Page 41 of Offside

"I know," Declan said.

"I need you to keep asking anyway." Kissing him made the ground fall away under my feet.

His eyes opened. "Okay, I will."

I kissed him again, harder. He turned us until my hips met the edge of the counter. My right arm stayed low. I used the left to pull him against me. His erection pressed against mine through our jeans. I broke the kiss on a breath.

"God, Declan. I want to take you to bed."

"Lead the way," he murmured, his voice rough.

He followed me down the hall. I removed my own shirt by freeing the left arm first, then my head, and finally the right sleeve—without lifting the joint. The support stayed in place. I put two pillows behind me and another under the right arm until the shoulder rested instead of pulling forward. Declan stood beside the bed, watching me arrange it.

"Come here," I said.

He took off his shirt and came to me. The sight of him stopped me for a second. Lean muscle covered his chest and stomach. Dark hair narrowed below his navel.

"What?" he asked.

"Just looking," I said.

"Like what you see?" Declan teased.

"Yeah." I swallowed. "I do."

"Good. So do I."

He climbed onto the bed on my left side and kissed me until the brace felt like the only thing on my body that wasn't on fire. His hand moved over my chest, down my stomach, and stopped at the waistband of my jeans.

"Can I take these off?"

"God, please."

I lifted my hips. He opened the button and zipper, pulled the denim down, then waited with his hand at the waistband of my briefs.

"Those too," I said.

He pulled them off. My cock stood up, rock hard for him. Declan looked at it without hiding the desire in his face.

"Touch me," I said.

His hand closed around me. The first stroke made my hips move. He adjusted his grip, thumb passing over the head, and watched my face as he did it again.

"Like that?"

"Yeah, more. More pressure."

His hands felt different, a new part of my body under his touch. He moved slower at the base and firmer on the way up, his thumb gathering the wetness at the tip and spreading it down. I put my left hand over his wrist. I didn't want to stop him. I wanted to feel the movement.

"I want your mouth," I said, my hips chasing his hand.

He moved between my legs. The first touch of his tongue ran over the head of my cock, wet and warm. I watched his lips close around me, and I forgot how to breathe.

Declan took me deeper by degrees, one hand firm at the base. His mouth was wet and tight. Each time he drew back, his tongue pressed along the underside before he took me in again.

I kept my right arm on the pillow.

My left hand fisted in the sheet, then I reached for his hair. The strands were softer than I expected. I didn't push. I held on while he found a rhythm that pulled pleasure through my whole body.