The MacManus brothers, Connor and Murphy, were sitting at their favorite bar's counter, staring in awe at the two women sitting on the other end of the countertop. The affection of the beautiful ladies towards each other showed that they should be sisters, but their genetics gave them away.
The one farthest from them was a tall voluptuous redhead with her locks tumbling all the way down past her waist. Her waist was slender with a large bust resting peacefully upon it. Her hips gave way to a small shapely behind. Her eyes were as blue as the sea and just as tormenting. Her silken pale freckled face was a bit round, but had all the lovely soft angles of luscious cheeks, and lips that shamed the pinkest carnation. She wore a low cut black dress that showed her cleavage and curves in all the rights places with long legs that stretched up to heaven. Her movements were as graceful as a cat and she eyed her companion with warmth, and possibly perversion.
The other was a slightly shorter and more compact dark haired version of the other woman. She had shapely hips and curves you needed brakes for, but she had a much smaller bust and a larger, rounder rear slowly slipping off her barstool. Her face was sharper with the same amount of freckles, but it was full of feminine features like lovely cheek bones, a slim nose and full lips. Her eyes were the shade of honey from the sweetest bee's comb. She wore an almost backless stunning red dress that showed her also lengthy legs and slim womanly feet in black heels, with toenails as black as night. She moved more dramatically, in a way that demanded attention, and she shared the same loving look in her eyes for her friend.
These two women weren't real women; they were sirens calling them to crash upon the rocks. These women were the objects of a poet's eye. Artists should have painted beautiful portraits of them bathing and playing lovingly in a stream somewhere in the country. Photographers should be chasing these girls down on a regular basis.
The MacManus brothers watched and listen to them intently as the ladies sipped – the redhead a, scotch and coke, and the raven haired one, Jack Daniels and diet coke. The brothers cocked their heads at each other and mouthed the words 'diet coke?'
Murphy leaned into Connor's ear and whispered in his Irish brogue, "Why diet coke?"
"What?" Connor replied a little dazed. "I'm sorry, that other one over there just swallowed an ice cube…"
"I said, why diet coke? Why is she drinking her Jack Daniels with diet coke? Pay attention why don't ya!" Murphy slapped his brother's cheek lightly.
"Oi!" Connor rubbed himself like the little smack hurt more than it actually did and looked at his brother, "I don't know. Why don't you go other there and ask her."
"I think I will." Murphy smiled, not smirked, stood up, shrugged his large black coat off, and placed on the barstool before walking the length of the counter.
He managed to sneak right up to the exposed back of the black haired beauty and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.
"Excuse me miss?"
When she turned to look at him, neither one of them expected it. Both stood in breathless silence for a moment, looking into each other's eyes. It took both of them a moment to catch their breath from how stunning the other one was. She looked him up and down, astonished. He was tall, with dark short hair, and small intense blue eyes. His smile was too sexy to ignore. He was bulging with muscles underneath his tight black men's shirt.+
"Yes?" Her voice was dark and a little rough, but it was a sarcastic, sexy tone. He could tell she had smoked cigarettes at one point.
"Why diet coke?" Murphy's brogue made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"I'm diabetic. I shouldn't drink regular soda. It has too much sugar in it." She had a very soft, almost unnoticeable southern drawl. "Can I ask you something now?"
He smiled at her smart-ass comment. "Sure."
"What's your name?"
He held up his calloused palm for her to place her small feminine hand in. "I'm Murphy." When her hand went into his, he slowly raised it till she was barely touching his lips, and he gave the air over it a soft lingering peck. "And your name is?"
"It's Joe…" She replied shakily, her hand still resting in his palm. The woman was as spellbound by this man as he was with her. She turned slightly to her redheaded companion with her body, nodded her head to the side and said, "This is my best friend, Ana…"
The beautiful redhead reached over Joe's bust to shake his hand. Murphy, while eyeing Joe's cleavage sway with the motion of Ana's arm draped over it, merely shook it back. No kiss for her hand.
"Murphy MacManus…pleased to meet you. Now, why don't you two ladies join me and my brother other there for a drink?"
Ana and Joe looked at each other in slight shock, but it wore off fast. Ana looked over where Murphy was pointing and what she saw was his slightly sexier brother. Joe immediately answered before Ana had a chance to rebuke. "Yes, we would love to."
And with that she stood up to follow Murphy. As he turned his back to them, Ana shook her head violently back and forth at Joe as to say No fucking way, but Joe grabbed her arm and widened her eyes to say are you fucking kidding?
Joe won, even if she dragged Ana all the way there by the arm. There they stood in front of the handsome Irish MacManus brothers. Ana's heart stood still as she looked at the other brother, Connor. He had longer and lighter hair than his brother, but they shared the same piercing blue eyes. He was wearing the same clothes as Murphy, but his giant black overcoat still hung over him. His muscles rippled under his clothes the same way Murphy's had. They were most certainly brothers.
Ana's breath was stuck in her throat and her whole body shivered with anticipation. She didn't see this coming. Neither of the girls did…nobody did.
Murphy tapped his brother's shoulder then squeezed it. "This is Connor, my brother. Connor, this is Ana" Murphy waved Vanna White style to the luscious redhead, and then stopped to rest at the raven haired queen. "And this is Joe."
Connor reached out and offered Ana his palm up just like Murphy had done for Joe, but he wet his lips and kissed the flesh of Ana's hand.
Ana shivered and said erratically, "Lovely to meet you Connor."
Connor looked up at her with his lips still achingly close to her skin. "Aye, the pleasures all mine."
After Connor gave Ana back her hand, he merely shook Joe's extended hand and then smiled friendly at her. "It's lovely to meet you Joe. You seemed to have enchanted my brother with your diet coke."
"Hi there Connor, it's nice to meet you too. Thanks, I suppose. I'm diabetic," was all Joe could say and then laughed nervously.
The two brothers' had already made up their minds about who belonged to whom within seconds of seeing these gorgeous women and the plan was playing out as well as they could have expected. The gentlemanly hand kisses had already claimed their attention, now all they needed to do was lure them in.
After they greeted the girls, the MacManus brothers turned to look at each other and said in unison, "Anastasia and Josephine…lovely names for two lovely women such as yourselves."
Murphy leaned in, his breath bouncing off of Joe's neck caused her heart to race. "Aye, shouldn't say woman, should say Siren…" Joe shivered.
The ladies eyes went wide with shock. Joe started to stammer, "Nobody has ever guessed our full names. Well, not Ana's, mine is easy. But it's spelt with an E…" She pointed a strict finger, her eyes still eyed with shock. "And you…need to watch it."
Murphy smiled and looked at her a little perplexed at the same time. "With an E, I thought Josephine already had two E's…"
Joe and Ana laughed out loud and doubled over holding onto their stomachs. "No, it's spelt J-O-E-S-E-P-H-I-N-E…Joe, like a boy. Three E's" Joe finished and blushed at her over explanation.
"Oh." The brothers again spoke in unison. Murphy's smirk gradually turned into a smile, again. Connor elbowed him in the ribs to try and stop it. It was no use, Murphy even smiled through the wince. He had made up his mind; he wanted Joesephine for his own.
The bartender paced slowly over to the couples and asked if they needed anything more.
Murphy wrapped an arm around the still giggling Joe and said, "Whiskey, straight and can I get you another Jack and Diet coke…" He put extra emphasis on the diet, and then whispered the last part. "…for my Siren."
Joe placed a hand on his sculpted chest, pushing him away and leaned into his grip at the same time to purred, "Yes, that would be lovely…"
Ana and Connor had a quieter, softer exchange and spoke nonchalantly to each other. As if they had to keep up appearances. "I'll have my regular, a whiskey and water, for the lady a scotch and soda…actually; will you try it with water? Just this once, and then if you don't like it, you never have to have it again."
Ana looked at him questionably, and then nodded her head in agreement with Connor's recommendation. The bartender smiled and shuffled off to fix their order of rounds.
After they received the drink order they wandered a little further down the counter. Standing room at the end of the bar filled with chatter of the new friends. Connor's eyes didn't leave Ana's body once. He wondered where she had been. Murphy stared at Joe in the same manner, only a bit more predatory. As soon as Joe and Murphy were out of earshot, Connor MacManus began to grill Ana with random questions.
"Where are you from?" He almost whispered in his Irish brogue.
"I'm originally from Rochester, New York… and yourself?"
"Boston. Born and raised."
"Ah, just like Joe!" Ana smiled and did a small dance of joy.
Connor softly laughed and said. "That's awful cute."
Ana instantly blushed and raised a hand to her face. "Sometimes I do that, I don't even know I do it. I do it every now and then, but Joe will do it anywhere anytime. Hell, she does it while she waits in line! But yeah, Joe was born here, in Boston, and we just moved here together two months ago. She's wanted to come back here for as long as I've known her, and I don't blame her. It's really quite lovely here."
Connor replied with a heartfelt grin, "Yes, it's a wonderful place. No matter where else I go, Boston will always be a home for me."
Ana also joined in with a warm smile, "Yeah, Joe says the same… it's like her heart has always belonged here. It just took some time to return." Ana stirred her drink, wondering why these things kept spilling out of her.
Connor surprisingly changed the pace. "What do you do for a living?"
Ana froze in alarm and the warm look on her face disappeared. She stared at him, sizing him up. Wondering what he was wondering. "Ask me that again later… What do you do for a living?"
"Ask me that again later."
Murphy took the initiative and headed Joe over toward the back exit. Murphy began to flirt with Joe relentlessly. He wanted to touch her at any cost, damn the consequences. His hand would creep over her arm down to her wrist. She, in turn, would brush his hand away. He would lean close to her neck and she would pull away. His hand would come up to brush away a stray hair, and she would toss her hair to the other side.
This time Murphy grabbed her wrist and pulled her entire body into his. "Are you having fun fighting me? It won't work, you can't make me tired. No matter how hard you fight me, Siren, I'd still rather die upon your shore, and I'm more than willing to prove it to you."
She stood shocked at his action. She felt his hard muscles rippling under their clothes. Joe could have stayed there, but she jerked her arm back and her hand slid right out of his grip. "If I don't want you, I can let you sit adrift at sea…forever." Her eyes darted looking between his eyes.
A storm was raging in both sets of irises. Murphy smirked and his eyes flashed with fire, passion, and possibly predatory interest. Joe's dashed and darted, not like prey, but another fighter. She searched for a weakness, something that would put him on the defensive, or maybe put his urges at ease.
Suddenly Murphy conceded the fight. Knowing this wasn't normal; Connor looked over at them, weary of his brother's unusual behavior.
"Josie," Murphy spoke softly, maybe defeated, "What happened to the tender hand you gave me earlier?"
A gasp escaped Joe's lips and she tried to retrieve it with her hand to no avail. He got her. "I…I don't know what to say now. I feel awful, but I shouldn't, I just met you." Her hand twitched with the desire to brush her fingers against his five o'clock shadow, so she did. In an instant she felt hot.
Murphy held her hand to his face and slowly moved it closer to his lips. Her finger tips felt the side of his cheek as his kiss grazed her palm. "So?" Murphy replied. "Isn't this how it begins, with two total strangers meeting in a bar?"
"It's how a one night stand begins!" Joe said and slowly pulled away her hand. She was back on the defensive, protecting herself from future pain.
Murphy snatched it back and kissed it softly, despite his anger. "I know we just met, but you're either ice or fire, and I want to know which one it is."
"Maybe I'm a little bit of both, ice and fire…" She pulled his hand to her face. She dragged his fingertips over the lines of her lips. "You're both, fire and ice, just like me. Don't deny it, it makes sense. Balances, karma, and all that jazz…" She dropped his hand, turned, grabbed her drink, and turned her back to him. "I can be both, but you have to go slow with the fire, or else you'll get burned beyond repair." Looking at him over her shoulder with a cold glare, Murphy felt the heat burning underneath her icy exterior.
He looked at the line of her back, her round behind and the long shapely legs holding it up. Murphy groaned and said, "I'm so sorry, you're just" he paused dramatically, "so fucking hot!" Murphy smiled and laughed, because Joe began to smile and laugh as well.
Murphy watched as Joe turned back to face him. Her smile captured his breath and he couldn't move. She took a step closer and he felt his heart stop beating. Another step and his brain went numb. Joe reached out and touched his hand, and he felt all his systems kick back on into full gear.
His hands gripped hers and one crept up her arm to take her elbow. She leaned into him and he led her to booth in the back of the room near the back exit door. As they sat and chatted, Joe slowly put her legs in Murphy's lap. His hand ran up and down the length of them while he whispered in her ear about what he was going to do to her as soon as she would let him…
Ana and Connor mused in watching Joe rebuke Murphy over and over again. Finally Joe gave in and Connor smiled in approval. Joe's crossed stems were draped over Murphy's legs and he was leaning into the side of her face, either whispering or licking her ear. It was a coin toss between the two. Then Joe's head flew back and she shook from head to toe with rolling laughter.
"Ah," said Connor into Ana's neck. "He told her a joke. He's good at that."
"What? Telling jokes or flirting with women? Cause he looks like he's been licking her ear for an hour."
Connor laughed. "Aye, he's good at both. He's not shy at all, while myself, on the other hand, has to be introduced to lovely ladies such as yourself."
Ana laughed and placed her hand on his bulging shoulder, and her eye's fluttered. "Oh that's laying it on a bit thick."
While Ana and Connor were both wrapped up in each other, the additional couple had disappeared completely from their comfy little booth in the corner. They hadn't even left an empty glass on the table.
Connor smirked and laughed softly while Ana giggled and looked around the room for Joe. She had seen no sign of her dark haired sexy companion. Ana began to panic inside, but her exterior was as cold as ice.
"Where's Joe?"
"Doll," Connor gently gripped her chin and pulled her face to meet his. "Don't worry; Murph would never hurt an angel of a girl like Joe. And wouldn't she tell you if she was leaving?"
Ana nodded and then smiled. "You're right. Joe wouldn't even go to the bathroom without telling me."
"And what I said before," Connor whispered softly, nose to nose with her, "goes double for me."
Ana felt her heart begin to melt within her ribcage and start to drip over her brain. She didn't know how it was possible, but it was happening. Her common sense had taken a vacation and the woman inside her was taking over.
"Well," She tried to pull her words together while her face flushed. "That's very nice of you to say. It's just strange. She never does that…"
"Huh, you don't know my brother…"
"So, he is good at getting women!" Ana began to move toward the exit door in the back. No particular reason other than that's where Joe might be.
"Wait, wait!" Connor gently gripped her hand. "Wait, please, will you give me a chance to explain?" Ana looked at him for a long moment and then nodded. They returned to their seats.
"Alright, Murphy is better at getting women into bed. He takes them outside where you can see the full moon even on a cloudy night and girls go gaga over it. But, I have never seen him smile or look at a woman the way he does with Joe. Most of those girls were dumb, she is smart, and he knows she's different. I know he feels the same way I do."
"And how is that?" Ana studied his facial expressions, and looked to see if he was lying.
"I feel like I've finally found the piece that's been missing all this time. Look, we can take it as slow as you want, but just see me tomorrow night. I'll pick you up. Please?"
Ana nodded and thought how could I saw no to that?
"Alright then, it's a date."Connor smiled and stood up. "Now let's go get Joesephine, before they get too into it."
Murphy whispered dirty things into Joe's ear until he felt she was ready for the next step. He whispered to her that tonight was a full moon and the back exit has a small patio with the most beautiful view. She giggled, smiled, and then nodded.
He stood up and escorted Joe outside, via the back door. She gasped as he opened the door and it looked as if the moon was right in front of them. Her hands went to her mouth in amazement. Murphy smiled, not smirked, in approval. He took both of her hand in his and, as she was about to speak, he planted the hottest kiss upon her lips.
Joe was shocked and then felt the burn of the caress of his lips. She began to kiss him back and then stopped abruptly. "Wait, wait!" She raised her hands into the air "I can NOT do this. I just met you. I mean, it's stupid because something horrible is going to happen…"
Before she had a chance to go on Murphy clasped his hands along her jaw line. He lined his lips up to hers and spoke softly. "I've never felt this way about anyone. Please, just whatever happens, stay with me until the ship comes crashing on the shores…"
She felt his breath on her lips and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She couldn't breathe and her heart stopped beating. Then with a sudden rush, she kissed him back with twice the passion. Her hands pawed at his clothes, trying to find a way to touch more of him. His hands went from her face, over her neck, and down her back to her shapely ass. He picked her up and placed her on a stack of sturdy crates he had placed there for this very purpose.
Murphy groaned and his fingertips began to dig into the flesh of her buttock. Joe bit his lip and her heels dug into his calves. He fell forward into her, her hips pressed into his, her breast were crushed against his chest. All the while, their moaning and kissing never stopped. His left hand slipped from her butt to her thigh and then slid up her dress. He grabbed a hold of her g-string and gripped it while her hips ground into his. His right hand went up her back and into her hair, tugging it softly.
When Joe felt his fingers in her hair, she released his lip and let out a louder moan. "Aye, you like that?" Murphy said and began to nibble on her neck, which caused her to shiver with excitement. He could barely contain his hard on anymore, so he pushed it into the heat between her legs, and she moaned again.
That's when Connor and Ana walked out the back door.
"Oh my goodness!" Ana nearly screamed.
Joe, looking shocked, sat breathless and disheveled on the crates, her legs still wide open. She quickly pushed away Murphy and slapped her thighs together. She blushed and ran a hand through her tangled hair, not making any difference in the mess.
Connor couldn't do anything but laugh and tease Murphy. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Did we cut your petting session short?"
"Shut up!" Murphy shoved Connor and he just laughed harder. Murphy turned around so no one could see him adjust his erection to a more comfortable and unnoticeable position.
Joe hopped off the crates in a huff and dashed toward the bathroom. Murphy was left feeling disappointed and rejected. Connor rested a hand on his brother's shoulder. Ana didn't have any idea what to do, and then it struck her like lightening.
"Here Murphy," Ana held out a dark green and smoky business card with silver writing. "It's her old Georgia address but her current emails, websites, and phone numbers."
"Phone numbers I can use." Murphy slapped the card repeatedly in the palm of his hand. "Thanks. Tell her I got it."
Ana nodded and then pulled out a white business card and a pen. "And this one is for you, Connor." She wrote Joe's and her current address on the back. "You're born and raised. I'm sure you'll find it." With that she turned to go inside and just barely caught Joe walking out the front door.
Murphy, still feeling a bit jilted, hopped onto the crates he had stacked years ago for sexual purposes. He sighed and leaned over, putting his hands into his hair. Connor climbed up and sat next to him.
"Look man," he encouraged Murphy. "I've got the address and I'm picking up Ana tomorrow for a date. So you can just come with me and…"
"And fucking what? Pray she wants to see me?" Murphy hopped back off the crates and began to pace angrily. "OI! I find the perfect woman and I blow it!"
"Aye! You didn't blow it. From what I could tell, from how you left her, she'll be begging for more come tomorrow night." Connor started laughing again. "You really let her have it, man! I didn't know you could screw that fast."
"I didn't screw her!" Murphy looked at his brother, perfectly calm and precise. "I won't ever screw her."
"Either way, dear brother, she'll want more. The look on her face gave it away. Maybe I embarrassed her a little." Connor began to giggle. "I didn't mean to run her off. Jesus Christ man, look at that!"
Connor reached down towards his brother's waist, Murphy began to run away but Connor grabbed him with his free hand. His other hand continued to reach for something.
"What the fuck is it?" Murphy held still now and let his brother retrieve the object. He felt a tug in his jeans, and then less and less as Connor laughed more and more.
"Oh my god man! Well, at least you'll have a really, really good reason to see her again."
Murphy turned and came face to face with Joe's underwear. "How in the world did that just fucking happen? Holy shit!"
Connor fell on the ground, holding his stomach, holding up the sexy panties, and laughing. "I think she'll have to come back and get them, aye?"
"Shut up! All you did was get a date! Mean while, I got two handfuls of ass, a make-out session, a little hair pulling," Murphy snatched the underwear out of Connor's hand and stuffed it into his jeans pocket. "And a pair of very sexy black panties. Oi!"
Connor stopped laughing and they both went upstairs to their loft above the bar. "At least I got a date…"
"Oh, you got a date! I'll get one, you can bet on that…"
Earlier That Day. Noon.
Joe and Ana sat on the expensive California king bed paging through the wanted files. Sheet after sheet of pictures with a price below it, but there was an eerie reoccurrence of the MacManus brothers faces among the files, with a huge price tag attached.
"They called them "The Saint's of South Boston". This is fucking weird." Joe said, imitating a Boston accent and tearing up each paper with Murphy MacManus' face on it.
"You're not kidding…" Ana started to tear the papers up herself. "They have some serious heat on them. They must be awful!"
"I know right."
"This is fucked."
"Yes ma'am."
The girls sat and looked at each other for a long moment. Both expressions on the ladies faces were of sorrow and fear. Both of their hearts felt like they had been smashed with a ball peen hammer. Joe saw silent tears rolling down Ana's face and she felt her own eyes bubbling up with water.
"Oh please don't start, cause I'll just join right in!" Joe looked lovingly at Ana and said, "I'm gonna cry, the one that never cries over the boys is going to cry over THIS one! Ugh! This is awful"
Both girls looked at the pictures of the brother's. As soon as the thought of bringing them in for the bounty hit their brains…their hearts felt as if they'd been wrenched from their chests. Joe and Ana sat, trying to compose themselves enough to make a plan.
"Alright" Joe said. "This is gonna suck because the only way to get close to them is to go in and get personal. These guys are like ghosts. I'm gonna have to get drunk and let my sixth sense guide me."
Ana frowned. "Sad, which means I get to be sober until we find them."
"Not necessarily, I won't get too drunk. Just tipsy enough to find them. Ok?" Joe smiled for the first time that day. "I promise."
They gripped each other's hands and delved into the process of how they were going to capture the Saints of South Boston. Joe started with, "We've got to dress to the nines and get them really damn interested in what we've got." Joe did a little dance and then returned to the plans. "If we can get dates with them, the better. We know where and when they will be places. We know they won't be killing anyone that night…"
"What if we like them?" Ana asked innocently.
"We can't like them, they're bounties. We have to turn them into the law." Joe could barely eek out the last words. "Besides, we can't EVER think about that."
"But, what if we like them?" Ana queried again. "Connor is really, really hot. And look! Murphy is perfect for you, tall dark, angular features, just you're type."
"Yeah, that also means he's an asshole." Joe shook her head. "God damn it! We have to keep our wits about us. We cannot like them, at all, and that's that."
Little did they know that that very sentence doomed them.