Down and Out

I do not miss Declan. I do not miss Declan. . .
I repeat this over and over in my head while I flit about the gym and wipe down machines. It’s been a slow day, and there’s really not much else to do besides the never-ending pile of towels, but even that leaves me with a bit of downtime in-between loads. I’m trying everything I can to keep busy, so I don’t have to focus on what my mind seems to be stuck on: Declan.
What’s he doing? Does he miss me? Is he upstairs thinking about me right this very second?
Biting my lip, I stifle a groan.
I’m so not this kind of girl. I don’t obsess over guys, and I certainly don’t sit around wondering if they miss me. I have better things to do than worry about pointless shit like that.
Like cleaning the windows in the lobby. They looked kinda dingy. . .
Pursing my lips, I fiddle with the rag in my hand, then start for the back of the gym and the laundry room, where all the cleaning supplies are kept. Yes, it’s busy work, and yes, I’m mostly trying to find a way to keep my mind off a certain inked fighter who’s suddenly taken up residence in my brain, but so what? Maybe the fumes can kill off some of these damn brain cells of mine that seem to have gotten infected with Declanitis.
As I round the corner, I run into a sweaty, bare chest that’s about as forgiving as a brick wall. I stumble back, barely registering the water bottle slipping from his hands as they shoot out and steady me. My wide eyes meet Mike’s equally surprised face as he keeps me from greeting the concrete floor with my ass.
Then water splashes my legs, making me jump back.
“Shit.” His water bottle’s slowly bleeding out all over the floor, and as I bend down to pick it up, Mike does too. Our heads collide with a hollow-sounding thunk, and I wince, holding the spot that immediately flares with pain. “Ow.”
Mike laughs and grabs his nearly empty bottle, then squints one eye closed as he rubs the corner of his forehead. “Sorry.”
I shake my head, his comical expression making me smile despite the little birdies flying ’round my head. “It’s my fault. I wasn’t paying attention.”
He switches the dripping wet water bottle to his other hand, then wipes his free hand along his black basketball shorts. His low-slung shorts, that sit below what many would call an impressive six-pack.
All I can think is: Declan’s abs are better.
I blink at the unbidden thought, and my brain finally decides to get with the program. “Oh, God, sorry. Let me get you a towel.” Duh.
Unsticking my feet from their spot, I move around him and continue down the hallway. I hang a left into the laundry room and throw open the dryer door, stopping the machine mid-cycle. Hopefully the towels are dry enough. I grab one and toss it to Mike, who’s followed me inside.
“Thanks,” he says, drying off his bottle, then his shins.
I grab one for myself and dry off my legs. “Really, Mike, I’m sorry. I should’ve been watching where I was going.” The towels I’d grabbed are dry, so I pull out half the load and dump it on the folding table.
“I knocked you in the head, so if anything, I think I owe you an apology.” He runs a hand through his sweaty, dirty blond hair, smiling ruefully.
A smile plays with my lips as I begin folding towels. “I’m listening.”
Mike steps closer, his mouth curving into a friendly—if a little flirty—grin. “Well, it just so happens, I do my best apologizing over dinner.”
Oh. Uh. . .
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.
As my brows pull tight, he says, “Sorry if that’s a little forward, but I’d be lying if I said I came here every day on my lunch break just to work out.” He looks a little sheepish as he admits this, and I’m at a total loss as to what to say.
I just assumed Mike was one of the gym’s “regulars.” We have several die-hard clients who come in every single day. Now that I know he has an ulterior motive, I’m . . . stumped.
Not at what my answer will be, just how to phrase it.
A throat clearing in the doorway has me jerking my head around and meeting Declan’s ice cold stare. His hard eyes flick over to Mike, lingering there as he bites out, “A word, Savannah.”
Shit. For once this is exactly what it looks like, although in my defense, I didn’t ask for it.
Mike swings his gaze back to me, seemingly unaffected by the towering, hulking man in the doorway who has murder written on his face and tension rolling off him in waves. Mike’s either got a huge set of balls, or he’s completely oblivious to his impending death. Lowering his voice, he says, “Think about it, okay?”
I can feel Declan’s stare burning a hole into me as I nod stiffly at Mike, forcing a polite smile that just comes off as tight-lipped.
He slowly backs away and walks over to Declan, who’s blocking the doorway. After a second of staring him down with a silent warning etched onto his face, Declan moves aside so Mike can leave.
As soon as he’s cleared the doorway, Declan slams the door behind him, shutting us in the laundry room. My heart’s stuck in my throat and I try to swallow it down, but it won’t budge.
“The f*ck was he doing back here? Besides hitting on you, I mean.” Declan crosses his arms. The movement makes me glance down at all the tense muscle underneath his tats. It’s preferable to looking him in the face right now, because then I’d have to see the lethal glare directed my way.
I didn’t do anything wrong, damn it.
My mouth sets into a thin line as I grab the rest of the towels from the dryer and dump them on the table. “I bumped into him as I was coming back here to grab cleaning supplies and knocked his water bottle out of his hands. I was just getting him something to wipe it up with.”
“Why didn’t you tell him no?” The deceptively quiet question sends shivers up my spine, because I hear the barely restrained wrath lurking beneath its surface. Declan’s so pissed I think they might have to invent a new word for it.
I swallow, suddenly unable to think, and risk a glance at him. “What?”
His jaw clenches as his eyes burn into me. His gaze is hard, but not cold. There’s a subtle . . . heat burning in those green eyes as he grinds out, “When he asked you to dinner, you didn’t say no.”
Geez, exactly how long was he standing there watching me? And did he not listen to me at all when I told him he’s the only exception to my new rule of no men? Does he think I’m just going to let every guy into my pants now because I let him in?
The floodgates have not been opened. There’s no goddamn free-for-all that’s going to take place, thank you very much, and if he doesn’t watch it, I’ll stick his ass back on the “rule” side with everyone else.
I yank a towel off the table, glaring at him as I begin folding it. “I didn’t say ‘yes’ either.”
Agitated, he shakes his head. “You should’ve said no. Right off the bat, it should’ve been a ‘no.’” Crossing over to me, he snatches the towel out of my hand and haphazardly tosses it onto the table. Before I can snap at him for being rude, he says, “I won’t share you, Savannah. I won’t.”
My mouth falls open as I stare up at his looming presence, ire quickly burning through me. “Share me? I’m not some f*cking chew toy, you dog! You can’t just piss a circle around me and expect it to keep everyone away.”
Declan moves forward until my butt’s pressed against the edge of the table. His hands rest on the lip of the cold steel as he leans in, making me bend back to keep what little space remains between us.
That space is vital. It’s the difference between keeping my head or doing something incredibly stupid, like kissing him and rubbing myself all over that fine body of his.
His gaze is completely unflinching. “You’re mine. Make no mistake of that, Kitten.”
“You don’t own me.” I’m glad my voice comes out so steady, because I feel anything but. The heat of his stare is seriously starting to melt my panties.
“Your body says differently,” he murmurs. The rough cadence sends chills through me, making my skin prick and my nipples harden. Reaching up, he plays with the ends of my hair, twirling a curl around his finger. “Whose name do you moan when you come?”
“God’s,” I retort, swatting his hand away.
He glowers at me. “It’s my name you say, baby girl, don’t even try to lie.”
Anger sizzles in me, but there’s something else burning just behind it.
Fear.
Declan expects me to be . . . monogamous? I haven’t let myself think that far ahead, and to be honest, I’m a little out of my depth. An ongoing sexual relationship is not something I’ve ever really experienced. I’m the queen of one-night-stands and drunken mistakes, so monogamy hasn’t really crossed my mind. Now that it has, I’m kind of freaking out.
Any way you slice it, monogamy equals relationship.
“Shove it,” I say, gritting my teeth as I stoke the anger inside me, trying to get it to singe up my fears until they’re nothing but dust.
“Open your mouth and I will, Kitten. Gladly. I’ll do damn near anything to get you to shut your friggin’ trap right now, because you’re pissing me the f*ck off.”
My glare matches his for several long seconds before I drop my eyes to his black and white skull t-shirt. I know it’s some kind of band logo, but I can’t place it. The thought’s lost as my eyes roam up the cage of skin and ink surrounding me. I want to run my fingers over every inch of his tattoos, until I memorize every curve, color, and letter.
Will I admit any of that to him? Hell no.
Jutting my chin out, I say, “What if I say ‘yes’ to Mike, hmm? What then? Are you gonna be able to walk away from me?” I won’t, but it’s not because of this little tantrum he’s throwing right now. It’s because Mike doesn’t appeal to me nearly as much as Declan does.
Hell, Mike doesn’t even register compared to Declan. But again, I’m not about to tell him that.
His head’s big enough as it is.
Plus, I kind of just want to see what he says.
To my surprise, his mouth curls up in a crooked grin. “Probably not, but Mike’s not gonna be able to walk away from you either after I break his legs.”
I roll my eyes and push back on his chest. He doesn’t even budge a millimeter.
“Your ass is mine, Kitten, whether you like it or not. And if you’re not ready to admit it right now, well that’s fine, but just you wait and see.”
He leans in, leisurely brushing his nose along my jaw before kissing the sensitive area of skin just under my ear. My breath dies in my throat as my eyes slide shut, fireworks erupting behind my tightly squeezed lids. It takes every available neuron in my brain that hasn’t exploded into orgasmic death to remain still, when all I want to do is lean into him and rub my cheek against his like I’m some cat in heat.
That resolve weakens when his tongue flicks out and teases my earlobe before his hot mouth envelops it. Tingles erupt in all the right places, my knees going weak. His teeth nips at my ear as his stubble grazes my cheek, and I squeeze my eyes shut tighter, imagining that wicked tongue and rough stubble between my thighs as I ride that pretty face of his.
His voice is low and his breath’s hot on my skin as he murmurs, “I’m gonna f*ck you so good, so thorough, that you’re never gonna let anyone else inside you. You know why?”
Quivering, I somehow manage to shake my head.
His lips brush the shell of my ear. “Because no one will ever be able to make you come as hard as I can.” He places the softest kiss on my jaw and pulls back, his eyes a darker green as they sear into me. Reaching up, he brushes a lock of hair away from my face and simply says, “I will ruin you.”
It isn’t a threat, it’s a delicious promise that has me clenching in anticipation, and I have no doubt that he will, in every sense of the word, ruin me.
Good God, if he can talk like this out of the bedroom. . .
I swallow, my eyes dipping down to that menacing skull on his shirt before snaking up his tattooed skin, back to his hooded eyes. “And if I asked to be your one and only in return?”
A slow smile parts his lips. “You don’t have to ask me anything, Kitten. Your legs are the only ones I want between.”
Jesus, I’m gonna have to take a cold shower after this.
I fight the urge to fan myself and instead focus on not turning into a big pile of goo. It doesn’t escape me that he merely whispered a couple words into my ear and gave me a few—relatively—chaste kisses, and here I am, about to go into nuclear meltdown.
I’m not even sure I want to know what he can do with his hips and the proper use of his tongue. My poor body probably couldn’t handle it.
Declan’s fingers trail up the inside of my thigh, making my core clench tight as I swallow. “So are you gonna let me between them?” His lips graze mine as he says, “I think I need to remind you who you belong to.”
My mouth parts, but I’m not sure if it’s because of his latest asinine comment, or because he’s just cupped my sex over my shorts. Both have left me speechless, apparently.
He continues to rub me through the denim as my insides tighten to an almost painful degree. I struggle to think of something to say, but all I can manage is air. It sounds like, “Pffft.”
Declan slips his hand inside my shorts, straight into my panties and my wetness. This only makes his mouth hitch into a cocky grin as he rubs circles over my *, and my damn traitorous hands fist his shirt by his sides as my stupid breath catches.
“Your body sure reacts like it’s mine.” His hair brushes my forehead as his tongue teases my lower lip. I can’t help but meet it with my own, and as soon as I do, it’s like a bolt of electricity zaps through us.
Declan groans and seals his lips over mine. They’re the perfect amount of firmness and softness, and as our mouths begin a sinful game of tug of war, he takes his hand out of my shorts and lifts me up onto the edge of the table.
My hands snake into his hair as his mouth devours me, pushing and pulling with masterful caresses of his tongue and skillful sweeps of his lips that shoves all thought out the window and leaves me with nothing but desire and instinct.
I’ve never been kissed like this. It’s one for the record books—an end-all, be-all kiss that obliterates all those that came before it and ensures that none will ever live up to it.
I’m absolutely terrified this might be my last first kiss.
My legs part to cradle his hips, and as he unzips my shorts and starts to work them down, I lock up.
I want this. I want this so bad I can’t even see straight, so bad I don’t even care that we’re at work right now and anyone could potentially walk in on us. But I don’t drop trou with the lights on. I just don’t. I’m more of a sex-in-the-dark kinda girl. Or at least dim lighting. But right now Declan would be able to see everything, and I just. . . I can’t.
What can I say, I’m shy.
Our breaths are racing as he pulls back. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just . . . why do they have to come off?”
Declan presses a soft kiss to my lips. “It’ll be kinda hard to get my mouth on you with ’em on. . .”
My eyes close as I soak in his words, my thighs instinctually squeezing his hips. Declan chuckles softly and runs his fingers over the flat expanse of my stomach, making it feel like it’s doing cartwheels.
“C’mon, Kitten. . . Let me see how sweet you taste.”
His hands skim down my waist to grip my hips as he thrusts against me slowly, grinding the hard bulge of his erection into the inseam of my shorts. I moan, damn near close to forgetting my name as his lips blaze a trail of feather-light kisses along my jaw.
When he starts to tug my shorts and panties off again, I let him, my heart thundering in my chest so hard it echoes in my ears.
I can’t believe I’m letting him do this.
Jesus, he’s like a f*cking magician with the way he constantly makes my panties disappear.
As soon as my clothes are peeled off me, I clamp my legs shut and pull my shirt down to try and cover me. Declan cocks a brow and runs his hands up the outsides of my legs. “Don’t tell me you’re shy all of a sudden.”
I can hear the disbelief in his voice, and it has me dropping my gaze as I bite the inside of my lip and shrug. All the sexiness and desire deflates out of me instantly. Declan probably thinks I’m so lame right now. . .
“Hey.” His fingers tilt my chin up, until I’m looking into his worried eyes. “Have you done this before? Has anyone ever—”
His mouth snaps shut mid-sentence, his features hardening like he doesn’t want to think about anyone else’s mouth anywhere near me.
I don’t like thinking about it either, but not for the same reason as Declan.
I give him a small nod as my eyes wander to his neck. “It wasn’t a very good experience. Left me a little gun shy, I guess.” That’s a giant f*cking understatement, but whatever. And up until Declan, I never even thought of trying it with anyone else. But I can’t stop imagining that mouth and those lips between my legs, working to bring me to orgasm. If anyone could make this enjoyable for me and erase the unpleasant memories, it’s Declan. I know it.
He leans down and kisses my shoulder. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
“I do, I’m just. . .” Nervous. Scared.
I look down as his hands roam over the pale skin of my thighs. He’s not even trying to coax them open, but his inaction has me slowly opening them anyway. Declan’s not like any other guy I’ve met. He really would be okay with me putting the brakes on this and getting redressed. He’s bossy and arrogant, sure, but he would never try to guilt me or force me into this if I really wanted to stop.
That alone has my legs opening until he’s standing between them. And instead of going straight for the finish line, he continues to skim my calves and my thighs while pressing a sweet, almost chaste kiss to my lips.
“I’ll make it good for you, I promise. Just lean back and let me take care of you, okay?”
I find myself nodding as he kneels in front of me, placing kisses along my inner thigh while his hands grip the outside of my legs. Slowly, and a bit reluctantly, I let go of my shirt and expose myself to him.
“Thank you,” he murmurs against me, working his way up until I feel his hot breath on my newly exposed skin.
My whole body tenses in anticipation, but not in a good way. I have to fight off the urge to push him back and cover myself as flashbacks threaten to overtake me.
Declan seems to sense my anxiety. “Stay with me, okay?” He presses an open-mouthed kiss to my thigh as his finger brushes my *. I jerk at the contact before he settles into a steady, circular rhythm that has me gripping his hair as my breaths come faster. “That feels good, doesn’t it?”
I nod as his mouth moves higher, kissing the apex of my thigh and all around it, and then his tongue is on me, replacing his finger. I gasp and grip his hair tighter as his mouth envelops me, my eyes squeezing shut so tight I see little dots behind my lids.
His stubble grazes my thigh as he makes love to me with his mouth, and when he pushes a finger inside me, I fall back onto the warm pile of towels behind me. This is what it’s supposed to be like. This is what women rave about.
He hitches my legs over his shoulders, spreading me wider as he leisurely licks and suckles me. Pushing a second finger into me, he grazes that magical spot on my front wall with every pump. In and out, in and out. . .
“You’re mine, Kitten. This p-ssy is f*cking mine, and I will do this every goddamn day to remind you if I have to.”
His voice almost comes out as a growl and reverberates against me as his fingers f*ck me harder, faster. All I can do is manage a breathless, “Okay,” as I rock my hips against his mouth and pull his head toward me, like that can somehow fuse him to this exact spot on my body.
I’m more than content with him doing this every day.
Lifting my head, I look down my body and watch him as he works me over. Dear God, the sight of his tongue and all my wet flesh. . . I moan and try to spread myself wider for him, feeling that familiar tension start to settle in my limbs.
“Baby, you should see it from down here. I’ve got a f*ckin’ beautiful view.” Declan locks eyes with me, then sucks me into his mouth. My breath catches as I squirm under him, but his free hand’s got me pinned in place. When he finally releases me, my breathing’s ragged and my whole body feels like a tightly strung wire that’s about to snap at any second.
My hands release his hair and trail up to my breasts, palming them through my shirt. My nipples are so hard they almost ache, and if I could just tease them a little, then maybe I could tip myself over the edge and spiral off this impossibly high cliff.
“F*ck,” Declan rasps against me. “Are you trying to make me come in my pants?”
In-between panting breaths, I swallow. “No, I’m trying to make me come all over your mouth.”
He groans against me and the little vibrations, coupled with the thrust of his fingers and the flick of his tongue, pushes me off that cliff as I explode from the inside out. I cry out, shocked by the force of the orgasm ripping through me. It locks my muscles into place, my hands threading into his hair once again as he doubles his efforts. I vaguely hear myself calling out his name, my hips rocking against him as my stiff body slowly turns to jelly.
It feels like I’m floating, and I’m afraid I might never come down.
Declan’s absolutely right—he will ruin me.
He eases off until he’s lapping at me like a kitten with a saucer of milk, his fingers casually sliding in and out of me. My fingers idly play with his hair, running through the longer fringe draping over his forehead, as I smile up at the ceiling. “Best first kiss ever.”
Declan kisses my thigh, his breathing ragged as he rests his head against my leg. “Damn straight.” He pulls himself up and hovers over me, that cocky smile of his a thousand times brighter as he stares down at me.
Oh, God, not the dimples. . .
I bite my lip, trying to keep from smiling back at him, but he stops it for me when he leans down and seals his mouth over mine. His tongue slips out and teases my lips before pushing into my mouth. I can taste myself on him, and that erotic bit of knowledge has me groaning as my core—still spasming from that toe-curling, name-forgetting orgasm—clenches and gears up for round two.
“See how sweet you taste?” he murmurs.
My only response is to fist his shirt and kiss him back fiercely.
His hips settle between my parted thighs, the rough denim of his jeans brushing my sensitive skin. His straining cock prods me, and I reach between us to free him.
Abruptly he breaks away, stilling my hands as he drops his head to the hollow of my neck. “Slow down, baby. I don’t have a condom with me.”
I’m out of my mind with lust right now, and all my thoughts are focused on seeing and touching him like he just did with me. Anything past that, I haven’t really thought about. “There are other things we could do. . .”
Declan groans, his heart hammering against my chest. “If my cock comes out, that f*cker’s gonna find a way inside you, and it’s not gonna stop at that pretty mouth of yours. I know it and you know it.”
I sigh, hating that he’s right. And honestly, I’m a little shocked that he’s right. I’ve never had sex without a condom before, but the thought of having Declan slide inside me without one? It’s got me dripping wet and my hips subtly rocking beneath him, trying to find some kind of friction.
What has this boy done to me? Who am I?
His hair brushes my cheek as he places a quick kiss on my neck, then pushes away from me to retrieve my shorts and underwear. My head swims as I sit up and get redressed, watching Declan as he adjusts his erection.
“I feel bad now,” I say, hopping down onto the floor as I pull my shorts over my hips. “That’s twice I came and you didn’t.”
“You’ll make it up to me. Don’t worry.”
The smug smile on his face has me rolling my eyes, although I’m sure he’s right. Again. I can’t seem to keep my hands off him, and I can’t seem to keep his hands off me.
Oh, well. There are worse problems to have than a gorgeous man who somehow got it in his head that he’s staked some kind of ridiculous, primitive claim on you.
Looking back at the table, I frown when I see the small pile of clean towels that ended up on the floor. “I can’t believe we did this here. . . Oh, God, what if somebody heard us?” I ask, whipping around to face him.
Declan shrugs. “Hopefully Mike heard us.” He says his name like he’s some vile insect that Declan has to scrape off the bottom of his shoe.
“I’m serious,” I say, smacking his chest. “I don’t want any of the customers to know that we’re . . . you know.” Bending down, I pick up the towels and put them back on the table. “You’re my boss. It looks bad.”
“I promise you, nobody out there would care. Except for maybe Mike, but you’re gonna have to let him down anyway.”
Picking up a towel, I shoot him a glare as I start folding. “I was about to, right before you barged in here and started thumping your chest like some kind of caveman.”
“You were?”
I roll my eyes at the hopeful tone in his voice. “Of course. Mike just took me by surprise and I was trying to think of a polite way to tell him no.” My head tilts as I narrow my eyes. “What are you even doing here? You’re supposed to be resting.”
Declan blinks, his eyes widening. “Oh, shit, I forgot.” He grabs my hand and opens the door, leading me out into the empty hallway. “I brought you lunch.”
“You did?”
“Yep. I went to that burger place around the corner.”
My stomach rumbles as my face lights up. I’m suddenly ravenous. “Did you get me curly fries?”
Declan laces his fingers through mine and brings my hand up to his mouth, kissing the back. “You know it.”




Blue balls suck.