Page 16 of Wine & Warlocks

Her breath caught in her throat, and she acknowledged to herself that had Ronan been any other man, anything other than a Guardian tasked with righting the wrongs of the world, she might’ve stopped running and forgiven him his lies. They weren’t life-altering; she knew that. But she didn’t like that he defaulted to untruths when he wanted to manipulate a situation.

“When you showed up at the New York office, did you once consider telling the truth?” she asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Like you told Blane, I was an O’Connor, and you had no reason to believe me. You have to ask yourself, Dove,wouldyou have considered my being there as anything but contrived to bring you grief?”

She thought about it as he stood there, gazing down at her. By his lifted brow and confident look, she suspected he already knew the answer.

“But why the dinner and… after? I liked you. Or the man I thought you were.”

“I liked you, too, love. And that’s the honest truth of it.” He knelt in front of her, which made their faces level, and ran his knuckles lightly down her cheek in a caress reminiscent of the night they shared. “I didn’t expect things to go so far, and leaving you the next day was a cleaver to my heart.” Dropping his arm, he fell back, resting his butt on his heels. “But I had to do what I could to stop Loman, and I’d do it again.”

“Why can’t you be honest?”

“I promised you I would from now on, didn’t I? And so I will. That’s what I’m after telling you. I’ll do whatever is necessary to take him down for good.”

“For Sabrina?”

“And your family. And for those in my own family who are deserving: Ruairí, Alex, maybe even Reggie.”

“And you, Ronan. You’re deserving,” she reminded him softly.

“I’ve done terrible things in the past, Dove. I don’t know that Iamdeserving. Not of your forgiveness, not of you, not of the trust the deities or Damian and Sabrina have put in me.”

The fear and uncertainty in his eyes slayed Dubheasa, and her desire to reassure him was entirely overwhelming her logical side that warned her away from him. She fell to her knees in front of him and placed her palms flat against his chest. Absently, she noted the rapid hammering of his heart. “Youaredeserving, Ronan O’Connor. If you weren’t, we’d all likely be dead and your father would be using the O’Malley magic to do more harm.”

Without warning, he wrapped his arms around her, hauling her close and burying his head in her hair. He held her like a desperate man would a lifeline. And perhaps she was his. Maybe she’d been looking at his past behaviors all wrong, and like a small, wounded child who didn’t know up from down or how to get attention from adults in a nondestructive way, Ronan did the only thing he knew how. He deceived to achieve his goals.

“Yes, Dove. That’s exactly right.”

For a while, she’d forgotten he possessed the ability to read her mind. And although she wasn’t particularly comfortable with the fact, she didn’t mind that he could see her reasoning.

“I can’t be your lifeline, Ronan. That much responsibility scares the feck out of me.”

Slowly and with great care, he released her and climbed to his feet, offering her a hand to help her up. “I know, Dove. And I’d not put so heavy a burden on ya.”

As she looked into his hauntingly beautiful face with those tragic eyes, she realized she wanted to say yes to all he was offering. It was enough to make her backpedal.

“I’ll not fight with you anymore, Ronan. We’ll work together to stop your da. But I can’t make any decisions regarding my future until the present is secured.”

“Like I said, I’ll try to buy you time. But you can’t run much longer. If it isn’t you, I’ll need another partner to work with.”

Anger clouded her mind, and she pinched his nipple through his shirt. “You claim to love me in one breath and tell me you’ll choose another in the next? Are ya mad?”

He surprised her when he laughed and wrapped a hand around the nape of her neck, drawing her forward until their bodies were touching. “I’ll love you until the day I die, Dove, and no other. But I’ll need a partner to accomplish what the Goddess requires. It will need to be a female to balance the scales—what Isis and Anu are calling the Yin-Yang effect—and my partner will share in the mental connection with me, like you do now. But I’ll not be shaggin’ her or taking her as a mate.” He lowered his head until his lips were but a breath away. “I desire no other butyou, my love.”

“Aw feck!” Closing the distance, Dubheasa sealed her lips over his.

He tasted of minty toothpaste and dark, steamy nights filled with passion. Of unbroken promises and an exciting future. Lost to the sensations his talented tongue created, she moaned. He shifted to wrap his arms around her, just below her arse, then lifted her until she was slightly above him and forced to grip his shoulders to hang on.

Giving into her desires, she wrapped her legs around his waist and gazed down into his laughing eyes. “Mind you don’t make me hit my head, you fecking giant.”

“In case you didn’t notice, love, your sister created more headroom when she rebuilt the inn.”

Scowling because she’d been too distracted by Ronan to notice the changes, Dubheasa glanced around, then looked back at him and grunted. “Shut up and kiss me again, Ronan O’Connor.”

---