“Nothing really, but I wanted to make a clear statement to everyone that you’re here with me. No one will get the wrong idea now.”
“So that was you staking your claim on me?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that sort of archaic?” I know there’s more to this story.
He sighs loudly, “Raven, with these guys, you never know what’ll happen.”
I still don’t follow; I stare at him waiting for more of an explanation.
“Shit, we’re used to sharing girls, okay? It’s not unusual for some girls in the room to be with one or more of us a night. I needed to make everyone understand you are not that kind of girl.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that. That sounds gross.”
“I don’t want to taint what we have with the past. That’s not what I want anymore.” He leans down and whispers in my ear, “None of those girls even come close to Monday night with you. I never knew what I was missing until I met you.”
I stare back at him trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. I lift my lips to his to let him know we’re okay and he holds me close. There are a lot of things I might not want to know about Declan’s past, but I know I’ll have to work through
them if I want us to work.
Several hours later, Sayge is on their last song and the girls and I are swaying back and forth to it. We stayed on our feet with the rest of the crowd through the entire performance. The three of us are soaked with sweat and our voices are hoarse from screaming. Declan made a point to sing to me most of the night. He stripped off his sweat-stained shirt and threw it directly to me. When I caught it, I got hateful looks from all the girls around us. I laughed and poked it into the back of my jeans.
Sayge finishes the song and the lights go out. Then the girls and I make our way backstage.
“Holy Moses, I’ve never seen Dec perform like that before. Rave, what have you done to him?” Ella asks quietly as we walk to the room.
“I’m not sure I’ve done anything. Maybe it was just a good night for them.”
“Nope, pretty sure it’s you.”
I see him right away. He’s slipping a clean shirt over his head. There’s a redhead next to him, but he doesn’t even pay attention to her. I walk up to him and run my hands over his back. He smiles down at me and plants a long, wet kiss on my lips. When he pulls away, I suck on his ring and smile up at him.
“You do realize I just went from a semi to a full hard-on?”
“We’ll see what we can do about that when we get home.”
Blake calls out over the small crowd, “Dec, you up for a few rounds? Let’s Party!”
“What do you think, Sparkle, you want to stay?”
“Let me check with my ride home and see what they’re doing.”
“You didn’t answer me,” he says in my ear. “I’ll take you home. Do you want to stay with me?”
I’m breathless again, so I nod my head.
“Good, let’s make sure they know you’re with me in case they want to go.”
Abbi and Ella are standing at the door with water. They decline to stay so Declan walks them to their car and I go to the bar.
He tugs on my ponytail when he returns and lands a kiss on the back of my neck. I turn to him and wrap myself around his shoulders. We both have lust in our eyes and I rub my body up against his. Even though the band has stopped, there’s music blaring from the stage. He orders two shots from the bar. He hands me one and we slam them back.
Declan leads me to the dance floor. “Scream” by Usher is playing over the speakers and bodies are bumping into us as we find our way to a dark corner. He situates my back against his front and starts to dance. I can feel his hands all over my body. Every place he touches leaves a trail of heat. I forget we’re in public and grind into him as I throw my arms around him. He’s licking my neck and biting on my ears. I’m so turned on that I think I’ll burst. I feel his erection at my back and turn to look at him. I continue to grind with him in hopes that he can feel what I’m telling him. I want him too, maybe not tonight, but soon.
“You’re fucking hurting me. Can you feel how hard I am? Do you know how much I want you?”
I decide to play a game with him, “Why don’t you tell me what you want?”