Chapter 45
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Atlanta—Present Day
Olivia pulled on the T-shirt Declan had discarded and snuggled back into the warm blankets. She heard Declan’s sports car start, but the low throaty sound of the engine continued instead of pulling away.
What was he waiting for? The thought had barely registered when the house shook, and the world flashed bright around her, the glass of her bedroom windows shattered inward.
Adrenaline raced through her as Olivia bolted from the bed, a scream locked in her throat. Declan! She didn’t register the sharp pain in her feet as she raced to what remained of her window casing. Through the thick acrid smoke, she heard shouting and could make out the charred outline of his car, flames licking high into the dawn light.
Olivia’s legs collapsed beneath her, and she fell to the ground. “No!” White-hot agony lanced through her chest before the sound ripped from her throat again. “No! No!”
Her ears rung, and her head was spinning. She needed to move. Declan could still… Her feet and hands scrabbled beneath her as she raced for the stairs, oblivious to the bloody footprints she left in her wake. “Declan,” she screamed. He could still … Her heart hoped, even as her brain tried to reason.
Sobs tore from her as she slipped, tumbling down the last two steps. Strong hands caught her shoulders, and then Declan’s face was in front of her, streaked with blood. His mouth was moving, but her brain wouldn’t engage.
Olivia launched herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist, and clinging to his neck like a spider monkey.
He was alive. It was all that mattered.
Declan buried his face in her neck. “Are you all right?” His hands ran over her hair, pulling her head back so he could inspect her face.
“I thought...” Her voice broke.
Declan exhaled hard against her, his body shuddering. He held her against him, burying one hand in her hair and planting the other in the middle of her back.
“Clear.” A voice shouted, and then Rhodes appeared, with his gun drawn low and blood running from a cut on his forehead. He charged past them, giving them a cursory look before proceeding farther into the house. Another man grabbed Declan’s collar and spun him, with Olivia still attached, propelling them through what used to be her front door.
“Our vehicle is still operational.” She heard a voice bark.
They were almost at the back door of the SUV when Olivia heard a whimper. Pulling her head back, her head swiveled until she saw Oscar limping across the front yard.
Following her eyes, Rhodes scooped her puppy up as Declan deposited her in the back of the car.
“He’s all right, ma’am. Minor cut on his paw.”
The doors slammed, and they raced away. Declan pulled her into his lap as she clutched Oscar to her chest. Olivia was conscious of Declan’s arms tight around both her and the puppy, keeping them both secure, as the SUV rocketed away from her neighborhood.
Questions volleyed back and forth, but Olivia closed her eyes and rested her head against Declan’s chest, finding comfort in his galloping heartbeat that matched the pace of hers.
“Do we need a hospital?” the man in the front asked.
“Petal?” His breath ruffled her hair. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, not sure she could manage the actual words. Declan’s voice rumbled under her cheek. “Secure my family, and get us to the airport. Have the plane triple-checked.”
They waited in the SUV, inside the airplane hangar, for what felt like forever. They were alone. The man in the driver’s seat had glanced over his shoulder, and when he saw her shivering in just Declan’s T-shirt, he had cranked the heat all the way up and immediately exited.
Olivia still shivered, but she wasn’t sure it was from the cold.
“You’re bleeding.” Declan’s voice sounded detached, and alarm shot through her.
“Don’t do that.” Olivia shifted in his lap, lifting her head. Oscar squirmed to get free, and she let him hop to the floor. She turned so that her knees were on either side of his hips, and she sat on his thighs, facing him.
Declan’s face was like stone, except for the muscle ticking in his jaw. “Don’t leave me.” Olivia grabbed his jaw, forcing him to look at her.
His voice was as tight as the tendons in his neck. “I’m right here, Olivia.”
“You know what I mean.”
His nostrils flared, and he gave his head a slight shake. “You could have been killed.”
“It was your car.” She pointed out. Olivia glared at him. “Stop it.” His eyes flicked down to meet hers. “You are pulling away. I can feel it.” Emotion clouded his eyes, and she squeezed his jaw harder, her eyes refusing to let him look away. “You promised you wouldn’t leave. I’m here and in this with you. So don’t fucking leave me.”
For a long silent moment, Olivia thought she hadn’t gotten through, but then the corner of his mouth lifted.
“You are awfully bossy for someone who’s sitting on my lap, bleeding all over my favorite suit.”
Suppressing a relieved sigh, Olivia glanced down at the multitude of tiny cuts on her legs and feet. She sniffed. “I think that’s the least of your sartorial problems.” One hand toyed with the shredded fabric of his pant leg.
A knock on the window had her shifting to the side, off his lap. Declan cracked the door open and accepted a bundle from the man outside.
“We will have a convoy of armored vehicles on the ground ready to meet you,” the man informed Declan.
Is this really my life? Olivia knew she should feel afraid. A car had literally blown up in her driveway, and there were conversations around her about how many men were necessary, and armored convoys...
She snorted, and then laughed harder when Declan looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “Did I break you?”
Another fit of giggles overtook her, but she shook her head, gasping for air. “No, I’m just thinking how absurd this whole thing is.”
Declan watched her for a long moment, and then grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her in for a rough kiss. When he finally lifted, she was gasping for air, and his eyes burned. “I think, with you by my side, I could take over the fucking world.”
Declan opened the bundle that had been handed to him and revealed a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. He pulled the hoodie over her head, and she lifted her hips to shimmy into the pants, wincing when the fabric rubbed against her cuts.
“What about you?” she asked, looking at his ruined suit.
“I have clothes on the plane.”
Declan insisted on cleaning and bandaging the cuts on her feet, before Olivia finally insisted he let the medic, who had just arrived, treat the injuries to Declan’s own legs.
At one point, someone handed Declan a phone, and he made call after call. Olivia only half listened, the image of his burning car in front of her. She could have lost him. Permanently. Her body shook, as the horror of how differently this morning could have ended played in front of her.
“I’m taking her to Connecticut. My estate there is secure.” Declan told someone before ending the call.
“We’re ready,” Rhodes said, appearing at their window.
When they left the car, Olivia was surprised by how stiff and sore her muscles felt. Placing Oscar in her arms, Declan scooped her up and carried them both to the plane.
“I can walk,” she muttered, looking at the thick socks he’d pulled over her bandaged feet.
“Let me,” was all Declan said, and she sighed, relaxing against his chest.
He placed her in a buttery soft, leather seat and buckled her belt around her. Oscar squirmed, wanting to get down, and she set him gently on the carpeted floor. He shook his bandaged paw twice, before seeming to accept the annoying inconvenience, and sniffed around the cabin.
Olivia leaned her head against the back of the seat as the engines whined to life.
“I’d make a comment about him peeing in my jet, but since Oscar saved my life, I’ll guess I’ll give him a pass.”
Once they were in the air, Declan disappeared to the back of the plane. When he returned, he wore black slacks and a soft gray sweater. He’d washed his face, and if not for the clotted cut above his eyebrow, Olivia could almost imagine nothing had happened.
“Still cold?” Declan asked, tucking one of the throw blankets around her legs before taking the seat next to her. Declan glanced at Oscar, curled up on a matching throw blanket on the seat across the aisle. They were alone in the cabin, a new security team waiting for them on the ground at their destination.
“Who was it?”
Declan didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I don’t know.” His lips flattened. “And that bothers me. It feels too sophisticated to be your ex-husband or Alan Carrol. He was angry yesterday, but he wouldn’t have had time to arrange a bomb of that magnitude.”
Bomb. The word ricocheted through her head.
Declan came within seconds of dying. If Oscar hadn’t slipped out the door…
Unbuckling her seatbelt, she climbed over the armrest and straddled him.
“What are you doing?” Declan asked. His hands hovered over her back as she attacked his belt buckle.
“I need you.” Her voice was hoarse as his zipper loosened, and she slipped her hand into the front of his pants and wrapped her hand around him. Declan’s head tipped back with a groan as her fingers stroked over him.
Olivia could still smell the smoke in his hair, and it only made her more desperate. Her pulse raced, and she felt her eyes fill with tears. She needed to be as close to him as physically possible. Olivia’s lips swooped down and covered his lips with almost bruising force.
She could feel Declan’s hesitation, but her thumb brushed over the head of his erection, and like a switch had been flipped, he kissed her back with the same ferocity, his tongue sliding urgently over hers.
Declan’s hand twisted in her hair, and Olivia lifted onto her knees, not breaking the kiss to pull her sweatpants down, making a frustrated sound when they caught at her knees.
Firm hands caught her hips and lifted so that she could push the fabric low enough to spread her thighs. She rocked forward, his erection caught between them, rubbing against her clit with delicious friction.
“I love you, Declan,” she gasped into his mouth as she rocked over him. “I love you so much.”
“Olivia.” Then he was kissing her again, his lips moving over hers almost desperately.
Olivia writhed, her hands shoving underneath the cashmere sweater to splay against his chest. She could feel his heart pounding beneath her palm, and the need to have a physical connection with him was almost painful. She needed to feel him move inside her, an acknowledgement that they were all right—they were alive.
Olivia whimpered when Declan shoved the hoodie up, exposing her breasts, and latched on to one of her tight nipples, sucking hard.
“Yes! Declan. Please,” she panted. “I need you. Now. Inside me.”
Declan slid his free hand under her ass, squeezing and lifting as she positioned him at her entrance. His hips surged up into her and she gasped.
He let her set the pace, rising and plunging over him. Olivia felt his teeth on her breasts, and her legs shook. She was crying and trembling as Declan’s thrusts became more erratic. “That’s it, Petal… come for me.”
She felt a thumb press hard against her clit, and she came apart. Declan growled, and his pace increased as she slumped against his chest. Then his face was in her neck, and they shook together.
His chest moved with ragged breaths against her, and Declan reached into the seat she’d vacated to retrieve the throw blanket. Draping it over both of them, he wrapped his arms around her, still intimately joined, and held her tight. Olivia felt tears streak down her cheeks, dampening his neck.
Declan stroked her hair until the tears stopped and she lay exhausted against him.
The plane landed at a private airport and taxied into a closed hangar, where Olivia was hustled into a dark-colored SUV. She dozed against Declan on the drive, only waking when the car made a hard turn and came to a stop in front of a large wrought-iron gate. The driver lowered his window, punched in a code, and the gates silently swung open.
Olivia wasn’t sure if it was everything that had happened or simple exhaustion, but she barely took in the massive home in front of her before Declan swept her off her feet and climbed a grand staircase, depositing her in the middle of an enormous bed.
Declan looked grim. “I have to go if I’m going to make it in time.”
“The shareholder meeting.” Olivia nodded.
“I don’t want to leave you.”
Olivia smiled. “I’m safe here. You wouldn’t have brought me here otherwise. Go get your company back.”
Declan hesitated, emotions warring on his face. “There is a small army downstairs and on the grounds.”
Olivia caught his hand and squeezed. “Go, I’m fine. You be safe.”
Declan’s jaw flexed, but then she watched as he assumed his public mask. A few minutes later, when he emerged from his giant closet, dressed in an impeccably tailored suit, Declan looked every inch the ruthless billionaire he was purported to be.
After he was gone, Olivia rolled to her side and tucked her hands under her cheek, and exhaled a slow breath. Without her phone or a computer, she wasn’t sure what to do with herself.
She must have slept because a knock at the door roused her out of a dreamless sleep. When she opened the door, a middle-aged woman stood smiling in the doorway, holding several large shopping bags and Oscar on a leash.
“Mr. Bloom thought you might want some variety.”