Page 64 of Gray Area

“Deal.”

Chapter 35

DECLAN

Two days later, I drive Bailey to the bus station with Vivian. My heart hurt when I saw how upset Vivian was over Bailey leaving, but I know ultimately she is happy for her friend. They hug about seventeen times in the parking lot of the terminal, and when they have done what I think is the last one, I hand a bag to Bailey.

“What’s this?” she asks me.

“A gift,” I reply.

Bailey looks inside and her eyes go wide. “Declan, this is too much.”

“What is it?” Vivian asks, and I hand her another bag. She peeks in. “A phone?”

I nod. “One for each of you, so you can stay in touch.” Both women start to argue that it’s too much and they can’t accept them, but I just ignore them.

Bailey’s bus is called and she looks nervous and anxious. Once again she hugs Vivian, and then she hugs me. I stiffen at the encounter. “Thanks, Declan, you aren’t quite the asshole you pretend to be,” she says, and with one final hug to Vivian, Bailey boards her bus. We stay until it is gone.

Vivian turns to me. “Declan, this is too much,” she says again, holding the phone bag out at me like it is a disease.

I take her hands and push them against the bag. “Vivian, I was buying you a phone no matter what. Not being able to get ahold of you is no longer okay with me.”

“Declan, even if I’d had a phone, I would have still been asleep when the fire—”

“I don’t care,” I grind out through my teeth, not wanting to relive the fact that I almost lost her. “I want you to be able to call if you need something, and I want to be able to call you when I miss your voice.” It may be the cheesiest thing that has ever come out of my mouth, but it is absolutely true.

“Then aren’t you going to be on the phone all the time?” she asks me, and I smile, a real smile. A smile like I haven’t in years, all the relief of having Vivian back in my life and with me radiating out of me. “Oh, wow, that gave me the rare Declan smile, teeth and all,” she remarks in awe.

I cover her mouth with mine and spin her back into my car. She and Bailey basically had a two-day sleepover since I left them in my apartment, but I am ready to have my girl back. And fuck, I love that she is my girl. Thinking about the fire and how for a split second I’d thought I had lost her has flipped a switch in me, and I can no longer just muddle along in my feelings. I am all in.

“Let’s go home, Baby,” I say as I open the door for her and she slides inside. I have yet to mention it, but I want Vivian to stay at my place, to live with me. I’m not sure if it will scare her off to tell her this so soon after we’ve reconnected, so I plan to tread lightly on the topic until she brings up apartment hunting again. Thankfully she hasn’t mentioned it at all since she has been preoccupied in the last few days.

I get in the driver’s seat and check my phone. No messages. Ever since the fire, I, along with my brothers and whoever else I could spare, have been on the hunt for Tim, the fucking landlord. And when I find that stupid son of a bitch, he’s going to be so fucking sorry. There is little doubt in my mind that he lit that building, and while that is overall an improvement, the fact that he had done that with people inside is fucked up, and he deserves to be pummeled into the ground for that alone. But the fact that Vivian was in there and almost didn’t make it out means that the motherfucker has a death wish.

I hold Vivian’s hand as I drive, bringing it to my mouth to kiss it. Being with her makes me happy; just being in her presence brings me a peace I’ve never found with another person. And right now I need all the peace I can get after thinking about Tim.

I have this desperate need to give Vivian the world and protect her. I want her to live with me, and I want her to have everything she needs, like the phone. I want to get her a whole new wardrobe and teach her to drive a car, and then give her a car. I want to take care of her and give her a place where she can finally feel safe and at home. A place where she will want to unpack her backpack.

When we get to my apartment, Vivian drops her backpack and leans to take out her textbooks. “We should work on the project,” she says with her back to me.

I remove the textbook from her hand and throw it to the floor, ignoring her sounds of disgust and lifting her in my arms,crashing my mouth into hers. She makes a futile attempt to push me back, but I just walk her toward my room and she eventually gives in, wrapping her legs around my waist.

I’m so fucking hard. It’s been days since I’ve touched her, and she has been so close the entire time. I wanted her to have her time with Bailey, and she had. Now I want to fuck her senseless, make her exhausted with pleasure, and use multiple orgasms to convince her she belongs here, with me, forever.

I grind my denim-covered cock into her core, and her legs tighten around me as I lay us down onto the bed. She pushes her hands under my shirt, and I love the way they feel against my skin. I lean up and take my shirt off, and Vivian follows my lead, getting rid of her shirt too. She traces my falcon tattoo on the center of my chest, and I watch her face, then let my gaze slide down to her chest and drink in her incredible breasts.

I bend my head and take a peaked nipple into my mouth, and Vivian’s hands freeze on my chest then move into my hair. She makes short, breathy sounds as I lavish attention on one nipple and then move to the other.

“Declan,” Vivian whimpers. “I need you,” she confesses as she rubs herself shamelessly against me.

“Yeah?” I ask against her nipple, and she makes a noise that sounds pained. I move back up her body and cover her mouth with mine, swallowing her sounds as I tease one breast, massaging it, running my calloused palm over her nipple. “Are you wet for me, Baby? Because I have been so fucking hard all day thinking about your wet pussy,” I say against her lips.

She whimpers at my words and kisses me feverishly.

I reach between us and undo the button on her jeans. Vivian reaches down to help me, but she is too frenzied. I grab both of her wrists and pin her to the bed, holding them in one hand. “Sorry, Baby, I want to enjoy myself,” I say as I move my mouth back down her throat and resume slowly unzipping her jeans.

“We can go slower next time,” she says, flexing her hips up to try and increase the speed in which I remove her jeans. “Please just fuck me now,” she begs.

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