Chapter Twenty-Six
The next morning, Declan’s still snuggled in my arms but he has his personal phone and is texting one-handed.
Based on how early it is, I’m assuming with Casey.
“Tell her I’m alive,” I mumble.
He smiles and kisses me. “I already did.”
“Wait.” I sniff. “Did she come in and makecoffee?” That’s what woke me up—the smell of coffee brewing.
“She preset itfor me last night,” he says. “Timer.”
“Ah.” I relax. I’m back to feeling possessive of Declan, and especially of my limited time with him.
She said I could have him to myself all weekend—dammit, Iwanthim all weekend.
And I want the sweet, blessed silence he brings with him.
Ineedit.
We end up in the shower, cleaning up and taking care of business, and then it’s back to bed after he fetchescoffee for us.
We have hours before we have to be up and moving, and I’m spending it in bed with him.
“Do you remember anything about last night?” he asks.
He doesn’t have to clarify what he means.
I close my eyes, bracing myself for an emotional tsunami, but unlike last night it’s more a memory than an active reliving of the events.
Last night scares me because I’ve never had anything likethat happen before. The sounds weren’t just a memory in my brain. They were…real.
Terrifyinglyreal.
I swore I felt frigid air and rain stinging my flesh.
Opening my eyes, I focus on him to anchor myself here and now. “I was staring at her sink and realizing how empty the counter looked. Then I bumped one of the drawers with my knee. Something about the sound… I had a flashback, I guess. Itwas really intense.”
I draw in a shuddering breath but his arms tighten around me, holding me against him, and it’s…all right. There’s still quiet in my head. I don’t hear the noises right now.
“Do you have those often?”
“No. Nothing like that. I’veneverhad anything like that before.”
“Does being with me help, Sir?”
I close my eyes and rest my forehead against his. “More than you’ll everknow.”
* * * *
We make it to the barbecue—barely. I broke out the rope again, and some implements I hadn’t used on him yet. It took Declan playfully threatening to call Casey for him to finally persuade me to untie him so we could get ready.
When I hold my front door open for Declan to go first, under my boy’s jeans he’s sporting a nicely reddened ass.
And he’s filled with a butt plug.
Whichhe’s no stranger to wearing, apparently.
