“Shit,” I hissed.
“You really should give me what I want if you expect me to repay the favor,” he whispered.
“I-I-I—I uh, like the walls.”
“Uh huh.”
“And the view.”
I chuckled. “Pretty sure you’ve already told me—”
“Declan, please.”
He gripped my hair. “You should never interrupt me. Understood?”
He pulled my hair back and I gasped. His nose slid along my neck, sending goosebumps ricocheting down my back. I spread my legs wide for him. I didn’t even care what I looked like any longer. I needed him. I needed to come. And he was the only one who would be able to give it to me. The world he opened up in my mind left no room to wiggle. No room for imagination. I wanted him, throwing me over the edge until I couldn't speak.
“Oh,” I whimpered.
“Tell me—mm—what you—oh, fuck—liked, Ciara.”
He punctuated his words with kisses. He slid his teeth along my pulse point. I melted into him, collapsing as my body took over. I couldn't fight him any longer. I let my body rise to his occasion as electricity blanketed my mind. He chuckled against my skin and held me tightly against him, my head falling to his shoulder. His finger slipped inside me. I gasped as he crooked it. He stroked that beautiful spot inside my body, and all I wanted was more.
More of him to fill me.
“Declan,” I whimpered.
“That’s it,” he murmured.
“Declan, please.”
“When I’m ready, you’ll come. Understand.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.”
“Not yet.”
I moaned. “Please. I’m so close.”
“Not until you tell me what you loved most about that last house.”
My jaw unhinged. I teetered on the edge of release. He sank his teeth into my neck and my back arched. His fingers slid out of my quivering pussy. He moved them back up to my swollen, aching clit. My entire body begged for release. The cramp sliding up my legs from my curled toes begged to be let go. My eyes rolled back. He traced his fingertips along my clit as my body hummed and vibrated for more.
“Tell me. Now,” he commanded.
Shit. “It doesn’t have a basement.”
His fingers paused momentarily, and I collapsed against his body. His nose softly touched my cheek and I turned my eyes to meet his. I gazed into them, watching them fall stern. Oh, no. I’d made him upset. I screwed up. He was going to kill me.
He’d leave me in this mess alone.
“Declan, I’m sorry. I promise, it’s nothing. I just—”
He captured my lips to stop my words as his fingers slid back into my heated entrance. Pumping, caressing, and thrusting until I orgasmed against the palm of his hand. Until his throat swallowed my sounds. Until my juices poured into the palm of his hand while his tongue explored my mouth. I collapsed against the leather seats, my legs spread wide and the world tilting around me. Declan kissed down my neck. Kissed along my shoulder. Before he gripped my chin and turned my hazy eyes to his.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Never be sorry for telling me the truth. Thank you,” he said.
Then, he handed my clutch to me.
“You should clean up your lipstick before we get to the restaurant.”
And that was when it occurred to me what I had forgotten to pack.
Freaking makeup remover wipes.
8
Declan
“Yes, pack that up. That goes with me. You can leave that, though. Richard will want that here once he returns.”
“No, that isn’t mine. Though, make a note for me to find something like it. Gives the room a decorative flair.”
“Absolutely, and make sure to double-wrap it in bubble wrap. Don’t want it breaking.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Most definitely, that is coming with us.”
I directed hired hands around me toward the last of the things I needed to pack. Today was move-in day, and I was dying to get out of this fucking family place. After offering a cash buyout worth twenty percent more than what the sellers of the brownstone down the street were asking, they took it without a second thought. Which set Ciara and myself up for a nice lateral move. I was eager to establish my own place here in Chicago. Not because I intended on staying. But because Richard disappearing showed me just how quickly this change might come about. Because once Richard died, I’d have to come back to Chicago and take over the Statewide family business.
Which meant I’d need a place to call my own eventually.
And a place where Uncle Martin can’t barge in unannounced.
“Declan, can I have your ear for a moment?”
I turned my head and nodded at Mom standing in the doorway. I snapped my fingers and dismissed the hired hands, watching as they scurried from the room. She looked worried. Her brow furrowed tightly. The bags under her eyes grew to the point where no amount of her makeup could cover them up. I knew she was worried about Richard. We all were. But she had to find a way to get some sleep.
We still had to project the facade of power we held between the four families.
“What is it, Mother?” I asked.
She clasped her hands in front of her. “Your Uncle Martin and I have been talking about things. You know, since Richard isn’t currently here.”
I nodded. “I take it this is about Ciara.”
“It is.”
“And what is it you wish to speak with me about?”
She sighed. “Neither of us support you marrying her.”
I blinked. “Come again?”
“That’s why she’s here, isn’t it? Daly offered her up as your wife? Well, Martin and I forbid it.”
“With no due respect to that man, he doesn’t have a say in what the Callaghan men do. Not since he turned his back on the business.”
“Well, I’m inclined to agree with him.”
“I suppose you'll be disappointed then.”
She took a step toward me. “Declan just think about this for a second. What if she’s being used as a diversion? To pull you away from what Daly’s done to Richard?”
I sighed. “I’ve already sent Gael out to the distillery twice to check things out. Nothing he’s seen or heard looks amiss.”
“You know damn good and well that man had something to do with Richard’s disappearance.”
“And if he did? You know I’ll find the proof before executing the man myself. But, until then, it’s business as usual.”
She bucked up to me. “I forbid you to marry that girl.”
I bucked right back. “And with all due respect, mother, you have no place in the business orders of this family.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, but I stuck to my guns. Despite the fact that I was eager to make Ciara mine once and for all once we got moved into our own place, Mom didn’t have a right to tell me who I could and couldn't marry. Especially if it all came down to a damn business deal. I agreed to take Ciara off Daly’s hands in exchange for his debt being absolved. I agreed to marry the girl and have a lovely woman to pump out my children in exchange for wiping his debt.
And I intended on seeing my end of the deal through.
“I won’t let you ruin that girl,” Mom said.
“And I won’t let you paint me as a man that goes back on my word,” I said.
“She’s scared, Declan. She’s scared. And you know Daly’s locked her up. Kept her in a cage.”
“None of that matters now. She’s part of this family, and if you don’t like it? That sounds like a personal problem.”
“You will not marry that girl!”
I held my finger up to my mother’s face. “And you will not raise your voice at me when you’re upset about a business arrangement I made with another family.”
Her nostrils flared with anger as I straightened my back.
“I know you don’t like this situation. None of us
do. But this is my first business dealing as the patriarch of the Callaghan Family. And however temporary the situation, I won’t let you undermine it because you don’t agree with it. Because there will come a day where I take this seat permanently. So, you’d do well to figure out how to work through these kinds of emotions now.”
“Get out of my house,” she hissed.
“That’s the plan for today, mother. Yes.”
I slipped by her and walked down the hallway. With a snap of my fingers, I twirled my hand in the air. Signaling for the workers to, well, get back to fucking work.
“I want everything packed up and delivered to the brownstone by three this afternoon, Thoman!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, Declan. Anything else!?” he called out.
“Leave Mother out of it!”
I stormed through the house and gripped Ciara’s wrist. I tugged her with me out the front door, feeling her stumbling behind me. I wanted out of that fucking house as quickly as I could get out. I wanted to get away from mom and away from the prying eyes of my brothers. I wanted my own space, and I wanted it now.
So, I could take what was mine from this angel that tasted like heaven’s clouds.
Ciara didn’t complain once. I tugged her into the car with me and held her tightly as the driver whisked us away. We got to the brownstone and I pulled her around, getting into the house as quickly as I could. And when the front door closed behind us, I dropped Ciara’s wrist.
“You were right about those windows,” I said.
I watched her nod, but she didn’t say anything. She rubbed her wrist as she stood beside me, her eyes casing me as I looked around the beautiful place she’d picked out. No basement, just like she enjoyed. And the natural light that flooded in from the water’s edge tugged a smile across my face. The brownstone had big, open rooms. Lots of light to be soaked up. Despite the building’s age, it had been renovated on the inside. Updated, with bright colors all around the house. White-washed walls with pale blue trimmings. Stone floors with matching stone countertops in all the bathrooms as well as the kitchen. One continuous theme throughout the entire place. Throughout all three levels.
And yet, I couldn't ignore the pulsing of my cock any longer.
“Come here,” I growled.
I slipped my hand around Ciara’s waist and pulled her to me. She gasped, but she didn’t fight me. Her hands simply fell to my chest as she braced herself, her eyes wide as fear rolled behind them. I crashed our lips together. I whipped her around and pressed her against the wall that held the staircase leading up to the second floor.
“Declan.”
“Mmm, Ciara.”
I kissed down her neck, drawing in the scent of her body spray.
“Declan, talk to me.”
I bit into the swell of her breast and listened to her gasp.
“Declan, you’re not okay. And I want you to be okay,” she whispered.
The words hit me hard and I paused. She wanted me to be what now?
I rose my eyes to meet hers and found them wide as saucers. Those big doe eyes, probing me. But, not for answers. Her hands massaged my chest. They slid to my shoulders and she massaged those, too. I melted into her body. Pressing her tighter against the wall as my forehead fell against the cool surface.
The damn thing still smelled faintly of fresh paint.
“Talk to me. Something’s very wrong,” she murmured.
And when she placed the softest kiss imaginable against my jawline, my lips started flapping. For no damn good reason other than they wanted to.
“Richard is missing, and it’s tearing my family apart.”
She kissed my cheek. “I’m so sorry, Declan.”
“Mother won’t accept the decisions I’m making. She won’t accept you. My brothers are anxious. No one is sleeping. And I know, in the pit of my gut, he’s dead.”
“Don’t say that. You have to keep hope.”
My eyes fell sharply to hers. “I know he’s dead, Ciara. I feel it. Every night as I gaze out the window. Every morning when I realize I, too, haven’t slept. And I don’t have the same kind of connections here in Chicago that I do in Ireland to start over. I’m stressed. I’m tired. I’m almost certain my father’s dead, and the family looks to me for answers when my own fucking mother won’t accept my movements.”
She cupped my cheek. “It puts you in a precarious position.”
I snickered. “To put it lightly.”
She smiled softly at me, and her innocence sparked a fire in my gut. Her creamy skin seated against my tan. Her beautiful eyes, dancing between mine. She pressed the smallest kiss to the tip of my nose, and it broke something inside me. Something I didn’t know was there to be broken.
“You’re the only good thing to come of all this,” I murmured.
She snickered. “I’ll try to be, at least.”
I shook my head. “No trying. You just are. Accept it. Don’t be like them. Just—just accept it, Ciara.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
Then, her lips pressed softly against mine.
And the animal within me burst free from its cage.
9
Ciara
His vulnerability shocked me. His words warmed me. The tone of his voice lowered just before his lips pressed against mine, igniting a fire in my gut. Maybe Declan wasn’t a monster. Maybe he wasn’t like Father. Just a beautiful man with many, many demons. Like the rest of us had. I mean, he had listened to me. Confided in me. Told me secrets and asked something of me I could more than give him. I liked that. I wanted more of that. And as his lips met mine, it was soft. Tender. With a hint of romance, I never would’ve expected from a man like him.
It didn’t stay that way for long, though.
His hands took my wrists and pinned them against the wall above me. Opening my body for him as his tongue slid to the back of my mouth. I moaned down his throat as our teeth clattered together, my panties already damp for him. I smelled myself. And the growls he filled my mouth with told me he did, too.
He rutted against me. Like a wild animal.
And my head spun out of control.
I rolled against him. My knees weakened with every stroke of his tongue. I’d never felt this way. And I never wanted it to end. Declan’s hands slid down my arms. Tracing the curves of my shoulders. My clothed breasts. My waist. My eyes fluttered open as he released my lips, watching as his eyes met mine. That darkened stare. Those determined eyes. He was the physical metaphor of darkness.
And the beauty that could come with it.
“Come with me,” he murmured.
His hands gripped my ass cheeks and he picked me up. I squealed, clinging to him as he practically tossed me over his shoulder. He walked up the stairs, guiding us closer to our bedroom. The one we’d share together.
The one where he’d make me his.
“De—clan!”
I yelped as he tossed me to the bed. My body bounced for him as I heard his shoes clicking softly across the hardwood floor. His hand took my wrist, tugging on it before I felt something wrap around my skin.
“Declan?” I asked.
“Hush,” he said curtly.
My head craned back, and I watched him wrap something around my wrist. He bound me to the headboard, preventing my arm from moving. I furrowed my brow deeply as my eyes met his. But he didn’t look at me.
And I didn’t dare ask.
I watched him while he worked. Tying my wrists and ankles to the bed. My body spread open for him. Waiting for him to take me. He lifted my head with such gentleness. He smoothed my hair away from my neck. He propped my head up with pillows, giving my eyes the ability to look around the room. Then, he moved to the foot of the bed.
Where he began to strip.
“Oh, my gosh,” I whispered.
“I really should punish you for that, you know,” he said.
I rolled my lips over my teeth, making sure I didn’t anger him. I watched as his clothes came off. As he hung them o
ver a chair in the corner. His body revealed itself to me, and he was gorgeous. Just gorgeous. With rippling muscles, thick rings around his abs, and veins bursting from places where I wanted to seat my tongue.
Until he turned around with a knife in his hand.
“Declan,” I said, my voice shaking.
“You should hold still for this part,” he said calmly.
I whimpered as he came closer to me. He flipped the blade of the knife out and tears crested my eyes. Holy shit, was he about to cut me open? Feed me to his family? Fuck, how did I get out of here?
I tugged at my restraints before his hand came down around my neck. Pressing against the sides of it softly as my movements stilled.
“Stay. Still,” he commanded.
I drew in shuddering breaths as he ran the flat side of the blade against my cheek. He traced the sharp tip down my neck, pausing just as my pulse point. Tears rushed down my cheeks. Holy fuck, this man was about to kill me.
Until the knife slipped underneath my dress.
I gasped as he ripped the blade up. Time after time. Quickly cutting the fabric of my clothes away from my skin. With every button that popped, I jumped. With every tear of fabric that hit my ears, my toes curled. Tears continued to rush my cheeks. But my nipples puckered harder. My pussy wet itself further. My muscles contracted, waiting for the punchline. Waiting for his last movements. And it finally came.
In the form of that knife sliding underneath my panties.
I whimpered as he slit my panties open. My clothes fell away, bra and all, as my body revealed itself to him. His hand left my neck and I breathed a sigh of relief. And the grin that spread across his face was positively devilish. He closed the knife before tossing it to the bedside table. The one he claimed for himself, I suppose. Then, I watched him walk over to the closet.
Declan: The Callaghan Mafia #1 Page 7