Fighting For You (Danvers #4)(51)

The fight with her mother seemed to have kicked everything off. His first dream had been that night. He couldn’t help but acknowledge what his subconscious was trying to tell him. He didn’t think he was killing her by being around, but he damn sure was starting to question whether he was ruining her life by continuing this relationship. She had obviously been a loyal daughter before he had come along and blown her family dynamics all to hell. Was her mother bat-shit crazy, hell yeah, but was that his call to make?

He had let this relationship deepen with her almost against his will. She was just so easy to be with and damn hard to be without. He loved who he was and how he felt when he was with her. She cracked him up with her strange love of action movies. The woman masturbated in front of him with the confidence of a seasoned pro, but then in the next minute, her innocence brought him to his knees. He found it impossible to stay away from her during the day at the office. If he had an extra five minutes, he went by to see her even if he barely had time to make it there and back to his office. She calmed his rage, buffered his guilt and soothed his soul. She made every breath that he took sweeter.

For all that she did for him, what exactly did he do for her? What had Ella gotten out of this relationship besides a war with her mother? To top it off, he had turned into a single father almost overnight. Evan was a great kid and, while he learned how to be a father, he would probably forgive him for screwing up his role in his life. How about Ella though? Could she forgive him for screwing up her life? Things never went well for the people in his life that he cared about—his parents, his grandfather, Ava, Craig. The list seemed endless and his gut twisted as he thought about Ella being added to that list.

In typical guy fashion, this would be the point where he started putting some distance between them. Maybe force himself to stop seeking her out during the day. Make some excuses not to see her at night. Stop taking and returning calls. Just the typical ass**le behavior his sex had perfected. With all that had happened in his life lately, she probably wouldn’t even hate him over it.

God, he couldn’t have her wondering what was going on. He owed it to her to shoot straight. If he wanted to end their relationship, he was going to have to man up and officially end it. She had done nothing to cause a break-up and he had done everything. He had to let her go before things got worse. He cared about her too much to let this continue, knowing he could never give her what she needed. He’d already taken her virginity, something he had no right to do. But he was just selfish enough to want the rest of the week with her before it was over. He needed to store up enough memories to get him through the bleak days ahead without her. In the end though, he would be saving her, something he wished he had been able to do for Craig.

***

Another night of seeing Ella die before his eyes while he slept had him restless and about to crawl out of his skin. When the doorbell rang at six a.m., he could only figure that the person on the other side had a death wish. When he swung the door open to find a smiling Ella before him, looking young and beautiful in a green dress and sandals, he felt his bad mood start to slide. How could you be pissed with something so damn perfect standing in front of you. He could feel his resolve starting to falter as he grabbed her hand to pull her inside.

“I just left Beth’s and thought you might like some bagels, so I—”

That was as far as she got before he hauled her into his arms and his mouth came crashing down on hers. He heard the bag hit the floor with a thud as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her curves against him. Within moments, her dress was down at her waist and her panties were torn and sliding down her legs. When his hand found her sex he groaned. “Ellie, you’re so wet. Wrap your legs around me, baby, I need to f**k you. He lowered the waist of his jogging shorts, freeing his cock. She let out a wild moan as he positioned himself at her entrance, rubbing back and forth in her warm heat. Unable to hold out another moment, he surged forward, burying his length in her.

“Declan, mmmm, feels so good.”

The sound of her voice seemed to break the last shreds of his control and his hips pounded forward. She locked her ankles behind him, lifting her hips to meet him thrust for thrust. He leaned down to take one nipple into his mouth, nipping the tip sharply. He felt her body shudder at the small bite of pain mixed with pleasure. He went wild when she repeated the move on his nipple. Feeling those small teeth against his nub, sent him off into orbit. He set a relentless pace and she was with him every step of the way.

“I can’t hold back any longer baby.” That was all it took to push her off the end along with him. Their shouts of completion filled the apartment. Anyone unfortunate enough to be walking down the hall at that moment would get more than they bargained for.

Too weak to stand for much longer, he staggered back until he felt the couch against his knees. He collapsed on a soft cushion and Ella sprawled on top of him. When they had both caught their breath, she pulled back giving him an impish grin. “I guess this means you’ll take me to the new Expendables movie? It’s got everyone in it, including Jason Statham. I just loved him in all of the Transporter movies.” Feeling his chest shake, she pulled back wrinkling her nose in an adorable fashion that was all Ella. “What?”

“You know you make my dick hard when you start talking about stuff like that. Your bad-girl side is so damn hot, Ellie.”

She gave him a grin, slowly swiveling her hips against his ever-growing erection. “You like bad girls, Mr. Stone?”