Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
She shouldn’t want him.
She shouldn’t hold him. Comfort him. Touch him. Shouldn’t offer him the sweetest hope that he’d ever had in his entire life. Because when she did those things, she just sealed her fate all the more.
Oh, who the fuck was he kidding? Her fate had been sealed for some time. Ever since she came back for him in that basement. Or maybe when he’d opened his eyes in that hospital room, and Marley had still been there, holding his hand.
“You’re marrying me,” he said against her mouth. That delectable mouth. The mouth that kissed his scars and told him that she would have helped him destroy his father.
No one else had ever tried to stop Conor Flynn. But Declan actually believed that a teenage Marley would have.
Though his father probably would have just hurt her.
A growl built in his throat.
And I would have just killed him quicker. No one will ever hurt my Marley again in this world.
“Is this the cover story again?” Marley’s breathless voice asked as she pulled back. “You really want to talk about the cover…now? Because Declan, I want to take your pain away.”
His own breath froze in his chest.
“I want to give you pleasure and no more pain. I want us both to have pleasure. Make love to me, Declan. Right now.”
Like he had to be told twice to do it. His tongue slid past her lips. Tasted the sweetness that he craved. She’d risen in the bed to hold him. But now she shifted positions as they kissed. Her legs wrapped around him. Her hands tightened behind his head.
His eager dick shoved toward her. He’d stripped off his t-shirt but kept on the jogging pants when he climbed into the bed with her. The worn material did little to disguise his need for her. Still, the pants were definitely in the way. They needed to go. She was rocking her hips and riding against him. When he’d been gone from the room, she’d changed at some point. Put on one of his shirts. He could feel the softness against him even though the darkness in the bedroom made it impossible for him to actually see which shirt she’d picked.
The material was oversized on her. It carried the faintest hint of his cologne.
I want Marley carrying my scent. He wanted to mark her. To put a ring on her finger. To bind her to him so that the entire world would know?—
What? That one person out of eight billion doesn’t think you’re the devil incarnate?
He tumbled her back on the bed. Kept kissing her.
No, I want the world to know that this angel wants me. Loves me.
But…she didn’t love him. She wanted him. He could make her go wild with passion. Already, his fingers were sliding between her legs. She wore the t-shirt, but no underwear, and he strummed her clit the way he knew would make her crazy. Strumming wouldn’t be enough. Not for him. He needed his mouth on her. Needed to taste her pleasure before he drove inside of her.
She doesn’t love me, and I don’t know that I can ever love anyone. I’m too much my father’s son. Too much ? —
Her fingers fluttered over his back. Then darted between their bodies. She stroked him softly through the jogging pants. Her mouth broke from his. “I think you’d better grab some protection this time.”
In the darkness, he stared down at her. “What if I don’t?”
No, fuck, he shouldn’t have said?—
“Then I might get pregnant, Declan, and you’d have to marry me for real. No charming pretense.” She didn’t sound worried. In fact, he couldn’t tell how she did sound. Odd, when Marley had always been so easy for him to read in the past.
Wasn’t that something he enjoyed about her? No pretense. What he saw was what he got. Marley told him how she felt while he…
While I trick. I lie. I hold everything back from everyone in this world because I can’t trust anyone.
His body had frozen.
“Grab a condom, Declan.” Soft. Her fingers still stroked the dick that ached for her. A dick that was far, far from soft. His body had locked, but his dick was still big and damn near bursting for her. “I want you in me.”
“I’m going to marry you.” A flat promise. “It was never pretend.”
“What?”
He pulled back. Kicked the covers out of his way that wanted to tangle him up, and then he was pushing her legs apart. The powerful pounding of his heartbeat seemed to echo in his ears. The blood poured through his veins like lava. Everything felt heightened. Too intense.
His fingers were shaking as he pushed her thighs wider apart. When he put his mouth on her, a tremble skated over her body. He’d been careful until that instant. Using a soft touch. Because this was Marley. But, when his mouth pressed to her, when her taste hit his tongue and she began to moan his name, something seemed to tear loose inside of him. No, not tearing. Like a wall, breaking. Crumbling. Smashing into a million pieces so that it could never, ever be rebuilt.
His mouth turned feverish on her. Licking. Kissing. Taking. Harder and more frantic. She twisted beneath him, and his hands just caught her hips to hold her down. He took and he took and she came against his mouth. Once.
Not enough.
He lapped her up, too greedy and desperate to take every single bit of her.
She came a second time. “Declan!” Sharp. Gasped.
Another lick. He could taste her pleasure. Nothing else in this world would ever be as good.
But he was nearly exploding. He ditched the jogging pants. Rolled from the bed to grab a condom from the nightstand.
Don’t want it. Want to be bare in her. Want to make her pregnant. Want her tied to me forever. Only…
What if the child turned out like me?
Fear slid through him when there should only be pleasure in this moment. His hand curled around the handle of the drawer, and he yanked it open. He grabbed for the box of condoms and pulled out one packet. He turned back for the bed.
Marley slipped from the bed. Her knees hit the carpet, and her fingers curled around his dick.
“Marley—”
“Not fair that I have two…and you have zero so far.” She pumped him. Base to head. Once. Twice. And then… “Let’s fix that problem.”
She took him into her mouth.
His hand flew out. Hit the lamp. Turned on the light because he had to see this. Marley, taking his dick into her mouth. Those lush lips parting for him. Pulling him in. And the way her tongue felt…the wet heat of her mouth…the way she gave that little moan as if she loved having his dick and?—
He curled his hands under her arms. Lifted her onto the bed. Tossed her down. She laughed when she bounced. Marley’s laughter—it was as beautiful as she was.
And some bastard shot her. Her blood was fucking all over the limo, and I thought my world was ending. Who would have thought that just one person could end the entire world?
He tore open the condom. She helped him roll it into place. Mostly just so she could stroke him and tease him and torment him more. But the time for torment was over. He pushed her onto the mattress. Captured her hands and caged them the way he’d done earlier. But this time was different.
Her hips arched toward him, and his dick knew the way home. He plunged all the way in one powerful stroke, and she lifted from the bed with a gasp of his name. Declan leaned forward. Licked her tight nipples through the t-shirt. Licked and bit even as he thrust. Over and over. Deep and hard. Relentless.
She was so wet and eager. Still so sensitive from his mouth, and when she started to come again— third time is the charm, sweetheart— he stopped holding back. His drives were deep and plunging. Claiming and consuming. His hands touched her everywhere. His mouth locked to her throat, and he sucked the skin. He would leave a mark.
Marley. Mine.
He came inside her.
Declan’s arm was curled around her. Her ass was snuggled back against him. His chest was to her spine. Who would have thought this could be the most comfortable position in the world?
Sleep pulled at her. But she needed to say a few things. Important things. Things like… Hi, Declan. So…I’m worried I might be falling in love with you.
And it wasn’t just about confusing great sex with love. Not that she’d had a whole lot of great sex until Declan. But a woman could tell the difference between pleasure—even really amazing, heaven-touching pleasure—and love.
Love was scary and consuming and deep, and it made you do all sorts of reckless, wild things…
Like seduce a billionaire megalomaniac in his office when you have zero seduction experience. But, even before that…when she’d been in that alley and realized Declan might get shot, the fear that she’d felt had floored her. It hadn’t just been about protecting her client. Ha. Not even close. Her lunge to cover him had been instinctive because…
No one can hurt Declan. Not her Declan.
She swallowed. He’d turned off the lamp again. After he’d brought a soft, warm cloth and gently cleaned her. A faint smile had curved his lips when he got a look at the t-shirt she wore. An old college shirt. Faded and worn. She’d found it in the back of his closet. She’d raked past all the too expensive items and picked this one.
No real reason why. But…
It made her feel warm. She could swear she smelled his scent on it.
You need to say something. You can’t just hide in his arms forever and pretend danger isn’t coming. “Probably won’t always be like this.” The husky words came from her, and really, they had not been what she meant to say. “I’m sure we won’t always make love this many times a night.” Make love. That was how she thought of it. He probably didn’t. That was okay. She knew exactly what she was doing.
I’m falling in love with Declan Flynn.
“You’re right.” An easy agreement. She felt him brush a kiss against the back of her head. “It will probably be more.”
Her eyes widened, then she laughed because he was joking, wasn’t he?
“I love the sound of your laugh. It’s like a little light.” Gruff. “When so much is dark.”
Holy crap, that was poetic. Poetic from Declan? The man had layers. She rolled into his arms. His features were so shadowed and dark. “Are you always so, um, quick to rise? Because I didn’t think most men?—”
“There is no always. This is how I am with you. The way I am with you is different than the way I am with everyone else in this world.”
She suddenly realized he was not just talking about sex. This felt deeper. “Declan?”
“You’re going to marry me.”
Back to that, were they? “Declan…”
“James is already sharing the news with certain media sources. By morning, the world will think that Declan Flynn fell madly in love with the woman who pulled him from hell. He proposed, she accepted, and they are going to spend the rest of their lives in married bliss.”
“He’s already sharing the news?”
“I was talking to him downstairs before I returned to you.”
So that was where he’d vanished to—a meeting with James.
“You and I talked about the cover before. Your original idea, remember, love?”
Love. A pang shot through her. One she pushed aside, for the moment, so she could focus on the engagement and cover story. The fact that she’d told a few EMTs they were engaged was going to haunt her forever. “We don’t need a pretend story. Unless…” Her fingers skated over his chest. Paused over his heart. Such a powerful chest. Such a strong, driving heartbeat. Wait, was his heartbeat a little fast? “Declan? Are you spreading the story to draw out the person who took you? Is he already here in Chicago? Do you know something I don’t?” Her hand pressed a bit harder against him. “Don’t hold back on me. Remember the whole talk about not sidelining your PI?” Did she need to go over things again?
“I lied to you.”
Her eyes narrowed in the dark. “Not cool, Declan. Not cool.”
“I never needed a PI.”
Oh, wait, was that statement supposed to be a stunner? “I’ve seen your security team. Kind of figured that part out on my own.” But she’d wanted the gig desperately and not just because he would have been her first major client. Though, sure, that had been nice. The Declan Flynn and all that. Only… I wanted to make sure he was safe. Just like in the hospital, when she hadn’t been able to leave him because she’d been so worried about an enemy sneaking in and hurting him.
No one can hurt Declan.
“I can protect myself, Marley.”
“Well, you did wind up drugged in a basement.”
He curled his fingers around her wrist. “You have a giant target on your back.”
She actually didn’t have anything on her back but his shirt.
“You saved me, Marley. He’s going to try and kill you.”
“You think I didn’t figure that out when my place got trashed? It was certainly easy enough to connect the dots.” And as for the dots… “You whisked me away to Chicago because you were trying to protect me. Being your PI isn’t about me helping you to solve the case.” Damn him. “It’s about you protecting me.”
Silence. Then, “You’re sure I’m not using you as bait to draw him in? He’s eliminated three people already. You got in his way—twice—so he’ll be determined to eliminate you, too. Maybe I have you close because I want him to come for you…all the better so that I can trap him.”
She snorted. In the dark. Pressed to him. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Didn’t realize I was.” So mild.
“You would never use me as bait. You’re hardly the type of man who would do that.”
“Marley, Marley, Marley…you’re back to saying you think I’m good.”
Actually, she hadn’t said that. She’d just said he would not use her as bait. “You’re the main target. Doesn’t make sense that you’d need to dangle me like a worm on a hook. You hired me because you were trying to protect me. You brought me with you to Chicago for the same reason. Now you’re getting James to tell the world that I’m your fiancée because that’s like a neon sign way of saying… don’t dare touch what belongs to me. ”
“You do belong to me.”
“Because I’m your PI.” I want to be so much more to you.
“The engagement doesn’t have to be fake.”
Now she was the one stunned into silence.
“I can give you anything in this world that you want. More money than you will ever spend. The biggest houses. The fastest cars.”
“I tend to bargain hunt,” she whispered. “Can’t stand to buy something if it’s not on sale. And big houses just require a lot of cleaning. I also don’t drive fast. Speeding is against the law.”
“Right. You always follow the law.”
“And you…don’t?”
“I have broken more laws than I can count. To keep you with me, I’d break any rule. I intend to possess you completely, Marley.”
Possess. Possessing something or someone wasn’t the same thing as love. And he’d warned her before that he didn’t think he could love the way others loved. But who is to say that the way Declan loves is wrong?
“Marley?”
She’d been silent too long. “I didn’t hear a marriage proposal.” She turned away from Declan, but caught his arm and pulled it around her as she snuggled back against him. “You should work on that. Do better next time, and maybe you’ll get a different response from me.”
A jolt went through him. Shock? Maybe. She was pretty shocked herself. For now, though, time for bed. She wasn’t sure she was up to sharing more of her soul with him at the moment. “It’s late. We’ve got a killer to hunt tomorrow. No more sidelining. Your brother is a target, too. From here on out, we go on the offensive. We don’t wait on this creep any longer. He’s not slipping away.”
“I…wanted you to be clear from the doc.”
Was he talking about those stitches again? Like a few stitches—or a dozen—would slow her down for long. “I can hunt with you just fine. Time for you to cough up your list of suspects. I want to know your enemies, Declan. I want to know every secret that you possess. Share everything with me. That’s the only way for us to get to the truth. I need to know it all. Good. Bad. All the sins that you want hidden, you have to share them with me.”
His hold tightened on her.
He didn’t speak. Just held her. The minutes drifted past. Slumber pulled at her. Her eyelids sagged closed. Declan kept holding her close.
And, just as she began to drift off, she heard… “Be careful what you wish for, sweetheart. Very, very careful.”