Page 78 of The Complication
“Yes. Very much. It’s…stunning. Beautiful.”
“I call it ‘My Lover.’ It’s about where we started.”
Declan nodded. Still unable to tear his gaze away. But as he was staring, his expression suddenly darkened, and he stepped forward to take the painting gently from my hands. “No one else is allowed to see this. I want to buy it.”
I threw my head back and laughed, but I couldn’t chase after him because my leg was supporting the other paintings. “Hey! Who said it was for sale?”
A growl escaped Declan, and he lifted his eyes to glare at me. “I still want it. I’ll put it somewhere no one else is allowed to see it.”
Still laughing, I waved at Declan to return to me. “Come here. Let me have that. I need to show you the others. We’ll talk later about who’s allowed to see it.”
Declan’s glare shifted into a pout as he walked close and handed me the painting, but he remained close as I picked up the second painting and held it up. This one was very similar to the first, but it had a different vibe. In the second painting, I was almost draped over Declan as I cried. My lover held me tight, his finger gripping a bunch of my clothes. Lines of pain were etched in his face while tears ran down my cheeks.
“I call this one ‘My Rock.’ It’s about how our relationship changed.”
“Parker…” Declan breathed.
“Not as sexy as the last, but I love this one. You were there for me in a hundred little ways when my life was falling apart. I don’t know what I would have done without you there. Everything was such a mess, but you didn’t run away. You dove right into the thick of things.”
Declan’s lips twitched, almost forming a smile, while his eyes twinkled with unshed tears. “The only thing that has ever scared me about you is the idea that I might not keep up with you. That I might not be interesting enough, and you would leave me behind.”
“You have always been exactly what I wanted. Prior to moving in, I wanted to ask you out, to take a chance of us having a real relationship. But my life grew complicated with the arrival of Joy. Then add in that I was suddenly homeless, with no brilliant plan to fix my life. Not making me the most desirable package.”
The beautiful man in front of me stepped forward and cupped my face with both hands. “The only reason I didn’t want kids in the beginning was because I was afraid of how badly I would fail them. I don’t want to be my father, but he was my one role model for how a father was supposed to act toward his children. Being with you has taught me I can be warm and affectionate. That I can be silly and playful. All that matters is Joy’s safety and happiness. How the rest of the world perceives me isn’t important.”
My heart swelled, and I turned my face in his hands to kiss his palm. When I turned back to look at him, I murmured, “The only thing the world sees is how good of a father you are being to Joy.”
“I learned it from you.”
For a man who didn’t like to talk, he always seemed to know the very best things to say.
I swallowed against the lumpof happiness in my throat. “As you can see, I’ve done a lot of thinking while we’ve been apart. I had been afraid that I was staying with you because I was scared of my life falling to pieces. Yet, since moving out, all I’ve thought about was how much I missed you. Yeah, maybe cooking dinner every night and picking up after Joy and me sucks, but I don’t mind it. It wasn’t hard to find a new place, and it took me two seconds to start sending out my résumé to search for a new job. Getting on my feet went a hell of a lot faster when I realized it meant using it to find my way to you.”
I dragged in a deep breath and released it in a rush. Bending down, I put aside the “My Rock” painting and picked up the third. However, I didn’t show him right away. I kept it turned and facing me.
“Now that I’ve realized what a fucking idiot I am and figured out what I want, I thought I’d show you in a painting.”
Closing my eyes, I slowly spun the last piece of art to face Declan. The painting was warm and bright, depicting Declan and me sitting in what appeared to be a grassy field. Joy was sitting in my lap while Declan had an arm wrapped around my shoulders. Joy was grinning and clapping her hands while I had my head tipped up in a frozen laugh. Declan was smiling at Joy with such a look of love on his face. It was the first time I’d ever attempted to paint a family portrait.
“This,” I started but had to stop to clear the roughness from my voice. I forced my eyes open to stare at this beautiful man. “This is what I want. For us to be a family. Two daddies taking care of a spunky, silly little girl. I want you to love us both, but I swear, Declan, I already love you so fucking much I can’t stand it. And Joy loves you, too. If you think you could love?—”
I didn’t get the chance to finish what I was saying. Declan gripped the nape of my neck and jerked me forward to crush his mouth against mine in a hard, demanding kiss that nearlyknocked a sob of relief from my chest.
He jumped away a second later to check that the painting hadn’t been hurt in the kiss and then smirked at me. “Yes. To all of that. Yes. I love you. I love Joy. We must be a family.”
Carefully, he took the painting from my trembling fingers and picked up the other two. He set them aside and turned to my side. Pulling me in close with his amazing arms, he kissed up my throat and down my jaw, whispering again and again that he loved me and that he loved Joy. I hugged him back, feeling like I’d found where I belonged.
I was home.
EPILOGUE
DECLAN FOSTER
“Fuck.Declan. Don’t tease me with it,” Parker panted, his fists twisted in the sheets. “Get in there. Fucking break me.”
“I think I like you like this,” I replied between clenched teeth as I pushed just the head into his hole, taunting him with a taste of what was to come.
For the past hour, I’d licked, sucked, and stretched his body, leaving him covered in a sheen of sweat as he trembled beneath me. Desperation and need made his pale-gray eyes bright. His cock was rock hard and drooling onto his stomach. With his left leg half draped over my shoulder, I pushed it toward his chest, opening him up farther so I could slide a bit deeper.
