Chapter 3 #2
Sydney had no objection when Declan casually walked to her side and stood there looking all big and intimidating. Her face throbbed where she’d been hit, and her hands were still slightly shaky, but her words came out steady and calm. “Then let’s have a discussion.”
Even though the shouting didn’t start up again, things didn’t improve much. Declan somehow kept his cool until the accusations were done, because Nora then made a few choice comments and kicked her children out.
Sydney looked Nora over one last time and promised to check in again soon, then she and Declan went to their separate vehicles.
When Sydney pulled off the road a mile down the hill into a small clearing, Declan didn’t hesitate before following.
She didn’t wave him down—but she wouldn’t have stopped if she wanted to be alone.
Declan’s anger remained, his jaw and shoulders tight with it, but he had to acknowledge Sydney was a fucking force of nature. He hadn’t seen a quarter of what had just happened coming before it played out.
Sydney waited for him, silently perched on the dropped tailgate of her truck. Feet kicking slowly, she stared over the land to the distant mountain range.
Gravel crunched underfoot as he made his way over to join her. He jumped up to sit at her side and settled in. “Well, that was a thing.”
“Fucking wet behind the ears, pretending to be adults, selfish idiots.”
He snorted. “Tell me what you really think, Syd.”
She snapped her head toward him. “And they had the gall to accuse me of elder abuse when the whole reason those pseudo-adult wannabes rushed their butts out to the house for the first time in fucking forever is because they don’t want Nora to move to a seniors home.
They think she’ll end up spending their inheritance. Goddamn bottom-feeding leeches.”
“That’s kind of an insult to the bottom feeders of the world,” he pointed out. He pulled a hanky from his pocket and cupped her face in his hand. “Hold still.”
He pressed the clean cloth to the corner of her eye, and she hissed. “Shit, that hurts. Swelling’s started in the orbital rim. My vision is clear, so I can skip the ER, but I’ll need ice.”
“You’re supposed to duck faster,” Declan murmured, softly cleaning the dirt from her face,
“Usually I would. Nora was there, though. Having a frail bystander in the mix really messes with thinking me first.”
“Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others,” Declan deadpanned.
Sydney pushed his hand away, ire in her eyes. “The next time I’m on a fucking plane and someone takes a swing at me, I’ll remember that.”
He leaned in, slipped his palm to the back of her head, and held her firmly in place.
Then he curled himself around her, brushing his lips over hers in a first ghostly touch.
He did it again, this time with a brief nip to her lower lip, easing his tongue over the little hurt.
He kissed her slowly and softly until the tension eased out of her shoulders, and she leaned toward him, a sigh brushing past his cheek.
He kissed her one more time just because he wanted to, then he pulled back and gently leaned their foreheads together. “That was quite the visit. I’m glad you finally explained the truth to the kids, although calling people that old kids sounds wrong.”
“Crybaby, pain-in-the-ass brainless twats takes too long to say,” Sydney muttered against his lips.
“The part that frustrates me is, so what? It’s her money, and it’s her cabin.
She’s lived there for over fifty years of her life, and if she’s ready to move somewhere else, and she wants to spend every penny that she’s scrimped and saved over the years, she should fucking do it. ”
“It would take a long time to spend the money that she’ll get out of the sale of the land and cabin. She’d have to live to a hundred and twenty to run out of money.”
“If she did run out of money,” Sydney pointed out, “it’s not as if the facility will kick her out. Government paid room and board in a seniors’ lodge is pretty sweet. Which is something we could’ve told the kids at any time if they would’ve fucking asked. I hate it when people don’t ask.”
Declan gently massaged the back of her neck. “How are you feeling? Other than the pissed off and infuriated part?”
Sydney closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. “Better once you got there,” she admitted quietly. She stilled before she cracked one eye open and examined him with suspicion. “Declan? Why were you there?”
“It never came up in our discussions, but Nora had phoned me to say she has animals that need to be rehomed before she moves.”
The wariness in Sydney’s eyes faded. “Sorry for suspecting you were stalking me there for a minute. I’m still in a fighting mood.”
“It’s okay. I totally plan on stalking you in the future,” Declan promised.
She laughed, curling against him.
It would’ve been nice to leave it at that, but he did have a tendency toward too much honesty. “I’m not kidding. The stalking part.”
“Have at ‘er,” Sydney said. “Petra’s probably got us all GPS tagged like wildlife, especially since what happened with Tansy and the trip to Crazytown with Jake’s ex.”
True. Which was something that gave Declan a terrible, wonderful idea. Something to be dealt with when he didn’t have Sydney right there with him within arm’s reach.
He picked her up, twisting her until her knees rested on either side of his hips, her torso tight to his. He lifted her chin and stared into her eyes. “You’re going to have a shiner,” he warned.
“Feels like it.” Sydney stroked her knuckles over the five o’clock shadow on his chin and cheeks. “Do you have anywhere to be right now? Since I noticed you don’t have any horses in the back of your truck.”
“I’m gonna go back and get them later, but as for my agenda? Right here and right now, I’m all yours.”
What he’d like to have done was toss a blanket into the back of her truck, strip them both down, and make her see stars.
What he did instead was something he’d been longing to do, but it never seemed as if he could. Not when they very clearly established their sexual interactions as bedroom romps that led to screaming orgasms.
He kissed her.
It was a bid to distract her mind from the chaos and anger. Get her shoulders to ease and the tension in her body to loosen its grip.
Okay, he wasn’t a perfect gentleman. He undid the buttons on her shirt and slipped her bra open, so that as they kissed, he got to drift his hands all over her soft skin. Got to cup and play with the full handfuls of her breasts.
He nibbled on the spot under her ear that made her squirm.
She shifted, gyrating over him. She rubbed their groins together to try and take the edge off, and he let her use him until her fingernails dug into his shoulders.
Until she gasped into his mouth, the movements of her hips unsteady and out of rhythm.
He clasped his hands on her hips and dragged her up, increasing the pressure, increasing the tempo.
Sydney sighed. “Declan.”
Her body quivered, and her head landed on his shoulder. She squeezed her thighs tight then let go.
There wasn’t an ounce of stress left in her. She wasn’t watching, she wasn’t in control. She gave it all up and let him be there for her. It was probably the most intimate moment they’d ever had, in spite of mostly wearing all their clothes.
The quiet enveloped them for a moment before she shifted over him. She lifted her head and offered a satisfied smile. Her fingers drifted in a gentle stroke over his shoulder. “Did you want to meet tonight?”
Every fucking night. Every fucking minute.
Instead, he shook his head, kissing her tenderly one final time. “Promised my brothers I’d spend the evening with them. If I’m meeting with you later, I’ll be so distracted they’ll win a shit ton of my money.”
“We can’t have that,” she teased. “Thanks for the listening ear and the timely intimidating presence. Thanks for being awesome.”
He stared at her face for a moment. He wanted to be the man to put this expression on her face all the time. “You make it easy.”
Sydney gave him a final shining grin, and they both headed to their vehicles.
When they hit the main road, Sydney turned toward town, and Declan turned toward High Water, eager to get to the next part of his day. He had a specific agenda in mind that involved a tracking program, his phone, and a lesson with their resident hacker, Petra.
He had, after all, asked Sydney’s permission. Now he needed Petra’s tech skills to pull off the most considerate kind of stalking.