“So, let me get this straight.” I ticked things off on my fingers. “You don’t need to sleep, you never get sick, you’re faster than a cheetah and stronger than a… I have no idea. Stronger than a regular human by far, though.”
His finger moved in circles on my thigh, the heat coming through my slacks. “I don’t know about a cheetah. But yes, very fast.”
“Very fast,” I agreed. “Remember, I timed you. No human can run that fast.”
“And yet,” he said, his eyes locked on mine. “I am human. I even age like a human.”
“How do you know?” I peered at his face. “Do you have wrinkles? Bad knees? Any evidence at all that you’re aging?”
He considered this, making my heart start to race with the wonder of the idea that I might actually be right. That he didn’t age at all. But he shook his head. “I can see it when I look in the mirror. Or when I see pictures of myself in a magazine or on that Dark Enterprises website. My face has matured. And little things, like this.” He took my hand and brought it to his face, rubbing my fingers over his stubble. “I still function like a normal human being in small ways. I still need to eat, I can go a beard, I can get hurt.”
“But you heal fast,” I reminded him and added that to the list of things he could do differently. “I forgot that one.”
“Funny,” he murmured, “since that was how you discovered my secrets.”
I blushed a little. “About that…”
He grinned. “Oh, please don’t tell me you’re going to apologize now. I think it’s a little late for that.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I didn’t know who you really were then. If you had been honest with me upfront, then I wouldn’t have had to try to trick you into showing me what you could do. Which, in case you forgot, wasn’t the reason why I pretended to be Stephanie Thompson in the first place.”
“Ah. I see. So, it’s my fault.”
I took another sip of my wine and considered this. “Maybe 50% yours and 50% mine. We’ll share equal fault.”
“Then you don't blame me for listening in on your conversations? Or not telling you I knew who you were in the first place.”
Some of my humor faded, but I told him the truth. “No, I don’t blame you and I’m not mad. I should be, though. That was an invasion of privacy, you know. But I also know your heart.” I reached out and set my hand on his chest, still amazed by how perfectly sculpted he was and what he could do. “You weren’t being malicious. And it all worked out, didn’t?”
“It did.” He leaned in and ran his tongue along my lower lip. When my mouth parted, he shifted so he was facing me. In one smooth movement, he turned my chair and slid me closer so my legs were between his. “And it’s still working, isn’t it?”
I swallowed and angled my head when he kissed my cheek. “It’s working very well for me.”
“Are you finished eating?”
“For now.”
“You still want that shower?”
“Only if you take one with me.”
His reflexes were swift but gentle. I was in his arms and halfway across the living room before I could blink. And in the next moment, we were in the bathroom and Declan was lowering me to my feet again.
He reached into the shower to turn on the water before turning back and watching me unbutton my shirt.
“I’m really glad you’re here,” he murmured, his eyes full of heat.
“Me too. I’m going to need you to take off your clothes now.”
With a laugh, he obeyed. After a moment, we were both naked and wet under the warm spray of water.
Declan massaged my shoulders, his hands nearly as warm as the water. “You’re tense,” he murmured, his lips touching my ear.
“I don’t feel tense. I feel…”
“What?”
I turned to face him, trying to find words that didn’t seem to fit the situation. They weren’t big enough or strong enough. “Happy,” I said simply, putting my arms around his shoulders. “Like I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”
He pushed a wet lock of hair off my cheek. “Really?”
The wonder and hope in his eyes elevated my happiness. “Really. It’s been a long time and I never would have expected something like this. To care so much about someone in such a short time and not feel completely terrified about what that means.”
He listened to my words with rapt attention. It was the most I’d given him so far, the most I’d told him about my true feelings.
“I feel the same way,” Declan said after a moment. His lips brushed against mine. “My life changed in an instant and now I can’t imagine it any other way.”
I knew exactly how he felt, but that part did scare me. I had no idea where things would go from here and that made worry crop up again.
“Don’t,” Declan murmured, his lips brushing mine again. “Don’t worry about things you can’t control right now. Just stay here, in the moment, with me.”
It was the best advice I’d gotten in a long time. To live in the moment. Not too difficult considering the god of a man that stood before me. I slid my hand
