Page 114 of Starting Over

I licked the small bruise, then traveled further to her breasts. I fondled and kneaded the ripe flesh, catching the hard nubs between my teeth. I caressed each peak with my tongue, alternating back and forth as Maureen arched her back.

I could feel her building once more, when I abruptly pulled back, standing by the side of the bed.

Maureen’s eyes snapped open, and she gave me a look of contempt as she leaned up on her elbows.

“What the fuck, Declan?”

I couldn’t stop the chuckle, despite knowing it would piss her off more.

“It’s your fault, baby. I got so caught up in your sexy body I just realized I have too many clothes on to fuck you properly.”

Surprise washed over her, and she let her eyes travel over my body. Her expression switched from anger to lust as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, and I almost came undone.

“Well, hurry the fuck up,” she commanded.

She watched as I began to painstakingly slowly unbutton my shirt. She would learn she wasn’t in control.

Who the fuck are you trying to convince?

My inner voice was right.

I might want to make the rules and command how things are done. But Maureen had full control over my every thought and emotion.

She owned me.

And I couldn’t be happier.

Chapter Thirty

Maureen

Declan’s hands moved slowly over the buttons of his shirt. He was taking his time to torture me, and despite how eager I was to feel him inside me, I loved watching him undress.

When his shirt fell off his shoulders, he revealed his broad, muscular chest. For fifty years old, Declan was still every bit as fit as the younger guys in the club.

My eyes traveled over his finely sculpted muscles. My eyes fixated on his tattoos. One stood out. It was a large eagle covering one side of his chest. The eagle’s head had been inked onto his shoulder while the body spread out over his pecs. In its mouth, the eagle held an American flag that hung down his arm. It was designed in black and white, aside from the thin blue line that cut through the flag. A homage to his chosen profession.

That was when I realized I hadn’t thought about Declan being a cop. Not since Sal had been here. Hearing Sal speak to Blade the way he did, knowing his brother the cop was in the room, had me pausing.

Sal trusted Declan completely. Not because he was a corrupt cop, but because he was his brother. Declan wasn’t dirty. He was honorable and good. But his life wasn’t black and white. It couldn’t be. Not with the man he raised as his own, living a life on the wrong side of the law for so many years. Not with the older brother who he adored as a child, living the life he did.

“Hey, Reenie.”

I looked up at Declan. His belt and jeans hung open, his black boxers peeking out. His chest was bare as he watched me.

“Where did you go?”

I wasn’t sure how to explain it to him. How could I tell him I accepted his path in life in a way that let him know it would never come between us? My eyes watered at the thought. I had accepted Duane’s life because it was expected of me. It was all I’d ever known.

I was never given another choice. And while I loved Duane and lived a happy life with him, what I felt for Declan was so much more. Maybe because it was my choice. Duane may have led me here, but I made the choice to move.

Being in Nebraska these past few weeks. Getting to know the man that was once the boy I thought I loved had shown me a different side of myself. A side where I got to choose everything. The home I lived in, the people I surrounded myself with, the man I chose to love.

I didn’t have to decide on a person’s place in my life based on judgments and traditions that were instilled into me my whole life. I could choose to get to know that person’s character and decide if they fit.

“Reenie?”

The concern on his face had me up on my knees in an instant. Crawling to the edge of the bed, I leaned up and took his face in my hands.

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