Catherine woke up to the faint touch of Jimmy's hand on her hip. The bright rays of the late-afternoon sun peeked through the slats of the closed blinds, bathing the room. She stirred at the feeling of his soft lips on her shoulder, gently exploring the territory he knew all too well. Against her bare back, Catherine could feel the heat radiating from Jimmy's naked body. The hair on his chest slightly tickled her sensitive skin as he moved. For several moments she remained still, simply basking in the memories of their earlier passion. When she rolled over to face him, Catherine wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands were on her back and ass.
"Kiss me," she whispered.
Not needing to be told twice, Jimmy dipped his head to capture her lower lip between his. This kiss was different from the thousands they had shared in the past. It was an odd mix of hungry, and sweet-tempered. It was definitely possessive and for reasons Catherine couldn't understand, that provoked an undeniable twinge between her legs.
Jimmy had spent most of the morning and afternoon being an unselfish lover. Using his mouth and fingers to inflict orgasm after orgasm upon her worn out body. By the time her fourth one hit, she had been screaming, crying, and even laughing, as her legs quaked like never before.
Playfully biting his lower lip, Catherine felt the evidence of his arousal against her. She knew it would only be fair to repay him for earlier displays of affection. Just as long as he told her what she wasn't growing tired of hearing. She broke the kiss.
"Say it again," Catherine demand.
Jimmy wasn't a fan of her tone and hated being told what to do. He raised his eyebrows; his hooded eyes still showing signs of fatigue. "Excuse ye?"
The roughness of his 'just-woke-up' voice nearly melted her into a puddle. She also had a love-hate relationship with his excessive need to always be stern with her. In the proper context, it had the capability to sent her off like a mortar.
"Say it again, please?" She rephrased.
Her un-mascaraed blonde lashes batted at him and his heart fluttered. Jimmy could never let Catherine know she was his one and only kryptonite. She had the ability to weaken him with nothing more than a smile, and Jimmy had never experienced that with any other woman.
He kissed her forehead. "I"
And then her nose. "Love."
Finally, her lips, where he lingered, taking his sweet time. "Ye. Wit' all me heart, a chuisle. Do ya love me?"
Catherine closed her eyes for a second, wanting to make sure she had heard him correctly. Asking a question such as that wasn't exactly his style. When she opened them again to stare up into his light blue eyes, Catherine couldn't believe what she saw. Desperation to hear her answer. Longing, a thirst for doting tenderness and intimacy. It wasn't the rough and reserved man she was used to seeing. He was the farthest thing from perfect, as was their story of love. No one understood what they—especially Catherine—saw in one another but none of that mattered. What mattered most to Catherine was what without fail, every time she did look into Jimmy's eyes, she saw a man was willing to stand up and fight for her, to protect her, love her. Even when she could do neither of those for herself, and she was an utter wreck. Most importantly, what she saw in his eyes was home. Wherever Jimmy was, Catherine was safe and warm.
A smile spreading across her face, Catherine took him by surprise when she rolled him onto his back. Crawling over him, she pressed her hands into the mattress on either side of him, her lips kissing his neck, the length of his collarbones, his chest. When she reached the slight ridges of his abdominal muscles, Catherine stopped and looked up at him, a new found softness gleaming from her eyes.
"I love ya, James."
James. Hearing Catherine say his name religiously kept him grounded to not only her but reality as well. She was the only one who adoringly called him that, and nonetheless, the only person he allowed to call him by his full name.
Tossing the thin sheet from the lower half of his body, Catherine settled on her knees between his legs. She supported herself with one hand on the mattress as she took him in the other, working delicate magic with her tongue.
His fingers curled through her hair, tugging deliciously. Catherine was never shy about her fondness for going down on him. She loved wrapping her lips around him and earning that sudden intake of breath as she pushed him deeper into her mouth.
The feeling of Jimmy's cock filling her throat, the taste of those first salty drops, and his musky scent of unadulterated testosterone. Hearing the deep groans rise from the pit of his stomach and hitch in his throat, always aroused Catherine. She loved the reward of her tantalizing efforts; the hot, milky flow that covered her tongue. Without batting an eye, she rose to her knees, swallowing the proof of the immense pleasure she had brought to his body. Wiping saliva from her mouth and chin with the back of her hand, Catherine started to count the minutes until he'd be ready to go again.
The piercing buzz of the alarm clock on Jimmy's nightstand startled the couple awake at a quarter to eleven p.m. They had only managed to accumulate about six hours of sleep in the last twenty-four, and a nearly four-hour drive to the mountains on the border of California and Nevada was the last thing Catherine wanted to partake in. If it weren't for the fact this was going to be her first exchange with a member of the U.S. military, she would have rolled over and told Jimmy to pick up McKeavey and bring him instead.
"Why do we have ta meet this bloke so bloody early an' so far away?" Catherine had her face smashed into her pillow and somehow Jimmy managed to hear her.
This was far from ideal for him as well, but he understood the apprehension of his Marine contact. Making a bulk of M16's fall off the back of a truck was incredibly risky business, and as a show of gratitude, Jimmy was willing to work with the Lance Corporal's demands.
Sitting up, Jimmy planted his feet on the floor and turned on the lamp. The soft light stung his sleep-deprived eyes as he yawned and stretched. Scratching his chest, he took the opportunity to slap her bare ass with enough force to sting his own hand. He chuckled as she yelped and shot up, rubbing the sore spot.
"This is a lesson ye'll always need ta remember," he said.
Catherine raised her eyebrows. "What lesson would that be? Pop straight up at the sound of the alarm or ye'll crack me arse?"
Twisting around, Jimmy grabbed a hold of Catherine's hips and tossed back on to the bed. He firmly gripped her wrists, pinning them above her head. Having her in that position, Jimmy fought every urge not raise her legs, roll her hips, and enter the velvet heat his cock was in search of. There wasn't time for a quickie; there wasn't even enough time for him to jerk off in the shower.
"The lesson here is that headlights are easily spotted during the night than at dawn. This is 'ta start gettin' ya ready 'ta make drops in Kerry. No SAMBEL protection; jus' ye an' another lad, an' a car full of highly illegal weapons and explosives."
She loved the serious expression that always overtook him when he lectured her on True Army tactics. Most of his words had gone unheard by Catherine, as all she could focus on was his stiff erection brushing along her inner thighs. Wrapping one leg around his waist, Catherine snaked the other around one of his. Jimmy bit his lip at the feeling of her silky skin against his.
The mere mention of county Kerry and SAMBEL's absence from those particular runs told Catherine all she needed to know, but she wanted to hear Jimmy say it. It also made sense as to why Jimmy's focus had turned to stockpile, rather than simply flipping weapons for profit.
"Are ye tellin' me, Quartermaster O'Phelan, that the True Army has no intention of stickin' ta the ceasefire?"
Catherine had joined the ranks only weeks before the True Army Council had agreed to enter into a ceasefire along with the Provisionals. The Real Army was still very much active and after the Ulster Volunteer Force began causing more trouble than usual, Jimmy was itching to get back to work. Little did Catherine know, it had been Patrick who convinced the Council to rescind armistice, ready to spend the rest of his days locked away in a cell—or dead—as long as he was sure the men who tried to put a bullet in his baby girl were taken care of.
The playful tone of her voice and the childlike grin on her face, made Jimmy realize Catherine wasn't ready for what her future held. Her time had thus far consisted only of trafficking. Once they broke open the gates of Hell, Catherine would learn quickly what it meant to a lowly street solider.
"Yer gonna learn what it's like ta play wit the big boys, Caitie," Jimmy whispered into her ear. He watched as her eyes and head rolled back while he pushed the head of his cock shallowly into her. "The stories Brien and Padaric have told ya about the exploits of SAMBEL will look like child's play by the year's end."
The names of her brother and cousin rolling off Jimmy's tongue wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear as she felt her cunt obediently stretch for him. In an attempt to urge him deeper, Catherine raised her hips to meet his, but she was met with resistance.
A devilish smile on his face, Jimmy withdrew and hopped off the bed, grabbing his sweatpants from the floor. "Ye shower first, I'll get coffee goin'."
Balling her hands into tight fists, Catherine rolled over and let out a frustrated screech into the mattress. Jimmy laughed, knowing full well she was damning his soul for all eternity.
Hitting the road a few minutes after one in the morning, Catherine had fallen back to sleep before Jimmy even got on the highway. She slept for a majority of the four hours, but he did wake her up once they were in the mountains. Holding his free hand in hers, she marveled at the beauty the Western part of the United States had to offer. The pink sky overhead made the topography around her look almost fake.
"It's brilliant, so it is," she said.
He shrugged, "it's got nothin' on the Emerald Isle."
"Aye," Catherine agreed. Resting her head on the window, she was feeling more homesick than ever. Eleven more days, she reminded herself. Then it would be back to the daily grind of waitressing at the pub by day and running errands for Jimmy at night.
Pulling off the highway and on to a dirt road, they drove for a good two miles before coming to a dead end. Sure enough, leaning against the hood of his car was a man dressed in tan khaki camouflage pants, and a plain t-shirt. If his uniform didn't give him away, the high-and-tight haircut did.
Turning off the SUV, Jimmy reached into the center console and grabbed his old combat knife, slipping it into the waistband of his trousers so it rested on his hip. In a holster hidden by his suit jacket, he was carrying two pistols. He knew it was a silly question to ask her, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. "Ye carryin'?"
Catherine nodded. She was dressed in her usual Levi's, Dr. Marten boots, and a zip-up sweatshirt. For drops, she always opted to be comfortable, plus it was difficult to conceal a pistol, and tactical knife while wearing three-inch pumps and a skirt suit.
Jimmy grabbed her hand, giving it a tight squeeze. "Wait here. If it seems legit, I'll come to get ya so we can fire those bad boys."
The only thing she could do was nod and wait. Her life once again revolving around what Jimmy O told her to do.
Pulling into a gas station just off the highway, Jimmy killed the engine. With half-a-million dollars' worth of automatic rifles and C-4 explosives in the back of the SUV, their pit-stop would have to be quick. Even though there was still plenty of hours left in the day, the top priority was getting their purchase onto a cargo ship in Oakland, headed for Dungloe.
Catherine pushed her sunglasses into her hair, more than eager to get out and stretch her legs. She snatched the twenty-dollar-bill from Jimmy and jutted into the store for a pack of smokes and two RedBulls.
Having stupidly tossed the money Jimmy gave her into her purse, she dug through the black hole when she was at the register. As the cashier made change, Catherine rustled through the stack of old receipts, wondering why in the hell she even kept them.
When the cashier cleared her throat to bring Catherine back to reality, she quickly stuffed them into her pocket. Tossing the change and smokes into her bag, Catherine grabbed the cans and headed back outside. Seeing Jimmy was still in the midst of pumping gas, Catherine slung the straps of her bag over her shoulder before pulling out the wad of receipts from her pocket. She was just about to throw them away when she noticed the one on top was different from the rest; black ink bled through the thin paper.
Tucking the RedBulls under her armpit, Catherine flipped it over and did her best to straighten out the crumpled ball. Her heart began to race when it registered this handwriting belonged to no one she knew back in Northern Ireland, or even Chibs, for that matter. She ran a sweaty thumb over the words etched in Sharpie.
8 p.m. - Friday. Tell your old man Jax texted you about business & meet me at the Alibi in Lodi.
Glancing over her shoulder to see Jimmy was finishing at the pump, Catherine balled up the receipts and tossed them into the trash. How the hell did he know she'd find that in time?
Slipping her sunglasses back over her eyes, Catherine mumbled. "Damn ye, Happy Lowman."
Exhausted beyond all belief, Catherine thought about ghosting Happy, pretend she had never gotten his note in the first place. Sitting on the couch back at the safe house, her legs were tucked under her as she absently watched the news. Beside her, Jimmy was slouched, his feet propped up on the coffee table and the remote resting on his chest. She couldn't quite tell if he was fully asleep, but his eyes were closed behind his glasses and his breathing was even.
For as tired as she was, there was no doubting her boredom. Falling asleep to the evening news on a Friday wasn't her idea of an exciting night. So, she contemplated her options. On one hand, she could flip through television stations for the remainder of the night, wondering what fun her brothers were up to until she fell asleep completely unsatisfied. She chose to go with the other option available to her; sneak out for a few drinks, and a game or two of pool.
Besides, Catherine tried to justify to herself, Jimmy had only barred her from seeing Chibs, not other SOA members.
Catherine's phone vibrated on the side table and without hesitation, she flipped it open.
Coming out tonight? The text read. As if he could sense her dilemma, Happy's text was exactly the kick in the ass she needed.
Typing out a quick response, Catherine snapped her phone shut and rose from the couch. When the noise, nor her rusting around seemed to stir Jimmy, she knew he was dead asleep. In the kitchen, she found a pen and scribbled down a note for him. Saying exactly what Happy told her to, Catherine used Jax as her excuse for leaving and didn't offer a time frame for her return.
Slipping on her boots, gathering her purse and the keys to the SUV, she made her escape.
"This is probably me worst idea yet," Catherine said aloud as she locked the front door behind her. "He's gonna fuckin' kill me."
