Page 55 of The Tides Between Us

GIANA

People were moving in all different directions around the airport, but as I walked to where the baggage claim was, I only had one person in my sight. Declan was standing to the left of the automatic doors that led outside. His hands were tucked into the front pockets of his shorts and his tousled hair was pushed away from his face. He stood there waiting for me and when his gaze collided with mine through the crowd, I watched his lips lift upward, breaking out into a bright grin.

My footsteps hurried, carrying me closer to him. I couldn’t help myself as I broke out into a jog, pushing past people as I made my way to him. Declan began to stride across the short distance and we met in the middle of a group of people. His eyes were shining under the fluorescent lights and he lifted me into the air.

My arms were linked around the back of his neck and my legs wrapped around his waist. Declan's hands cupped my bottom and I looked down at him after hugging him tightly. His muscles were taut and I missed the way he felt. Closing my eyes, I inhaled his scent deeply, feeling it snake itself around my soul. He smelled like sunshine and the ocean.

I missed him so much, it almost hurt to feel him this close.

Sliding my hands around to cup the sides of his face, my mouth crashed against his. I could taste the sea on his lips and he inhaled me as his tongue slid against the seam of my lips. There was a tenderness in the way he kissed me, but it was consuming. It was filled with a deep longing need. Our surroundings ceased to exist. No one mattered except for the two of us right now.

Someone bumped into us, unsettling Declan’s balance. A growl vibrated in his chest and he broke apart from me, carefully setting me on my feet before pressing his lips against my forehead. There was almost a part of me that couldn’t believe this was real life. I couldn’t help the feelings I had of uncertainty, like maybe we wouldn’t meet again as we had both agreed.

But here he was, standing right in front of me in the flesh. My hand found his, almost in a panic. He looked down at me and the damp tips of his hair brushed across his eyebrows. A wave of guilt passed through me. I was supposed to fly in late last night so I could watch him surf this morning, but I couldn’t find a flight until today. He came straight to the airport after he was finished with his competition.

“I’m so glad you’re here, princess,” he said as he dropped my hand and signed the words. I smiled, not only at his words, but at the way his hands moved with swift precision. The fact that he learned ASL for me still shook me to my core. It was the greatest gift he could have given me. He had it set in his mind to master the language and seeing how far he had come with it filled me to the brim with pride.

“There isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be,”I signed back to him as my smile matched his.

He slid his hand back into mine and we went over and grabbed my bag as it made its way around the baggage carousel. Declan carried it out to his Jeep that was almost identical to the one he had at his brother’s house. After loading it into the trunk and helping me in, he dropped down into his seat behind the steering wheel and whipped the vehicle away from the airport.

We drove through the city before ending up on the outskirts of a small town. It was along the coast and Declan drove down a winding road before pulling up in front of a small house that overlooked the ocean. I turned to look at him and he gave me a small smile as he put the car in park. “This is where I live.”

I climbed out of the car and stared at the beautiful cottage-like house with the sprawling ocean behind it. It was a breathtaking view and I was lost in the awe of its beauty. As I watched the waves crash against the shore, I noted the Atlantic almost seemed calm in comparison to the way the waves broke here.

Declan stepped up beside me, holding my suitcase in one hand. He looked over to me and my eyes met his. I missed the way the honey shimmered in the brown hues of his irises.

“It’s absolutely beautiful here.”

He stared at me for a moment, his expression unreadable. “It is, but there’s something missing.”

I tilted my head to the side as my eyes gazed into his.“What could possibly be missing here?”

“You.”

I swallowed roughly over the lump that lodged itself in my throat. I was rendered speechless by one simple word. Declan slid his hand into mine, once again, and pulled me along with him as he led me inside his small house. It was almost like an optical illusion when we stepped inside. Everything was open, one room flowing into the other. It was clean and mostly bare except for a few paintings of the ocean hanging on the wall.

It was soft, minimalistic, and simple. Just like Declan. He was a man of few needs. I appreciated his simplicity and the fact that he just existed without putting too much stress on himself with the expectations of life.

He gave me the tour of his place and set my bag down on the floor in his bedroom, which made my heart do a little pitter-patter inside my chest. Rather than leading me back through the rest of the house, he turned to face me, his hands finding my hips before dragging my body flush against his.

Lifting one hand, he slid his palm along the side of my neck before pushing his fingers through my hair to grip the back of my head. He tilted it backward as his face dipped down to mine. His lips collided with my own and he stole the air from my lungs as he kissed me deeply. It was a kiss filled with need and urgency. It felt like a century had passed since the last time we were intimate. I craved his touch as if it were the last drop of water left on the planet.

With perfect precision and rushed movements, Declan stripped me bare, leaving both of our clothing on the floor before he lowered me down onto the mattress. Following along with me, he crawled across my body on the bed, settling between my legs. His hands were in my hair before trailing across every inch of my body. His lips were melting against mine and he shifted his hips as he slowly slid into me.

It was slow and torturous in the sweetest possible way. I stretched around him, moaning into his mouth as I accommodated the length and girth of his cock. Lifting my legs, I wrapped them around his waist as he began to thrust his hips, sliding in and out of me slowly. The urgency had dissipated and instead, he was taking his time.

No words were needed between us. We were lost in the moment, lost in one another. Our other senses took precedence. Touch, smell, taste, and sight. It was amazing how when you were lacking in one sense, the others were that much more heightened. I shivered under his touch as he slid his tongue along the column of my throat before trailing kisses along my flesh.

He smelled like the salt from the ocean and I inhaled deeply, reveling in his touch as he trailed his fingers beneath my breasts. He circled them around my nipples, his lips still moving along my throat and under my jaw. As I opened my eyes, I watched the way the muscles in his shoulders rippled as he braced himself and began to thrust harder into me.

His lips found mine once more. He tasted like a mixture of mint and sunshine. My tongue slid against his, soft like silk, and we were tangled together, melting into one. Sex with Declan was one of the most intimate experiences of my life. He poured his love directly into my soul and I absorbed every last drop of it. I trusted him with every fiber of my being. If there was one person that would never hurt me, it was this man.

Declan breathed against my lips, his breathing growing more shallow and ragged as he rocked into me harder. His lips left mine and he abruptly slowed his thrusts as he stared down into the depths of my soul. I was lost in the swirling golden hues of his irises.

“I love you,” he whispered the words into my heart.

My breath caught in my throat. “I love you.”

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