“I have resources,” he says with a smile. “I also have cupcakes from Nic’s shop in Seattle.”

I turn and simply look at him, my arms hanging limply at my sides. He did this for me. This took planning and work, and he did it for me.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

“It’s hot?” I grab a burger and bite into heaven. “Oh, my God.”

“Of course it’s hot,” he replies with a smirk. “You can’t eat cold burgers.”

“Seriously, this is ridiculous,” I say around a huge bite of burger.

“That it’s hot?”

“No. Yes.” I laugh. “It’s ridiculous that you had this flown in.”

“You wanted it.” He shrugs as if it’s no big deal and takes a bite of his own burger. “Wow. That’s amazing.”

“Told you.”

“I’ll have this flown in every week,” he says, reaching for a tot.

“That’s excessive,” I reply with a laugh.

“No, I think it’s necessary.”

We fall into a comfortable silence as we munch on our food, and when all that’s left is oily wrappers, he pulls me to him and snuggles me close.

“Delicious,” I say with a contented sigh.

“Yes, you are,” he murmurs while nibbling on my neck.

“The food.”

“That too.”

“I want cupcakes.”

He smiles, reaches for a box on the floor and hands it to me. It’s a plain white gift box with a red ribbon wrapped around it.

Inside are a dozen cupcakes, all different flavors, and a note.

“Would Nic send a note?” I ask, but Declan just shrugs. He’s no help.

Calliope:

I’m so proud of you. Tonight should be special. You’ve earned it. Thank you for spending it with me.

Thank you for being mine.

Yours,

Declan

Oh my.

“Declan, I—”

I slip the note back in the envelope and lay it on the table.

“You what?”

Tell him you love him! Now’s the best time.

But I’m such a damn wimp.

“Tonight wouldn’t have been half as special without you. And not just because of all of this, which I love, but because when I’m with you—”

He kisses my hand and squeezes it three times. “When you’re with me?”

“I just feel better. I feel more.” His eyes widen and then darken. “Emotions are brighter, and that’s the only way I can describe it.”

“I think that’s a beautiful way to describe it,” he whispers before he pulls me in and kisses the hell out of me. “You are more, Callie. We’re more.”

I nod and brush my fingertips down his cheek, his neck. “I like it.”

A slow smile spreads over his sexy face. “I like it too.”

Chapter Fourteen

~Declan~

I wake up needing her. I’m not jolted awake out of a dream, or because of a noise in the house.

It’s because I need her, and I’m not only hard as stone, but I’m sweaty with it.

I roll over. The moon is shining in the window, casting a blue glow over the bed, and there she is, with her back to me, curled up in a ball, sleeping peacefully. Her arm is over the covers, the bright colors of her ink perfectly lit up by the moon.

I became addicted to the pain.

That there was ever a time in her life that she needed the pain as an outlet for her feelings pulls a sorrow, a longing, from so deep inside me it almost renders me breathless. And the fact that she pulled herself together and became what she is now makes me burst with pride.

I reach over and trace the ink with the pad of my forefinger, smiling when she lets out a soft moan. Her noises are the best music I’ve ever heard. The way she breathes when I’m inside her, the way her muscles tighten around my cock, around my body.

I’ve never been with anyone like her, and I know I never will be again. She’s mine. Callie is it for me, and I know it’s going to take patience while she comes around to the idea, but she’ll get there.

I’m nothing if not patient. Some would call me too laid back, or even lazy, but the truth is, I just know how to bide my time.

I smile as she leans back into my touch, still sound asleep. The connection we have can’t be explained with words. It just exists, like electricity, or the moving of the tides by that bright moon.

God knows I feel both the energy and the pull of her, even when we’re not together.

I let my hand drift around to her chest and gently roll her already hard nipple through my fingers, then slide down her flat stomach and firmly urge her onto her back so I can part her legs, brushing my knuckles over the soft flesh of her thighs.

“Mmm,” she moans and cracks her eyes open. “Time is it?”

“No idea,” I whisper and kiss her belly as I work my way down. She threads her fingers through my hair, over and over again, with a sweet touch, and when I open her center to me and place a deep kiss over her pussy, those fingers clench in my hair, not pulling me closer but holding on while the first jolt of pleasure bursts through her.

“Oh my,” she breathes, then catches her breath again when my lips close over her clit and suck, not hard, but in a persistent rhythm. My face is rocking against her, and I can’t get enough of her. I love the way she tastes, her scent, all of it. I could camp out here all night.

But I need her. I need to be inside her, to claim her. It’s primal, and 100% male ego, and I don’t fucking care.