Decipher (Declan Reede: The Untold Story #3)

by Michelle Irwin

  It was almost twilight when the park finally came into view. The day had been so hot that after the short walk, a light sheen of sweat clung to our bodies. The sky was filled with a haze of light grey clouds, holding the promise of an evening shower to cool things down.

  My nerves were on edge, and my hand shook as it held Alyssa’s when we walked closer to our tree.

  “What’s wrong, Declan?” Alyssa asked.

  My behaviour must have been concerning her. I shook my head. “Nothing’s wrong.”

  “Then what is it?” she asked, chewing her bottom lip.

  “I just wanted to spend a little time alone with you,” I said. “Is that so bad?”

  “Of course not, I just . . .” She gave me an odd look. “Well, you’re acting a little strange.”

  I tried to laugh at her words, but it came out sounding a little choked even to my own ears. Deciding to stop trying to be casual because it was giving me away faster than showing my nerves, I turned to her. “Close your eyes,” I whispered.

  She obliged, and I quickly wrapped a blindfold around her eyes.

  “Declan? What’s—”

  I cut her off with a kiss. Her mouth moved of its own accord against mine, needing no guidance from her sight. I stepped back when we both began to get a little breathless. Her lips were full and plump, begging to be kissed again.

  I turned away and quickly began setting things up for our date. First, I set up the pop-up tent. It wasn’t big, but was closed in and would block us from prying eyes if things went the way I hoped—I needed some time alone with Alyssa. To add to the privacy, I’d set up our little picnic in the corner of the park that farthest from the houses, hidden away between the long grass around the edge of the park and the giant tree that had seen so much of the relationship Alyssa and I had shared. I laid out the picnic blanket, and set up the tea light candles. The dinner I’d organised wasn’t anything fancy—just leftovers from the massive Christmas spread as Ruth had promised.

  As far as co-conspirators went, Ruth was pretty perfect. I had no doubts she knew what I was planning, and I was certain she knew that I guessed her suspicions, but we didn’t mention it—each pretending we had the other fooled.

  All I’d done though was ask her to pack something small for us, but she’d gone one step further and got a few of Alyssa’s favourite foods, and then packed them all away in her nicest Tupperware. Then she began throwing together everything I would need for some privacy—especially with the photographer still hanging around. Not that I’d seen him on our walk.

  Once the picnic was all set up, I guided Alyssa to her place. I helped her to the ground before dropping the blindfold away from her eyes.

  “Ta-da,” I said, immensely proud of the feast I had laid out for both the senses and the stomach.

  “Wow,” she breathed before smiling widely. “What’s this for?”

  “It’s your Christmas present,” I said. “Some time alone, just the two of us. Unless you want me to leave, of course? It is your present, after all.”

  She laughed. “Oh, well in that case, you most definitely should . . .” She paused for a beat too long for my comfort. “Stay.”

  She leaned forward across the mat, kissing my lips softly before turning to the food. “Although, I really don’t think I can eat another thing after the lunch Mum put on today.”

  I smiled, not upset in the least by the turn of events. If she wasn’t hungry, it gave us more time to enjoy being alone together.

  “I can fix that,” I said, putting the lids back onto the containers and packing them into the hamper.

  “You sure you don’t mind?” she asked. “You went to all this effort.”

  “The effort wasn’t about the food, Lys,” I said.

  I hoped she didn’t notice the fact that my voice wavered at the end. Even if I didn’t care about the food, it meant that things were speeding hastily toward the part of the evening I was dreading and anticipating in equal measures.

  She raised her eyebrow at me, obviously not missing the quiver in my voice. A small smile crossed her face as she watched me fumble with the last of the containers.

  I turned back toward her—nerves now wracking my body and causing my fingers to shake. She wrapped her hands around mine, and I watched our intertwined fingers for a moment, trying to settle my stomach.

  “There was something else,” I whispered finally, not willing to meet her eyes for fear of turning chicken. I tried to continue, but the words stuck in my throat.

  After a moment’s silence, Alyssa released my hands. “What is it?”

  “I have something else,” I repeated. “For your Christmas present.” I reached my hand into my pocket. “Actually, now that I think of it, it’s a selfish gift. Very selfish, in fact. I hope you’ll forgive me for that.”

  Her brow furrowed in confusion.

  I pulled the little velvet box from my pocket and opened the lid to reveal the contents to her. A few drops of rain started to fall, but I barely noticed them. It was time. It was perfect. It was happening.

  My heart was pounding as I spoke. “I want you, Alyssa. I want only you, forever. Will you be mine? Not just for Christmas, but for the rest of our lives?” I held out the diamond ring to her, once again feeling relief that I’d purchased it when funds were less restricted.

  She stared at me and didn’t breathe for the longest time. The rain was coming down heavier, but the night air was warm, so I didn’t mind. Her eyes lingered on the ring for a moment, before moving to my face. She regarded me for a second before nodding.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  I couldn’t help my wide grin or my sigh of relief. I didn’t know what to say, knowing nothing—not all the words in the world—could ever be as beautiful as the little affirmation she’d just issued. I let my fingers do the talking instead. I closed my eyes and leaned toward her, cupping her face softly with my hand and pulling her lips against mine. I kissed her softly at first, becoming more hungry as the seconds passed. The whole time, a new mantra ran on a loop through my head. She said yes, she wants to be mine.

  She moaned against me in encouragement as my fingers found her hand and gently slid the ring onto her finger while keeping her lips busy. She didn’t even glance at the way the ring looked against her skin before moving her hands into my hair to pull my mouth harder against hers.

  It really had been too long, for both of us. I was ecstatic that she seemed to want me as much as I wanted her.

  She hummed as she released my lips. Both of us were oblivious to the rain as it poured down and soaked through our clothes.

  My hands caressed her arms before reaching for the buttons on her shirt. I made short work of them as I let my desire overtake reason and control. I pushed lightly against her, and she complied, falling back onto the blanket. My lips caressed the skin on her neck and collarbone as I pushed her shirt up out of my way.

  The rain moistened her skin and raised small goosebumps over her stomach. Needing to have her naked beneath me—or on top of me, I wasn’t fussy—I offered her my hand and we moved into the relative privacy of the small tent, dragging the blanket with us.

  I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth and ran it softly between my teeth. I trailed my mouth lower as she ran her fingers through my now wet hair, pushing it back off my face. Her skin was flushed and warm with desire, but the rain had cooled it as it landed. I worked on the button of her shorts, quickly pulling them off with a flourish. I didn’t care that we were—for all intents and purposes—still in a public place. We were hidden enough, and I needed her so badly. I hadn’t been able to taste her properly in the longest time. The sex we’d had in recent weeks was always rushed, as we hurried to finish before Phoebe woke or so that we could get a precious few moments of sleep.

  Now that I had Alyssa alone, and we weren’t due back for at least another couple of hours, I was going to enjoy every second with her—and every inch of her.

  My tongue circled her belly button b
efore trailing small kisses along her stomach. I pressed my cheek against her thigh as I adjusted myself lower. I ran my nose along her inner thigh and down to her knee, before tracing the same line back with my tongue.

  She muttered indecipherably as she writhed in pleasure—the sound and movement heading straight through my body to my already hard dick. It twitched against its material cage, begging to be released and allowed to return to its home between Alyssa’s legs. It would have to wait though; I wanted to taste her first. I wanted her to scream my name as I kissed her deeply. I grazed my teeth lightly along her clit, and she moaned throatily. Needing to do more, I planted a small kiss where my teeth had been seconds earlier, and her legs closed around my shoulders, wrapping me in heaven.

  I ran my tongue up the length of one of her lips, circling around and running it down the other. Alyssa shuddered beneath me and clenched the picnic blanket tightly in her fists.

  I pulled back from her. “Alyssa,” I whispered softly. “Can you show me how you fuck yourself?”

  Her head rose off the blanket, a look of shock on her features. I wanted her to feel comfortable, but I also wanted to see her own fingers dance across her skin. It was something I hadn’t been treated to yet.

  “Please,” I begged, before adding, “But only if you want to.”

  She regarded me for a minute, before nodding minutely and running her hand across her stomach and over the apex of her thigh. Her finger dipped to her pussy, and then she ran it lightly across the surface. After following her movements with a hungry stare, I dipped my head and followed the trail of her finger, eliciting a sweet groan.

  I raised my head slightly and watched as her finger trailed back to her clit. When it did, I licked her fingertip where it met her sweet spot. She pulled her hand back a little, permitting my tongue to take the lead, but I couldn’t allow that. Instead, I held on her hand and guided her fingers toward her entrance. A moan of delight left me as I watched her digits move in and out, slowly at first, but faster and more fluidly with every passing second. Sitting back on my haunches, I watched her pleasure herself. My cock was screaming at me to stop the madness already and bring him into the game, but I couldn’t. At least, not just yet.

  A pink tinge ran up the length of Alyssa’s body as she saw my eyes appraising her. Her hand stilled and her bottom lip was captured by her teeth.

  I smiled at her, trying to make her see how fucking beautiful I thought she was. Then, reaching out, I grabbed her hand, pressing her fingers softly into my mouth and rolling my tongue around the tips. Without missing a beat, I replaced her fingers with my own, enjoying the warmth surrounding my fingertips as they entered her. She was so wet and ready. Moving my fingers in a slow circle, I grinned when Alyssa bucked her hips toward me. I leaned over her again and dipped my head to press my mouth against her skin again.

  Her left hand grabbed my hair, pulling me even closer to her. I could feel the band of the ring there grazing against my skull and couldn’t help smiling. She’d agreed to be mine—I could think of nothing I wanted more in the world. The thought made me kiss her more deeply, wrapping my tongue around her clit until she cried out my name repeatedly in blissful elation.

  As soon as her walls began to tighten around my fingers, I slid them out and stripped off my shorts. My cock crowed with delight as I positioned myself between Alyssa’s thighs. Her legs wrapped around me and guided me home. I slammed into her again and again, harder and harder, as she came around me. The rain had eased off and was little more than a light mist against the tent when I twisted us around so that Alyssa could ride me.

  She turned her face up to the ceiling and cried out in delight.

  My hands caught her breasts as they danced in time to her rhythm. My fingers grazed her nipples as I tried desperately to stop myself from coming too soon and ruining the little time we had together. I bit my lip and moved my hands to her hips, pulling them tightly against mine to still her movements, relishing the feel of my full length within her. I pulled myself upright, keeping Alyssa in position, and she wrapped her legs around me in response, mirroring the action with her arms around my neck. I softly kissed her neck before allowing my lips to slowly graze a tender trail from her breast to her hair.

  “I love you, soon-to-be Alyssa Reede,” I whispered against the smooth column of her throat.

  I silenced any argument she might have had to the name by pulling her hips against me, pushing my length deeper into her.

  Her response was a throaty groan, and I knew I couldn’t last any longer. Yanking her hips roughly against me again, I spilled into her.

  Desiring to be even closer to her, knowing all the while that I could never be close enough, I wrapped her securely in my arms. As my breathing slowly returned to normal, I rested my cheek against her heart and listened to it slow to a steady beat while her fingertips brushed lightly through my hair.

  We sat like that for an unknown time before she began to extract herself from our tangle. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back toward me. “I’m not finished with you yet,” I growled softly.

  She laughed and swatted my hand away playfully. I moved quickly before she could put too much distance between us, and pulled her back into me.

  “You think I’m joking?” I asked, before nipping her neck. I ran my hand along her thigh. “I am so not finished with you yet.”

  “Declan, we can’t,” she argued with zero conviction. “We have to get back.”

  “Why?” I asked, ducking down to suck one of her breasts into my mouth.

  “Phoebe—” she started.

  “Is with your mum and is perfectly fine,” I countered.

  “Umm, Ruby and Josh—” she continued.

  “Will still be there when we get back.”

  When I saw that she would be compliant despite her debate, I released her. I reached outside the tent to pick up the blindfold that I’d discarded earlier and wrapped it around her eyes before she realised what I was doing.

  “Declan?” she questioned, obviously uncertain about the turn of events.

  “Trust me,” I whispered.

  She nodded.

  “We’ve had the main course,” I told her. “Now it’s time for dessert.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: A BLESSING AND A CURSE

  I LIFTED MY head off Alyssa’s chest, surveying the scene, before freeing one hand from its hold around her and lightly brushing the remnants of crushed strawberries out of her hair. I grabbed the blindfold that had recently been discarded and gently wiped the last few smears of chocolate sauce from her chest. I stared down at her, marvelling at her beauty. Her brown hair lay fanned out around her face, and her eyes were loosely shut as she rested. Goosebumps littered her body as the night air cooled her skin. She was stunning, but most importantly she had agreed to be mine.

  Thinking back on the evening we’d just shared, I smiled. If someone had asked me what my favourite dessert was when I was younger, I probably would have said pavlova, or maybe cheesecake. But after my evening with Alyssa, a new favourite topped the list. Who would have thought that simple strawberries with chocolate dipping sauce could be quite so . . . appetising? Even then, though wholly and completely satiated, the thought of her plump lips closing around the red flesh of the berry as her teeth broke through the skin made me hard. I imagined her tongue darting out to catch the juices or lick a little of the chocolate that had dripped onto her lips, and groaned.

  How had I got so lucky? Not only was she stunningly beautiful, and wholly in love with me, she was a willing participant in all things I introduced to her.

  Like the blindfold.

  Knowing she couldn’t see me as I moved around her, touching and caressing her, was surreal. She made new noises that I’d never heard before. By the end, I’d had her gasping for breath as she came hard. Even as the moments played on repeat in my mind, I wondered whether she would still taste of the strawberries and chocolate if I kissed her.

  I trailed my eyes down the length of her b
ody, lifting myself up further, so that I was kneeling above her. My attention roamed around the soft peaks and valleys of her body before landing on the ring that had adorned her left hand for a little less than two hours, but would stay there forever.

  When I kissed her again, I felt relieved that our pap stalker hadn’t been spotted once. Maybe he’d been given Christmas off. Even if he was skulking about somewhere hidden, it was too dark for him to have snapped any photos of us naked in the very public park without a night-vision camera with the ability to see through the walls of the tent.

  “What’re you smiling at?” Alyssa asked sweetly. Her voice startled me; I’d thought she was dozing. I looked back at her face, but her eyes were still shut.

  I leaned into her neck, kissing it softly, and murmured, “How do you know I’m smiling?” I closed my own eyes as I renewed my ministrations on her skin.

  “I always know when you are smiling,” she said simply. “It’s my job.”

  “Hmmm,” I mused. “Is it your job just to know, or to put a smile there?”

  “Both.” She grinned.

  “I know a way you could make my smile wider,” I said suggestively. “And maybe yours too.”

  She remained silent, but her hips rolled a little in my direction, telling me to go for gold. I nudged her thighs a little wider with my knee before sliding straight into her. I knew I needed to get my fill of her before heading back to her family, and eventually to real life. At least I could do that absolutely secure in the knowledge that she was mine.

  Holding her tightly, I pushed deep inside of her. I wanted something more than just sex—more than fucking. I wanted to communicate to her all the joy I felt from her “yes.” If it meant I had to give her a third orgasm in as many hours, well, that was a price I was more than willing to pay. I stared into her eyes as I took her over the edge and back into oblivion.