Burning For Claire (The O'Connell Family Book 2) (6 page)

“Oh, Travis. What am I going to do? Why would someone do this to me? They’re supposed to be my friends. I feel so bad,” I cried as I snuggled into his bared chest. 

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I know how to make you feel better,” he whispered. As he gazed at me, his brown eyes brightened with desire. 

He flipped me onto my back as his hand gripped the back of my neck. Tugging on my hair, he pushed my face up to his.

“How?” I challenged as his mouth rested above mine. I stared up at him waiting and daring him to react, and he did.

His mouth was attacking mine with a wild hunger I didn’t think I could handle. I moaned with the pressure of his mouth on mine. Sparks flew as he tasted my lips with a forceful tenderness that sent tremors down my body. My hands slid into his hair, pulling it roughly as my hunger increased. I heard a sound like a growl and realized that it came from me. He was definitely making everything better.

“Better?” he asked with a smirk as he took his lips away from my needy ones. I was trying to chase his lips because I wasn’t done—not by far.

“Getting there,” I challenged with a salacious grin.

“That’s my girl. Lie back and enjoy,” he growled.

His hands made their way down my flesh. I was completely bared to him and his hands. He looked up at me with a smirk and a wink before pressing his lips against the top of my pussy, giving it a kiss.

My thighs squeezed together in anticipation of what he was going to do to me. I felt my juices starting to leak as he pried my thighs open, giving me a look of pure desire. I threw my head back as his tongue tasted my lips below for the first time.

I was crying, sighing, and purring with the feel of his thick, flat tongue licking my pussy. I looked at him and grabbed his hair pressing his face deeper into me. I could feel his grin as continued to torment me with his tongue.

I pushed my hips up when he used his clever fingers to tease my wet heat. I moaned as he continued to manipulate my body and mind, making me forget everything but his touch. He took my clit in between his teeth and gently nibbled. I screamed out as I came. I shook so hard I thought I was electrocuted, but it didn’t stop him from wringing every last ounce of pleasure out of my body. He looked up from his position, his lips glistening with my release and whispered, “Are you there now?”

“Oh, yes,” I sighed as I threw my head against the pillow and grinned. I’d barely caught my breath when he started his commands.

“Get up, Claire,” he roared. I grinned because I knew where he wanted this to go. It was my turn to satisfy him. I purred just from the thought of having his large, thick length in me—anyway he wanted. 

“Claire, wake up!” I heard it again, and in my hazy mind, I realized—it was all a dream. My eyes fluttered to see him looking at me frantically.

“What?” I asked still half asleep.

“Fire. Babe, come on. Let’s go!” he shouted.

He was moving about the room so fast that I couldn’t focus. I’d been just living the hottest dream in the world, only to be woken up with him shouting at me.
Did he just say there was a fire?
My heart was pumping fast for a completely different reason now. Still fuzzy, I sat up and looked at him like he was crazy. There couldn’t be a fire in my apartment.

I barely climbed off the bed, when he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of flour. He lugged me around while he tested the exits, but they were all blocked, I could see the smoke starting to come through the door that lead downstairs to the salon. Our only way out was the fire escape that was back in my kitchen. I was wide-awake now, panicking. My body was shaking, and the tears were starting to fall.

“Calm down, baby. I’ve got you,” he said powerfully.

I wanted to believe that he would protect me, but I was scared. My mind was running in a million different directions. I didn’t want to die. “Don’t drop me please,” I begged.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he promised. His words helped calm me a little, but I was still a mess, and I realized that surviving was just the beginning of our troubles.

Once we hit the ground, he walked me around to the front. Then reality hit me hard, my place was going up in flames. My hopes, dreams, and all of my hard work was being turned into ashes. I cried uncontrollably and was completely at a loss to even grasp it all.

Travis was at my side and had me see the medics. I didn’t want the medics; I wanted my Travis. I wanted to go back to my dream of complete bliss with the man who singed my panties with just a look and did bad things to me. Instead, I was in the middle of a nightmare.

“Miss, I’m Matt. Tell me does anything hurt?”

“No.”

“Are you burned anywhere?”

“I don’t think so,” I said distractedly. My eyes were focused on Travis who was talking to the Chief of the fire department. He was so powerful. He must have thought this was nothing, carrying me out and without even batting an eyelash. Travis was a Fed; it was probably nothing to rescue damsels in distress. He was probably just like Shemar Moore on Criminal Minds: hot, tough and suave. He stood there strong with his legs spread wide and his arms crossed, displaying his bulging biceps and muscled shoulders. Even with everything going wrong, my thoughts were all focused on his delicious, masculine body.

He caught my stare and smiled. I wanted to kiss him and let him hold me like he did before. I went back to answering the man’s questions, but all I wanted was Travis. Like a silly, excited little girl, the instant he came near I ran into his strong arms.

I almost called him by his real name out loud. Luckily I remembered and whispered it in his ear.
Oops
. He wouldn’t have liked that, but he was my Travis, so he’d have to get over me slipping every once in a while.

As I tried to think about what I was going to do, he told me to contact my parents. It was something I didn’t want to do. I spent the last ten years trying to be the perfect child like my brothers. They were always supportive, but I wanted to show them that even though I wasn’t a boy I could still be successful. My parents were proud, and I wanted to keep it that way.

I dialed their number, knowing that they would be worried. It was too early to be calling them. It was only four in the morning.

My father sleepily answered, “Hello?”

“Dad?”

“Baby girl, what’s wrong?” he asked in a panic. I could hear my mother behind him, asking what’s going on. I could tell he put it on speakerphone.

“There was a fire at the salon. I’m outside of the salon right now calling you. I’ve lost everything, but my life.”

“Thank God. We can get everything else back. You we can’t replace.”

“I wanted to let you know before you saw it on the news,” I admitted.

“Don’t worry you still have clothes here, and your room was just like you left it on Thursday. We’ll be right there to pick you up,” my mom said in rush.

I tried to calm her and stop them from coming. “I have a ride, Mama.”

“They’re dropping you off here? I’ll start some coffee.”

“No, Mama. I’m going to stay with a friend.” I wasn’t going to tell them it was a boyfriend.

Just as I said that, Travis walked up and snatched the phone out of my hand. I looked at him like he was crazy. My father didn’t like him. I didn’t think it was the right time for them to meet him or for my parents to learn of our relationship.

“Mr. and Mrs. O’Connell, this is Williams. I’ll be taking Claire to your home. It’ll be safer there,” he stated.

“What the hell are you doing with my daughter?!” my father shouted.

“It’s not really your concern, but we’ll be on our way soon.”

He hung up on them, and I wanted to bite him. I wasn’t ashamed of him at all, but I never introduced my parents to my boyfriends, least of all one they’d already met and didn’t like.

“Why would you do that?” I yelled.

“Do what? Tell your parents that I’m taking you home?” he asked like he was oblivious to the problem.

“Talking to them in the first place.”

“Sorry, sweetheart, but you better get used to it. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not going to be hiding in the shadows.”

I just gave him a glare and asked, “So when can we leave? I don’t want to stare at this anymore.”

“Let’s ask the chief if we can go.” He grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.

I looked around at the scene before us. It was busy and chaotic. The fire was almost out with all the firefighters fighting the blaze at once. It had been considered a four-alarm, and the news crews just started to arrive. 

We walked to the chief who was talking to some of the investigators and waited until he was done to ask. “Chief, we don’t mean to interrupt, but I’d like to take Miss O’Connell to get some rest.”

“That’s fine. The investigators will want to talk to you, Miss O’Connell. We’ll find out who did this,” he promised me.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I wasn’t willing to consider who was so evil to do this to me. One thing after another today. The only thing good was the hot-tempered, bossy, sexy cowboy who was holding me tight as he walked me to his pickup truck.

He strapped me in like I was a little kid, but the kiss he gave me was anything but innocent. The drive to my parents seemed to fly by. We didn’t speak much because there was too much to say. I just asked that he not fight with my father about me.

He chuckled, “I’ll do my best, but you’re asking a lot.”

“Just chill, okay. You saved my life, but that doesn’t mean that we are really a couple.”

“Do you normally ask men to spend the night?” he asked angrily. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly and his jaw clenched.

“No,” I said.

He stopped briefly at the stop sign and turned to me with a stern, powerful stare and said, “Then I’d say we are a couple.”

“Still, I can’t take any more stress today. Please.” I knew he was annoyed, but I’d been through so much I was feeling stressed and nutty. I wanted to cry and laugh all at once.

“That, baby, I can understand. I’ll be cool, but I can’t guarantee that he will be.”

“That’s all I ask,” I said as he drove on.

The moment we got through the gates my father and mother were on the steps. Travis told me to wait until he opened the door for me. So I took a deep breath after he got out of the truck to prepare myself for the onslaught of questions. Once he helped me out, my mom took me into her arms and squeezed like she’d never been so happy to see me.

“Sweetheart, we’re so glad you’re okay.” Her voice shook in worry.

“If it wasn’t for Travis, I wouldn’t have been okay. He saved my life tonight.” I offered, trying to show them he wasn’t the bad guy they imagined.

“I’m curious. What the hell you were doing in my daughter’s apartment at three in the morning?” my dad snarled as he wrapped one arm around me for a hug.

“Daddy, I’m a grown woman. I can have any man I want in my place at any hour of the day,” I replied.

“The hell you can,” Travis growled. 

“Williams,” my dad fumed.             

“O’Connell,” Travis replied.

“You and me. We need to talk,” dad demanded.

“Yes, we do,” Travis answered calmly but without backing down. 

Oh Lord. It wasn’t looking like it would be easy to get them to accept him. I was hoping they didn’t try to kill each other.

“Baby, you go with your mother, while I have a talk with your dad. Once I’m done, I’ll come say goodbye before I go.”

“You’re going to leave me?” I said in upset. I didn’t want him to leave me. I wasn’t ready for him to go. I felt like I needed him to keep me safe. I wanted him to hold me, and I didn’t want to sleep without him. My need for him had me confused. Was it because he saved me or was it because I wanted him before all this happened? Well, only time would tell. 

“I’ve got to get a start on this case, Claire,” he said as he slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me to him. “I’m going to miss you, though.” His mouth came down on mine in soft, quick kiss. “Now, go be a good girl and calm your mama’s nerves while I go aggravate your father’s,” he said with a laugh and a pat on my ass.

“Now, come on O’Connell. I believe you wanted a word with me,” I said as I marched toward his house like I owned it.

The moment we got into his study, he started his shit with me. “You’re going to stop seeing my daughter.” He stood tall, and gave me a menacing look, but I wouldn’t be deterred.

I made my mind up about her this morning. I didn’t change my mind easily. He should know I was stubborn as hell. “No. I am not.”

He rubbed his brow before looking up at me and almost pleading, said, “Look, this is between us. She doesn’t have to be involved.”

“She’s involved as it gets, but this has nothing to do with the past. Seven years ago, I was an overzealous rookie at twenty-two, who latched onto your brother’s tail and mistakenly threw you and your son into the mix, but it’s in the past.”

“So you’re not upset about me having you suspended, or is this about Rick and Samantha?” He thought he was on something, but he was way off as he tried to get in my face.  “Were you interested in her and Rick got in your way? Now you’ve set your sights on Claire for revenge,” he hissed.

“Listen, O’Connell, I’m trying to keep my promise to Claire and not fight with you over her, but you’re making it hard not to jump down your throat. I don’t want Sam, and I never have. Rick is an honest man, so I don’t have a problem with them. As for revenge, I got over you screwing me, six years and ten months ago. I’ve got no problem with your family, except that your brother is a criminal, no matter what he claims now.”

Feeling like he was losing ground, he asked, “What were you doing at Claire’s apartment?”

“That is a really stupid question to ask. Normally, what is a man doing at a woman’s place at three in the morning?” I said to piss him off, but I wasn’t done yet. I backed up and took a seat on his sofa in the office, crossed my legs then continued, “Claire’s right about one thing. What’s going on between her and me is none of your business. She’s a grown woman.”

“If you do anything to hurt my daughter, my brother won’t be the only one in the family that’s a killer.” I was frustrating him, but I knew his threat was serious.

“It’s not me you have to worry about hurting her. If I wanted to do that I would have walked away the moment we got out of the building.”

“So tell me what the hell happened tonight,” he commanded as he took his desk chair and pulled it close to me, sitting authoritatively. As much as he didn’t like me, he knew I had the answers he needed.

“Yesterday, Claire had a rough one. She had to work extra hard because her employees decided to play hooky.”

He interrupted and shook his head. “Those lazy bitches. I told her to fire them.”

I nodded my head in agreement and continued, “So when it was time for our date, she was too busy and too tired to go out. We ordered in, and I tried to help her with her work. That’s the start of when things got worse. It seems someone’s been stealing from her. I told her I would have someone look into it today.”

“Someone’s stealing from her? Do you think they know she found out about it and wanted to get rid of her?”

“I don’t think so. We’d just found out about the theft right before we went to bed. I was going to leave, but she asked me to stay.”

I could see that he was ready to pound my head in, when he said, “So you took advantage of my daughter’s vulnerability?”

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t sleep with her like you think. I just held her like she asked with almost all my clothes on. I’m serious about her and that’s not the way to start off our relationship.” I looked at him in a challenge, daring him to doubt me, but he didn’t.

“At three, I woke up to the sound of glass shattering. I jumped up and looked out the window. There was a car fleeing. I didn’t get a great look at it since it was dark and almost out of sight, but it was a black sedan. I hurried to get her out of the apartment. Someone called the fire department or the smoke alarms triggered the alert, so when we got down the stairs they were already pulling up.”

He stood, paced and then reluctantly said, “Despite my feelings about your relationship with my daughter, I’m glad you were there to save her tonight. She’s a heavy sleeper, and by the time she would’ve realized there was a fire, it would’ve been too late.”

“I know. It took me a lot to wake her up. I’m grateful I didn’t leave either. If she hadn’t asked, I would have left.” I felt the reality of our choices that night. Fate stepped in and lent a hand.

“So what are you going to do about this? You’re a cop.”

“Actually, I’m a Federal Agent and currently undercover. Samantha is under my protection, so I’m going to need you and your wife to call me either Williams or Brady.”

“Rick mentioned it to me. I get that. I just wanted to make sure Claire was your priority, not a replacement.”

“She is my priority, but I’m going to have some friends of mine look into this until I can have my cover revealed.”

“Okay, but something needs to happen. I’m not letting her leave here until I know she’s safe.”

“That’s good because I wanted her protected when I’m not able to be around. I have to head back to my place to shower and change. Then I’ve got to see what they’ve learned about the fire. By the way, I’ll be staying on your property, even if it’s in my dirty pickup truck. I’m not letting her out of my sight if I can help it.”

“Williams, you can stay in a guest bedroom if you’d like. Anyone protecting my baby and my son’s future wife, is welcomed to stay here.”

“Thanks,” I responded gratefully. I wanted to be as close to her as possible.

“Do you have any idea who is robbing her? I have a feeling it’s the same people who torched the salon,” Richard suggested.

“I do too. I think it’s her employees.”

“You can’t think Tad’s involved in this? They’ve been friends forever,” he said in dismay.

“No, I don’t think so, but I’m not putting it past any of them. Claire says he can’t handle the books, so for him to be involved it’s highly unlikely.”

“Yes, besides the fact that he doesn’t like women, the boy’s also got something else wrong with him; his dyslexia is terrible. Plus, he’s too damn excitable.”

“You got a problem with him being queer?” I asked. Most people were for homosexuals these days, but as long as I wasn’t being hit on I really didn’t give a shit who did who. I liked women. Well, now I only wanted Claire. As far as I was concerned, gay men meant less competition for me. Now lesbians I’d have a problem with, especially if they tried to steal my Claire from me.

“Not really. I’m a man who’s been interested in nothing but women. To me it’s off. I don’t care if he’s that way, but it doesn’t mean I get it,” he responded honestly.

“Me too, plus the boy is too damn flirty. If it wasn’t unmanly, I’d been claiming sexual harassment on his ass. He’s worse than a dirty old man with a pretty young girl.”

He chuckled and added, “Well, hopefully he doesn’t get his ass kicked for hitting on the wrong man.”

“Yeah, I have a feeling Claire would see red and go out for blood if he was beaten up for questioning a man’s sexuality.”

“She thinks of him as her little brother, even though he’s about three years older,” Richard added.

“Gotta love her,” I said with a smile.

“Do you?” her father inquired.

I wanted him on my side so honesty was going to have to happen. “Yes. I do.”

“How long has this been going on between you two?”

“We met the same day as Rick and Sam. I was picking Sam up when I saw your daughter.”

“You’ve been dating since then?” He didn’t like that it had been kept from him. It was only four days now. It wasn’t that long ago, but I guessed I wasn’t his favorite person.

I corrected, “No, actually since yesterday.”

“So you’re not as nutty as my son,” he mocked.

“I’m not saying I didn’t want to talk to her sooner, but I wanted to be sure. I don’t want to be associated with a family that has criminals in it.”

“So, my brother is the reason you stayed away or was it because you still doubted us?”

“Really neither is true. I just needed to make sure what I wanted from her.”

“What do you want?”

“Everything,” I declared.

“Good answer. How about we go join the ladies?”

“Sounds good.”

We stood up and shook hands. I knew that there was still some tension and suspicion in his mind, but only time would ease his feelings for me.

Just as we were going to walk out, Mrs. O’Connell came rushing through the door, in a fit.

“What are you going to do about this?” she shouted at me before turning to her husband. “Did he tell you someone is out to get our baby?”

Mama bears are no joke. Before either of us could respond, she continued in a huff, “So, what are you going to do?”

“Mrs. O’Connell, I was about to leave and work on the matter.” I turned to my girl and with a shake of my head, I said, “Damn. Now I know where you get it from.”

“Can we go talk somewhere in private?” she asked.

“Sure.” She grabbed my hand and nearly dragged me from the room.

We stopped in the garden where before I knew it, she was pulling my head down for a kiss. I took it from there. I lifted her up into my arms and wrapped her legs around my waist. I knew there were cameras back here, and I’m pretty sure she did too, but I didn’t care. I wanted her father to know that it wasn’t just a one sided thing; she wanted me too.

“Babe, we need to stop before I strip you right here,” I groaned as I pushed away and set her down.

“So I guess we should talk then?” she said begrudgingly.

“Yes, I think that would be best…I’ve really got to go.” She took my pause the wrong way.

She looked at me with complete concern on her pretty face before she asked, “What is it? Are you done with me?”

“Done with you?”
Did she think I was trying to cut ties?

“Yeah. You know…did my dad get you to walk away?” The fear was strong in her words

I pinned her to the wall of the house, lifted her a little, and pressed my hard cock against her belly. “Baby, I’m not leaving you for good. I’ve got things to take care of. Your dad offered me a guest bedroom here when I come back later on today.”

“You’re coming back?!” she practically squealed.

“Of course. I have to get on this right away. I’m not going to let someone get a second chance.”

“Please, just be careful,” she pleaded.

“Careful is my middle name,” I proclaimed.

“Bullshit,” she snorted.

“Okay, it’s Bradley, but I’ll still be careful. I want to come back to you as soon as possible. Just try and get some sleep. I know your parents have this place on lockdown, so you’ll be safe here. When I come back, we can talk and do other things.” I gave her a wink.

“Hey, I thought you said no sex.”

“Ha, that was yesterday. I didn’t make any promises for today.”

“I guess that’s a valid point,” she replied timidly.

“Babe, I’m just messing with you. If you’re not ready to take us there, that’s fine. You’ve been through a hell of a lot in the last twenty-four hours,” I said reassuringly.

“It’s not that. We’re at my parent’s house. It’s a little awkward.”

“We’ll have to wait until the coast is clear, and your safety isn’t threatened before we can go to my place. If I didn’t have to still look after Sam, I’d take you to Texas with me.”

“Oh, yeah, cowboy?”

“Sure thing, ma’am.” I gave her a long drawl, a wink, and a click of my tongue. “Now, let me get you inside. I know it’s secure around here, but I’m feeling a bit paranoid.”

“I’ll be safe here, but I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself or how I’m going to be able to reopen again.”

“Don’t think about those things right now. Just rest, and we’ll figure it all out.”

“I hope you’re as real as you claim to be because you’ve got me wanting things I didn’t want before,” she stated.

“I’m real, Claire. What is it that you want?”

She blushed profusely but just shook her head. I don’t know what she wanted, but it didn’t matter because I wanted everything from her.

“Well, my beautiful pixie, you can tell me when you’re ready,” I said reassuringly.

Once I took her inside, I hurried out the door. My first stop was my apartment. I needed to shower and change. I couldn’t take it anymore; I could still smell the burning wood on my clothes. It was a reminder of almost losing her today. I needed it off me.

I was halfway there when I got a call from my brother-in-law Eli.

“Williams,” I answered using my Bluetooth.

“Travis, where are you?” he asked anxiously.

“On my way back to my apartment. Why?” I wondered.

“Don’t bother going there right now. I need you to come to the office, ASAP,” he requested not so politely.

“I can’t. There was a fire last night at my girl’s place, and I smell like a fire”

“I don’t care if your ass smells like manure. The Lakes were killed last night,” Eli thundered.

“What?!”

“They were executed last night,” he reiterated.