Craving Olivia: Her Fated Mate, #2

By Emmy Lou Hayes

Slighted by the man she loves and left to pick up the pieces Olivia turns to her father, who writes to the clans scattered around the countryside seeking a bridegroom for his daughter. Deegan Kennedy answers the call. When he travels to Dublin, to determine if Olivia is his mate, he discovers something incredible about the enigma of a woman. Something that leaves him craving her more than he ever imagined he could crave another.

 

Cormac is forced out of the city, with no choice but to leave Olivia behind. At last, when he is able to return for her, he discovers she has been promised in marriage to another man, another wolf. One who is willing to go against the laws of their packs, and fight to the ends of the earth to hold onto her. Both men crave her so deeply they are willing to put their lives and the lives of their packs on the line to win her heart. In the end the magic between fated mates is undeniable, proving that true love conquers all.

 

This is book two in Her Fated Mate Series and can be enjoyed independently.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Romance.ink
• Release date: May 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9781639545513

Emmy Lou Hayes

Emmy Lou Hayes is a married mother of three. Originally from Ohio, she has lived the majority of her life in Maryland. While attending college she worked at a local sandwich shop, where she met her husband. When not working or at home in Southern Maryland, they enjoy spending time traveling the country in their RV with their children and two dogs. Emmy Lou works full time in the Medical field, but her passion is writing and sharing that writing with others.  With an affinity for erotica and BDSM, Emmy Lou hopes to keep her readers coming back for more again and again. Don't miss these exciting titles by Emmy Lou Hayes and Blushing Books! Her Fated Mate Series Finding Faith Craving Olivia Marked Series Branded Scarred Healed Her Unexpected Mate Series The Alpha's Melody  Second Chance Summer For the Love of Sam A Shift in Ciara Broken Rae of Light His Submissive Series The Release The Capture 

Book preview

CHAPTER

ONE

Dublin, Ireland, 1723

Cormac had searched the county, he left home months before after a fight with his father over his decision to go and look for his brother, Torin. He had been across the entire country, traveled from Kerry all the way to Dublin. There was no sign of Torin along the way. No signs of his brother to be found and he felt discouraged.

Determined to find him, he continued his search. Perhaps he had been living as a wolf in the wilderness he had searched, or perhaps he was here in the city living as a man whom no one knew. The odds were just as good. He decided to take a room in a rundown inn and stay, searching the city for any signs of him.

He didn’t have a horse, he came here on foot, as a wolf. His true form, the one he felt more comfortable in while searching, the form he was sure would lead him to his brother. But the journey had been hard, and he was exhausted. When he collapsed into bed that night, he felt his hope slipping. If he turned up nothing here, he would have to return home empty handed.

Where are you, Torin? he asked the ceiling above him, happy to have a bed to sleep in, but missing the stars in the sky above him as he slept curled in the woods. Sighing, he rolled onto his side and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning when he woke his stomach growled, he knew he would need to go in search of breakfast, real food. The first he had had in months, after living off the land as a wolf. The idea of flaky pastries and coffee made his stomach growl.

His feet hit the cobblestone walk with a pep in them this morning. He knew he would get to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee, after so long without it, and it made his heart soar. The small bakery was nondescript, he nearly missed it as he walked past, the dirty windows coated with grime from carriages and horses as they passed by. He stood on the cobblestones and squinted into the shop, as the door swung open and a group of maids stepped out of the bakery the smell of fresh bread filled his nose, causing his stomach to twist more.

He watched the group of maids pass him and disperse into the street, headed home to their mistresses with their morning’s breakfast. At last, he entered the bakery, the small bell above the door dinging when he pushed it open. His eyes roamed the place, it still teemed with people. A sign of a good place, one so busy with so little advertisement on the outside must truly be delicious if this many patrons were packed inside.

Making his way through the crowd waiting for their orders, he approached the counter and saw the pretty blonde standing behind it, flour in her hair and smudged across the side of her face. She looked flustered in the busy shop.

What will it be? she asked him.

A croissant and a coffee, he replied and passed over the small handful of coins to her, then waited in line with the others.

By the time he took a seat at one of the empty tables, the majority of the morning rush had cleared out and there were only a few patrons left enjoying their orders here and there at the scattered tables.

Can I top you off? the soft feminine voice asked him, drawing his eyes up to look at her, and he smiled at the woman who had taken his order.

She had obviously come around from behind the counter and stood next to his table with a coffee pot in her hand. He looked at her slim fingers wrapped around the handle of it. Surveyed her arm up to the cuff of her sleeve and back down. Her pale skin was flawless, and he smiled at the thought of seeing the rest of it.

Please, he replied and nodded. She poured more of the hot liquid into his mug and set the pot of coffee down on the table next to it.

You’re new in town? she asked, her crooked smile catching him off guard. It was like looking at the sun, it was so beautiful. The small dimples that formed in her cheeks when she smiled at him, the small gap between her two front teeth, he wondered for a moment at what it would be like to take her full, pouty bottom lip into his mouth and kiss her.

I’m passing through. He nodded, keeping his answers short. Looking for my brother actually.

Ah, is he missing? Her tone filled with concern.

Aye, has been for nearly a year, from Kerry.

Well, if he is here, in Dublin, the chances that ye ‘ill find him are slim. Not trying to discourage you, but ‘tis a large city. You are a far cry from Kerry, do ye think he is here? Cormac nodded at her words. Knowing what she said to be true, he still had to try. He didn’t answer her, her feelings on the point, taking the winds out of his sails. I’m Olivia, if you need anything else I’ll be here. She graced him with another smile and his heart tightened in his chest.

Olivia, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Cormac O’Gannigan. He held his hand out to her and when she placed hers into his, the jolt of magic he felt cross between them made his eyes widen, hers doing the same, he knew she felt it too.

Nice to meet you. She didn’t slip her hand from his, just got lost looking deeply into his eyes. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling with this stranger, but her belly twisted in knots the moment their hands touched.

Could I get another croissant? Cormac asked, breaking the spell and pulling her from her thoughts of him. Thoughts she should never have been having about a strange man in her shop. She smiled and nodded.

When she walked away Cormac turned and watched her go, eyeing her backside as she went, licking his lips. Mmmm, he said under his breath, careful not to be overheard.

Picking at the crumbs on his plate, while he waited for her return, he wondered what he should say. Should he ask her to luncheon, to dinner, to stroll with him around the block? He knew not how to do these things, but he knew he needed to see her again.

Olivia approached him, looking at the strong muscles of his shoulders through his shirt as he hunched over and lifted his mug to his lips, watching the steam rise from the cup as his lips closed over the rim of it and wondered at having him close his lips over her own. Her insides flipped again, and she felt a hot blush spread over her cheeks when he turned and looked up at her, smiling a full, teeth-filled, smile at her. She couldn’t help but think he looked wolfish, dangerous, deadly. It didn’t scare her.

Your croissant. She reached and lifted his empty plate from the table, replacing it with a fresh one, another warm croissant resting in the center of it. Cormac reached out and his fingers trailed over hers, the sensation between her legs making her eyes fly open at his touch. This was improper, she should not be acting this way, flirting like a common street whore.

If you need anything else… she trailed off as she turned.

Olivia? Her name on his lips sounded so sweet and she spun quickly, the plate in her hands slipping to the ground and shattering. The sound making the few other patrons in the bakery jump, turn, and stare.

Let me help you! Cormac called as he stood. When he rose over her the true height of the man, as she knelt on the ground before him, made her eyes go wide. He was well over six feet tall. His boots resting on the ground in front of her as she carefully picked up the pieces of broken crockery from the floor.

When he bent next to her on the floor and his side brushed against her electricity surged through her body and she had to steady herself. She turned to look at him, his face so close to hers, when she smiled at him, he winked.

Olivia cleared her throat and stood quickly, brushing her hands on the front of her apron. I’ll get the bin. She scurried off behind the counter and came back around with the metal bin for him to drop the broken pieces of the plate into.

When she held her hand out to him, he closed his large one around hers, and stood from the floor. Standing above her, looking down into her eyes. She knew not what she was doing, hadn’t the slightest idea what possessed her, but she lifted up on her tiptoes, planting her palm on the center of his chest, and graced him with a kiss on the cheek.

Thank you, she said and smiled at him. Her deep blush returning.

Would you care to take a walk with me? Cormac asked, wanting so badly for her to say yes. Needing to get her out of the bakery and into the fresh morning air alone.

I can’t. I must man the shop. Olivia’s mood shifted, she wanted to go with him. She didn’t want to turn the intriguing stranger down, but rather, wanted to go with him. Wanted to be alone with him, dare she think it, naked. Quickly she thought through the idea. I’m finished with work at half past midday. I could then. She rushed out the words before she lost the nerve.

I don’t have anything planned for the day. I’ll be back for you. I could walk you home? he offered, wanting to keep it casual, not putting any pressure on her. He could tell from the look in her eyes that she was unsure, but that she wanted this as badly as he did.

Aye, that would be nice. She smiled at him, bending to pick up the bin and carried it back to the counter with her.

The hours that passed until half past midday crawled on. Cormac busied himself walking the streets trying to keep his mind off the woman, off the image of her curves in his mind. When he checked his timepiece, he saw he still had more than an hour until they were due to meet, so he decided to head back to the inn and get himself cleaned up. He hadn’t bathed in days, weeks even, aside from a dip in the creek and a true lady deserved to be greeted by a clean man when they walked through the streets together.

Without a change of clothes, and no luggage, he was left only with the spare change he had brought with him. He stopped in front of a shop and looked in at the mannequins with suits standing in the window. It’s worth a try. He stepped inside and when he emerged a short quarter hour later, with a fresh suit tossed over his arm, he quickly hurried to the inn to bathe and freshen up.

By the time half past midday rolled around he was standing on the cobblestones outside of the bakery, pacing, waiting for Olivia to emerge. When the bell over the door drew his attention, he turned and saw her closing the door behind herself. No longer did she have flour in her hair, her apron was gone, and she looked a vision in the lilac dress she wore. Her smile for him made him greet her with one of his own as he shoved his hands nervously in his pockets.

Well, I must say, you clean up nicely. She stepped toward him, and he froze, his feet glued to the spot.

Aye? he asked, looking down at himself nervously, feeling foolish for the peacock feathers he had adorned himself with.

Aye! I must say, ‘tis not necessary. Not for the likes of me. Olivia blushed and Cormac took a step toward her.

I’m sorry, he began and dropped his head, I thought… I know not what I thought. I wanted to be presentable. He shrugged, the suit jacket stretched tight across his broad shoulders when he did.

Your breeches and linen shirt would have been enough for me, Olivia told him, resting her hand on his forearm and allowing him to tuck her hand into his arm. Shall we?

Aye. He cleared his throat. Letting Olivia lead the way down the path outside of the bakery, they made their way through the streets in a comfortable silence. The walk was a short one, and just as he got the nerve to speak up, she pulled him to a stop outside of a small house.

This is home, she said and smiled at him.

Aye? he asked her, angry with himself for not spending the time getting to know her and having lost his chance at speaking to her more.

Cormac? Would you like to see me again? She was feeling so forward, and couldn’t believe the words coming from her mouth.

I would. He smiled at her. He really would like to see her again, to spend more time with her.

Dinner, perhaps? Cormac nodded at her suggestion, his heart soaring at the idea.

Yes! he rushed out the word. I would love that!

Olivia blushed at him. Then, I will see you this evening?

Aye. I’ll collect you. Cormac looked around the street, not knowing where he was going to take her, he was a man in a foreign city. I don’t know an appropriate place to take you. He shrugged.

Oh. Her lips made the small shape of an O as she looked up at him.

I’m sorry. I’ll ask around. I’ll come up with something. He smiled at her, he would make this work. He would find a way to make this evening with her something to never forget.

Olivia looked up into the eyes of the stranger from her bakery, she didn’t know what she was doing. Couldn’t imagine that she was going to entertain him yet again today, and when he bent low in front her, took her hand in his and pressed a small kiss to the back of it, her head swam.

I’ll see you this evening. She smiled at him and turned to enter the house. The smell of stew filled the air, and she knew her mother would be busy in the kitchen preparing luncheon for her father’s return from work.

Olivia? Is that you, dear? her mother called to her as she made her way through the hall.

Aye! she called to her.

Yer late this morn. Where have ye been?

Oh, er, I… I met a man, she confessed, not knowing how to keep a secret from her ma’.

A man? At the bakery? her mother, Tilly, asked her as she entered into the kitchen.

Aye, he walked me home.

Mmmm, that’s nice. She couldn’t help but think her mother had stopped listening to her.

Did you hear me? A man walked me home. She sat at the table and busied herself slicing the loaf of bread to go with the afternoon’s stew.

Aye, I hard ye, her mother said, disgruntled at having the implication made that she had not been listening. She looked over at her daughter as she sat at the table. Tis’ a good thing, no? A woman of your age cannot become a lonely spinster always living at home on her father’s dime. Olivia’s eyes went wide at her mother’s offending statement.

Aye? So, you’d have me carted off by any man who asks after me, just to be rid of me then? she scoffed.

No, that is not what I am saying, Olivia. I do believe it is nice that you paid a man the time of day. I do think you should put yerself out there. Being locked in that bakery, and then here, all day long will never get ye a husband. Olivia rose from the table, having sliced all the bread and crossed to start filling the bowls for lunch. Is he a decent man?

I don’t know. He is traveling, looking for his brother here in Dublin.

Aye, that is a difficult task to take on. Olivia nodded. She had told Cormac as much herself.

Will ye be seeing him again?

Aye, this eve, for dinner. She let the words slip from her lips, turning to look at her ma’ over her shoulder, looking for any reaction.

That’s nice, dear. Her ma’ went on, setting the linen napkins in their places beside each bowl that Olivia set on the table. I’ll speak on it with your father when he returns.

Olivia knew that this would not go over nearly as well with her father. A stranger in this city is not to be trusted, according to him, and he would have a harder time being convinced that this was a safe venture for the evening.

Ladies? The deep booming voice of her father filled the small kitchen. When she turned to look at him, he looked tired, agitated, no doubt it had already been a long day for him.

Olivia has met a man. Her ma’ wasted no time in sharing the news.

Aye? Her father eyed her as he crossed to the table and took a seat in his customary spot, digging into his stew without a second thought on the matter.

She will be dining with him this evening, Tilly went on.

Aye? Who is this man? Do I know him? her da’ asked, clearing his throat and setting down his spoon.

No doubt you do not, he is from Kerry.

Kerry! A far cry from home, is he not? Farmers and clans still rule those lands. What is he doing here in Dublin? Her father lifted his spoon, returning to his meal.

Looking for his brother.

Is he missing? her father asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Aye, he says for nearly a year.

No good can come of this, a strange man in the city is not to be trusted. A man from Kerry, you say? What is his name? he asked her between mouthfuls.

Cormac O’Gannigan.

O’Gannigan? Hmm, if memory suits me, I have heard the name before. One of the oldest clans in the realm. Money, good money, in a name like O’Gannigan. Searching for his brother ye say?

Aye. The wind was leaving her sails, she was prepared for her father to deny her wish to go out and see Cormac again this evening.

Well, then. What say ye, Ma’? He turned to his wife, patting her on the rump and looking into her eyes as she set another bowl of stew in front of him.

I think tis a good idea for her to get out and meet a man. She cannot live here forever. Never will she catch a husband locked up in that bakery and your house all day.

He nodded at her words. An O’Gannigan you say? Turning the name over and over in his mind, clearly only thinking of money and having his daughter married off to a rich man.

Then I say the same. Go out with this Cormac. This O’Gannigan.

Her father said the name with such reverence that she knew for sure he was only seeing dollar signs surrounding the name.

Cormac asked around the inn for a decent place to take a lady to dinner and was offered more than a handful of reputable restaurants, but none of them felt right. At last, he settled on a picnic in the park with a packed meal he would treat her to. The quiet solitude of the park would provide them with privacy and the chance to get to know one another without onlookers disturbing them. He smiled at the idea. Yes, it would be so much easier if he was back home on his lands and he could take her to the orchard, the grove, tour his lands with her and show her what it is like there.

He would settle for a meal in the park as the sun set. Collecting his now clean clothes from the front desk at the inn, he changed out of the stuffy suit and back into his breeches and linen shirt. Feeling more comfortable, more himself, he smiled when he looked in the looking glass above the chest in his room. His shaggy hair needed to be trimmed and he was starting to grow a thick beard from weeks out in the woods searching for Torin.

Torin, his heart hurt. That is why he was here, not to meet a woman, not to be galivanting around in the evening after a strange woman he had just met. But Torin was a grown man, he could take care of himself. If he decided he wanted to be out here on his own, then who was he to drag him back home?

He rationalized it in his mind, setting his jaw and heading out of the inn on his way to collect Olivia, the basket with their meal tucked under his arm as he made his way through the streets. When he arrived at her door he stood staring at it, not knowing what to expect. When he knocked, would Olivia answer, would her father? He felt uneasy.

At last, his hand rose, and he knocked firmly on the front door. It swung open after a few moments and he was greeted by a man in a vest, his jacket clearly shed at the end of his workday, his rounded belly sticking out from under his vest, his tucked in shirt all that was holding it in.

Cormac? the man asked, and he nodded at first, not finding his words.

Aye, he said at last, holding his hand out to the man. Cormac O’Gannigan at your service, Sir. When the gentleman closed his hand around Cormac’s he pulled him into the hall and closed the door behind him.

"Bartholomew McGregor, feel free