Claiming Abby (The O'Connell Family Book 3) Read online

  Claiming Abby

  The O’Connell Family

  C.M. Steele

  Copyrighted © 2017 C.M. Steele

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written expressed permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is purely coincidental.

  Cover design: C.M. Steele

  Cover Image: Shutterstock

  The use of actors, artists, movies, TV shows, and song titles/lyrics throughout this book are done so for storytelling purposes and should in no way be seen as advertisement. Trademark names are used in an editorial fashion with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and please purchase your own copy.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior express, written consent of the author.

  This book is intended for mature adults only. Contains sexual content and language that may offend some. Suggested reading audience is 18 years or older. I consider this book as Adult Erotic Romance.

  Chapter 1

  Ethan

  Chapter 2

  Abby

  Chapter 3

  Ethan

  Chapter 4

  Abby

  Chapter 5

  Ethan

  Chapter 6

  Ethan

  Chapter 7

  Abby

  Chapter 8

  Ethan

  Chapter 9

  Abby

  Chapter 10

  Ethan

  Chapter 11

  Abby

  Chapter 12

  Ethan

  Chapter 13

  Abby

  Chapter 14

  Ethan

  Chapter 15

  Ethan

  Epilogue

  Abby

  Three years later…

  Ethan

  Chapter 1

  Ethan

  My head wasn’t in the right place as I came home from the office a few hours early. Working was hard because my thoughts were all on my brother Rick. Seeing my brother lying there helpless and barely clinging on to life had gutted me. I was trying to be strong, but when you see your idol on the brink of death, it was difficult to stop the tears. I pulled up to the house, and there were cars in the driveway. I wondered if the police had come to ask more questions. Instead, I walked into the house and saw the Williams clan interrogating my sister. My little sister Claire was marrying Travis Williams. I had a problem with Travis. He’d been living and pretending to care for Samantha while lying to her the whole time. Then he meets my sister and I was supposed to find him trustworthy? I didn’t think so.

  “Hey bro, what brings you home so soon?” Claire asked in surprise. Normally, I would work late, but I just couldn’t at the moment.

  “Just wanted to check on you two ladies, but I didn’t realize that there was a party going on here,” I replied slowly. My gaze roamed around the room, taking in all the Williams family until I spotted the beauty sitting on the sofa with her face partially hidden from her golden-brown hair hanging down.

  “This is the Williams family. They came to meet me,” Claire said. I didn’t believe that one bit. They came to test her worth when it came to Travis.

  “Yeah, right. More like check up on you,” I scoffed, staring down one of the tallest of the boys standing there. I wouldn’t call them boys, more like men, overgrown men.

  “Ethan, please behave yourself,” my mother warned me with a motherly glare that gave little away to the people around, but it meant I was in deep shit if I kept up my tone.

  “I’ll try, but it’s not looking like I can,” I groaned sitting down on the chair across from the shy thing. My eyes were focused on the beautiful daughter in front of me. I shamelessly licked my lips, thinking how good hers would taste.

  All three Williams’s men looked right at me like they were ready for a fight, but my focus was on her. She was stunning. I felt my heart freaking start doing flips, or was it my stomach, I didn’t know. All I knew was I had to get to know her.

  “Ethan, may I have a word with you in the kitchen?” my mother asked in the “get your ass up” tone because she really wasn’t asking. Like a boy in trouble, I got up and walked into the kitchen ready for a scolding, but I didn’t care. And like a good business man, I knew timing was everything, so I’d wait to get her alone to talk to her.

  My mother looked at me with a stern look that changed the moment I got into the kitchen. “So, it’s got you, too?” she questioned, but her eyes were already full of answers.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You want Abigail Williams,” she said, nodding her head like she knew she was right.

  “I think she’s cute,” I offered up. Yes, I was interested, but I didn’t want her to be in my business. I wasn’t like my brother or Travis. At least I don’t think I was.

  “Okay, so if that is the way you’re going to play up that denial, then fine. Go back to work. That little sweet thing doesn’t need a wolf in a suit chasing after her.”

  “Fine, I’m going back to the office and work, but if she’s still here when I get back all bets are off.” I didn’t even know if I wanted more than to fuck her brains out so it was best that I left and went back to work.

  “Be careful,” she called out as I left the kitchen.

  I popped my head back in and said, “Always am.” Then I bypassed the living room and hopped back in my car. As I drove back to work, I meditated over thoughts of Abby. A blush stole over her face when she caught me staring at her. It was a pretty pink on her skin that had my cock throbbing in my pants. I wondered if she had a boyfriend. Someone that beautiful had to have a lover or ten, but then again, with her brothers standing around her like guard dogs, she might be sheltered. At first my work had been distracted with thoughts of Rick, now they were all about Abby. I knew that I was in deep shit.

  Three hours later, I got home only to have to deal with Travis. My father wanted to tell Travis that he approved of their marriage, but I was still skeptical. My father gave Travis a hug and that gave me a bit of pause, but the way Travis was looking at me when he walked into the study told me that we were going to have a fight.

  “What no love from you, Ethan?” Travis teased, holding his arms open waiting for a hug that he wasn’t going to get.

  “No, you’re not the Williams I want to hug,” I remarked, being bold as fuck.

  “Yeah, and that’s something we need to talk about. My father already told me about it this morning,” he snarled at me.

  I shrugged it off because I wasn’t in the mood for entertaining him and the person I had to talk to was Abby. “What’s there to talk about?” There wasn’t anything going on yet and she was a grown woman already.<
br />
  “You’re right we don’t need to talk. You need to just listen. You need to stay away from my sister unless you plan to put a rock on her finger.” He seemed really fucking pissed at me, but I knew what I had in mind with Abby and maybe I just wanted the fuck to sweat a bit.

  “What if I just want to get to know her? You don’t have to marry a woman just because you screw them.” I watched him take my blasé attitude with growing anger.

  “You are not screwing my sister,” he hissed.

  “No, I’m not screwing your sister—yet. I just want to get to know her. She’s cute and there is something about her I like, but I’m not you or Rick. I’m not ready to ask a woman who I just met to marry me.” I was lying like a motherfucker.

  “She a good girl who just had her heart broken last year. I don’t want to see her go through that again. She was a real mess.”

  He struck a chord with that one. “Someone broke her heart?” I growled.

  “Just don’t do anything to hurt her or else,” he threatened me. I got his message loud and clear, but I wondered what they did to the fuck-face that hurt her.

  “I know, and I won’t. She’s going to be a part of Claire’s family, so I won’t even make a move unless I want a real relationship with her. But as of right now, I don’t even know her.” It didn’t matter that I didn’t know everything about because something in me wanted to stay around to find out.

  I went to bed laughing because he threatened me and told me to stay away from his sister. Funny, because I told that fucker the same thing. The thing was, he didn’t understand that I knew I was in the same boat all these assholes fell into. He’d find out very soon.

  ~~~~~~

  I drove down to Travis’s sister’s place where they were staying and decided to talk to Abby. I knew I’d have to get through her other brothers first, but that was something I was going to have to do. There was no way I could walk away. I wanted her like my next breath. All night I spent dreaming of her until I woke up with a raging hard on and stained shorts. I was too old for wet dreams, or at least I thought so, but I had to see her.

  When I rang the bell, her daddy answered and I was grateful I wasn’t a pussy because the man could scare a bull away. “Mr. O’Connell, somehow I thought I’d be seeing you again before we left. She’s not to be played with. Do you hear me?”

  “You are leaving tomorrow. What harm could it do if I just talked to her?” I said.

  “No promises. You two are miles apart in every way,” he warned me. I got that he was protecting his girl, but I was feeling the same way about her. I wanted to mend that broken heart and make it mine.

  “I just need to talk to her. Please,” I begged. I was starting to feel sweat drip down the back of my neck. This man had a cold look to him and I understood why. I’m sure he scared the other boys away, so it was a good thing I had balls.

  “Come in,” he stepped out of the doorway and let me in. “She’s in the living room.”

  I went into the living room, and there she was sitting on the sofa reading a book. “Abby, another one to see ya,” her father said indifferently before walking out of the room. Another one? She blushed immediately, and I had a feeling that he wasn’t kidding.

  “Hi, Abby. We didn’t get properly introduced. I’m…”

  “Ethan O’Connell,” she finished. “What brings you here to see little ol’ me? Northern girls not to your liking anymore?” Sass. She had it and I was kind of upset that I missed a taste of it yesterday.

  “Only you’re to my liking,” I murmured, looking into those baby blues.

  She put a hand up, stopping me from continuing. “Please stop. I’ve heard it all before. So, tell me, Ethan, why should I bother to even speak to you?”

  “Because I braved your giant brothers and your father just to talk to you.”

  “Like my father said, you’re not the first.” Was she trying to piss me off? Because that shit was working. I didn’t want to know how many fuckers were after her and how many succeeded.

  “Wow, you seemed shy yesterday.”

  “So that’s what interested you about me? Well, I’m not. Not when it comes to men like you hitting on me. I’ve grown too accustomed to it.”

  “No, I was interested the moment I saw your face. Something about you caught my attention. Stop what you’re going to say. I’ve seen lots of beautiful women in my life. You’re something special.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel better, I think you’re hot, too.”

  “I feel a ‘but’ coming on?” I angled my head, wondering if she had a boyfriend that they didn’t know about.

  With a stone faced expression, she said, “I’m not going to have a fling with you.”

  “I didn’t ask for a fling. What I want is a lot more permanent.”

  “Oh, please. I’ve heard that one, too.” She rolled her eyes at me like I was lying.

  Just then my future brother-in-law walked through the door, practically snarling at me. “I thought I told you to stay away,” he growled at me.

  “No, you told me to stay away from her pussy if I wasn’t ready to make her mine. We are just getting to know each other. So back off.”

  “Travis, please. We are just talking and nothing more,” she added. I didn’t know why she didn’t have him toss me out if she wasn’t really interested in me, but I was all for it.

  “Come on, let’s take a walk. I can’t talk to you here with your brothers around especially Travis.”

  “I’m all for that.” She got up, and I bit back a moan. Her tits bounced and her curves were tormenting me. Abby was tall and slender yet filled out in all the right places, but still about six inches shorter than me.

  We walked out into the spring air and headed down to a path. It was a very secluded area that had a small pond on the opposite end of the path. There was also a large gazebo that overlooked the pond. It was a nice spot to sit on a warmer day. I tried to grab her hand, but she rebuffed me. I wasn’t worried because I saw the way she looked at me. It was the same way I was probably looking at her. Like a lovesick puppy. Yesterday, I told Travis that I wasn’t like him or Rick. I wasn’t ready for marriage, but I was fucking lying. That was all I could think about as we sat on the sofa. Now as we walked, it was like the timid girl was back. I knew exactly what it was. Her brothers were in the other room. She had bravado when they were around, but not so much when we were alone. I had a feeling there was more to her behavior.

  “Where do you go to school at?” I didn’t get a chance to ask anyone, but I knew she was in college.

  “Michigan State,” she replied. That was a long way from Texas.

  “Why so far away from home?” I wondered if the ex was more than a college boyfriend. What if he’d been a high school sweethearts? Did she follow him to Michigan? I hated the fucker already.

  “You’ve met my brothers.” I nodded because they were all over me. “Well, there’s a lot more family members and ranch hands. They treat me the same way.”

  “So, what happened to this ex your brother told me about?”

  She gasped, turning her head to me in a flash. It would have been comical if I didn’t see the embarrassment written on her gorgeous face. “He told you?”

  “Not everything. Just that you had your heart broken last year. I have to say that I’m a bit upset that someone stole your heart first.” I was kind of serious. A tinge of jealousy coursed through me.

  Her brows arched as her body stiffened and she stopped moving. Defensively, she said, “I don’t want to talk about it. What happened between George and I isn’t any of your business. What else did you want to know?”

  “Why are you so defensive?” I asked, turning my body toward her tense one.

  She rolled her eyes, trying to avoid answering my question, but I crossed my arms and waited. There had to be a reason that she was so afraid to even open up a bit. That fuck must have done a number on her feelings. If I ever saw him, he would have a quick meeting with my fist. “Becau
se I meet guys like you all the time while I’m at school. They think because I live on a ranch in Texas that I’m some dumb hick that’s eager to want a man.”

  “Well, I don’t see you like that. I want to get to know you,” I admitted. I really did want to get to know her. Being attracted to her was just part of the battle. I wanted to learn all I could about the tall, sexy creature that reluctantly gave me her time.

  “I’m not sure what I want yet, but I know that I’m not ready for someone like you.”

  “I think that’s too bad because I don’t think I can let you sneak away.”

  “Really?” She took off running in a mad dash. I didn’t know what she had planned, but there wasn’t much farther she could go before hitting the end of the gazebo. I gave chase and ended up cornering her in there. I crept toward her, stalking her like prey.

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily.” I crowded her space, but she pushed back and did a flip into the pond.

  “Son of a bitch! Abby!” I screamed out, jumping in after her. I couldn’t see her for a minute in the water, but then she came up. I grabbed hold of her and started pulling her to the embankment. “Are you fucking out of your mind?”

  “What’s the big deal? It’s a small swimming hole. It isn’t like you have gators up here.”

  “No, this is a retention pond. It’s not for swimming.” I was laying on top of her, checking her over for any injuries.

  “A retention pond?” She gulped, pieces of muck in her hair. I pulled some of it out.

  “Yes. And many people drown in these. Fuck. You scared me half to death. I didn’t think you were that against getting to know me.” She stopped my yelling with her mouth. It was a tentative kiss at first, but then I took over, kissing her like I wanted to. I pressed our soaked bodies together to keep the chill off as I tasted her sweet soft lips. She moaned and worked her hands into my hair. The sound of people talking stopped us before we went any further. I got up, soggy from head to toe, then helped my messy Abby, who was equally drenched.