Page 20

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Cash

“So, why hasn’t Mom called me looking for you?”

Katelyn dropped onto the corner of a full-size bed covered in a white comforter accented with red blossoms. Declan had given her the Dogwood Room for the night before retreating to let us talk alone.

“This bed is nice,” Katelyn said, then wrinkled her nose. “The decor is a little weird.”

“It’s the Dogwood Room.” I waved toward the red blossoms on the bed, then the dog-shaped throw pillows. “Get it. Dog…wood?”

She snorted. “You really like him, don’t you?”

Okay, so the decor was a reach. Aunt Millie had obviously had an odd sense of humor. Declan had told me this room rarely booked up. Along with its odd decor, it was tucked onto the bottom floor with a view of only…yep, you guessed it, a dogwood tree.

“He didn’t decorate the room. It was—” I stopped and waved my hands. “You know what? Don’t change the subject. Why isn’t Mom looking for you right now?”

Katelyn dropped to her back with a gust of breath. “I told her I was going to Jenna’s.”

I crossed my arms and towered over her, like an intimidating asshole, but in this case, it was my job as her big brother. “Why didn’t you go to Jenna’s? The parties in Swallow Beach are no joke.”

“I know.”

Not good enough. “If you know that, then why are you putting yourself in danger, huh?”

“Benny dumped me, and Dad said I had it coming, and Jenna’s been telling me to give up on him, and I didn’t want to hear one more person tell me I deserved what I got, okay?”

Tears sprang to her eyes, and I dropped down onto the bed beside her. The time for towering intimidation was over. “Hey, I’m not ever going to say that to you.”

She sniffed. “I know, but I just hate life right now. I wanted to escape.”

I knew that feeling. A little too well.

“I get it, Kat, but I’ve been down that road. It doesn’t take you anywhere good.”

“I’m not anywhere good now,” she muttered.

“Then we need to change that.”

She looked dubious. “I don’t see how we can.”

“Well, for starters, I should always be your first call. If you need an escape, I’ll get you a safe one, okay?”

“Even if you’re working?”

“You know you can always come to the resort. Skylar is cool. And if I’m here, come over and help. We could use some cheap labor.”

She giggled. “Declan won’t mind?”

“I’ll check with him, but no, I don’t think he will. He’s a good guy.”

“So, what’s going on? Is he your boyfriend?”

I stood up. “And I believe the sibling pep talk is complete. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

She smirked. “Right after you wake up in Declan’s bed, right?”

“Shut it. That’s none of my baby sister’s business.”

I crossed the living area and dining room to reach the entrance to Declan’s living quarters. I hesitated, wondering if I should knock, but he knew I was coming.

I opened the door and entered, but I didn’t see him. The faint sound of a shower came from the bathroom.

I went over and tapped the door. “Declan? Just wanted to let you know I’m back so you don’t come out of there naked.” I paused. “Unless you want to.” I winced. My flirty tongue always got me in trouble. “Kidding! I’m just kidding.”

“Cash? Come in. I can’t hear you.”

He wanted me to come in? Okay, no big deal. It didn’t mean anything sexual would happen. I needed to play this cool and show him I wasn’t always a horn dog.

I eased the door open. “Hey, man, I just wanted to tell you I was back, and…” I trailed off as my brain processed what I was seeing. Declan had tugged back the shower curtain and damn, the view was distracting.

He’d slicked his dark hair back from his face, making his cheekbones and the cut of his jaw look sharper. Water trickled over his shoulders and down to his chest, where a light covering of dark hair trailed between his pecs and down to?—

I jerked my gaze back up before I got busted for staring at the man’s cock. That was an invite-only kind of show.

“Do you want to shower with me?” Declan asked.

My heart skipped. “Really?”

“It’s been a long day. I don’t want to make you wait.”

Well, that was true. Exhaustion and achiness tugged at me after hours of painting. I’d been burning the candle at both ends, getting up early and working late—and often cuddling later—with Declan.

“Okay, sure.” I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. Declan let the shower curtain fall shut, and I stripped down. My cock was already trying to thicken. I glared down at it and mentally ordered it to behave.

When I pulled aside the curtain to step in behind Declan, I got a view of his shoulders and back flexing as he ran his hands through his hair, rinsing it of shampoo. The suds ran down the small of his back and onto a perfect peach-shaped ass.

I bit my lip and closed my eyes, willing the rush of lust away.

“Here, step under the spray. I’ll wash your back for you.”

Well, okay then. Apparently, this was going to be a full-service type of shower. I opened my eyes enough to shuffle past Declan, our wet skin gliding and sending sparks of want crackling through my body.

He gently guided me to face the front, then used the removable shower head to wet my hair thoroughly before applying shampoo. His fingers worked through my hair, scrubbing but also massaging, and I sighed as some of the day’s tension washed away.

“There you go,” he murmured softly. “Go ahead and lean back against me. I got you.”

I sagged, his firm chest supporting me, and closed my eyes, luxuriating in the pampering.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but it’s really nice.”

Declan worked a sponge over my shoulders and chest, scrubbing me clean. It should have seemed perfunctory, but his hands were on my body, and my body really liked that.

He stepped back to rinse me down, sliding his hands over my skin until he reached my ass.

I sucked in a breath and almost choked on shower water, suddenly aware my cock had not behaved and was rigid and waving like a flag trying to get Declan’s attention.

“Maybe don’t touch me there.”

Declan removed his hands. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just…” I waved at my dick. “My body gets its own ideas, and if you keep touching my ass like that—” I cut myself short. “It doesn’t mean anything, okay?”

“Cash, it’s all right if it means something,” Declan said. “I’d be a little insulted if it didn’t.”

I glanced back over my shoulder, meeting his eyes. “I don’t understand…”

Declan kissed me, his lips wet and slippery. I moaned as all the lust I’d been trying to fight back swamped me.

He guided my hand to my dick, and I wrapped my fingers around the shaft, stroking. “Keep doing that,” he said. “I need to finish washing you.”

I flushed with heat, a mix of lust and shame at the thought of jerking off for Declan while he seemed unaffected. But then he shifted behind me, and I felt his hard dick brush the back of my thigh.

“Are you…?”

“Yes,” he murmured. “I’m with you.”

“I want to touch you.”

“Not yet.” Declan turned me and began the torturous process of washing my chest and stomach. When he went to his knees to wash my legs, I about expired from the sight of him in front of me.

“Declan.” My voice was full of pleading, and I winced. I was supposed to be going at his speed, not mine.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

He pushed my hand away and wrapped his long fingers around my shaft. His hand was soapy, making for a natural lube as he stroked me. My head fell back as I lost the fight with my body and began rocking my hips, thrusting harder into his hand.

When Declan pulled away to rinse me of soap, I almost cried. I was on the precipice of orgasm, and the freaking man was edging me. Of all the things I’d expected of a relationship with someone who was ace, it wasn’t that he’d turn me into a quivering, needy mess begging for relief.

“Please, please please. Declan, oh my god, I need to come.”

He chuckled. “You’re not the only one.”

My eyes flew open, and I glanced down at his hard dick between his legs. My hole fluttered suddenly as the idea hit me that maybe he’d want to fuck me. “Let me touch you, then. Do you want my mouth? My ass? You can have anything you want.”

He looked at me steadily. “And what do you want, Cash?”

“I just want to please you.”

His eyes softened. “You do, sweetheart. All the time.”

I trembled, my body craving orgasm while the rest of my being wanted this moment to last forever. “I want to make you come.”

Declan rose to his feet. “All right, then, how do you want to do it?”

My mouth watered. “Can I, uh, suck you?”

He pressed my shoulder, and I’d never been so happy to drop to my knees. His cock was thick enough I could imagine the burn of him sliding into me. Could that ever happen? Maybe. I sure as hell never expected to be here with him. I would have gladly taken only kisses and cuddles if that’s all Declan wanted.

I looked up the length of his body. “Do you want this? Because I only ever want to give you what you want, Dec.”

He smoothed back the hair from my forehead. “I believe you, sweetheart. And yes, right now, right here? I want this as badly as you do.”

That’s what I needed to hear. I lunged forward, taking Declan’s cock into my mouth and drank in the sound of his choked groan above me. I used my lips and tongue and fingers to make it the best damn blow job I’d ever given.

I was beginning to understand that Declan wasn’t celibate. He’d want sex sometimes. This wasn’t my only chance to please him. But if we weren’t going to have quantity, then I wanted to give him quality. So much damn quality that no one else would ever compare.

“Jesus, Cash,” Declan murmured above me. “You’re too…”

I drew back. “Too greedy?”

“No.” He chuckled. “Too good. Don’t stop.”

He put a hand on my head and pushed my face toward his dick, and that was so damn hot I just about came hands-free. I sucked him back in, taking him deeper, working him over until he uttered a warning and pushed on my shoulder. I eased back enough to see him shoot onto my chest, his cum streaking across my skin and then sluicing away with the hot water.

Declan grabbed my arm and helped me stand on shaky legs. “Your turn.”

He grasped my dick, reminding me I was still hard and wanting. I’d gotten so lost in pleasuring him that I’d damn near forgotten how desperate I was, but the need came rushing back now.

I whimpered, lightheaded as my cock throbbed in his hand.

Declan leaned in, kissing me, and with nothing more than a hard press of lips and a single stroke to my dick, I came so hard I nearly passed out.

We got out of the shower, and Declan dried me off with a fuzzy terrycloth towel. Somewhere in my hazy mind I registered that this was different. I didn’t normally float away because of an orgasm or let my partner take care of me the way Declan had tonight.

But everything was different with him, so why not this too?

He led me to the bed, and I climbed between the sheets. He joined me, warm, bare skin pressing up against my back as he wrapped his arms around me.

“Is your sister okay?” he asked.

“I have a sister?”

He chuckled, his breath tickling my neck. “You know damn well you do.”

I smiled into my pillow. “You blew my mind tonight. The brain is not firing on all cylinders. But yeah, Kat’s okay.”

He squeezed me. “It was really good for me, too.”

“Just good?”

“Amazing,” he said. “Truthfully, probably the best experience I’ve ever had.”

I glanced back over my shoulder. “Really?”

He pressed his lips to my shoulder. “Yeah. You don’t push for sex. You wait for me to show interest. That makes all the difference. With my exes…” He trailed off.

I rolled over to face him. “Tell me?”

He sighed. “Well, they just got impatient. They had needs, and I don’t fault them for that. I couldn’t meet them.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I hated feeling like I couldn’t satisfy them, so I’d try to go through the motions…”

“I don’t ever want you to do that.” I cupped his face. “If I were lucky enough to be your boyfriend, I wouldn’t care about how often we had sex. As long as we both want it when it happens.”

“You have needs too though. Just like they did.”

“And sex is just one expression of that need,” I said. “This? Talking to you in the dark, that’s intimacy too. Cuddling on the couch, holding you, hell, just getting one of those rare smiles? They’re all expressions of”—I caught myself about to say the L word and diverted to an acceptable synonym—“affection.”

Declan closed the gap between us, kissing me softly. “I love the way you think. I don’t know if you’ll feel the same when you’ve got blue balls, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Well, I already went without sex for eight months while I was waiting for you to come around, so…”

Declan’s eyes widened. “You did what?”

“I mean, that was before I knew you were leaving.”

“Oh.”

My whole body heated with what I was pretty sure was a blush. No one had made me blush since I was about fifteen years old, but here I was, burning up over this obsessive crush I’d been unable to shake.

I looked down, unable to meet his eyes. “Not that I regret it,” I said softly. “Even if this is all I get, it was worth it.”

“Ah, Cash…” He put a finger under my chin and lifted it so he could meet my eyes. “I have a lot to figure out. I can’t make any promises.”

“I know.” I smiled sadly. “I went into this with my eyes wide open.”

“But my eyes were closed,” he said. “Or maybe my mind was. I didn’t expect this. Any of it.”

I brushed a kiss over his lips. “I’m stealthy like that.”

He chuckled. “Trust me, nothing about you is stealthy.” His eyes sparkled. “But I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

My chest warmed. “Ditto, sugar.”

He rolled his eyes. “Again with the sugar.”

“Again with the sweetness,” I teased back.

He smiled at me, one of those special smiles that I’d told him were just as good as sex—and it must be true, because damn, it hit me right in the solar plexus.

He closed his eyes, tugging me closer and curling us into a comfortable position. “Sleep,” he murmured softly.

And like all the other orders Declan had murmured into my ear, I obeyed.