Ciaran laughed and handed me the clothes, a pair of black sweatpants, and a t-shirt. I looked up at him in question. Had something happened to my clothes?

“I didn’t think you’d want to squeeze back into your dress,” he explained.

His thoughtfulness pleased me. “Yeah, it was a nightmare to get into. I had to hold my breath while Emily zipped me up.”

Ciaran shook his head disapprovingly. “As much as I loved you in that dress, you don’t have to torture yourself.”

“I should leave that to you, right?” I added a cheeky wink, so he’d know I wasn’t accusing him of torturing me.

“And only me.” His possessive tone thrilled me. “Now, do you want to shower here or at home?”

“At home.” Damn, I liked the sound of that a bit too much.

“Okay, then.” He picked up the t-shirt and pulled it over my head.

“But we’ll come back sometime?” Now I’d dipped my toe in the water, I wanted to learn more.

“As often as you like.” Ciaran tried and failed to stifle a yawn. I guess I wasn’t the only one who’d tired themselves out tonight. “Now, let’s get your pants on and we’ll get out of here.”

ChapterSixteen

Annie

“What time do you call this?” Emily teased as I walked into the kitchen.

Embarrassment swept over me. I hadn’t meant to sleep through the entire day, but every time I woke, I told myself I needed another five minutes and drifted off again. By the time I finally struggled out of bed and into the shower, it was already evening.

My exhaustion was entirely Ciaran’s fault. When we got home from the club, he fucked me senseless in the shower. He took me twice more during the night, once with me on all fours on the bed and then at a more languid pace with me staring into his gorgeous brown eyes. He’d reached for me this morning, but obviously he took my threat to cut his dick off seriously because he immediately backed off. There was only so much of a good thing I could take before I needed a break, but Ciaran seemed to be insatiable.

“Blame your over-sexed brother.”

“Ugh!”

Smiling at Emily’s disgust, I headed for the coffee machine and made myself an espresso. One sip was all it took to make me feel more human again. I leaned back against the countertop and watched Emily as she stirred something in a pot on the stove. A delicious, meaty aroma from the oven filled the air.

“Can I help with anything?”

“Well, this sauce is proving trickier than I expected, so perhaps you could take care of dessert for me. I’ve made meringues and whipped some cream, so if you could cut some strawberries and mix it all together, that would be great.”

“You’re making Eton mess?” I drained my espresso cup and put it in the dishwasher by the sink.

“Yes. I thought I’d try another good old British dish in your honor.”

Since my arrival at the lake house, Emily had been going out of her way to make me feel at home by preparing British foods. Her bangers and mash had been a triumph, and I hated to admit it, but her sticky toffee pudding was even better than my grandmother’s.

I fetched the strawberries and a bowl of mixed cream from the refrigerator and found the meringues on a cooling rack on the kitchen island. They were cold to the touch, so I crushed them, one after the other, into the cream and mixed them together. Then I grabbed a chopping board and a knife and got to work on the strawberries.

“Thought I’d find you here.”

I looked up and smiled as Ciaran came into the room. He leaned across the island to place a quick kiss on my lips. Pinching a strawberry from the tub, he settled back on a stool on the other side of the counter.

“Something smells good, Em,” he told his sister.

“It’s venison. I’m making a Cumberland sauce.”

“You get redcurrants here?” I thought they were a British thing.

“I couldn’t find any in the grocery store. Fun fact for you, until recently they were illegal in the States.”