Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Fawn could feel the sudden tension in the bedroom as they both fell silent.
The air felt charged.
As if a threatening storm were about to break.
A rumbling volcano to erupt.
Or a tsunami to wash over and totally engulf them.
All those things felt as if some life-changing event was about to happen.
“Before we discuss anything else, I want to deal with a comment you made to me earlier,” Declan rasped.
Fawn eyed him warily. “I think I can guess what that comment was, and I want to apologize. I was upset at the time, and a little bewildered by all the assistance suddenly being offered when, for too long, River and I have been trying to manage this situation on our own. That’s no excuse for what I said to you, but it is the truth,” she told him honestly.
One salt-and-pepper eyebrow rose over those Irish-blue eyes. “So, you don’t really think I’m trying to buy you?”
Fawn inwardly cringed at ever having said that to a man she already knew to be totally selfless. He had shown that when he stepped in front of Thea Morgan, and by doing so had been shot with the two bullets meant for her.
“I never thought that. I was feeling defensive and a bit overwhelmed by all these offers of help after feeling, for so long, as if we were completely alone. I lashed out. Which was totally unfair of me.” She stepped closer to Declan and placed her hand on his chest, immediately feeling the strong and steady beat of his heart against her fingers.
“But if this thing between us works out and you ever feel the urge to buy me a luxury eight-berth yacht, all with en suite bathrooms, with a galley and salon fit for a king, and maybe a helipad, then please rest assured I won’t try to stop you,” she confided teasingly.
Declan stared down at her for several long seconds before his lips twitched, then he smiled, before he burst into full-blown laughter.
Fawn was more than a little relieved to feel the tension between them disappearing.
He tilted his head. “You miss being aboard a boat, hm?”
She shrugged. “A little. Our childhood might sound unorthodox to a lot of people, and it probably was, but we had so much fun,” she added wistfully. “I miss the simplicity of those days.”
Declan put his arms about her waist and folded her tightly against him. “This ‘thing’ between us is going to work, and maybe we can look into me buying you a luxury yacht as a wedding present.”
Fawn had sunk gratefully into him, but she now pulled back sharply to look up at him with wide eyes.
“I’m not asking you yet,” he reassured. “But one day, when hopefully the tension of this situation has eased after River receives a new kidney and Koslov is no longer a problem, we are going to discuss it, at least. I’m just telling you now so that you know my intentions where you’re concerned are, as the saying goes, strictly honorable.
Which is just as well when your brother is in another bedroom just down the hallway,” he added ruefully.
Fawn was still staring at him in disbelief. Declan wanted to marry her?
Well, technically, he’d only said he wanted to discuss it with her. One day. But to an honorable man like Declan, that was as good as a declaration of intent.
The relief of knowing she no longer needed to hide her feelings for him felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from Fawn’s chest. “I don’t really want a luxury yacht. I was just joking.”
His gaze held hers. “I know that. Doesn’t mean I might not still give you one.”
“But—” Declan’s fingers against her lips prevented her from saying more.
“I’m going to spoil the hell out of you,” he told her. “You and River. And you’re going to let me.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want you to ever think, even for a moment, that I’m interested in your money.”
“Darlin’, if that’s all you’d wanted from me, if only to ease River’s situation, then you would have used the past three days and nights of the two of us being here alone together to seduce the hell out of me.
Instead, you’ve been totally professional.
Hell, I wouldn’t even have known about the urgency of River’s condition if he hadn’t fallen earlier today and needed to be taken to hospital.
” He lifted his hands to cradle her face.
“I promise you I will never ever think, even for a moment, that you want me for my money.”
“I didn’t say I want you.”
He smiled. “Every time you touch me to change my dressings, I can see, hear, and feel that you do.” He kissed her lingeringly on the lips.
“Your face becomes flushed. Your breathing becomes erratic. Your hands tremble slightly. Your nipples tighten beneath your T-shirt. Between your legs becomes swollen and wet.”
She swallowed. “You know all that?” Her cheeks blushed at how he knew about the latter.
He nodded. “And I want it. I want you . Will you let me have you?”
The love Fawn felt for this man and had been doing her best to suppress for the last three days now burst into full bloom. It grew and expanded to fill all the empty spaces inside her until it felt as if it had taken possession of all of her.
In the same way, she now wanted Declan to possess and fill every part of her.
“I came looking for you with the excuse of redressing your wounds, but that’s not really what I want,” she admitted huskily.
Declan’s gaze met and held hers. “What do you really want?”
“You,” she answered without hesitation. “Just you.”
He kissed her again. “Then let’s gift ourselves to each other,” he encouraged softly.
That sounded so good to Fawn. Just her and Declan. With nothing and no one between them.
The moment Declan took his shirt off, Fawn was reminded that his stitches would be between them.
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea—Declan!” she protested as he swung her up in his arms and carried her through to the adjoining bathroom.
“You’re still hurt, and you shouldn’t have carried me,” she reproved as he set her on her feet next to the king-size bed.
“Sit.” She tried to push him so that he was sitting on the bed and failed miserably when Declan didn’t move so much as an inch.
“I’m not a dog,” he taunted.
“No, you’re a very stubborn man.”
“But I’m your stubborn man.”
Her expression softened. “I’m stubborn too, but I’m also your stubborn woman.”
“I’ll take you any way I can get you,” he assured.
Declan wanted to carry this woman, and whatever burdens plagued her, for the rest of her life.
He also wanted to make love to her so badly, his jaw ached from being clenched for so long.
He bent and kissed Fawn softly on the lips. “I’ll carry you whenever I want to.” He kissed her again. “My stitches are fine. Besides, once we’re in bed, I intend letting you do all the work!” he teased.
“Liar,” she came back easily.
His gaze darkened. “I haven’t been with anyone for years, which means I’m clean. With your agreement, I’d like us to make love bare.”
A blush colored her cheeks. “I haven’t been with anyone since university, and even then, it was never anything but disappointing.
But I’m not on birth control either, for the same reason.
I always figured that if I ever found someone I liked enough to have a physical relationship, that would be the time to think about going on the pill. ”
“How about if you decide you like someone enough not to use birth control at all?”
Her eyes widened. “You’re really serious about this, us, aren’t you?”
He gazed directly into her eyes so that there would be no misunderstanding. “As serious as it gets, darlin’. Wedding rings. Years of happiness together before we spend our twilight years sitting in our rocking chairs on the porch. Again, together.”
She swallowed. “And we’ll have a little girl or boy who looks like you?”
“Or like you,” he agreed warmly. “I’d like both. And eventually grandchildren.”
Fawn’s smile was slightly shy this time. “I would like all that too.”
“Then we had better get started on the first one.”
Fawn placed a hand on his shoulder and used that leverage to gently push down. Declan let her, relieved, after the emotional morning they’d all had, to be able to sit down.
“I have wanted to do this since the moment I met you.” The shyness was completely gone as Fawn dropped gracefully down to kneel between his parted knees, her slender hands moving to the fastening of his jeans.
Declan couldn’t look away, couldn’t breathe, as Fawn looked up at him through long lashes with eyes that had darkened to the color of burnt amber.
He could see her sexual arousal, not only in her eyes but also in the flush to her cheeks and her swollen and slightly parted deep-rose-colored lips.
If his gaze lowered, he was sure her hardened nipples would be pressing against her T-shirt.
He could already discern the heady scent of the essence between her thighs.
He wanted to touch her there, to stroke those slick lips, his mouth taking possession of her clit as he thrust his fingers inside her. She?—
“Dear God…!” he gasped. His hands instinctively fell flat on the bed behind him so that his arms supported him as he became lost in the intensity of the pleasure that coursed through him the moment Fawn took the bulbous tip of his cock into her mouth.
It was incredible.
So deliciously hot and wet.
As Fawn began to bob her head, taking his cock deeper and deeper into her mouth until it hit the back of her throat, that pleasure coalesced far too quickly into Declan feeling the tingling sensation at the base of his spine that warned of his impending release.
“Stop now, or I’m going to come before I’m inside you.” Declan grasped her shoulders to push her gently back until his cock slid from between her lips.
His breath caught at how debauched she looked with her eyes fevered, cheeks flushed, her puffy lips slightly parted and coated in a sliver of his pre-com.
Fuck, she was gorgeous!
Declan pulled her up and over him as he fell back on the bed.
She was so slight, he could barely feel her weight on top of him.
“If I come in your mouth now, I’m going to need a couple of hours’ recovery time before I can go again,” he explained gruffly.
The disappointment of being asked to stop was visible in her eyes.
Fawn shook herself out of the euphoric haze she had fallen into as she sucked and licked Declan’s cock, having been totally focused on the groans he gave that told her what she was doing was giving him pleasure.
His balls had felt heavy and were covered in a light dusting of hair as she gently squeezed and rolled them in her hand. Pressing against the taint between his balls and bottom had been the tipping point to him being on the edge of coming in her mouth.
Good to know for another time!
She eased up to take her weight on her arms as she looked down at him.
“I’m going to stand up now, remove your jeans and boxers completely, along with your socks, of course.
” She chuckled softly. “Then I’m going to take off my own clothes, and you are going to be on top of me rather than putting all the weight on your injured back. ”
Declan’s eyes had darkened almost to black. “Who knew just listening to my woman boss me about would have me almost on the edge of release.”
Fawn absolutely loved being called “his woman.”
Because she knew that’s exactly what she now was. Declan wasn’t the type of man who had reached the age of forty-three without knowing exactly what he wanted.
That happened to be her.
Seconds later, both of them were naked on the bed, this time with Declan on top, taking his weight on his elbows as he lowered his head and laved and sucked on first one nipple, then the other. All to the sound of her mewls of pleasure.
His cheeks were flushed when he finally raised his head. “It’s going to be quick this first time, but I promise you the night is far from over.”
Fawn felt tiny against his much larger frame, a difference in height and bulk that she forgot about completely the moment the tip of Declan’s cock notched into the wet and swollen opening between her thighs.
His gaze held hers as he slowly but surely pressed deeper and deeper until he was completely inside her, his balls resting against her perineum.
He felt wonderful inside her. So long and thick. Completely filling her.
He paused for a second or two, drawing in long, controlling breaths, Fawn’s hands moving up to grasp his shoulders as he began to move. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed, the sound of skin slapping against skin highly erotic.
The faster and deeper thrusts pressed Declan’s cock against her clit, sending Fawn over the edge in seconds.
“Once more before I come too,” he instructed, before thrusting even deeper and harder, faster and faster, until Fawn lost complete control and her body exploded in pleasure for a second time in a matter of minutes.
“This is forever, Fawn,” he promised her as his cock somehow swelled even bigger inside her before she felt the heat of his release spurting deep and coating the walls of her channel.