by Katie Ashley
“And me to you. Now make love to me, Mr. St. James. I’m long overdue.” I didn’t have to ask twice. Declan closed the gap between us to slam his lips against mine. Declan didn’t give me a moment to catch my breath before his tongue thrust into my mouth, dancing along with mine. Grabbing my arms, he lifted them above my head and placed them against the wall of the lodge. His fingers raked down the undersides of my arms, causing me to shiver. When he reached my shoulders, his hands dipped behind my back to jerk my shirt out of the waistband of my jeans. After he pulled my shirt over my head, he unhooked my bra and freed my breasts. As he took them in his hands, I frantically worked my fingers down the buttons on his shirt. Once they were all undone, I flattened my palms against his chest before running them down his perfect abs.
With his hands on my waist, Declan pulled me over to the bed. He eased us down on the mattress before his weight came on top of me. My head lolled back when Declan’s mouth closed over my nipple. He suckled it deeply before flicking and swirling his tongue across it. His hand kept stroking my other breast as his tongue worked the nipple in his mouth into a hardened pebble. Crying out, my fingers automatically went to his hair, tugging and grasping at the strands as the pleasure washed over me.
Declan licked a wet trail over to the other breast before claiming the nipple. The ache between my thighs grew. As if he could read my mind about needing attention to my pussy, Declan’s hands came to the button on my jeans. He rose up to slide my jeans off before my thong went down my thighs as well. After he tossed them in the floor, his hand snaked down my stomach. His fingers feathered across my belly teasingly, causing my hips to buck. Gripping my thighs, he pushed them wide apart.
When his head dipped between my legs, I pinched my eyes shut in ecstasy. As his fingers entered me again, his tongue swirled around my clit, sucking it deep into his mouth. I fisted the sheets in both hands. “Oh Declan!” I screamed, and my hand immediately flew to cup my mouth. Considering it was hunting season, I didn’t know who might be out in the woods to hear me. God, it’s been so long since I screamed in bed. He sure hasn’t lost his oral touch.
As he kept up his delicious assault on my clit, he pumped his two fingers in and out of me, stopping sometimes to curl them inside me to hit my G-spot. It was so intense I was tugging the strands of his hair and crying out his name. My hips kept a manic rhythm, rising and falling with the plunging of his fingers inside me. As I climbed higher and higher, I didn’t know if I could stand anymore, and then a burst came from within me followed by a locomotive charging through my abdomen. As I started falling back to the earth from my intense orgasm, I couldn’t remember when I’d come so hard. I wasn’t sure I ever had before except with Declan.
When I came back to myself, I glanced down to see Declan staring up at me, his tongue still lapping at my center. Heat bloomed inside of me again, and I wanted nothing more than to repay the favor he’d given me.
After scooting up in the bed, I rose onto my knees. “Your turn for some oral attention.”
Declan’s brows rose. “It is?”
“Oh yes.”
“I won’t argue with that,” Declan mused with a smile as he lay back on his back. After I pushed his legs apart, I ran my hands up and down the inside of his thighs, my fingernails scraping against his sensitive skin. “Please, Pey,” Declan murmured.
I smiled up at him as I pulled down the waistband of his underwear and freed his erection. Taking him in one hand, I licked a slow trail from root to tip. My tongue flicked and swirled around the head. I suctioned just the tip in my mouth and then released it. Declan groaned. “Babe, don’t tease me. It’s been too long.”
I continued my slow assault on him, feeling him grow even larger with my ministrations. I blew air on his glistening tip, which elicited a low growl from Declan. When he started to protest again, I slid him into my mouth. Declan gasped and bucked his hips, causing me to take him deeper. I slid him in and out, sucking hard on the rim of his head while gripping him with my hand. Each time I did, he moaned in pleasure. “Oh Peyton, oh fuck!” I sped up the pace as his fingers tangled into my hair. “I’m going to come if you don’t stop,” he warned.
I let him fall free of his mouth. “I want you to come inside me.”
“My pleasure. Let me suit up first.”
Reluctantly, I let him pull away and reach over the bed to dig into his pants pocket. After fishing one out of his wallet, he tore open the wrapper with his teeth. Kicking off his boxer shorts, he then rolled the condom down his length.
As he eased back down on the bed, I widened my legs to allow room for him between them. When he rubbed his cock against my slickened core, I moaned. “Please, Declan.”
“Patience,” he murmured.
“I’ve waited long enough.”
Declan bent his head to kiss my eyelids, the tip of my nose, and my cheeks. He stilled the movements of his cock rubbing against my slit. Staring intently into my eyes, he took my face in his hands. “Before we do this, I have to tell you something.”
My breath hitched as I braced myself for the news. “W-What is it?”
“I love you,” he murmured, holding my face in his hands.
A gasp of shock slipped from my lips at his declaration. Blinking a few times, I stared up at him. “You do?”
He nodded. “Even after all these years, there’s never been anyone else for me. You’ve always been the one. You and only you.”
My heart beat wildly in my chest as tears pricked my eyelids. Smiling up at him, I cupped his cheek in my hand. “I love you, too, Declan, and you’re the only one for me.”
With our declarations of love hanging in the air around us, Declan thrust inside me. His eyes locked on mine as he kept his movements tediously slow at first. I swept my fingertips up and down the corded muscles of his back. I thought of the times in the past when my nails had dug into his skin during some hardcore fucking. But there was no place for that tonight. We were making love together.
After a few delicious minutes, I squealed when Declan rolled us over to where I was riding him. He lay still, buried deep inside me, waiting for me to take the reins. Tentatively, I rocked against him until I slowly started speeding up the pace. Leaning back, I rested my palms on his thighs as I rode him hard and fast, grinding against him until I found just the right spot to send me over the edge again. “Yes, Declan! Oh God!” I cried.
Declan rose up into a sitting position. He took one of my swaying breasts in his mouth and sucked deeply while gripping my hips tight. He changed the rhythm to work me against him, pulling me almost off his cock and then slamming me back down on him. I felt him go deeper and deeper each time, and as much as I was enjoying the feeling, Declan was grunting in pleasure against my chest.
“Yes, harder, Declan!” I cried.
Just when I thought I might come again, Declan pushed me onto my back and brought my legs straight up against his chest so my feet rested at his shoulders. I whimpered when he rammed himself back inside me. He grinned down at me with satisfaction, and I knew I was in for it. I’d told him I wanted it harder, so he was going to really give it to me.
As he pounded into me, his balls smacked against my ass. He groaned as the position took him deeper again. My cries of pleasure seemed to fuel Declan on as he thrust again and again. I felt the tension in his body and realized he was getting close. Suddenly, he spread my legs and brought them back to their original position; we were now face to face and wrapped in each other’s arms, and I went over the edge.
When my last orgasm tightened my walls around Declan’s cock, he thrust one last time and then let himself go inside me. “Oh, fuck, Peyton!” he cried before collapsing on top of me.
We lay there entangled in each other’s arms and trying to catch our breath. Seconds turned to minutes as we just lay there. As we stared into each other’s eyes, we said all the things we wanted to say but couldn’t find the words. All the hurt, the pain, the love, the happiness, the hope for the future swirled around us in that mome
nt.
No matter how many years had passed or where life had taken me, nothing compared to the feeling of being wrapped in Declan’s arms.
He was home.
But even better, I was home, too.
Finally breaking the silence, Declan said, “I was hoping after all these years together and after everything had happened, it would be just as good as before.” He smiled as he ran his thumb across my jaw. “But I think it was even better.”
“Me too,” I replied as I ran my hands up and down his back. “Seriously the best I’ve ever had has been with you.”
“I can say the same thing.” A few moments passed before a self-appreciative smile curved on Declan’s lips.
“What are you grinning about?”
“I still have it, huh?”
“Don’t ruin the moment by being so cocky.”
“Hey, that cock just gave you lots of pleasure.”
I giggled. “That is true.” Wagging my brows, I replied, “Do you think it’ll be up to pleasuring me again in a little while?”
Declan chuckled. “It’s not as young as it once was, but it’ll rise to the occasion if you give it a few minutes.”
“I’m good at waiting.”
“I would argue differently, but I’m willing to give you an orgasm or two while we wait.”
“You’ll get no complaints out of me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Four months later
Forcing a smile to my face, I rose out of my office chair. “Thank you so much for coming. I’ll be in touch with my answer within the week.”
After showing today’s fifth interview out my office door, I exhaled a defeated breath. Fifteen prospects had passed through the clinic in the last week. So far, none of them felt like the one. Some male, some female, some middle-aged, some fresh out of school. All brought different skills and talents to the table. Under different circumstances, each and every one of them would have made an excellent partner.
But Papa’s clinic was an exception.
Regardless of how defeated I felt, I knew the right person was out there. The one who would respect the enormous shoes they were stepping into. The one who would understand the importance of a family run clinic.
Until then, I was overworked and slightly overwrought since Dr. Kisick’s retirement a week ago. Easing back down in my chair, I unlocked my iPad to finish up the notations on today’s charts. At a gentle knock on my door, I called, “Yes?”
Sylvia stuck her head in. “Any luck?”
I shook my head. “Lots of great candidates. Just not the one.”
She smiled. “I get it. I haven’t felt that spark with any of them either.”
“Does that mean you don’t think I’m crazy for not hurrying up and hiring someone?”
“Of course not. It’s a big decision you’re undertaking. Not only do you have to find the right one to work with you, but it has to be a good fit with the techs as well. After all, this is a family.”
“Thanks, Sylvia. You don’t know how much I appreciate that.”
“You’re more than welcome.” Nodding at my phone, she said, “I came in to tell you Roy Wallace is on line two.”
“Got it. Thanks.” Picking up the phone, I pressed the button for line two. “Hi there, Mr. Wallace. What can I do for you today?”
“Well, Doc Beasley, I think I have another heifer with a breach calf, and I’m just getting too old for this.”
I laughed. “It’s okay, Mr. Wallace. You’re in luck today because my calendar is clear. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
After hanging up with Roy, I made a quick supply run before heading out the door. When I pulled up at his house, I had a slight feeling of Déjà vu since it was here where I saw Declan again. Of course, my feelings towards him them were a complete one eighty from now. I would have never fathomed a future with Declan that day. I only wanted to tell him off—to somehow make him hurt the way he had hurt me.
But now things were amazing. Outstanding. Glorious. Right.
When I got out of the car, Roy was waiting on me. “It’s good to see you again although not under the circumstances,” he said.
With a smile, I replied, “I would have to say the same thing.”
Pointing out to the pasture, he said, “You can find the heifer where the last one was.”
I couldn’t help feeling surprised that Roy wasn’t going to walk me out there again. There must’ve been a lot of truth in him saying he was getting too old. “I’ll go take a look,” I replied.
After grabbing my bag out of the backseat, I started toward the pasture. Today I was sporting my own pair of Wellies, not an old pair of Papa’s. It made it a lot easier making my way across the muddy terrain.
When I crested the hill, I gasped. Below me Declan stood on a carpet of what appeared to be multicolored roses. A sea of flickering candles littered the grass around him. The one thing absent from the area was the cows.
My mind screamed at my feet to pick themselves up and started walk. Finally, after what felt like a small eternity of being frozen, I started down the hillside. The closer I got to Declan, the faster my heart began beating. I was afraid it was going to explode out of my chest before I could reach him.
As I slowly walked up to him, he gave me a beaming smile. “You made it.”
“Under false pretenses, but yes, I did.”
“Roy was a real trooper when it came to helping me with this.”
“And what exactly is all this?”
“I’m commemorating the place where we reconnected six months ago today.”
“Wow. Has it really been that long?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He pursed his lips at me. “I thought women were supposed to be methodically good at remembering relationship dates.”
Sweeping my hands to my hips, I countered, “Call me crazy that I didn’t remember to draw a heart around that day. Maybe it slipped my mind because I was occupied with telling you off.
A wicked grin slunk across Declan’s face. “And then you fell in a pile of cow shit.”
With a roll of my eyes, I replied, “Yes, thanks for reminding me of that.”
“You know I’ll always be the first person to laugh at the absurdity of the moment when it comes to you.”
“How gallant of you.”
“I thought it was quite gallant, as you say, of me to try to make something beautiful out of this day.”
Although I hated to admit it, he was right. After ten years apart, the anniversary of that day would always be important. “Yes, it was nice of you to do this.”
“Just nice?”
“Fine. It was extremely thoughtful and endearing of you.”
He grinned. “Much better.”
After gazing around the pasture, I said, “The flowers and candles are gorgeous, but you could have done the same thing at home.”
“That would have been too easy.” He closed the gap between us. “You of all people should appreciate the fact our history will never be cookie cutter perfect. It’s messy and complicated. That’s what makes it special.” He brushed his hand across my cheek. “I want to spend the rest of my life righting the wrongs of the past. Painting this pasture where we reconnected in a better light is just one small step of many.”
I couldn’t help but swoon, which caused my knees to buckle. When I pitched forward, it appeared I was going to do a repeat of my epic face plant from six months ago. Fortunately, Declan reached out to right me before I could fall. “Thank you,” I said in a breathy voice.
“I’m starting to think there’s something about this pasture that makes you klutzy,” Declan teased.
I playfully smacked his arm. “The last time I was nailed in the thigh by an irate heifer’s hoof. This time I was knocked off guard by your words,” I argued.
An impish gleam burned in Declan’s eyes. “Just wait. You haven’t seen nothing yet.”
Furrowing my brows at him, I asked, “What do you mean?”
When Declan k
nelt down in front of me, one of my hands flew to cover my mouth. “Oh. My. God. You’re on your knees. You’re…”
He smiled. “That’s right, Peyton Elizabeth Beasley. I’m proposing. Again.”
Oh God. This was really happening. Declan wanted to marry me. Again. My head swirled with a trippy, lightheaded feeling. In the midst of my dreamlike state, it hit me. “You’re proposing to me in the middle of a cow pasture?”
“Why not?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the off chance you might be kneeling in manure?”
“That’s not possible since I had this hillside cleaned this afternoon.” With a wink, he added, “Besides, I’d roll around in cow shit if it meant spending the rest of my life with you.”
While my heartbeat thrummed wildly in my chest, I shook my head. “Please don’t.”
Declan chuckled. “I promise.” After a moment passed, his expression grew serious. “Look, I’ve spent the last few weeks wracking my brains about how I should do this. I knew I wanted it to be something completely different than the first one.”
At the time, the day we got engaged was the happiest day of my life. I’d gone on a cruise with his family to the Caribbean and stayed in a room with Danielle. On our last day beside a gorgeous waterfall, he’d dropped to one knee. As a nineteen-year-old-girl, it was the most romantic thing I could ever imagine, and at thirty, I had to say it appeared epically more romantic than Roy Wallace’s cow pasture.
“After all this time, that one still holds up as being pretty magical.”
“I know. But hear me out for a minute.”
I grinned. “Trust me, I want to hear you explain this one.”
“I knew a trip out of the country or even out of town was out of the question considering everything you have on your plate with Hank’s retirement. I thought about a day trip to Atlanta and proposing there.” He shook his head. “But while Atlanta was part of you, it’s never been part of me. More importantly, it’s not a part of us.”
“You’re right.” When I thought about it, I wouldn’t have wanted a proposal in Atlanta. The city didn’t just represent the life I’d created post-jilting, but it was also a physical manifestation of my continued running from my problems or more precisely from Declan.
