Velvet of Desire

Once returning to the house, Connor started unpacking her few bags that she had brought with her. She had picked out the master bedroom in the house. She always liked to have her space. Henrich took the bedroom across the hall, and was in there tidying up. As if the place needed anymore cleaning.

Lucien knocked on the door and Connor looked up and smiled.

“Oh, hey. I'm just unpacking. I'll be down in the stabled after a bit.”

Lucien nodded. “That's fine. I was actually going into town to get some supplies. The pantry is low."

“Oh. Well let me just pull my hair back and I'll go with. It'll be good for me to actually be able to get a look at the city without getting lost,” she joked.

Henrich snorted as he approached her room. “We were not lost, we were just turned around.”

She rolled her eyes and stood up and went to the mirror.

Lucien smiled. “Your hair looks fine the way it is. It looks better down anyways.”

She blushed and started to stammer.

Henrich interrupted. “Don't tell her that, she'll get a big head,” he smirked.

“I will not,” she blurted out at him and then blushed again from embarrassment.

Lucien laughed. “You're cute,” he said and winked. “I'll go get my wallet, and meet you at the car then.”

Once Lucien left, Connor looked at Henrich and glared. “Really Henri. Really? You couldn't control yourself for one moment?”

Henrich laughed. “I was the one in control darling, you were the one that blurted out and embarrassed yourself.”

She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. C'mon. Let's get going. I'm hungry and I want to see more of the town before it gets dark.”

Henrich smiled and followed Connor to the car. Lucien was searching through a case with CD’s in it. Connor got in the passenger seat and Henrich sat behind her. She looked over at Lucien.

“What kind of music do you listen to?” Connor inquired.

Lucien smiled and popped in a CD. “Chris de Burgh, Phil Coulter, and definitely De Dannan. But those are all Irish singers. I do like modern world music like the Snow Patrol and Linkin Park.”

Connor smirked and looked back at the road as “The Lady in Red” by Chris de Burgh came through the speakers. She just sat back and listened to the soothing voice. She about drifted off to sleep when they pulled up at the store.

Henrich got out of the car and opened Connor's door and helped her out. She looked around her and closed her eyes to breathe in the nice clean air. You couldn't do that in the city of Boston. The air was polluted with all the overpopulation and uncleanliness of the residents.

She opened her eyes and seen that Henrich and Lucien were staring at her, smiling. She flushed and averted her eyes.

“Uh, it's just so peaceful here. Boston is much nosier," she stammered.

Lucien smiled. “You'll find that it's always peaceful here. Everyone is really nice and kindhearted.”

She nodded and looked to the store. Henrich spoke up. “I might just move to Ireland. It's just so pretty. Probably not a lot of gay men though.”

Lucien laughed. “On the contrary. There are actually a lot of homosexual men here. Actually Connor, you have a cousin here that is actually homosexual. His name is Aedan. He's Connie's son.”

Connor was astounded. She wasn't aware that she had any other family. Gran never spoke of them.

Henrich's eyes lit up. “Really? Is he cute?”

Lucien laughed. “I don't know. I don't really judge guys like that. Though we can go and meet him. He's probably at his store now. Since we're in town, we should drop in and say hello. Connie would probably be there as well. It'll be a great moment for you to meet your family Connor,” he proposed as he looked over at her to see the expression on her face.

She was still in shock. “I-I didn't know I had more family...Gran never spoke of Aedan.”

Lucien frowned. “She didn't? So you don't know about his sisters and Connie's brother, and his son?”

Connor's mouth dropped. “There's more?”

Lucien laughed. “Why yes. The O'Callaghan family is quite large. There's a whole bunch more. Connie can tell you all about it. Come on, let's go there now. The market can wait.”

Connor only nodded and followed Lucien. Henrich was smiling. This was a perfect opportunity to get Connor to stay in Ireland. He already seen how happy she looked. He knew that she was made for Ireland. Once she seen that she had so much here, she won't be able to say no once Lucien asks her to stay here with him.

It was all working out nicely. And if it worked out even better, Henrich would have his own little piece of Heaven too.

Connor looked back at Henrich. She raised a brow. “Henri? Are you okay? You look like you got lost in space or something,”

Henrich shook his head. “No. I was just thinking this is such a wonderful place to live.”

“Yes it is," Connor smiled. She lifted her gaze to the sky and thought to herself. It really was a peaceful place to live.

Lucien was smiling. He knew that Connor would decide to stay in Ireland. She was already getting attached to the horses. She would never be able to leave since all her family was here in Ireland. And maybe, just maybe, if he played his cards right, she would stay because of him. Abigail had it all planned out. He wasn't sure why she wanted Connor to marry him, but he knew that Abigail wanted it, and he would do it. Besides, what could he lose? Although this was the first encounter with Connor O'Callaghan, he knew that the inevitable would happen. And that was Abigail's last wish.

Connor was burning a fire in his heart already. He wasn't sure if he loved her, he just knew that the attraction was there and he lusted for her. He knew that he wanted her and wanted to taste her, but he knew that she wasn't ready. She was being held back.