girl he first fell in love with all those years ago. Yet even as he missed that girl, the woman she was now was the one who’d captured his soul.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I didn’t see them before you yanked me into the stairwell.”
They being Chen and Delgado. When Gabby suddenly stopped walking and dragged him into the stairwell, Declan thought she couldn’t wait to get it on and jump his bones. Ever since they left Emma’s room, the sexual need simmering between them since the explosion had been threatening to boil over.
He barely registered that she muttered the two detectives’ names, his imagination already thinking of the ways he’d take her against the wall, but he wanted nothing more than to put his mouth on her. It had been days since he’d tasted her. That was a tragedy that needed to be rectified immediately.
“I’m glad Levi parked in the garage,” she mumbled.
According to his partner, the press had caught wind of the incident on Route 15 involving the teenage stars. Any one of the first responders could have blabbed to a reporter, and the news spread like wildfire. Gabby was getting calls from Nick, but she ignored them. They were surprised he had not appeared at the hospital yet. But after seeing Theo handle himself against Ortega's man, Declan’s confidence in his son was at an all-time high. He could handle his manager.
They arrived at the Escalade and exchanged a look as they were reminded of the one that blew up. It reminded Declan that life was too fragile, and it could be taken away in a blink of an eye by people like Ortega.
“Let’s go,” he told Gabby gruffly.
They barely made it out of the vehicle. Declan parked the SUV in the garage and, the moment he switched off the engine, Gabby climbed over the console and sat on his semi-erect cock.
“Jesus,” he muttered before her lips crashed on his and his semi became a full-blown erection. The fabric of their clothes became a scratchy nuisance, and the confines of the vehicle severely restricted his ability to tear off her clothes.
He yanked his mouth away and framed her cheeks with his hands. “Gabby…” he muttered.
She grinned sexily and nipped his jaw. “What? I want you. I’m so wet for you.”
“Dammit.” He looped her hair around his fingers and tugged down, exposing her throat and bit her skin lightly. “It’s cramped in here,” he groaned. “I want to fuck you properly.”
Gabby stopped squirming. Thank God, because he was in danger of spilling into his boxer briefs. And they were both wearing the filth and dirt of the desert.
Her eyes sparkled. “That’s like an oxymoron. Fuck and proper don’t go together.”
“I want to fuck you blind. Is that better?”
Leaning over, she opened the door. “Fine.”
She twisted to get out, and, seeing her wince, the unspeakable fear that gripped him when he saw her take the bullet returned. The nightmares would come—of that he was certain. But they had this moment. She was safe, and soon, she would be in his arms and he would kiss away every hurt if he could. He followed her swaying ass to the bedroom as she kicked off her boots and stripped off her black cargos and black long-sleeved tee. Declan wasn’t a strip tease like Gabby and pulled his shirt over his head only when he got to the bedroom.
She turned to face him. A body sculpted with muscles and softness in the right places. All that was left were her panties and cropped tank that flattened her breasts. She removed the tank a bit gingerly, hissing as the fabric passed over her skin. And that was when he saw it.
The dime-sized dent just below her breasts, the forty-five caliber burn and the large bruise surrounding it where the SAPI plate distributed the energy of the round.
“Jesus,” Declan said, taking several steps toward her and gently touching the area. “It wasn’t this bad when Bristow took a look at it.”
“It could’ve been worse. Tell Garrison I’m keeping that body armor,” Gabby joked.
He couldn’t answer, eyes transfixed on the bruise. Seeing her injury, the storm of emotions he’d pushed back came roaring back, his gaze lifted to hers and she sucked in a breath.
“Dec, I’m fine.”
He exhaled through his nose. “I have to be gentle with you.”
She backed away from him. “Don’t you dare,” she said sharply. “If you act like this every time I get hurt, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Gabby …”
“I’m