Page 47 of Possession

He drew a line with his finger along the left side of his chest just along his heart line. “This is where I can hear your heartbeat the loudest.”

The butterflies in my stomach tipped and twirled until they escaped and fluttered in my chest. “When?”

His eyes were crystalline and his smile… it was endless. “Now, whenever you want.” The excitement in his voice mirrored my own.

“Maybe next week? I can request off a few days to heal?”

“It heals pretty quick, but—”

“Can I wear a bra after?”

He chuckled. “Probably not for twenty-four hours.”

“Then next week it is, I’ll see if Luca will trade with me.” I hopped off the table and wiped my hands down my jeans.

“You’re serious?” he asked and I nodded. He lifted his hand to my cheek and let the pad of his thumb trail along my jaw. “I can’t wait.”

I wanted him to mark my flesh with ink, make the false purity I’d clung to for so long vanish. I wanted to be bonded to him, his handwriting permanently on my skin, a constant reminder that Iwasalive… that this heart still beats, and it belonged to Declan.

Declan introduced me to a few more staff members. Each a carbon copy of the other. Male, muscles, tattoos. There was one female, Ronnie. She was tall, and thin with china white skin and red lips. She was like a Gothic supermodel with black hair and perfect curves, and when she’d shaken my hand with disinterest, I’d felt mousy, at best. The wind had been removed from my sails as Declan walked me out to my car.

“She’s a lesbian.” Declan’s voice was filled with mirth.

I exhaled and turned to face him leaning against the driver side door. “She is?”

“Yes.”

I bit my bottom lip and his eyes fell to my mouth.

“I’m glad.” The two words slipped out as Declan closed the space between us.

He framed my face with his palms, his eyes still on my mouth and mine on his as his thumb pulled across my bottom lip.

“You don’t ever have to worry about that shit with me, Paige, you never did, and you never will.” He leaned in and I could smell the mint on his breath.

I licked my lips. “I don’t?”

He exhaled and the warmth of it intoxicated me. “No.”

He covered my mouth with his. His lips eager. I leaned my head back and parted my lips for him. His tongue was sweet and soft, and the feel of him, his body pressing me into the metal of my car, I was putty. Free for him to shape and form at his own will. My hands wrapped around his neck, drawing him closer, and the tips of my fingers slid into his hairline. This kiss could have lasted for minutes, hours… days. The sun could have set and risen, the world could have stopped, and we would’ve never noticed. The wet heat of his mouth on mine, my hands in his hair, his powerful form aligned along my body, each feeling took everything we’d been through and wound it around our limbs in sighs and shadow. The loneliness, the regret, the pain, it weaved through each breath, each taste, and made us one again. One in past, in present, and in love.

Declan softly bit my bottom lip before he broke away. I licked my lips, still desperate for his taste as he leaned back to look at me. His hands still held my face as he said a little breathless, “When can I see you again?”

Now, tonight, tomorrow, every day, every night, I didn’t want to miss another minute of him. “I have to have dinner tonight with Lana, I promised her, but I live with her, I could—”

“It’s okay.” He kissed my forehead just at the bridge of my nose, just like he used to. “I’m booked late with appointments all week. Do you work tomorrow?”

I nodded.

“I’ll see you then, I’m coming by to pick up my painting. I’m going to frame it this weekend. If you want I could frame yours, too?”

I was still rusty and I wasn’t sure my painting deserved a frame. “I’d like to take it home, work on it some more.”

He took a step back and nodded as I reached into my bag for my keys. I hit the unlock button and the car alarm chirped. He opened the door for me and assured me he’d text me later. As I pulled away with the sting of his kiss still on my lips, and his eyes on mine through my rearview window, a shiver of loss skittered along my spine.

I’d been a trophy, placed on the shelf for display, no one cared that my shine had been dulled by years of dust. No one, not until Declan.

The boy I’d ruined had become the man to save me from my oblivion.

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