Claddagh and Chaos (3 page)

One couple in particular seemed to take a liking to my Christi; Theresa and Clark Johnson. Theresa told us she was an up-and-coming fashion designer. She boasted that she had just signed with several high-end stores and would be selling women’s lingerie. She wanted to make women look sexy in and out of the bedroom, yet keep things simple. Thus the name of her line: Simply Theresa. Clark, her husband, was boring as fuck. He stood in my living room, holding a glass of the cheapest scotch I could find, raving about how ‘smokey’ and ‘full bodied’ it was. Hell, it was nothing more than watered down iodine. His clothes screamed ‘country club reject’ and his shoes had tiny pieces of masking tape along the edge. He told us he sold insurance, yet he didn’t try to sell any to anyone in the room. This bothered me even more than the eye-fucking he was paying to Christi. There were several powerful men in this room, money clear as day, but he never showed a card or tried to make any contacts.

One by one, the guests began to leave, and I started to make a list of how many ways I was about to violate my new wife. Clark and Theresa informed us they had acquired the house around the corner that had been in foreclosure. Clark raved about how he marched into the bank, slapped down a check, causing angels to fucking sing, and the bank made him customer of the month. In truth, he probably borrowed the money from his rich old granny and had to file her fucking toenails for the rest of her life as restitution.

Once everyone was gone and the house secured, I walked into our room to find my wife slathering on her lotion at the end of the bed. She knew how much I loved to watch her hands massage her tight little body. Almost as much as I liked to watch her pleasure herself. When she was done, she sauntered over to my side of the bed, a small white package dangling from her finger.

“You know, Patrick, everyone got a gift tonight except you.” Her voice was seductive and I was certain I was about to get laid. My cock was trying desperately to free himself from my boxers; he knew how well Christi took care of him. She made him feel better than I ever could.

“That’s not true, I got you, didn’t I?”

Christi was smart as fuck. She knew what to say to get pretty much anything from me that she wanted. I removed my gun from my back holster and placed it on my night stand, never taking my eyes off her now shiny body. I crawled onto the mattress and placed my hands behind my back, giving Christi complete control tonight.

“I actually had something else in mind.” She slowly laid the white bag on my bare chest and straddled my hips. “Open it, please.”

I smiled as I tore into the delicate tissue paper. Why women spent so much fucking time putting this shit together was beyond me. All that work, and in less than ten seconds it was a crumpled mess on the floor.

As I took the tiny, flat object from the bottom of the bag, I looked at my wife’s face. Her bottom lip was strangled between her teeth, her smile still forming and her eyes excited, yet apprehensive.

“Is this what I think it is?”

She smiled and nodded her head, her bottom lip no longer a prisoner to her perfect white teeth.

“You mean ...” I started, holding the unmistakable stick between us.

Her smile became wider, eyes brighter and her body was vibrating in excitement.

“I’m gonna ...”

Her excitement reached decibel levels as she brought her hands up to cover her gorgeous lips.

“You’re ...”

“Yes, Patrick, we’re having a baby. I’m pregnant.”

Three months later ...

I TRACED MY INDEX FINGER across her still-flat stomach, unable to hide the permanent smile plastered on my face. Every night since Christi told me the news of our baby, I had waited until she was fast asleep before my conversations with our little miracle commenced.

At first, there were promises to love him or her unconditionally, to make certain every day was an adventure make time for him or her. Trips to Disney or vacations in the cabin I bought. Just like my wife, there was no limit to what I would do for the child who was growing in her womb.

A month ago, I began to have nightmares. Vivid dreams where I was searching for Christi and our baby, but I couldn’t find them. I could hear Christi’s laughter and the sweet coos of the baby, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I had awakened several times in a cold sweat. Thank God I had yet to wake Christi. I would never confess them to her, they would only cause her worry. I was more than likely having them due to the added stress I was under.

The shipments that had been found opened were still a mystery; nothing was missing, the boxes were just left open. Da suspected the Feds, but I wasn’t so certain. Everyone knew they had a certain protocol they had to follow. Touching evidence was a big no-no in the FBI world. My gut was telling me it was something much worse and my nightmares were confirming that for me.

Several nights found me sitting in one of our warehouses, waiting for whoever was behind this. I could have instructed my men to handle this situation, but the bad feeling I was getting wouldn’t leave. So far, I had nothing and that fact alone had me tossing and turning.

It was Wednesday and once more I was sitting in the dark, waiting to see if tonight would be the night I caught the sorry motherfucker red-handed. Angus was beside me; he hadn’t said a word or moved a muscle in two hours. He was trained to be in these types of situations, thus the reason I chose him to wait with me. I stood when the need to piss could no longer be ignored. My joints screamed at me for the lack of movement and general exhaustion. I heard movement and stopped dead in my tracks, my Glock in hand, while Angus was already half way across the room. Seconds later a long nose and needy eyes peeked out to reveal it was a rat trying to find food.

I walked down the hall and made my way back to the chair I previously occupied, still needing to piss, but not caring at the moment. I had barely gotten comfortable when Angus spoke.

“Boss?”

“Yeah?”

“I need to ask a favor of ya.”

“All right.” I closed my eyes for a moment, allowing him the opportunity to say what he needed to say.

“Well, I know I’ve thanked ye several times for helping me get me citizenship and I feel like a tool for even asking this.”

The silence that followed was irritating, to say the least. Angus didn’t generally hem and haw around anything. I took a breath and turned to face him as I spoke.

“Angus, I’ve told you a hundred times, you don’t have to thank me.You found my Christi and gave me back my life. You must know I’d do anything you ask of me.”

It was quiet for several minutes. Angus wasn’t a man of many words; the ones he did voice usually meant something.

“I want to marry me Maggie.”

When I was first introduced to Angus he was running from some shit that happened in Ireland. He need a job and a place to live; I gave him both. In return, he had been a faithful and trustworthy advocate. I’d seen him take down men twice his size with a simple hand movement, yet when you placed him in the room with Maggie, he was gentle as a lamb; always making certain she was well cared for and had everything she needed. Maggie had the big lug wrapped tightly around her little finger.

“I’ve asked her ma and she gave me her blessing. I bought her a ring yesterday. It’s nothing like Mrs. Christi’s, but my Maggie is a special girl and I want to make the night I propose to her one she will remember.”

Listening to Angus speak, reminded me of when I decided I wanted to marry my Christi. How I worried she would say no or laugh in my face. How she would find what I do too much to handle. But, like Maggie, she kept me guessing. I couldn’t predict what she would say or how she would react.

“I’d like to borrow your boat so I can take her out and ask for her hand.”

“Whenever you’re ready, it’s yours.” I turned and extended my hand to him. “Let me be the first to congratulate you and welcome you to the club.” I shook his hand, knowing this was about to change his life. Having someone to come home to every night was one of the greatest feelings I had experienced in my life. Now, God willing, Angus would know that feeling as well.

“Before I forget, have you heard from Tonto lately?”

I settled back in my seat and propped my feet up on the trashcan, crossing my legs at my ankles.

“I saw him this morning at my office. Why?”

Angus took a sip of his coffee, then turned back to face me. “Seems he was over on Ninth Street the other day and went into that little coffee shop on the corner. He heard someone call out his name and turned around to find his high school sweetheart walking toward him.”

Angus paused when we heard a noise by the front door. Again, it was a goddamn rat.

“Turns out she was here in Chicago for a job interview. Apparently, he sat down with her and they talked for quite a while. He told me they’ve picked up where they left off and now she’s moving in with him.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Angus.” Tonto had never had a steady relationship in the time I’d known him. He was a handsome guy, I guessed, and I knew he’d had his fair share of the girls at the club, but never one he called his own.

“Yeah, I told him he was due. Every man should have a reason to go home at night”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

The house was quiet as I crept into the kitchen. Christi had left dinner for me in the fridge. I was so hungry I didn’t even take the time to put it into the microwave.

After shoveling in the last cold green bean, I rinsed off my plate and placed it into the dishwasher. Even cold, Christi’s cooking was amazing.

I double-checked she had locked all the doors and proceeded to set the alarm. My nightmares kept me on alert and made my desire to protect her even greater. As I made my way upstairs, I had to remind myself that only a few feet away lay my wife, snuggled up in our big bed. I couldn’t wait to wrap myself around her warm, soft body, finding the one place I called home. Being surrounded by her scent and the feel of her was all I needed to drift off to sleep.

As I opened the bedroom door, I could barely make out her form in the darkness. Christi had to have the room pitch black and the ceiling fan running to be comfortable. I had grown accustomed to stumbling around in the dark so that she was able to sleep.

Standing on my side of the bed, I quietly slipped out of my clothes, but left on my boxers. As carefully as I could, I pulled back the blankets and settled into bed behind my wife. Imagine my surprise when I placed my hand on her stomach to find my Christi completely naked.

“You’re home,” Christi’s sweet voice whispered in the darkness.

“I am, Sweetheart. Shh, go back to sleep, it’s early,” I whispered in her ear, kissing her neck.

“Mmm ...” She moaned as she turned in my arms, lying partly on her back. “I have something for you.”

Christi placed her hand over mine, slowly moving it to the junction of her thighs. She directed my middle finger to her swollen clit.

“You’re not too tired are you?” She questioned as she directed my finger the way she wanted it.

Suddenly, I had all the energy in the world.

“I’m never too tired to make love to you.”

Moving my fingers inside her warm, wet walls, I moved my body to hover over hers. I began to lay tender, open-mouthed kisses on her neck and collarbone. Since Christi had become pregnant, her body had started to change. Her breasts had definitely gotten bigger and more sensitive. Her pink nipples had darkened to an erotic shade of red. I was very aware of the tenderness that had also taken over her breasts.

Instead of my usual fevered groping, I now softly circled her nipples with my tongue, while I gently caressed the underside with my fingers. I had stopped nipping at her peaks and only kissed them with my lips and lavished them with the tip of my tongue. She still grabbed the back of my hair and arched her back.

“Umm, now, Patrick.”

I only smiled as I continued to rub her clit with my fingers and kiss her nipples. I slowly began to kiss down her body, paying special attention to the area where our baby was growing every day. I would skip our nightly conversation in exchange for a special one with its mother ... sorry kid.

“Please, Patrick, you can do that next time. I was dreaming about you.”

I completely ignored her. Another thing that had changed about Christi since pregnancy was the way her arousal smelled and tasted. I couldn’t get enough.

I removed my fingers and spread her lower lips, not pausing for a second before diving in. My chin was immediately coated with her juices, as my fingers worked in rhythm with the lapping of my flattened tongue. I tried to never do the same shit twice, to change things up and keep her begging for more.

“Oh, God!” her voice shouted, as she thrust her hips in the air, shoving my head back slightly.

I held on as I continued my assault, making circles with my tongue around her very swollen clit, causing her legs to shake and powerful moans to escape from her. My fingers played her walls, giving special attention to the rippled skin just inside her pussy.

I knew the moment her climax hit her. Christi wasn’t a screamer, but her body always flinched as she came; the way she would still and ride the wave as it rushed over her. She let me continue to coax every contraction out of her orgasm.