“You mean, not everyone w
ants to see these pretty things?” She bounced her breasts a little. The gesture was so cute and so sexy that he got hard again. Zoa noticed, and she chuckled. “Okay, I’ll take the shirt.”
She reached for it, tugging it over her head. The outfit was complete, and she was lovely. He was amazed at how comfortable he felt with her today. Usually, when Declan was with a woman, he was uneasy after. There was always a strange sort of pressure as to whether or not the relationship would continue on the path they’d started to wander down.
Sometimes, sex was just sex. Sometimes, sex was a clear indicator that nothing else could happen. Often, sex was one of the first tastes of what a relationship would be like. With Zoa, the sex had been incredible, and now Declan felt like he’d been given his first taste of ice cream on a hot summer day. He didn’t want just a tiny taste. He didn’t want to stick his tongue out and get just a little smidge of the cone.
No, he wanted the entire thing.
That was what Declan wanted more than anything else: everything. Could he have that with Zoa? Could he pursue her? Chase after her? He liked her a lot. She was cute and interesting and quirky, and she made him feel alive. Sometimes Declan worried that the women he slept with only did so because of his money. With Zoa, he didn’t have to worry about that.
He didn’t have to worry about a lot of things when it came to her. There was a certain softness to Zoa. Oh, she was rough and tumble. She had to be. To have survived the ordeal that she did, she had to be strong. Buried deep inside of the tough exterior, though, was a tender heart beating.
He wanted it to beat for him.
“Let’s go downstairs,” he finally whispered. He knew that if he didn’t invite her to start moving soon, he simply wouldn’t. If he didn’t hurry up and suggest that they get started, he would yank her back to bed. He’d spend the entire day ravishing her, touching her, worshipping her. He would do so many wonderful, different things to her simply because he could, and because he liked her, and because to Declan, she was perfect.
“Do we have to?”
“Yes,” he said firmly. He wanted to add that he didn’t want to. He was tempted to say something about how unfortunate it was that they needed to get going, but he didn’t. Instead, he tried to stay strong, and eventually, Zoa nodded.
“You’re probably right,” she said.
She led the way down the stairs. Declan watched carefully as she lowered herself down the ladder. He followed suit, and soon they were both downstairs in the treehouse. Brian and Christopher were sitting on their respective couches. They both looked wildly amused. Yeah, it was safe to say they’d heard Declan and Zoa’s special “alone time.”
“Good morning,” Zoa said politely. She obviously hadn’t noticed that the men were amused with the situation.
“Morning,” Christopher said.
“Good morning,” Brian added.
“Did you eat?” Declan asked, striding toward the kitchen area. He needed coffee. He needed a lot of coffee. If he could get enough inside of him, then the day wouldn’t seem so wild or terrible or overwhelmingly awful.
“We ate,” Christopher told him.
“We can get going in five,” Declan said, starting the coffee. “This won’t take long to brew. As soon as I down it, we’re out of here.” They had to get to Kellen’s. Declan worried that it would already be too late, that they would be walking into some sort of ambush, but he didn’t say that out loud. He didn’t want Zoa to feel bad if something did go wrong.
It wouldn’t be her fault, after all. She hadn’t asked him to save her, and she certainly hadn’t asked him to go back and face Kellan. There was something else that was making him do this. There was a fire deep inside of Declan now, and it wasn’t something he could easily get rid of. He needed this. He needed to do this for her.
In some ways, it felt like he was giving her a gift. In Declan’s mind, he was going to give Zoa the knowledge that she was safe. That was the gift. Once Kellen was gone and dead, she would never have to worry about him finding her or hurting her.
There was something else, though. There was a part of Declan that worried he was acting like a cat bringing its owner a dead rat. Sure, the cat always felt proud of its work. Catching rats was no easy task. The owners were never that appreciative, though. Was that what this situation was really like? Was Declan doing nothing more than carrying a dead rat to Zoa?
“Brother?”
Declan looked up sharply to see Christopher standing almost directly beside him.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
“Yeah, I know. It looked like you completely spaced out.”
“I did. Sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Are you sure you’re good for this?”
“Going to Kellen’s?”
“Yeah,” Christopher nodded. Then he lowered his voice. “It’s okay if you aren’t. We don’t have to go today, Declan. We don’t even have to go this week. There’s no reason it has to be now.”