Page 64 of Cruel Ice

He started to pull back.

She squeezed him even harder.

“Marley…” Declan withdrew.

“Come in me. I want you,in me.”

He slammed deep again. Savagery covered his face. He withdrew. Drove into her. Withdrew, drove and?—

He pulled out of her.

“No!” Marley cried. She’d wanted to feel him inside her when he came.

And…

He shuddered against her. Snarled her name. She felt something wet on her inner thigh.

“Fucking coming on you,” he rasped. “Wanted to beinyou. Fuck, yes, but I didn’t have a rubber. Might have already been too late. Sonofabitch, what am I going to do with you?”

What an odd question. “Keep me, of course.” She wrapped her arms around his neck as a languid tiredness crept through her body. “What else would you do?”

He blinked. Stared at her as if he’d just?—

“Yes.” Soft. “What else would I do?” Declan straightened his clothes. Pulled down her dress.

She frowned at the stickiness on her skin. But then he was sweeping her into his arms and carrying her up the stairs. And she just settled against him. “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.” Her soft confession. He wasn’t the only one who would give up secrets. She’d share hers with him, too.

He hesitated. “Marley.” Deep. Dark. Rumbly. “I’m carrying you up the stairs right now. How about you don’t say things that might cause me to stumble and drop you?”

“You wouldn’t drop me.” Her eyes closed. “I trust you.”

Silence. But he was moving again. Going up the stairs. Holding her tightly, but tenderly. “Yes, I can see that.”

He strode forward. They must have reached the landing and were headed to the bedroom. She forced her eyes to open even when she really just wanted to sleep. Apparently, a whole lot of good orgasms in one night could wreck a woman. Who knew?

Me. I know now.

But this was important. She needed to ask him a big question. “I trust you,” she said again. “Do you trust me?”

He entered the bedroom. Not the room she’d been using. A bigger, darker room. Heavy furniture. Lots of books on overflowing shelves. A laptop on a desk to the side. His room.

He put her in the bed. Stripped her. Stripped himself. Got a soft, wet cloth and carefully wiped her body. Then crawled in bed beside her. He pulled her against him, and it felt right to be there in his arms. Warm and safe.

And it was only as she drifted to sleep that Marley realized Declan hadn’t answered her question. But maybe his silence was the answer.

He didn’t trust her.

Was there anyone in the world that hedidtrust?

Chapter Fifteen

“You’re making a mistake.”

It was after two a.m. Declan had never been one to sleep easily. Marley was in his bed. Curled up. The dream he hadn’t even realized that he wanted. And he should be with her. But her words had haunted him.

Do you trust me?

He hadn’t told her everything about himself. But he wanted to.

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