Surrendering (42 page)

We’re sitting in Declan’s front room and I decide to get this meeting started. “I think the stalker is a woman.”

“I think so too,” Finn replies.

“Why do you think that?” Declan asks.

“Well, he or she obviously hates me. Both the note and the video were shots directed at me, Dec, not you. The DVD was meant to make me upset and break my heart. This person was trying to get me to break-up with you. The message on my car was meant to scare me in to leaving you.”

Finn shakes his head in agreement with me.

“Declan, the hang-ups are purely amateur moves. It reminds me of high school when you have a crush on a boy and call just to see if he’s home. And the pornography sent to your phone is gross, but not threatening.”

“I guess you have a point, but who the hell would do this?”

Finn pulls out a folder and tosses it on the table. “All the calls and texts came from a burner phone. I traced the signal, but I found it laying in a trash can this morning. The video doesn’t give too much away. The overlay music covers up any conversations that may have taken place. It might help if you could remember any of the girls names on the video.”

The revulsion in his tone is aimed directly at Declan.

“I already feel like shit, Finn. No need to rub it in. I’m well aware of what a dick I was.”

Tears spring to my eyes and fall down my cheeks. The man I fell in love with and agreed to spend the rest of my life with used to be a complete bastard. And now one of my best-friends has proof of it.

Finn’s eyes soften towards me. “I’m sorry to upset you, RJ. What I meant was if we knew the girls names, I might be able to find and talk to them. We could see if any of them know anything about the being recorded.”

“What about Christie? Didn’t she say something about a video when she showed up at The Steamroom?”

“Yeah, she said she received a text from an unknown number saying they saw a video of her and me. She asked me if I did it and I assured her I didn’t record us. As a matter of fact, you know the ending of that story.”

I smirk and nod.

Finn gets up to leave and pulls me with him. He holds me tight and kisses my forehead. “Don’t worry, RJ. I’ll keep watching out for you. Hopefully this crazy will go away. Just so you know, I could’ve lived my whole life without knowing your boyfriend has his junk pierced.”

My laughter fills the room. I hadn’t realized Declan had to tell him when he showed him the text messages. The look of horror on his face is priceless.

We says our goodbyes after Finn lets me know he’ll be picking me up here to go to the bar tonight.

Declan pushes my hair to the side and starts kissing my neck. Even though he’s sweaty from his work-out, he smells incredible. I turn and lift up on my toes to kiss his lips. He opens to allow me access and I kiss him greedily. He squeezes my hips and urges me to jump up. He walks us to the bedroom, never breaking our connection. I lift the hem of my sweater and toss it over my head. Declan swirls his tongue over my tightening nipple and lays me down on the bed. It only takes a few seconds for us to undress.

“So fucking sexy.”

I remember our conversation last night and push him over so I can straddle him.

“I believe I need to show to you exactly how I knew that picture was not you last night. His erection twitches against his stomach. I look at him, lick my lips, and scrape my fingernails over his tight abdomen. I kiss a trail from his belly button to his groin and position myself between his thighs.

“We already established your size.” I lick his crown with just the tip of my tongue in slow motion.

“And when you’re this turned on, you thicken and the skin stretches.” I rub the pads of my fingers over his entire cock. “Lastly, there is this little ‘v’ that I love to kiss.” I give feather like kisses over the area and see the tip start to glisten.

“You’re torturing me, baby, please.”

“Please, what?”

“Please, suck my dick.”

I close my mouth over him and slide up and down, swirling my tongue as I go. He grips my head with one hand and the other clutches at the sheets. He lifts his hips, pushing all the way in. I continue sucking, nipping and licking until he is close. Then I move back up to play with the barbell and wrap my hands around his base, squeezing until he starts panting. I tease and taunt him on purpose to see how long he can take it. I risk looking up at him to see his expression. His eyes are hooded and his rapid breathing is increasing. He sees me staring and a smile forms on his lips. Before I know what he’s doing, he rips away from me and hauls me up so we’re face to face. He runs his fingers against my slick center and throws his head back to the ceiling, “Thank you God.”

He impales me with such intensity that I cry out at the invasion. My body quickly adjusts to him as he moves. He slows, but then increases his speed. Pretty soon, he’s pounding into me and I shift so my legs wrap around his waist. Going deeper and deeper with each thrust and I feel every inch of him inside me; he’s claiming me. He pulls one of my legs from around his back and pushes it against my hip. Then he swivels his hips against mine. He hits a new spot and I scream out in pleasure. The orgasm I’m trying to hold at bay is coming. I arch my back, throwing my head against the bed and lifting my hips to meet his. I grasp his shoulders, using pressure to tell him I’m close. He moves faster and my release strikes like lightening. I scream his name and faintly hear him groan over the pulsing in my ears.

We stay entangled for awhile. Our bodies are covered in sweat and I cans see scratch marks on his shoulders from me.

“That was possibly the best sex of my life. You are fucking amazing.” He murmurs against my cheek.

“Possibly?”

“Top three at least.”

I open my eyes to give him an evil glare, but he grins. “All three include you. Two of them in this very bed.”

“That’s a relief,” I reply sarcastically.

“I think we need a shower.” He smiles down at me.

“Probably.”

He chuckles as he swings his legs over the bed. He lifts me and carries me to the shower.

Chapter 35

Valentine’s Day

It’s been three and a half weeks since we launched our project. As expected, Sayge has a massive local following. And since they recorded a few of their songs on a CD, they have secured a spot at some of the best stages around our area. They recently got word they would be playing the Main Street Festival in Franklin in April. Jay’s been great and even more fun to work with. He’s been taking a great interest in my group work, asking for all the data numbers. He’s using the data as leverage with his company to break away from just scouting; he’s working towards representing.

Finn hasn’t been able to get anything on our stalker yet, but he said there was a partial print on the note on my car. It was blurry, but he’s still trying to work with it. I’ve received a few hang up’s at my house, but nothing else. The only thing big that happened was an anonymous post on Sayge’s Facebook page. It was the image of a man against a wall with a woman giving him head. His hands were shoved in her hair with his head thrown back. To an outsider, it just looked like smut. But to me, I knew it was Declan with a random girl in the back of a bar. I removed it immediately, but called Declan and Finn to let them know it had happened. Finn looked into it, but he didn’t get any leads. Declan knew it bothered me and he tried repeatedly to make me forget the image in my head. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get a blow job for two weeks.

Tomorrow is Friday and it’s also Valentine’s Day. Declan has made plans for us, but he won’t tell what they are. I did some shopping and picked up some lingerie, but had no idea what kind of dress to buy. I enlisted Abbi and she helped me pick out a slinky, strapless red dress with lace overlay.

I have a project to work on so I’ve decided to spend some time at the library. The band’s playing tonight so Declan and I won’t see each other until tomorrow after class.

After three solid hours of studying accounting and finance, I close down my laptop and get ready to leave. When I get to my car, there’s a note under my windshield wiper. I break out in a cold sweat and look around to make sure no one’s watching me. I don’t see anyone so I pick-up the note from the corner so as not to contaminate it with my fingerprints. The message is in blood red fingernail polish again.

FUCKING WHORE

I lock myself in my car and call Finn. He doesn’t answer, but I leave a message. I know Declan isn’t near his phone so I send him a text to call me.

When I get home, I take a hot bath and crawl into bed after setting the alarm. I start on a new book and try to distract myself from that stupid fucking note. I fall asleep engulfed in my romance novel.

The beeping of our house alarm wakes me up. I hear it cut off and wonder if Abbi and Ella just got home. There’s a knock at my door, but before I can say anything, Declan lets himself in.

“Baby, you decent? Finn’s with me.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Come on in.” I turn on the bedside light and reach for my backpack to give them the note. Declan has a look on his face that I can’t read. He looks sad.

“Hey, Baby Girl, got your message a little while ago and I called Declan to come over here with me. Let me see the note.”

I hand it to him and they both read it.

“I’ll take it with me and let you know if I find anything. No more library by yourself. This person is still watching you and it makes me nervous. They knew you were alone tonight. They could have tried to hurt you.”

“Okay, I won’t go anywhere unless I’m with someone or going to a public place.”

Finn nods and kisses my forehead before he leaves. He exchanges a look with Declan, but doesn’t say anything. He shuts the door behind him and Declan sits on the bed next to me. He hugs me tight. “I’m gonna take a quick shower and sleep here tonight. Be right back.”

A few minutes later, he walks to his side of the bed, drops his towel, and climbs in. “I’m so fucking sorry, Raven. This is all because of me. Even though this crazy hasn’t directly threatened us, I feel like you’re in danger. Are you going to leave me?”

“No, it’s not your fault, Declan. You had a rowdy lifestyle before we met. You have no idea how much I hate this, but we need to continue on like we’re unaffected by it until Finn finds this person.”

“I went crazy tonight when Finn came to get me. I’m so pissed that they messed with you while you were at school studying.”

“I can’t quit living my life, Dec. We have to go on.”

He kisses my head and rubs my back until I doze off again.

*****

The next day, Declan picks me up from school. Instead of driving me home, he drives us to the airport. I give him a puzzled look, but he ignores me.

When we get to the Southwest Airlines counter he pulls me to the side and doesn’t let me see him check-in. He continues to be elusive through security. We stop at a restaurant and he orders us a beer. He sits at the bar without looking directly at me.

“Okay Declan, where’re we going?”

“It’s a surprise; I’m taking you away for the weekend.”

“Where? Is this about last night?”

“No, this has been planned for weeks. This was supposed to be a romantic surprise for our first Valentine’s together as well as a reprieve for how hard we’ve both been working. But now that you found another note, I’m not so sure I want us leaving the hotel room.”

“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going?”

“You’ll find out when we get to the gate in an hour. For now, have a beer with me and tell me about your day.”

I give in and tell him about my exam schedule. Then I switch topics and tell him about the upcoming project I promised my mom I would help her with. It’s a scholarship program that’s set up to help high school seniors afford college. It’s offered to all Tennessee students that want to attend a state college and have lost a parent in the service. I’ll be helping with putting packets together for all those who applied.

Declan thinks it’s a wonderful idea and then he switches the conversation over to him. He tells me how he told everyone including my parents and our friends about this trip and how they all kept it a secret. He canceled the show for tomorrow night at The Steamroom because the whole band was tired and wanted a weekend to themselves. Management was okay with it because of the added revenue that they brought in over the last six weeks.

We finish our drinks and he pays the bill. He laces his fingers through mine and leads us to the gate.

“Oh my God! We’re going to New Orleans?” I squeal as I read the Southwest Airlines departure sign at the loading gate.

“Yep, we come back Sunday night. You and me alone. Bars, music, dancing, shopping- whatever you want to do. The hotel has Wi-Fi if you need to do any schoolwork. But otherwise, no distractions.”

I grab our tickets and we get in the designated spot for boarding. When we get on the plane, I give Declan the seat that borders the exit aisle so he can be comfortable with his long legs. There are two beautiful flight attendants eyeing him, but I don’t get jealous. I just grin and take the middle seat. I take out my e-reader and get comfortable. Declan joins me, reading over my shoulder. Every time there’s a juicy scene, the sexual tension between us intensifies and Declan massages my neck tighter and tighter until it’s over.

As we’re getting ready to land, one of the flight attendants comes by to pick up trash. Declan hands her our garbage and she slips him a napkin with her number on it. I hold back my laugh as he balls it up and leaves it in the pocket on the back of the seat in front of him.

After we deplane, I make a spectacle of rubbing my ass against him so the stupid attendant knows she will never get the call. He laughs at me and heads toward the taxis.

Our hotel is a quaint little place near Bourbon Street. We sign in and head to our room. He unpacks our bags and I notice the black zip up garment bag that contains my red dress.

“Declan, who packed my bags?”

“My sisters. You should have everything you need. But if not, we can go to the store.”