Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series by Tricia Daniels Page A

“She took my wallet so that you
would have to come pick us up?”
    “Exactly. Effectively ending my date.”
Suddenly from upstairs, there is a huge thud. They can tell from
the sound, and the cursing that follows that Rachel has fallen out
of bed. Olivia stands up alarmed and limps painfully to the bottom
of the stairs. “Rachel?” She hollers.
    A muffled voice yells. “I’M OKAY!”
    Olivia puts her hand over her mouth to
stifle her laughter. “Poor thing is going to be black and blue
tomorrow and won’t remember a thing.” She’s sympathetic but she
continues to chuckle in amusement. Suddenly, feeling tired herself,
she zips up her hoodie and heads towards the door with Ethan right
behind her.
    On the way to the car, she tries desperately
hard not to limp at all. He places his hand on the small of her
back as they walk and she finds his touch so warm and soothing that
she forgets about her earlier upset. She must be exhausted because
she can’t think of any other reason to explain why she finds
herself wanting to be near him for a short while longer. She
surprises herself when they reach the car and she stops and leans
back against the hood, staring at him. He moves to her side eager
to be close to her, the thought of her earlier submission still on
his mind and the remainder of his erection, still a noticeable
outline in his pants.
    “Thank you for coming out in the middle of
the night to get us home safe.”
    She smiles. “Yeah… well, it’s not the first
time I’ve had to pick her drunken ass up.”
    The air around them starts to crackle with
excitement as he positions himself as close to her as he can get.
This time she’s certain that he feels it too as his body tenses
against her and his semi hard dick presses against her hip.
    “So… how was your date?” He has to know,
it’s been chewing at him all night.
    The truth stabs at her, making her feel
wounded all over again, but there is no way she’s going to let
Ethan see her upset. “It was just fine, thank you.”
    Ethan can’t stop himself. He slowly raises
his hand to the back of her head and gently takes hold of the
elastic that’s holding her ponytail. What is he doing? Butterflies
take flight in her stomach with the anticipation of his touch.
Slowly and carefully, he pulls the elastic out and then uses his
fingers to comb through her hair, letting it fall softly across her
neck. What the ever-loving-fuck? How hot is that? She feels his
chest expand against her side as he brushes the hair from her
shoulder and lowers his mouth to whisper in her ear. “Did you kiss
him?” There is an emulous tone to his question and the rippling
muscles of his abs tense while he waits for her reply.
    “What?” Olivia is unnerved by the feelings
that are stirring inside her. He continues to twirl the soft
tendrils of her long hair around his fingers, occasionally brushing
the tips of them across her neck and shoulder, making it hard for
her to think or breathe.
    “Did you kiss him?” He repeats in a very
serious and demanding tone. She can smell his cologne and feel his
breath on her skin. He’s close, too close again. Evidence of her
attraction rolls through her body, confirming that his authority
influences her. She hates that he senses it. Turning away from him,
she looks up at the stars, jiggling her knees nervously. She
doesn’t want to tell him what really happened but he has gotten so
far into her head right now that her mind can’t even think of a
lie.
    Unfortunately for Olivia, a man doesn’t grow
up with three sisters and not learn how to read female body
language. He can tell something has upset her so he changes gears
from controlling into caring. “Hey, what happened?” He raises his
hand to her face and with one finger, tucks a loose piece of hair
behind her ear.
    That one tender gesture somehow erases her
ability to control the communication between her brain and her
mouth and she blurts out the truth. “He cancelled.” She’s