Page 18 of Declan’s Dove (King’s Of Fury MC #3)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Violet
Oh god. I just told him I love him.
Admitting those things aloud is both a burden and a relief. At least now he’ll know I wasn’t pushing him away because I didn’t want him.
When Declan’s arms hook around me, pulling me tightly into his chest, hugging me, I revel in the comfort.
“I need you to listen to me, Violet. You listening?” I nod against his chest. “No one is going to take me away from you, Dove. You got me? No one.” His tone is stern, but not angry. He’s not mad at me for rejecting what we could have, as he continues to declare his loyalty and claim on me and my son.
“Glad to hear you finally admit you love me.” He sounds so smug, and now I feel embarrassed because he’s never said he felt that way about me. He wants me. That’s clear, but they are not the same. “In case you weren’t sure, I love you, too. I think I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you and Carter together. You just called to me. Some place, deep down, I knew you two were meant to be mine.”
What James and I had wasn’t love.
My heart and my body are both screaming at me to take a chance on Declan, to give him what’s left of my torn and battered heart and just see what happens. Allow him to show me the pleasure I know only he can. Let him show me what it’s like to be wanted and desired, loved.
What’s the harm in letting him try? What if he can keep me and Carter safe?
Sitting up and pulling out of Declan’s embrace enough to see his gorgeous face and those piercing eyes staring back at me, I give him something I’ve longed to give him since the day he gave my son something so simple as a phone and as hoodie.
“I want to be yours. I-I want to try.”
The smile that spreads across his face could melt the panties off every woman within a ten-mile radius. He’s a handsome man to begin with, but when he smiles, the man is damn near lethal.
“I’m glad you’ve decided to come over to seeing my side of things, baby.” He leans down and whispers in my ear, “Saves me the time of having to tie you down and persuade you with my wicked tongue all night.”
My whole-body shivers as he leaves a trail of kisses down my neck. I’m pretty sure his jeans are soaked where my now dripping sex is sitting cradled against his long, hard cock.
“You like that idea, don’t you, Dove? Wish you could take back your answer so I’ll take you upstairs and devour every inch of you?” Declan’s teeth graze the spot behind my ear that turns my body into mush against him. He chuckles against my throat, his arms still banded around me, holding me to him with no hope of escape.
Yeah, because that’s what you want to do—escape. Right.
My inner voice and my body are in total agreement, and before I can overthink my decision, I grip the back of his hair and tug to get his attention. Declan lifts his head. The confusion on his face is only there momentarily, until I take his lips in a heated kiss and take what he’s offering me.
A chance to feel. To let go. To be his.
He doesn’t hesitate and quickly takes over, dominating my mouth with his tongue. His arms are still banded tightly around me as he rocks my crotch against his, creating friction between our two bodies. My wet center is pressed up against his jean-clad cock, and he doesn’t let up. My hips are rocking, my core is tight, my pussy grinding against him in just the right spot. One of his hands reaches down between us, sliding under the hem of my shirt. He gently pushes my legs open and thrusts two fingers inside me as his thumb circles my clit.
Holy shit. Yes! This is what I need.
His rhythm is relentless. He curls his fingers, hitting just the right place inside, and I fall over the edge with my head thrown back and Declan’s mouth peppering kisses along my neck and shoulder.
“God, who knew it could be that good from just your hand?” I feel him chuckling against me, then as the orgasmic fog lifts, I realize I spoke those words out loud. Feeling suddenly shy and embarrassed, I try to push myself off his lap, but Declan’s not having it. His arm across my back tightens. His other hand comes up slowly between us and I watch as he licks his fingers clean, then moans.
“Next time, we start with my mouth on your sweet little cunt.” He smiles and my cheeks are aflame. His smile widens, then he leans in and chastely kisses my lips. I lick them, tasting myself, only to feel my blush deepen. “Don’t go shy on me now, baby. We’re just getting started. But first you need to finish your dinner, and we need to talk about a few things.”
I cross my arms over myself. “I’m not feeling hungry anymore.”
“I’ll reheat the food, and then you’re going to eat a little more. You haven’t had much since you got here.” He leans closer to my ear and says, “And you’ll need lots of energy for all the dirty things I have planned to do with this gorgeous body now that you’ve admitted it’s mine.”
“Jesus.”
Declan’s laughter is loud and cuts through the embarrassment I was feeling a moment ago, somehow putting me at ease. “Oh, turning you into a dirty little freak is going to be my greatest pleasure, sweetheart. And yours.” He wiggles his brows, and just like that, I’m laughing along with him.
“Ass.”
“Oh, I’ll get that too, eventually.” My eyes widen in shock, but my nether regions are dripping for him again.
How does he do that? And why am I suddenly okay with it?
After heating the food Declan returns to the table, only this time he takes the seat next to me. We eat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, me less calculated and rigid after the spontaneous orgasm I was graciously blessed with. It seems to have lightened the weight I was carrying on my shoulders and erased the need to be perfect from my mind. Declan doesn’t want robotic perfection. He only wants me.
“When’s the last time you had an orgasm you didn’t give yourself?” I choke on my bite of steak at his blunt question.
He smiles, patting my back with one hand and handing me my water with the other.
“You’re obnoxious,” I tell him after I’ve regained control of myself. “You can’t just go around asking people shit like that.”
“I wasn’t asking people. I was asking you. And of course I can. You’re mine. I want to know everything about you, including when is the last time you had an orgasm that was not self-induced?” His eyes are alight with humor and heated interest.
I shrug. “Can’t say that I’ve had one.”
“Ever?” His shocked expression is one for the books. Who knew all it took to shock Declan O’Malley stupid was to admit to never having had a real orgasm?
“I can’t remember if I have. James wasn’t about my pleasure in the bedroom,” I admit, taking another long pull from my water. “Sex was about him getting off or trying to get me pregnant. Sometimes it was about punishment.” I shrug again. “I didn’t put a lot of care into whether I got off. I mostly just wanted it to be over.”
“Fuck.” My eyes snap to his. Declan’s shock has morphed into a murderous glare. One that makes my whole-body shiver. “It’s not you, Dove. My anger is not at you. Never you.”
I nod, because I understand. I never understood why my pleasure and care never mattered to James. Of course, I didn’t know until after we were married that it would be that way. He was attentive and said all the right things in the beginning, and I was too naive to see through the facade.
Declan sits back, staring deep into my eyes. “I need you to tell me about the night you left him. What happened? Why did you leave? How? I can protect you and Carter both, but you have to help me understand what I’m up against, baby. I have to let Pres know and start making plans before we can go home.”
“So, if I tell you what you want to know, you’ll take me home to Carter?”
“Not exactly. But it will help me get you home sooner,” he clarifies.
I take a deep breath and let it out, nodding. “Let’s move to the couch. I’m getting cold.” And I need a little space.
Declan takes my hand and leads me to one of the couches in the living room, then walks over to start a fire in the fireplace. I watch the muscles in his back as his t-shirt pulls tight across his muscles. It’s the first time I’ve seen him wear a shirt without his cut. He wears it all the time, like it’s a piece of him.
“Where’s your cut?”
He turns to look at me over his shoulder and smirks. “It’s in the closet by the door. I hung it up. Why do you ask?”
“I just noticed it was missing is all.” I shrug. He continues to add a couple of logs onto the fire, and I continue to enjoy the view, hoping and praying I can get through this conversation in one piece and without causing Declan to change his mind about me and Carter. Once he knows how far James’s reach can go, he may decide we’re too much trouble.
“You want me to put it on? Give you the full fucked-by-a-biker experience later?”
I wave him off. “You’re starting to make me rethink my decision.”
“Too late. You already said you’re mine. No take backs.”
“You may change your mind on that,” I mumble, but he heard me.
Once the fire is stoked and my feet are tucked tightly under a blanket, Declan sits beside me, placing my feet in his lap. It’s not quite the distance I was hoping for, but who am I to turn down a foot rub from a man with strong hands like this? I almost moan as he squeezes my foot with both hands. He must know what he’s doing to me because he’s grinning like the ass he is.
“Okay, Dove. Tell me.”
Deep breath. In, then out. I repeat to myself three times.
“I met James when I was still in high school. I was a senior, and he was already working for the sheriff’s department. He knew my dad from work, and they hit it off pretty well. My dad invited James over for dinner a few times and would talk about what a great cop he was and how he would make a fine family man someday.”
“Your dad was in James’s corner from the beginning then.” It’s a statement, not a question, but I nod in answer anyway.
“My dad was a district attorney and a very good one at that. He was also a compulsive gambler who loved his bourbon. He would get to drinking and before too long, he lost everything he had in savings.” I play with my hands in my lap, pushing the mental images away, trying to keep focused. “James had asked my father if he would be okay with us dating. Like I said, he had been over several times, and we’d had some good conversations about school and life plans. You know, just getting to know one another stuff. My dad agreed so long as James agreed not to try to sleep with me unless we were married.” I chuckle. “My father thought I was a virgin, apparently. I thought he was crazy for even mentioning sex in front of James, but there was something about that night I never noticed until years later.”
“What’s that?”
“My father knew about James’s addiction. They were both familiar with each other’s vices and they used them to their advantage against one another whenever they could. Like when my father ran out of money, James made his debt go away, but only if my father helped clear some criminal asshole of all charges.”
“And what was James’s addiction?”
“Underaged girls.”
“Fucking hell.” Declan scrubs his hand down his face, takes a deep breath, then releases it. “And your dad, was he into little girls, too? Did he ever …” Declan’s eyes are wide and full of pity.
“No. My father never touched me inappropriately. He put men like that away in prison.” My shoulders droop as I pretend to pick at a nonexistent piece of lint on the blanket. “I never figured out what my father was until after Kayce came to rescue us.” It’s the truth.
“I knew my father was a prick of a man, but I couldn’t believe he was involved with some of the shit my husband was in to. Gambling, drinking, absolutely. But trafficking, drugs, kidnapping … those things didn’t seem like something my father could be a part of.”
“What other addictions does old James have? Money? Drugs?”
I look at Declan through my lashes, the shame and embarrassment keeping me from looking him directly in the eye. “James has a thing for power. Money. Sex. And children.”
“Fuck me.” Declan’s grip on my foot tightens, and I whimper a little at the pain. He quickly releases me and apologizes, gently rubbing the place he squeezed. “I’m sorry, Dove. So, sorry. I just—you caught me off guard,” he says as I watch so many emotions flickering through his eyes. “You said children? Carter?”
“No! God, no.” My words come out harsher than planned. “I kept Carter away from his father as much as possible and never left them alone. Besides, it was my job to care for the child,” I sneer. “James couldn’t be bothered with our son unless he needed to keep me in line or wanted to use him to parade in front of others. Showing people what a great father and role model James was.” My eyes roll of their own accord.
“Fucking asshole,” Declan growls.
I nod in complete agreement with his assessment. “It sickened me when I learned about James and the shit it did to those poor children. I had always been terrified for my son, but I never knew James was capable of the things Kayce told me he had done.” I sniffle. “I learned about James’s affinity for young girls after our second year of marriage. I assumed he was cheating on me with someone since he would come home late and often smelled like he’d drenched himself in a bottle of cologne. It wasn’t until I overheard a conversation between him and Judge Mackafey, a friend of ours, after dinner in James’s study. James was blackmailing the judge into casting a verdict for a man who double crossed James’s employer?—”
“A judge can’t do that without the jury,” Declan interrupts.
“You’d be surprised at what can be done behind doors and in a short amount of time if you have the right information.”
Declan leans back in his seat, turning more toward me, keeping one hand on my foot. “Go on.”
“I didn’t understand at the time who James was talking about, since the only job I thought he had was working for the sheriff’s department. I was clueless about the world outside our home. After we were married, James got me pregnant as quickly as he could, and then I dropped out of college and was consumed by our son. I hadn’t thought to pay attention to anything else, and that’s what James had counted on. My ignorance and willingness to obey.” Tears cloud my vision, but I manage to hold them in and continue around the lump forming in my throat.
“The guilt I feel for ignoring what I found out and allowing James to hurt so many people, even to this day, I still carry it with me.”
“He had you convinced he was a good man. It’s not your fault you didn’t see behind the mask he wore,” Declan soothes. “And after he turned his fist on you, baby, you were focused on survival. No one would blame you.”
“Anyway, Judge Mackfey knew James liked young girls and claimed he had a video of him with one of them in the backroom of a nightclub owned by the man who was attempting to blackmail the judge. The judge threatened to not only show it to James’s superiors, but to use it to arrest the man in charge. They argued and shortly after, the judge left.”
“James came storming in to find me crying in the rocking chair holding our son. When I asked him how long he had been a pedophile and told him I was taking our son and filing for a divorce, he lost his shit.” I silently sob. “He beat me to within an inch of my life, then left.”
“Somehow, I crawled to the phone and called my father. I don’t know why I didn’t call 9-1-1. I guess subconsciously I knew they were attached to James, and I didn’t think they would help me.”
“What did your father do, Dove?”
“He picked me up and took me straight to the hospital. He had his housekeeper come and take Carter to his house for the night.”
“Why didn’t your father report James to someone?” Declan asks, his voice full of gravel. “He’s a fucking DA. He could’ve crucified his ass in court.”
“Oh, my father threatened James. He threatened a lot of people. But it didn’t do either of us any good.” I sigh. “My father owed James’s employer a shit ton of money in gambling debt. A debt he eventually paid for in blood.”
“Damn, baby.” Declan reaches out, rubbing my leg with his hand. I want to crawl in his lap and let him comfort me, but I’m afraid if I do, I won’t tell him everything. “Why didn’t the hospital report it? Jesus, did no one notice you were beaten to hell?”
“My father told the doctor I had been in a car accident, and he happened upon me on his way to visit me at my house. He said he didn’t call an ambulance to save time. I was in the hospital for three days. My father went back and forth between me and my son. He somehow kept James away from the hospital until it was time for me to go home.”
“James came to pick me up. Everyone at the hospital greeted him with smiles and words of empathy and encouragement for my recovery. They all believed his bullshit about needing to be with our son while my father tended to my care. Whenever there was an audience, James always played the perfect doting husband.”
Tears drip down my face as I remember how disappointed and guilty my father looked as he drove me to the hospital. “He knew what James was capable of. He knew what he was setting me up for when he agreed to let me marry James. He knew who James worked for and what kind of horrid things he was capable of doing, and yet he never once warned me.” Anger and rage are coursing through my veins. I’ve never been able to forgive my father for turning a blind eye to my living in a nightmare of a marriage.
“Once Carter was returned home, and I was well on my way to recovering, we got a phone call. My father allegedly took his own life. At least, that’s what the coroner said, but I know James was responsible. My father threatened him, and James took his life for it.” My hands are shaking, and Declan grabs them in his, pulling me closer so he can wrap his arm around me. “I may not have forgiven him, but he was still my father, and I loved him. He was all the family I had, and James took him from me.”
“You think James had the reports forged?” Declan asks, though he doesn’t seem to be questioning so much as stating the facts.
I nod. “James has dirt on everyone. Cops, lawyers, judges, mob bosses,” I whisper the last one, but I know Declan heard me. “If they can be blackmailed into doing something to his benefit, James will find a way to make it happen. It’s also why I told you if he finds out about you and me, he will take you away from me.”
“Not going to happen, baby. Let him come for me. He has no idea who he’s fucking with. I come with a club of brothers and a set of skills he’s not prepared to deal with.”
Something in Declan’s sinister smile tells me he has a crazy streak I don’t know about, and I’m not sure I want to know.
“He will find someone who owes him, and they’ll find a way.”
“What happened the night you left, Dove?”
Well, shit. Here it goes.
“James beat the shit out of me and hurt Carter’s wrist. James left the house to go do business right after. Carter and I left with Kayce’s men as we watched our house go up in flames in the rearview mirror.”
“Wait. Did that fucker try to kill you in a fire and then leave the scene?” Declan shoves me aside and is on his feet, pacing the floor in front of the fireplace, pulling his hands through his hair.
I sit up and spin, so my legs are over the edge of the couch, watching him. “Declan, honey, come sit down. I’ll explain.” I tap the seat next to mine, my eyes pleading with him to calm down. He stops pacing, but his body is visibly vibrating.
He takes his seat next to me, lifting me to straddle his lap. I scoot back, creating space between us. He narrows his eyes at me, but I need to finish telling him.
“Let me get through this, then I’ll let you hold me, I promise. But I need to get this out, and I need you to stay calm while I do it.”
“Okay, Dove. Tell me.”
“Not too long before we left, I met Mili—Emilia—my doctor friend. I was in the emergency room with Carter. James had gotten upset with me over something stupid,” I start to explain, but my chest tightens. Rubbing it with my fist, I take a few deep breaths and wait for it to loosen up again.
“It’s okay, Violet. If you don’t want to tell me …” I stop him with a raised hand.
“I’ve got this. I just need a minute.” After a few more calming breaths, I start again. “Two men came to visit for dinner that night. They terrified me. One was older, dark-haired, wearing a three-piece suit and had a thick Italian accent. He and the other man came in and sat at our table, ate our food, drank a full bottle of wine, and tried to make small talk with me and Carter.”
“The older one kept looking at me in a way that made my skin crawl. James seemed to want to impress the two men. It’s the only time he serves wine at dinner because he doesn’t buy the cheap kind.” I chance a glance at Declan. His facial expression hasn’t changed. He’s heavily concentrating on my every word. “James never discussed business in front of me, so, I excused myself and Carter from the table under the guise of needing to help him with his homework and getting him ready for bed, figuring it would be the fastest way to get the two men out of my house.”
“I took my time getting Carter situated and told him no matter what he heard, I needed him to stay in his room, in his bed, and if his father came in, to act as though he was asleep. Afterward, on my way to the kitchen, I heard them talking in James’s office. They were talking about a shipment of drugs that was coming into Baron’s Edge and what James’s payout would be if he could frame Vincenzo Parisi as the owner of the shipment.”
“Fuck.” Declan drops his face into his hands. “I’m not going to like any of this, am I?”
“No. I’m afraid not.” I tell him truthfully. “James heard me in the hallway, but he didn’t alert the other two men. I didn’t know Vincenzo personally at the time, but I knew their plan, and that was enough to send James over the edge. After the two men left, James took a belt to my back and whipped me several times.”
I’m suddenly lifted off Declan’s lap, spun around and laid across his knees as he rips the back of my t-shirt up to my neck, baring my entire backside to him.
“Declan!” My feet are flailing, my face and neck are heated with embarrassment, as his hand gently caresses my body from my bare ass to my shoulders. “I’m all right. The scars are barely there anymore. Mili helped treat them so they would fade.”
“He’s a dead man. When I find him—and I will—he’s as good as fucking dead.” Declan pulls my shirt back down, covering my now heated, and weirdly enough, aroused body. He spins me back around, straddling his lap, as he cups my face with his hands. “Never again. You got me, Violet? He will never touch you again.” His eyes are full of rage and promise, and something deep inside makes me believe him. Declan O’Malley is a man of his word.
“Let me finish. Please.” Declan nods, and his hands travel down to my shoulders, holding me as if he thinks I’ll jump up and run. “Carter heard the noise of James’s belt and the muffled sounds of my screaming. He came running into the room to try to help me. When he reached for my hand to pull me off the bed, James grabbed Carter by the arm and wrenched his wrist hard. I was certain he had broken it by the way Carter collapsed on the ground.” Declan reaches up, wiping away my tears with the back of his hand. “I panicked and jumped between them, drawing James’s focus back to me. He became enraged, and I took everything he had to dish out, giving Carter a chance to run and hide.”
Deep breaths. We’re almost there.
“I took Carter to the Emergency room early the next day. I had to wait until I was medicated enough to walk somewhat normal and at least appear to be a functional person. Mili was the doctor on shift. Without my saying a word, she knew I'd been beaten. She didn’t judge me or call me out for lying about Carter’s injury. She had heard of my husband and agreed not to report the incident to anyone without my consent.”
“She knew your husband had a history of abuse, and she didn’t report it to anyone? What the actual fuck?”
“I said she didn’t report it to the local agencies.” I wait until his eyes meet mine to continue. “She told Kayce. Mili was the one who got me in touch with Kayce, and Kayce helped Carter and I escape.”
“A few days later, I met Mili at the clinic while Carter was in school. She took me into a private room where Kayce and one of his men were waiting for me. Kayce explained what I would need to do for him to help get me and Carter out of Baron’s Edge safely. He talked about getting us new identities and a new home in a place where we could have a new start, free of James. He had a plan that would make it appear as if we had died in an accident, so no one would come looking for us.”