Page 39 of Hooked on a Demon (Leeside Witches #3)

Eliana

“H ere,” Declan says, handing Eliana a folded T-shirt. “For you to sleep in.”

“Thanks.” Her eyes threaten to well up as she holds the soft fabric between her fingers.

She tilts her head back, looking up at the ceiling, willing those tears to stay put.

Now is not the time for a big emotional response.

Bringing her head back down, she’s met with Declan’s concerned gaze.

His unbound hair flows softly over his shoulders in loose waves thanks to the braid he always wears, and he scrunches his eyebrows together.

His eyes search her, looking for what’s wrong, and not finding it.

“Are you—” he says, at the same time she says, “I’m okay. A moment of overwhelm.”

He steps toward her, closing what little distance there was between them. “Did I push this too fast? I can totally take you home if you would rather be in your own space.”

This demon of hers.

Wait.

Hers.

Nope, not going to interrogate that right now.

Her hand comes up to rest on his tattooed forearm. “Declan, I’m fine. Sometimes the thoughts get to be a lot, and they come all at once. I needed a moment to collect myself, that’s all.”

“Oh.”

“I promise. I’m okay and I want to be here.” Eliana pushes up on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek. “I’m gonna go get ready for bed.”

He nods. Sensing his eyes following her as she walks away, she makes sure to give her hips a little extra sway with each step, evoking a growl from behind her. “You’re gonna be the end of me, Oaks.”

She laughs, light and airy, enjoying the impact she has on him. And that he has on her.

As she changes, she can’t help but be thankful that she has an appointment with Colson in the morning, which will allow her to unpack all of this.

That thought causes her to pause, realizing the progress she has made.

Not only does she want to unpack it, but she’s almost excited to tell him about everything she’s feeling.

Her mind flashes back to her lying spread out on the counter—well, maybe not everything.

She uses the mouthwash on the bathroom counter to rinse her mouth as thoroughly as possible.

Bundling up her clothes in one arm, she opens the door and walks back into Declan’s bedroom.

When she looks up, he’s already lying on the bed, wearing only a pair of dark gray sweatpants.

She’s seen him topless before while at the theater, but here, in his bed, well, the sight makes her mouth go dry.

Holy fucking hell, he’s hot.

His arms are thick with muscle, and his chest and stomach are more rounded and not perfectly defined.

He looks like comfort and safety, like a life-sized stuffed teddy bear that she wants nothing more than to snuggle up with.

As she takes him in, she finds the spot on his chest that would be the perfect place to rest her head.

And his tattoos. Oh, his tattoos. The gray-scale decorative swirls and flowers dance up his arms and onto his chest, adding a delicacy to him that is unexpected.

It’s such a soft design for someone like him, someone who seems larger than life, with such great power, yet it suits him perfectly. It’s balanced and gentle, like him.

His eyes catch hers as she continues to ogle him, and the corner of his mouth quirks up into the sexiest smirk she’s ever seen. “Are you planning to come to bed?” he asks teasingly as Buckley snorts from the corner, curled up in his own bed.

Swallowing, she nods. She steps toward the bed, then awkwardly turns to either side, trying to decide where to put her clothes.

“Here,” he says as a smoky limb appears beside her.

She opens her arm and it takes the clothes from her, bringing them to the bench at the end of the bed, where it proceeds to fold her clothes nicely, and places them gently on top.

She was telling the truth when she told him she wanted to be here, but it doesn’t remove the fact that this is their first night together and the unspoken expectations that hang in the air between them.

Is he expecting her to sleep with him, given what they did earlier?

Does she want to sleep with him? Well, yes, but it seems like such a bigger step than some oral.

And as giddy as she was feeling a moment ago in the bathroom, she can’t help the hesitation she’s experiencing now.

The last man she had full-on sex with was Sam, and that continues to loom over her head as much as she doesn’t want it to. That she trusted him as much as she did, and that he ended up diminishing so much of her.

Her mind continues to waver back and forth on what she wants from tonight, leaving her frozen beside the bed.

Declan, noticing her growing distress, crawls over to her. “Oaks. Are you okay?”

His voice is calming, but his hands, rubbing up and down her arms, are what help to bring her back to the surface.

It takes her a moment to respond, and when she does, her voice cracks a little as it’s still filled with all the emotion and confusion she was fighting.

“I’m sorry…” she starts, but he interrupts, “Eliana, you never have to apologize for having feelings.”

“I—I’m sorr—” she starts again, before seeing the stern look in his eyes and correcting, “no, I’m not sorry, but it hit me that the last time I spent the night with someone, it was my ex and…”

“Hey,” he says, putting a finger under her chin so she can look at him, “that’s okay.

I’d love to say I understand, but I know I never really will.

Look, I know I invited you to stay, but you can back out at any point.

I will take you home, as I already said.

However, I want to be clear; I have absolutely no expectations about tonight.

I just wasn’t ready to say goodnight yet.

If you want me to sleep on the couch or on the floor, I will.

I want you to feel comfortable here. So what would make you feel comfortable? ”

Goddess, she doesn’t think she’s ever been asked that before. What does she want? It’s such a simple question, and yet, it still causes tension to build in her chest.

She smiles at him, hoping it comes across as endearing, as she says, “I don’t want you to sleep on the floor.”

“Okay.”

“I think I’d like to cuddle,” she adds.

“You think?”

Her hands fidget with the bottom of his shirt that she wears, and as she breathes deeply, his scent envelopes her, giving her the confidence she needs. “I want to cuddle. You looked like a teddy bear when I first came in, and it was the first thing I thought of. That you’d be perfect for a cuddle.”

“Alright, then, Miss Oaks. Let’s snuggle.” He leans back, smiling lovingly at her, and extends his hand out for her to take as she climbs into his bed.

She tosses the blankets back and takes his hand, pulling her into the comfiest of clouds. His bed is like heaven. Soft and pillowy. It immediately forms around her as she settles in. He lies back and says, “Where do you want me?”

“On your back. I thought I’d put my head on your chest.”

“Perfect.”

He opens his arm, giving her access. She scoots herself over, already feeling sleepy.

She turns onto her side, and her head finds that perfect spot on his chest that she noticed before, while her free arm wraps over his stomach and her leg hitches over to settle between his.

His open arm wraps around her back, hugging her in closer.

The feeling is immaculate. It’s exactly as she imagined, and as he reaches over with his other hand to turn the light out, she lets out a hum of contentment.

Being wrapped in his arms is exactly what she needs.

* * *

Eliana is surrounded by a woodsy scent and weighed down by a heavy arm as she wakes the next morning.

Disoriented and in an unfamiliar place, panic causes her chest to tighten.

Her brain flashes back to living with Sam and the way she hated mornings with him.

He’d always have some snarky comment about how she looked, what she ate for breakfast, or even how she slept the night before.

Opening her eyes, she notes the room, which is different from the one they shared back in Hollybrook.

As she takes another deep breath, she breathes in the scent that is familiar to her now, and as her hand runs up the arm draped across her stomach, she sees the tattoos that run from the shoulder to the back of his hand.

Declan. The tightness in her chest lightens as the world and current surroundings come into focus.

I’m in Declan’s bed.

I stayed in his bed.

Her hand continues to caress him, running the length of his forearm and down to the tip of his fingers. Back and forth. Soft. Gentle. Soothing.

A low groan sounds in her ear before he takes a breath, his head moving over to nestle in the crook of her neck as he pulls her into him. Into all of him. “Good morning, Oaks.”

Talk about oaks. He’s packing a fucking tree in there based on what she can feel poking her ass.

“Morning, Grace.”

Hearing their movement and voices, Buckley wakes with a flap of his ears and appears at the side of the bed, huffing his own morning greetings and thumping the side with his large tail.

“Good morning to you, too, Bucks,” Declan says, lifting his arm to pet him quickly before wrapping it back around her.

“How’d you sleep?” he asks, his breath tickling her ear.

“Good. I honestly don’t remember anything after curling up against you.”

“That’s good.” His smile is warm against her skin.

“I love how you smell, by the way. I’d love to bottle it up and carry it with me all day.

” A laugh escapes her, the sound happy, light, and playful as he holds her tight and draws in a big breath through his nose.

“So good,” he growls, matching her energy.