“Mi, babe, have you seen this sick view?” Declan sings as he wanders around the house, as excited as a pig in shit.
He’s so flipping adorable. He’s put everything into making sure I’m okay—that we’re okay. I just don’t have the heart to tell him that I’m still shook up by it all. I guess I’ll have to either come clean and bare my soul—he’ll understand, I know he will—or learn to live with the guilt. It’s probably what I deserve anyway.
I walk out of the ultra-modern bathroom (which is not at all what I expected for a beach house in Newport), trying to keep my nerves at bay while scoping out what will be our digs for the next week. “Baby, this place is incredible. And huge! We could have stayed somewhere smaller.”
Dropping one of the carry-ons on the tiled floor, Declan runs over to me and scoops me into his arms. “Nothing but the best for my beautiful wife. You deserve this. We deserve this.”
Sure, lay it on thick, buddy. Make me feel worse. I mean, why do I deserve any of this? I gave up on my marriage and nearly tore my family apart… all to fulfill some fantasy and live out a dream. I deserve nothing of the sort. I deserve to be alone.
Registering my thoughts, Declan stares into my eyes. “Get out of your head, Mia. I hate that you’re beating yourself up. I know that’s what you’re doing.”
Without even trying to hide it, I back away, searching his eyes for an answer. “How? How can you read me so well?”
“Because I know you, better than you know yourself. I’m not a dumb man—”
I tilt my head, and narrow my gaze. His act of dumbness is what made me flee in the first place, not that either of us could forget.
“Okay,” he continues, “I’ll rephrase that. I’m not always dumb. I know you’re in a weird place. I know it’s hard to just go back to being normal when so much has… shifted. That’s why we’re here. Not tonight, maybe not even tomorrow night, but you and I are going to sit down and let it all out. There are things you need to hear and things you need to get off your chest. I’m not afraid anymore. I can’t stand seeing you like this—so at war with yourself. We both did things we regret and have to live with. We can choose to let those mistakes break us or learn from them and move the fuck on.”
Okay, maybe he’s not so dumb. Staring into his always mesmerizing blue eyes I’m astounded by his strength, his willingness to put the past in the past and make us whole again. “You’re one amazing man, Mr. Murphy. How did I get so lucky?”
Declan leans in, nipping my neck between his teeth. “You’re about to get even luckier, Mrs. Murphy.”
His lips trail soft kisses from the sensitive spot behind my ear, along the curve of my shoulder, stopping with a tiny bite just at the tip of my bare skin. I can’t suppress the giggle that escapes me as I let my worried mind just live in the moment. “I love you, Dec.”
“I love you too, baby,” he says, with his face half buried in my cleavage. “Now, can I show you the hot tub or can I take you right here in the living room? No kids… lots of options.”
What a wonderful sound. “Right here works.”
“Right here works.”
What a wonderful sound.
I’m done asking for permission, this chick is mine. Hooking a finger under the straps of her tank top, I ease the tiny ties over her shoulder, tilting to bring my lips to her bronze skin.
Her head falls back as I feather kisses down her neck while sliding the top down her torso. With the cotton bunched around her middle, my hands reach around her small frame to unhook her bra. She lifts her arms so that the lace just trickles away, freeing her still-perfect-after-two-kids tits. God, I could stare at her for hours. She’s still as breathtakingly beautiful as she was that first time—my first time, my only first time.
I hate to spoil a moment like this with unnecessary words, but they’re aching to be said. She needs to hear them. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Mia. My Mia. I love you so much.”
Breathing heavily, her hands in my hair, she whispers, “Oh my God, I love you, baby.” Her voice drips with hunger. She needs this. We need this. To be together, connected, without reservation.
Like an eager teenager, I feel the need to be hasty because my dick is in tremor mode just dying to be inside her. But at the same time, I want to take the time to enjoy her—all of her. We have all the time in the world to explore each other all over again. I intend to take full advantage of that. And I certainly don’t think she’ll mind the attention.
I take her by surprise and she gasps as I scoop her into my arms to bring her to the couch. She hooks her arms around my neck, giving me access to her bare breasts. Leaning down, I take one in my mouth, my tongue circling the tight bud of her nipple.