by Liz Gavin
That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, though, because she cried louder.
“Ooh! That’s my favorite song,” she wailed and he looked at the ceiling as if in prayer. The woman was too drunk to make any sense. Then, she started singing out of key and he understood what she meant. “See you break away! La-la-la - to fade away! La-la-la - I’m not sleeping!”
“All right, missy, time to go up to your room. This isn’t a karaoke bar,” he said as he walked around the counter, snaked an arm around her narrow waist and grabbed her arm, draping it over his own shoulders. “Up you go. That’s a good girl.”
He looked at his colleagues and they shooed him away.
“Go, go! We’ve got it covered,” Harry said aloud, trying, without success, not to burst out laughing.
Màire shook her head at him and teased, “It’s amazing what that Declan guy has to do to get a date, huh, Harry?”
He gave her the finger as he stumbled out the door and heard their roaring laughter behind him. Although Keira was a small thing, it was very difficult to stir a drunken person. She could barely put one foot in front of the other, so their legs got intertwined. Fearing they would stumble to the ground, Declan decided to scoop her up, carrying her to the room.
“Yay! That’s nice,” she said as she let her head fall on his shoulder and laced her hands behind his neck closing her eyes.
She snuggled closer to his body and he felt his heart beat like crazy inside his chest. He could hardly breathe and closed his eyes for a second to wait for the surge of blood in his veins to flow back upwards. It had gone straight down to his groin and he moaned at his body’s reaction to her proximity. He told himself he was a grown man, who was perfectly capable of taking a helpless woman to her room, putting her on the bed, and going back to work. It was as simple as that.
He pretended not to know his shift was about to finish as he carried her inside the elevator. He had a master keycard for when he needed to deliver drinks to the guests so he used it to open her door since he was in no condition to go through her pockets to find her card. She wasn’t carrying a purse.
What kind of woman doesn’t carry a purse?
Obviously, one who didn’t fit the stereotype. He felt in his bones that the situation was bound to end in disaster. After all, that was his luck, anyway.
He stooped over the bed to put her down, but, when he tried to straighten up again, Keira laced her hands behind his neck, holding him in place. She was surprisingly strong for a woman, especially a drunken one.
“Don’t go, please. I don’t want to be alone, Declan,” she begged.
At least she knew who he was. He took her hands in his and sat beside her.
“I’ll stay until you fall sleep,” he told her, hoping it would be soon.
Keira couldn’t focus her eyes properly and Declan’s face seemed to swim above hers. She put her hands on his cheeks to stop his head from moving.
“You are so dreamy. Are you for real?”
He laughed at her because he was sure she wasn’t aware she had said it aloud. Her next words confirmed that.
“Why are you laughing, silly? You don’t know what I’m thinking.”
He hid his smile behind a stern expression.
“It’s late, Keira. Close your eyes and try to sleep.”
She did so but after a short while, she sat on the bed and looked around, startled.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” talked to her as if she were six years old. “Go back to sleep.”
She shook her head and looked ashen, “My head is spinning,” she said before turning a deeper shade of green.
Declan rushed to the bathroom to get the wastebasket, but wasn’t fast enough. She threw up over the bed before he returned. There wasn’t much he could do rather than wait for the heaving to stop. He held her hair and soothed her with gentle words but she was mortified. She made incoherent apologies.
“Shush, Keira, don’t speak. Everything will be all right,” he told her and for some strange reason, she believed him.
When it was over, he helped her stand up. Her legs were a little shaky, and she felt filthy, although she hadn’t soiled her clothes. The bed was certainly disgusting.
“I need a shower.”
She felt horrible but at least her head was less foggy. Noticing her legs were firmer, he knew she could handle the shower on her own. That was a relief because he wouldn’t be able to help her there.
“Go ahead. I’ll call housekeeping and tell them to clean up this mess. Don’t worry.”
She took her time under the shower head trying to relax and recover. The hot water helped her accomplish that. She didn’t expect Declan to stick around and wait for her. After all, she had already put him in enough awkward situations for one night with her drunken stupidity and horrible behavior.
She was surprised to find him sitting on the blue armchair by the window, when she left the bathroom. Her bed was clean again. She was so embarrassed she couldn’t look him in the eyes.
“Thank you, Declan, for everything. I’m so–,” she started speaking but stopped when he raised a hand to interrupt her.
“No apologies necessary, Keira. I’d never leave you alone in this kind of situation. It’s something we’d better leave behind us, don’t you think?”
“You’re absolutely right.”
“I guess you’d rather stay alone now you’re feeling better, right?” he asked.
She hesitated briefly before nodding. For a second, he had hoped she would ask him to stay and felt sad when she agreed he should go.
“Well, this is goodbye,” he stood up to leave.
As he walked towards her on his way to the door, Keira felt like grabbing his hand and asking him to stay. When he passed by her she did nothing. He stopped beside her and stared into her eyes. It seemed he wanted to read her mind, know her soul.
Declan wanted to say something that would make Keira change her mind. On the other hand, he didn’t want to take advantage of her fragile state. But when he came close to her and took a deep breath, her sweet perfume clouded his judgment. He couldn’t move. He stood there, looking into her beautiful blue eyes, thinking he was a stupid asshole for considering asking her to stay. He should move. He knew the right thing for him to do was to go away and leave her in peace.
Keira stepped closer.
He stepped backward.
She licked her dry lips and looked at his as if she were hypnotized.
He looked at hers as if he were starving.
She cupped his cheeks in her hands.
He put his big hands behind her fragile neck and ran his thumbs over her cheeks and lower lip.
As they faced each other, their bodies almost touched. The warmth of their bodies enveloped them as a blanket. She had to lift her head high to be able to look into his eyes.
He held her stare as he bent his head down. He stopped his mouth a fraction of an inch from her lips to give her time to change her mind. When she didn’t push him away, he eliminated the distance and covered her mouth with his. There was such a fire burning through Declan’s veins he could barely think straight. He tasted her sweet lips when he wanted to do so much more. Burying his fingers in her hair, he pulled her closer, pressing a hand down on the small of her back.
When their bodies touched intimately, Keira moaned, the sound was trapped by his mouth, and she opened hers wide in surprise. She stood on her tiptoes, holding his shoulders and pressing herself against him. When she felt his manhood brush against her soft belly, she was amazed at how fast her insides melted. She had kissed a few boys in high school and in college. She had even fooled around a bit with a steady boyfriend or two, but she had never gone all the way with a man. The thought of doing it with a stranger, no matter how gorgeous he was, should terrify her. Yet, it didn’t. She wanted to enjoy the moment.
She ran her hands over his broad shoulders and down his chest, as Declan deepened the kisses, invading her mouth with his tongue.
He held her face and playe
d with her lips, kissing and nibbling them, running his tongue over her swollen lips to soothe and tease, at the same time.
She sighed and opened her eyes, seeing in his the same fire that consumed her. She threw her head back and offered him her neck.
He showered steaming kisses along an imaginary line from her chin, down her neck, and stopped at the first button of her blouse. He looked up at her.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded and opened the first button of his vest.
He lowered his head and opened her button with his teeth, kissed the patch of skin it revealed, and looked up at her, again. He smiled and waited.
She got his intention and, with a sinful smile, yanked free the last two buttons of his vest. She did the same to his shirt.
He would need to buy a new uniform but he didn’t care. He opened the rest of the buttons in her shirt with his fingers, pushing it off her shoulders and down her arms. He held his breath then let it out in a low whistle. She wasn’t wearing a bra and he gently cupped her small breasts in his big hands, rubbing their hardening peaks.
“You are perfect,” he whispered against her mouth before taking it again in a passionate kiss.
Keira fought to get rid of his shirt and marveled at the feel of his smooth chest against her taut breasts, when she finally managed to push the clothes off of him. She sighed and pressed closer against his hard body.
He grabbed her hips and molded her soft body to his hardness. He needed to breathe but didn’t want to stop kissing her delicious mouth, which made him light-headed. He reluctantly let go of her lips and gasped for air against her soft neck.
“Christ, you’ll be the death of me. But I’ll die a happy man,” he smiled and pushed her a little away to look at her. He ran his eyes over her flushed faced, disheveled hair and half-clad body. She looked good enough to eat. “You are so beautiful.”
“You are not bad yourself,” she replied as she pulled him by the hand and sat on the bed. She patted the spot beside her, “Come. Sit down. I’ll strain my neck looking up at you like this,” she smiled.
He didn’t need a second invitation. They resumed kissing and exploring each other’s skins.
She ran her fingers shyly over his chest and shoulders but never went too far down.
He fondled her breasts and teased her nipples with his fingers. He kissed her shoulders and neck, before his hands traveled south. He kissed her mouth and whispered to her, “You are driving me crazy. I want to feel your hands on me, Keira.”
She scraped his back and held his shoulders again.
“Like that?”
“No, sweetie, like this,” he kissed her mouth again and she got distracted by her own reaction to his searing lips and tongue. She didn’t notice his intentions until it was too late. He found the waistband of her sweatpants and managed to thrust his hand between the pants and her fevered body. She jumped and grabbed his hand when his fingers found her entrance.
“Do you want me to stop, Keira? You just have to say it and I’ll stop.”
She opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything. She shook her head and let go of his hand. She closed her eyes to better feel it as he pushed her down on the mattress and moved up to hover above her.
“Look at me, Keira. Are you sure?” he asked again.
She nodded but he didn’t move.
“Are you sure you want me to go on, Keira?”
“Yes, Declan, I’m sure,” she answered and he kissed her as he yanked the sweatpants off her body in a swift movement.
She wore only a flimsy lacy pair of panties and her perfection took his breath away.
“You have no idea what you do to me, woman. Your skin is creamy,” he ran his hands over her body as he admired the rosy flush his fingers left behind. “I could look at you for hours. Your breasts fit perfectly inside my hands,” he cupped one, then the other, to prove his point. “Your mouth was made for sinning. It’s so delicious,” he ran a thumb over her lower lip. She gasped and closed her eyes. “Please, look at me. Your eyes turn darker when you’re excited. I want to drown in them.”
He bent down and kissed each eyelid as his hand went south again. She held her breath, when his finger played with the elastic band of her panties. He stretched it then released it. It snapped against her soft skin and she jumped.
“Ouch! That was mean,” she said.
“You have no idea, sweet thing. I want to do a lot of mean things to you,” his smile was bone melting. “Let me start by soothing that pain.”
He moved too fast for her slow mind to follow. Although she wasn’t drunk anymore, the sensations he provoked in her were almost as intoxicating. Before she knew it, he knelt on the bed, bent his head down and kissed her navel where the elastic band had left a thin red mark.
“Feeling better?”
She nodded and the melting smile returned to his lips. His eyes had a strange glint she only understood when it was too late.
“Good. Because I plan to make you feel very uncomfortable.”
Declan slid her panties slowly down her legs as he held her stare. He bent down again over her body, never letting go of her eyes. She frowned at him but he only smiled, scattering a few innocent kisses around her belly button. When he stuck his tongue inside it, she jumped and giggled. He held her hips down and rubbed his cheek against the soft skin of her navel.
“Relax, Keira. I’m just starting.”
She was still trying to figure out what he meant by that when he kissed the top of her thighs, where they met her hips, and it dawned on her. How could she have been so stupid? She felt her legs turn to jelly when he looked at her while he kissed the inside of her thigh before moving his body between her legs, spreading them apart. She couldn’t breathe or speak. She only stared back at him in expectation.
Declan saw when understanding reached her and was surprised at how long it had taken her to read his intentions. He blamed it on her recent drunken state but decided to give her a little bit more time to adjust to the idea. So, instead of kissing her, where he was dying to kiss, he returned his attention to her luscious mouth. He covered her body with his and kissed her lips. His lower body was still clad in his pants, but his painfully hard erection rubbed against her soft skin, as he moved over her and pinned her down to the mattress. His lungs were burning up. He felt his bones melting in the heat she stoked with her tentative movements beneath him, with her eager mouth opening for him, and her hesitant fingers digging into the flesh of his back. But that wasn’t enough. He wanted more from her. He wanted to see her come undone in his arms, to lose control completely.
“Don’t hold back, Keira. Let it go,” he whispered in her ear.
He kissed her again and his blood boiled when she hissed inside his mouth.
“That’s it, give it to me,” he said as he pushed himself up on one arm to see her expression as his fingers found her curls.
She gasped and opened her eyes wide, “What are you doing?”
“Worshipping you, my golden goddess,” he said, holding her stare and tapping her innermost part with his index finger.
“Oh, that feels good!” she replied and threw her head back, exposing her neck to him.
He bent down, kissed and nibbled the white span of skin, as he added a second finger. She sank her fingers in his shoulders for support as the world spun around them. Her hips moved up, on their own, to meet his hand and she moaned when his fingers went further inside her body.
He chuckled against her soft breasts and covered a nipple with his hungry mouth. Her reactions were innocent - almost too innocent. She was young but he had expected her to be more experienced. He forced himself to slow down a little. He withdrew his fingers and she grabbed his hand.
“Don’t stop,” she pleaded.
“No worries about that, gorgeous,” he smiled at her. “As much as I’d love to tear my pants off and bury myself inside you, I think you need me to go slowly. Am I wrong?”
Keira thought about it and almost con
fessed to him she was a virgin, but something inside her knew he wouldn’t go through with it if he knew that. She chose to be quiet and hoped he wouldn’t notice her lack of experience until it was too late.
“You are right, Declan. But, I want you so much,” she risked moving her hands over his chest, lower than she had done before.
She found the button at his waistband and played with it. She inserted a finger and ran it along the waistband. He moaned and stopped her hand with his.
“You don’t play with fire, little missy, until you’re ready to burn,” he said as he gently took her hand away from his erection and held it against his chest. “Leave my pants on until it’s time. I don’t trust myself otherwise when I’m near you,” he said and returned his attention to her pebbled nipples.
He kissed and sucked them until he and Keira were breathless. It was her turn to feel like she was burning. Her blood sang in her veins and her skin tingled – every inch of it.
“Please, Declan, stop torturing me.”
He smiled and moved between her legs again. His fingers found her and she fisted the covers in her hands as he kissed her mouth, invading her deeply with his thick tongue at the same time as his fingers reached inside her drenched body.
Declan felt the barrier but it took him a few seconds to understand what it meant. His mind was lost in the haze of desire, his body was ready to explode, taking both of them to oblivion. He tried again to reach further but the thin slice of skin barred his advances again. Keira moved her head from side to side and seemed lost to her own pleasure. He felt her lower body trembling and knew her release wasn’t far way. He couldn’t stop it now and leave her hanging. He wouldn’t take her innocence, either. He couldn’t make love to a virgin, who was about to leave town in a day. It wasn’t in his nature. He wasn’t that kind of man.
He braced himself, concentrating only in her satisfaction. He didn’t move his fingers further inside her body but rather rubbed her entrance and clitoris instead. She gasped and held his shoulders tighter before she opened her eyes wide and looked at him in awe.
He told himself that her surprised expression was reward enough for him, as he rubbed her faster and the first waves of pleasure hit her hard, clogging her ability to think.