Page 52

Hannah

I wake up with a jolt as something warm and wet grazes against my clit. My eyes shoot open to find the covers partially thrown back and Declan settled between my legs, eating me out like I’m his breakfast. His broad shoulders keep my thighs spread wide, his strong hands gripping my hips as he works his mouth over me with hungry precision. The sight of his head between my legs and the muffled noises of appreciation he’s making send a ripple of heat straight through me.

“Good morning,” he murmurs against my pussy.

The vibration of his deep voice sends a zap of heat straight up my spine, and it feels so good that I can’t even form words to respond. My hand instinctively reaches down to grip his hair, encouraging him to continue his delicious assault.

“This is—oh fuck—so much better than an alarm clock,” I murmur, then gasp as he scrapes his teeth lightly over my clit.

“Good.” He laps at me again. “This is how you deserve to wake up every morning.”

He slips two fingers inside me, fucking me with them as he continues to work my clit—but when I start to tip my head back in pleasure, he slaps my clit lightly, making me suck in a breath as pleasure and pain burst through me. He knows I’ll use my safe word if I need it, and I love how that gives him permission to be rough and dominant with me, knowing I’ll take control and stop things if I ever need to.

“Watch me,” he growls, and I obey instantly, tilting my head back down to meet his amber-flecked eyes.

He maintains eye contact as he withdraws his fingers and then delves his tongue deep into me instead, making my body arch up off the mattress. I grip the sheets as he slowly withdraws only to plunge back in, fucking me with his tongue while his thumb circles my clit with devastating precision, using my piercing to make it feel even more intense. The dual sensation has me writhing beneath him, my body already tensing as an orgasm starts to build.

“You taste so fucking good, hummingbird,” he murmurs against my wet flesh. “So sweet and ready for me. Spent all night dreaming about this, but nothing is as good as the real thing.” He slides two thick fingers inside me to replace his tongue, curling them to hit that perfect spot while his tongue flicks rapidly against my clit. “I could stay down here all day, making you come on my tongue over and over.”

God, he always knows exactly what to say. He can get me off with his dirty words just as well as he can play my body with his hands and mouth, as if he’s perfectly in tune with me and all of my trigger points. Each stroke of his tongue, each curl of his fingers is precisely calibrated to drive me wild.

“Look at you,” he whispers, his hot breath teasing my sensitive flesh. “So fucking beautiful when you’re about to come for me. You are, aren’t you?”

I nod, still holding his gaze just like he demanded, and satisfaction flashes through his eyes. He increases the pressure of his tongue, drawing tight circles around my swollen clit while his fingers pump steadily inside me.

“Give it to me, hummingbird,” he commands, his voice low. “Let me taste you. Come all over my fucking face like a good girl.”

As if unwilling to wait another second, he wraps his lips around my clit and sucks, and the sharp burst of pleasure hits me so hard that it sends me soaring over the edge. I release the sheets and wind my fingers in his hair again as I come, my body bucking against his mouth as a ragged cry tears from my throat, my pussy clenching around his fingers in pulsing waves.

He doesn’t let up, drawing out my orgasm until I’m trembling and gasping his name like a prayer.

“Declan,” I moan, tugging at his hair when the sensation becomes too intense. “Oh my god.”

When it’s over, he lifts his head, smiling up at me, his hair a mess, his lips and chin glistening with my arousal. The possessive look in his eyes as he deliberately licks his lips makes my spent body perk back up again, and I shake my head at him, laughing breathlessly.

“You’re an animal,” I tease.

“ Your animal,” he corrects. “And lucky for you, I’m a gentleman too.”

With a satisfied grin that radiates pure male pride, he rolls me over and spanks me once, then gets out of bed to grab a warm, wet towel that he uses to clean me up.

“Don’t move,” he says as he tosses the towel into the laundry basket. “I have another surprise.”

Probably because I woke up on the verge of an orgasm, I didn’t notice it until now, but it smells like he’s been cooking. He disappears for a few moments, and I hear him rummaging around in the kitchen before he returns carrying a bed tray loaded with a freshly cooked breakfast.

I sit up as he sets the tray down on the bed over my legs, and he kisses my forehead. “You’re going to need your energy. We’ve got a full day ahead of us.”

“We do?” I ask as I pick up a fork and spear some of the steaming scrambled eggs he made for me.

“Yup. We’re starting with some yoga, but I don’t want to spoil the rest of the surprise. So eat up.”

Unsurprisingly, the food is delicious, so I have no problem stocking up on it for whatever he has in store for me.

We get cleaned up after breakfast, and Declan takes me to a park I haven’t visited before. The sun is still high in the sky, and there’s barely a cloud to be seen, just endless bright blue. It’s a beautiful day, a perfect one to do some yoga in the morning rays with the mountains watching in the distance like they’re reaching for the sun with us.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I’m trying,” Declan says as he settles into reverse warrior pose and wobbles a bit. For someone who’s so coordinated on the ice, he’s kind of a mess on the ground, but I guess that’s why he gets paid to play hockey instead of doing yoga. He’s gotten a lot better since our first session though, and I love how dedicated he is to improving.

I smile at him and give him some pointers on how to stabilize his pose a little better, but judging from the redness on his face as he tries to hold it, it’s still a struggle. I tap his abs, and he jumps and almost falls over.

“You’ve got to engage your core more, especially for a pose like this. That’s where all your balance comes from. Here, watch,” I tell him and get into the pose properly with my core muscles engaged and holding everything together.

“You make it look so easy. Can’t I just sit and watch you instead since you’re the professional?”

“You could, but unfortunately, you aren’t going to burn any calories that way.”

Declan smirks, his eyes darkening. “I think we’ve already burned more than enough calories today. But I can think of at least a few other ways to get to the target that don’t involve yoga.”

“Is that the big surprise waiting for me at the end of this?” I ask with my eyebrows raised teasingly at him, but he chuckles and shakes his head.

“It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I told you ahead of time. Now come on, let’s finish this up. We’ve got other places to go and people to see,” he says as he tries the pose again. We get through the rest of the routine quietly just in time for lunch, so we pack everything up and drive to a local place for some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had in my life.

I’m sure the day is going to end there—but then he takes me to the spa for a couple’s mud bath treatment. I’ve never done anything like that before, but it’s always intrigued me. And I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as funny as Declan in a vat of mud, covered from head to toe, with cucumber slices over his eyes.

But I have to admit, it is relaxing, and in a weird way the thick, slightly warmed mud feels great on my muscles after the yoga in the park this morning. It doesn’t end there, though. After we’ve showered off—they keep us separate for that, unfortunately—the attendant takes us to another room where we get a couple’s deep tissue massage.

By the time it’s over, I could go right to sleep for the next fifteen hours. But Declan insists on taking a little walk around downtown Denver to do some shopping, so I give in. I’ve lived in Denver my entire life, but we stop at so many places I’ve never heard of or been to before that I lose count quickly. The day passes in a wonderful blur, and we end up sitting down for dinner at a five-star restaurant in the mountains that has a stellar view of the range and the entirety of Denver.

But as we sit down across from each other, I can’t shake a sense of déjà vu. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something about this place feels oddly familiar. Actually, everything we’ve seen and done today has made recognition prickle somewhere deep in my brain. And as I unroll my silverware to drape the napkin in my lap, the realization strikes me.

This all seems so familiar… because it is.

I described all of this to Declan once, way back when he asked me what my ideal day would be like the first night we met. He’s been recreating every single place and moment I shared with him, and it took me until now to realize it.

“You’ve been recreating my perfect day, haven’t you?” I ask, and he grins at me from across the table, his amber-flecked eyes sparkling in the flickering light coming from the candle on the table.

“Have I gotten it right so far?”

“Perfectly,” I tell him, my heart swelling at the thought that he both remembered all of this stuff and went through all the effort to make it happen. We order main courses and a bottle of champagne to share, but neither of us speaks while we wait for the food to arrive. It’s been a perfect day, and I’m enjoying just spending time with Declan. He smiles at me over the rim of his champagne flute and raises it to me.

“How about a toast?”

“I won’t say no.” I raise my glass too and wait, and Declan clears his throat.

“Here’s to chance meetings that change lives. And here’s to us.”

“To us,” I agree and clink my glass against his before we each take a sip of the crisp, bubbling champagne. The food comes quickly, and it’s absolutely perfect. We make some casual conversation over dinner, but the food is so good that it’s difficult to focus on anything else. And neither of us wants to ruin the ambiance, with the quiet vibe in the restaurant and the lights of Denver’s buildings twinkling in the distance.

But as dinner winds down, Declan’s demeanor shifts. There’s something in his eyes that I can’t quite figure out, almost like he’s nervous—which almost never happens to him. And he’s looking right past me, like he’s expecting a gaggle of singers to waltz into the restaurant at any second or something. I follow his gaze and glance over my shoulder and gasp.

Every single table around us is occupied by people I know.

My family and friends are all here, and so is the entirety of the Aces team. All their tables were facing away from us so I didn’t realize it until now, but as if they’ve coordinated ahead of time, they all turn to face us nearly in unison. Butterflies erupt in my stomach as my jaw falls open. I turn back to Declan to ask him if he planned this—then freeze.

He’s kneeling in front of me. A soft, strangled sound spills from my lips as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a little jewelry box, and I instantly start crying. I couldn’t stop it even if I wanted to.

Declan chuckles, his own eyes shining with emotion. “I think you know what I’m about to say, but I’m going to ask anyway. The moment I saw you, something in me recognized something in you. You’re all I’ve thought about since the first night we met. You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing I think about before I fall asleep. And I want you to be the first and last thing I see, forever. You’re my hummingbird—delicate but strong, and the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I love you more than I ever would’ve thought was possible. So, Hannah Dunaway, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” I answer without hesitation, my heart so full I can barely speak. “Yes!”

He slips a beautiful, dazzling ring onto my finger, and I throw myself into his arms to kiss him through my tears. The restaurant erupts in cheers and applause, and one of the Aces whistles, piercing through all the noise.

Within a matter of seconds, people are descending on us to congratulate us.

It’s almost surreal to be in this moment, held close in Declan’s embrace with the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen staring back at me from my finger. I never could’ve imagined on that first night we met at Opal and Oak that one day this is how things would turn out for us. Never would’ve allowed myself to believe that it was even possible, much less likely. But as Dad’s sparkling eyes meet mine from across the crowd, filled with love and approval, I know it’s real.

I wrap my arms around Declan again, resting my forehead against his, and he laughs as he slowly spins me around, holding me like I’m the most precious thing in his world. “With that proposal, today was so much better than my ideal day.”

He smiles and raises his eyebrows. “Well, I’m glad to hear that, but there’s still one thing left to check off.”

“What could you possibly have left to make this day any better?”

He moves his mouth to the lobe of my ear and whispers, “The best sex of your life.”

I grin as a shiver of anticipation ripples through me. “You’ve already given me the best sex of my life,” I tell him, because it’s so very true.

His chuckle is hungry and confident, and the sound goes straight to my clit. “Nah, hummingbird. That was only the best up until today . I’m pretty sure I can top it.”