Hush (Black Lotus #3)(34)

“Well, for what it’s worth,” I say as he fastens his seatbelt, “I like your toy.”

“As long as my baby’s happy.”

The pilot looks over his shoulder from his seat in the cockpit, saying, “We’ve been cleared for takeoff, sir. Are you ready?”

“We’re ready, William.”

“Would you like privacy for the flight?”

“Yes.”

I look to him, perplexed with a grin, and question, “You didn’t want privacy last time?”

“That’s because Lachlan was with us.”

His flirtations spark the tinder inside me, but he simply winks and takes my hand in his, threading his fingers with mine as the aircraft begins to move.

“Prepare for takeoff,” the pilot’s voice announces over the speaker.

I grip Declan’s hand tighter when the plane speeds up.

“You nervous?”

I look out the window as we lift off and ascend into the sky.

“Elizabeth?”

I roll my head over to him and nod, my fingers fixed around his. He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear, and I close my eyes as I lean into his touch.

“Talk to me.”

I blink my eyes open. “It feels weird going back. Everyone there knows me as Nina. I can’t be anything but her in that city.”

“I know,” he says, voice drowning in compassion.

“Does that bother you? Because it bothers me.”

“It’s part of who we are.”

“But does it bother you?” I ask again.

Shrugging his shoulders, he admits, “Somewhat. But we’re in this together. I’ll do what I can to make this trip short and uneventful.”

My stomach is in knots, wishing one of my many endless wishes to extinguish memories that are unvanquishable. I want to break out of the cobwebs I’ve spun that now cling to me like sand to a pearl. I’m no pearl though, more like the goop that embodies the pearl within the oyster. And I have to wonder, if beneath my protective shell, if you dug deep enough through the slime, would there be a morsel of purity?

I remember one of my conversations with Isla—she told me we’re all threaded with holy fibers.

Perhaps.

“Come here,” Declan says after a span of time.

He raises the armrest between us as I unfasten my seatbelt and then pulls me onto his lap. With my arms around his neck and his around my waist, I rest my head against his.

“We’re going to be fine,” he whispers deeply.

I nod. His hand slips under my top and trails up my spine, sending a rush of tingles across my skin. With eyes open, we watch each other intently. My hands find their way into his hair, and I grip fistfuls of it as his hand moves to trail across my stomach.

“Tell me what you want,” he speaks in a husky breath.

He runs a hand over my breast and pulls the lace of my bra down underneath my top.

“You. Raw and base. Touch me as if I’m unbreakable.”

He pinches my nipple hard between his fingers.

I yelp, and my body flinches at the sudden pain that shoots through the nerve endings that maze beneath my skin. “Yes,” I breathe.

Black swallows green as lasciviousness fills the air around us, and he clamps down on my nipple again, twisting so hard I have to hold my breath as my fingers claw his shoulders.

“Like that?” he asks, releasing me from his fingers.

“Mmm hmm,” I respond behind closed lips as my breast throbs to ebb the pain he’s inflicted.

He smiles, but it’s filled with imperious satisfaction.

“Good girl.”

He slides me off his lap, stands me up, and then joins me. Slowly, he takes the hem of my top and pulls it over my head before removing my bra, my nipples hard from his assault. He removes the rest of my clothes until I’m standing there completely naked and exposed while he remains clothed in his slacks and button-down.

“Turn around, spread your legs, and bend over,” he instructs, and I obey his word.

I turn, part my feet wide, and bend over, gripping my hands on to the armrests to steady myself. He then takes one end of the seatbelt and knots it around my left wrist and then does the same to my right with the other end of the seatbelt. He retreats back behind me, and I can feel his eyes on me, but he doesn’t touch me. I close my eyes and wait, and after what feels like a few minutes, I hear him shift. Opening my eyes, I look between my legs to see he’s on his knees, and then I close them again, startling when he finally touches me.

His fingers dig into my hips, and I feel his hot breath on my * seconds before his warm tongue glides along my seam. And then, he dips it between my folds and finds my clit. I whimper when he presses the pad of his tongue against it in a back and forth motion. My breathing picks up and my eyes pop open when my knees begin to buckle. There’s so much pressure and so much friction, quickly driving me to an orgasm. He’s unrelenting, and then abruptly pulls away, leaving my core needy and begging.

He then strikes my ass cheek hard with his hand, creating a loud smack. I immediately feel the abused skin radiate in blazing heat. But before the tingles kick in, he brings his hand down in another ruthless blow.

“Ow!”

Cold air meets the pucker of my ass when he spreads me open. Sweat coats my neck, and my arms begin trembling. His mouth is back on my *, lapping his tongue, eating me out like a wild animal. He runs his mouth from my clit all the way back to my *. He ravishes me, tasting all of me, and the sensation throws me over, blurring my vision as I mewl in pure ecstasy. He devours me entirely—front to back—back to front, touching me in ways I’ve never experienced before. He f*cks both my openings with his tongue, and it takes all my strength to keep myself standing.