His head snaps up. “What?”
“I said I love you.”
Declan blinks as if shocked.
It occurs to me that I overshared. That the stress of thinking I was on my deathbed messed up our timeline, and that I’m rushing us into something neither of us is ready for, but I can’t help telling him how I feel about him. “You ought to know that.”
Declan smiles. He smiles widely, and his dimples show. I was wrong. He has them too. And now I want to watch him smile like that all the time. It’s as if my face has turned toward the sun, a radiant glow.
“I love you too.” He drops the arm he wrapped and takes my other hand to lead me into my bedroom, where he pulls off my head wrap to let down my hair.
“Why didn’t you shower with me?” he asks while I eye the towel that’s sitting low on his hips. Not many men can pull off pink, but Declan looks good in it. Declan looks good, period. I press my palm over his hard abdominals, and his muscles contract. Under the towel, he instantly becomes erect.
“Fuck,” he breathes. “You barely touched me.”
This guy is desperate for me.
Declan wraps his fingers around my throat and squeezes gently enough to make me wet. With his thumbs pressed against the bottom of my jaw, he lifts my face toward him at the same time that his lips touch mine.
Declan’s kiss is not rushed, frantic, or sloppy. A measured, easy kiss that gives me no clue as to how he feels about whatwe’re doing. Meanwhile, I want to climb him like a tree. If only I had the courage to do so. God, I can be such a fricking coward.
Before I ran this man over, I stayed in a loveless marriage for stability’s sake and for my daughter, even though I could’ve left and stayed with my dad. But if tonight has taught me anything, it’s that I can be brave when push comes to shove, when people depend on me.
As Declan kisses me, I reach for his towel and pull out the corner he tucked to keep it up. It falls to the floor, and Declan bites the bottom of my lip.
His eyes snap open, and he blinks lazily, then steps back. “You’re free to look.”
My God. I swallow hard. Not harder than…well, you know what’s standing upright. Graveyards, skulls, and grim reapers cover Declan’s entire chest and thighs. Not a single splash of color to be seen.
“Your turn,” he says.
My cowardice tries to get hold of me, but I can’t be a coward now when I’m facing the bravest man I know. He will not respect a meek woman who giggles and blushes at him. If he wanted a woman who would bend to his every whim, he would have gone to bed with someone else.
He wants a woman who is comfortable with herself. That’s not how I would describe myself, not always, at least, but I damn well can try. I want to be that woman for him. He makes me feel safe, and I’m sure he won’t make fun of me.
I let my towel drop.
I can’t remember ever feeling this exposed. It doesn’t help that Declan just stands there staring at me while fisting his hands at his sides. I should move toward him and touch him again. That seemed to work.
“Say something,” I whisper.
Declan blinks as if snapping out of a stupor and lunges at me. I scream at the sudden movement. He lifts me and throws me onto the bed. I bounce off the soft mattress while Declan crawls over and wedges himself between my thighs.
He’s warm and hard. So very hard. A hand reaches between us, and he rubs my entrance.
“That’s a good girl,” he says like he’s adaddy. What is happening here? A man a decade my junior is calling me a good girl? I don’t know how I got here, but I’ve arrived.
Two long fingers slide inside me, and I close my eyes and arch my back, releasing a breath I’ve been holding. Declan kisses my exposed neck and bites the side of it right before he replaces his fingers with his cock. He penetrates me suddenly and fully.
A second scream rips out of me.
Declan pulls back and thrusts inside me again. “You are so tight,” he breathes out, then bites his bottom lip, lifting his upper one like a wolf might. “Fuck, this is… So good.”
Thrust.
You feel…”
Thrust.
