THEIR DAY WORE on just as it had begun, like family. Felicity took the kids to the coffee shop downstairs, Wired – an internet café. Liam accompanied them as the muscle that kept them safe, though Lydia had a sneaking suspicion there was a tough girl underneath the cardigan and the dark framed glasses. City was a closet badass in hiding; Felicity was the sweet girl who kept Brother’s Keeper Security running with her cute nerdy librarian vibe.
When they returned, they played video games in the media room set up on Liam’s floor. He was the techy nerd of the bunch, so it made sense he had such a thing. Video games turned to crafts, crafts to movies and junk food. Jax was having the time of his life with his new friends.
Lydia’s heart was happy. They’d done well and had plenty of family and family-like friends in McKenzie Ridge, but something felt right about Portland, even if they couldn’t get out and explore at the moment.
Lydia was distracted from the book she was reading when an excited Jax came barreling in, asking to sleep over with City and Reagan.
“Mama, please? We’re staying up da whole night!”
“At the rate they’ve been going, I give them until 9:30,” City laughed.
“I don’t know, sweetheart. City might need a break to sleep – you’ve had her running all day.”
Liam sensed the reluctance in her voice – playing nearby was one thing – an entire night away from her son was an entirely different issue.
“Lyd, it’s safe here in the building. There’s no way anyone can get in – promise. Felicity…” he began, turning to City, making sure she caught the emphasis on her whole name, “has Reagan all the time; they’ll be fine.”
“I really don’t mind – I enjoy having them around – it’s fun. And if you just feel like he needs to come back in the middle of the night, or you want to check on him, so be it.”
Lydia looked to Declan, unsure how to answer. She wanted her little boy to enjoy his time in Portland, distracted by fun so he didn’t pick up on the danger surrounding them. But she also had a hard time trusting that they were invincible and untouchable in that building. He shrugged his shoulders, leaving the decision to her because he knew it was the only way she would be comfortable with it.
She couldn’t help smiling at a hopeful duo, both Jax and Reagan staring her down with cute smiles and batting eyelashes. “Go pack your jammies and something to wear when you wake up! And don’t forget your toothbrush!”
Lydia liked her simple life in McKenzie Ridge. It had been a drastic change from growing up in New York to living a pampered life in Miami but a welcome one. Sitting on Declan’s balcony, having just watched the sunset to the west and city lights of Portland wake the night life, she couldn’t help but feel at home.
Portland gave her that city life she missed but in simpler terms, something she could absolutely get used to – especially if Dec were part of the plan. How quickly her life had changed from one where she resisted the idea of him, to envisioning a life with him, in only a handful of days.
With the fire table in front of her turned on, her attention was directed to her right where Declan stood with a thick blanket over his shoulder and two mugs in hand.
“What are you out here thinking about?”
“Nothing…” she stalled, considering her answer, and it wasn’t entirely truthful. “Everything…”
“That isn’t confusing or anything,” He teased.
“I like it here,” She admitted, her gaze locked on the city lights and how they reflected off the river and its many bridges, linking east to west, for miles.
“Portland? Yeah, it’s a cool town, little bit of everything,” he shrugged.
“Yeah, but I mean here.” She waved her fingers around to indicate the space they were in. “Watermark, out here with you. It feels…safe. I’ve been able to relax for the first time since our first night running. I guess I didn’t realize that until we got here. Even when I thought I was safe, I didn’t really feel it, not like this.”
Declan pulled her closer so she was leaning with her back against his chest, and she pulled her legs up under her. “Nothing can get to us here. Nothing. That’s why I brought you here.”
“I know. To keep us safe, and you have,” she said while he kissed the top of her head. “I like your mom. I’m also a little afraid of her.”
He laughed. “As you should be. She likes it that way. Nah, she really liked you, too; I could tell. Jax was the one who really won her over though.”
“How do you know…that she liked me?”
“She didn’t call you scrawny and already expects you at Sunday dinners,” he laughed.
“Would you mind if Jax and I went?” she asked shyly.
“I already planned on taking you,” he insisted.
“Well, isn’t that presumptuous?” she teased.
“Didn’t you just say that you wanted to go?” He paused, waiting for her to answer. She nodded, and he finished. “So not very presumptuous on my part then.”
“Touché,” She conceded; he had her there. “And if Tom is still out there?”
Declan grunted, a sound she hadn’t heard in ages but one that brought a smile to her face, nonetheless. “It’s a few weeks away still – we’ll have him by then. And if not? God help him if he steps foot in Colleen O’Reilly’s Pub and interrupts her Sunday dinner.”
They both laughed at the idea – Lydia didn’t doubt that for a minute. Colleen O’Reilly was a force to be reckoned with; that was certain.
Taking a serious tone, he took the opportunity to tell her what he needed her to hear. He promised to repeat himself as often as needed, and this was one of those moments. “I told you I know what I want, especially after yesterday. You were only missing for a few minutes, and my heart sank. My life, without you in it…it’s not a whole life. I meant it when I said I’m not leaving again – this is it for me, Lydia.”
“I feel the same way…” She smiled, looking up to him, happy to accept the kiss he was offering.
“I knew you still wanted this…us.”
He pulled her up, and kissed her again, deeper this time, with more passion. The words he had been waiting to hear just fell on his ears, and he couldn’t be happier. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.
The emotion he felt was overwhelming, more than he imagined. It was like everything was suddenly falling into place. He had the girl, a family really, even a dog. It was one thing to dream about it, to dream about her, but to have it, right there in his hands…there were no words.
Despite the chilled air and the rain coming down, feeling her against his body, in his hands, her mouth to his…he was sweltering, the heat nearly unbearable.
When she turned her body to face him, she stalled to pull her shirt over her head before straddling him. A bold move, a sexy move. His hands drifted from her waist, slowly making their way up and down her sides. It was like time hadn’t passed, her feel so familiar he could almost taste her.
For the first time, Declan had a half-naked woman and didn’t know what to do with her. He was afraid to push too much, do too much too soon and ruin it all. What they had felt fragile in that moment. He needed her to show him this was what she wanted, too.
On cue, like she read his every thought, she reached behind her back, and unclasped her bra, letting it fall. When he didn’t move fast enough, she grabbed his hands and dragged them back up her body. Her head fell back when his palms held her full breasts…a feeling she had missed, a feeling she had craved.
When she lifted to her knees, trying to match his height, her breasts were at perfect height for his taking. It was the only invitation he needed. He wrapped his hands around her back and pulled her perfect breasts to his mouth where he licked, sucked and tweaked his fill.
She arched and moaned, driving him crazy, leaving him hard and hungry for more. She slid down him and rocked against him, her breath catching, her moans sharper. He laid her back, sitting at an angle. She braced herself on the love seat with one hand while he continued to suck and pull at her pebbled nipples, sliding his hand under her leggings and feeling her hot, wet core.
She cried out, the position awkward but the sensation intense. She missed him this way, wild and primal, having his way with her body, giving her pleasure like only he knew how. Her arm shook, the pleasure so overwhelming she couldn’t hold herself up anymore.
In an abrupt move, Declan put her on her feet and moved her against the balcony wall, the only light coming from the flames near the railing. It was hot, it was sensual, and it was sexy. A loud boom of thunder added the stormy music they were now moving to.
With his mouth on her neck, he kissed and sucked, moving further and further down, paying homage to each breast again, then her belly. He dragged her pants down as he went, and when her perfect sex came eye level, she took him to his knees, just as lightning struck over the water in the distance.
With a hand on each hip, he held her against the wall and finished his trail, his tongue leading the way. She stepped the rest of the way out of her pants, her legs wide, trying to get more of him. When she tried to move her leg, to give him more, he wouldn’t let her.
He was teasing her, taunting her, bringing her to the edge. The rain fell harder – the thunder roared – and lightning struck again. Her body quivered in need, and he held her still, wouldn’t let her move or rock against him. It was torture; it was hot.
Unable to hold out, he lifted her leg over his shoulder, opening her up to him. He continued to taunt and tease her tight bundle of nerves, when he finally found her opening and worked slowly. One, then two fingers, slow, then fast. Short strokes, then long. Building intensity with the storm falling around them.
He was trying to fill two years’ worth of need and desire into one night, and he couldn’t. He couldn’t get it all, couldn’t get enough.
He pulled her other leg over his shoulder, pinning her body to the wall after she slid to meet his face, while her legs hung from each shoulder, straddling him. As it rained harder, the heavy drops hitting the side of the building, they were almost within its reach. The sensation, the erotic position, it all overwhelmed her. She felt him so deep, the fire he set coursing throughout her body.
So exposed and so vulnerable, it left her wanton. While his fingers continued their rigorous movement, his mouth teased, and she rocked back, greedily trying to feel it deeper, harder, and faster. Like the thunder that rumbled and lightening that followed.
He felt her begin to tighten and took her to the edge, just as he wanted, but he was reluctant to let her have her release. He didn’t want to stop, and he wanted to be a part of the wave that was coming.
He pulled from her, his hands grabbing her waist in a quick movement so she wouldn’t fall. He stood between her legs, wrapping them around his waist, using the wall for leverage. His hard steely length rested against her.
Another familiar sensation. She rubbed herself against him, trying to take the ecstasy she wanted while inviting him inside her. The rain turned to hail, pelting against the building, masking her cries. She wanted him, all of him, fast and hard. So he did.
Plunging inside of her, he gave her all that she wanted. Feeling her hot slick body against his, her breasts rubbing against his chest, his arousal filling her tight body, he was consumed by every inch of her – she felt like home.
The rain came down harder, the hail in its mix. A massive roar in the clouds shook them as the sky lit around them, and they both fell over the edge of pure passion, riding the wave of ecstasy that they had missed.
Their love making had been as unpredictable and raw as the storm. It was provocative. It was sensual. It was full of passion. It was love.
Declan carried her back to the couch, never losing their connection, and pulled the blanket he brought outside over them. They laid connected, her head against his chest, listening to the sound of the heavy rain while the rumble and light of the storm moved on, leaving just the light of the fire dancing around them.
When their breathing steadied and a calm had set in – she began to move again. Where last time it was primal and vexing, this time would be sweet and sensual.