Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series (76 page)

“Of course she’s okay, O’Connell. She’s with
me.” Noah just can’t let it go.

Ethan tenses again.

“Stop it, Noah!” Olivia warns. “Ethan,
please. I’m not okay. You two are freaking me out. And… you made me
a promise.”

Ethan stares at her, recognizing the signs
of her anxiety. He did promise her. “You’re fucking lucky,
Thompson.” He growls as he takes a step back. Scott quickly steps
in between them and then ushers Ethan back into the bar. He has
barely sat down, when Noah walks past and grins at him, taunting
him again. He’s on his feet in a flash and heading after him. This
time Scott is prepared and steps in front of him, putting both
hands on his chest stopping him in his tracks. “Sit down,
buddy.”

Ethan looks over his shoulder and tries to
push past him. Scott stands firm. “Ethan, I’m not kidding. Sit
down! You started this and it back fired on you, so you’re just
going to have to deal with it.”

Cursing, he lets out a ragged breath and
returns to his stool at the bar.

“Where the fuck is Brant and McCabe?”
Feeling a little desperate, Scott pulls out his cell phone and
checks again.

Olivia is one big ball of anxiety now and
Noah senses it in her body. Massaging her shoulders gently only
seems to make it worse. “Are you ok?” He’s concerned now, finally
realizing that this whole thing is having a more serious affect on
her than he thought it would.

“No! You guys have stressed me out.”

“He sure is wound tight right now. I told
you he loves you.”

“Oh that’s right, that’s why he asked Hannah
big boobs out on a date!” She frowns.

“Well, I think I understand why he did that.
I think he was trying to prove a point. I think he was trying to
prove to you that you really don’t want him to see anybody else. So
was he right about that?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Is it ok if we
call it a night? I’m exhausted.”

Noah sighs deeply. “Of course. I’ll see to
the bill.”

“I’m just going to say goodbye to
Rachel.”

It isn’t easy ignoring Ethan when he’s only
a few feet away, but she does as she gives Rachel a hug. Barely
holding it together, she tries to avoid his unnerving stare when
she hears Noah’s voice across the room. It grows louder with his
escalating anger. Standing alert, she tries to hear what’s being
said.

“$300? Just what the fuck was in that
brownie?” He screams at the waitress. “Even ‘special’ brownies
wouldn’t cost that much. Fucking O’Connell!”

Olivia looks over at him suspiciously.
“Ethan? What the hell did you do?” Looking mighty pleased with
himself, Ethan turns away avoiding eye contact and saying
absolutely nothing as he tips his glass to his lips.

When Noah starts to scream at the poor
waitress again, Olivia grabs Cindy by the arm as she passes. “I
need your help.” Dragging Cindy towards the table, Olivia shoots
Ethan a nasty look as she passes. “You’re an asshole, Ireland.”
When Olivia is far enough out of the room, Rachel turns to look at
him. “Did you really charge him $300 for a brownie?”

Ethan nods and tries to hold back his
laughter.

“Nice! I’m impressed!” Rachel nods her head
in acknowledgement.

Once Olivia and Cindy have gotten the bill
sorted out, Olivia starts towards the bar and notices Ethan is no
longer there. The music is really loud now and she puts her hand on
Rachel’s shoulder to get her attention.

“Hey girl! Are you leaving finally?”

“Yes, this was a bad idea and I really want
it to be over with.” She frowns. “Where’s Ethan?”

Rachel opens her eyes wide. “Um, well Scott
suggested he go outside and get some air.”

“Is he still angry?”

Rachel laughs. “That’s an understatement!
Seething is more like it.”

“Oh, just great.”

Noah waits for her at the front door,
holding it open for her. Walking out into the cool evening air, she
shivers. Ethan is parked right out front, leaning against the hood
of his car waiting for her. Standing when he sees them come out, he
begins to walk towards them, making Olivia nervous. She glances at
Noah. “Please, don’t get into a fight.”

He smiles at her but doesn’t answer.

“Noah?”

“Ok, I promise I won’t start anything.”

When Ethan reaches them, he ignores Noah all
together. “Olivia, can I talk to you for a minute?” He stands in
front of her, stopping her from passing. “Please.” She looks up at
Noah who doesn’t look too pleased but he waits for her cue. “It’s
ok, Noah. Can you give us a few minutes?” Noah locks his eyes to
Ethan’s, giving him a silent warning. “I’ll go get the car.” He
finally says as he walks away leaving them alone.

“Ethan, please don’t make a scene.” The cool
breeze makes her shiver again, prompting him to take off his jacket
and wrap it around her shoulders. “I just want to talk to you.” She
can hear the distress in his voice. “Can I drive you home so we can
talk? Please.”

Ethan watches Noah pull his car up beside
them and then get out, waiting at the passenger door for her. Oh
hell no! He’ll lose it, if she gets in that car.

“Olivia. We need to talk.” His voice is low,
desperate. Something in his eyes traps her there. Stopping her from
leaving. She thinks on it a long time before walking over to where
Noah is waiting. Ethan paces, muttering in Gaelic while he
waits.

“What’s going on?” Noah doesn’t like the
look on her face.

“Would it be extremely horrible if I let
Ethan take me home?”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Noah asks
concerned. “He still looks really angry.”

“You’re the one who made him angry, he’s not
mad at me.” Her tone has a little bite to it and she quickly
apologizes. “I’m sorry, Noah. I’m just… he won’t hurt me. He just
wants to talk and I guess you’re right… maybe I do love him.”

Noah shrugs. “Well if that’s what you want,
then my job here is done. Any chance I can get a good night
kiss?”

“That would not be a good idea.” She says
rolling her eyes.

Glancing over, he catches Ethan’s glare.
“Yeah, you’re probably right and now that I realize just how much
he loves you, I feel a little guilty for yanking his chain tonight.
Listen, Olivia, if ever there is a time that he doesn’t treat you
right, you give me a call… I’ll kick his ass. I promise that I’ll
take good care of you, if you give me the chance.”

She smiles. “I believe you. Thank you so
much for tonight. I think that was the worst date I’ve ever been
on.” She gives him a small smile.

“What are you talking about worst date? I
got a dessert date with the beautiful Cindy. You figured out that
you’re in love with a tightly wound Irishman. It’s a win win
situation right?”

Olivia wraps her arms around his middle
giving him a friendly hug, knowing that Ethan hasn’t taken his eyes
off her for a minute. When Noah drives away, she walks back to
where Ethan is waiting at the Challenger with the passenger door
open. Smelling his cologne on his jacket, she inhales deeply and
wraps it tighter around herself as he closes her door. Getting
behind the wheel, Ethan drives towards the road, then suddenly
pulls into a spot at the back of the parking lot away from
everyone.

Consumed by jealousy and fueled by his anger
he puts it in park and takes his hands off the steering wheel. They
sit in silence for quite some time, Ethan’s body rigid and tense as
he stares straight ahead. His silence is tormenting her, making her
wish he would say something… anything. It’s not his style to keep
this still. Why is he so quiet? She’s just about to plead him to
just get it over with when he turns towards, her finally breaking
the silence. “Are you warm enough?” What? She looks at him trying
to gauge what’s going on in his head.

“Yes, thank you.” Growing nervous, she
fidgets with the sleeves on his jacket.

As Ethan does, his tone goes from quiet and
concerned to angry and combative without warning. “Olivia, tell me
you didn’t kiss him goodbye.”

She’s startled at his change in tone. “Not
this again, Ethan.“ The frustration makes her want to scream. In
the faint illumination of the parking lot light, she can see his
jaw tense and his rapid pulse thrumming in his neck. “Why do you
insist on asking me these kind of questions? Why do you care who
I’m kissing?”

“Because I’m jealous!“ His loud voice is
evidence of his rising anger. “You had to know that seeing him
touch you was going to push me over the edge!“ His eyes wide open
and brows rise. “Are you happy now?”

“Why would I be happy about that?” She says
feeling defensive.

He turns in his seat shifting himself
sideways so that he can see her. “I can’t handle seeing you with
that guy. I don’t want you to see him, ever again.”

She laughs at his ridiculous statement.
“Well you have a lot of nerve!” She feels her own temper start to
flare now. “I do believe that it was you who asked Hannah on a date
first.”

His expression takes on a hard edge. “I only
did it because you told me to date other women!” His tone threatens
to engage her in a full-blown screaming match. “That’s all you’ve
talked about for two days.”

“Well you didn’t waste any time did you? But
then she practically throws herself at you every day.” Raising her
voice, Olivia has no intentions of backing down this time.

“And how many times has Noah tried to get
into your panties?” Staring at her with steely eyes, the muscles in
his jaw clench and his nostrils flare as he tries to hold back his
anger. What was I supposed to do? I figured you really must want me
to do it, you just kept pushing.”

“I never pushed you to see other woman!” Or
did she? Olivia can feel herself getting antsy as her natural
flight response starts to kick in and she battles the urge to
run.

“Yes, you did!“ Ethan erupts. “Jesus,
woman!” His arms flail angrily as he speaks.

“Ethan, I said you could date other woman if
you wanted to… not that I wanted you to!“ She can’t look at him
anymore, her eyes drop to watch her hands still fidgeting
frantically, twisting at the cuffs of his jacket.

Furious, he bangs his hand down hard on the
console making Olivia jump. “How am I supposed to know what you
want?” The angrier he gets the stronger his accent is and she has
to concentrate hard in order to understand some of what he’s trying
to say. “You tell me it’s ok to date other women and point them out
to me for two days. Then when I ask someone out, you’re upset
because you don’t want me to see other woman?” After running his
hands through his hair, he leans his head back against the
headrest. “I can’t fucking win! Then you show up here tonight with
that jackass?”

“Well, if you didn’t get drunk and pass out
on me at the hotel maybe you would have remembered that I agreed to
be your girlfriend that night.” She blurts it out and then watches
the uncontrollable rage flash across his face.

“I knew you were fucking lying to me about
that night!” He says through gritted teeth. “Why? Why didn’t you
just tell me when I asked you? We could have avoided this whole
fucking mess.”

Startled by the intensity of his outburst,
she slowly retracts towards the door and further out of his reach…
just in case. Ethan notices, stops and forces himself to take a
calming breath but he just can’t let it go. “What a surprise. You
don’t have an answer?” Ethan struggles, his ability to control his
rage is declining. “I can’t stand it anymore, Olivia. You get into
my head and I can’t think straight. I knew the very first time I
saw you that we’re meant to be together. I can’t stand the thought
of you being with another man. I’ve explained to you before that
I’m the kind of man who needs to be in control. Every second of
every day, I fight against my desires for you, and look at all the
fucked up shit that’s gone on in the last week because of it. Well,
from now on we do things my way. Starting with this ‘seeing other
people’ garbage. That shit stops and it stops right now!”

Olivia looks at him, locking his eyes to
hers, her breathing starting to come at a quicker pace. There is
something in her expression that he can’t read until she speaks.
“Why do you have to fight your desires because of me?”

Fuck. He takes another calming breath and
lets it out slowly.

“Ethan? Answer me. I knew exactly what I was
getting myself into with you. We discussed it at the beginning. How
things would be. How sex would be. You’ve been holding back and I
want to know why.” She doesn’t look away, no longer feeling
intimidated. For once Ethan hesitates, not wanting to answer.

“Rachel told you everything that happened,
didn’t she?”

“Olivia...” He starts.

“So is that why you won’t do those things we
talked about? Dominance, false resistance, submission.”

“Olivia. There is nothing wrong with the sex
that you and I have.” His jaw tenses and he tries to keep his voice
calm. “It’s pretty fucking amazing.”

“You’re deflecting.”

“How can I possibly take you there after
what happened to you?” He growls out in frustration.

Olivia gets angry. “Damn it, Ireland! See?
That’s why I didn’t want to tell you about it. I told you that you
would treat me differently if you knew.”

Rage can no longer be contained and he yells
his frustration. “Different how? By caring about your physical and
emotional well-being? Damn right! There is nothing more important
to me than that. And yet, despite how hard I try to put you at
ease, you keep yourself so closed off to me that we can’t seem to
move forward together. Things would be fine if you would just stop
fighting me. I could make you happy… I know that I’m what you need.
There’s no question that I’m the one you want. But you’re so
damn... Intractable.”

Olivia sits still, not moving, not blinking.
His harrowing words hit her hard, and the few moments of absolute
silence that follow them are daunting. “You think I’m that
difficult?” She can’t hide the hurt in her voice.