“Mm-hm.”

  “That was me…being nervous.”

  “You?” She turned to look at him. “But this isn’t your first time, is it?”

  “No,” he said quickly. “But the entire time I was under with the New Killeens, I didn’t…that is, I mean…I didn’t sleep with anyone.” He paused, letting his words sink in. “I was concerned that if I fell asleep next to someone, I might talk in my sleep. Betray who I really was and what I was really doing there.”

  “So you haven’t…”

  “I haven’t had sex in over three years,” he said, shifting in his seat as they neared the hotel. “And it’s been a long three years.”

  “I always understood that for men…I mean, sex is something they need.”

  “I can’t speak for how the needs of a woman differ from those of a man, but I can tell you that I”—he laughed bitterly—“certainly missed it. I’m ready for tonight, Tierney. Long past ready.”

  “Me too,” she said. “You know, just because I haven’t done it yet doesn’t mean I haven’t wanted to. I just wanted to feel…” She thought about what she wanted to say, but the only words that came to mind were these: “…the way you make me feel.”

  “So you’ve been waiting for me, then, aisling?” he asked, his voice soft and reverent.

  “I think so,” she said as he pulled into the semicircle in front of the hotel.

  “Then it should come as no surprise,” he said, “that I’ve been waiting for you too.”

  Two valet attendants opened their doors, and they exited the car, joining hands again as they walked through the glass doors opened for them. The stood in silence as Burr pressed the button for the elevator, the connection between them palpable, electrifying, like if anyone stepped too close or—God forbid—between them, they’d be fried by the live current that bound them.

  In the elevator, Tierney stared straight ahead at the closed doors, not daring to look at Burr for fear that she’d leap into his arms, and once there, never let go. She glanced up at the security camera in the corner of the small box and grimaced. The door opened, and Burr pulled her onto the eighteenth floor.

  Without speaking, they walked quickly down the hall to their room, Burr only dropping her hand to take the keycard from his back pocket and tap it against the reader. The light turned green, the mechanics whooshed, and Burr pushed down on the lever, opening the door to their dark room, illuminated by the brilliant lights of Boston.

  The moment the door closed behind them, his arms reached for her, turning her around and pulling her against his chest. His lips came down on hers, hard and demanding, like a thirsty man in the desert, his tongue slipping between her waiting lips, his groan throaty and deep as he sighed with relief.

  She wound her arms around his neck, and he slipped his hands under her bottom, lifting her easily. Tierney held him tightly, wrapping her legs around his waist and arching her breasts into his chest as he walked into the room carrying her.

  When he reached the bed, he turned, sitting on the edge with Tierney straddling his lap, her pelvis intimately pressed against his erection, which throbbed against her. Sliding her hands down the back of his T-shirt, she dragged it up, and Burr paused in kissing her for a split second, holding her with one hand as he reached behind his neck to pull it off. With his chest bare, he started kissing her again, but Tierney wanted to feel him.

  She reached for his hand. “Unzip my dress.”

  “We can go slow, love.”

  “I don’t want to go slow,” she panted. “Unzip it.”

  “I don’t want to rush things for you,” he said, moving his fingers to the top of the zipper, his eyes dark and dilated as he looked into hers.

  “I’m twenty-seven years old,” she said, laughing softly. “Nothing’s been rushed, Burr.”

  With a soft chuckle, he pushed her hair aside and pulled down the zipper, the teeth giving way as the little straps drooped down her shoulders. Tierney wiggled out of them, and her dress bunched around her waist, leaving her bare, except for her bra. Burr’s fingers landed on the clasp, tentative, waiting for permission.

  “Off,” she murmured, her chest heaving as he flicked her bra open. Reaching for it, she pulled it from her arms. Naked, chest to chest, they collided, their lips bruising, their tongues demanding, the stiff points of her breasts digging into the muscled wall of his chest as they kissed.

  She dug her knees into the comforter, sliding her sex as flush against his as possible, but she was frustrated by the clothing between them. She wanted more. She wanted him.

  Pushing against his shoulders, Tierney’s feet dropped to the floor, her dress falling from her waist to pool around her bare feet and leaving her standing before him in her light blue underwear. She licked her lips, staring at his throat, wanting to look him in the eye but suddenly shy.

  “Tierney, aisling, a ghra mo chroi,” he whispered, woman of my heart, “look at me.”

  She raised her gaze to his, her naked breasts heaving gently with her shallow breaths.

  “You are…the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, in all my life.”

  He reached for her waist, pulling her back between his legs. Bending his head, his tongue circled the sensitive skin around her nipple, and she gasped, reaching for the back of his head to draw him closer. He took her nipple, hard and throbbing, between his lips and sucked gently, his tongue flicking the stiff bud until she cried softly. He skimmed his lips across her chest to her other breast, one hand reaching up to tease the soaked nipple he’d already loved as he sucked its twin between his lips. As he licked one and rolled the other between his thumb and forefinger, Tierney felt a swirling in her stomach—hot and urgent—the sensations fanning out lower to her groin, where the heat pooled, pulsing and demanding.

  “I want you,” she panted. “Burr, please. I want…I want…”

  Releasing her breasts, he stood before her, clasping her cheeks and sealing his lips over hers. As they kissed, his hands skated down her arms to her hands, gently taking them in his and pulling them to the button and fly of his jeans.

  Her fingers worked quickly, opening his pants before sliding into the waistband of his boxers to land on his soft, hot skin. Sliding her down to his hips, forced his jeans and underwear down, and used his feet to pull them the rest of the way to his ankles, kicking them onto the floor.

  She took his fingers as he had hers, pulling them to the seam of her panties before winding her arms back around his neck. He shoved once, hard, and the panties slid to the floor. His hands landed on her bottom, and he lifted her again. And Tierney, who’d never been completely naked with another man in her entire life, spread her legs and wrapped them around Burr’s waist as he laid her down on the bed and fell on top of her gently.

  The glorious weight of his body pressed her against the bed, and he surged against her, his erection sliding into her hot, slick folds and massaging her clit. She panted, holding him tighter, the heat that had built before, while he’d loved her breasts, on fire now.

  “Tierney,” he panted, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “It’ll only hurt a bit,” she said.

  With her legs still locked around his waist, Burr reached for the bedside table and pulled out a foil package he must have placed there earlier. He reached behind, gently seizing her ankle and unlocking it. Then he pushed off the bed and stood naked at the foot of it, moonlight and ambient light showing her the hills and valleys of his muscled body. Her eyes slid lower, to his cock, which stood tall and proud from his body. He followed her eyes, staring down at that throbbing part of himself before demanding her eyes.

  “Tierney?”

  “Hmm? Yes?” She snapped her eyes up, leaning on her elbow.

  “You’re sure?” he asked, ripping open the condom with his teeth and rolling the thin latex over his erection. He held the stiff flesh in his hand, staring at her.

  She nodded. “I want this. I want you inside me. I need you so badly, Burr.”

  He knelt back down on the bed, and Tierney spread her legs. Leaning forward he kissed her, slowly, gently, his tongue bathing hers reverently before he reached up to cradle her face, the tip of his sex lining up perfectly with her own.

  “Do it,” she said. “Do it quick.”

  He winced, his breathing ragged. “It’ll hurt.”

  “I don’t care.” She moved her hands to his back, then slid them to his ass. “Now.”

  Surging forward with one hard thrust, he pushed through any waiting barrier, making her cry out in pain as he embedded himself deeply within her.

  “Tierney?” he panted, holding still. “Are you…are you okay?”

  “You were right. It hurts,” she whimpered, wiggling a little to find relief.

  “Stay still, love,” he said, keeping himself completely and utterly motionless inside of her. “Relax. Breathe.”

  She took a deep breath, feeling the walls of her sex relax, then stretch, for him. She could feel him throbbing inside of her, his pulsing flesh massaging the sensitive walls of her sex. She closed her eyes and felt his heartbeat, deep inside of her. And it was so arousing, the pain slipped away, until all she felt was him.

  He kissed her jaw and her throat, murmuring sweet things in Irish as her fingers, which had probably drawn blood, relaxed, sliding up his back to the base of his neck. Drawing back, he looked into her eyes. “Better now?”

  “Better,” she sighed, moving her hips experimentally and watching his face as his eyes closed tightly as though he was in pain. “What do you need?”

  “To move,” he grunted, staying still inside of her.

  She arched her back again, and he grunted, the sound primordial, her hips moving again in response.

  “Then move,” she panted.

  “Look at me,” he said, opening his eyes as he slid slowly from her before surging forward to fill her again. “I…Tierney, I…feel more for you than I have ever felt. For anyone. I want…I want so much…with you. Time. Life. Love. More.”

  His body pulled back and surged forward again, making her eyes close with pleasure, her feet sliding up the back of his legs to hold him within her. Love.

  She felt it too.

  “Burr. A chéadsearc,” she panted.

  “A chéadsearc,” he repeated, his eyes brightening at the seriousness of the word she’d chosen. “First in your heart.”

  Tierney nodded, confirming her feelings, confirming that he was, literally and figuratively, her first. First to claim her body, and first in her heart.

  Cupping her face, he kissed her madly, their bodies moving in tandem, giving and taking, welcoming and warm, in the age-old, always-new dance of bodies loving each other for the first time.

  “Aisling,” he panted near her ear, his hips moving quickly, the elbows on either side of her head shaking, his muscles coiled and taut as he readied for release. “I’m waiting for you. Come with me, love.”

  In the end, it was the word, more than anything else, that hastened her own climax. She didn’t know what the future held for her and Burr, but she felt certain, in that beautiful moment, that they would figure it out. How many had started with even less of a foundation than us?

  Tierney tightened her legs around him, arching her back as waves of heat broke over her like a blessing, like music, like release. And her Burr joined her, crying out her name as he came, clutching her to his chest like he never, ever wanted to let her go.

  CHAPTER 13

  After taking her virginity last night, Burr had bathed her gently in the massive hotel tub, then carried her back to bed and made love to her again. They’d fallen asleep hours later, limbs entwined, heart-to-heart, her sweet lips pressed against the base of his throat and his resting on her hair.

  This morning, as much as he hated to leave her, Sean Shanahan’s arraignment waited, though he insisted that she didn’t need to come with him.

  “I want to,” she’d murmured, looking completely delectable, still naked and curled up in bed.

  “It’s anticlimactic, aisling. You’re not missing anything, I promise. The court always runs late. By the time Sean’s case is up, I’ll say a few words, the judge will make a decision about bail, and that’ll be that.” He smiled at her, tenderly caressing her cheek. “Thinking about you waiting here for me will make me happy, will give me something to look forward to.”

  She grinned back at him. “I am tired.”

  “Take a long hot bath. Get some rest. I’m loving you all over again when I get back.”

  “Loving me?” she asked softly, her eyes downcast, her finger scratching at the snow white sheets distractedly.

  “Loving your body,” he clarified, sitting next to her on the edge of the bed.

  “Oh,” she said, flicking a glance up at him, then looking away.

  “You want me to tell you I love you?” he asked softly.

  “Not if you don’t mean it.”

  “If I said it, I would mean it. But it feels…too soon, doesn’t it?”

  “To be in love?” she asked, looking up at him. She nodded. “Yes, but…”

  “But you feel it too,” he said, staring at her.

  She nodded. “I do.”

  “I care for you, Tierney. So much. More than any other woman I’ve ever known.” He took a deep breath. “But I can’t see a future for us yet.”

  She looked like she wanted to protest his words for a moment, but then she dropped his eyes, looking down, probably because she couldn’t see it either.

  “You hate Boston,” he said, “but I work here. My sister’s here. My friends.”

  “Your life.”

  He gulped, because his throat suddenly felt tight. “But my heart’s with you. Wherever you are, Tierney, it’s yours.”

  She took a deep breath and sighed, looking up at him. Her eyes were soft, holding his with abundant tenderness. “Should we talk about it when you get back?”

  “Is that okay?” he asked.

  “Mm-hm,” she hummed, kissing him back when he dropped his lips to hers.

  He left the room, heading downstairs and taking an Uber to the Dorchester District Court. As he exited his ride, he pulled his badge from his back pocket and slipped it around his neck, then climbed up the granite stairs and walked through the glass doors and into the courthouse.

  Checking in at the clerk’s office, he learned that Sean’s arraignment, scheduled for ten o’clock, had already been moved to eleven thirty, so he took a seat on one of many benches, thinking about last night, thinking about Tierney.

  He hadn’t seen her coming, hadn’t planned for her, and he was being honest when he’d told her earlier that their future wasn’t clear to him. Their feelings had grown quickly—so quickly that they didn’t have an actual, physical place for them yet. He had weeks, if not years, of work ahead in Boston. Today was just the beginning. To put Sean away, he’d need to give depositions and testimony to the DA’s office, eventually testifying against the New Killeens in open court.

  He wasn’t free to move to New Hampshire; besides, he didn’t have a job there. Besides, she hadn’t invited him to. And why would she? They’d only known each other for a few weeks, no matter how fast their feelings had grown or how deeply they felt for one another.

  Added to this were her feelings about Boston. What had she called it last night? Oh, right. Bloody, godforsaken Boston. Not a ringing endorsement, not to mention how, when they’d talked about the city on one of their many walks, she’d made her feelings clear. And it wasn’t like Burr felt especially warm and fuzzy toward his hometown right now, but this job wasn’t finished. He couldn't just get up and leave.

  Maybe they could date long-distance for a while as the case moved through the courts. And maybe, by the time Sean was tried and convicted and Burr had fulfilled his commitment, he could consider relocating…if she’d wait for him.

  With so many conflicting thoughts clouding his head, he almost didn’t hear his father call his name.

  “Burr! Son!”

  His head snapped up, and he looked into his father’s bright-blue eyes.

  “Pop,” he said, feeling wary after last night. “What’re you doing here?”

  “Seat free?” his father asked, gesturing to the empty bench beside Burr.

  “Sure.”

  “See you got your badge back.”

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “Came to, ah, hear your testimony at the arraignment.”

  “You did?”

  His father nodded. “Talked to Liam Donnelley this mornin’. Should’ve let you say yer peace last night.”

  “I get why you were mad.”

  “Yer sister could’ve died.”

  “I know, Pop.”

  “But it wasn’t yer fault, son.”

  “If I hadn’t been undercove—”

  “Liam praised your work, said your partner sold you out, said you took a bullet of your own in the shoulder.”

  “It’s okay now,” said Burr, reaching up to rub the scar. “Went through clean.”

  “You killed Declan Shanahan.”

  “I did.”

  “Better days.” His father sighed. “Yer girlfriend’s a right corker.”

  Burr chuckled softly. “Yeah, she’s something all right.”

  “Now, I’m not one for speeches, son, but, well, we’re proud of the work you done. I’m proud my son brought down the New Killeens.”

  And while Burr took a mighty dose of pleasure in his father’s words, he also marked the conversation as the moment it started: his name bound with the New Killeens. And it lay heavy on his heart.

  Sitting on that bench for the next two hours, Burr told his father what he could about his life undercover with the New Killeens, and his father caught him up on family news.

  “You’ve got to meet Bridey. She’s somethin’!”

  “I’ve seen her from a distance,” Burr confessed. “Can’t wait to be an uncle.”

  “It’s time you think of settling down and havin’ yer own.”

  Burr’s mind slipped quickly to Tierney. “Someday. Hopefully. When this business with the New Killeens has been put to bed.”