His to Protect: A Fireside Novel (13 page)

“I’ll run to the pharmacy, get you an ice pack and ibuprofen while we wait for him.”

I shook my head. “It’s not necessary.”

“It is. Get off your feet and I’ll be back soon.”

Something else flashed in his eyes, something I didn’t fully understand, but I knew I’d seen that look before.

It was the same thing I saw in his hallway last night when he told me to stop kissing him before he pushed me further than I wanted to go. All my earlier doubt and fear vanished into the thickening air.

I opened my mouth to tell him that that wasn’t possible, when I felt his lips at my ear. “Get some rest while I’m gone, Trina. You’ll need the energy later.”

My jaw fell open. I was too stunned, in the best of ways, to speak. And then I wasn’t given the option, as he turned and I watched his beautiful backside saunter out of the hotel room, the door shutting behind him.

“Nice legs,” I heard a male voice murmur.

Another male voice, one I recognized, growled, “Eyes on the ankle, asshole.”

The unfamiliar male voice chuckled, and I struggled to open my eyes, realizing I was being woken up by Declan and his friend David.

“Still. She’s nice. Pretty.” A long pause caused my heart to stall in my chest as I waited for Declan’s reaction, then David continued. “Way better than Mara.”

“Two aren’t even comparable, dickhead.”

At their quick burst of laughter—which I felt in my chest, because I could tell that was a compliment, and that the negative thought about Mara was definitely a good thing—I opened my eyes and made it completely obvious that I’d woken from my nap with an exaggerated yawn and stretch.

“Hey,” I whispered, my throat dry from sleep. Declan was on my side of the bed, standing close. I could sense the other male in the room, but I couldn’t see him. “What’s going on?”

Declan grinned and leaned forward to brush my hair off my forehead. He was always touching me there. I liked the sensation way too much to consider investing in cheap hair ties anytime soon.

“David just got here. He needs to see your ankle before he goes back to the hospital.”

I nodded and shifted on the bed, feeling a warm weight slide off my ankle as I sat up. When I looked down, I saw an ice pack. I turned back to Declan with a questioning look in my eyes.

“You’ve been out for hours. Came back from the store and set the ice pack on you.”

It was not a big deal. Yet it was. Huge. Emotions threatened to overwhelm me at the simple gesture, something that probably wouldn’t seem unusual to anyone who’d had people care about them when they’d been hurt. When I thought my voice wouldn’t be shaky, I grinned. “Thank you.”

But even then the grin and the two words were shaky.

“David, meet Trina.” Declan gestured with one arm and I turned to see a handsome guy standing near the foot of the bed. He was dressed in typical pale-blue doctor’s scrubs, stethoscope still draped around his neck. Not only that, but he was handsome in a clean-cut, nice-guy sort of way. He was tall and lean, square jawed, and had short, sandy-brown hair that could either be light brown or dark blond. It was trimmed nice and short, professional looking. His jaw showed no hint of stubble, telling me that he took the time to look nice and neat. Small lines at the edges of his eyes said he lived a life of either high stress or a lot of laughter and emotion, or possibly both.

His appearance, along with his kind smile, was immediately calming. “Trina, David.”

“Nice to meet you,” David said, walking forward and holding out his hand. “Declan’s told me all about you.”

I shook his hand, noticing his warm, firm grip, before I twisted to look at Declan over David’s shoulder.

“Not everything,” Declan said, and David’s brow furrowed. “Get her looked at, David, so you can get back to work.”

“You have to go back?” I asked, shock evident in my voice.

“On for fourteen hours. This is just my dinner break, but it’s the quickest I could get here,” David replied, moving to the foot of the bed. When he reached out toward my ankle, I flinched away from his touch, anticipating the pain.

I sucked my bottom lip in between my teeth. “Sorry.”

His eyes flashed to Declan’s before coming back to me. When he met my gaze, his light-blue eyes softened. “I’m going to sit next to you and test your ankle. Okay?”

I nodded, still feeling embarrassed, more so now because of the understanding David seemed to have regarding me. I briefly wondered how long they had spoken while I slept, how much Declan had shared with David about me.

I tensed when David gently cupped my ankle in his hand and slowly turned my foot toward him.

I grimaced from the dull pain that began throbbing.

“Hurt?” he asked, his eyes on mine, not on my ankle.

“Just a bit,” I admitted unnecessarily. “But better than before.”

“Have you taken any pain meds?”

“She was out when I got back from the store. Just gave her the ice pack but she’s been sleeping.” Declan filled in the information without looking at either David or me. His gaze was glued to David’s hands on me.

My lips twitched, fighting a smile at his protectiveness, before David turned my ankle the other way. He set it down and I sucked in a breath when his fingers began prodding my skin. He alternated between watching my expression and where his hands were moving.

When he finally stopped examining with his hands and his eyes, I felt like I could breathe again.

I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath until I felt the pressure ease in my chest.

I hated feeling under the microscope.

“It’s just twisted. Minor sprain, but nothing bad.”

My eyes flickered to Declan’s and I grinned. “Told you so.”

“Better safe than sorry.” His dark eyes showed no hint of amusement, so I wiped the grin off my face and turned back to David.

His eyes showed a great deal of amusement as he watched me. “I think you’ll be fine by the morning. It’s swollen, but not too bad. Take some ibuprofen every four to six hours if you need it, but you should be good to go.”

“Thank you for taking the time to check on me. It sounds like you’re a busy guy.”

He stood from the bed and tugged on the ends of his stethoscope. “I’m never too busy for a friend.” He nodded his head toward Declan without taking his eyes off me. “Plus, this asshole can be unbearable when he doesn’t get his way.”

My lips twitched again and I coughed to smother my laugh. “I wasn’t aware he could be an asshole.”

Behind him, Declan made a choking sound.

David burst out in laughter. “Then it appears you don’t know him well at all.”

My eyes slid to Declan’s and I licked my lips. I couldn’t contain the breathiness in my tone when I said, “I think I know him well enough.”

“Right.” David cleared his throat, his humor obvious. “Then I’m going to take that as my cue to go.”

He stepped toward me, hand extended. “It was nice to meet you, Trina.” When I placed my hand in his, he held it firmly and then leaned toward me, squatting at the same time, until his lips were by my ear. My eyes stay pinned on Declan’s as he scowled, watching his friend dip close to me. “And I’m kidding about the asshole comment. He’s the best guy I’ve ever met. If you need someone, he’s the guy who will take care of you. You got me?”

I nodded, breathless and speechless at the same time.

David wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t feel Declan’s annoyance with his friend rising every single moment David spent close to me.

When his lips brushed against my cheek as he pulled away, Declan growled.

David squeezed my hand before he let it go. “See?” He raised a brow and turned to face his friend. “What’d I tell you? Asshole.”

I didn’t bother to cover or hide my laugh this time.

“I’ll walk you out,” Declan said, walking toward the two of us and putting himself between David and me. I was still laughing quietly when David peeked around Declan’s shoulder and winked at me. “David,” Declan growled.

His hands balled into fists, making David laugh even harder than me.

“Jesus Christ, dickstick. Take a fuckin’ joke. I gotta get to the hospital anyway, but before I go, do you need anything? A chill pill?”

“Funny.” Declan snorted and I laughed louder. It felt good. A full, stomach-rumbling laugh that hurt my sides and made my cheeks hurt. “And careful with the swearing. Trina makes me pay her a dollar every time I cuss.”

David joined me in laughing, and as we laughed, I didn’t miss the way Declan turned to look at me over his shoulder. His expression immediately changed and his eyes softened as he took in my laughter and my smile. “Be back in a minute, Trina.”

“Okay,” I replied, smothering my laughter but not my smile. “Bye, David,” I called out when I heard the door open.

“See you soon, Trina! Stay off that ankle tonight and don’t take this guy’s shit.”

I heard another growl from Declan before I watched him push his friend out the door of the hotel room. Declan followed, and then the door slammed closed.

“Thank you,” I murmured, half into the glass of water pressed against my lips. “I’m feeling better, though.”

Declan stood over me and watched me swallow the pills he’d just handed me along with the water. “David said every four to six hours.”

“It’s just an ankle,” I reminded him, fighting to keep the edges of my lips from quirking up. If I’d learned anything this afternoon, it was that Declan didn’t like seeing me hurt in any way.

One side of his nose twitched and he nodded when I handed the empty glass back to him. “How are you feeling, for real? Be honest.”

“I feel well rested, but tired. And my ankle is sore, but not in a painful way, just tender.”

He searched my face as if examining me for any hint of untruth before he nodded again and walked away. I watched as he headed to the small bathroom and rinsed out the glass before he shut the door. While he used the restroom, I rolled to the other side of the bed to the nightstand, the only other furniture in the hotel room besides a small chair pushed up to a tiny desk in the corner, and grabbed the remote. I’d just turned on the television when Declan exited the bathroom. As soon as I saw him, my breath stopped inside me.

He had taken off his shirt and I couldn’t stop staring at his chest.

He was cut.

Ripped.

Holy crumb cakes, the man was a serious work of art.

My eyes followed him as he sauntered around the bed, almost as if he’d slowed down when he noticed my eyes were stuck to his body like glue. Then he sat down on the bed next to me.

Next to me!

My eyes bugged out when he kicked his feet up on the bed, crossing them at the ankles, his back at the headboard.

Then he reached over to me, slid his arm around my waist, and pulled me to him as if I were light as the pillow he rested against.

“Um. Declan?”

His arm tightened around my waist until I had no choice but to rest my head on his shoulder and my hand on his stomach.

Without speaking, he plucked the remote out of my hand and started flipping through channels.

“You’ve had a long day, and you’re tired,” he said, before I felt his lips press against the top of my head. “Had a lot of ideas in my head today, of how we could move forward with exploring whatever’s going on between us, but that’s going to have to wait.”

Um. My blood began pulsing and heating. A throb began, and not in my injured ankle, but in a much more pleasurable area. I couldn’t stop my fingers from flexing against the taut skin of his abdomen, which was covered by the sexiest dusting of hair.

I wanted this. I wanted whatever he originally wanted to explore.

I wanted to explore him…and his body.

I wanted him to explore mine.

Not having had a lot of partners, only a few before Kevin, I’d never needed to take that first step and let a guy know what I wanted. In my limited experience, young guys were pretty blunt about what they wanted and expected.

Still, I gathered whatever confidence I had and tilted my head back, twisting so I was looking at Declan’s jaw. His jaw was tight, his eyes straight ahead on the television.

“Declan?” I whispered, adjusting as best as I could so I was sitting up further. His fingers on my hip held me in place. “What if I want to explore…um…you tonight?”

His eyes turned to mine and his jaw tightened further. “You’re hurt.”

I looked up at the ceiling and opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off by dropping the remote, then cupping my cheek with his warm, large, calloused hand. “When I take you, Trina, and I promise you I’m going to, I want to know that everything I’m giving you is pleasure. And tonight, I can’t know that for certain. I don’t want to be worried that you’re hiding pain in your ankle when I’m making you feel good in other places. But trust me, it’ll happen. This will happen between us, when I can know that I can take you and not hurt you.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. The surprise I felt at hearing his words, along with the taste and feel of him, his lips surprisingly soft, made my lips part and he slid his tongue inside my mouth.

Tasting me.

Gently.

But fully and completely.

I mewled into his mouth as his tongue touched mine. Sparks ignited, running down my back.

But I didn’t push against him. I didn’t force anything to happen.

I trusted him. I trusted him completely, and somehow I knew that he needed this. He needed this time and he needed to know I was okay. So I let him continue sliding his tongue against mine, our kiss and our breaths mingling together, and I let him slowly pull away until our lips were barely touching.

And then I smiled.

“Do you understand what I said, Trina?”

I nodded, giving him that. “We can wait, Declan.”

His thumb slid along my cheekbone, his eyes dropping to watch the movement. “You taste as beautiful as you look. As beautiful as you are.”

I swallowed, fighting the emotion threatening to spill over. I never expected a man as large and intimidating and strong as Declan would be the guy to give me this, but he was. I knew in that moment, as I whispered my thank you in the shyest way possible, feeling like the strongest person in the world when his eyes sparkled in answer, that as much as Declan wanted to give me something good, something pure, I wanted to give him everything he’d ever wanted.

“Go to sleep,” he finally said, turning back to the television, but keeping one arm around my waist, the other hand on my cheek. “We’ve had a long day and we’ll have an even longer one tomorrow.”

I let him gently press my cheek against his shoulder and my eyes slid to the television.

My arm was draped all the way across his stomach, my fingers pressed into his side to hold him to me, like he was holding me to him.

Then I closed my eyes and inhaled his clean scent, with its hint of spice, as he settled on a baseball game.

I was asleep before the inning was over.

Morning pulled me from sleep, and I felt the heat beneath me. Before I opened my eyes, I knew where I was.

I was next to Declan, practically draped over his firm body. We had somehow shifted in our sleep, and I was once again under covers I didn’t remember crawling under. One of my legs was pressed up against Declan’s, my other draped over his thigh. My arm was over his stomach, where I remembered placing it before I fell asleep, my other hand was under his shoulder, and my head was resting on top of it.

I was essentially an octopus, my limbs all over him, attached as if by suction.

I had no desire to move, either.

I did, though, have an insatiable desire to somehow be closer to him. To taste him.

I hadn’t felt desire for anyone in years, and as it came at me that morning, my sex beginning to throb and pulse with heat and need, I succumbed to it.

I turned my head and pressed my lips to his exposed skin, running my hand along his stomach, through his short, coarse hair.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember the way he’d looked last night when he exited the bathroom. A smattering of hair between his pecs, peppered down the center of his abs, thickening as it reached his waistband.

I had a sudden, overwhelming desire to see what rested beneath said waistband.

With my lips pressed to his chest, I tasted his masculinity. The hard muscles beneath his skin tightened as my hand continued slowly wandering across his abs.

I felt my nipples tighten beneath my tank top, and as my breath quickened, my tongue darted out, sliding along his skin.

His hand flexed on my lower back where he held me to him, his fingertips pressing into my skin.

“Trina?”

His voice was a deep, raspy murmur.

It did crazy things to the already wet area between my thighs. I wanted to hear his voice, every day, say my name just like that.

“Hmm?” I murmured, pressing my lips against his skin again. My fingers gripped his shoulder, as if I were trying to hold him to me so I could explore him.

I wanted him more than anything.

“You awake, sweetheart?”

I nodded, keeping my eyes closed and my exploration slow, savoring every inch of him.

It was soon no longer enough.

Declan’s chest began to rise and fall at a faster pace. His hand continued pressing me against his body and my hips began to move against his thigh of their own accord.

I was grinding on him, and he was letting me.

He was giving me control in this moment as if he somehow knew I desperately needed it.

I did.

I also wanted to lose it.

“You feel so good,” I replied, my voice a hoarse whisper. “When I’m next to you, I feel safe.”

“Aww, sweetheart.” His hand tightened on my back and he shifted his weight, rolling to the side and holding me against him. The move made me straddle his lower thigh, and my hips pressed into him. “You’re still hurt.”

“I know.” I was. I was hurting everywhere, but it wasn’t my ankle that was throbbing. To show him what I meant, I slid my hand to his hip and tried to pull him closer to me. “I want you, though.”

I felt him shudder as he exhaled deeply, and I finally opened my eyes. His hand slid up to the back of my neck and he tilted my head, forcing me to meet his gaze.

His dark-brown eyes were heated, full of desire. I watched his throat dip and move as he swallowed, seeming to decide what to do next.

“I want this, Declan.” I strengthened my voice. I wanted him to know that I wanted the same things he did. To explore what we were feeling as adults. It didn’t have to lead to forever; I just wanted to enjoy it for now.

He pressed his other hand to my cheek, pushing back my hair and tucking it behind my ear.

“You always do that,” I whispered, a small smile tilting my lips at the corners. “Why?”

His eyes watched the movement of his hand. “Because you always seem so soft and I can’t help but touch you.”

“Then do it,” I challenged him softly. “Touch me.”

His forehead fell to mine. I felt his chest heave against me and he closed his eyes. “If I start, I wouldn’t want to stop, Trina. Not until every inch of you is mine.”

His.

His need to claim me didn’t scare me. Not like it would have coming from someone else. Not like it did when Kevin said I was his.

There was a difference.

Kevin wanted to control me, to make me a possession.

Declan just wanted me at his side.

I wanted to be beneath him. Or maybe on top of him.

“Please,” I pleaded, my hips rolling against his leg again. “I need this.”

And so did he, based on the bulge I felt beneath the fabric of his boxers.

He groaned as I shifted my hips and rolled them again, pressing into him.

“Jesus,” he grunted. “I can feel how wet and hot you already are.”

My fingertips dug into his shoulders. “Please, Declan. Don’t hold back with me. Not like this.”

I felt his fight to be safe leave him with another rolling breath that rippled down his abs. His hand on my cheek cupped me more firmly and then he was pulling me closer to him, sinking his lips to mine.

I instantly mewled against him as his hands began to move. He explored my skin, my arms, and my back beneath my tank top, and then that was being removed as I was rolled to my back.

“So beautiful,” he said, leaning over me, already between my spread thighs. His large, warm hand trailed down my chest, sliding between my breasts and running along my abdomen.

The sincere and intense way he looked at me prevented any embarrassment from seeping into me. His hand drew circles on my skin, creating a wake of goosebumps as the circles grew smaller and then larger again.

With every swipe of his hand just above the waistband of my shorts, I arched into him, silently signaling what I needed.

He ignored me and kept his eyes on my face, watching the reaction I was having to his touch become obvious.

I bit down on my bottom lip to contain my moans and to stop myself from pleading again.

He knew what I wanted. I’d already asked enough.

His eyes met mine and narrowed. “I want to be gentle with you, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to.”

I shook my head. “Don’t. I want you, however you come.”

He must have seen the sincerity and the need in my eyes, because his hand stilled at my hip, and he leaned forward.

“I haven’t even kissed you yet,” he murmured, his lips stretching into a grin. “How forgetful of me.”

I laughed softly as his lips met mine and I opened to him immediately. Our tongues tangled together, increasing my need like a wildfire ignited deep inside me. As our kiss grew more intense, Declan’s hands went to my pajama shorts and he pulled them down, no longer seeming to hesitate about what he wanted.

His hand slid up my thigh and I moaned into his mouth. His touch was sure and confident, but gentle at the same time.

I arched into him, spreading my thighs wider.

I gasped as he trailed two fingers through my wetness and spread it around. I squeezed my eyes closed, dug my fingers into his back.

“Yes,” I whispered, already feeling my clit begin to pulse. I was swollen and hot and wet, and so much more turned on than I could remember being before, or at least, for years.

I needed this. I needed the physical release as well as the emotional one.

I was cheating on a husband I’d left only weeks earlier, but this didn’t feel wrong.

It felt nothing less than perfect. As Declan’s fingers continued sliding through me, dipping inside me and teasing me, pulling out and running over my clit, perfection continued to increase until I felt ready to explode.

“Declan,” I gasped again, pushing my head into the mattress. My head began to thrash from his light ministrations, and my breath came too quick and harsh to continue kissing him. Fire burned along my inner thighs and a shiver rolled through my entire body. “I’m so close.”

“Let me see you,” he whispered, dipping down and pressing his lips against the column of my throat. “Let me see what I do to you.”

I shattered immediately, my entire body going up in flames as the climax he’d so quickly pulled from my body rolled through me, making me lose the control I so desperately clung to.