Page 57 of Declan's Dove

Violet gasps, but she doesn’t turn away. To my surprise, she lifts her head up and her lips crash against mine. She twists her body so she’s straddling me, and I let her take over. Whatever she needs from me, I’ll give her, and right now she needs to feel like she’s in control of something.

Her hands grip my hair, pulling me closer as our tongues explore each other. Tasting, sipping, nipping at one another. Her hips begin to move, grinding down on my now very hard cock. My hands find their way under the hem of my t-shirt she’s wearing, and I grip her hips intending to help her find that spot, looking to help her chase that release, but pause when I find she’s not wearing any panties.

I groan into her mouth. Violet whimpers in response.

Keeping one hand on her hip, I use the other to reach between her legs and find that sweet, heated heaven. She’s fucking soaked, and now my cock is weeping to be inside her. But not yet. This moment is about her.

I feel her body stiffen the moment my fingers caress her center, but I’m quick to move my other hand behind her neck and brace her to me. Breaking the kiss and leaning my forehead to hers, I watch as she closes her eyes, and see the moment her mind begins to spin.

“Don’t pull away from me, Violet. Look at me, baby.” I can feel the rise and fall of her chest. When her eyes finally meet mine, they’re still heated, but the vulnerability and fear I see staring back at me calls to something deep inside.

Caressing her cheek, I gently lean in and place a kiss on her forehead. “What are you afraid of, Dove? I can’t slay the demons if I don’t know what’s lurking in the dark.” She closes her eyes as I kiss her softly once more. “I do, however, know what I’m fighting for. Do you? My sweet Dove? Do you know what I’m fighting for?”

She shakes her head, and a softly whispered, “No” escapes from her lips. I smile down at her and kiss her nose.

“Us,” I tell her honestly. “I’m fighting like hell for us, baby. All of us. I want us to be a family. You, me, and Carter. You belong with me. You know that, don’t you?”

Violet shrugs her shoulders, tears still silently falling down her face.

“Tell me the truth. You want to be mine as much as I want you to be yours, don’t you baby?” Violet squeezes her eyes shut tight, then lets out a stuttered breath.

She nods her head, keeping her beautiful hazel eyes hidden away from me as she says, “I’m so scared of losing you. If I allow myself to have you, to believe we could be a family, he’ll find a way to take you away from me. To punish me for everything I’ve done. James takes everyone I love away.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Violet

Oh god. I just told him I love him.

Admitting those things aloud is both a burden and a relief. At least now he’ll know I wasn’t pushing him away because I didn’t want him.

When Declan’s arms hook around me, pulling me tightly into his chest, hugging me, I revel in the comfort.

“I need you to listen to me, Violet. You listening?” I nod against his chest. “No one is going to take me away from you, Dove. You got me? No one.” His tone is stern, but not angry. He’s not mad at me for rejecting what we could have, as he continues to declare his loyalty and claim on me and my son.

“Glad to hear you finally admit you love me.” He sounds so smug, and now I feel embarrassed because he’s never said he felt that way about me. He wants me. That’s clear, but they are not the same. “In case you weren’t sure, I love you, too. I think I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you and Carter together. You just called to me. Some place, deep down, I knew you two were meant to be mine.”

What James and I had wasn’t love.

My heart and my body are both screaming at me to take a chance on Declan, to give him what’s left of my torn and battered heart and just see what happens. Allow him to show me the pleasure I know only he can. Let him show me what it’s like to be wanted and desired, loved.

What’s the harm in letting him try? What if he can keep me and Carter safe?

Sitting up and pulling out of Declan’s embrace enough to see his gorgeous face and those piercing eyes staring back at me, I give him something I’ve longed to give him since the day he gave my son something so simple as a phone and as hoodie.

“I want to be yours. I-I want to try.”

The smile that spreads across his face could melt the panties off every woman within a ten-mile radius. He’s a handsome man to begin with, but when he smiles, the man is damn near lethal.

“I’m glad you’ve decided to come over to seeing my side of things, baby.” He leans down and whispers in my ear, “Saves me the time of having to tie you down and persuade you with my wicked tongue all night.”

My whole-body shivers as he leaves a trail of kisses down my neck. I’m pretty sure his jeans are soaked where my now dripping sex is sitting cradled against his long, hard cock.

“You like that idea, don’t you, Dove? Wish you could take back your answer so I’ll take you upstairs and devour every inch of you?” Declan’s teeth graze the spot behind my ear that turns my body into mush against him. He chuckles against my throat, his arms still banded around me, holding me to him with no hope of escape.

Yeah, because that’s what you want to do—escape. Right.

My inner voice and my body are in total agreement, and before I can overthink my decision, I grip the back of his hair and tug to get his attention. Declan lifts his head. The confusion on his face is only there momentarily, until I take his lips in a heated kiss and take what he’s offering me.

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