I probe the right side of my head, just past my hairline, with a wince.
“I'll get you some ice,” Fiona suggests, offering me a sympathetic smile as she slides through the door in the back area, heading for the kitchenette.
Yeah, ice sounds good. Maybe I can shove it between my legs to cool the raging fire there. Niall is still pressed against me. Why can’t Connor go away? I want to explore this new,closeNiall.
“Thanks, girl!” I call after her, cringing at the low, chilling growl rumbling from wicked close beside me. That sound is a tiny bit more terrifying than his sexy Reaper voice. I feel like maybe people who hear that sound quickly end up dead.
“Who the feck touched ye?” Niall snaps, losing his shit. “I need a name, and I need it now. Are they still outside? I’m going to fecking rip him limb from limb. Where is he? He’s going to be in a world of pain when I’m finished with him. Crying for his mammy and begging for his death!”
Jesus! I was right about that ominous growl. It heralds some wicked dark shit. My eyes widen with alarm as I spin around, staring at Niall’s face. Normally it’s a blank mask with burning hot emerald-green eyes staring out of it.
Not now. Now it isscary. No wonder they call him the Reaper. One look at his face, and I’m ready to fall to my knees and beg for mercy or god’s intervention orsomething, and he’s not even mad atme.
Swallowing, I hold up my hands toward him in what I hope is a calming gesture.
“Jesus, Niall. Calm down. It was a bird!” I yell at him, taking a deep breath and continuing. “A bird flew into my head, that's all.”
My words reach Niall in whatever dark place he’s gone to. His eyes find mine, burning into them. His chest rises as he takes a slow, deep breath, calming him. Hesitantly, his hands move gently, his fingertips skating along my hairline near my temple, where I had gestured to, probing softly. I don’t even wince as they hit the tender spot. I’m too busy trying not to tremble and pressing my thighs together as heat floods between them.
The door opens, and Fiona hurries back in, clutching a dishcloth full of ice. She walks past Connor, standing with his arms crossed over his chest, watching Niall and me with a knowing smirk. Crap. I forgot he was still here. What the hell is he going to think after what he just witnessed?
As she stops next to us, Niall reaches over without even looking at her, plucking the ice out of her hands. His eyes hold my gaze, almost hypnotically –I couldn't look away if I wanted to – as he lifts the dishcloth and presses it to my head, his other hand cupping my cheek to hold me still. Oh my god. Can we stay like this forever?
I’m not thinking straight with Niall so close, smelling so good, and looking so tenderly at me,touchingme. I lean into his hand, my heart thumping as he gently moves his fingers to stroke my face.
His gesture is so small that no one in the room notices, but I sure as shit do. The pain is a distant memory as heat pools between my thighs, and my lips part slightly. Niall notices the effect of his touch on me, his burning hot eyes dipping to my mouth, staring at it like he’s starving and just wants to devour it.
“Was it like a Hitchcock horror scene?” Connor jokes, cracking up at the thought of my being clocked in the head by a bird, the asshole. “You sure look like an extra right out of a horror movie!”
Connor’s voice snaps me back into the moment, and I remember that I’m standing at work, surrounded by people. Shit. I jerk away from Niall’s fingers. Too soon. I wasn’t ready for that moment to end. Stupid Connor Fitzpatrick.
“Thanks,” I mutter to Niall, moving my head away from the ice. “I think I’ll be okay now.”
At least, the bump on my head will be. My inferno of a libido is another matter entirely. I offer Niall a tight smile, falling into step beside Fiona as we walk out of the VIP room and into the dressing room.
Fiona drops onto her chair, grabs a brush from one of her drawers, and holds it to me. I seize it gratefully, running it through my hair to make myself presentable again.
“So, you and the Reaper…having a moment, huh?” Fiona’s eyes dance with amusement, and she snorts as I flip her off.
“You couldn’t have distracted Connor and offered him a private lap dance?” I snipe at her. Fiona giggles, rolling her eyes.
“Do you think the Reaper would have jumped your bones on the floor of the VIP room?”
“I think I would have found the courage to ask him to,” I sniff. “And I’m a lady. We would have fucked over the bar, thank you very much!”
I slap the brush into Fiona’s waiting hand as she smirks at me, turning and striding out to start my stocktake. I’m almost grateful for that bird hitting me. What a day.
NIALL
Connor smirks at me, uncrossing his arms and shoving his hands in his suit pockets. He’s amused that I lost my head at the thought of someone walking up to Mellie and hitting her. I’ve never heard a less amusing story in my life.
I flip him off. He should have been upset about the idea too. If it hadn’t been a bird, it would have meant someone had the fucking balls to attack one of our employees right outside our club. He shouldn’t be okay with that.
I raise my eyebrows at him, watching him coolly. Connor’s eyes laugh at me for another long moment until he finally speaks. It’s not about Mellie.
“Why aren’t you with Seamus’s little wife?”
I’m finally off bodyguard duties. I got to see Mellie. I got totouchher. I didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I got the fuck out of West Roxbury the second I was released from my annoying duties.