“Can’t it stretch until we’re together again? Dec. I want…” But what did I want? Mate was too much, but this thing between us stroked all the sharp parts of me just right. The tighter I tried to get a hold of our relationship, the more it slipped out of my grasp. “Can’t we just have this?”
His smile rippled with sadness as he said, “I’ll always take this, Honey.”
His back hit the bed, tumbling me with him until we were a writhing mass of heated limbs. My clothes ended up shredded, littering the floor, and I couldn't have cared less. Declan flipped us so I could use my free hands to reach his clothes. Stripping him was just as heated and the frenzy was so new it scared me for a second. My brain screeched the handbrake.
I pulled back to lessen the temptation to pet across his alabaster chest. “Wait. Wait! I should have said something last time, but I can’t get pregnant, Declan.”
He cocked his head in that adorable way he had. “You mean you physically can’t? That’s okay. We’ll have nieces and nephews coming out of our ears. You can mother them all you like when you meet the rest of the siblings.”
Bless him. He was trying to make this easy, but I needed to tell him the truth. I needed to hear the truth. Godds this was fucking awkward. I swallowed hard.
“No, I mean. I don’t want children. I can’t take the chance I might give them Hollow Fever.”
“Oh, okay. Well. We won’t.”
That simple? Was this a virgin thing? If I had to explain where babies came from, I would die, right? I searched his face for some way out of this and then put on my big-girl panties.
“Dec. When a man’s penis ejacul-”
“Honey!” He covered his ears, shaking his head back and forth, his teeth bared. He pulled me toward him, so he settled between my legs, hands forcing my knees wide. “If I ever have to hear you say the word ‘penis’ again…” He slapped the girth of his dick right on top of my mound. “...it will be a lifetime too soon. I know this cock can wreck your insides in the fun and unfun way. I have it covered.”
He lifted his arm and curled his mouth-watering bicep. It momentarily distracted me until Declan snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“See?”
The pale, iridescent tattoo he displayed was the witch’s sigil for infertility. I had watched Maggie draw it often enough. Tucked in his inner arm, I had never noticed it before, but now it shimmered in the firelight.
“When did you get that?”
Declan’s cheeks turned bright red and he lowered his hands to my hips. Kneading them with his strong fingers, I gathered all my wits to listen to his answer.
“Dec?”
He looked down at his hands and mumbled, “The day after I met you.”
“But you said you were a virgin!”
His gaze snapped to mine. “I was, Honey!”
My eyes widened. Oh. It was my turn for my face to goscarlet. Words attempted to form, but only a wheeze came out.
“I’ve loved you before time began. You’re the missing half of my soul and the ache of wanting you is a pain I gladly bore when it meant I brought you the smallest comfort. You’re the pea to my carrot…”
He trailed off thinking about that one while I was still stuck on being half his soul. I wanted that with a ferocity beyond description. He brought sunshine and light into my life.
“Okay, so I’m not as good with the food metaphors as you are, but I love you, Honey. I would bear anything for you.”
I surged up and kissed him, burying my hands in his dark hair. The living silk of it glided over my fingers. His cock trapped between us lay hot against my skin. My hips moved of their own accord, drawing a moan from Declan’s beautiful mouth.
His pants warmed my skin. “How many times do you want me to make you come?”
I pulled something ridiculous out of my head. “Eight?”
“That’s my favorite number.”
I quirked a smile at him. “Why?”
“Because your neck is eight kisses long.”
