Page 76 of His to Protect

At our hips, Boomer whined, and I shushed him.

“What is it?”

I swallowed thickly, feeling the words, the full shame of my past lodge inside my throat. Before I lost the courage, I spoke, told him something I’d been thinking about since Chicago. “I quit wanting my husband just a few weeks after we returned from my honeymoon. But that doesn’t mean he stopped wanting me.” Declan growled as he began to understand my words, but I pressed on. “I didn’t tell him no, ever, because that would have been worse.”

“Are you telling me your husband raped you?” he said, growling again. I felt the fury beginning to build inside of him, felt his rage sparking heat in the air between us.

I wasn’t afraid of him, though.

Because Declan wouldn’t hurt me.

“I’m saying that I did my wifely duty when it was required of me and it wasn’t all bad, it just wasn’t all enjoyable either, and it certainly was never something I wanted. But last week in Chicago…” I breathed in a ragged breath and forced myself to blink. “I wanted that. I wanted you and I haven’t wanted anything—anyone—in a really long time, so thank you for giving that to me. If it was just a one-time thing, I guess…I just need you to know how much I enjoyed it.”

Declan’s fingers on my waist dug in, and my hand on his chest felt his harsh, deep breaths through the warmth of his shirt.

His lips twitched and a muscle jumped in his cheek.

“I haven’t wanted to push you,” he finally admitted. “That morning was intense for both of us, and you still have a lot on your mind. I told you that we’d go at your pace, explore this in a way that’s good for you.”

My lips fought a smile and lost. “I’d like for our pace to move a bit faster.”

His lips mirrored mine and then he looked over at Boomer, whining at the back door.

“I’m going to let the dog out.” He took a step back, not taking his eyes off me. For a brief moment, I wondered if I’d flubbed this, if telling him about Kevin and our sex life was being too honest, if telling him that I wanted to have sex with him again was being too forward, too blunt.

My questions were erased when he said, “I’ll take care of Boomer. I want you to go get ready for bed. And when you’re done doing that, I want you to end up in my bed. You want to move forward, we’ll move forward.”

Nerves ignited in my stomach.

The best kind of nerves.

“You want me, Trina?”

I could only nod.

Declan flashed me a salacious grin. “Then be a good girl and do what I’m telling you.”

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