Declan bit back a howl when her inner walls clenched around him. He thrust several more times as she milked him of every drop of his seed. He held her close, kept himself buried in her as long as he possibly could, before he finally softened enough that he slipped out. As his legs threatened to give out on him, Declan sat on the ground, taking Lily with him. He pulled her close and cradled her in his lap. His fingers caressed her side and he nuzzled her neck. “Fuck, woman, that was…mind-blowing,” he growled against her skin.
“Mm…it was,” she agreed. “I’ve never… That was so intense. We should…get back before Emelise gets worried.”
Declan could feel her mentally pulling away. He should have expected it, but it pissed him off, and it hurt. They’d just shared a mind-blowing moment together, and now she was pulling back into her shell. What was it going to take to get through to her? “Don’t pull away. And don’t you fucking dare feel ashamed by what just happened between us, Lily. It’s natural. We’re mates; we’re supposed to want each other this way.”
Lily struggled to get up, and there was a look of relief on her face when he loosened his hold on her so she could stand. “I can’t talk about this right now.” Before Declan could say anything else, she bolted.
Declan watched her go and wanted to howl his frustration. If she thought this was the end of the conversation, she was sorely mistaken. He knew the reason for her panic was because of her sense of loyalty. What transpired between them went against everything she stood for—he knew that—so he would give her time to come to terms with it, and with the connection between them. He’d give her a day or two, but then they would talk.
Lily
Lily was in a daze. She’d never had such a powerful orgasm as the one she’d just had with Declan. Her entire body hummed from it, and she felt more sated than she could ever remember feeling. She was glad they were now sitting because she wasn’t sure she would be able to stand at the moment. Her legs felt like rubber, and all she wanted to do was curl up somewhere and sleep.
After the fire faded some, Lily was embarrassed by how easily she’d given in to the animalistic need to be with him. She felt ashamed and struggled to get out of Declan’s embrace. When he let her go, she bolted.
Lily felt panic rising. What had she done? Oh gods, how could she have cheated on Keith? It went against her very soul to cheat and yet she’d done it. She needed to get out of there; she’d swim through the bayou and risk running into gators if she had to.
Lily made her way first to Emelise and then to Remy. She didn’t tell her best friend why she was suddenly so desperate to get back to the city; she wasn’t sure she could tell her without bursting into tears there in front of everyone. “Remy, I need to go, now.” She winced at the strain in her voice.
Remy cocked a brow at her. “Did he hurt you, cher?” A threatening growl escaped him.
Lily’s eyes widened at the growl and she realized how she must look. “No, it’s not… Just please, take me back. I know you want to celebrate the birth of your nephew, but I really need to go right now. I’ll swim if I have to.”
“Da fuck you will. Come on, cher, I can come back to da celebration.” Remy took her arm and, with Emelise on her other side in case Lily stumbled, he gently guided her toward the boat.
Lily was quiet on the ride back to the city. Her mind was in a turmoil. She wished she could blame it on the whiskey but that was only a small part of it. It had lowered her control over her animal urges but the whiskey didn’t make her fuck Declan. That was all on her.
“Give me the keys, Lily, I’ll drive,” Emelise said gently as they neared the dock. “Don’t worry, I’ll stay with her tonight,” she added to Remy before he even spoke.
Remy nodded. “Good. She shouldn’t be alone. Whatever happened, it shook her up but good.” He helped them both out of the boat and waited until they were at Lily’s car before he headed back the way he’d come.
Lily was only vaguely aware of the ride back to her apartment. By the time she came out of her daze, she was curled up on her sofa with a cup of tea in her hands. “I fucked him.” Her voice was a soft whisper. She was almost afraid to look at Emelise, afraid of the look that might be in her friend’s eyes.
“I kinda figured that since his scent is all over you. Lil, it’s okay. I totally understand what happened. He’s your mate and things came to a head. Hell, you probably saved me from the same damn thing because if Caine kept trying to get me alone to talk, I don’t know that I would have been able to keep myself from getting naked with him.”
Lily felt tears stinging her eyes, and after a moment of fighting them, she let them fall. “What I did tonight goes against everything I believe in, Eme. I cheated on Keith. I betrayed his trust. How am I supposed to be okay with that?”
Emelise scooted closer to her and wrapped her arms around her. “You own up to it—you tell him everything, including that you’re a wolf shifter, that Declan is your wolf’s mate, and that you gave in to the animal side of you in a weak moment. Then you decide which one you’re willing to give up: the human you care about but doesn’t compliment your wolf, or the wolf who completes you in every way.”
“You make it sound so simple,” Lily said through her tears.
“Oh, no, girl, it’s going to be hard as fuck to look him in the eye and tell him everything. We both know that. But he deserves the complete truth from you, and if you don’t come clean with him right away, it will eat away at you.”
“Gods, what a fucking mess.” Lily wiped her eyes. “But you’re right. I have to tell him when he gets back from his business trip. I’m sure he’s going to hate me, or at least be hurt very deeply.”
“That can’t be helped, honey. All you can do is be honest with him and go from there.”
Lily sighed softly. She knew Emelise was right. She sipped her tea before reluctantly heading to bed. She was exhausted, both emotionally and physically, and fell into a deep sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Declan
Declan was nursing a drink when Remy Delacroix returned. He saw the anger in the leopard’s eyes and straightened his stance. If the leopard wanted a fight, he’d gladly give it to him.
“What da fuck did you do to Lily?” Remy snarled as soon as he was standing in front of Declan.
“I didn’t do anything to her. We fucked and afterward she pulled her walls back up around her.”
“So you took advantage of her being tipsy on whiskey and pressed her for sex?”
Declan laughed. “I didn’t take advantage of her. I made fucking sure she wanted it—I asked her and she said yes. Just because she felt embarrassed, because her wolf was more in control than the human part of her, doesn’t mean I pushed her into it. I’ll give her a day or two to come to terms with what happened, then she and I will be hashing things out. She’s my mate and I’m not giving up that fucking easily. If you’ve got a problem with me pursuing my mate, tough shit.”
“You just don’t get it, do you?” Remy was all but snarling at him. “Lily’s not da type of girl to stray. She’s more than embarrassed, she’s ashamed, and probably hatin’ herself for betrayin’ da trust of dat boy she’s been seein’ for da last two years. You can call it whatever you want, but we both know if she’d been stone-cold sober, she wouldn’t have given in so easily, and you took full advantage of dat. You’ll be lucky if she doesn’t ask Caine to rescind his permission to let you stay in our territory.”
Declan narrowed his eyes at Remy. He didn’t like that the leopard knew Lily so well, and he really didn’t like that Remy had hit too close to home with the accusation he’d taken advantage of the situation. The truth was, that was exactly what he’d done. “She won’t. She might try to avoid me, but she won’t go that far because, deep down, she wants to be with me too. She’s fighting it out of a sense of loyalty to her boyfriend, but I can deal with that.” He sounded very sure of himself.
Remy snorted. “Just watch yourself, and don’t you fuckin’ hurt her or you’ll have more den just me comin’ after you.” With that he stalked off to get something to drink and calm his cat down.
Declan watched him go and played back what had happened between him and Lily. He wasn’t wrong about her; she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Tonight proved it. Now all he had to do was find a way to repair the damage he’d done by taking advantage of the situation. Knowing Lily, she wasn’t going to make that easy for him.
