Page 19 of Playing with Desire
She frowned, wondering how he could concede so easily and be so indifferent to what had happened between the three of them. Unless she’d just been another warm body for him. “And it meant nothing to you?”
“I never said that,” he replied, his dark green gaze direct on hers. “Fucking you definitely meant something, but it meantmoreto Declan, and that’s what matters. It’s not often that he’s selfish and wants something all to himself, so it was easy to bow out and let him have you for the duration of his stay.” Then he grinned wickedly. “Trust me, I’d fuck you again given the chance and Declan’s permission, so you’d be mistaken to think or believe I don’t want you.”
Oh, wow. His honesty sent shock waves through her body. The kind that spiraled down to intimate places. Rick clearly cared about Declan, and as stepbrothers, they obviously had forged a bond over their years together. One where Rick felt as though he was doing the honorable thing by stepping out of the ménage, for Declan’s sake—even if Rick still desired her.
She exhaled a deep breath, and when Rick got up to make himself another cup of coffee, she glanced around the kitchen and dining area, which looked to have been recently updated. A window beside them with the shutters open to let in daylight revealed a spacious backyard that was well maintained, along with a pool and spa. All of which made her wonder about the stepbrothers’ living arrangements.
When Rick returned and slid back into his seat, she decided to ask, to keep their conversation away from any more intimate revelations. “So, do you and Declan share this house, or does he just stay here when he’s on leave?”
“We co-own the place,” he said, explaining the arrangement. “The house belonged to our parents, and when they passed away, we inherited the property. We were both fairly young at the time, so instead of selling, we decided to keep it and paid the loan off with the life insurance money so we didn’t have a mortgage to worry about. I live here full-time, and yes, Declan stays here when he’s on leave. Right now, it works for both of us, but I’m sure at some point one of us will buy the other out.”
She was fascinated by everything he’d just said, but there was one thing that stood out to her, and she stopped him before he could say anything more. “Wait. Your dad and Declan’s mom... they’re gone?” she asked, remembering the parental dynamics from a throwaway comment Declan had made the night before about his mother marrying Rick’s dad.
Rick nodded. “Yep, and way too fucking soon.”
His tone was gruffer than normal, his grief still apparent. Her heart went out to him because she knew and understood the pain of losing a loved one, too. Her mother’s overdose death had been a shock, but losing her grandmother had been a devastating blow for Summer. Years later, she still missed the older woman who’d raised her, and missed her every single day.
“How old were you and Declan?” she asked, and finished off the last of her coffee.
Rick absently tapped his fingers on the table. “Declan had just turned twenty and was still trying to figure out what he was going to do with his life,” he said with a touch of humor. “And I was twenty-two, just graduated from college, and had started working for Noble and Associates.”
“Do you mind me asking what happened to your parents?” she asked softly.
He didn’t hesitate. “They were on their way home from dinner one night and two cars that were racing one another ran a red light at ridiculously high speeds.” A pained look passed across his features as he retold the terrifying tale. “Both vehicles slammed into our parents’ at the same time, which caused our parents’ car to catch fire, and because they were both pinned in the vehicle because the wreckage was so bad, neither one made it out alive.”
“I’m so sorry.” Her chest hurt at the awful tragedy. “That’s horrific.”
“Yes, it was.” His jaw clenched at the harrowing memories. “It happened ten years ago, but it’s still difficult to think about and process.”
She could only imagine. “And your biological mother? Is she around?”
He shook his head. “She divorced my dad when I was about six to marry someone else, and I wasn’t part of that plan.”
She heard the faint hint of bitterness in his voice, not that she could blame him for feeling that way. Being abandoned by a parent definitely messed with a kid’s head. “And what about Declan’s biological dad?” she asked curiously, fascinated by these two men’s pasts.
“Another tragic tale, unfortunately,” he replied, his tone now wry. “I think you should ask him about all that. It’s not my story to tell.”
“Fair enough,” she said, just as the front door slammed shut, announcing that Declan had returned from his morning run, and her heart automatically leapt in anticipation. God, she was already so infatuated with him. She didn’t want to think about where her feelings would stand in three weeks.
A few seconds later, Declan walked into the kitchen, his gaze sliding from Summer across the table to Rick, a slight furrow forming between his brows. There was nothing intimate about her and Rick’s positions or their body language toward one another, but there was no mistaking the now familiar possessive spark she saw darken Declan’s gaze as he came up to her side of the table.
He didn’t say a word, just slid a hand into her hair, gripping the strands in his fingers and tipping her head back so she was forced to look up at him and meet his hot, glittering gaze. His hair was damp with perspiration, along with his skin, and it didn’t escape her notice how his T-shirt now clung to every muscle and ridge of his upper body.
His face lowered, stopping inches away from hers as he inhaled deeply. “Mmm. You smell like me,” he said, his voice a deliberately aggressive growl that sparked a fire deep in her belly.
She knew Declan meant the body wash she’d used, but he was being incorrigible in front of Rick and deliberately giving the comment a very sexual connotation. Like he’d put his unique scent all over her body during the course of the night of fucking her, to imprint her as his. Which he had, but allthosepheromones had been washed away in the shower.
Then, he closed the distance separating their lips and kissed her, his mouth hot and greedy on hers and his fingers tight in her hair so that it was clear who was in charge and who she belonged to. His tongue swept deep inside, unabashedly claiming her in front of Rick. She uttered a soft, unraveling moan and didn’t do a damn thing to stop him, because truth be told, she liked being branded by this man.
“Jesus Christ, Declan, you’re being a fucking barbarian,” Rick said, sounding surprisingly annoyed. “You don’t need to mark her in front of me. I’m not going to touch her.”
Declan ended the kiss with a nip of his teeth on her damp lower lip, then lifted his head, meeting her gaze with a cocky smirk on his face. “Just making sure she knows she’s mine.”
She rolled her eyes at his arrogance, which she found much too sexy when, on any other man in her past, she would have hated such pretentious behavior. “Trust me, I do.”
“That’s all that matters.” Seemingly satisfied, he gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, contradicting the ravishing one he’d just given her as he released her hair and straightened.
“So, what were the two of you talking about?” he asked casually, as if he hadn’t just put on a display of dominance for Rick’s benefit.
