Page 30 of MidKnight
I turned and lay on my stomach, letting the velvet coverlet brush my cheek. The soft scrape of the velvet hardened my nipples.
“I want you to take a deep breath. Tonight, you had a nightmare. And that might happen again for a while.” Declan said.
I took a deep breath and nodded into the blankets as Declan ran his fingers down my spine and back up again.
“Now, Peace. I’m going to give you a massage—”
I pushed my head up and turned toward him, “I thought we were playing Dom!”
Smack!He slapped my ass and then pinched the bottom of the curve, where my ass met my leg. It didn’t hurt, but it startled me.
Declan frowned and put his hands on my shoulders.
“We are playing Dom, darling. And I get to decide what to do to you.”
Declan pushed me gently back onto my stomach. Then he straddled me and leaned down, letting his chest brush my back, letting me feel his hardness through his pants. He rubbed himself lightly against my ass and let his lips caress my ear. His teeth played with my earlobe. “You chose Dom, Peace. Now I get to choose what happens next. You aren’t queen when we play Dom.” Declan’s hand traced down my sides. It slid over the curve of my breast, my hip. His fingers dug in briefly. “Now wait here while I get the oil.”
A minute later, the top of the bed moved as Declan climbed on behind me. “It’s just me,” he soothed softly. The bed bounced a little as he shuffled closer.
He wrapped a cloth around the shallow cut in my arm from my magic. Then he spoke. “I’m going to pour some oil on your back. It might be cold at first. But I’ll warm it with my hands. Your job is to stay still.”
When the first drops of oil hit, I couldn’t help my gasp, or the slight recoil of my body. But then I smelled roses and violets. Declan had gone and gotten scented oil. His hands fell onto my back and gently swirled the oil around.
I let my eyelids close. I told my pounding heart and throbbing pussy to relax. Declan was in charge. I didn’t have to worry about anything. What to say. What to do about Avia. I just had to lay here. I just had to stay still.
Gradually, as Declan kneaded my shoulders and moved down my spine, he said, “I want you to breathe with me, sweetheart.” And he started inhaling deeply. He held his breath a few seconds. Then he exhaled.
I took a deep, shuddering breath. At the same moment, Declan dug his fingers deep into my back, pulling the tension away from my spine and spreading it out over my ribs until his fingers lifted. Strangely, that movement seemed to pull the tension with it. As though he’d physically lifted the tension away from me.
“That,” I whispered. “Do that again.”
He smacked my rump. “You aren’t the boss right now, Peace.” But he did it again.
I grinned into the blanket. “I forgot.”
Declan’s mouth met my back and he whispered. “I’m gonna have to punish you for forgetting.” And then he sucked at my skin, hard. So hard he made a mark. He rolled me over. And he did the same on my chest, just above the swell of my breasts. He sucked my skin in.
“Are you giving me hickeys?” I breathed.
Declan smacked my hip as he released me. “I didn’t say you could talk,” he pretended to growl, but his eyes were sparkling with mischief. Declan was being playful and naughty.
“Quinn’s gonna kill you,” I whispered.
He shrugged. “I can take Quinn.”
“I can’t wait to watch that.”
Declan moved up the bed so he could spread out by my side, his front pressed against me, his head propped on one arm. “It looks like you’re feeling better.”
I nodded as I turned on my side and buried my face against Declan’s neck. “Tell me about it,” I said.
He knew exactly what I wanted. “My mother was always a perfectionist. Not that I saw much of her. The bastard’s nursery wasn’t a popular spot to visit—”
I growled and popped up out of my snuggle so I could grab his hand and drape it over me. “It should have been. You were her most adorable baby, by far.”
He gave a sad little grin and I imagined what he’d looked like, staring at the door of the nursery, waiting for his mother, Queen Diamoni. Always being disappointed.
I shook him slightly, determined to help lift his sadness after he’d helped me with my fear. “You forget, I’ve met your brothers. They’re basically blond-colored bears.”
