Sneak Peek- Declan

 

It's been a minute since I've added a blog entry, and today I'm coming at you with a sneak peek of the next installment of the Edwards Brothers series. It's Declan's turn for his story to be told and I'm excited! He and Amber have a bit of a bumpy ride, but I can't wait. It's coming out next year, but you can preorder it from now! 

For now, let's get into this sneak peek!

The sneak peek is an unedited snippet of Declan's story. 

Declan watched his mate, the smoke hazing her appearance for a moment. He let the silence fall between them. He came outside to escape the constant introductions and the groveling. He hated it. The ballroom was crowded, wall to wall with shifters. It had amazed him that Motsi members had transformed the room where he’d killed three of their members the week prior into back into a lavish and elegant event space. The energy in the place buzzed over his skin when he’d entered. Shifters of all kinds were gathered and feral energy saturated the room. He’d been greeted warmly by some, warily by others.

He expected the latter. He was aware that he’d been especially vicious in his battle with Cyrus, but he didn’t want any confusion about how he was coming. He wanted motherfuckers to know that if they stepped to him, they would be put down expeditiously and in the most gruesome fashion.

From the way some of the wolf shifters tip-toed around him, Declan was sure his message was received. He’d come out to get a moment to himself and to smoke.

Amber’s movements were nervous as she stepped outside and his wolf could sense her distress. He’d sought her out the moment he had arrived, allowing her to flit around the room avoiding him. He wasn’t beat for letting that shit last for much longer.

Even though she’d run from him the night of the kickback, he and his wolf were in agreement that she was his and he had no plans to ignore that. He wanted her in his life and in his house out from under her mother. He’d heard somethings when he’d asked around about Amber and he wasn’t liking the story he was getting about Bianca Bennett. He didn’t think she was in a situation that was safe, and from her animal’s state of agitation she was in some kind of danger. It had to be danger to elicit the type of panic her animal was putting off.

“What’s wrong, mamas?” He asked and she flinched before relaxing and turning towards him.

“I didn’t know anyone else was out here,” she murmured, stepping closer. Her head tilted in curiosity as she observed him, her gaze stopping on his mouth and the blunt he’d lifted to his lips. She lifted her gown and closed some of the distance between them to whisper… “Is that weed?”  

He looked around the dark courtyard. He and Amber stood between two mosaic columns that stretched to the ceiling. Greenery trailed the ceiling, and lush plants were in huge clay pots along the walls. The whole thing was maybe two hundred square feet of Spanish tile and architectural touches, but it gave the illusion that they were outside in the night air, instead of underground. He could appreciate the ingenuity that went into building the whole place. Even the ceiling was lit to look like the night sky.

If nothing else, the Motsi understood opulence.

“You whispering like we ain’t the only two out here.” He smirked. “You need to hit it?”

There was nowhere from someone else to hide since they could see all the way to the back of the courtyard.

Amber sighed and still glanced around to be sure they were alone. “I wish, I’ve had edibles, but I’ve never smoked.” She divulged.

“Come ‘ere,” he ordered, hiding his smile.

Her mouth parted in the most tempting fashion, her brows raising as she thought over his words.  He beckoned her closer and after a moment more of consideration, she walked until she was directly in front of him. Declan tipped her chin towards him, his gaze raking over her beautiful face.   

“I’m gonna blow the smoke into your mouth. Hold it in a moment before you blow it back out, got it?”

Her eyes widened in surprise but she nodded. The smell of her arousal floated between them and Declan couldn’t keep the smirk from his face. He took a deep drag, before holding his mouth over hers and blowing the smoke between her parted lips. She expertly took the shot gun and closed her eyes.

Meanwhile he was hard enough to rip out of his tuxedo.

“God damn, bunny. I can’t wait to see that face when you come around my dick.”

She gasped and her eyes shot open and she choked on the smoke.

“Now, tell me the real. What’s the matter?” He changed the subject before she could lie and say she wasn’t turned on.

“I needed to get some air,” she told him.

They sat in silence a little bit and he felt the moment she relaxed, the weed doing its job.  He sucked in smoke and tapped her chin, her lips falling open obediently. That shit was a huge turn on but he was finna behave. He blew the smoke into her mouth. She shivered but inhaled it this time without choking.

He traced her beautiful face committing it to memory. When her eyes opened back up, they speared him.

“You ran from me, bunny.”

“Quit calling me that,” she fussed.

He chuckled. “Why you ran?”

She sighed and settled next to him, leaning against the column next to them. “I already got too much going on right now. Adding someone as dominant as you feels like it could be a disaster.”

He grunted because he could feel the truth of her words. “You have nothing to fear from me, Amber. I can be a lot, I ain’t gon’ lie about that, but I’m not finna add strife to your life, you feel me?”

Her eyes were low from the weed, but she studied him, her wolf peering from behind her gaze. He released his wolf from its leash, letting her animal feel the hunger and need that would blossom between them if they allowed it. A quiet growl vibrated her throat, her wolf’s acknowledgment of him. He smiled and nuzzled against her cheek.

Her body relaxed in his arms and their heartbeats synced. Declan had observed his brother’s mating and thought he understood the compulsions that moved Devon, but nothing had prepared him for the way his brain and heart rewired themselves to put her at the center of his world. It was scary and comforting at the same time.

“Declan,” she whispered.

Someone just outside the patio doors cleared their throat and Amber stiffened. She turned around and sighed.

“What’s wrong, Teddy?”

Her little brother. Declan filed his face away, adding to the file in his mind that he had on Amber. He wanted to know everything about her. He planned to be in her life, no matter what she deemed complications.

“Mom is looking for you,” her brother told her solemnly.

Declan growled. That was another reason he was out here getting high. While his mate had been avoiding him, he’d seen her mother parading Bryant Lewis around telling everyone who would listen Bianca’s intentions for her daughter. Instead of slitting the male’s throat in front of a room full of people, Declan had stepped outside. Was the male a part of the ‘complications’ Amber had mentioned? If so, he was finna dead that shit. Mindful of her brother’s presence, he kept the words he wanted to say to himself.

“You need to end that, bunny,” he ordered her quietly instead, dropping a hard kiss to her lips before leaving her outside with her brother.

Devon met him as soon as he entered. “You good?”

He nodded but stood to the side so he could watch the doors he’d just entered. Subtle had never been his strong suit, and he knew staring would maybe attract attention, but he didn’t give a fuck. He wanted to see what his mate would do about his parting words. Out the corner of his eyes, he watched Bianca and Bryant as they searched the crowd for Amber. It riled his wolf.  

“What’s wrong?” Devon asked.

“What you mean?” He stretched out his neck to release some of the tension tightening it.

Devon sucked his teeth at his stalling. “Mr. D was looking for you.”

“He’s trying to set me up with one of these princesses. Supposed to help me cement my position or some shit.” He said absently. That plan would no longer work for him and he needed to let Dallas know.

“You were open to it weeks ago. What’s changed?” His brother narrowed his gaze on him.

Amber walked in from the balcony and his wolf went wild. Devon frowned at the change in energy, following Declan’s line of sight towards the courtyard doors.

His face cleared. “Oh, I see. Shawty from the kickback. Yours?”

Declan nodded, fighting to keep his wolf from pushing through these people to let everyone know. They both watched as she went to her mother’s side. She looked miserable, pulling away when Bryant tried to join their hands. He knew who Bryant Lewis was. He used his family’s bank to give out bogus loans and then trapped people with them. He was the wanna be gangsta type that pissed Declan off. He had long warned his clients against using the Lewis’ bank for that reason. Declan was pissed at the thought that Bryant had somehow worked his way into Amber’s life.

“That fucking clown,” Devon commented with a growl. “You gon’ have to dead that.”

“I’m already knowing.” He told his brother, marching over to the bar.

His watchful gaze scanned the ballroom, put off by the whole thing. Mr. D told him the ball was to celebrate his winning, but the fact that these same people would’ve celebrated his death just as easy didn’t sit right with him. The Motsi shifters were built different that was for-fucking-sure.

While he was used to the killers and hustlers he’d grown up with and currently did business with, these shifters operated by a whole different code. There were snakes everywhere the eyes could see and none of them hid it. Scientist said, the more colorful the animal the more deadly it was and that shit definitely applied when it came to the Motsi.