“Whoa.” He quickly put a hand under my head before it could smack on the hardwood floor.

“I’m fine,” I said breathlessly, and internally berated myself for doing everything imaginable to look like an idiot tonight. I tried to sit up, but the guy was still hovering over me, making it impossible to go farther than I’d been.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” I promised, and blew out a steadying breath when he sat back.

“Good. I can’t have you passing out on me, Cinderella.”

“Cin—” My head shook firmly as I corrected him. “No, my name is Rorie.”

With another slow smirk, he gestured to the red mark on his forehead for barely a second, then reached behind him and produced my stiletto.

My embarrassment from earlier couldn’t compare to the level it was at then as I put it all together. My shoe had flown into his face.

“Oh my God,” I whispered so low, the words drifted away with the bass of the music. “I’m so sorry.”

He laughed easily, as if he hadn’t just taken a five-inch stiletto to the face, and glanced from my shoe to me. “My name is Declan,” he provided. “I already know this shoe belongs to you. What I want to know now, Cinderella, is if I give this back to you, are you going to run away from me?”

Despite my humiliation, my lips spread into a smile as the name finally made sense. I reached for the shoe, but Declan held it away from me. His expression showed he was still waiting for an answer. With a raised eyebrow, I said, “I lost both shoes. I don’t care what Disney said, a girl can’t run away very easily with only one shoe.”

His smirk stretched to match my smile, and he dipped his head close. “Then I’m keeping the other one that hit the back of my head.”

2

Two Months Ago

Aurora

I RELEASED A heavy breath and a wide smile broke free as I took in the sight before me. This was it, what we’d been planning and waiting for . . . we were finally going to be together. Not that thirty minutes away could ever be considered long-distance; but with how crazy both our senior years had been, Declan and I hadn’t gotten nearly enough time together in the ten months that we’d been dating. And the time we had spent together had often been filled with other friends or studying. Now? Now it was just us. We’d both graduated a month ago, had debated on where we wanted to live, and then searched for the perfect apartment.

Apartment: found. Move everything in: just finished. Live out my happy ever after with boyfriend . . .

“Welcome home,” Declan murmured into my ear as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest.

. . . definitely working on it.

“Mmm, I like the sound of that.” I felt my body loosen, and my head rolled to the side when his lips moved in a line down the side of my neck. “I need a bath,” I said halfheartedly as one of his hands moved under my shirt. “That was code for I’m sweaty and gross.”

Declan moved out from behind me and pushed me up against one of the living room walls. “I really don’t care,” his deep voice rumbled before he captured my lips with his.

His fingers found the hem of my shirt and pulled up, forcing us to break apart for the split second that it took to get the shirt over my head, then his mouth resumed moving against mine.

My breaths came out in short bursts as he moved down my throat and over my chest, his hands gripping and sliding over my hips and bottom as he slowly pushed my yoga pants and underwear down to my thighs. His teeth raked across my nipple over my sports bra, eliciting a gasp that was quickly followed by a low moan when he suddenly pulled up the bra and returned to what he had just been doing as his hand slid between my thighs.

I tore the sports bra off the rest of the way and dropped it to the floor near my shirt as I reached for him. Before I could get to his clothes, he slid his hands back down my thighs and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and fused my mouth to his as he walked us down the hall and into the bedroom.

Declan tossed me onto the bed, and was already shrugging out of his shirt by the time I sat back up and reached for him. Grasping the waistband of his athletic shorts, I pulled him onto the bed with me as I lay back, and smiled playfully at the growl that built up in his chest when I grabbed his length.

I’d barely gotten his shorts off before he was pulling my yoga pants and underwear the rest of the way off and climbing back on top of me. His hands ran up my legs and stomach, then continued to my breasts for a teasing moment before they were gone and he was spreading my thighs.

His name was barely more than a whimper as his fingers teased me and his mouth focused on each breast. I ran my hands over his head and secured my fingers in his hair, my body restless as his lips slowly moved from my chest, down my stomach. My eyes fluttered shut when I felt his hot breath against me; a shaky moan climbed up my throat when he leaned forward to taste me.

Within minutes my body felt like it was suspended in air as he relentlessly teased and licked me. Heat pooled low in my stomach, every muscle tensed in preparation of what I knew I was only seconds from.

“I’m—” I cut off when an image flashed through my mind, too real to ignore for the second it was there. But just as quickly it was gone, and suddenly Declan was kneeling between my thighs and pushing inside me, and pushing me over the edge. “Oh God! Dec!”

My toes curled and body trembled as Declan moved roughly and quickly inside me. Another moan tumbled from my lips.

“Declan Veil, I suggest you get out here this instant!” a very distinct, very frustrated, feminine voice called out from the front of the apartment.

Declan slapped his hand over my mouth to quiet the moan, and we froze in horror for all of two seconds before we scrambled away from each other.

“Crap!” I hissed, and searched the floor for my pants after I got my underwear on. “Crap!”

“Declan!” she called out again.

“Yeah, hold on!” Declan yelled back quickly as he pulled on his shorts. His expression showed every bit of his frustration.

“What is your mother doing here?” I whispered harshly, and covered my bare chest as I looked around for my shirt.

“I gave her a key . . . for emergencies.” Declan said the last two words loud enough that I knew his mom could hear. His shirt hit my arms, and I hurried to catch it before it dropped to the floor. “Just put it on; she’ll come in here if we don’t go out there.”