Page 27 of Bear With Me

“Don’t worry,” he says, “I’ve been waiting a long time to find a woman like you, Sullivan Thomas. I’ve got you all to myself today and I’m going to make it last.”

* * *

“I knew you were the one for me the day I saw you in the forest,” Declan says a couple hours later after we’ve both recovered, then started all over again, then recovered for the last time. “I wouldn’t have taken you to Antonio’s if you weren’t important to me.”

“What do you mean?”

He kisses my knuckles, then holds them to his chest above the beat of his heart. “That was where they went on their first date.”

Confusion, exhaustion and adrenaline have made my thought processes slow to a sluggish pace. I shake my head to try and clear it. “Who went on their first date?”

“My parents.”

I press a hand to my nervous stomach. “It was?”

Declan rolls us so that I’m back in the crook of his arm. “The restaurant was new back then, it had just opened. Dad wanted to impress her so he paid Antonio a shit load of money to serenade Mom, even though Antonio had never done that before. Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to take a woman there. I knew I would, but I never met the right one.” He stops and turns back to me, his eyes are now an amber color that I can see even in the dim light. “Until you.”

“Sully,” he says and I suck in a breath at how much I like it when he says that name, “when I met you, before I knew who you were, the only thing I could think was that I wanted to know what made you look so sad. I’ve never felt that way about a woman before. When I found out who you were it damn near killed me to walk away from you.”

“Me, too,” I whisper. Tension coils inside me.

“I don’t know if you can forgive me for what happened.”

I shake my head, interrupting him. “It wasn’t your fault, Declan. You were just a boy.”

“I was fourteen, Sully. Old enough to know better. I should have been able to do something.”

I roll over onto his chest so that I can look him in the eyes. “There was nothing you could do. I know my grandfather would never hold you responsible. You need to forgive yourself. I know I already have.”

“But your family…” The scent of fresh soap wafts around me and I have to resist the urge to bury my nose in his shoulder to drink it up.

“It was my grandmother’s idea for me to fight for you. She forgives you, too. You’re the one that needs to accept it and forgive yourself,” I whisper.

“I don’t know if I can.”

I place my hand over his heart. “After my parents died, I was lost for a long time. It wasn’t until I met you that I remembered what it was like to truly live again. I know you, I’ve been inside your head, remember? You’re a good man, a good son. Your family would want you to be happy.”

He takes my lips in another kiss and I let myself get lost in it. For now, that will have to be enough.

chapter twelve

DECLAN

Having Sully in my bed, her scent on my sheets, her sweet body wrapped around me is better than any of my dreams. Hell, it beats all of my fantasies, too. I don’t deserve someone this sweet, this innocent, but now that I have her, I’m not letting her go. When a knock comes at the door a few hours later all I want to do is throw the covers over our heads and stay wrapped up in her forever.

Then the knocks turn into someone pounding on the door and they shout, “I know she’s here, Cain. Open up.”

Sully sits straight up in bed holding the sheet at her breasts. Her tawny hair is mussed, her lips are swollen and there’s a bit of beard burn on the underside of her jaw. I’ve never seen anyone look more beautiful.

“Oh my God, is that my brother?” she screeches, struggling with the sheets to get out of bed.

I thwart her efforts by tugging her back on top of me. She squawks out a noise that makes me smile. Once I have her attention, I say, “Relax. You get dressed while I answer the door. Your clothes should be dry by now.”

Her head swivels around. “Where in the hell are my panties?”

I chuckle, feeling strangely at ease, and hold her still long enough for another drugging kiss. “I tossed them somewhere in that direction.” I point towards the dresser as I roll out of bed. I pull on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I had a feeling Sullivan’s brother wouldn’t like seeing me au natural.

He pounds on the door again just as I open it. He looks me over, dropping his raised arm. “Sullivan here?” he asks.