Page 36 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 2

FINN

There was something magically healing about sleeping in the arms of the sheriff of Aster Valley. Or maybe it was simply being in his big bed at his blessedly peaceful and silent house.

We’d left the chalet bedroom for my mother and escaped to Declan’s house the night of the accident. I’d never been more grateful the chalet only had one bedroom.

Being at Declan’s place made me feel almost like a normal person.

His home was nothing fancy, a rental he was in for a year before making the decision of whether and where he might want to invest in his own place.

I hadn’t been in such a homey place in a very long time.

My own place was modern and cold, decorated by professionals my mom had hired in case I was ever interviewed there for a magazine spread.

It only took a few hours that first night before I’d changed into comfy pajamas and joined Tessa to watch an old BBC show called Doc Martin .

“This is nice but…” I began.

“Slow as shit?” she asked, reaching for the bowl of baby carrots on the coffee table. “I’m no longer allowed to watch shows that raise my blood pressure. It was either this or Gilmore Girls , and I can’t handle parent/child relationship stories right now without snot-crying.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” I said, reaching for the other bowl that held pretzels. “I like this. It’s nice. I’m a big BBC fan.” I took a bite of the pretzel and made a retching noise.

“Those don’t have salt on them,” she said. “I meant to warn you.”

“They taste like…” The pretzel equivalent of Doc Martin . “Saltless pretzels,” I finished lamely.

“Complain to your boyfriend. They were his idea. He took my high blood pressure personally.”

My boyfriend. I quickly turned around to see if Declan had overheard her. What would his reaction be to the label? What was my reaction?

Soul-deep longing.

When I realized he was still in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner, I cleared my throat and took a sip from the glass of ice water Declan made sure I always had available. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before,” I admitted.

Declan had once muttered that I was the king of the slow-pan, but I had nothing on this woman. Her head turned slowly to gawp at me.

“You, Finn Heller, Hollywood heartthrob and world’s most eligible bachelor, have never had a boyfriend?”

I shot her a look. “I’ve had dates. I’ve had hookups. That’s not the same thing as having a boyfriend.”

Tessa studied me. Even though she looked tired, she was absolutely gorgeous.

I could understand why some straight men had a thing for pregnant women.

There was something about her that made me want to be close to her.

Maybe it was a biological need to protect her or something, but I felt the same warmth of affection when I looked at her that Declan must feel.

“Why didn’t any of your dates turn into boyfriends?” she asked.

“Let’s see… first there was Kix, who I didn’t want to date because he felt like more of a brother to me.

” Not a very good one, but the kind you were competitive with, annoyed by, and low-key didn’t like.

“Then there was a guy named Dalvin, who wanted me to call him Dungeon Master Dalvin. Which is fine. I’m not kink-shaming or anything, but it wasn’t my thing.

Then I dated a guy named Lex, who tipped off the press about where we would be so they could capture our date on film.

Then… oh, Drew Hilliard from that reality show.

He was actually super sweet until I discovered he had a girlfriend. And then there was?—”

Tess held up a hand. “I get it. You date assholes.”

Declan had been in the middle of walking into the room when he heard her and froze midstep. His eyes bounced to mine.

“Not you,” I said quickly. “You’re not an asshole.”

Tessa started laughing while Dec’s brows furrowed. “Uh… thanks? You set a low bar, Finn.”

I sighed. “I have a regrettable history with men.”

Dec’s eyes widened, and I cursed, reaching out to grasp his hand. “Not you. Jesus. I blame all of this on Tess.”

He grinned and joined me on the sofa, snuggling close until I was practically sprawled on top of him. “That’s what I like to do, too.”

Tessa threw a pillow at him.

It took all of five seconds for me to fall asleep to the opening sequence of the next Doc Martin episode.

At some point Declan must have helped me upstairs because I woke up in his bed, not only refreshed, but also remarkably horny for someone who’d been used as a human battering ram the day before.

Declan’s sleepy, grumbly voice began bossing me around immediately, which only made me hotter.

“Lie there and be still,” he began. As if I was going to argue with him.

“Pillow princess mode, activated,” I promised, stretching against him like a cat before clasping my hands behind my head. “You know, my dick feels a little tender from my accident. I think it needs— holy mother of Christ !”

His mouth was hot and wet. Declan’s strong fingers grasped my hips to hold them still while his mouth sucked all the brains from my… brains.

“Oh fuck,” I said, panting and throwing my head from side to side. I clenched my fists, not knowing if grabbing his head and shoving it closer to my groin would be a violation of the “be still” command.

“Settle down,” he warned.

I whimpered. My toes were stretched out, and my heels crawled up the bed to give him more room between my legs.

Declan’s tongue was everywhere. My balls, my dick, my inner thighs.

I was embarrassing myself with a kind of keening, begging noise, but it only seemed to ramp him up and double down on the suction.

“Want you to come,” he said against my shaft. “Choke me with it. Come down my throat.”

If his purpose in talking dirty was to get me to finish already, mission accomplished.

I shouted and arched up, feeling the tight press of his throat around me as I rammed myself deeper inside him.

Fuck, that was hot. My brain jumbled and fritzed until the only thing left was his damned white piece of paper.

While I was still jerking with the aftershocks, Declan knelt up over me and jacked off above my face, painting me with his release several strokes later when he came with a long, deep groan.

We stared at each other.

“Holy shit,” I breathed.

He reached out and thumbed my cheek before licking his own cum off his thumb. My heart thundered in my chest, and my dick perked up a tiny bit.

“Holy shit,” I said again.

Declan’s grin was dirty and smug. “You like that?”

I closed my eyes and leaned back into the pillow with a groan. “You’re so fucking hot. I could seriously come again right now if I wasn’t so fucking relaxed and lazy.”

The deep rumble of his laugh made me smile. I loved hearing him make a happy noise. He seemed to carry such a large mantle of responsibility, it was nice to see him take time for his own enjoyment.

“You’re hardly lazy,” he said, climbing off the bed and reaching for my hand to pull me up after him. “In fact, you’re probably dead set on going back to work this morning. Tell me I’m wrong.”

He didn’t seem particularly peeved about it. Declan was an adult. He understood about work commitments. He was the sheriff of an entire county.

“You’re not wrong. What about you? Are you on duty today?”

“Yes, but you’ll call me if you need me. Understand?”

“You’re not the boss of me.”

He turned and speared me with a look that went straight to my balls. “Is that right?”

Please, oh, please, be the boss of me, Sheriff Sexypants.

“Well, ah… fine. But only because who else am I going to call if I get into trouble? The cops. It’s always the cops. That’s just smart planning. It has nothing to do with you being my boyfr… friend .”

That wasn’t awkward. At all.

Declan’s eyes were intense in a way I couldn’t interpret. It left me feeling strange like I didn’t know where to put my hands.

I coughed a little bit, tried not to trip over the air in the room, and stumbled into the bathroom in search of Dec’s large shower. Maybe it would make a good hiding place.

Instead of following me into the bathroom, Declan turned around to answer his ringing phone. I heaved a sigh of relief. While I felt very refreshed and renewed from two hearty meals and a good night’s sleep, I didn’t exactly feel up to having a conversation about what “this” was between us.

I was halfway through washing myself when Dec’s naked body stepped into the space and crowded against me.

His dry, warm skin felt delicious against my wet body, and I leaned into him without thinking.

Seeking comfort from him was as natural as breathing.

I may have felt awkward about talking about my feelings, but I didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable touching him and giving him free rein to touch me the same way.

Declan reached over my shoulder for the shampoo bottle. “The department called. I have to go in for a meeting this morning after I run you back to the chalet. The county council wants to discuss a last-minute public event that will need crowd control and extra security.”

He’d mentioned the county council before. “Do you report to them?”

Declan shrugged. “Not officially. Officially I report to the citizens of the county. But when I accepted the position, I suggested adding county council oversight to the department to help prevent another situation like they had before. The sheriff abused his power which is pretty easy with elected positions like this. They’re going to try to make it official in the next county election.

Meanwhile, it’s a professional courtesy thing since it was my idea in the first place. ”

He was a good man. I wondered if he wanted to continue being the sheriff enough to run for re-election. I made a mental note to ask him about it when we had more time together.