Stranger's kiss

Caelin pushed his door open for Oonagh to go inside and he followed. He couldn't stop staring at the girl for one second.

" Oonagh? What kind of name is that?" he asked and showed her the large bed which was in the middle of the dimly lit room. The pattern and style was the same as that of the living room.

Oonagh examined the room and was excited to get hers soon. She turned to look at the handsome man leaning against the wall, his black hair now messy after running his fingers on it a couple of times.

" I don't know. It sounds weird to me too," she said and something flashed in her eyes; sadness. Her parents gave her the name without knowing the meaning. Sometimes, the villagers would mock her using her name because it has no meaning.

Caelin smiled warmly at her beckoning her to come closer. Oonagh heaved, trying to lift the tension away from her chest and walked towards him. Being Courtesan for a few months wasn't easy. It broke her at first and slowly started draining her. The money her mother got from selling her would be enough to feed them for the entire year.

His hand on her hair made her look at him. Caelin seemed rough and cold but he was friendlier than any other in the Manor. The first person that acknowledged her as one of them.

Caelin removed the hairpin from her hair, letting more red hair cascade down her back. For a moment, he stiffened while gazing at her, " you're beautiful." He whispered while caressing her hair. His fingers dip into her red hair and Oonagh felt a spark on her skin from his touch.

' What was that?' she thought. Her eyes were holding his. She was so attracted to him, it was as if there was a connection between them. His touch, his smell and care were different from what she had felt before.

Oonagh jolted back to reality when she fett something soft on her lips. His lips on hers, hands in her hair as he kissed her. She pulled back immediately while feeling dizzy. What just happened? It was more of a soft kiss and it seems as though Oonagh had become drunk.

Caelin backed away while breathing heavily, he hadn't felt this way with any woman. It wasn't a full wet kiss and he was having different feelings in his body while watching her.

" Caelin, it's dinner time," someone yelled from outside the door.

" I'm," Oonagh rushed out of the room before he could say another word or apologize.

***

The dinner was noisy except for two people. Oonagh was trying to enjoy her meal but the picture of the kiss kept appearing in her bead. She didn't expect them to do that, at least not when she was a stranger to him.

" Oonagh, you'll join the females tomorrow in their quarters. Everything you want would be taken care of by the butler before educating you about us, is that understood?" Mrs Beckett asked and Oonagh nodded.

" Caelin, what happened in your room that had Oonagh turning pink?" Mrs Beckett noticed the unusual quietness from Caelin and asked Oonagh who immediately became red when she met her eyes.

" Nothin Mrs Beckett, I only showed her the bed."

" Oh."

Only Mrs Beckett knew Oonagh's real identity as a Courtesan. Things would blow up if someone finds out and she won't let that happen.

Caomham was quiet as he looked from Caelin to Oonagh who was yet to say a word and kept stuffing the food into her mouth.

" Mrs Beckett, now the females are thirteen, who's going to be Ona's partner?" Lugh asked and Sullivan nod his head in agreement.

" I will."

Chorus filled the air and Mrs Beckett was taken by surprise.

" I don't have a partner, don't you think it's time I get one? Besides, mine used to be Ava," another young man with inky black hair and abysmal eyes asked. His gaze was strong on Oonagh before looking at Mrs Beckett.

The other men on the table gasped at his words and even Caomham became furious. " Ava's mine, Moriarty, don't even think about it," he fired back.

" Who thinks about a slut?" Moriarty deadpanned and Caomham aggressively stood up from his seat, his chair scraping on the marble floor. " How dare you!" Caomham's voice resonated in the dining room.

" Quiet boys. The ladies are here for dinner." The butler said while Mrs Beckett sat quietly at the head of the table.

This also explained why Oonagh was seeing empty chairs. They belonged to the ladies beside their partners.

Caelin was quiet as a young lady walked gracefully to sit beside him and he smiled sweetly at her.

Oonagh felt out of place watching them and the others. Thinking how things function here was different, someone tapped her, " you're on my seat."

Mrs Beckett was quietly watching the boys' fun before digging into her food. Intentionally or not, Mrs Beckett had the sense of forgetting about Oonagh each time.

Oonagh stood near the door watching the others to enjoy themselves while she was standing behind their shadows thanks goodness she had eaten to her fill.

Moriarty didn't say a word to the lady beside him while eating his food. The others were in the mood as the butler refilled their plates forgetting about Oonagh.

" Mrs Beckett, is this hospitality?" A voice asked and the dining room turned quiet. Oonagh who was standing froze at the intense anger from the voice behind her. ' I thought Mrs Beckett said there were twelve males?' Caomham and Caelin stood up from their seats while looking at Mrs Beckett for help.

Mrs Beckett immediately stood up and rushed towards the person behind Oonagh. " I'm sorry Halligan, I was tending to the others." she defended herself.

Oonagh turned to look at the man and immediately recognized him. Of course it was him;she was in this Manor because of him. If she had stayed inside the brothel, they wouldn't have been able to kidnap her but this man made them do it.

" You bastard!"

' Slap '

Someone shrieked from her seat and the air became heavy. The man who had two colored eyes was the one who came to her window. When Oonagh saw the person, she rushed to the window to see him get into the carriage where she first saw Mrs Beckett.

" Oonagh!!!" Mrs Beckett yelled angrily, ready to eat Oonagh for slapping the man they all feared.

" She's so feral, who brought her into the Brannigan Manor?" Ava asked from her seat and Caomham shot her a cold disapproving look.

" I did, and Mrs Beckett didn't do the best of the job by allowing my muse to stand while you all rats sit!" His voice thundered in the room.

Oonagh hands sting from the slap that didn't affect the man and instead her.

" Did he just call her muse?" Another lady asked.

" There's no extra room for her in the Manor," Caomham said while looking at Caelin with a smirk.

Caelin's jaw clenched in anger, " I offered mine for her to pass the night," he fired back at Caomham who was on the winning side.

" Brother won't let her sleep in your rathole room Caelin, oh…I almost forgot. Halligan, ask your muse what happened inside Caelin's room."

Halligan glared at his brothers, Caomham the second and Caelin the last. " Stupid brothers I've got." He mumbled and walked away, pulling Oonagh along.

" Why do all the boys like her? She's ugly and a wretch," someone said from the crowd.

" Moriarty's making a face because of her."

" Shut up lady, you don't know how ugly and irritating you are," Moriarty said loudly and made a retching sound.

" I'm done." Mrs Beckett said drowsily and fell on the floor.

" Mrs Beckett!" They chorused.

***

Halligan pulled Oonagh to the ground floor and got into his room before shutting the door. The side of his face was red because of the slap he didn't expect from Oonagh.

Oonagh was breathless by the time they got to his room which was different from the others she had seen. So dark and eerie.

" What? Slapping me after kissing my brother Oonagh?" He asked. One of his eyes is red and the other blue. It was strange and beautiful at the same time.

" I didn't k…"

" And then calling me a bastard? You whore," Halligan yelled at her and Oonagh felt small before him. She swallowed hard the lump on her throat, trying to digest what he just said. Her face reddened in shame and embarrassment.

" I'm not proud of who I am but that doesn't mean I can't change."