Heading back up to her room, Rory took the stairs two at a time. Tess would know exactly how pissed off and worried he was when he got his hands on her. She could bring the whole house running with her screams; it wouldn’t stop him from paddling her ass.

  Everything looked pretty much normal. Tess didn’t have a lot and from what he could guess she never had. The nick-knacks around the room were all still in place, but they were there before she came. A sinking feeling made him make his way to her closet. Throwing open the door he stood there staring, feeling gut-punched. Her clothes were gone. Walking to her dresser, he pulled the drawers open: nothing, not a damn thing. Cosmetics were still scattered on the top of the vanity but they could be Bridget’s. Tess wasn’t much for make-up. Stumbling to the bed he sat down. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t sure what to do. Indecision wasn’t part of his nature, nor was fear. Rory was a full-steam ahead kind of guy. With his incredible strength and sharp mind, he could usually make things go his way. If that wasn’t enough, the force of his will was the kicker. Rory didn’t give up, not on anything. He’d be damned if he let Tess be the first. No half-pint woman, with no more sense than to sleep on a park bench, was going to take him down even if she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known, and even if he did want her more than he’d ever wanted anyone else.

  Rory grabbed her pillow and threw it across the room. How dare she take off without a word? His mother would be hurt, the girls too. He got up and snatched the pillow off the floor to replace it and saw the pink envelope for the first time. She must have hidden it under the pillow for his mother to find. Tearing open the envelope he sat down and began to read.

  Dear O’Malley Family,

  I cannot thank you enough for all you have done for me. I finally got to know what it was like to live with a real family. You took me into your home and treated me with love and kindness. I will never forget you and hope I will see you soon. I am sorry to leave this way but I did not want to fight with "you know who." I will still be working for Mr. Nick and Maggie so I will stay in touch. I cannot tell you where I will be living, but I have made temporary arrangements.

  Please do not be angry with me, I love you all so very much. Someday I hope to have a large wonderful family of my own.

  Theresa Elena Martinez

  “Well hell,” Rory cursed violently and left the room, slamming the door behind him. In the kitchen, he slapped the letter on the table in front of his mother so hard her coffee cup trembled on its saucer.

  Maeve picked up the letter and shooed Caitlin and Todd out of the kitchen. Sliding her reading glasses up farther on her nose she began to read, Colleen over one shoulder and Bridget over the other. Three sets of eyes looked accusingly at Rory as he leaned against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. Nobody asked who "you know who" was, they all knew exactly to whom Tess was referring.

  “Rory O’Malley, what did you do to drive the poor wee lamb out on her own?”

  “Nothing that I wouldn’t do to her right now if she were here,” Rory shot back with a growl. Well maybe not.

  “Sean. Sean, come in here and speak to your son,” Maeve ordered, sticking her head out of the kitchen door.

  “Why is he my son when you’re put out with him and he’s your son when he’s sportin’ a new medal or citation? Now what is it, Darlin’? Can’t a man have a moment’s peace in his own house?” Sean asked striding into the kitchen. “What’s this all about?”

  Maeve stood with her hands on the table and leaned towards Rory. “Rory, what did you do to Tess?” Rory tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling, silently counting to ten. “Did you spank that girl?” Maeve demanded.

  Colleen and Bridget stood frozen in place, both wanted to go but morbid fascination held them. Rory getting in trouble was almost unheard of and neither wanted to miss a word of it.

  “Yes,” Rory shot back. He never raised his voice but there was a danger in the calmness just the same. “I spanked her. It wasn’t the first time and I doubt it will be the last. That’s no reason for her to leave without a word to any of us.”

  “Sean! Do somethin’!” Maeve insisted, stomping her foot in agitation.

  “Well, just what would you like me to do about it?” he asked, beginning to feel some sympathy for Rory.

  “I don’t know, but this is your fault. You should have raised your sons better than to think they can just upend any woman they want over their knee.”

  “You’re right, Darlin’.”

  “Of course I am,” Maeve agreed primly.

  “Rory, is Tess just any woman?” Sean asked, looking directly into his son’s eyes.

  “No.”

  “Is she your woman?” Sean asked patiently.

  “Yes,” Rory answered softly. “She is my woman.”

  Sean laughed and slapped his big hand down on the table as he stood. “Well then, there you have it,” he told his wife jovially.

  “There I have what?” Maeve asked looking from one man to the other. She had the funny feeling she’d been bamboozled.

  Sean sighed and rubbed his head. “Do I really have to explain it to you after forty years of marriage?” he asked in disbelief.

  “Apparently so O’Malley, ‘cause I’m sure not thinkin’ what you're thinkin’,” Maeve informed him, hands on hips.

  “A good man takes care of his family. He provides for them, guides them, comforts them, and loves them. Sometimes love is not hugs and kisses, Darlin’. Sometimes love is a firm hand applied to a naughty bottom, as you well know. Now I don’t mean to be embarrassin’ you my love, but since you seem to want to talk about this in front of the children, I’ll talk. You’ve been over my own knee more than a time or two and our marriage has been better for it.”

  “Sean,” Maeve gasped her face red with shame. “How could you?”

  “Hush woman. There’s no shame in submittin’ to your husband. I’m not a tyrant,” he continued looking at Bridget and then Colleen. “I love your Ma and always have. The pain of a spanking is nothin’ compared to the pain of watchin’ a loved one go off in the wrong direction or damage a marriage so it cannot survive.” Sean stood and pulled Maeve into his arms. “We’ve raised our family Darlin’. Given’ them the best we could. I’ve always tried to set a good example and so have you. Now we must let them be and hope we’ve taught them right. If Rory’s lady needs a lickin’, then so be it. It’s not our business, do you understand?”

  Maeve nodded and buried her face in her husband’s arms. Colleen and Bridget told their parents good night and slipped out of the room. This was not their business either.

  Finally Maeve raised her head, wiped her tears and turned to face her son. “Your Da’s right, Rory, it’s not our business and I hope you’ll be forgivin’ me for how I behaved tonight,” she told him sincerely, her voice quivering.

  “I love you Ma, I think I could forgive you about anything. I never meant for this to happen. I had no idea Tess would take off like this and I will tell you there’s more to it than just a spanking. I will make this right. She belongs to me and I intend to see she understands that.

  I better get going. Good night, I’ll talk to you soon.”

  Rory bent and kissed his mother’s cheek, patted his Da on the back and quietly left through the back door.

  Sean pulled his wife back into his arms and rocked her gently side to side. It hurt him to see her cry, but every now and then he had to rein her in, for her own good and the good of the family.

  “How about I take my little Irish whirlwind upstairs and show her a thin’ or two,” he growled in her ear.

  “Oh, be off with you,” Maeve giggled as she struggled to get out of his arms.

  “I’ve also heard tell of such a thing as an erotic spankin’. My personal belief is the man just wanted to get his hands on his wife’s behind, but you never know do you, Darlin’?”

  Maeve gasped. Sean released her, mostly so he could see the lovely blush on her face. “Where would ya be hearin’ such a thing, Sean O’Malley?” she asked as she began to back away from him.

  “I think it was on 20/20 or some such show,” he told her as he slowly advanced on her, his eyes sparkling with deviltry.

  “I think you’re full o’ malarkey,” she informed him, just before she turned to run.

  Sean almost had her too, but she was to fast for him. I didn’t matter, he thought, as he locked the doors and started up the stairs grinning. She would be in their bed, just where she belonged.

  Chapter 5

  It was dark by the time Rory let himself in the front door. The house wasn’t much, but it was in a good neighborhood. The corner lot was large, it had a big garage and there was room to grow. Instead of throwing his money away on rent, he bought the house intending to fix it up as he went along. So far not much of that had happened. If he wasn’t at work, he was at his parents or another family member’s home helping them with their projects. It didn’t bother him. He didn’t need much; a recliner in front of his big screen TV, a fridge, a microwave and a coffeepot. Now that he looked around, this wasn’t such a great place to bring Tess, he realized as he hung up his leather jacket in his closet. The bedroom dresser and nightstand were hand-me-downs from his mother, but the king-sized bed was relatively new. He had a tiny kitchen table and a stove that he’d never used that he could recall. He didn’t know where Tess was, but he would definitely have to do some renovating if he planned on her living with him. Of course, Tess wasn’t your typical woman. She didn’t seem to need all the frou-frous that other women set such store by, or maybe she did, but had never been able to afford them. He would have to give it more thought. But first he had to find her. Picking up the phone, he dialed Patrick.

  “Hello?”

  “Yeah, Pat, is Molly around?”

  “She is but she’s in the shower. Anything I can help you with?”

  “Not unless you know where Tess is. Any clue?”

  “Not really Bro, I haven’t been able to really talk to her. Let me see what I can find out after the boys go to bed. I’ll get back to you,” Patrick promised. This wasn’t something he wanted to get in the middle of, but if his Molly was missing he would go berserk. If he could help his brother, he had to do it.

  “Okay, I’ll be up late so call me if you find out anything. Thanks Pat,” he sighed.

  “No problem Rory. Later.”

  Patrick straightened up downstairs, picking up and packing lunches for morning, before heading upstairs to tell the boys goodnight. Going down to the kitchen he made Molly a cup of her favorite tea and carried it into the living room. He fluffed the pillows on the couch, and sat down to wait. The bells around her ankle told him she was out of the shower and moving to the bedroom. When ten minutes went by and she didn’t come down, he called softly up the stairway.

  “Molly, what are you doing?”

  Molly appeared at the top of the stairs, stretched and yawned. “I’m tired Honey, I thought we’d go to bed early tonight,” she told him hopefully.

  One look at her nightgown and Patrick had to turn his head to hide his grin. Oh yeah, virginal white. The one that made her look about sixteen. Her long white cotton gown swept the floor. Long sleeved with ruffled lace around the wrist. Tiny white flowers decorated the bodice. Yup, that’s the one he thought, the one that’s supposed to make me feel like an ogre. Patrick turned, it was almost impossible not to laugh out loud.

  “I’ve made you tea, Molly,” he called over his shoulder. He headed to the couch, sat down and crossed one ankle over his knee. Quickly he turned the lamp on the end table down hoping she wouldn’t notice his smile in the dim light.

  Molly came slowly down the stairs, her little bare toes peeking from beneath the nightgown. Her bells jingled softly. Her glorious white blonde hair flowed down her back and her big blue eyes took on an innocence he’d seen before. All in all, she was heartbreakingly lovely.

  Gliding to the coffee table, Molly picked up her teacup and took a sip.

  “Come here, sprite,” Patrick commanded softly, reaching out one hand to her and patting his lap with the other.

  Shit, shit, shit, Molly thought as she slowly obeyed. Seating herself on his lap she prepared for the worst but he only gathered her close and kissed the top of her head.

  Patrick inhaled her fragrance and sighed in pleasure. As he cuddled her delicate body, it was hard to believe that inside her beautiful head, she had a mind like a steel trap.

  “So,” Patrick began, torn between questioning her and kissing her behind her tiny ear. “Where did you go with Tess? The second time you left the house. The time she was carrying the duffle bag?” he added meaningfully.

  “We went back to the store. Tess forgot something,” Molly replied, trying to be as honest as she could.

  “What did she forget?” Patrick asked, his hot breath sending shivers through her as he nibbled on her ear.

  “Um… a cell phone, she wanted to go back and pick up one of those prepaid phones,” she whispered. “Please Patrick, aren’t you ready to go to bed?

  “Soon, my love, soon,” he replied his lip sliding down the side of her neck.

  You are so not playing fair, Molly thought, as she struggled not to melt into a puddle on his lap.

  “Why would she need that, Sweetness?” he continued, as his hand began to undo the tiny pearl buttons at the top of her gown.

  “For an emergency,” Molly panted.

  “Is Tess at Maggie’s?” Patrick asked. “It won’t do her much good, Nick and Maggie will be home in a couple of days.”

  No,” moaned Molly as he slid his hand inside the top of the gown and gently cupped her full breast. There was no way she would be able to string two thoughts together if he kept this up.

  “You want me to stop?” he asked, his lips barely touching hers, his breath scorching her.

  “Yes,” she sighed in relief.

  “Stop touching you?” Patrick asked with a grin just he bent his head and circled her pink nipple with his tongue.

  “No,” Molly cried out frantically. “God no, stop questioning me. Isn’t it time for bed?”

  “Okay Baby Doll, one more,” he promised before he pulled her taunt nipple into his mouth and sucked hard. Swirling his tongue around it until she trembled so hard her bells were ringing.

  Patrick realized he had to stop soon. He was so hard he’d probably have teeth marks from his zipper.

  “Did you by any chance tell Tess she could stay in the apartment over the pub for free, Darlin’? I know she’s pretty broke and you’re so soft hearted baby.”

  Molly slid her tapered fingers into his hair and brought him tighter to her breast. Hot and wet, with need so strong she could feel it racing through her veins, it was hard to think. Did she? Is that what she did?

  “No. Oh God, Honey. Please say it’s time to go upstairs,” she begged as his hand moved down her stomach and began to inch her nightgown higher. Finally Patrick gently pushed her thighs apart and cupped her heat.

  “Oh yeah it is,” he growled after he released her nipple and slammed his lips over hers until he could barely breathe. Standing with her in his arms he carried her upstairs and tossed her lightly on the bed. Emptying his pockets, he tossed his wallet, keys and cell phone on the dresser, and stripped his jeans off like a man possessed. The phone reminded him of his brother waiting for his call and he snagged it up and headed to the bathroom hitting speed dial.

  “Rory, sorry bud, I couldn’t get a thing out of her,” he whispered. “I’ll try again tomorrow, gotta go.” Grinning like a fool he quickly brushed his teeth and ran back to the bedroom, flinging the cellphone in the general direction of the dresser.

  Rory slammed the phone down with a bang. Damn. Where the hell was she? He hoped wherever it was, she was safe. Tess didn’t have the greatest self-preservation skills. For a moment he thought about checking the park, but even she couldn’t be that foolish. In the morning, he would have a lot more tools at his disposal including the eyes of every guy on patrol. He couldn’t even call in a missing person report because she’d only actually been gone for a few hours. Well, he could if he wanted to be laughed right out of the department. In fact she wasn’t missing, she was hiding.

  Thinking back over the weekend, he realized he had had better ones, that was for sure. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and sought out his chair. Despite what his mother thought, Rory didn’t think it was the spanking that scared her away. She’d clearly been shocked this morning when he’d made her climax twice in his arms and it would have been more if she hadn’t surrendered. Maybe that was the problem. Tess kept herself in a tight little ball, like a puppy that’d been slapped down to many times. She always seemed to be afraid of offending someone, or hurting another’s feelings. Well, maybe not his, but everyone else’s. Most of the time she had no problem telling him what she thought, so why did she run today? He’d made it clear to her that they had things to talk about. Apparently, she didn’t feel like talking. The spanking had been relatively mild. He didn’t beat her for Christ’s sake, just given her a hot little bottom to remind her of who was in charge. Now he was in charge of exactly no one. Tomorrow he would find her and set her straight.

  Molly lay quietly in Patrick’s arms and listened to his soft snoring. She’d managed to get through another skirmish without lying, thank goodness. It wasn’t her intention to deceive her husband; she just wanted to give Tess a little breathing space. Letting her stay in the apartment over The Rose and Thistle, the pub she and Patrick had inherited from her grandparents, wasn’t a hardship. With her brother Connor serving in the Middle East, no one ever went up there. A Navy Seal, Connor only stayed there when he was in town, which wasn’t often. It would be months before she saw him again and she thanked her lucky stars that although she couldn’t see him and didn’t know what he was actually doing, she could sense he was safe. Her gift was both a blessing and a curse. It seemed that the times she needed it the most, it wasn’t there. Tonight when she realized it was going to turn into a Q&A with Patrick, she’d had no idea if she would be able to pull it off without outright lying; a big no-no as far as Patrick was concerned. She had no desire to find herself across his knees and she almost never got a warning. But let someone else she cared about have a problem and there it was in full color in her mind. Embarrassing! Ugh! Many times she’d seen things not meant for public viewing. Thank heavens she was able to block it if she concentrated hard enough.

 

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