Page 67 of The Ex Next Door
There was also a quiet kind of strength in this moment. She was proud to be moving on, to enter a new stage, this time with a man she trusted with her life. No matter what happened, Declan would be good to her. And she longed for him more than she ever had any other man.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said quietly, his fingers sliding over her face.
He took her hand and led her to his bedroom. She pulledoff his shirt, her finger sliding down to the muscles she’d been lusting for, and her knees went absolutely liquid. Under his shirt, she found those muscles were the sinewy strength she’d expected. He was all hard angles and planes, and so utterly…male.
His hand slid from her butt down her thighs, where a quivering heat pulsed and ached. She felt branded by his touch. Everything else in her loud and busy life faded to the background, and she understood this moment was one of no return. After this, she would be his and he would be hers. There was no question.
With the slow, wicked smile she’d never been able to resist, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her onto his lap. She straddled him and he kissed her shoulder, the beard stubble rough against her sensitive skin. His fingers threaded in her hair, and he licked the shell of her ear, teasing her earlobe with his teeth. Heat swept through her, fierce and uncontrolled. She’d never wanted anyone like this. Not with this fire.
“I know you’re shy, but I need you to tell me what you want.”
“I want you.” She ran her fingers through his thick hair. “Inside me.”
He found a condom and quickly protected them both.
Braced above her, he met her eyes. “I never forgot you, Amy. Never.”
His words were sweet, but sweeter still was the way he made love to her. His thrusts tugged at something deep inside her, the friction and pressure mounting, the pleasure building quickly. She wrapped her legs around his back, urging him deeper, closer.
And not for the first time in her life, Amy found herself on the wild and powerful ride that was Declan Sheridan.
* * *
The cold air woke Declan up the next morning, which was unusual even if he ran the AC all night during the summer. Then he realized he was naked, and memories of the night before quickly flooded his synapses. Dayum. Amy had been fantastic. She was passionate and responsive. Insatiable. There seemed to be no off switch once they got in bed. They finally collapsed around midnight, but if he recalled, he’d gone to bed with covers and now hadnone. No wonder he was cold.
As he suspected, all he had to do was turn his head and see Amy wrapped up in the covers like a burrito. So, she hogged covers, the cover-hogger. This could be easily remedied. He rolled close to her, burrowing under the covers with her, becoming her second skin.
“Morning,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “Cover-hogger.”
“Hmm, I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I steal covers in my sleep. It’s a thing I do.”
“There are worse things.”
“I swear I don’t mean it. I don’t even realize I’m doing it.”
“It’s all right, babe.”
“Are you cold?” She tried to wrap more cover around him, to bring him into her cocoon.
That was Amy, always generous, last night being a prime example. He could definitely get used to this, waking up next to this gorgeous, amazing woman every day. For the first time in his life, he actually felt lucky. Blessed. He’d done nothing in his entire life to deserve this perfection.
He and Finn used to joke that family folklore was the Sheridan family lost their luck of the Irish in a poker game back in 1876. No luck had fallen into the Sheridan family. Hard work had permeated their lives and they’d earned everything. Declan had always worked for everything heaccomplished, having nothing handed to him, unless you wanted to count a God-given natural ability for the sport. Luck had almost nothing to do with his life up until this moment.
But what good fortune of his to have Amy move in right next door, and to have her son become interested in baseball. Okay, so maybe he’d done a little convincing on that end, noticing that David was unhappy with soccer. It eventually turned into a way he might spend even more time with Amy. Because something had stirred in him the moment he’d seen her again and it had been slowly building ever since.
“What do you want to do today?” he said.
“I just want to hang out with you.”
“Good. We’re on the same page. But do you want to go do something, or just play house?” He nibbled on her ear, indicating that to him this meant not actually getting out of bed except for sustenance.
She rolled on her back and blinked at him through sleepy eyes. “Playing house sounds like fun. I can study later.”
“I’ll help you.”
“I won’t be able to concentrate much with you, ahem, ‘helping’ me.” She circled her arms around his neck.
“Why don’t I cook dinner for you while you study?”
