The growling of her stomach was so loud it almost echoed in the car’s interior.
Daniel cleared his throat. “Are you hungry, lass?”
Embarrassed, she nodded, hiding her eyes.
Daniel tapped the open page. “Says here in this brochure they serve meals at the Guinness Storehouse between the hours of noon and four in the afternoon. I mean, if you want.”
“Yeah. Sure.” She put her tablet back inside her bag. “Hotel is booked.”
“Already?”
“Mm-hmm. I filled out the online reservation form and got the confirmation. It’s all set.”
He paused for a moment, then started up the car, following direction on the map on the back of the pamphlet, and before long, Daniel parked outside the building. Amelia forced a smile as they went inside and located the restaurant.
She’d been quiet all through lunch and the tour of the Guinness factory. She remained tight-lipped, wearing a fake smile all through the ghost tour. When everyone else jumped, Amelia sat stock still, staring at some distant point ahead of her.
When they checked into the hotel that night, Daniel wasn’t shocked to discover Amelia booked them separate rooms. At least he had a nice big corner tub. He spent an age in the water trying to loosen the knots in his muscles only to emerge tenser than when he got in.
He wanted Amelia with a force that shocked and terrified him. He needed her. Needed to feel his hands on her skin. Needed her. Damn it, he needed her and couldn’t hide from the truth forever. At some point Amelia planned on heading back home, back to her life, and he didn’t figure into those plans.
The next morning they checked out and stopped for breakfast at a chain restaurant on the road. He drove until Dublin was nothing more than a distant speck in the rear view mirror, glad to leave the city behind. Daniel made certain to stop at a beach so Amelia could spread some more of her grandfather’s ashes. It seemed a little easier each time for her to hide the pain; to keep her hands from trembling; to keep the tears from falling.
Part of him wanted to admit his loss, to tell her he knew how she felt, but it wouldn’t do much good. He’d have to admit everything else to her. The last time Daniel tried that she shot him down with some rubbish about not caring about his past.
He drove all the way down to the south coast and stumbled across a sight unlike any he’d ever witnessed. Daniel parked the car on the side of the road and stepped out, breath catching in his lungs. He’d never seen anything so obtrusive that fit into the surrounding scenery.
“Wow,” Amelia said. “It’s a wind farm.”
“Wind farm?”
“Yeah. See the three blades turning in the wind?”
He did. “Aye.”
“Well, they collect wind and turn it into energy.” Amelia sighed, curling her arms around one of his, and rested her head on his bicep. “It’s…almost eerily beautiful. Like…something that doesn’t quite belong, but works so well with the surroundings that it fits.” She shook her head. “That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever said aloud.”
“No.” He pulled her into his arms, surrounding her slight form. She was the softness he lacked. “No,” he repeated. “It wasn’t stupid. Never stupid.”
Kiss her, you eejit!
When a man’s conscience demanded he kiss a beautiful lass, his brain ceased to function. Daniel sought out her lips and covered them with his, tasting sugar on her tongue from the caramel coffee she bought a short while ago. And then his brain stopped working completely. He dropped to his arse on the dewy grass, pulling Amelia with him, spreading her thighs on either side of his hips.
Sweet scents of grass and wildflowers and fresh rain filled his senses. The sounds of the sea crashing against jagged rocks played nature’s melody. And Amelia, oh lord above, Amelia… Her hands clutched at the lapels of his jacket, as if letting go of him meant certain death, and she’d give up anything for another minute here with him.
Right there in the field of emerald green, with a giant white tri-blade windmill spinning above them, Daniel laid Amelia down on the grass, covering her body with his. The feel of her beneath him made him dizzy with wanting her. The stiff peaks of her nipples found his palms, or his palms found those sweet, soft mounds. He couldn’t know for certain.
Daniel kissed her, cupping her intimate flesh through layers of clothing, wishing he had magic to send these layers away. She didn’t stop him though – Amelia seemed to welcome his advances, thrusting the most feminine part of her against the stiff ridge of his cock. Torture. The lass tortured him, made him ache.
So he didn’t crush her, Daniel rolled onto his back, pulling Amelia with him, keeping her mouth secured to his. The erotic duel of her tongue with his fanned the flames in his gut, close to burning out of control. Desire clenched his muscles, threatening to unravel them both.