Chapter 15 Veronica #2
“The shouts came from down the hall. I didn’t give a shit about being careful.
I rounded a corner and slipped in blood.
Another security officer. They had three on duty every day.
It was a wolf shifter school, and the alpha’s kid went there.
They wanted it to be secure. I guess…I mean…
they were probably worried about rival packs, not psychotic witches.
“While I righted myself, the screams tapered off until all I could hear was silence. That was when I knew I was too late, but I kept running in the direction the screams had come from. All fifty kids had been gathered in the auditorium. They were…they were…” A sob tore out of him.
Declan pressed his hand to his eyes as if he could block out the memory.
“There was so much blood, Veronica. You can’t imagine how much. ”
Declan was a strong and stoic man. Seeing him so shattered made my heart hurt. Knowing he’d carried this kind of guilt around all by himself, with no one to talk to, broke my heart.
“The fucker was standing there,” Declan said.
“Kaleb Brownstone, a snot-nosed fucking twenty-three-year old. He had a ceremonial dagger in his hand, and he was covered in blood. The prick was chanting to Lamashtu. When he saw me, do you know what he did?” Declan asked, lowering his hand and looking at me.
“I’m not sure I want to know,” I whispered, barely able to find my voice.
Declan nodded, a bitter grin on his lips. “This piece of dogshit smiled at me. He said, ‘Lady Lamashtu is pleased with the sacrifices’. Before he could say another fucking word, I shot him in the fucking head. Blew his brains out right then and there.
“Less than a minute later, the alpha showed up with reinforcements along with the wolf alpha. Word had spread fast, parents were rushing to the school. Veronica, I’ll never forget the sound that wolf alpha made when he saw his daughter’s limp, lifeless body.
I’d never heard a man scream like that. It was like all the happiness he’d ever experienced, and any happiness he might ever experience, had been ripped out of his body.
It was the sound of joy being torn away from the world.
“I stumbled outside, puked my guts up. Parents came rushing in. There were more of those heartrending cries. They haunt me. The bodies, the lifeless eyes, the screams? Every time I go to sleep, I have nightmares. I have to take these”—he took a pill bottle out of the inside pocket of his jacket—“to sleep without seeing them.”
“Declan, you can’t believe that was your fault,” I said.
“It was my fault,” he said, gripping the pill bottle so tightly his fist shook.
“He’d been seen around that school. I should have been staking out the school, not his fucking house.
I should have told the alpha the fucker had been spotted there.
I got complacent. I got sloppy. I fucked up, Veronica.
I fucked up and got those kids and staff killed.
Every one of those deaths is on me. I retired a week later.
Hung it all up and turned into a fucking hermit. ”
I knelt in front of him and took his hand in mine. “Declan, you can’t beat yourself up over that. You can’t do that to yourself forever.”
“Who else can I blame?” he said, and some of the bitterness had left his voice, replaced by weary acceptance.
“No one? As much as it fucking sucks, bad things happen. If you had been at that school, maybe it all would have happened the same way, but instead you’d have gotten killed too.”
He gave a short bark of a laugh. “No great loss there.”
“It would be for me,” I said.
Declan’s eyes moved slowly up my face, from my chin to my lips, before locking on mine.
Without taking my gaze from his, I put my hand on his chest. The heat of his body radiated into mine.
I could feel his heart hammering, speeding up along with mine.
The spicy, sweet smell of his pheromones tinted the air.
He wanted me, wanted me the way I wanted him.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I pressed my lips to his.
Declan sucked in a breath, but instead of jerking away, he opened his mouth, allowing my tongue to slip in.
The softness of his mouth was such a contrast to his hardened and closed-off exterior.
His tongue slid over my teeth, and I sucked it, sliding my hand down his stomach.
“Stop,” he said, gently pushing me away.
I almost whimpered in disappointment. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t need pity,” he said, shaking his head.
“It’s not pity, Declan,” I whispered, leaning in close once more. “If you don’t want to do this, just say that. If I overstepped, I’m really sorry, but if this is because you don’t think you’re worth anything, that’s not true. Don’t let your wounded pride deprive you of something we both want.”
He lifted his eyes, giving me a hesitant look. “You want me? Really? Even after my story?”
My fingers trailed along his stomach. “I can’t remember a time when I wanted something this much.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed, never taking his eyes from mine. “We shouldn’t,” he said, but there was no conviction in his voice. “It’s not…professional.”
Feeling more confident than I ever had in my life, I grinned and winked at him. “Aren’t you retired? Can’t be professional when you aren’t a professional.”
The smile that spread across his face was enough to let me know I’d broken through. Giddy excitement filled me at the sight of it. God, I wanted this man.
“Well, when you put it like that, I don’t think I have any more arguments,” Declan said, then pulled me close.
Sighing, I sank against his body, kissing him again.
His hands slid over my back, running down and clutching at my ass.
I moaned into his mouth as he gently kneaded the flesh, his fingers wrapping around and almost touching my pussy through my pants.
His cock, rock hard and throbbing, pressed against my stomach.
A feral desire took hold of me. My wolf felt it as well, because she growled deep in my mind, wanting this as much as I did.
Our kiss grew more passionate and aggressive, both of us breathing hard, our hands roving across one another’s bodies as we threw off any pretense of hesitancy.
Without taking my mouth from his, I reached down and worked at the belt and zipper of his pants.
In a move both savage and inexplicably sexy, Declan grasped my shirt and tore it open.
Buttons popped off, revealing my sports bra.
“That was so hot,” I gasped, my pussy clenching.
I slipped my hand into his underwear and sucked in a breath as my fingers wrapped around him and pulled his cock free.
He was thick, the head heavy and rock hard, the skin soft and smooth, like a rod of iron covered in velvet.
Declan sighed in pleasure as I stroked him, my fingers gliding up his impressive length.
After his story, after seeing how hurt he was, how his soul had been crushed by something he had no control over, I wanted to give him some respite.
To make him feel wanted and desired, to give him what he needed.
Also, perhaps a little selfishly, I wanted him to do the same for me.
I could die tomorrow. There was no time for waiting or second-guessing.
Why not live life to the fullest right now?
With that in mind, I lowered my head and took him in my mouth.
“Oh, god,” Declan moaned. “Fuck yes.”
The soft skin of him glided against my tongue until it pressed to the back of my throat.
I cupped and caressed his balls with my left hand and stroked the shaft with my right, bobbing my head up and down, sucking and licking the head while my hands worked in tandem, urging him on, giving him what I knew he wanted.
Declan’s hips moved in time with my motions.
“That feels so fucking good.”
My clit was throbbing. I couldn’t stand it anymore.
Taking my hand from his balls, I eased it into my pants and touched myself.
I was already so fucking wet, and let out a low, almost guttural groan of satisfaction as my fingertips slipped and slid across my clit.
A delicious heat pulsed through my pelvis, working its way through my whole body, making it hard to concentrate on giving him pleasure.
Declan removed that problem by pulling himself free.
“My turn,” he growled. He scooped me into his arms and walked me to the bedroom, tossing me onto the bed. I giggled in delight, loving how strong he was.
I watched him undress, awed by his body.
The muscles and lean lines revealed themselves as he took off each article of clothing, until he stood before me, naked, his cock standing out rigid before him.
I quickly dragged off my clothes, tossing away my lensless glasses until I lay there, legs spread, ready for him.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, his eyes roaming over my body before he gazed deep into mine. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.”
My heart lurched, a pleasant ache deep in my chest. No one had ever said that to me. Before I could answer, Declan gripped my thighs, pulled my legs apart, and sank his tongue into my soaking wet pussy. I cried out, half-gasp and half-shout of pleasure.
Two fingers joined his tongue, slipping into me so fast that my back arched in surprise. I dug my nails into the sheets as he sucked my clit, his fingers caressing and coaxing me higher and higher.
“God,” I moaned, grinding my hips against his face. “Yes. You’re gonna make me come.”
Declan growled, working faster, his tongue swirling on me, his lips caressing me, his fingers fucking me. I wanted more. I was so close, so damn close.
“Oh, fuck,” I cried. “Don’t stop. Just like that.”
He did exactly as I asked, moving at the same pace and speed, pushing me ever closer to the abyss of ecstasy. I wrapped my legs around his head, pulling him closer.
With one more thrust of his fingers, I shattered.
A wave of carnal rapture cascaded across my body, shuddering up my stomach, through my limbs, and pulsed deep in my pussy.
My nipples tingled as if lightning crackled within them.
I couldn’t even cry out. My mouth simply hung open in a silent scream.
I trembled and spasmed, and still he didn’t stop, continuing to lick and suck.
When I was nothing but a quivering, sweaty mess, he finally sat up, giving me blessed relief. Crawling up the bed, he kissed my stomach, then my breasts, and finally my mouth. I could taste myself on his lips as the thick head of his cock pressed against my aching entrance.
“Please,” I whispered, then gently bit his lower lip. “I need you inside me, Declan.”
Grinning, he thrust into me. I gasped at the size of him, the stretch as he buried himself in me until his balls pressed against my ass. He stayed like that, letting me adjust to him, as he kissed along my jaw and down my neck.
I trailed my fingers down the broad muscles of his back. When he started moving, I almost passed out from the sheer pleasure. Nothing in my life had ever been so amazing.