Page 70 of Cruel Ice

He jerked. “Marley, I—” Declan let her go. He backed up. Went to his knees on the bed. “I tried to warn you that I?—”

She shot upright. Her arms flew around him. Her body collided with his as she held him as tightly as she could. “I’m sorry.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek. To the scar that marked him. “I’m so sorry you were trapped alone with him for so long. I’m so sorry he hurt you.” Another kiss. “I’m sorry I didn’t know you back then because I would have helped you.”

His hands brushed her shoulders. “Marley?”

Another kiss on his cheek. Then her hands rose to press on either side of his face. “Declan Flynn, you saved yourself. You protected yourself. Do not feel guilty for what you did. Do not try and pretend you’re some big evil killer. You are not. I won’t believe it. Not you.” This time, she kissed him on the lips. Soft and sweet. There had not been enough softness in his life. She was certain of this. “I would have helped you,” she said again.

I would have driven the knife into him myself.And she never, ever would have believed that thought would race through her head. But the idea of someone hurting Declan…

When I saw the pictures of sixteen-year-old Declan, I wanted to kill his father.

Declan shook his head. “Marley…” The faint click of his swallow. “You don’t know the things I’ve done since then.”

“I don’t see a monster when I look at you, Declan. I don’t.”

“What do you see?”

“The man I want.”

This time, his mouth took hers.

Chapter Sixteen

She shouldn’t want him.

She shouldn’t hold him. Comfort him. Touch him. Shouldn’t offer him the sweetest hope that he’d ever had in his entire life. Because when she did those things, she just sealed her fate all the more.

Oh, who the fuck was he kidding? Her fate had been sealed for some time. Ever since she came back for him in that basement. Or maybe when he’d opened his eyes in that hospital room, and Marley had still been there, holding his hand.

“You’re marrying me,” he said against her mouth. That delectable mouth. The mouth that kissed his scars and told him that she would have helped him destroy his father.

No one else had ever tried to stop Conor Flynn. But Declan actually believed that a teenage Marley would have.

Though his father probably would have just hurt her.

A growl built in his throat.

And I would have just killed him quicker. No one will ever hurt my Marley again in this world.

“Is this the cover story again?” Marley’s breathless voice asked as she pulled back. “You really want to talk about the cover…now? Because Declan, I want to take your pain away.”

His own breath froze in his chest.

“I want to give you pleasure and no more pain. I want us both to have pleasure. Make love to me, Declan. Right now.”

Like he had to be told twice to do it. His tongue slid past her lips. Tasted the sweetness that he craved. She’d risen in the bed to hold him. But now she shifted positions as they kissed. Her legs wrapped around him. Her hands tightened behind his head.

His eager dick shoved toward her. He’d stripped off his t-shirt but kept on the jogging pants when he climbed into the bed with her. The worn material did little to disguise his need for her. Still, the pants were definitely in the way. They needed to go. She was rocking her hips and riding against him. When he’d been gone from the room, she’d changed at some point. Put on one of his shirts. He could feel the softness against him even though the darkness in the bedroom made it impossible for him to actuallyseewhich shirt she’d picked.

The material was oversized on her. It carried the faintest hint of his cologne.

I want Marley carrying my scent.He wanted to mark her. To put a ring on her finger. To bind her to him so that the entire world would know?—

What? That one person out of eight billion doesn’t think you’re the devil incarnate?

He tumbled her back on the bed. Kept kissing her.

No, I want the world to know that this angel wants me. Loves me.

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