Filed To Story: Pretty Poisoned Novel by Elle Mitchell
“I don’t think it’s deep enough to scar.”
“Too bad. Maybe next time.”
“You’re so fucking perfect, Teag,” he says. And I know he means ithis green eyes look all the way through me in that way that hits me right in the fucking chest. “Come on.”
“I’ll help you,” I tell him, climbing out of the bed. “I’ll be your crutch. I’ll wash your hair, too.”
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It’s almost four in the morning when Declan returns to the room. I lie in the dark under the blankets with Luca, wearing one of his t-shirts, wrapped up in his arms and clinging to him for dear life. Luca sleeps deeply beside me, his breath hot against the back of my neck.
But me? I don’t even want to close my eyes.
“You’re awake,” Declan says. He sits on the edge of the bed and slips off his shoes. “Why?”
“I’m afraid to go to sleep,” I tell him. “I’m afraid he’ll disappear. I have abandonment issues now, you know.”
“Teagan, I’m sorry,” he says. “It was never supposed to be like that.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Come here,” he says. “Let’s go talk in the kitchen. You don’t want to wake him up, do you? He’s still healing. He really isn’t well enough to be travelinghe can barely walkbut he wouldn’t let me come alone.”
I hesitate, torn between the warmth and comfort of the person I love at my back and not wanting to wake him.
“He doesn’t like to sleep alone,” I say.
“No, but he got used to it,” Declan says. “Come on, let’s go.”
I don’t take the hand he extends to me. Climbing out of bed is painful, but I follow Declan to the kitchen in the back of the suite. The countertops are missing and there’s a tarp covering the floor with paint cans and brushes left out. The blinds on the back windows have been left open, and enough light comes in that there’s no need to turn one on. Declan sits on one of the barstools while I lean against the wall, folding my arms in front of my chest.
“You don’t want to sit by me? I don’t bite.”
“No, but you lie. I’m not worried about biting,” I tell him.
“I sent you flowerstulips like the ones we saw in Portland. Did you get them?”
“No. I mean I guess. I didn’t know they were from you.”
“How could you not?”
I scoff. “You left me with nothing. Why would I?”
“You look really pretty,” he says.
“I look like shit, Declan.”
“Not to me,” he says. “You’re still the only thing I want to look at in an otherwise beige world, whether you believe it or not. Teagan, I never thought it was going to be like that. When I left you, I thought it would be something they’d clean up and everything would go back to normal. I thought we’d be touring again in the fall. And you three were supposed to stay together; you weren’t supposed to be alone.”
“Yeah, but I was alone! And River and Hazel were in jail for months waiting for you to help them and you didn’t. We were supposed to be a familyyou said you’d take care of us.”
“I couldn’t! You don’t think I wanted to? The feds would have found the paper trail, and they would have punished both of them for it. And they will kill me before they’ll let the FBI catch me.”
“They? You mean The Order?”
“Yeah,” he says shaking his head. “What have you been up to, Teagan?”
I shrug. “I’ve done what I had to do to survive because of the mess you left me in.”
“Have you seen them? River and Hazel?”
I nod. “Once.”
“How were they?”
I scoff. “Are you kidding? Awful. They were terrified, and for good reason. They had to change their appearances, they were afraid someone was trying to kill them, and they couldn’t get jobs or anything, either. You have all the money in the world, and they were worried about running out of food.” I pause, swallowing hard. “River was sad, and Hazel was angry.”
“Do you think Hazel meant those things she said about me on TV?”
“I know she did,” I tell him. “She hates you.”
It’s quiet for a minute before he asks, “Teagan, where are they? I can’t find them anymore.”
“They’re gone now for good. They got new identities and left a few days ago. I don’t know where they went.”
“It makes me sick,” he says. “It makes me physically fucking sick that she could think of me like thatthat she’s going to think of me like that for the rest of her life. God fucking damn it.”
“Well, what did you expect to happen? You chose yourself.”
“I told you, TeaganI didn’t fucking know. I was fucking naive because everything has always been easy for me, and I didn’t fucking know. Okay? Is that what you want to hear?”
“That’s not good enough!”
“Well, what do you want?” he shouts. He pushes off the chair hard enough that it topples over behind him and moves toward me, stopping just a few inches in front of me. In the past, it would have scared me to see him like this, but not anymore. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll tell you a thousand times over. You can have anything you want from me. Just tell me what it is. What will it take to convince you that I love you, Teagan? Huh? That I’m sorry, and I know I fucked up. Do you want to cut my heart out, Teagan? Because the way you’re looking at me right now you might as well. It’s fucking killing me.”
“You don’t get it ”
“Trust me, Teagan, I get it”
“No, you don’t! You don’t get it! Declan ” I pause, shaking my head, tears pooling in my eyes again. “You were my port in the storm. And there was a storm, and I was all alone! You don’t know how bad it was for me.”
“But Teagan, you made it. Because you’re strong and resilient”
“Declan, I’m not. I’m not strong, and I’m tired of trying. I’m exhausted by resilience. I don’t want to do it anymore. I want rest. I want comfort; I want to be soft. I want a vacation, and I want someone to hold me and tell me that everything is going to be okay and that they’ll take care of me.”
“Well, I’m here now,” he says. He drops to his knees in front of me, wrapping his arms around my legs, and rests his head against my body. “I’m sorry, Teagan.”
He kisses the front of my bare thighs, sliding his hands up my legs and pushing them apart.
“Declan ”
“What’s wrong?” he asks. “I love you. I miss holding you and touching you; I miss the way you taste. You said you want to be softbe my soft little kitten. You want someone to take care of you? Let me.”
He spreads my pussy lips with his fingers and kisses me slowly, deeply, and sensually. He kisses my slit the way you’d kiss the mouth of a lover, running his tongue over every inch of my slickness, tasting it and dipping his tongue inside me.
I relax a little, opening my legs more for him.
“You taste so good, sweetheart.” He pushes two fingers inside of me. “If you like me better like thison my kneesI’ll happily worship you right here, just like this, every fucking day.”
He dives back in, running his tongue over my clit while pumping his fingers inside me. I arch my back against that wall, giving him better access, and the increased pressure makes me cry out.
“Declan! Oh my god ”
I grip his hair in my hand and the handle on the refrigerator door with the other, rocking my hips against his tongue while waves of pleasure build, sending me closer to the edge.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.