I tried to tug my hand from his but he tightened his grip.
“All of this was because of me.” My chin wobbled. I tried to look away, but he reached out with his other hand and pressed it against my cheek.
“This was not your fault, Trina. And Kevin is no longer an issue for you, or for us.”
I struggled not to look away from him.
“Are you really okay?” I asked, trying to sit up in a bed that I didn’t recognize. It was only then I looked around the room and noticed I was in a hospital bed. Curtains were drawn around the left side of the bed and in front of me.
My eyes opened wider and I sat up with a jerk.
“Hey…,” Declan said in a soothing tone that did nothing to calm me.
“Where am I? And why am I here?”
“You’re at Detroit General,” he said. “You passed out in the alley and were brought here for shock. They gave you something to help you sleep. They thought you might have a concussion from how hard you went down, but you don’t.”
I shook my head rapidly. “I don’t…I don’t remember that. Just…oh my God…Boomer.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks and I brushed them away.
“He was taken to a vet, honey. Calm down, okay? Just give yourself some time to wake up and we’ll talk about everything.”
There was no time to talk. I had to get out of here.
I needed to leave…and go…somewhere.
My breath came in small ragged pants, and I began pushing the scratchy sheets off of me.
“Hey.” Declan stopped me, one of his hands on my hip and one on my wrist. “Trina. Calm down for a moment. Nurses will be in here if your heart rate skyrockets any further.”
“Kevin?” I asked, not feeling calm in the least. The last thing I remembered was his gun at my temple.
Declan’s eyes softened minutely. His voice was even gentler than his expression. “He shot himself, sweetheart. As soon as cops jumped out of their cars with their guns aimed at him.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. I hated the man. Hated how I had stayed with him for so long, and tolerated his abuse for longer than I should have. He shot my dog, threatened to kill me and Declan. I despised him with an undying passion, but did I want him dead?
It seemed so…ugly. So final.
I shook my head, unable and unwilling to think about Kevin. In the days to come, I knew I would, but at that moment, I was just grateful to be alive.
“What time is it?”
My eyes flickered around the small space.
I pressed my hand to my chest and felt my heart racing.
Boomer was shot. Declan and Tyson could have been injured. Kevin killed himself.
And all of it was because of me.
How could I calm down?
Declan’s hand smoothed my hair and he cupped the back of my head, pulling me so close to him I could only see his eyes, lips, and mouth.
Which began moving, slowly.
“It’s just after seven, sweetheart. You’ve only been asleep for a few hours. Please, take a deep breath.”
I swallowed, unable to listen to him.
“Breathe, sweetheart.”
That time, I did. I pulled in a breath and let out a sob.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” Declan crooned, pulling me closer. “Breathe.”
I did again, and then again. And soon, after listening to his calm, soothing voice, I blew out a shaky breath and my forehead collapsed onto his shoulder.
“I almost got you shot,” I cried out, feeling my shoulders begin to shake.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me toward him until I was on his lap.
“Nothing happened to me.”
“But”
“No buts, Trina. You’re not to blame here.”
“You could have died!” I cried out louder. “Or Tyson. And Boomer!”
“Shhh.” He pulled me tighter and one of his hands began rubbing large circles on my back, his warm hand pressed against my skin. “Blue’s been talking to the vet hospital. We think Boomer’s going to be just fine. The bullet lodged in his stomach and he’s in surgery.”
A sob racked my chest and I pressed myself more firmly into Declan’s embrace.
“And I’m fine, but there’s a silver lining here that you haven’t seen yet.”
I rolled my forehead back and forth against his shoulder. “What?”
He chuckled softly, his breath tickling my collarbone, then he pushed me away from him slightly. With both hands, he framed my cheeks. “You’re free from that asshole, forever. He can never hurt you, never scare you again.”
I let that settle inside me, too afraid to believe it.
“But he’s dead.” I hiccupped, unable to be happy that a man I hated a few hours ago was now dead.
The reality crashed down on me and I pulled away from Declan, wiping tears off my cheeks. “I should go.”
His eyebrows snapped together. “What?”
“Leave. I mean, go somewhere. You don’t need this. You don’t need my baggage or my history or the reminder of what Kevin’s done, what I brought to your doorstep”
His lips hit mine powerfully and I sucked in a breath. He stole the rest of my words from me when his tongue slid inside my mouth.
His hands clamped around the sides of my neck, pressing me against him.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled, breaking the kiss and leaving me panting for more.
“But”
“But nothing. You think I’m going to let the woman I love walk away from me after everything that happened today? You’re nuts.”
I blinked rapidly and my lips parted. “What?”
Declan smirked. “You heard me. You think I’m letting the woman I love walk away? No way in fucking hell.”
“Um.”
“I love you, Trina.”
I swallowed and blinked again. This wasn’t happening. I was too stunned to speak. Did he really just say that?
He tilted his head to the side and his smirk turned into a grin. “Anything you want to say back?”
“I” I had nothing. No words. Nada. Zilch.
“Right.” Declan nodded and leaned forward to push a button on the side of my bed. “Then we’re getting you out of here. I’m taking you home and I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“What happened to giving me time to figure out me?” I asked stupidly.
“That was before you almost got shot, before I saw a gun pressed to your temple, and I faced the idea of losing you. Never gonna happen. You’re not moving into Blue’s pad, you’re moving into mine, and with that asshole out of the picture, we’re free to move on and do our thing, together.”
“This is a lot to process, Declan.”
Not the least of which was that he loved me.
Because I’d already figured out that I was in love with him. I figured it happened the first morning I woke up in his house and he’d let me sleep in, and took care of Boomer. But saying it now wasn’t right.
Not after today. It had to be his adrenaline making him crazy.
“I know it is.” He cupped my neck and pulled me closer to him, sliding his lips across mine before he shifted me off his lap and back to the bed. “But I’ll help you through it, every step of the way. And then I’m going to take you home and make love to you fiercely until you’re screaming out that you love me, too. I already know you do. You told me.”
I did?
I didn’t remember, but as I saw him grin when my lips twisted, I knew I had.
I blinked again. My eyes must have been malfunctioning. Or my brain, because I again opened my mouth and stupidly said, “That’s um…well, that’s a lot of pressure.”
His lips twitched and he laughed softly. “Nothing to worry about. But I plan on reminding you what you mouthed to me on the sidewalk. And I plan on doing that in my bed, with you beneath me. Or maybe I’ll let you do all the work.”
“Declan,” I called out while my orgasm was still rolling through me. Tonight I was learning that Declan was a liar, at least he was when it came to me doing all the work. Because while it may have started with him lying on his back in his bed, he quickly grabbed my hips, pulled me off him, and settled me right on his face. He’d already given me one orgasm, but the second one had my entire body shaking and shivering from his unrelenting touch.
“Say it, Trina,” he taunted, and went back to tasting me.
My palms pressed against the wall above his headboard and my head fell back. “Fine!” I shouted. “I love you!”
His tongue slid through my wetness and his fingers dug into my waist when I tried to move away from him.
His deep laughter rumbled before he began pressing kisses against my inner thighs.
“Knew I’d get it out of you eventually.”
He pulled me back and I placed my hands next to the sides of his head, on the pillow beneath him.
My heart was racing.
He’d exhausted me to the point where I couldn’t be angry with him, not that I wanted to be.
His weight shifted and he rolled, taking me along with him until I was on my back and he was on top of me.
“Help me inside you, Trina.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I also couldn’t deny this request. I slide my hand between us and wrapped my fingers around him. Just the thought of him inside me had my body warming all over again.
“Declan.” I whispered his name as I placed his tip at my entrance and he slowly pushed in.