hands, which immediately went to his ass, pulling him into her
ferociously.
“Is that what you want?” His taunt was playful as his mouth
moved to her breast. He engulfed her hard nipple and sucked on
it aggressively.
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“Yes.” She gasped and Phillip pinned her legs with his, let-
ting her hands guide the speed of his thrusts.
“Say it.” He knew she was close, and he needed to feel her
come. He wanted to watch her face as she did.
“I want you, Phillip.” She grasped the back of his head and
put her lips to his ear. Her breath tickled him as her heard her softly whisper, “I love you.”
Stephanie sounded like she was about to add something
else, but his mouth found hers again, and he silenced her.
Moments later, when she quaked around him, he couldn’t
restrain himself from joining her.
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN
As the shimmering sun rose over Sueset Bay, Stephanie
leaned her head lazily on Phillip’s bare shoulder. They’d slept
some off and on, but each of them had taken a turn waking the
other in the night for more lovemaking. Just before dawn, Steph
tumbled out onto the patio and ran the water in the hot tub. If the sex Olympics were to continue, she knew her muscles would
thank her for the hydrotherapy. The water level was almost
above the jets when she felt a hand on her naked ass, and Phillip quickly silenced her surprised squeal with a mind numbing kiss.
The sunrise had come and gone, and they’d been boiling in
the water for twenty minutes when Phillip growled playfully and
pulled her onto his lap like some dirty Santa Claus.
“Hey, little girl. Want some candy?” His accent was nearly
impossible to resist.
She emitted a throaty laugh and shook her head. “Listen,
baby, if we keep this up, I won’t be able to walk.”
He touched his forehead to hers with an exasperated huff
and stuck out his bottom lip. She kissed it with a loud smacking sound and ran her hands down his chest, resting her right hand
on his tattoo.
She hesitated and then traced the outline of the triangular
shape with her finger. “Tell me about this.”
His fair eyes dropped to her hand, and the color rose in his
cheeks. He blinked and looked away. “Oh. Well…it’s kind of
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RAGE
embarrassing.”
“I’m all ears.” She cocked a sassy eyebrow and smiled soft-
ly. He positioned her so she was facing him, and she straddled
him.
“When I thought I’d lost you, I went to hide in the bottom
of a whisky bottle on Inishmore. Do you remember me telling
you about my uncle?”
“The ex-mercenary?” she asked. Phillip nodded seriously,
and Steph climbed off of his lap. She took the bench across from him, making herself comfortable for what could be a long story.
“He owns an inn there. It’s where I went…after.”
Steph nodded silently and felt her pulse quicken. Like the
rest of the world, she’d been dying to know where he’d been
during what E Entertainment Television referred to as
“Phillipwatch”.
“It was cowardly, and I was wallowing. Anyway…his
friend Bones came around and that dude is an Inkmaster. I told
him I wanted something over my heart. Something Irish. It had
to be something that would remind me never to give my heart
away again.” The passion with which he spoke made Steph un-
comfortable, and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, fo-
cusing on the water in front of her.
Phillip splashed forward and came to a stop in front of her,
his hands finding her hips under the water. “Hey. I was drunk
and stupid. Fortunately, he saw through me and knew what I re-
ally wanted. That must be the secret talent of every exceptional tattooist. He gave me this Celtic knot.”
Phillip took her finger between two of his and traced it
along the tattoo. His pale blue eyes caressed her as he explained his logic. “Later, when I sobered up, I did some research. I
know, it was backwards, but you know me. Anyway, I found out
that knots with multiple paths interwoven like mine are referred to as “love knots.” Endless paths are thought to represent eternity.”
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TAMMY COONS & MICHELLE PACE
Steph felt a monstrous lump in her throat as Phillip lifted
her hand to his mouth and kissed it.
“The one Bones gave me is a trinity knot. Three paths, three
corners. I’ve been thinking a lot about it the past couple of days.
I’ve decided the three paths are mine, yours… and the baby’s. I
hope you don’t think that’s daft.”
Steph shook her head and swallowed hard. “I named her.”
Phillip whipped his head in her direction, and her phone be-
gan to ring.
“Shit. And so it begins.” She sighed and climbed out of the
hot tub, creeping carefully over to her purse. She answered, and the sound of loud caterwauling greeted her.
“You need to get your ass to the spa. Now.” Cheyenne
spoke in hushed tones over the heinous wailing sound. It was
clear that though it was only about seven a.m., she was already
frazzled.
“Is that Liam?”
Cheyenne snorted. “No. It’s Yara. She woke up this morn-
ing with a zit the size of Mt. Rushmore.”
“What the hell do you want me to do about it?” Steph
asked, admiring Phillip’s edible ripped body as he came through
the balcony door.
“Tell her you can fix it with the magic of photo shop, I
don’t know!” Cheyenne exhaled, and Steph could tell she was
smoking again. Steph was very grateful that she wasn’t a
bridesmaid. “Misery loves company, bitch. I was just hoping
you’d bring me some cheese to go with this wine.”
As if on cue, the horrid sound began again. Steph held the
phone away from her ear; Phillip covered his ear and frowned.
“Dear God.” He laughed.
“Did I just hear Phillip?” Cheyenne demanded, her hushed
tone full of gossip and promise.
“I’ll be there in a little bit.” Steph hung up and tossed her
phone onto the bed beside Phillip. “Can I call in sick?”
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He smiled from the edge of bed and pulled her to him, nuz-
zling into her naked breasts. “You just have to get through today, love. One more day.”
She wrapped her arms around him as his words resonated
through her. One more
