McKenzie, Cooper - Saving Chloe (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  Declan leaned in until their lips were less than a foot apart. “Darlin’ Chloe, no one needs friends like that bunch. Sounds like they’re a coven of human vampires ta me. I’ll keep ye safe from them.”

  Chapter 2

  Chloe gasped at Declan’s bold statement. Then the rest of what he said sunk in. “Human vampires? Yes, that sounds about right. But I can take care of myself. I don’t want your wife to be upset because you’re helping me.”

  She stopped talking when he straightened and stepped away. For a moment, he’d looked furious. She swore his eyes flashed red in the dark. She’d obviously said something very wrong.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered as tears filled her eyes at offending the man. But why was she worried about that? He was a stranger. And why did he appear so angry that she stood up for herself?

  At the loss of his touch, a cold chill shivered through her body where heat had filled her just moments earlier. She dropped her head forward until her chin rested on her chest. As she wrapped her arms around her middle in a protective gesture, she waited to hear footsteps as Declan stormed away.

  “Oh, darlin’, I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have told ye. I’ve no wife or offspring,” he said gently.

  His sudden change of tone confused her even more, though the information he shared comforted her in a way she had never felt before. Even though she knew he was too young for her, and she carried too much emotional baggage for him or any other man, she still felt drawn to him.

  She did not pull away as she normally would, when two cool fingers slid under her chin and lifted until they were nose to nose. “Ye’ve no need ta worry about any others. I’m all yers.”

  Chloe blinked as a single hot tear rolled out of her left eye and down her cheek. She gasped when he shifted and licked the tear from her skin. “Shhh, darlin’ Chloe, all will be well. Ye’ll see,” he murmured as he began to brush kisses across her cheek until he reached the corner her mouth.

  “But you’re so much younger than I am,” she blurted out without thinking about her words.

  He pulled back and smiled gently at her. “I’m older than you think,” he said, just before he leaned in and traced the tip of his tongue across her bottom lip. “Does age really matter as long as we make each other happy? Does me body please ye?”

  Chloe found her brain couldn’t put an answer together, much less get her mouth to form the words to voice her protest. Her mind completely blanked as Declan slid one hand around the back of her neck and gently held her head still. The tip of his tongue pressed between the seam of her lips and brushed across her teeth.

  Parting her lips, Chloe slowly extended her tongue until it touched his. Suddenly, any restraint she might have had evaporated like smoke in a high wind. Declan seemed to accept that as her unspoken invitation and took the kiss deeper.

  When she retreated, and her muscles stiffened under his touch, Declan pulled his lips from hers long enough to murmur, “Relax and kiss me back.” Then he returned his lips to hers.

  As if he had given her a command, his directive shattered the good-girl restraints she’d lived under all her life. At once, she felt a freedom she’d never experienced before. With a barely-there moan, she parted her lips further and thrust her tongue into his mouth to taste him. She sighed as his tongue began to duel with hers, making her want even more.

  Without realizing what she was doing, she lifted her hands from her lap and laid them on his shoulders. She slid her palms around the back of his shoulders until her fingers became entwined in the silky strands of hair that flowed down his back.

  As the kiss went on and on, she pushed to her feet. She needed more. She needed to be closer, to touch him. She needed to confirm that he was as turned on by this as she was. Never before had kissing a man energized her before. But with this man, her being close to him overrode the exhaustion she had felt just moments before.

  Once she found her balance again, she stepped down one step and then another, stopping her descent only when her breasts brushed against his chest. Then she shifted on the step until their bodies pressed together, separated only by the layers of their clothes. His long, thick, rock-hard erection pressed against her hot, wet mons. Nope, thank heavens this wasn’t a one-sided attraction.

  She began to tremble.

  “Are ye a’right, darlin’?” Declan asked against her lips. He brushed both hands down her back to cup her rounded ass cheeks.

  “I don’t know,” Chloe answered honestly. “Do you feel it? I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

  “What are ye feeling?”

  Chloe blinked and turned her face, not wanting him to see the embarrassment she felt. No man had ever asked her how she’d felt about sex before. The men in her past didn’t seem to care how she felt, as long as she gave them what they wanted when they wanted it, and criticized her for her technique.

  When Declan lifted a hand to cup her cheek, she nuzzled into it, the feel of his cool skin against hers sending even more need and want surging through her. “Tell me,” he urged in a deep, dark, sexy whisper. “What are ye feeling?”

  She looked him in the eye and knew she would never be able to lie to him. “I feel like I’m going to explode into a fireball. I’ve never felt like this with anyone before, and I’m not even drunk. I don’t understand it.”

  * * * *

  Declan rubbed his cheek against her as he smiled and did a mental fist pump of celebration. “I do. Ye feel the magic calling us to be together. And yes, I feel it as well. Canna ye tell?” he asked, pushing his hips forward before shifting them left and right.

  He sucked in a breath as the need to join with this lovely lady spiraled even higher. Though he wanted nothing more than to claim her here and now, he knew she needed time. She needed to learn of him and accept the pull between them before anything further happened.

  Easing back, he kissed her again, working carefully to ease the sexual tension back to a more manageable level. Finally, he pulled away. “May I call ye later? We can talk? I’d like ta hear yer voice before ye fall asleep and dream of me.”

  “Um, okay.” She gave him a shy smile. She blinked and recited her phone number as if in a trance.

  He smiled in return as he repeated it in his head. Then he ran the back of one finger down her cheek. “Good sleep ta ye, sweet Chloe. Rest well and dream good dreams.” With his heart and body fighting his common sense for control, Declan slowly turned and walked away. She needed time to relax around him, to trust him, to understand what he was. Though his body wanted differently, he would give her that space. By the time he stepped inside his front door, he wondered how in the hell he was going to take things slow when all he wanted was to slide deep inside her and make her his own. After closing the door, Declan turned and watched through one of the windows that framed the front door as his mate sat for a few more minutes staring at the night sky. He watched until she stood up and went inside herself. Going to his office, he pulled out his cell phone and programmed her number into it. Feeling a need to be closer to her, he returned to the front porch, and he watched her house until the lights went off in her living room and came on in her bedroom. He gave her a few minutes before he scrolled down to her number and hit send.

  After four rings, voice mail picked up. “Hi, this is Chloe. I can’t come to the phone, so please leave me a message, and I’ll get back to you.”

  Declan waited impatiently for the beep. “Hello, Chloe. Tis Declan. I was jes’ callin’ ta say good night and maybe talk a bit, but I guess that will have ta wait ’til tomorrow. Sleep well.”

  Hanging up, he slipped the phone into his pocket before heading to the bathroom. He needed relief from the erection that had grown painfully demanding, and he knew there was only way he would be relieving it tonight.

  * * * *

  Chloe jumped when her cell phone rang just as she slid under the covers, tired but horny. Looking at the clock and then at the phone’s display, she silenced the ringer. Not reco
gnizing the number, she held firm to her rule not to answer the phone from a number she did not recognize. If it was someone trying to reach her at this time of night, they could leave a message. If not, they could call back tomorrow at a decent hour. At that moment, all she wanted was to sleep and hopefully dream of a certain tall, dark, sexy neighbor.

  With a sigh, she climbed out of bed again and went to her office. There was one last piece of business to be handled before she slept. After sending an e-mail to her publisher requesting a seventy-two-hour extension on the two books she’d been assigned to edit, she crawled into back into bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 3

  By the time Chloe got home from her day job, she knew she had to see Declan before she went crazy. She’d dreamt of him the night before, only to wake up hot and sweaty and so aroused she had to find relief before she could climb out of bed and start her day. When she did get out of bed and listened to her voice mail, the message filled her with an intense need to go and see Declan. It was a feeling she had not felt toward a man in a long, long time. It was a feeling she wasn’t sure she was comfortable with. After saving his number to her phone, she struggled to focus on her day and not him.

  She struggled through her day, trying to keep from losing herself in replaying her encounter with Declan the night before. But he was never far from her thoughts, and whenever she had a spare moment, she could hear his wonderfully accented voice, and the hunger he had brought out in her returned. Then she wondered if their next encounter would prove just as intense.

  After eating a sandwich for dinner, Chloe tried editing, but found herself unable to concentrate on the story. All she wanted was to go across the street and hug Declan, then see where it led to.

  She jumped when someone knocked on the door, and then recognized Jasmine’s knock. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and looked at her friend. “Sorry, Jasmine, I really can’t talk tonight. I’m up to my eyeballs in work.”

  “But it’s Friday night. Take a break and come have a drink with us.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I’m way behind, and I just can’t. But you go and have a good time.” Amazed at herself, Chloe closed and locked the door before the other woman could say another word.

  Returning to the bedroom she’d turned into her office, Chloe couldn’t help the smile that grew from her insides out. She’d done it. She actually stood up to Jasmine and won.

  But for how long?

  Jasmine wouldn’t be ignored that easily. No doubt she’d be back within the hour with Ray and Winston for backup. Would she be able to hold the line against the three of them? Maybe she should take her computer and go to the coffee shop. But they closed early on Friday nights.

  Before she could talk herself out of her evening plans of editing, Chloe returned to her desk, put on her headphones, and got back to reading and marking up the manuscript, quickly losing herself in her work.

  She had just finished writing her notes up on the first manuscript when a heavy hand thumped at the front door. After saving the file, she stood up and headed for the front door, stretching as she went. Knowing it was the inevitable, at least she’d finished something, so she supposed it would be okay to take a break and go have a beer with the Porch People. Especially since her boss said she could take as long as she needed to edit, within reason, of course.

  She stretched once more before opening the door. “All right, Jasmine, I’ll come have a beer,” she said without looking at the person on the other side. “Just let me get my keys.”

  “I would have pegged ye as a wine drinker,” a deep, masculine voice replied.

  Chloe blinked and turned to find Declan standing on the porch and not Jasmine. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were Jasmine coming back to demand I come and have a beer.”

  “Sorry, but if ye’d like, I’ll go fetch her for ye,” Declan said with a wry smile.

  “No, that’s okay. So, what can I do for you this evening?” Chloe asked, fighting the urge to throw herself at him for a long, strong hug.

  “Sit on the porch and talk with me if ye’ve the time. I don’t want to take ye from yer work.”

  Jasmine smiled when she realized he sounded hesitant. “I’d like that. And you’re not taking me from work. I just finished up what I’d wanted to get done tonight.”

  Sliding her keys in the pocket of her skirt, she closed the door and joined him on the porch. “Sorry I don’t have proper furniture for out here yet,” she said as they settled side by side on the porch steps. “Finances are tight, and decorating the porch is far down on the priority list.”

  * * * *

  “I like this, sitting so’s I can touch ye and pull ye close,” Declan said as he matched actions to words, taking her hand in his.

  Though his cock was already hard and demanding satisfaction, he wanted to give his mate some time to get used to him. Taking a deep breath, he asked about her day and then moved on to her editing job. He held back information on himself, focusing on her and encouraging her to talk because just then, he wasn’t sure he had enough blood left in his brain to share anything of himself without giving away his biggest secret.

  Once the present had been talked out, he began asking questions about her past and her childhood, wanting to know everything there was about this woman. He shared bits of himself as well, but in only the broadest, vaguest terms.

  Wrapping one arm around Chloe’s shoulders, he pulled her as close as he could. He then turned his head and leaned close to kiss her. “I’ve been thinking about doing this again ever since I left ye last night,” he whispered against her lips.

  With that, he closed the last fraction of an inch between them and kissed her. He put every bit of hungry emotion he could into the kiss as his tongue traced her lips then explored her teeth and dueled with her tongue.

  His arousal ignited like dry brush under a lightning strike, flaming and spreading out of control in seconds. Though he had planned to sit and talk, share secrets, and all the other things people did early in their courtship to get to know one another, all he could think about was claiming his mate.

  Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her and moved her so she straddled his lap. His cock jerked and throbbed as she pressed against it. He held her tighter as the kiss grew hotter and deeper. His need and hers flashed into a firestorm, and the only thing he could think of was taking his woman to paradise. Finally, he had to break the kiss in order to try and think clearly. Chloe made an unhappy sound as he lifted his head.

  “More, Declan,” Chloe murmured.

  Looking around, Declan wasn’t sure how they were going to manage to ease the gnawing, ravaging need that was ready to consume them both without someone getting hurt. He looked to his house, but it was too far away. Her front door was only a few yards, but even that looked too far when his cock was throbbing and threatening to explode at any second just by kissing his mate.

  “Mmmm, need you so much,” she said as she rubbed her hands up and down his sides.

  He wasn’t surprised when her fingers tracked along the top of his waistband between their bodies and began to work the button there. As she worked, he slid his hands down the outsides of her thighs and began to inch her skirt up. When he reached bare skin, his hands traveled back up her legs until he reached side strings of what had to be a pair of barely there panties. He never had been able to understand why women wore what amounted to several strings and called them panties.

  “From now on, no more of these,” he growled in her ear as he tore the scrap from her body then tossed it to the ground behind him. “I want me woman ta be available any time I want ta play.”

  She moaned in response, but he could not tell if it was in agreement or not. He didn’t give a shit one way or another. If need be, he would tear the damn things off of her every day. The heat and dampness he felt between her legs only increased the need he felt for her.

  He sucked a breath and lost his concentration when she shoved his shorts and boxers
out of her way. As she did, she was careful to free his cock from the material. Before they hit his ankles, Declan knew they were going to have sex right there and then. It was just a matter of how exposed they would be to the rest of the world.

  “Hang on, darlin’,” he ordered as one of her hands wrapped around the back of his cock.

  Sliding his hands under her ass cheeks, he lifted her, and then turned around and carefully backed up the steps until he could sit down on the top one with Chloe straddling his lap. Thankfully, her knee-length skirt was full enough to hide their bits and pieces from the street. People driving by would not be the wiser, if they noticed them at all.

  A quick pull to the front of her skirt moved it out from between them. He felt the hair covering her precious mound brush against his cock. His breathing stopped as she arched her hips forward and began to rid up and down the length of his cock. His hands traveled down between her thighs and found her pussy wide open and dripping with her juice. He slid two fingers deep into her channel. She made a high-pitched sound as her clit rode the underside of his cock and his fingers slid in and out of her.

  “Take me, Declan. Please,” she moaned softly, just before she took his ear into her mouth and began to suck on it. “Make me yours.”

  “Yer wish is my command,” he returned as he lifted her with one hand while taking control of his cock with the other.

  Like a guided missile, the head of his cock unerringly found the entrance to her channel and pushed forward. While she would have slammed down on him in a second, Declan held her hips and eased her down slowly. He was not small in the manhood department, and for the first time in his six and one-third centuries, he refused to take his pleasure at a woman’s expense. Thankfully, her pussy overflowed with her slick juices, easing his passage.

  Once he was fully sheathed inside her, he held her hips still while she adjusted to his size, giving him a moment to grab tighter control of the orgasm that threatened to explode with his next heartbeat. He wanted, no needed, Chloe to find her pleasure first.