I groaned and buried my head under my pillow. That didn’t help. I tossed in my bed, antsy. Angry even. I replayed the night, remembering my rejection from Declan. I rose up to beat on my pillow to make it softer.
Bloody Brit. He knew nothing about me.
I’d seen the darkness on the other side that night in the hotel, and I’d faced it down, dealing with it the only way I knew how. I was not fragile.
But you’ve changed, a small voice inside me said. You’re bitter. A shell.
I blew out a puff of air and flipped over on the mattress to find a more comfy spot, but it was pointless. Ugh. After fifteen more minutes of music and thumping noises, I jerked up and slipped a white cotton robe over my nightgown. I burrowed through a pile of shoes still in a box in my closet, bumping my head in the process, which only made me more pissed. Finally I found my pink rain boots and shoved my feet in.
I was putting my foot down with my new neighbor. If I didn’t, then he’d likely party every single night, and I couldn’t have that. I stepped outside my door, and since there was no overhang along the doorway, I got drenched in about five seconds. Cursing, I ran the short distance to my neighbor’s apartment and banged on the door with a heavy fist.
The thumping stopped, then the music.
I put my hands on my hips and schooled my features into an irritated glare. Kinda hard to look tough when you’re being pelted with rain, but I did my best.
The door opened wide and I squinted at the brightness.
“Excuse me, but your music is way too loud and you seem to be knocking out the walls—” I came to an abrupt stop. Blinked, resisting the urge to rub my eyes. “Declan?”
Dressed in black gym shorts and nothing else, he leaned against the doorjamb, his body glittering from the sweat that dripped down his well-muscled chest and straight down to the V of his hips. Oh. My. I inhaled.
He should come with a freaking warning label.
Just perfect. I must look like a drowned rat.
He pulled me inside the door and slammed it shut after a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. “What the bloody hell are you doing out in this?” His molten eyes swept over me, and I swallowed at the lump that formed in my throat.
Once again I felt a tug between us, that mysterious carnal push that had me imagining us in an erotic kiss while he pressed me against the wall and pounded …
Whoa. I stopped that train of thought.
“What are you doing here?” A ridiculous question, but my brain was fried.
He set down the red boxing gloves that had been dangling from his hands when he opened the door. “This is my new flat. I moved in today, same as you.”
He was the guy in the Jeep with the Union Jack hat.
“You saw me on the balcony today and recognized me at the party and didn’t say anything?” My voice had gone up an octave. “Don’t you think that’s weird?”
He raked a hand through his dark hair. Sighed. “I felt it best to not mention it after seeing how Blake reacted to me. He won’t be happy to know we’re neighbors.” He cocked his head. “He’s a territorial dude. You sure you aren’t with him?”
“I’m not with anyone. Ever.”
He took that in, his eyes raking over me. “So, did you come over here with the intention to seduce me? Because if you are, you’re doing a rather kick-ass job.”
What? I looked down.
My robe had come apart, revealing my now practically see-through white gown thanks to the downpour outside. Short, filmy, and made of silk, it had been a gift from Shelley.
I stiffened. “I’m here because someone keeps beating on the wall and playing their music so loud that I can’t sleep. Oh, it’s you.” I smirked.
He grimaced apologetically. “I was working out pretty hard with the punching bag. Sorry. It’s been a crap day. My new gym is stressing me out, plus my father sent me a text …” His eyes ghosted over my skin. “You’re soaked.” He turned and left the room, giving me a glimpse of scars on his back before he disappeared. My mouth parted. What had happened to him?
He came back with a towel, which he draped over my shoulders and pulled the ends closed. He smiled softly. “I’m sorry for bothering you. I like my music rather loud.”
And his women and sex hard. Oh yeah. I shivered.
“Okay.” My voice was husky, my heart hammering at his nearness.
But it wasn’t fear; it was pure lust. Declan was a man who hit all my buttons.
He seemed to realize how close we were standing, and he shifted, taking a few steps back from me. “Was there anything else?”
I laughed. Someone was ready for me to go, and for once, I wasn’t the one being overly cautious around the opposite sex; it was the guy. “No, that’s all. Sorry to bother you. I’ll go. Just try to keep it down.”
“Wait,” he said, as I put my hand on the doorknob.
I turned back. “Yeah?”
“About earlier with Dax. I’m sorry for it. I’ll hold him if you want to punch him in the nuts.”
I smiled at that visual. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“It’s just—he’s a good guy.” He shrugged. “I’ve been taking care of him my whole life even though we’re the same age. He can be careless but doesn’t mean to hurt anyone intentionally.”
I nodded. “No, of course. I’m glad you were there. Thank you.”
He smiled. “My mum always said I was the stronger one. She told me to watch over him.”
“Oh.”
He smiled and sucked his bottom lip in with his top teeth. The entire thing—his sweet words, his sexy face, his luscious lips—I wanted to kiss him.
My chest rose.
My palms got sweaty.
An entire colony of butterflies fluttered around in my tummy.
“If you really want to make me feel better, maybe you’d like to erase Dax’s kiss from my memory with one of your own?”
He froze, his alert gaze lingering on my lips as he licked his own. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Most definitely.”
“Now?” His husky voice assaulted my senses.
“Why not?”
The apartment swelled with silence as his eyes ate me up, as if he were trying to figure me out. God. What was wrong with me? Was I this desperate? I prepared myself for another rejection.
“Come here, Elizabeth,” he said in a soft yet commanding voice.
The towel around my shoulders dropped to the floor, and my feet crossed the space between us, eager for him. For this.
He cupped my cheek, his fingers trailing down my jawline to my neckline where he toyed with the buttons on my gown. “I can’t tell you no again, Elizabeth. Are you sure?”
A whisper of something sang through the air. Electric.
I nodded and put my hands on his shoulders and stood on my tiptoes, my mouth settling on his, my tongue dipping out to taste his secrets. He smelled masculine, like sweat, and the warmth of his chest pressed against my wet one. He didn’t move, until suddenly he did, his arms sliding around my shoulders, brushing the base of my spine as he gathered me close.
I sank into him, sighing at the way one of his hands moved to tangle in my hair.
Deeper. Decadent.
He became the instigator. His mouth roved over mine, his breathing heavier as he sucked at my lips playfully and then attacked again, his tongue tangling with mine. Owning me. Tendrils of desire curled inside me.
His hands moved down and tightened around my waist, digging into my hips. Sharp with need. He said my name against my mouth.
He felt so good, hard against my soft, and I wanted to revel in my success, in the way he wanted me, in the way I wanted him.
I moaned. This was good. Hot. Erotic. This was progress.
Until it wasn’t.
He tore his lips away and rested his forehead against mine. “You make it hard to stay away when you come in here with pink boots and wet knickers—which clearly aren’t granny panties.” His voice was like liquid amber, gold and warm, wrapped in sex.