Illicit

Chapter Thirty Six- Danger in Passion

"Please Declan..." Naomi pleaded as he walked down the hall of the apartment, snatching small objects for his current photo shoot.

"Naomi. I love that you are incredibly selfless...but this is a big deal for both of us. An engagement...and an unexpected one. To be honest..." He placed the items at his sides. "I never thought you thought of me as anything more than annoying and I know I give this persona of being a player and a jerk...but I want to be the man you deserve."

She found herself at a loss for words before the moments of the previous night flashed in her mind. Quickly, she nodded before Erwin called his son for the objects.

"So tonight...we are going to have a formal engagement party. Masquerade. Or is it too eccentric?" Before she could answer, he was called away once more. "Tonight." He called back as he quickly kissed her cheek and turned to find Logan smirking through a set of lights. Keeping his gaze, she moved to the supply closet before he followed, excusing himself with the excuse of having to find more bulbs.

"Can't keep your hands off?" He teased as he pulled her in. His lips were magnetized to her neck before she could push him off.

"Please..." She attempted to say, but it came out in small fractions before she eventually gained the objective in mind. Her hands were upon his chest as he was pushed away.

"I am getting tired of you pushing me away..."

"Look...last night-"

"I'm not losing you. Before you say this can't happen...I need you to know that I'm not looking for a wife. I'm not looking for anything more than be yours and you mine. Whether it is in secret or on a news headline. I don't care, as long as I can have some small fraction in your life. So if you push me away with your words...I won't give up. I will use every second I have to prove to you that we belong together."

"I left my ring at your hotel..."

"I'll bring it tonight-"

"Tonight?"

"Your engagement party."

"No. You can't go."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"I want you to say it. I want you to tell me why you can't be that close to me." As he awaited her answer, someone came into the supply room and Naomi placed her hand over his mouth and pushed him behind a room divider. When they heard the door close, she turned to talk but he grabbed her face.

"You have been calling the shots for the last two years-three years...I'm not some loyal dog to you. I have my own calling Naomi-but you are who I want at my side. And I told you...I would rather have you as my nightly routine than nothing at all."

"The guilt-"

"The pleasure overlooks everything."

"I-" Again, she found herself at a loss for words.

"If you deny me, I won't stop. There is nothing you could do Naomi, that would make me hate you. I have forgiven everything you have done, will do and have even thought of doing. Because the matter of the fact is I need you." His grip ceased and his hands fell at his sides.

"This isn't something I intended for...but if I leave him...I'll lose my career and-"

"I know. That's why I am waiting for him to cheat." She stepped back.

"He's changed."

"No player ever changes. No cheater stays monogamous."

"And you're an expert?"

"Even if they don't physically act, they will always think about it. That NEXT girl...but to me...you're it. I don't want anyone else."

"Not Elise?"

"You jealous?"

"She drools over you." He pushed her hard against the wall as she gulped.

"You have a habit of pushing me up into things..."

"As you do with denying me." He kissed her so passionately that her lip began to bleed from the intimacy. "I'm not giving up on us."