Page 15

Chapter fifteen

Declan

I stirred and shot up. The bed I lay in wasn’t mine.

I didn’t do sleepovers—it wasn’t a part of the whole hooking up thing for me—and I liked being in my space far too much anyway. However, a heavy arm was slung around me, and the familiar scent of sage and cedar tickled my nose, soothing me.

Noah.

I was in Noah’s house, in Noah’s bed, with Noah’s arm around me.

He was so much larger than me, broad shoulders and sturdy muscles from years of working as a mason. His body rose and fell with his deep breathing in slumber, and I couldn’t help but stare, even though my vision was blurrier without my glasses. His dark lashes were so pretty fanned out with his eyes closed, and the slight pout of his lower lip made him even sexier.

Last night had been a date. One that hadn’t ended with the person leaving halfway through dinner. And not just that. I didn’t want to bolt either. Sure, I had to head out for my job soon, but I only had to get back to my house and work in my pajamas, since I’d intentionally chosen to do remote today.

I flipped the sheets off me, and Noah let out a groan, his grip on my waist tightening. My thighs were covered in fingerprint-shaped bruises, and I pressed down on them to feel the ache. Ngh. Getting restrained had ignited a thousand and one fantasies in my brain, which kept churning out scenario after scenario. And it was clear Noah liked to bind me up as much as I enjoyed being at his mercy.

I peeled Noah’s arm off my waist and slid from the bed.

He stirred, pushing up to rub at his eyes. “You’re here.”

I arched a brow as I snagged my glasses from the nightstand table. “Was I supposed to flee in the middle of the night?”

Noah smiled, the big, dopey smile that made my pulse race. I’d thought it was irritation, the prickling of my skin, but no, it was a breath-stealing feeling that went far deeper than mere attraction.

“No, I wanted you here. You’re not leaving now, are you?”

“I mean, I will need to soon for work. Besides, don’t you have a job to get to?”

Noah scrubbed at his eyes. “That’s right. I’ve got a full plate today. Including fixing the cracks in the walls of someone’s house.”

“If you’re being coy, I have no way to interpret that.” Caffeine was high on my agenda.

A sharp laugh burst from Noah. “I mean your place. I can swing by there later if that’s okay?”

“I’ll be working,” I said, panic stirring. Did he expect me to fuck off at my job?

Noah’s grin didn’t leave. “So will I. But even being near you, knowing you’re there, makes me happy, if I’m being honest.”

My heart thundered. That was everything I could’ve hoped for. The ease Noah and I slotted together was unfathomable to me after spending years of going on dates and feeling like a rock face with no holds to begin the climb.

“When can we have our next date?” I needed scheduled time to see him again.

“What are you doing Saturday?” he asked.

“Going on a date with you.” My chest eased at the promise of more time together. “Can I plan it this time?”

“Surprise me.” Noah’s sweet grin lit up his gorgeous blue eyes. My heart thudded, and already, ideas sprang to mind.

“Done.” I walked toward the door. “Do you happen to have tea?”

“In one of the top drawers in my kitchen.” He pushed up from the bed and followed me. He wrapped his hands around my waist and pressed a kiss to the back of my neck. His hard length nudged against my crack, and a whimper left my lips. The idea of him sliding right in sparked my synapses to life.

“Are you negative?” I asked. “Do you have test results?”

“On my phone, yeah. And I’m on PrEP. But if you’re thinking what I’m thinking, then I want to take my time with you.”

“I want you to fuck me bare. If not Saturday, then soon.” I pulled away, starting toward the kitchen.

“Jesus Christ, Declan. You can’t keep dropping these bombs on me. I’ll die.”

“Of what, horniness?” I glanced back, and as I’d guessed, he tugged at his balls to calm himself. A grin lifted my lips.

“Well, yeah, if I have to wait until tomorrow to fuck you again.”

We entered his kitchen, the early morning light streaming through the windows. Noah made a beeline to his coffee machine, but he also filled up an electric kettle and set it to boil. After pulling open two drawers, I found the one I searched for. There was a surprising array of tea for a coffee drinker. He even had Earl Grey Crème. A little burst of excitement flowed through me.

“How does someone who barely drinks tea have all this variety?” I nabbed the tea bag and opened his top cabinets to rummage for mugs.

Noah dipped his head and squeezed his nape. “I might’ve gone out and grabbed some after having it at your house. I…just want you to feel comfortable here.”

My chest tightened, and my pulse sped, my autonomic nervous system lighting up. He’d done that for me. I found the mugs and snagged two blue ones from a set. “Thanks.” I passed him a mug. He’d gotten his coffeemaker loaded, so it chugged away now, pushing out the nasty blackened liquid. To each his own.

The kettle clicked off, and I poured the water into my mug, the fragrant scent of vanilla and bergamot drifting my way. The heat from the filled ceramic scorched my palms, but I savored the feel, the way it woke me up. Being with Noah felt similar to this, a slow realization that grew stronger with every passing moment with him. My feelings became brighter, sharper, and more defined.

“Do you want to meet my family?” I blurted out.

Noah blinked at me. “I’m pretty sure I’ve met the whole crew before.”

“No, as my boyfriend.”

His jaw dropped, and he shook his head as if to clear it. “You don’t do anything in half measure, do you?”

“Our date was a solid enough sample to confirm our compatibility.” I shrugged. “So I’d assume we’re dating, aren’t we?”

“Romance me with those words, baby,” he teased, his eyes crinkling at the edges. The smile he leveled my way was liquid sunshine, and I almost immolated on the spot from the strength of it. “I’d love nothing more than to date you, Declan. And fuck, yes, please. Introduce me to your family as your boyfriend.”

A frisson of unease lingered at the decision. We hadn’t tested the waters on whether he could balance his demanding schedule with respecting the time I needed to be carved out, as minimal as it was. But we could only figure that out by continuing to date, and dodging around my family sounded like a pointless headache. They were too nosy not to piece together our relationship.

I took a sip of the Earl Grey Crème, the flavor bursting on my tongue. Satisfaction swirled through me as the liquid heat seeped through my veins. “Right, so date Saturday and then Brannon family brunch on Sunday?”

“Yes,” he said. “I’ll visit my family on Saturday morning to warn them I’m busy the rest of the weekend.”

My heart thudded hard. Maybe we stood a chance.

Noah finished fixing his drink up and leaned against the counter beside me, his shoulder against mine. The heat there, the solidness thrummed through me the same way the tea did, a relief I sorely clung to. My rituals soothed me, the processes I went about on a regular basis, and what startled me the most about all this new with Noah was how little it felt new or overwhelming.

Far too easily, I could see myself in this kitchen with him, preparing our morning drinks and sitting together as we basked in the quiet. The intense longing surging forth in my chest at the imagining solidified it in my mind. Noah didn’t mind my silences, my hyperfixations. Instead, he just sat there with me. He listened. He shared in his own way, little messages throughout the day of his observations while on jobs.

I’d known from an early age that most kids didn’t understand me. My family always did, and the protective buffer had filled most of my needs. But as I’d gotten older and started dating, the feeling of otherness emerged again, the awareness that finding a partner would be an impossibility. Like the rarity of catching Halley’s Comet in the night sky.

But then Noah had reappeared in my life, and all those confusing factors about him had slotted into place. And the rarity of our connection, of how special he was, hadn’t been lost on me. I’d never fallen in love, never had been aware of those spine-tingling, skin prickling sensations that could sweep in with a breathtaking intensity.

But I’d come to realize—far too easily—I could fall in love with this man.