Page 61 of Declan
“I liked the old you. I like the new you. What makes you think I want you to be different? If I wanted to be with someone like the men that hit on me at my club,” she lifts her head, getting in my face and grits out, “then I would date someone from the club.” She drops back to the bed, frowning at me.
Right. Cause she could have anyone she wants. But as crazy as it is to me, she wants me. “How do I fix this?”
She arches a brow. “You want to fix it? Might be easier to give up.”
It’s my turn to growl. I know what she’s doing, and I fucking deserve it. She’s giving me a chance to run, just like I used to, but running is not an option. I drop a little more of my weight on her, thrilling at her gasp. “I’m not going to give up. Tell me what you need from me. Please.”
“Stop policing every word and every action. I’m a big girl, Declan. My reactions and my feelings are not your responsibility. I can take you being honest.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I say softly, dipping my head until my mouth is next to her ear. Her hands flex in mine. “What you feel...making sure you’re good is all that matters. I don’t ever want to say something to hurt you like I did that night at the hospital.”
“That was jackassery.” Her words a faint whisper against my cheek. “And assumptions. You gotta stop assuming you know what I’m thinking or feeling and just talk to me.”
“I can do that,” I mutter distractedly. I am so far gone, lost in her lemony scent and the feel of her body lined up with mine. And I can’t resist dropping a little more weight on her. It’s a miscalculation because now I’m nestled up against her core. I can feel her heat through my shorts, and all I can do is wonder if she’s wearing panties.
“You...you’re,” she stops, wetting her lips. “You’re hard…you want me.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” I mutter, pressing my lips against her neck.
28
CARA
“N o shit, Sherlock,” he mutters, his breath sending shivers down my neck. Then he nuzzles in, pressing his lips against my skin. If anyone asked me, I’d swear I was in another dimension right now. No way is he actually here, in this room, nudging at my core.
“Ah, maybe I need to take my own advice,” I say, breath catching at the soft brush of his beard on my shoulder.
“What do you mean?” He sounds distracted, using the same tone of voice I’ve heard him use with his brothers when he’s working through a problem. But he’s never been like this with me. He’s always been too on guard for that with me. Too wary.
“When you asked me to stop earlier...I thought you didn’t want me. I assumed.”
He rears up, studying me with surprised eyes. “The fuck? Why would you think that?”
“Um, because you used to always pull away from me, and I have a bit of a complex now. I got sucked back in time a bit, I think.”
“Right,” he says, the dazed look clearing as his eyes sharpen on me. “Dumb, but not I guess?”
Truly mature, I stick out my tongue at him. Thank god my hands are pinned, so I don’t do something awful like stick my thumbs in my ears and say nana nana boo boo. It would be impossible to look him in the eye ever again if I did something that childish.
His reaction chases any childish thoughts out of my mind. His focus locks on my mouth and his hips thrust powerfully against my mound. We both moan.
“Cara,” he says, wetting his lips. “I don’t know what to do here.”
“What do you want to do?” I ask breathlessly. I know what I want him to do. I also know I’m probably not ready for what I want.
He winces. “See, this is where I feel like I should be smooth.”
“Don’t be smooth. Just be honest.”
“I want to be buried so deep in you, I can’t tell where you end, and I begin.”
My core clenches, and I flinch up into him, pressing us together. “Oh.”
He groans, but his face turns serious. “You’re not ready for that.”
Sorting through everything I’m feeling right now, the hope, the excitement, the worry. I finally shake my head. “No, I’m not.”
“Okay,” he says on an exhale, dipping down to press a kiss on my temple before raising up. The second I feel him pulling away, my legs wrap around his waist and pull him back into me.
