by Melody Anne
Suspended above her, she felt his tip at her entrance and spread her legs wider as she reached for his hips and tugged. Enough. She wanted him buried inside her for the rest of the night if possible.
“Open your eyes, Angela.”
She shook her head. She knew she’d be a goner if she looked at him.
“Now, Angela. Open your eyes now.”
It took so much effort, but she did as he said and cracked her lids open. He was looking down at her as if she was the most precious thing on earth. Tears stung her eyes. Looking at him was everything she knew it would be, and so much more. She had no doubt she was in love with him.
She had known this man for three years and the chemistry had always been there. She’d just thought it could never work. He was a Forbes and she was a nobody. He was hard and she was a pushover. They were oil and water. But even knowing this, it didn’t seem to matter. She’d fought it, but he’d come for her. She was his for now—maybe for as long as he wanted. In this position she had no desire to fight what she was feeling.
There was no turning back. The more time she spent with him the more in love she’d fall. And there was no way for her to stop it, to get away from it. All she could do was hold on tight for the ride and hope when it ended she’d still be able to walk away.
He pushed forward. Unlike the first few times, he went slow and steady. He let her feel every single inch of him touch her tight heat. She quivered beneath him as he filled her slowly, deeply, perfectly. And the second he buried himself she shook around him.
Her body let go and she came, squeezing him tight as she cried out. It was unlike any orgasm she’d felt before. It tugged on her from the inside out and went on and on. By the time she stopped shaking, she was a mess.
She realized she’d never taken her eyes from his. He looked barely on the edge of control, but he didn’t move. He leaned down the slightest bit and ran his lips across hers, but he stayed in control even though she lost hers.
“Ohhh,” she breathed, in awe of this man and how he commanded her body.
“I want to do that again and again,” he said.
“Yes, please,” she sighed. He smiled before kissing her.
She wrapped her legs tightly around him and held on tight, content to stay like this forever. That was until he began to move. He pulled back a couple of inches before pushing forward again. He did this several times, and she felt heat building again, steady and strong.
She cried out as her body released once more, gripping him. She couldn’t keep her eyes open as he continued thrusting inside her, fast then slow, deep then shallow. He played her body like a fine instrument and gave her more pleasure than she’d known possible. And he held back his own.
Then he grabbed her hips and tilted her as he took long, deep, hard strokes. She screamed as another orgasm washed through her, this time pulsing so hard he had a difficult time thrusting inside her.
He finally let go, taking his own pleasure with hers. They shook together as both of them floated high in the sky, taking their time coming back to earth again. She held on tight, not wanting him to pull from her.
She needed to tell him he didn’t need condoms. She didn’t want that much material between them. She wanted flesh on flesh. Nothing else would do anymore.
They lay pressed together for minutes before he shifted. She whimpered as he pulled his still hard body from hers. But he never let her go. He removed the condom and pulled her tightly to him.
“We don’t need those. I can’t get pregnant,” she sleepily told him.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure,” she said.
“Good, because I want you without one.”
She felt her heat clench at those words. She was so worn she could barely move, but if he pressed back against her she’d gladly fall into his arms. When it came to Declan she couldn’t get enough. She never would.
She didn’t even try to pretend she wanted to leave his bed. She was exactly where she wanted to be, and she wasn’t going anywhere—at least not yet.
Chapter Nineteen
When Angela next opened her eyes the sun was shining brightly through the massive bedroom window. For one moment she was confused and slightly scared. She stretched, feeling how achy her body was, and then the night before came back with a vengeance. And she smiled.
She was alone in Declan’s huge bed, and she turned to see it was nearly ten in the morning. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so late. Her son was up at the crack of dawn, so she’d trained herself to rise early. She didn’t like wasting her day anyway. Getting up late made her wonder what she needed to do.
Instead of jumping from the bed, she took a moment to relive her night. They’d only made love the one time, but he’d completely sated her. Maybe he’d thought she needed a night of uninterrupted sleep.
In all reality she had. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept a solid eight hours. She hadn’t so much as stirred all night long.
Taking her time, she sat up in the unbelievably soft bed. It would be pure heaven to spend an entire day in it—with Declan of course. Without him, nothing was quite as comfortable. It was odd how attracted she was to that man. Yes, he was gorgeous, but he wasn’t the usual type of guy she looked at.
He was so tall, so wide, so foreboding, yet she wasn’t frightened of him. All she wanted was more. Right now, though, it was good to have a moment alone without worrying about her son. Timothy knew all of the Forbes’s well. He wouldn’t be scared without her there for a few extra minutes. That didn’t mean she was going to take too long.
It did mean she could gather her thoughts before finding her way through Declan’s house to wherever Timothy and Declan were. She stretched and winced. She’d never been this sore in her life, and she had always worked hard jobs. Declan had managed to work muscles she hadn’t known could get sore.
Climbing from the bed, she limped. She hoped that cleared up before the whole world knew she’d been loved thoroughly. They were having dinner with his family, and it would be mortifying if they saw her in this condition. They’d know instantly what the two of them had been up to.
She wasn’t sure she could hide it anyway. The wives of Declan’s brothers were master interrogators. Maybe they’d learned it from him.
She found her nightgown in a chair by the door and slipped it on. The balcony was clear for the walk of shame back to her own room. She was a consenting adult and there was nothing wrong with what she’d done, but she was a mother and didn’t want to tell her son it was okay to go around sleeping with people—especially people you weren’t even in a relationship with.
A shower would help before finding her son. The hot water might ease some of her achiness. She stayed under the massaging showerhead for a very long time and wasn’t back to normal when she stepped out, but her limp was barely there. She couldn’t believe how much her thighs ached.
Though she hurt more than if she’d run a dang marathon, she was smiling. It was a beautiful soreness, one that meant she’d had several days of intense pleasure over and over again. She’d take the achiness for nights like that anytime. She had no doubt it would happen again. Hopefully again and again and again and again.
She found herself humming as she got dressed. There were a few additions to her closet that she knew for certain hadn’t been there when she’d left. She had no doubt Roxie, Keera, and Eden had helped with that. She was going to have to do something special for them. They’d become friends; she couldn’t imagine losing them; she didn’t want to give them up. She’d run, but they’d brought her back. This truly was home.
She needed to see her son, yet she was taking so long to get ready because she was hiding. What was this new day going to bring? They were back in Edmonds, and there was a lot to be done. She wanted to pretend life was normal and she was just like anyone else, getting ready for an ordinary, possibly even boring, day. She’d never thought she’d wish for that.
She
’d stalled long enough and finally left her room and found her way down the staircase. Declan had built his home exactly how he’d wanted it—a little bigger than average. The staircase was two times the size of a normal house’s, and the ceilings were at least twelve feet high. There was no chance of feeling locked in in this home. She really liked it.
She finally heard Declan and Timothy and followed their voices to the kitchen where they were sitting at the breakfast bar, laughing and eating.
Their smiles when she entered the room were like rays of sunshine bursting through the clouds on a stormy day, filling her with joy. She’d never spent time away from her son, and three days had felt like an eternity. She didn’t want to be a clingy mom, but it was difficult not to be with all that had been going on.
“Are you hungry, Mom?” Timothy asked, though the words were hard to make out with his mouth full of what appeared to be a chocolate chip waffle. She eyeballed the whipped cream, strawberry jam, chocolate syrup, and sprinkles sitting on the counter then raised her brows at Declan.
“Is there anything but sugar for breakfast?” she asked.
“This isn’t a daily thing. We’re celebrating the two of you being back home where you belong,” Declan said. “Among other things.” He wiggled his brows as his eyes traced her body, which instantly flushed. She turned away so her son wouldn’t see her blush.
She found the coffee pot and busied herself making a warm cup of heaven. That also gave her a second to compose herself before she faced her son and Declan again. If he made those same comments to her when they were around people she might have to hit him.
“I’m glad to hear you know it won’t be daily,” she said. “A healthy breakfast is important for growing boys.”
“You say that every day, Mom. I just want sugar sometimes,” Timothy said, batting his long eyelashes at her.
She moved over to him and leaned down, kissing him on the forehead. “And you get it sometimes. I just love you so big I want you to be strong and turn into a fine young man.”
“I will. I eat my vegetables, even though I don’t like them at all.”
“I have to agree with you on that. Vegetables for breakfast aren’t my idea of fun,” Declan said.
Timothy laughed. “We don’t have to eat them for breakfast,” he said before he paused. “I don’t think we do. But I always have carrots in my lunch and Mom makes all sorts of green things for dinner.” He stuck out his tongue like he was gagging.
“It’s soooo terrible,” Angela said. “My poor, poor boy.”
Timothy giggled before stuffing his mouth with more waffle. She cringed the tiniest bit, but they really did look amazing.
“Well, I guess I can’t let you eat alone,” she said. Declan chuckled and she glared at him. “You know I have a sweet tooth.”
“I’m very aware of that. That must be why you’re so dang sweet,” he said.
She wanted to stay slightly aloof but there was no chance of that happening. She enjoyed being with him entirely too much.
She put a waffle on her plate and smothered it in butter before dousing it in syrup, a gooey mess of deliciousness she rarely allowed herself. There had to be over a thousand calories in this one small breakfast. She didn’t feel guilty, though. She’d burned a lot more than that the night before. And she was sort of hoping to burn some more later that night.
“Mom, can I go to Mr. Kian’s today? He said he’s going fishing and I can go with him,” Timothy asked. She was going to respond when he held up his hand. “But he said to make sure I ask, and if the answer is no, that’s okay, too, cause it’s up to my mom,” he repeated.
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that all he said?”
“If Kian is fishing, I don’t see that as a problem,” she told him. Her son had been through a lot this last month. To see him smiling and excited to be home made her heart full.
“We could go too, couldn’t we?” she asked Declan.
“We could,” he said. “Or we could go to the station and talk to some people.”
Just that quickly she lost her appetite. She’d really wanted one day to forget about the horrors of the world. But that wasn’t realistic. The sooner all of this was taken care of the sooner they’d get back to their lives. She wanted that even if it scared her that her time with Declan would end just as fast.
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” she said.
She disposed of the rest of her waffle before putting her plate in the dishwasher, took Timothy’s plate, then reached for Declan’s, but he grabbed her hand and stopped her.
“We can take a day off and do it tomorrow,” he said.
“No, that was silly of me to suggest,” she told him, but she couldn’t manage to look him in the eyes. His finger came under her chin and he forced her to look at him. She found herself fighting not to cry.
“You know what, I’m making an executive decision. We’re all taking the day off to go fishing. It’s just what we need.”
“Yea!” Timothy said as he jumped from his chair and began leaving the room.
“Where are you going?” she called. He skidded to a halt.
“To get ready. Mr. Kian said he’d be here in thirty minutes, and I don’t know how long ago that was, but it seems like forever,” Timothy said as he bounced on his feet.
“Do you need help?” she asked. He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes, which he’d gotten in trouble for doing before. Then he smiled.
“I’m a big kid now, Mom. Remember? I can get ready by myself.”
“Okay, yes, you are. You help me so much,” she said.
He didn’t say anything more and ran so fast from the room he slid when he turned the corner.
“He’s growing up incredibly fast,” she said, feeling the days flying by.
“That’s because he has a mom who’s taught him well,” Declan assured her.
“I hope I haven’t traumatized him too much. I try to keep all of this darkness from him.” She stopped talking. “It’s okay, Declan, we can get business taken care of.” She didn’t want to, but she was an adult and part of that meant she didn’t get to run off whenever she wanted.
“Nope. I’ve decided we’re going to play. It’s well deserved. I want to play hooky from work. I’m already a few hours late so I might as well take the entire day off.”
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize this was a weekday. Are you going to get in trouble?” she asked. It was close to eleven in the morning. The day was half over. “You should have woken me. I’m sorry.”
“You needed sleep. I did give you quite the workout last night,” he said before pulling her against him and kissing her hard. “And I plan on doing it again, so take it easy today and stretch.”
“Declan, shh, I don’t want Timothy to overhear you,” she said as she looked over her shoulder.
“We have at least ten minutes,” he assured her before pulling her tightly against him, kissing her hard enough to take her breath away and send her pulse skyrocketing. Then there was a knock on the door.
“My brother couldn’t have waited just a little longer,” Declan grumbled.
Angela felt lightheaded as he released her. He gave her one more quick kiss then walked away. She took the few seconds she had to grab a towel and wipe the counter before Kian walked in. She tried pushing the kiss from her mind, but it was far easier said than done.
“How did you sleep last night, Angela?” Kian asked.
She felt her cheeks instantly heat as if he knew what she’d done. She couldn’t look him in the eyes. He was probably making polite conversation because he knew she’d been stressed and traveling, but Angela wasn’t good at hiding anything.
“Um, great, thanks,” she said, not looking away from the counter.
“Oh, I know that look,” Roxie said with a giggle.
“What look?” Kian asked.
“Oh nothing, darling. You and Declan go gather things while I chat with Angela,” she said, dismissing the boys.
&
nbsp; “I’m so confused,” Kian said as the two brothers walked away.
“I want details and I want them right now,” Roxie demanded the second they were alone.
“I can’t give you details because my son will be rushing back in the room at any minute,” Angela said. She finally looked up at her friend and Roxie was beaming.
“Was last night the first time?” she asked.
“I can’t believe you’re asking me that,” Angela said with a gasp.
“Of course I am. Was it?”
“I don’t think I’ll answer,” Angela said.
“Oh my gosh, it wasn’t. When was the first time? I want so many details.”
Before Angela could refuse again, Timothy came skidding to a halt before them.
“Did I do good, Mom?” he asked.
She wanted to kiss her son over and over again for saving her. “You look great. Let’s find Kian and Declan and see if they’re ready,” she said.
“This isn’t over, Angela Lincoln. Wait until I get the girls and we corner you,” Roxie whispered in her ear as they left the room.
“But I’m safe for now,” she said with a smile as Roxie rolled her eyes.
“I get in trouble for that,” Timothy said. Kids looked at the damnedest times.
“Yeah, me too,” Roxie said.
“Everyone is able to come,” Kian said when they found them in the living room.
“Yeah, Eden wasn’t sure if she could. I’m glad she changed her mind. We have some much needed girl time ahead,” Roxie said as she wrapped her arm in Angela’s.
Angela looked at Declan to save her, but he smiled and shook his head. She looked at him like he was a traitor. His answering look seemed to tell her he’d save her from everything in this world . . . except his sisters-in-law.
She had a feeling she’d be in a CIA-worthy interrogation before the sun went down.
Chapter Twenty
Being with Declan’s family had been amazingly fun and had felt like being part of a sitcom. There was so much activity, so much love, and so much interrogation, Angela didn’t know what to think.