
Jessica,” he knew what she’d be expecting as he was careful to lay
next to her to go back to feathering his fingers across her ribs
then up to her breast. “I do trust and I will love you
forever.”

The words she’d started to
say dried up when he pressed a kiss to the swell of that same
breast, then closed on the nipple through silk. “Roarke...” she
whispered, fingers automatically running through his
hair.

He gently tormented her for what seemed, to
her, like hours as he kissed, caressed, stroked her until finally
he lifted his head from where he’d been laying gentle, lazy kisses
across her stomach and saw her eyes had gone from blue to a deeper
blue.

“Tell me now, luv,” his
voice was tight with emotions he was keeping in check along with
his desires.

Jessica wasn’t sure she
could talk but finally focused on his eyes until she could nod,
though she tensed when he touched her jeans.

“Sshh, relax now,” he
soothed, speaking Irish as he often did when it was just the two of
them.

Roarke was slow as he slid
her jeans down and off, then stood to remove his own, smiling when
he saw her eyes move on him.

“Let’s keep the thoughts
clean, luv,” he laughed, leaning down to kiss her mouth as the bed
shifted with his weight when he laid back down, but drew her closer
to him to let her adjust to this slowly, and his hand had slid to
unsnap the bra.

“The sun’s coming up,
Roarke, we can’t do this now,” she replied hastily, concern turning
to fear as his slowly slid the bra straps down to free the
silk.

Catching her hands, he
leaned up to kiss her more gently. “I want to see you, Jessica,” he
explained, leaning over her to deepen the kiss while lightly
teasing her lips with his tongue until he felt them
part.

Shivering slightly as her body seemed to
throb under his touches, Jessica whimpered under his kisses and
wasn’t really aware when he finished undressing them both.

Needing her relaxed, Roarke
continued to kiss and stroke until the young woman was twisting
restlessly, then he moved to position himself. “Look at me,
muirnin
(sweetheart).” He
waited until her eyes were on him. “Trust me to make this good for
you.”

“Roarke, I know what you need to…” her words
cut off as his mouth claimed hers hotly just as he slipped inside
with a strong solid push.

Swallowing her sudden cry at the unexpected
pain, Roarke held his own control tightly while holding his friend
still until her body adjusted to the first act of sex since her
assault several years prior.

Jessica had gone rigid; her
first instinct was to fight and escape, but Roarke’s hold remained
gentle, and he did not attempt to move until she had calmed down
some.

“It’ll be alright soon,
luv,” he promised tightly, taking as much of her discomfort and
fear as he dared right then.

Several moments passed
before she opened an eye to see him watching her carefully, unsure
what was happening or what he wanted her to do. “Now what?” she
finally asked, seeing him smile.

“Now we both feel,” Roarke
replied, kissing her gently as he made the first gentle thrust and
saw her eyes go wide.

It was easier than he
thought it would be, teaching Jessica that making love could be
enjoyable and not cruel. “Easy,” he soothed, feeling her tense at
times when she wouldn’t know what to do. “Do what you feel is
right, Jess.”

He groaned when her long
legs moved and on instinct rolled on his back, doing the one thing
he’d never done with anyone else, and that was allow someone else
control.

“Roarke?” her eyes snapped
to him as his fingers spread to hold her gently when she straddled
him. “I don’t know…” she knew he didn’t like to be like this since
it often reminded him of his confinement in Mayo. “You need
to…”

“Just move a little, luv,”
he urged her, fighting not to show how his emotions were twisting
at being on his back and feeling the weight on his body. “I’m
alright.”

That was a lie and she knew
it but to make him happy, she did let her hips shift a little and
felt her body tighten more around him. “Does it hurt?” she asked
softly, seeing his eyes had closed, but his fingers were moving on
her legs.

“No, not in the way you
mean,” Roarke fought the urge to push up and lay still as she found
a nice steady rhythm to move against him with. “God,” he groaned,
not aware when his fingers gripped her hips tighter or when they
cupped both of her soft breasts and began squeezing.

Jessica whimpered as his
fingers molded as she leaned into his hands, which also deepened
her hold on him as her hips lifted slightly then slid back down
more and she felt his control getting looser. It was when her hands
splayed on his bare chest to rub lightly that it
cracked.

“A Dhia
dhilis
! (My God!)” Roarke groaned, sitting
up quickly and locking her to him with a strong arm as his hips
began to move quicker and his mouth was hot and hard as it took
hers.

Fighting for control, he
bent Jessica back over one arm so his mouth could find her already
hard nipple and heard her cry his name as he sucked it gently,
tongue swirling on it until he heard her moan.

“You are so sweet, so
soft,” he watched her twist and climb higher as her nails raked
across his chest and back, as his mouth continued to make love to
both breasts. His hands stroked her back and stomach, when he
placed one hand flat on her stomach between them he felt her cry
out, her body exploding against him. “There’s my girl,” he smiled
as she moved then waited until she was still, then flipped her onto
her back and surged forward.

“Roarke, wait,” she tried
to regain some breath but he was pushing her up again. “I
can’t…”

“Aye, you can,” he replied
hoarsely, thrusting forward and up as he sought his own release,
soon felt her moan his name as he brought her up closer, and felt
her own small lips close on his nipple to do what he had
done.

She felt his emotions changing but kept up
his pace as she lowered her head to kiss his chest then up to his
jaw, feeling him grow harder inside her until she moaned; falling
back as his hips moved but his hands were still gentle on her
skin.

Tightening his grip,
Roarke’s long fingers massaged her body until she was writhing
under him again, then when he felt she was about ready, brought her
up to him again.

“I love you, Jessica,” he
whispered against her mouth, then pushed and felt her second climax
hit her and he let himself follow her.

There was a long silence in the bedroom that
had unknown lights flickering throughout from the energy that that
been expended by the couple.

Finally bringing himself
back to reality, Roarke knew he was too heavy and sought to shift
some of his weight, but felt her cling to him.

“Not letting go, luv,” he
promised, reaching for the blanket to spread when he felt her
shiver as her body cooled.

Jessica snuggled closer to
his chest, her hand laying flat over his heart as she listened to
it. “Did I do that right?”

Grinning, he was about to
laugh until he saw the honest concern in her eyes. “Jessica, my
love, you did everything just fine,” he assured her, brushing a
thumb over her cheek, as he turned more serious. “Thank
you.”

Frowning as her eyes began
to droop she was confused. “I should be thanking you for being
patient.”

“No.” Roarke let his
fingers run through her hair as he laid next to her. “This was the
first time I could let myself feel. I’ve been with the occasional
hooker or a woman if the job called for it, but this was the first
time I ever really could say I made love and meant it,” he smiled
into her eyes. “You gave me that and for all things you’ve ever
given me, this is the one thing I will treasure always.”