Page 59 of Feel Me

It doesn’t take long for him to catch his breath and harden again. His appetite for me insatiable, and our emotions so riled there’s no room to think, only feel.

He hauls me into his arms and carries me down the hall, stopping outside my bedroom. “I’m glad you’re flexible,” he says. “Because I really want to make you come this way.”

He lifts my right leg and throws it over his shoulder as he pushes inside me. My head slides against the wall as Declan thrusts hard, my body shaking with how fast his body beats against mine and how much I want him.

This is so what I need.

No.He’swhat I need.

This moment takes longer and the orgasms come harder. Almost the moment he finishes his cautious demeanor returns. My hand slips to chest where his heart beats out of control and his chest rises and falls in quick succession. I canfeelhow much he wants me and how much he cares, and I can feel all the strength lying deep within. But everything I feel doesn’t seem like enough.

I never planned on loving Declan. But I do.

Even though I know he’s not ready to love me in return.

CHAPTER 17

Melissa

Declan warned me he had a huge and loud family, but clearly I had no idea what huge and loud meant. He, Dad, and I arrive at Curran and Tess’s home just as the sun sets. Even from the bottom of the porch steps and with the door closed, I can hear the T.V. blasting and what sounds like an angry mob screaming at each other.

I trail Declan as he guides Dad up the steps, the voices growing more boisterous and heated. I clasp Declan’s arm as he reaches for the doorknob.

“Did we come at a bad time?” I ask.

He smirks, reaching for me. “No, they always sound like that.”

He throws open the door. The cacophony of sound has me toppling back. If not for Declan’s firm grip, I’m not sure I would have kept my feet. He motions Dad forward and into the foyer, keeping his other arm around my waist.

Everyone is yelling.Everyone. My senses are on overload. Yet it’s when the mob of people taking up every inch of space in the large family room abruptly quiets that I almost fall over.

All eyes are on us. Dad, ever calm and composed, glances back at me like we’re about to be eaten.

Declan barely blinks. “This is Melissa and her father, Miles,” he announces. “Show some class for once in your lives and be nice to them.”

An array of “fuck you’s” “I have goddamn class” and other such colorful references overpower my hello.

Tess appears (thank God!), lifting the pan of stuffed shrimp from my hands. She kisses my cheek. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine,” she tells me, before disappearing into the advancing crowd.

The moment Declan helps me out of my coat, arms, lots and lots of arms, pull me into bodies ranging from extra-large to extremely tiny. Kisses greet me from all sides. I’m inundated with affection, struggling to make out what people are saying between the loud voices surrounding me and the back noise. Everyone speaks at once, causing my head to jerk in all directions. I fail miserably at catching everyone’s names. But it’s what I do pick up on that eases some of my distress.

“Thank Christ you’re not another skank,” his sister Wren tells me, smiling brightly.

“Look, and she actually has an ass,” his older brother Angus adds, pointing.

I should be embarrassed, but all I can do is smile. They’re . . .lovely.

“Where’s Ma?” Declan asks Wren.

She takes a swig of her beer. “Out in the garage.”

Declan frowns. “What is she doing out there?”

“Pouring more whisky into her cup.” She holds out her hand. “I’m sorry, pouring more ‘iced tea’ into her cup,” she replies with finger quotes. “You’d think we’d be talking this way if she was in here?”

“Okay. I’ll check on her in a minute,” he says. “Come on, Miles, let’s watch the game.” He touches my arm, so I’m sure to read his lips as someone blasts the volume. “Are you okay?”

I nod, trying to keep from reacting to the increasing volume. Declan notices anyway, veering back to yell at one of his three hundred brothers. “Hey, Seamus. Turn it down ?”

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