Chapter 24 Declan
I’ve never slept with another person in my bed. I watch as Xavier sleeps beside me. I can’t stop touching him. I have him now. He stayed. He chose me. I’m not letting myself lose him after tonight.
Xavier’s alarm wakes us both up at five.
“Why is your alarm going off?” My voice is heavy with sleep. I stayed up long after Xavier fell asleep, just watching him.
“I have to go to work. I need to be there by six.”
“No. Go back to sleep.”
“Declan, we’ve been over this.” He pulls away from me to get up. I wrap my arm around him tighter.
“That was before you agreed to be mine. I don’t want you working there, especially with that creep there.”
“He doesn’t work there. He just comes in sometimes.” Even though he’s still arguing with me, he nestles back against my chest. Right where I want him and where he belongs.
“It’s the ‘sometimes’ that I hate. It’s the ‘sometimes’ that will make him lose his fingers one by one.” Xavier pushes up to look at me.
“You’re not joking, are you?”
“No, I’m not. I need to know that you are safe, and I can’t do that unless you are with me. You agreed last night at dinner to be with me.”
“I also said that I was keeping my job.” He scowls at me. I flip our positions so that I’m on top of him.
“That was before I fucked you. You gave yourself to me, Xavier.” I kiss him hard.
Taking his bottom lip between my teeth, I tug on it.
I’m hard, and so is he. Making my way to his neck with my lips, I rut against him like a wild animal.
And that’s just what I feel like—wild and untamed.
“I don’t care if you work or not. I’ll give you everything you could ever want.
Anything you wish for is yours. But I can’t be without you.
I have to have you with me. Say you’re mine, Xavier. ”
He’s panting, but he says it. “I’m yours, Declan.”
“Say you will stay with me.” He is arching his body against mine. I want to slip my cock back into his body and claim him all over again. “Say it, Xavier.” I bite his neck under his ear. “Say you will stay with me.”
“I’ll stay with you! Fuck, Declan, don’t stop!
” He yells as his hot cum shoots between us.
I follow him over the edge seconds later.
I pull back to look between us. There is something satisfying about seeing him covered in my cum.
I want it embedded in his skin. I run my fingers through our combined mess and rub it into him.
“That was so unfair.”
“No, it was necessary. You belong with me.”
“I’ll turn in my two-week notice today, but that is non-negotiable. Brad gave me a job when he didn’t have to. So, I’m going to do the right thing and give notice.”
“Fine.” I won’t mention that I’ll be listening in or that a security team will be on him. I’ll count this as a win for me.
I drop Xavier off and head to the office.
I have a couple of things that I need to take care of.
I left Kenji and Taylor with strict orders to watch him.
If the brother or anyone gets too close to him again, one of them will remove Xavier from the café, kicking and screaming if necessary.
I make sure that Xavier is wearing the watch.
I might not be able to see him, but I can hear everything that’s going on.
Putting in my earpiece, I get to work on some financial reports.
One of our subsidiaries’ profits is down, but costs have gone up.
Something isn’t adding up, and I need to figure out what.
I tune back into Xavier when I hear him talking to Brad.
“Hey, Brad, could I talk to you for a minute?”
“Is this a need to talk in my office or out here?”
“Here’s fine. I need to give you my two-week notice.”
“Fuck, Xavier. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep you, but I thought it would be longer than just a couple of days. I appreciate you working a notice for me. Does this have anything to do with your rich boyfriend, or did you find something else?”
“Both, actually. I’m going to work with him as his PA.”
That’s news to me, but I couldn’t be happier about it.
I’m not lying when I say I have to keep him with me.
I was obsessed before, but now that obsession is consuming me.
Picking up my phone, I dial the movers again.
I instructed them to move the boxes from Xavier’s apartment to my penthouse.
A quick call notifies building security to oversee them.
After last night, I don’t think my A Ghrá will be upset.
I’m wrong. When I pick Xavier up from work, he seems to be in a good mood. He’s smiling and telling me about his day. I already know that he’s turned in his notice and most of what he did and who he talked to. In the elevator, I punch in the code and press the penthouse button.
“Oh, are we going to your place for dinner tonight?”
“Our place, and yes, I’m going to cook.” Xavier is tucked under my arm. I haven’t stopped touching him since I picked him up. He looks up and asks me, “Our place?”
The doors open in a little foyer. I quickly open my apartment door.
In most penthouses, the elevator opens directly into the apartment.
I want an added layer of security. Xavier steps in and looks around.
The place is modern with lots of metal and dark woods.
It has clean angular lines. Like the apartment Xavier stayed in, the entire living room wall is made of floor-to-ceiling windows; unlike his apartment, this one has a balcony.
Thoughts of me fucking him out there run through my mind, and my cock fills instantly.
I wrap my arms around him from behind and kiss his neck.
“It’s still a little early for dinner. How about I give you a tour?
I want you to feel at home here.” It takes longer to show him around my place.
It covers the entire top floor of the building, which is a little over six thousand square feet.
On his floor, there are three apartments, each right at two thousand square feet.
When we finally reach the master bedroom, Xavier abruptly stops.
“Is that my stuff?”
“Yes, I had the movers bring them up here this afternoon.”
“What? Why?” He rubs his hands over his face. “You know what? Never mind. Here again, you didn’t ask me what I thought or what I wanted.” I spin him to face me.
“You said you were mine and that you would stay with me. Did you really think I wouldn’t want you here, with me?
” I crowd him and start backing him up toward my large bed.
“Did you want to stay in the apartment so you could hide from me or run away again?” His knees hit the mattress.
I grab him around his waist and pull him to the center of the bed, with me hovering over him.
“No, I just wish you would include me in decisions that affect my life, Declan.”
“But that’s not really what you want. You want to be taken care of; you want me to make the decisions. I am more than willing to do that, but you need to stop fighting me on it.” I kiss him hard and fast.
“You can’t keep getting me to agree with you by using sex, Declan. You can use your words and talk to me about things.”
“Why, when this is more fun, and you give in so much faster?”
He pushes against my chest, so I lean up to look at him. He is glaring at me. The lines that he has between his eyebrows are cute to me for some reason, so I place a soft kiss on them.
“Stop that. Declan, we have known each other for less than a week, and you have already moved me in. Don’t you think that is too fast?”
“No.”
“Okay, well, how about this? How do you think your dad or any of your family, for that matter, is going to react to you moving me in here? I have absolutely nothing to add to the household. I guarantee that your dad is going to think I’m after your money, especially with how much you spent on just clothes for me yesterday.
They’re going to think I’m some gold-digging whore. I don’t want that, Dec.”
“My family knows all about you. And none of them thinks you are after my money.” Xavier rolls his eyes. “Look, you just got home, so why don’t you go take a nice hot bath and get changed into something nice but comfortable. I’ll have dinner sorted by the time you get dressed. How does that sound?”
“Are we going out? I thought you said you were going to cook.”
“Just take a bath and get dressed.” I kiss him on his forehead before rolling off of him and walking back to the living room. I hear the shower start before I make it down the hallway. I take out my phone and call Dad.
“You left the office early again today.”
“I also came in early. I need you to come to my place for dinner tonight. Can you be here in an hour?”
“Why? You’ve never had dinner at your place.”
“I want you, Aunt Alessia, and Uncle Kieran, to come over tonight for dinner to meet Xavier. Now, can you make it or not? I still need to call them to see if they are available.”
“I can. Kieran and Alessia are here with me.” The phone gets a little muffled, but I can still hear him ask if they can make it. “Yes, we will be there in an hour. Alessia wants to know if she needs to bring anything.”
“No. And what is it with that anyway? You’re invited to someone’s place to eat, yet you ask to bring your own food?” It really doesn’t make any sense to me.
“Alessia said that she would explain it to you later. See you in an hour.”
I order a variety of Thai dishes. Since Xavier told me that his favorites are Pad Thai with pork and green curry, I know that will be a safe choice.
Never in my life have I worried about knowing what another person likes, but with him, I fill every available space in my brain, cataloging his likes and dislikes.
An hour later, I am plating the food when Xavier comes out of the bedroom. His hair is styled, and he wears tight dark jeans and a V-neck T-shirt. He runs his hand up and down the front of his shirt. I put the last plate on the table and take Xavier into my arms.
“Why do you always pet the shirts you wear?”
“I don’t pet my shirts.” He gets that crease between his eyes again, so I kiss it away.
“Yeah, you do.”
“I don’t pet them. I just like the feel of the ones that you bought me. I’ve never felt clothes that soft before. Why? Does it bother you?”
“I would rather you pet me.”
“You aren’t as soft.” He giggles. It’s music to my ears. I kiss him gently.
“See, I can be soft.”
“Not the same, Declan.” His giggle is interrupted by my doorbell.
“Are you expecting company?”
“Yep.” I open the door to my family.