The Betrayal (27 page)

Declan must have seen something of her uncertainty. After putting his bike away, he came over to her and tilted her chin up to face him. His gaze roamed over her face, concern and tenderness in his expression.

“You’re over-thinking it, Chloe. I can see it in your eyes. You want me; I want you. That’s all there is to it.”

He moved closer, so close she could see the green flecks in his brown eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing. Okay, so we met in less-than-ideal circumstances. That matter will very shortly be resolved. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change us. We’re two consenting adults who find each other attractive.” He closed the distance between them and pressed a lingering kiss on her lips. “Very,
very
attractive,” he whispered, his voice husky and low.

She bit her lip in indecision. He smiled at her with a look on his face that was so damned sexy that she melted inside.

He cocked a single, brown eyebrow. “Yes?”

Heat warmed her all the way through and left her tingling. A need so strong almost took her breath away. “Yes,” she whispered.

His eyes darkened with emotion. His lips claimed hers in another fiery kiss that she felt all the way down to her toes. Her heart pounded. She pulled away with a gasp.

“Declan, I-I… Please, slow down. It’s…like I told you before… I’m not very experienced at this kind of thing.”

“Going home with a man or having sex?” he teased.

“B-both,” she stammered, silently cursing the heat that exploded in her cheeks.

His face sobered and he cupped her cheeks in his hands and held her face still. Chloe had no choice but to look at him.

“Like I told
you
before, I want you. I don’t care that you’re not experienced. Only a fool of a man would. I love that you haven’t chosen your bed partners indiscriminately. There’s not a lot of that out there anymore, on either side. It’s refreshing.” He pulled her hard against him and pressed his erection into the softness of her belly. “It’s a turn-on. Feel how much it turns me on.”

Chloe’s limbs liquefied with desire. Heat stirred deep down in her core and she moved against him. He groaned and another thrill went through her. That she could bring a man like him to that point of need made her feel invincible.

She reached up and pulled his mouth down to hers. His lips moved across hers with increasing need. She opened her mouth and gasped when his tongue swept inside and tangled with her own. Her hands buried themselves into the thickness of his hair. She returned his kiss with a passion that stunned her.

In one swift movement, he bent and lifted her into his arms and headed for the elevator. Sliding her down the length of his body, he held her close against him, their fingers entwined, while they waited.

Within minutes, he’d shouldered open the door to his apartment and was tugging her inside. She’d barely cleared the doorway when he drew her close once again and kissed her.

Chloe’s heart pounded in her ears. She slid her hands across the soft fabric of his T-shirt, loving the feel of the hard wall of muscle beneath her fingers. She found the taut peak of his nipples and teased them with her fingernails.

Declan sucked in his breath and she smiled, loving the sense of power that surged through her.

His hands reached down to cup her backside and he molded her against him. She threaded her hands through his hair and held on, wanting the moment to last forever.

“I want you naked,” he murmured against her mouth.

She tensed in sudden nervousness, but he was having none of it. Tugging her still-damp T-shirt out of her jeans, he lifted it over her head and dropped it to the floor. Her bra quickly followed. His hands stilled. He stared at her.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “Just as I knew you would be.” He reached out and cupped her breasts and rubbed the pad of his thumb across her nipple.

She gasped. Desire surged through her and pooled into moist heat deep inside her. His thumbs rasped over her tender flesh again and she clutched at his arms in an effort to steady herself.

Declan growled low in his throat. Taking her by the hand, he led her down the darkened hall and into the bedroom at the far end.

He let go of her hand and moved to switch on a lamp that stood on the nightstand. A king-sized bed made of some dark kind of wood took up most of the room. It was neatly made and the room was tidy, with not even a shirt or stray sock visible.

Declan tugged off his T-shirt and tossed it into a laundry hamper that stood inside the door of the ensuite. Taking a seat on the end of the bed, he pulled off his boots and dropped them on the floor and then made short work of his jeans. They, too, made it into the hamper.

He strode toward her, dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts. Chloe glimpsed his erection straining against the cloth and averted her gaze.

“Look at me, Chloe. I want you to look at me.”

The request was softly issued. She drew in a deep breath and grabbed hold of her courage. Her gaze met his. The nervousness and tension left her body when she recognized the need in his eyes.

Her gaze dropped lower, skimming over the impressive breadth of his well-muscled chest before pausing at the waistband of his underwear. Her mouth went dry at the thought of touching him again.

As if he could read her mind, he moved forward and took her hand and pressed it against his hardness. Her heart thumped at the magnificent feel of him beneath the silk of his boxers. She ran her hand up and down the length of him and was rewarded by another low growl.

“Feel how much I need you, Chloe. God, I can’t wait to be inside you.”

His words sent a surge of heat to the heart of her core and her clit tingled. She squeezed her legs together against the rush of feeling and tightened her hold on his cock.

“Oh, God, sweetheart, you don’t know how good that feels. Touch me like that again.”

Emboldened, Chloe did as he asked, desire building within her. Declan reached out and undid the button of her borrowed jeans and slid the zipper down. She let him tug her toward the bed.

A gentle push on her shoulder and she sat down. Kneeling at her feet, he pulled off her boots and threw them toward his. Still on his knees, he moved between her legs and inched her jeans down her hips. When his gaze fastened on her white lace panties, nerves once again warred with desire in her belly.

“I want to touch you,” he murmured, sliding his fingers inside the satin of her underwear. His questing fingers skimmed over her clit and she jumped.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Let me love you.”

His fingers moved lower and swept across her dampened flesh. She moaned against the torment and moved restlessly against his hand.

“Easy, sweetheart. Easy.”

He slid her underwear down her hips and it too went the way of her jeans. He feasted his eyes upon her and Chloe was glad for the dim lighting. With his hands on her thighs, he drew her closer toward him. When his tongue touched her tender flesh, Chloe almost came off the bed.

“Declan!” she gasped. “That feels…”

“Incredible?” he murmured, parting her lips with his tongue.

Chloe’s hands clenched into fists against the indescribable pleasure. “No one’s ever done that before,” she whispered.

He looked at her in surprise and smiled. “Then you’re in for a treat. Hold on tight.”

With that, he buried his face between her legs and laved her with his tongue. Chloe clutched at his hair and marveled at the feelings deep inside her. The pleasure of his loving was almost painful as need built within her—need that only he could assuage.

Her legs moved restlessly under his ministrations and she thought she would die from the pleasure of it. He murmured sweet words of encouragement and Chloe found herself setting aside her shyness and embracing the feel of his magical tongue.

The desire inside her reached a fever pitch. She moaned and moved against him and searched for release.

“That’s it, sweetheart. Let go. Come for me, Chloe. Come for me.”

His gentle encouragement was the final straw. With a gasp, she climaxed. The tremors of it lasted long after he rose from the floor and joined her on the bed.

“That was…unbelievable,” she said, reaching up to stroke his stubble-roughened face.

He stared down at her, his eyes forest dark with emotion. “
You
were unbelievable.”

Chloe’s shyness returned. She flushed and looked away.

“You’re adorable, do you know that? You’ve just allowed yourself to have the most amazing orgasm and now you feel embarrassed about it? You have a beautiful body, Chloe. A body built for loving. Don’t be ashamed of your feelings. Don’t be ashamed of letting your body feel loved.”

Chloe took a deep breath and looked back at him. “Okay.” She ran her hand over his shadowed jaw. “You make me feel beautiful.” Reaching up, she brought his head down to hers and kissed him.

He pulled her close, pressing himself against her. His erection prodded her stomach and she reached down between them and encircled his hardness with her fingers.

“It’s your turn, now,” she whispered.

“
Mm
, I was hoping you’d say that.” Flipping her over, he stretched out above her, holding his weight on his elbows. Chloe reached for his boxers and within seconds he lay naked beside her.

Gathering her close, he kissed her mouth and then slid his lips over her neck, nuzzling the tender spot beneath her ear. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close against her, loving the feeling of the hardness of his body pressing into hers.

He found her lips again and deepened the kiss while his knee pushed aside her legs until she lay open beneath him.

“I need to be inside you. God, I want you so much.”

Desire rekindled in Chloe’s belly and she moved restlessly beneath him.

“I want you, too.”

Needing no further encouragement, Declan reached across to the nightstand and pulled out a condom. Swiftly sheathing his cock, he reared up above her. The strain on his face, visible in the dim light, showed her how much he wanted her.

Chloe opened her legs wide and encouraged him to enter her. His cock prodded at her entrance, slick from her earlier orgasm. He moved slowly, inching into her until, with one smooth stroke, he surged inside, filling and stretching her like no other had. She gasped and held on tightly as he began to stroke.

Feeling awkward, she tried to match his rhythm. With gentle hands, he gripped her around the hips and guided her until they moved as one.

“Oh, Christ, Chloe. You feel so good. You’re so tight, so wet, so hot.”

His pace increased. She clung to his shoulders. The tension in her body tightened, became excruciating until she toppled over the edge in another mind-blowing orgasm.

Seconds later, Declan groaned and drove himself hard inside her. His body stilled for a second or two before he collapsed on top of her, spent. Breathing hard, he lifted his weight and grinned down at her.

“Not bad for the first time. The best thing is, we have all night to perfect it.”

Heat flooded Chloe’s cheeks, but she couldn’t help but return his grin. “I don’t know about that. I think that effort’s going to be pretty hard to top.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m certainly not complaining. But think of the fun we’re going to have trying.”

Chloe stifled a yawn and then flushed with embarrassment. Declan shot her a playful look.

“Great. Just great. I mention an all-night sex-a-thon and my girlfriend starts to snore. Talk about a blow to the ego.”

Chloe grinned, but refused to apologize. She’d had a long day and it was getting late. Besides, she’d never felt so relaxed and sated in her life. And had he really called her his
girlfriend
?

Turning on his side, Declan drew her up against him and pressed a kiss against her hair. Chloe snuggled in close and laid her head on his chest.

“
Mm
, this feels so nice,” she whispered.

His arm tightened around her. “You bet it does.”

CHAPTER 22

The sun glinted through the undrawn blinds and bounced off the pillow, registering on Chloe’s drowsy senses. She opened her eyes and squinted against the light, her gaze drifting around the unfamiliar room. Declan was asleep beside her and as she studied him, memories of their night together returned in force.

She didn’t know what time it had been when they’d eventually fallen asleep curled around each other, exhausted and replete, but her eyes felt gritty and she groaned inwardly at the thought of facing the day.

She looked across at Declan. He’d kicked off the sheet and lay naked and exposed before her wandering gaze. Even relaxed in sleep, he was incredibly good-looking. Unable to resist, she inched closer and ran her palm across the smooth expanse of his chest, her nails grazing his nipple.

A single, greenish-brown eye opened. An instant later, he grabbed her hand and flipped her onto her back, straddling her hips.

“Is that your way of asking me to perform my manly duties?”

She met his gaze and nodded, a smile tilting the edges of her mouth. “Maybe, but first, I really need to use the bathroom.” Ducking her head, she dragged the sheet around her and padded into the small room adjacent to the bedroom.

As she lay down on the bed a few minutes later he leaned over and pressed his lips against hers.

“You’d have thought after our marathon session last night, I’d be satisfied, but one look at you all naked and sexy in my bed and I’m desperate to have you again.”

His husky admission sent a shaft of desire straight to her core. She reached up and kissed him again. He adjusted his legs until he lay flat against her, his burgeoning cock pressing against the juncture of her thighs. His head dipped and he tongued her nipples, sucking them into taut peaks.

Chloe moaned under the delicious torture, but she was having none of it. She moved out from under him. He stared at her, one eyebrow cocked, silently questioning her intentions.

“My turn,” she murmured. Pushing him back down onto the bed, she straddled his hips and began her mission to drive him crazy.

Leaning over him, as he’d done to her only moments before, she found his small flat nipples amongst the light scattering of brown hair and tweaked them with her fingers.