“Look at that.” Rory broke her out of her thoughts, and she stepped around him to look at what he was pointing at. On the kitchen windowsill was a small potted ivy plant.

She gasped. “That’s from my apartment.”

“To call that place an apartment is kind of a stretch. In all that emptiness, there sat that little plant, perfectly taken care of and healthy.”

“So?”

“Since the day I met you, I’ve seen you do nothing but care for those in need—a person, the dogs at the shelter, even this plant. Mhuirnín, you are a good person. You’re the best kind of person.” He pulled her to him and kissed her forehead.

She shook her head in disagreement.

“You don’t understand. I’ve made so many mistakes, Rory.”

“And I haven’t?”

“Not like me,” she countered.

“Clare, you caught me illegally taking drugs yesterday. Why can you forgive me, but not yourself?”

She bit her lip and peered up at him. She knew he was right; the double standard didn’t make sense. Yet somehow, she still felt as though she was harboring secrets he wouldn’t forgive so easily.

Rory’s fingers tipped her chin up. “Clare, stop thinking.” He pulled her tighter against him and kissed her, first on the lips, then kissing a line across her jaw and down her neck.

His hands slid lower to the bottom of her shirt; catching the hem, he pulled it over her head and tossed it somewhere behind her. She was quickly losing track of the fears she had been trying to hold on to, as she felt his warm lips traveling across her collarbone.

“Still thinking?” he teased, tickling her as his fingers trailed down her side.

“About what?” she breathed out, leaning in to him.

“That’s more like it, mhuirnín,” he said as they made their way back to the bedroom, removing articles of clothing from each other as they went.

The bed hit her naked back as she let him push her onto it and cover her body with his. She felt his firm erection pressed against her abdomen, and she pushed her pelvis up against him as her thighs circled his hips, clamping down on either side.

He took her right breast in his hand, gently covering it with his palm and rolling her exposed nipple between two fingers. She let out a sharp cry as sparks flew through her. A rush of wetness pooled between her legs as he pressed himself against her sex. She moved her body to try to take him inside her, needing to feel him, but he pulled away each time she got close.

“Not yet, mhuirnín,” he instructed, before pressing his lips against hers, pushing his tongue inside her mouth.

She let her tongue dance with his, and writhed on the bed beneath him as one of his hands cradled her head and the other left her breast and moved down to her slick center. His fingers moved in small circles over her nub, and she moaned into his mouth as her body trembled. Slowly, he slid one finger, then two, inside her. Curving up, they found the spot that made her entire body tense and pulse.

His mouth pressed more firmly against hers, muting her moans as his fingers moved at a faster, steady rhythm inside her swollen core. She arched into him and he continued to thrust, adding a third finger inside her as his thumb clamped down and massaged her nub.

“Rory!” Her muscles tightened as her body pulled at his fingers and exploded around him. She shook against him, panting as she pressed her face into his neck.

He didn’t wait for her to come down before he spread her legs wider and easily sank into her. She moaned deliriously, feeling like she was about to climax all over again as she clung to him, her arms wrapped around his neck. She moved with him, feeling him sliding in and out of her quickly, then slowly, then quickly again as he experimented with her.

“Fuck, Clare, you’re so perfect,” he growled into her ear before biting her shoulder. She yelped with the pain, only to find that she wanted more. He obliged her desires as his speed picked up, and she was sure that she was going to be sore in the morning. She didn’t mind, though, as she pushed her hips up to meet his until he grabbed them and held her still while his final thrust buried him as deep as he could go. His body shook against her as he groaned, and his eyes squeezed shut as she felt him pulsing inside her. Her body quickly mimicked his as his shudders pushed her over the edge again.

She moaned against him, crying out as he collapsed, both of them panting with exhaustion. He fell over onto his back next to her and she turned to curve into his side, pulling the blankets over their naked bodies. He was already breathing heavier as her arm fell across his chest and she buried her head into his shoulder. Sleep wasn’t far behind as the duo stayed wrapped in their embrace.

Chapter 19

“I still think it would just be safer if you moved in with me,” Rory grumbled, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Rory. I’ve always been safe here.” Casey rolled her eyes at him before she squeezed Clare’s shoulder and took a seat on the couch next to her. Ace quickly joined the women, dropping down on top of their feet and falling asleep. It was a few days later and they were at Casey’s apartment, which was technically where Clare was living now, too.

“And I’ve requested double patrol on this street—every twenty minutes a squad car will drive by. Make sure you finish filling out that paperwork and take it down to the courts tomorrow. You need to file the restraining order as soon as possible,” Jimmy told them, still wearing his police uniform.

“I don’t want all of you going to all this trouble just for me,” Clare objected, but no one listened to her.

“I’ll take her on Monday to get it filed,” Rory confirmed.

“Does Seamus know about this?” Casey asked her brother.

“I told him. He has associates watching the train stations and checking Creighton’s credit card transactions to see if he comes near New York.”

Clare wondered what that meant. She wasn’t sure how people who owned a gym would have access to confidential financial records.

“I didn’t hear that.” Jimmy put his hands over his ears.

Clare tried again. “Guys, seriously, this is too much. I don’t want you putting yourselves out.”

“Babe, stop. It’s not too much,” Rory assured her.

Casey winked at her. “We do anything for family, Clare.”

“That’s true, and from the way Rory watches you, you’re definitely family.” Jimmy’s smirk made Clare blush.

“Jimmy, shut it.”

“What? It’s not like we don’t know you two are dating,” Jimmy teased them. Rory’s face softened as he sat next to Clare, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Anyway,” Rory tried to change the subject, “the point is, mhuirnín, you’re safe. That asshat Travis isn’t getting anywhere near you without us knowing about it.”

“Thank you, guys.” Clare smiled at him, but then turned to the rest of the room as well. She was fully aware of the group effort that was being made to watch out for her. For the first time in her entire life, she did actually feel safe. While she knew Travis might still show up at any moment, she actually had people on her side now.

People who would notice if something happened to her.

The concept was a novelty to her, the idea that people would actually care that much about her. Yet here were three of them in front of her, discussing exactly that. There were plenty of times she missed her family, but even she had to admit that they had never been as close-knit as the Kavanaghs were. Things had been done more from duty than from caring. Clare had never felt like a priority, or protected. She had just felt alone.