“If you think you can just bully me to get what you want, it’s not going to work,” I told him.
“Have I asked you for anything this whole time?” When I turned my head, he gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him again. “Look at me, Royal. I haven’t asked you for anything, not since the beginning. All I wanted was my secret to be safe, but now you know it, and if it means telling the world or losing you, I’ll tell everyone I see.”
“Declan,” I said, my voice choked. He was right. He hadn’t asked me for anything. Not to see his side, not to love him in return. He’d only pleaded with me once to keep his secret and then essentially bared his soul to me. “I just want to be here for you like you’re here for me. I…”
He kissed me softly on the lips as his grip loosened. “You are. This. This right here is what I need. I can’t ask you to give me your trust, but I will ask that you keep believing I deserve it. I need you, Royal. If I have that—if I have you—then I can make it through anything.”
I swallowed down a sob, feeling torn. I wanted the same thing. I wanted to believe in him but I’d been ripped apart by lies in the past and it had made me cautious—maybe too cautious. I couldn’t fathom the idea of getting hurt again. And this time, I knew the blow would hurt a lot more.
My feelings for Declan were real and raw, and so much more than what I’d felt for Tate.
“Please,” Declan murmured, trying to draw me from my thoughts. He bent to kiss me, his breath warm on my lips before they touched mine. My hands were still in his grip, wedged between our bodies.
I couldn’t take it anymore. Not the angst in his voice or the pleading look in his eyes, one that said he’d do anything for me. I rose up as much as possible and kissed him with every raw emotion I felt.
He made a noise low in his throat, something close to anguish, that pierced my heart.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I whispered, my voice breaking.
A hot tear slid the length of my cheek but I couldn’t even wipe it away.
Instead of releasing me, Declan lifted my wrists and pinned them above my head. He used his free hand to wipe my cheek, dashing away the errant tear before kissing its path.
“You’re doing exactly what I need you to do—exactly what we need,” Declan reassured me.
Too many thoughts bombarded me at that moment, and I just wanted them to all go away. I wanted to lose myself in Declan and take myself back to yesterday when there had been so much promise for us.
“I need you.” My voice was raw but strong. “Declan, I need to feel you inside of me.”
His fingers flexed around my wrists and then he moved faster than I could see. With his free hand, he’d shoved down his jeans and boxers, his cock springing up between us. My lips parted in surprise a moment before he captured my mouth with his own.
I shifted beneath him, straining against the fingers that still bound me. But Declan still didn’t release me. Instead, he eased back so he could see me stretched out fully on the lounge chair beneath him, wet with longing.
“So beautiful,” he murmured, sliding his free hand down my side. He parted the robe completely, letting in the chill of cold air against my bare skin. The thin T-shirt I wore rode up over my abdomen, but I wore nothing else but a pair of his socks.
Declan drew in a shaky breath. “I don’t think it would be possible for me to love you any more than I already do. It’s physical ache inside of me…” He swallowed hard and met my eyes briefly. “Tell me you believe me. That you know I only have your best interest at heart.”
I nodded. “I do.”
The air moved out of his lips in a long sigh, one that showed me he was as much a man as he was something more. He might be stronger, faster, more than seemed possible physically, but inside, he was still a human—a man who was capable of making mistakes.
And a man who was capable of loving with his whole heart.
“Touch me,” I whispered.
He moved slowly, his touch almost reverent on my skin. He finally released my wrists, letting me reciprocate. Letting me pull off his shirt and touch hot skin and strong muscles, letting me clasp his body against mine, not only for the heat but to feel complete. At that moment, we were one and nothing else existed.
Declan lifted my shirt over my breasts and then bowed his head. His lips closed over the nipple of one breast, the heat of his mouth a shock against my cold skin. He flicked his tongue against the hard peak, nearly driving me mad with his skill.
My hand fisted in his hair while my body throbbed with the need for release. I parted my thighs, wanting to feel the weight of him, so filled with longing I was actually trying to get him to hurry.
“Declan, please,” I said a moment before his hand moved to cup my sex. “Oh, God…”
“Patience,” he whispered, running his finger along my wet slit. “This is the first time I’ve had a woman—any woman—here at my house. I’m making the most of it.”
“Make the most of it faster,” I urged him.
He chuckled, sounding like the carefree Declan I’d spent the evening with last night. “I warned you that I had a plan for this weekend. And plans take time to come to fruition.”
“Plans and
