Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(86)

Declan wrapped his hands around her waist, his hands moving underneath the hem of her shirt, his fingers barely caressing her stomach. She nearly came undone from that one touch. Her own right hand moved up to wind tightly in his hair, with her left moving one of his hands upwards, begging him to continue his exploration.

They had fallen backwards in their display of passion, allowing a large oak tree to support them. Caitlyn’s back was against the roughness of the bark, but she barely noticed. The way his body molded to hers, it seemed as if his was made just for hers. Caitlyn knew that this must be what complete bliss feels like. It was inexplicable the feelings he was creating inside her.

She wanted nothing than to live in this moment forever. But in a small corner of her mind, a word reverberated through her head. One word. But that one word was enough to make her stop and leave the heaven she was currently in. Garrett.

As quickly as it started, it stopped. She forced herself to pull away, her breath coming out in ragged pants. She reached up and kissed him once more, roughly, desperately. “Declan.”

His eyes glazed over as he touched his forehead to hers. “Caitlyn. Wow.”

Her voice was quiet as she caressed his arms. “Yeah, wow.”

Her mind was racing with the actions of the past twelve hours. Garrett’s past, Lionel’s betrayal, and then… this. She looked up at Declan and wondered how she did not see the longing that was reflected in his eyes for all these months or how he did not see the same reflection in hers for that matter? How were they both so ignorant to what they had been crashing towards?

She straightened her clothes absentmindedly as she tried to process it all. She then realized that they were wasting precious time thinking about something that would need to wait, while there were other things that were so desperately more important at the moment. She grabbed his hand again. “Declan-”

She did not even need to finish the sentence. He understood that they did not have the luxury of time at the moment to figure out exactly what had just passed between them. “I know.”

“You do.” It wasn’t a question, just a confirmation.

He nodded. “I need to get back to my father and you need to go see Garrett and see how he is doing.”

“Declan, what if Lionel lived through that? What if he was going after Garrett again or your father? What if Caleb was unable to reach your father? You need to reach him and make sure he knows.”

“I doubt he would show his face in the Trust at the moment, but still, we can’t be positive of his actions. Caitlyn-”

She couldn’t help but run her hand through his hair gently before placing her hand back down towards her side. “We can talk about this later. Don’t feel guilty about leaving me. I think I’ve proved today that I can more than handle myself. You need to get to your dad, handle all this business. Maybe they can still catch Lionel. I… I need to be with Garrett to make sure he is okay. See if I can talk to him.”

His eyes were unreadable at the last statement. “Are you sure?”

She stood up straighter. “I am positive. Go. If you need me, you know where I will be.”

He paused, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “We will talk about all of this later.”

And with that he was gone. And Caitlyn was left alone, in the field, with her thoughts. She shook her head, desperately trying to clear her mind, closed her eyes and transported to the hospital.





Chapter 26



Declan had kissed Caitlyn. It had been unequivocally the best moment of his life, wrapped inside one of the worst moments of his life. He had not wanted it to be; he could not afford to be emotionally attached; could not afford to be in love. But yet, that was exactly what he was. He was in love with Caitlyn and there was no point fighting it.

Caitlyn had returned his kiss with equal fervor, and he did not question her want or need of him. He did not understand how he could be so blind; so ignorant of the feelings he felt for her. When she kissed him, it was as if he was hit by a bolt of lightning; restarting his long unused heart. But it did not matter. There were too many things going on with the Trust that he needed to focus on. With the betrayal of Lionel, his father had already contacted him about damage control; it would be a very busy few months. Lionel knew all their secrets; he was his father’s closest confidant. So he would be too distracted with important items to fight for Caitlyn; at least that is what he tried to convince himself of.

The truth was, while it was apparent Caitlyn had deep feelings for him, she cared for Garrett as well. He tried to wrap his head around that fact, accepting the truth. She was currently involved with him. He could not even attempt to be involved with her while she chose to be with him. Declan had never been one to condone cheaters; as it was, he already felt that he was the biggest hypocrite in the world with what happened with Caitlyn yesterday. Because if he knew if the chance presented itself, morals be damned, he would give in to the temptation that was Caitlyn Young. So he had decided that the easiest thing to do was to remove himself from the temptation.