Declare (Declan Reede: The Untold Story #4) (24 page)

Alyssa snorted. “You two hate each other.”

“That’s not true, love,” I said. “I don’t have a problem with Curtis . . . he has a problem with me.”

“For good reason,” Curtis added gruffly.

“For good reason,” I agreed.

Our eyes met briefly, and I felt the chasm between us shrink—just a little.

“Just so you know . . . I want you in me all night long tonight,” Alyssa murmured in my ear. Her intent may have been to whisper, but it came out more like a yell.

I tried not to grin at the look on Curtis’s face as her words sunk in.

From then on, the night couldn’t end fast enough for me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: FIRST NIGHT

ALYSSA SOBERED UP a bit as the night wore on. By the time it started to wind down, she was only a little tipsy.

We said our farewell to everyone in a unique twist on the receiving line. The emcee gathered all the guests into a large circle and we had a few minutes one-on-one with everyone as we made our way around the circle, kissing one another when our paths intersected.

For our goodbyes, Alyssa and I had selected songs that would reflect the positivity we felt about our marriage. We hoped that it would help everyone realise we were happy and allow us to move on to the next phase of our lives without the baggage of their disapproval.

Each person had at least a few words of encouragement as I greeted them. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Alyssa. Just before we intersected, the song changed and by the time we came to each other the lyrics were telling us not to be afraid. I wasn’t now.

There was nothing I wanted more than to spend the rest of my days with Alyssa.

Finally, the party wound down and the last few guests left. Alyssa tried to find Ruby for a final farewell and thank-you, but was told she’d already left for the evening. The last of the stragglers were being led out by the hotel staff, so Alyssa and I were free to go whenever we wanted.

Grinning widely, I grabbed Alyssa’s hand and led her to the elevators. I chuckled as I realised how eerily similar it was to the first time we’d stayed at the Suncrest Hotel together—right down to the room card burning a hole in my tuxedo pocket. Only this time, there were no nerves, only anticipation.

The elevator doors opened and, hand in hand, Alyssa and I stepped into our future.

Before the doors had even slid shut, we attacked each other. The short trip to our floor was almost torturous after the hours-long seduction we’d already experienced. However, it was long enough for Alyssa to undo my tie and rake her hands through my hair to pull my lips against hers.

When the elevator dinged at our floor and the doors opened, I swept Alyssa up into my arms and carried her down the hallway toward our room. I set her on the floor long enough to negotiate the door open then picked her up again to carry her across the threshold.

“Mrs. Reede,” I whispered reverently. I couldn’t comprehend or contain the love and excitement that threatened to burst from my chest at the mere utterance of those words.

Her lips crashed into mine, and she began tugging on the buttons of my shirt. I could see she was eager for more, for us to lie skin to skin, and I was willing to oblige. But I wanted one thing first.

“Stop,” I whispered into her mouth before putting her back onto the ground again. I circled around her slowly, taking in the magnificence that was Alyssa in her wedding dress. I stopped when I stood directly in front of her, and reached out for her hand. She complied willingly, and followed my slow backwards steps. I silently led her to the couch and motioned for her to stop. I sat in front of her, taking another moment to drink her in with my eyes.

“There’s something I want to do before we get undressed.”

She tilted her head in question, but I was sure she’d catch on soon enough. We’d had hours of foreplay during the reception, so I was sure neither of us needed more. I raised my arm toward her slowly before trailing it down the length of her dress to the floor. The material was soft and smooth beneath my fingers, but I knew her skin would be softer and smoother still. I curled my hands underneath her dress before running my fingers back up along the length of her leg. My other hand made short work of the buttons on my tuxedo pants and I lifted my arse just high enough to push all the clothing off the lower half, down to my knees. I reached for Alyssa’s panties and pulled them off swiftly, leaving her deliciously bare under her dress.

She took the lead then, planting one knee on the couch to the left side of me and guiding her hips over mine. My fingers traced small patterns on her arse as she lowered herself onto me. I closed my eyes and hissed at the feeling of relief that washed over me as I buried my cock deep within her.

We moved together slowly, alternating between staring at each other intently and kissing each other tenderly. It wasn’t rushed; instead, I enjoyed every sensation. Even though I was desperate for her, I was certain we’d last for a long time. While we moved, I committed the image to my mind. I couldn’t get over how fantastic she looked while fucking me in her wedding dress.

AFTER THE session on the couch, which was over much too quickly for either of our liking, Alyssa led me into the bedroom of the suite where I had stripped her slowly. The pace was more due to all of the buttons and fasteners on her dress and underwear than any desire on my part to go slow. I was more than ready for round two.

When I had Alyssa naked aside from her jewellery and garter, I peeled my own clothes away piece by piece. Alyssa watched me appreciatively while removing the diamonds and gold that seemed to be dripping from her and put them all away in their proper cases. Then she held out her hand, complete with her new gold band, and led me into the bathroom.

I helped pull the metal from her hair—I still remembered the booby trap that had awaited my unsuspecting hands the night of our formal—before helping her into the shower.

We caressed each other under the cascade of water provided by the large, ceiling-mounted showerhead. The water caused Alyssa’s make-up to run, so I grabbed the face cloth and gently wiped at her cheeks and mouth. She pouted her lips as I ran the cloth over them, and it was too much temptation for me. I dipped my head down to meet her mouth, hoping desperately to convey my passion with the right combination of lips and tongue. It was like a private code only we knew.

I stepped back from her and blew out a breath. She grinned wildly up at me, and I knew she was feeling all the same things I was. Effectively nothing had changed from a week before, and yet everything had. We would still be living together just as we had been. Only now it would be as man and wife.

I handed Alyssa the face cloth, and she swiped at her eyes a few times until all the black was gone.

“There’s the woman I love,” I murmured, touching one finger to her chin.

“Was my make-up that bad?” she joked.

“No, definitely not. But you don’t need all that goop on your face to be beautiful.”

She smiled at me before turning the water off.

We slipped into the large, fluffy white bathrobes provided by the hotel and stepped back into the bedroom, completing the few tasks that needed attending to before we could devour each other. As we moved around one another wordlessly, we watched each other hungrily—both eager for the moment we would begin our seduction anew.

Once the urgent tasks were seen to, it was like a siren went off to say that it was time to come together again. We raced at each other so quickly that it was almost as if a starter’s gun had been fired. Bathrobes were discarded with reckless abandon, limbs tackled each other for dominance, and mouths moved steadily along skin.

No matter how much I had, I wanted more.

No matter how much skin I touched, it wasn’t enough.

When we were done—not satisfied because being fully satisfied was impossible when it came to Alyssa—we fell asleep wrapped together.

I held Alyssa tightly under my arm as she murmured in her sleep, muttering repeats of all the things she’d said during the day. Our wedding day. I could hardly believe it had come and gone already, and now she really was mine.

I thought back over the event and realised I wouldn’t change a thing. Despite the shittiness and fuckery of the speeches, it all ended exactly where I’d wanted it to. I twisted out of Alyssa’s grip a little before turning over to hover above her. She looked peaceful as she slept soundly with a grin on her face. A slight sheen of sweat coated her naked body—no doubt a result of our hours spent together before falling in an exhausted heap.

God, I could take her again. I was ready, aching for her. It would have been selfish to wake her up and demand more attention. I nuzzled against her side and softly kissed her neck. She murmured in her sleep and rolled closer to me.

I stroked one hand along her side, trailing my fingers over her body. She tilted her hips up to meet mine.

“Lys,” I whispered as I moved my kisses down to her chest.

Her hands moved to my hair, drawing my lips closer to her skin. I risked a glance up at her face and caught her smiling sleepily at me.

“Anyone would think you’re ready to go again,” she said with a chuckle. 

Fuck, sometimes being selfish was totally worth it.

Although that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t make it worth her while.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: EXPECTING

“GOOD MORNING, SLEEPYHEAD.” Alyssa greeted me with a cup of coffee in hand, sitting on the couch almost precisely where she’d fucked me for the first time as my wife. She was wearing the bathrobe again and her hair was wet. She’d obviously been up for a while and had showered while I was sleeping in. “I ordered breakfast. It just arrived.”

I thanked her as I leaned over to kiss her before helping myself to a plate of bacon and eggs from the room service trolley.

“Sleep well?” she asked, unable to wipe the grin off her face.

I nodded as I chewed my breakfast through a wide smirk of my own.

She watched thoughtfully as I ate.

“What’s on the agenda today?” she asked as I finished off the last few mouthfuls. She reached forward to place her cup back onto the trolley, showing off a significant amount of thigh and boobs.

“I suppose staying here and fucking like animals is out of the question?”

She laughed.

I raised my eyebrow at her to let her know that I wasn’t joking. Even after our effort last night, I wasn’t nearly finished celebrating our marriage.

She stood and walked over to me before placing my plate back onto the tray. She rested her legs on either side of mine and positioned herself onto my lap. “We can’t do that
all
day.”

“We can try.” I kissed her neck slowly, feeling myself growing harder against her.

A knock on the door startled both of us, and we jumped to our feet. Being the most dressed of the two of us, even though I was only wearing shorts, I stood to answer it while Alyssa ducked into the bedroom.

Mum and Phoebe stood waiting outside the door. “Hey, baby!” I said, scooping Phoebe into my arms.

“Morning, Daddy,” she said, rubbing her eyes as if she’d not long woken up.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Mum asked.

I shook my head. She was, but I wasn’t about to let her know that.

“I come bearing news,” Mum said. “Where’s Alyssa?”

The bedroom door opened again. I looked over and saw Alyssa stepping out wearing a loose-fitting sundress. “I’m here. What is it?”

“It’s Ruby,” Mum said, her face breaking out into a grin. “She went into labour last night, but we didn’t want to disturb you two until we absolutely had to. She’s at the hospital as we speak.”

“Oh, my God,” Alyssa exclaimed. “Oh, my God!” She looked over to me. “Declan—”

“I know,” I interrupted. “Go finish getting ready, and then we’ll go.”

“Do you want me to watch Phoebe a little longer?” Mum asked as Alyssa disappeared back into the room.

I nodded. “That would be great, if you don’t mind. It’ll be one less thing for Alyssa to stress about. I know this visit isn’t going to be easy on her.” I was just hoping for a perfect outcome for mother and child, but positive or negative, it wasn’t going to be an easy day for Alyssa.

Mum touched my cheek tenderly. “My little boy is well and truly grown up now, isn’t he?”

I shrugged her off. I was doing what I thought Alyssa needed; that’s all that mattered to me.

Within ten minutes, Alyssa and I were in a taxi on the way to the Royal Brisbane Hospital. Alyssa was a bundle of nervous energy beside me. Her foot bounced excitedly as we travelled.

“Are you okay?” I asked as the taxi dropped us at the front door. It was our second visit to a hospital in little over a week. At least this was for a much happier occasion than Morgan’s accident. I hoped.

Alyssa nodded as she looked up at the building in front of her. She’d spent so much time there in Phoebe’s early life that just the sight of the place was bound to cause her some panic. I rubbed my hand gently on the small of her back.

“It’s fine,” I murmured quietly into her ear. “Everything will be all right.”

“How can you know that for sure though?” she asked, turning to me, and I saw all of her fears, and all of the reasons she didn’t want to try for more children, written on her face.

“I don’t,” I admitted. “But sometimes you’ve got to have a little bit of faith.”

With a little nod, she took a deep breath and walked into the hospital with me in tow.

AS SOON as news went out that Alyssa and I had arrived, she was whisked off to join Josh and Ruth, who were already helping Ruby in the birthing suite. I was all for it, until I realised it left me alone in the waiting room with Killer Curtis.

“Didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” Curtis muttered, looking up over the top of a magazine at me. He seemed surprised to see me there, as if he thought I’d simply drop Alyssa at the hospital and leave her there alone. As if I could.

I didn’t know how long we were going to be thrust together, but I figured it was fate or the universe or some shit trying to tell me to play nice and try to patch things up with my father-in-law.

“We came as soon as we heard.”

“You may as well sit,” he muttered. “We could be here for a while. Ruth was in labour with Lys for almost a whole day.”

A day stuck alone with Curtis?
I was in some kind of hell. Or maybe I wasn’t. Maybe it was just opportunity knocking loudly on the door.

“How about when Alyssa was in here?” I asked. “With the twins?”

He flinched at my mention of Alyssa’s hospital trip before looking back at me and meeting my eyes. Something he saw there must have given him encouragement to continue.

“No, her trip was much quicker, because of the emergency. She was taken straight into surgery to have her caesarean. She wasn’t even awake when the babies were born.”

I sat on the single-seater lounge across from him. “Were you there for her?” I asked.

“Everyone came. Everyone who cared about her was there when she needed them.”

“No,” I said adamantly. “Not everyone. You have to believe that. I still cared for her. If I had even the slightest inkling of what was going on with her, and if my head wasn’t in my own arse at the time, I would have been there for her too.”

“If you cared so much, why did you leave? You had to know it would hurt her.”

“Of course I did,” I snapped, instantly regretting my tone. I buried my head in my hands. “I just thought it would be better for her in the long run,” I admitted. “I didn’t think I wanted—” I laughed bitterly at the stupidity of my younger self, and of what it had cost me. “Well, everything I’ve got now actually.”

“I’ll never understand how you could walk away so callously. Even if you didn’t know about the pregnancy and all that other stuff, how could you just leave? How could you not even call?”

I sighed. I didn’t think I would be able to adequately describe my thought process from when I’d left Alyssa. I barely understood it myself anymore. I turned the question back on him. “Before I left, would you have said I loved her?”

He regarded me for a few moments. “Yes,” he answered somewhat begrudgingly.

“Then you have to understand that I didn’t ‘just leave.’ Leaving was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. That’s exactly why I know I’ll never do it again. I can’t live without her, Curtis.”

“I still don’t understand how you could do it,” he admitted.

I chuckled without mirth. “Neither do I, but it seemed like the only logical solution to my seventeen-year-old self. And then I was too stubborn and hurting too much to fix it.”

He hummed then sat in quiet contemplation for a few minutes. I thought the conversation was over until he finally spoke. “So, how do you know you’re not going anywhere this time? How do you know that you won’t think it’s the best thing for her again?”

“I can’t do that to her again because I know now that she needs me as much as I need her. And I need her like I need oxygen.”

I could see by the softer expression on his face that he at least realised that I wasn’t going anywhere, and maybe that walking away hadn’t been as easy for me as he’d originally thought. Maybe we still weren’t quite back to where we had been before my disappearing act, but we were getting closer.

We sat in silence for another hour before Alyssa came back out from the delivery room.

“It’s a little boy,” she said. A smile lit her face. “Mum and bub are both doing great. Ruby’s just being moved to the ward now, but she’s asking for you, Dad.”

Curtis’s smile matched Alyssa’s, and for half a second, I felt like I was intruding on a private moment. He stood and walked past her, giving her a little squeeze as he went.

I waited as Alyssa walked over to me and sat on my lap, sighing softly. I wrapped my arms around her gently, trying to anticipate the different emotions that could overwhelm us both.

“Are you all right?” I whispered, giving her the opportunity to admit it privately if she wasn’t. I was worried that seeing Ruby give birth to a healthy baby boy would cause her some grief.

She gave me an odd look, no doubt questioning the reason behind my gentle probing. I chuckled softly. “Never mind, I just thought . . .”

She nodded quickly, her expression showing she had realised where I was coming from. “Really, I’m all right. In fact, I’m better than all right. It was just so special being in there and seeing how different things can be.”

I stroked her hair as she leaned against my chest.

“I guess it’s nice to be reminded that not every birth leads to a death.”

I kissed her hand, uncertain what else to say.

“Ruby was asking for you too.”

“Really?” I asked, somewhat shocked.

She laughed. “Of course, don’t sound so surprised. You’re family now.”

“Whether they like it or not?” I chuckled.

Alyssa laughed in response.

“Shall we give your folks a few moments alone with them?”

She nodded against me.

“How about we go to the gift shop while we wait?”

“You really are a softy, you know?” She laughed before standing and offering her hand to me.

“Just don’t tell anyone.” I winked at her. “I’ve still got a reputation to protect.”

WE FOUND an extremely overpriced gift basket with a little blue teddy bear and some chocolates in the hospital gift shop. We decided to stop for a quick drink while we waited, to give Ruth and Curtis some extra quality time with the new family. Alyssa told me about the part of the birth she had witnessed—although I suspected that she edited the story heavily. A fact I was thankful for.

After our drinks, we headed back to the maternity ward and found Ruby’s room. We quietly made our way through the door, just as Ruth and Curtis were leaving. Ruth touched my shoulder lightly as they passed. Alyssa’s hand grabbed on to mine, and she tugged me the last of the distance to Ruby’s bed.

Ruby was sitting upright in the bed with a tiny bundle of blankets cradled to her chest. She looked exhausted but thrilled.

“Hey, Mummy,” Alyssa murmured, bending down to kiss Ruby’s cheek. “How is he?”

“Who? Noah or Josh?” Ruby giggled. I couldn’t say when—or if—I had ever seen her so full of joy and peace.

Josh stood up from the side of the bed just then, juggling a pile of clothes, nappies, and a bag.

“Did someone say my—” His eyes fell on me, and he stopped cold.

Alyssa squeezed my hand; I wasn’t sure whether it was in support or to tell me to say something.

“Congratulations,” I said, smiling in what I hoped was a winning way.

Josh seemed to regard me for a moment before smiling weakly in return. “Thanks.”

I felt both Alyssa and Ruby relax as the tension broke a little.

“May I?” Alyssa asked Ruby, who paused for just a second before nodding and passing the bundle across.

Alyssa’s well-practised hands cradled the baby in what I assumed were all the right places to ensure nothing happened to him. I watched in amazement as a small face and two clenched fists poked out from the blankets. He was so tiny. I couldn’t image Phoebe ever being so small, even though I knew logically that she must have been.

In fact, she’d probably been even smaller.

Alyssa squished in beside Ruby on the bed, bouncing and shushing the baby like a pro.

She was such a natural mother, born to it. I felt the renewed sting of her confession about not wanting more kids. Had she felt a similar pain each time I’d professed the same desire to be childless? If so, I was hurting her long before I left.

Ruby and Alyssa sat side by side on the bed whispering about something or other, and I felt like I didn’t belong. I wasn’t about to go up and clap Josh on the back for a job well done—awkward congrats were the best Alyssa and Ruby could hope to expect.

Ruby nodded about something and then Alyssa stood and walked closer to me. “Here, why don’t you have a hold?”

She held the baby out to me, and I shook my head.

She looked almost amused. “Why not?”

I bit my lip before whispering, “What if I hurt him?”

She smiled in what I was certain was meant to be an assuring way. “You won’t hurt him.”