He didn’t question it, running his hands up and down the bare skin of my thighs before finally gripping the hem of the dress. He lifted it slowly, unhurriedly. Standing up to pull it over the top of my head, he kissed my lips deeply before he sat back down.
It was like he couldn’t stop touching me, couldn’t stop looking at me. His eyes were on mine as his thumbs hooked into the elastic of my panties, rolling them down until they fell to my feet.
Breathing in deeply, another growl came out of him when he finally broke eye contact. His lids fell shut, and a tortured expression flickered across his forehead. “Fuck, baby. You smell so good. I love how fucking wet you get for me.”
Another whimper escaped just before I tugged my lower lip into my mouth and bit down on it to stop more of those noises coming out. He wasn’t even touching me. Jesus. He was only talking, and I was halfway to a freaking orgasm from that and his kisses alone. But that was just the Declan effect. I’d come to terms with the insanity he created in my body—and had come to love it, even.
Bringing his hands up to grip the insides of my thighs, he spread them apart and groaned at the sight of my glistening pussy. “I’m going to taste you now. I’m going to make you come as many times as I can before I can’t take it anymore. Then I’m going to make love to you over and over again until the sun comes up tomorrow morning.”
I almost missed it, but despite the carnal desire coiled in every muscle I had, I realized he had said the L-word. Again. He’d said he was going to make love to me, not fuck me.
Seeing the way he was looking at me, it really shouldn’t have surprised me. And he’d said he loved me twice now. I had the sudden urge to check, to make him say it again. But I didn’t really need him to.
I’d heard him loud and clear, could see it in his eyes and feel it coming off him in waves that were almost palpable. Emotion choked me up for a moment. I never thought I would feel this from or for him, but I was.
Finally, I managed to find my voice. “Yeah, I feel the same way.”
He didn’t question what I meant, simply hooked a strong arm around me and brought me down to straddle his lap. I gasped as my overly sensitive skin met his still-clothed body, zaps of pleasure shooting from my hard nipples to my extremities.
Thankfully, he seemed to realize how much I needed him in that moment. He didn’t try to drag it out any longer.
Using his powerful muscles to switch our positions so I was now the one on the bed, he kneeled beside it and planted a soft kiss on the inside of each of my thighs before licking through my core. It was like I had an electrical current running directly through my pussy, every single cell screaming, “Yes!”
His warm breath exhaled over me, sending shivers down my legs. His tongue circled around my clit like it was the best friend he’d ever had.
He inhaled at every possible moment and let out these little moans that vibrated into me, making me wetter than ever before. His hands were on my thighs, my stomach, and my hips. Then one of his fingers slid into me, and I practically levitated off the bed.
The orgasm that slammed into me almost made me blackout. It started with a pulsating feeling in my core, and then my head was spinning. My body shook uncontrollably, my muscles clenching and releasing as the eruption of pleasure rushing through me warmed even my damn earlobes.
When it finally subsided, Declan kissed my sensitive skin lovingly, almost apologetically. He went to work on me all over again. He focused on me like I was his job, his slow licks eventually bringing me back to the brink and then flying over it again.
“You are always the most beautiful woman in the entire world, but when you come…” He trailed off as he planted kisses all the way up my abdomen, crawling over me. I didn’t know when he’d gotten naked, but he had.
I moaned when I felt the tip of his searing-hot cock slide through my slick folds, stopping just before he breached my entrance. He hissed at the contact, his breathing labored and his eyes hooded.
“When you come, you are so achingly gorgeous that it feels like I could come by just watching you.” The tension in his muscles practically thrummed. “You are everything to me, baby. I want to live inside you, but I also just want to be with you.”
Wanting to soothe him, to make him feel as good as he had done for me and to show him I loved his body just as he had just shown me, I wound my arms around his neck and my legs around his hips. Using my calves, I flexed and pushed him down.
His breath caught, and his eyes rolled back for a second before they were on mine again, his hands reaching out until they captured my fingers. It was right there in his eyes that it was more than just my body that he loved.
I tightened my grip on his hands and lifted my hips, keeping my eyes on his as his rock-hard cock sank into me. “You are with me, Declan. Nothing will ever come between us again. Nothing.”
He brought his lips to mine in a passionate kiss that told me we were in complete agreement about that. Lost in a sea of sensation and love and Declan, I lost track of everything but him for the longest time. We were so completely in sync that when I felt him tense and knew he was right on the edge, I was there with him.
The orgasm that swept through me was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. It was like a combination of the most relaxing massage while watching the best fireworks show in existence, like our first kiss but more intense, like finding out I didn’t have work on a Monday because of some holiday I totally forgot about, like taking my heels off at the end of a terrible day, and like attending the greatest party ever, wrapped into one.
When it was over, I collapsed in his arms, totally unable to move, think, or speak as we lay there catching our breath.
Chapter 39
Declan
Six months after Raeanne arrived unexpectedly at my house, kissed the crap out of me, and told me that despite everything, she still trusted me, her, Lawson, and I stood in front of the massive brick building Finley and his crew had erected.
I’d been there every step of the way, and even I couldn’t quite believe how the contemporary library had turned out. Raeanne gave me a proud smile as she handed over a gigantic pair of scissors, winking at Lawson standing on my other side.
“If he can’t cut through that big ribbon, you’ll give Declan a hand, right?”
He nodded seriously, eyeing the ribbon and pair of scissors. “Why couldn’t we just use the sharp ones from the kitchen? That one doesn’t look very sharp.”
I grinned at the cameras there to document the occasion but then decided to hell with them as I looked down at Lawson instead. “Because normal kitchen scissors aren’t very grand, and this is a grand opening, ergo gigantic scissors.”
He laughed but nodded in agreement. “I guess the ones in the kitchen aren’t very grand.”
One day soon, I was hoping the scissors in his kitchen would be grand. I was also hoping that the kitchen in question would also be mine.
Lawson knew that Raeanne and I were dating now, and he loved it, but she thought it was still too soon to move in with me. Hell, she’d only finally admitted that she had fully forgiven me about a month ago.
I couldn’t give her too much of a hard time about it because what I had done had been pretty damn shitty. Finley had loved every minute of my having to jump through hoops to get her to forgive me.
Not that the hoops had been super tricky to jump through. Raeanne had told me that even though she loved me, she couldn’t forgive my lies unless I walked her through everything from start to finish.
And so I’d gone back in my memory, explaining things to her from my point of view in all the interactions we’d had. I’d recounted how from the very first time I’d laid eyes on her, she’d triggered a primal instinct deep within me to protect her. I’d told her how even from that very first meeting, she had brought out a side of me I hadn’t even known was there.
It had taken ripping open my soul and admitting to her that seeing myself through their eyes, I hadn’t wanted them to thin
k I was a loser or a freeloader, admitting that I had felt like a disappointment to my father at the time, even if I hadn’t even admitted it to myself yet. I told her about Finley and how he’d teased me, even if he supported me, and that I’d meant it when I’d told her at our first dinner that even though I didn’t have the best relationship with my father, I was lucky to have had one.
Basically, the hoops I’d had to jump through were all questions. All of which I’d answered honestly, even if it made me vulnerable to do it.
Strangely enough, that vulnerability had allowed me to get closer to my own family as well. I stopped fighting with my father at every turn just to be obstinate and actually went and sat with him. Day after day, we discussed the library, and he’d helped a lot in bringing things together.
My mother and I had started patching up our relationship as well. After that talk we’d had, she became Raeanne’s biggest champion and supporter. To my greatest surprise, she’d even taken on something of a grandmotherly role to Lawson and adored him more than anyone else—even Charles.
Life had taken some very unexpected turns after last Christmas, but I was grateful for each and every single one. Standing outside one of the physical manifestations of those changes made me marvel over how I’d had my head so far up my own ass before I’d met Raeanne.
She and Lawson had been my reasons for finally pulling it out, but I thought she had a point about the super rich. Because I really shouldn’t have needed a reason to pull it out. It should never have been up there in the first place.
Years of my life had been wasted doing nothing because I’d felt entitled to it, and that was a version of me I didn’t much like to think back to now.
Finley grinned at me from the crowd, catching my eye in the front row. As he raised his thumb, I cut through the ribbon, and a roar went up among the gathered members of the community. I was damn proud of what we had done with this library, and I couldn’t wait for them to see it.
I stepped up to the microphone that had been placed between the pillars and took Lawson’s hand in one of mine and Raeanne’s in the other.
“Welcome to the grand opening of the Head Library. My family,” I raised their hands in mine above our heads, “and I have tried our best to make it a library people will want to come to. We want to encourage you to keep in touch with us and let us know if there’s something it needs. This library is for everyone, the dreamers and the doers, the readers and the poor people who aren’t.”
A chuckle rippled through the crowd, and I grinned to let them know I was teasing. “The ingenuity that’s gone into this project by everyone involved is unmatched, and we hope that everyone will find something for themselves inside these walls. Thank you for coming. We love having you here.”
I lifted Raeanne’s and Lawson’s hands again. Although it wasn’t yet official, they were my family, and I didn’t care what anyone but them had to say about it.
Raeanne said they felt the same way about me, so she was happy to let me refer to them that way as well. She smiled at me now, bringing my hand to her lips to place a soft kiss on the back of it. “I’m proud of you, Declan.”
“Don’t be,” I teased. “This is all because of you.”
“Even so, I’m proud of you for setting your mind to doing this and actually making it happen. It’s incredible, and it’s going to mean so much to the community.”
Wayde came over to slap me on the shoulder, nodding as he heard the last part of Raeanne’s sentence. “It’s going to make a massive difference in the lives of so many of our kids. I’ve already been reaching out to some of our sister organizations too, and they’re also very excited about this.”
“I’m so glad,” Raeanne said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad the little boys are going to have somewhere to go. But it will be good to have some little girls running around, too.”
“If you want to, we can practice on making that happen at home too,” I said, only half-joking. “We could have a little girl running around within a year.”
Raeanne rolled her eyes but laughed. “That’s not really how it works, babe. They don’t come out running.”
I shrugged. “Okay, well, I’m still up for practice.”
“Tessa’s coming to interview you for your article, remember?” she said, watching as her friend made her way to the front with Lawson. He’d run off to find her as soon as the ribbon was cut. He was her executive assistant again for the purposes of this article, and he took it very seriously.
Just before Tessa and Lawson reached us, Raeanne wrapped an arm around my waist and leaned in to whisper, “But maybe we can practice later.”
“Hell, yes.” I grinned, already wondering how much longer we would have to stay.
Finley caught my eye, raised a brow knowingly, and shook his head at me. I swore that bastard could read my mind sometimes, but he was right. I couldn’t go dragging my beautiful, sexy girlfriend away for a quickie when we were supposed to be opening my very first community establishment.
And that was when Tessa reached us anyway, so it was too late to make a quick escape. “I took the press tour earlier, and I’ve got to say, I’m impressed, Declan. You were right when you said the ingenuity that’s gone into this place is unmatched, but I think you should give yourself more credit.”
Although she was Raeanne’s friend, I didn’t feel like she was just saying it. Her words gave me the same warm and fuzzy feeling I got every time someone paid the library a compliment, and I’d never felt warm or fuzzy in my entire fucking life before this.
These days though, I might as well have been a fucking rabbit. Hand me a carrot and watch me hop.
I couldn’t help it. I was just that happy. “Thanks, but if you want to give credit where credit is due, you should talk to Finley. I couldn’t have done it without him, or without your best friend. They’re the real geniuses here.”
“Just because I can run focus groups with elementary school children doesn’t make me a genius.” Raeanne laughed. “It’s like you’re allergic to taking compliments these days. What’s up with you?”
“I don’t need compliments. All I need is you.”
“Oh God,” she groaned. “Who knew that completing your first project successfully would turn you into such a corny goofball? What happened to my cocky playboy with the devil-may-care attitude?”
“I’m still pretty cocky,” I quipped but then cut off that particular train of thought when I heard my mother’s voice replying at the same time as mine.
“I knew he would turn into a corny goofball,” she joked. “You should have seen Russell after he made a success of his first venture. It was adorable.”
“I’m not adorable,” my father grunted, but there was amusement shining from his eyes. These last few months had done him well, and I’d often wondered if the strain on him and our relationship had been put there by that devil-may-care attitude Raeanne had just mentioned.
“I’m not adorable either,” I protested, slinging my arm across her shoulders. But since I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face, I conceded. “Maybe I am a little adorable.”
Raeanne laughed, turning her head to brush her lips against my jaw. All of these casual touches still made a fucking shiver run through me. Yeah, I’m totally fucking whipped and I’m proud of it.
“Hi, Maryanne,” Raeanne said as she released me to go hug my mother. “How are you guys doing?”
Mom returned her hug, smiling when she stepped away. “Proudest peas in the pod today, I’ll have you know. But don’t worry, dear. We still love you more than we love Declan. We’re just very proud of him today.”
Raeanne chuckled at my mother’s joke, but I didn’t really think it was one. Despite my misgivings over how they might take the news that I was dating a photographer, they’d welcomed her into the family with open arms, and she hadn’t protested nearly as much as I might have thought she would.
“I love you too, but unfortunately, I can’t say that I love you more than I love Decl
an,” Raeanne said, reaching for my hand and threading her fingers through mine. “I don’t think it’s possible for me to love anyone, except for Lawson, more than I love Declan. I am proud of him too, though.”
Each time she said anything even remotely resembling what she just had, my heart skipped and jumped. But it also made me think of the ring I’d already ordered. I wondered how long I was going to have to hang onto it before I could let her turn me into an honest man.
Lord knew there was nothing I wanted more. But I could wait. I would wait for her forever if I had to, and it would still be fucking worth it.
If the guy I’d been nine or so months ago had heard thoughts like these, he’d have had himself committed to an institution. Although I did want to be committed to an institution. But the institution was marriage.
Take that, cocky playboy with the devil-may-care attitude. I’m going to get you married to Raeanne if it’s the last thing I do. How do you like them apples?
I felt the last part of that guy shrivel up and die in response, and I waved him off without a single ounce of remorse. Goodbye, and frankly, good riddance.
Epilogue
Raeanne
“Hey, babe,” I said when Declan answered his phone. The smile I had become accustomed to whenever I spoke to him appeared like magic on my lips. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m running a little late.”
“How late?” he asked, his deep voice so damn sexy even after a year of hearing it on a daily basis. “Lawson and I are at the library. I need you to come by before we go to dinner. Can you meet us here?”
“Sure,” I agreed easily. “I’m going to leave in about ten minutes. Do me a favor and have whatever you need shots of set up, okay? I’m starving.”
“So are we,” Declan said, but I could hear an uncharacteristic anxiety in his voice. “We’re just not the ones running late. See you soon.”
“See you soon.” I decided to leave it until I got to the library to try and figure out what was making him nervous. There was probably another article being done about the library.
Take It Down A Notch Page 25