Page 29 of Take My Place

“Nope.” Declan firmly shakes his head. “It wouldn’t matter who you were. I’d think you were beautiful… and talented… and funny… and smart…”With every compliment, he drops a kiss on top of my head. At the last one, I move so that he kisses me on the lips.

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

I don’t answer him. I don’t want to talk about how wrong and right his lips feel against mine.

“Shut up and kiss me.” I put a hand on either side of his face and pull him to me, kissing him deeply.

He groans, pulling me harder against his chest and swirling his tongue around mine in a way that made my knees weak.

“We shouldn’t do this.” He gently pushes me away. “You’re engaged.”

“I know. We always seem to kiss at the wrong times.”

“You didn’t know about Ally and that was my fault. She blackmailed me into staying with her, if I’m being honest.”

“How?”

Declan looks down, like he doesn’t want to admit it. “I ran someone over. By accident but I was drunk and I just left him there on the road. I passed out later on, I was super out of it and I don’t really remember it happening at all. Ally knew about it. She was in the car, and the man didn’t survive. He had a wife and kid. He was innocent.”

“Declan,” I whisper.

He clears his throat. “I told his wife it was me. She slapped me but still let me give her a big check. My parents never found out. I was ashamed.”

“You didn’t do it on purpose. You should never have driven drunk though.”

“I never have before or after that event. I can’t remember driving, or getting to the party. I don’t remember much, other than what Ally told me and flashbacks,” he admits to me. “Anyway, Ally blackmailed me into staying with her and threatened to tell my parents. When I broke up with her, she told them. My mother hasn’t spoken to me since and my dad is weird with me. I deserve it.”

“It was an accident. I’m sorry though,” I tell him. “Ally shouldn’t have used that to keep you. That’s not real.”

“Like you and Romy are?”

“Declan, for once, I want something which is just mine. I want to be in control of my own life, make my own choices without someone making them for me. I want you, and right now I really couldn’t give a shit about Romy, Archer, or anyone else who says they love me but are just using me. Is that clear enough for you?”

Declan sits back and looks at me. “Are you sure about this, Ivy? You have no idea how much I want to kiss you, but the last thing I want is for you to turn around later and say I was using you. I’ve learned from my mistakes. I don’t want to bethatguy.”

“Declan, right now, you’re about the only person I can trust. You seem to be the only person who doesn’t have a hidden agenda, except maybe to write good songs with me. And that’s not exactly hidden–we both want to be our best when it comes to music. So when I tell you I want you to kiss me, when I say I need you to hold me, I mean it. So will you quit jerking me around and kiss me already?”

My heart falls as Declan stands up and walks away. But then a huge grin spreads across my face as Declan turns the key in the door.

“If you’re serious, then I don’t want anyone to walk in and interrupt us,” he says. He crosses over to the sound system. Every music room has one so you could listen to set pieces to practice. He hits play and ironically Ravel’sBolero plays.

“How appropriate,” he smiles, loosening his tie and coming to sit next to me so that he is facing one way on the stool and I’m facing the other. “I always think the crescendo in this is vastly overrated when it comes to seduction…”

He leans forward to kiss me and for the first time in a long while I feel I am finally living in the moment without worrying about what else might happen. Romy couldn’t be upset about me kissing someone else. Our engagement is a business arrangement. Yes, I am attracted to him, but I am starting to see that I am really too young to settle down. I need to experience more of the world before I am ready to say that any one person is the right man for me to settle down with.

And the way Declan’s lips feel against mine tells me that I am right when I said I needed him to kiss me. I moan and lean into him, the physical reassurance of his body against mine telling me I deserve some happiness of my own.

Declan reaches up to brush the back of his hand against my cheek, running it down the front of my body to cup my breast. He squeezes lightly, running his thumb over my nipple. I arch my back, pushing up against him as I enjoy the way he caresses me. I can feel my pussy clench in anticipation of what is to come.

Declan continues to kiss me as he moves his hand away from my breast and down my body, squeezing and massaging my thigh before finding his way under my skirt. I open my legs to make it easier for him to touch me as he runs his hand over the outside of my panties before slipping inside them. He rubs at my clit, making me gasp.

“You’re so wet,” he murmurs.

“That’s the effect you have on me,” I say, moving to take my knickers off.

Sitting on the piano bench with no underwear is such a turn on. I love the idea that I am fully clothed, yet completely exposed, as Declan moves to slide his fingers inside me. I grab his shoulders, my fingers digging into his flesh as he starts to move. I throw my head back, losing myself in the sensation as he finds the perfect angle to hit my G spot with every touch. He finds the perfect rhythm to drive me wild, and I bite my lip to hold back my cries, not trusting that the music would cover the sound of my orgasm.

“Oh… my… God… Yes! Yes! Don’t stop!” I open my legs even wider as Declan continues to work his magic.

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