Page 48 of His to Protect

The kiss went on far too long, and ended much too soon.

I swallowed and opened my eyes to see Declan’s dark-brown eyes on mine. My gaze dropped to his lips as he licked them.

“I think I’m going to need more than that,” he said, lips stretching into that grin I’d been seeing all day. “But for now, you need your sleep.”

He reached around me, wrapped his hand around the doorknob, and pushed open my door.

“In you go, before I go back on my word and push you further than we should go tonight.”

My lips twitched, fighting a grin, and my fingertips pressed against my lips. I wanted to seal the taste of him into my skin.

I looked at him, opened my mouth to tell him that if he walked through that door with me, he wouldn’t be pushing me past anything I didn’t want to give him, but I changed my mind at the last moment.

The kiss was huge.

It changed everything.

If we decided to move forward, I wanted to ensure I wasn’t making another colossal mistake.

“Good night,” I whispered, shuffling past him into the room.

“I’ll bring Boomer up to you after I take him out.”

I nodded my thanks and peeled my eyes off him when he lingered a bit too long in the doorway, as if walking away from me was a physical weight he didn’t want to move.

“Good night, sweetheart,” he finally said, and stepped back, pulling the door closed.

I barely had enough energy to strip off my clothes and change into my pajamas before I collapsed on top of the bed. I fell asleep before I could rethink the most beautiful kiss I’d ever received.

When I woke up, Boomer was sleeping at the foot of my bed, and I was no longer on top of the covers, the way I was when I fell asleep, but tucked firmly under them, making it clear that even while I was sleeping, Declan wanted to take care of me.

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