Authors: April Vine
“You don’t love me, Declan.” She climbed off the bed, taking a sheet with her to cover her nakedness. “You’re so young—”
He grabbed her waist and backed her up against the wall with a speed that knocked the breath from her lungs. The contact of his naked body pressing into her seared the flimsy sheet and messed with her thinking.
“I know what I want and I’ve wanted you for six years, so don’t you tell me this is a crush, an infatuation that will pass when I go back home. Why’d you think I went overseas? Why do you think I worked my ass off to make money? When the time came, and I waited for this moment, Cait, I wanted you to think I was man enough to have you.” Long tanned fingers tangled in her hair. “I love you. Give me a chance to see if I’ve been right all those years.” His roughened voice skirted along the shell of her ear.
“Declan.” She cupped his face with her hand, trembling as an icy cold dread flowed into her veins. The urge to surrender to him diminished her willpower. So easy to give in and admit she felt something deeper for him than she did any other human on earth. But could she suffer her father’s disappointment and her mother’s scorn? He was younger than she was and nothing, no amount of money or love, would change that. Her father would definitely disown her. She didn’t care about the money. As her father’s favorite, emotional disownment from him would devastate her.
And what guarantee did she have that Declan would stick by her side through it all? She couldn’t force him into such a relationship where at every turn he would have to fight for her and she him. What if he walked out on her the minute she gave him everything she was worth: her heart and her soul? He was young; how could he possibly think she was the only woman for him when he still had his whole life ahead of him?
When her phone beeped, she jerked her hand away from his face and hurried to answer it as if it were her lifeline. Her father’s voice sounded on the other end of the line. She half-listened to his account about this new book he read and which she must get herself a copy and start reading immediately. From the corner of her eye, she watched Declan dress and quietly leave the room as her father was forced to end the conversation and hand the phone over to her mother who wanted to discuss last minute party details. Her father’s birthday was a few days away. She didn’t stop Declan. Pain stabbed at her heart, and she could barely keep the tears from her voice as she spoke to her mother.
“Mum, sorry, I have a headache. I’ll come tomorrow after work, okay, and we can put the final touches to dad’s birthday.”
“Take an aspirin, dear, and sleep early, all right?”
The phone slipped from her hand. Tears streamed down her face. How could she let him go? How could she live without him? Frantic that she’d lost him forever, she grabbed a pair of jeans from her closet, a T-shirt, and underwear, and jumped into the shower. She lathered her skin and shampooed her hair, her stomach knotting with anxiety the longer they were apart. She dried herself, brushed her hair into a ponytail, and added a layer of lipstick to her swollen lips. She raced to her front door, chucked it open, and almost tripped over the Curious Coition bag on her doorstep, her panties inside the bag too. She brought it into the house, and then jogged across the street to Mrs. Meyer’s house.
“Mrs. Meyer, may I speak to Declan please?”
“Oh, he isn’t here, honey, said something urgently came up and he needed to leave immediately.”
Her heart sank. Panic constricted her lungs, making it hard to speak. She bit her lip to stop the quivering, afraid she’d break down in front of Mrs. Meyer’s door and drown in her tears. “He’s … he’s gone back to New York?”
“Oh, no, he goes back on Tuesday. No, right now he’s at his apartment in the city.”
Joy surged through her, dominating the heartache that threatened to ravish her not seconds ago. She took a deep breath to calm her shattered nerves. “Hmm … can you give me his address, please?”
Mrs. Meyer’s frown deepened as she stared at Cait.
“Please, I really need to see him.”
“Well, it’s on the fridge, I’ll just go get it quickly.” She came back a minute later. Cait didn’t even look at the address. She ran to her house, grabbed her car keys and the Curious Coition bag, and sped out of the residential area and onto the highway. Only when she neared the city did her gaze flicker over her address. So easy to find, The Noble Point a block of luxury apartments that cost fortunes to buy.
With her heart hammering in her throat, she knocked on his door. He didn’t answer. She knocked again and again, desperation tightening her chest. Minutes later, he swung it open in nothing but a towel around his waist, water dribbling down his magnificent chest and along his abdomen.
Her body sprang to life. Surprise shadowed his eyes.
“I was wondering if, you know, well, since I took you to the wedding already, I was wondering if you’d like to come to a birthday party with me. It’s my dad’s seventieth. He’ll hate you and will probably want to shoot you, but I figure with all your karate expertise, I’m sure you can catch bullets too.”
She wasn’t going to run away with him. No, she was going to show him to the world and shout that she couldn’t live without him, not even for five minutes. She was old enough to go after her heart. Her father would just have to accept that Declan was younger, but he made her happy, and he was more man than she could ever ask for.
“Stay, please. It’s on Saturday, so you’ll have to stay here with me until then.”
His silence made her edgy and nervous and scared. She shifted her weight and rubbed her hands on her jeans as dismay weighed down on her. Had he changed his mind about her?
She followed his gaze as it lowered to the bag she held in her hand, reminding her that she still held the Curious Coition package.
“And I have this toy. I don’t know how to use it, and I’ve heard only a very special toy boy can help me with it.”
His arms circled her waist. He lifted her over the threshold, closed the door, and backed her into a wall with his whole body. She snaked her hand between them and yanked his towel off. He groaned as his cock brushed against her jeans.
“Promise you won’t leave me.” She dropped the bag at her feet and threaded the fingers of both her hands through the hair at his nape. Her body bowed to him and sighed in contentment. Now that she had him in her arms again, she never wanted to let go.
“Promise you’ll stay with me,” he countered.
“I promise.” His breath mingled with hers. She panted in anticipation of his kiss and dissolved into happiness when he claimed her mouth. “It’s not going to be easy, Declan, with me. I’m anal, I cringe at gossip, and my family can be really tough and—”
“You’re mine,” he whispered against her lips, and then carried her through his massive apartment and into his bedroom. “That’s all that matters to me. I’ll fight for you, Cait, like I have every day since the first moment I saw you.”
The End
About the Author
April Vine writes erotic romance by night and is a professional dreamer by day. She has two precious sons and one very tolerant husband, who bravely defends her honor whenever she finds herself in trouble, which is often enough.
She can do without most anything, but books, chocolate, and shoes are her crucial must-haves.
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