Declan grabs my hips, pulling me down to straddle him. Our faces are inches apart as he digs his fingers into my sides.
“Loyalty to a dead man can get you killed, Noel,” he warns.
Nate was an open book. He never gave me a reason to think he would hide anything from me. And Isaiah? It’s hard to imagine him being responsible for anything, much less operating a secret business. But I also know Declan isn’t lying just as sure as I know myself. If I’m going to figure out what this club has to do with me, I’m going to need his help.
I decide to share a detail about my husband before I lose my nerve. “He had a standing poker night with a group of guys every Thursday night. Isaiah was one of them.”
He loosens his grip on my hips. “Where?”
“They rotated houses.”
“Good. Do you remember who all came when they were at your house?”
I watch him kiss the palm of my hand but feeling it between my legs.
“They only used the single guys’ houses, so it would be guys only.”
It never bothered me. I actually enjoyed girls nights with friends on the same schedule. But now that I know about Isaiah and his club, I feel so stupid.
I look out the window at the trees lining the property in the distance. I try to picture Nate’s face to find any trace of deceit in his eyes, but my mind is too cloudy to find him.
How could I have been so naive?
“Look at me,” Declan orders.
I meet his narrowed eyes.
“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t. People can hide things very well,” he says as though he’s thinking of something and someone else. “You didn’t do this.”
I look back to the window trying to stop the tears from falling.
No, I’m just the fool who had no idea what her husband was doing every Thursday night.
Given everything I’ve just learned, it seems more likely that Nate was at this club for his poker nights. Maybe he played poker or maybe he slept around. I’ll never really know.
Declan wipes away the single tear that escapes. Looking down at him again, I watch him suck the tear off his thumb. He shifts underneath me, and I can’t help but let my gaze wander down to his bare chest and stomach. My breath catches at the sight of his erection pushing up against his sweatpants.
How can I feel like this with Declan and be mad at Nate for the past all at the same time? Whatever Nate did really doesn’t matter now, and I know that. But it still hurts. And somehow I feel safe letting Declan see me raw.
Declan touches my jaw then runs his hand through my hair. The expression on his face scatters all my thoughts. My heart stammering in my chest is the only sound I hear now—drowning out the conflicting voices in my head. My skin tingles everywhere his gaze touches. He runs his thumb across my bottom lip before he presses down on my teeth, forcing me to open my mouth.
“You’re so fucking pretty when you cry, sunshine,” his husky voice breathes out.
He watches my mouth as his thumb touches the tip of my tongue. Without thinking, I close my lips around it and suck. His eyes heat up, daring me to continue.
Releasing his thumb, I say, “My turn to kiss all of you."
He places two fingers on either side of my tongue, sliding them to the back of my throat. When I gag, he pulls back some. I grab his hand, nudging his fingers back in. I can see it in his eyes that he’s being gentle with me, holding back. I'm done being fragile.
He gives me his best ‘you’re so fucked’ smile and shoves his fingers to the back of my throat again. This time he watches me struggle to control my reflex. When I stop gagging and manage to swallowaround his fingers, he pulls back again.
“That’s it.”
He pushes his fingers in and pulls them over and over again, continuing the pattern until I stop gagging so easily. I suck when he pulls them out of my mouth, trying not to drool on myself. Eventually, he runs a wet finger down my cheek, smearing saliva with the tears I shed from gagging on his fingers.
“These are the only tears you cry now. Tears for me.”
He grabs my hips, pushing me off his lap. I stumble back as he stands in front of me. I place my hands on his hips for balance, and he grabs my arms to steady me.