Declan + Coraline (5 page)

It was like my body did whatever he wanted…my eyes opened and I watched him as the pleasure continued to build up. Climax wasn’t far off, and as we lost ourselves in each other, I couldn’t help but think that he was the sexy one.

“So…t…tight,” he groaned, as his grip on me tightened.

My hands went to his bare chest as I braced myself, and I relished in the feel of his hard muscles under my fingers.

“Faster,” I said, more to myself than to him as I rose and fell on top of him.

The sound of skin against skin and our moaning blended into one, as the smell of sex filled the car with every thrust.

So good!
It was the only thing running through my mind over and over again.

“Harder.” I bit my lip as he pushed me up against the steering wheel. The horn blared, but neither of us noticed as we fucked each other.

“Declan!” I cried out. My hands reached upwards as I braced myself against the roof of his car, while my eyes rolled back into my head as I came.

He placed his head on my stomach, and a series of curses and grunts fell from his lips as he thrust deeper.

“Fuck, Cora. Ah!” he managed to say as he found his release as well.

Neither of us said anything as we collapsed onto each other. He refused to let me go, and truthfully, I didn’t want him to.

All that talk about not wanting to be another one of the women he just screwed and I’d only manage to last three days before I fucked him in his car.

So classy, Coraline, at the end of the day, it seems that you really aren’t any different after all.

DECLAN

We drove back to the church in silence and I tried to not be distracted by the fact that I had ruined her shirt. She had to fold her hands over her chest to keep it closed. But I didn’t want her to. I needed to see her skin again. I wanted to run my tongue over it. I needed more. I had never wanted more.

I should have wanted her to leave and to never have to talk about this again, but that was the last thing I wanted. I hated car sex…I preferred to dominate my women and I couldn’t have her the way I wanted…the way I needed.

She was amazing though. Did she enjoy it too? What was I thinking, I was sure she did. But what if she didn’t?
My eyes drifted to her again and my heart started to beat faster. I forced myself to look away.

What the hell was wrong with me?

“Thanks.” It was all she said when we reached the church. The parking lot was now completely empty, though she still glanced around, as she held her shirt closed, to make sure no one was around. Reaching behind me I grabbed my coat and handed it to her.

“No, it’s okay—”

“Take it, Coraline, just in case.”

She nodded it and I shivered when her hand brushed against mine as she took it from me. She slipped it on and stepped out of the car.

We couldn’t just end like this.

I got out of the car and called after her. “Coraline!”

She stopped without turning around.

“Coraline!” I called her name again and smiled when she refused to turn back. After all, that was how we’d gotten this far to begin with.

“Declan.” She finally faced me with small, fake smile. “It’s over. We both got what we wanted. The clock struck midnight and the magic is gone. Now we can go our separate ways.”

I frowned as I stepped towards her and shook my head.

“Coraline, the story doesn’t end when the clock strikes midnight. That’s when it starts and we have to make our own magic.”

She smirked, shook her head at me, and opened her door.

“Goodbye, Mr. Callahan.”

She started her car and drove away without another word.

Sitting back in mine, I took a deep breath. Dialing, I waited for him to answer.

“Mother isn’t happy that you missed Sunday brunch,” Liam stated.

“I kissed her Liam. On Friday and again today, before we had sex.”

There was a moment of silence before he spoke. “You kissed her…on the lips?”

I nodded even though he couldn’t see. “Yeah.”

“I thought that was your line in the sand. You never kiss them on the lips, Declan. You fuck them and leave…you’ve been like that since we were teenagers.”

“That’s the problem…with her there is no line in the sand, Liam. I want to see her again.”

“Why are you so hung up on her? You don’t know anything about her.”

“I don’t, but she’s different.” That was the only thing I could think of. “She is beautiful, smart, and different. Do I really need any other reason to be attracted to her?”

“Attracted? No. Obsessed? Yes. Especially when you know that it can never become anything more than a fling. She’s not one of us, Declan, so just get it out of your system before Father catches on that this is more than just some screw for you.”

How could I get her out of my system when every time I was near her I just wanted to touch her more?

“Declan.”

“Yeah.”

“Stay away from the good girls. We either break them, or they break us. And just in case you were wondering, I took care of the club owner and got the tax. Father is looking into them and he might need us. Don’t forget who you are what you do,” he said before he hung up. I hated it when he got serious.

Logic told me he was right and that I
should
stay away from Ms. Coraline Elizabeth Wilson. She had a clean record and had never even gotten a speeding ticket. She went to church. She didn’t drink, and at first, I’d thought she was an alcoholic…I would have preferred it actually. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find anything that indicated she was. All the comments on her graduation speech were from people congratulating her, and saying that a better person couldn’t have earned it. In our family good people were chess pieces…disposable. It was the way it needed to be.

Why am I even thinking of the family? We hadn’t even gone out on a proper date yet.

Why was I thinking of a proper date?

“Declan, get yourself together,” I told myself for the umpteenth time since I’d met her.

THREE

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”

―Napoléon Bonaparte

CORALINE

I’d kept my phone turned off for the last two days. I didn’t want to stare at it, wondering whether or not he would call, when I already knew the answer to that. So my plan was to do what I came to Chicago to do in the first place—work. I was now in the corner office of WIB, looking out at the Chicago skyline. At twenty-three I was officially able to take part in every meeting, have own office, and my own staff. Who needed anything else?

Who needed Declan Callahan?

“Come in,” I said loudly to the office door.

“Ms. Wilson?” Tyrone Stevens, the second youngest board member, entered my office. He was dressed in a blue-striped suit and was at least a decade older than me. He stood just about an inch or two shorter than me, and his skin was a shade darker than mine.

His dark brown eyes looked me over. “I heard you’d set up an office and I wanted to say hello earlier, but work got in the way.” He held out his hand and I shook it as I smiled.

“Thank you, Mr. Stevens. It’s really good to be here.”

“I was just a high school intern when your father started this business. I’m sure he’s proud of you. You’re a remarkable young woman.”

“Don’t flatter me too much. At least not until I’ve earned it.”

He nodded. “Of course. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, but I really hope I don’t need to come running to you just yet,” I replied feeling slightly awkward under his gaze.

I waited for him to say something more, but he didn’t.

“Did you need anything else?” I prompted.

“No. Sorry. I’ll let you get back to work. Again, welcome to your bank.”

I laughed. “Thank you.”

He stepped back to door, and before it could close completely, my secretary peeked her head inside. Her glasses slid down her nose and she pushed it back up as she waited for me to acknowledge her.

“Yes?”

“Your uncle his here. I told him you weren’t seeing anyone, but he says he won’t leave until—”

“It’s okay, Constanza, let him in.”

But before she could, Uncle Adam burst into my office. “What did I tell you? If you had a brain—”

“Uncle!” I cut him off as I rushed to the door. “I’m so sorry, Constanza. If anyone else asks for me, please tell them I’m a meeting.”

She nodded and I closed the doors before I turned to him.

“Do not insult my staff!” I snapped.

He snorted as he walked up to the windows. “Your staff? Look at you, you sound just like your father. Next will come your work, your company, and your money. Here I am repeating history to a child.”

I took a deep breath. “What do you want?”

“Did you know we started this company together? We were just bookies as first, hustlers on the streets. Your father was the brains, I had the street smarts, the charm. Getting people to trust me was just so easy.
Too easy
. Then he started investing…without me. He doubled their money not only on paper, but in their actual hands. Next he was buying offices…without me. This business, it grew out of thin air. I couldn’t believe it. I thought we’d finally made it and then I tried to walk into the office one day and a girl, the same age as you said I couldn’t go up…not without an appointment. You should have seen my face.” He turned and glared around the office and I could see the tension in his jaw as he gnashed his teeth together. “That’s when I realized that brains outdid charm. He screwed me right out of everything and there was nothing I could do about it—”

“Uncle.” I sighed. “I know this story. You’ve told me it almost every day since he died.”

“Good riddance too! He was a fucking bastard!”

I took a quick breath like he’d stabbed me. No matter how many times he said it, it still hurt. I wanted to scream that he was my father for better or worse, but I knew that it would only make my uncle rant more.

“Do you need more money, Uncle?” I just wanted him to go.

He snickered bitterly. “You little…No. I didn’t come for money! I came for my cut, it’s past time I got what was owed to me. This place wouldn’t have been built if it weren’t for the connections and the deals I made!”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Why not? Aren’t you a major shareholder?”

“It doesn’t work like that—”

“Then make it, Coraline! Make up for your father’s sins! We are family. I’ve taken care of you since you were a child. You have no one else but me. Your actual blood is my blood, how can you turn away from away that?”

Nodding, I tried not to cry. I hated when he manipulated me like this. “I’ll work on something for you here and we will work on the board together, but you have to get your act together, Uncle. You can’t just blow through money.”

He beamed as he rushed over to me and gave me a small hug. “That’s my girl.”

“Go home, Uncle. I will have you here by the end of the week,” I whispered. And against my better judgment, I hugged him back.

“Yeah, okay. Don’t let me down.” He let go of me and left my office.

I felt like a child again. The only time I ever got love or affection from him or anyone else in my family was when they were taking something from me.

But we were family.

With a sigh, I moved back to my chair, and as I fell against it, I leaned back and closed my eyes.

You’re okay, Coraline. You’re fine. You don’t need their affection
.
You’re fine.

“Ms. Wilson?”

Couldn’t I get a second to think?! Jeez!

“Yes, Constanza.” I opened my eyes and kept looking up at the ceiling.

“You know the new investor?”

I sat up. “Kelly Laoghaire?”

She nodded at the door. As of this morning we’d received close to eighty million dollars from the Laoghaire trust.

“Send them in!” I said quickly as I fixed my hair, and smoothed out my dress.

I was already moving towards the door, ready to greet them, when Declan Callahan stepped into my office, wearing a fitted suit, and a smile that spread across his face.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Wilson,” he said as he held out his hand to me.

I stood there, too dumbfounded to move…and a little too happy to see him as well.

DECLAN

By the time she got over her shock, I was already siting in one of the chairs in front of her desk. To say that I was impressed would’ve been an understatement. Her office was simple, classic, and elegant. The walls behind her desk displayed her degrees and awards, and I could only imagine how hard she must have worked to be able to get a corner office on the top floor.

“Kelly Laoghaire?” she whispered as she walked to the side of her desk. Her dress was far too tempting; the golden zipper that ran from the back of her neck all the way down to her ass made my hand twitch.

“Yes. Kelly Laoghaire. It was my mother’s name before she became Kelly Callahan.”

“The money?” She slowly processed.

“The money they left to me before they passed away. Once again,
I’m in your hands,
Ms. Wilson.”

Her mouth parted and I wished it hadn’t because all I could think of was wanting to hear her moan.

She shook her head at me as she took a seat in her leather chair like a queen on her throne.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I’ve been looking for place to invest in. Why not you?”

“Why do I have a feeling that this is about more than just my bank?”

She was holding herself back, I could see it the way she crossed her legs, and in the way her eyes drifted from my lips to my neck and back to my eyes again before they completed the circuit once more.

I smirked. “Because you’re smart. In all honesty though, I came here because I couldn’t reach you on your phone.”

“Maybe I didn’t want to be reached.”

“Maybe you were worried I wouldn’t try to reach. Maybe you’re afraid you will like spending time with me, or maybe even love it. ”