Declan - Heart of a Tiger (Royal Taiga Streak #1) - J.R. Loveless Page 0,21

seemed invasive and Sean wondered if Declan could see his thoughts too.

I can only hear your thoughts, Sean, and only when you’re upset or let me in.

How? A soft sigh drifted through Sean’s mind and Sean frowned. Declan seemed hesitant to answer him. Why? Declan?

I’ll explain it to you eventually, baby, but for now, please just understand it’s not a bad thing. Are you certain you don’t need my assistance returning to the table?

For the first time in a long time, Sean actually started to feel angry. He didn’t like having things hidden from him and he was beginning to think Declan saw him as a child, especially considering how often Declan called him baby. He may not have had a childhood like other normal people, but he had been through a whole hell of a lot more than most and didn’t deserve to be treated like he’d break. I’m fine, he snapped back.

Silence met his reply and Sean sensed Declan wasn’t happy with his response, but he couldn’t have cared less right then. The whole evening had become overwhelming very quickly. Aside from everyone looking at him like he was a bug underneath a microscope when he’d been eating, the idea Declan could see inside his mind scared the hell out of him. He wouldn’t be able to hide the things he’d gone through or the way Declan made him feel and it seemed somehow more terrifying than when he used to wait for the times his father would go into a rage and use him as a punching bag.

He opened the bathroom door and instead of going toward the dining room, he made a right hand turn and wandered in the direction of the back of the house. A door sat open at the end of the hallway and he saw a small light on, beckoning him forward. He entered what looked like an office or something similar. A large L-shaped desk with a small TV on it faced the door. The walls were lined with shelves of books and there was a couch underneath a window with a couple of doors leading to the outside. A fireplace, currently unlit, had a pretty fluffy brown rug in front of it and Sean had the urge to go roll around on it to see if it were as soft as it seemed.

Something sent him to the desk though and Sean ran his fingers over the shining smooth surface, smiling at how cool it felt beneath his fingers. The room smelled strongly of Declan so he felt pretty certain the space belonged to Declan. He pushed a large leather chair away from the desk and sat down in it gingerly. The air squished out of it in a rush and Sean let out a small chuckle at how it almost engulfed his smaller form. He snuggled into it, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of tiger shifter clinging to it. He curled his fingers over the armrests and used his feet to swing the chair back and forth. A happy giddiness swept through Sean. Being surrounded by Declan’s scent gave him a sense of safety he had never experienced in his entire life.

A creak alerted him to someone’s presence and Sean opened his eyes to see Declan standing in the doorway, full lips curved into a slight smile. “I wondered where you’d gotten to,” Declan murmured.

Guilt flashed through Sean and the peace he’d felt seconds ago vanished. He stood abruptly and stepped away from the chair. “I’m sorry. I-“

Declan moved further into the room. “It’s okay. Sit back down.”

Sean shook his head and inched his way around to the front of the desk, hands clasped behind his back. He looked everywhere but at Declan. “You must like to watch a lot of TV,” Sean mumbled.

“What?” Declan asked with a confused look.

He pointed at the monitor on Declan’s desk. Understanding and something else chased over Declan’s features. “You’ve never seen a computer before?” Declan asked.

Frowning, Sean tilted his head. The other children had mentioned things called computers and video games, but Sean hadn’t expected to ever have the chance to use one or see one so he’d never tried to learn too much about them. “No. What do they do?”

Declan motioned for Sean to return to the other side of the desk. “I’ll show you.”

Sean cautiously followed Declan, who insisted he sit back down in the chair. He tried to refuse, but Declan gave him a look which Sean