Page 93 of His to Protect

His lips hit mine powerfully and I sucked in a breath. He stole the rest of my words from me when his tongue slid inside my mouth.

His hands clamped around the sides of my neck, pressing me against him.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled, breaking the kiss and leaving me panting for more.

“But—”

“But nothing. You think I’m going to let the woman I love walk away from me after everything that happened today? You’re nuts.”

I blinked rapidly and my lips parted. “What?”

Declan smirked. “You heard me. You think I’m letting the woman I love walk away? No way in fucking hell.”

“Um.”

“I love you, Trina.”

I swallowed and blinked again. This wasn’t happening. I was too stunned to speak. Did he really just say that?

He tilted his head to the side and his smirk turned into a grin. “Anything you want to say back?”

“I—” I had nothing. No words. Nada. Zilch.

“Right.” Declan nodded and leaned forward to push a button on the side of my bed. “Then we’re getting you out of here. I’m taking you home and I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“What happened to giving me time to figure out me?” I asked stupidly.

“That was before you almost got shot, before I saw a gun pressed to your temple, and I faced the idea of losing you. Never gonna happen. You’re not moving into Blue’s pad, you’re moving into mine, and with that asshole out of the picture, we’re free to move on and do our thing, together.”

“This is a lot to process, Declan.”

Not the least of which was that he loved me.

Because I’d already figured out that I was in love with him. I figured it happened the first morning I woke up in his house and he’d let me sleep in, and took care of Boomer. But saying it now wasn’t right.

Not after today. It had to be his adrenaline making him crazy.

“I know it is.” He cupped my neck and pulled me closer to him, sliding his lips across mine before he shifted me off his lap and back to the bed. “But I’ll help you through it, every step of the way. And then I’m going to take you home and make love to you fiercely until you’re screaming out that you love me, too. I already know you do. You told me.”

I did?

I didn’t remember, but as I saw him grin when my lips twisted, I knew I had.

I blinked again. My eyes must have been malfunctioning. Or my brain, because I again opened my mouth and stupidly said, “That’s um…well, that’s a lot of pressure.”

His lips twitched and he laughed softly. “Nothing to worry about. But I plan on reminding you what you mouthed to me on the sidewalk. And I plan on doing that in my bed, with you beneath me. Or maybe I’ll let you do all the work.”

—

“Declan,” I called out while my orgasm was still rolling through me. Tonight I was learning that Declan was a liar, at least he was when it came to me doing all the work. Because while it may have started with him lying on his back in his bed, he quickly grabbed my hips, pulled me off him, and settled me right on his face. He’d already given me one orgasm, but the second one had my entire body shaking and shivering from his unrelenting touch.

“Say it, Trina,” he taunted, and went back to tasting me.

My palms pressed against the wall above his headboard and my head fell back. “Fine!” I shouted. “I love you!”

His tongue slid through my wetness and his fingers dug into my waist when I tried to move away from him.

His deep laughter rumbled before he began pressing kisses against my inner thighs.

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