The Protective Heart ✔️

17. Protecting her from his kiss

There are some things in life that just can't be expressed in words. These feelings I had for Declan was one of them. He made my mind hurt, my heart soften and my entire body ache for his touch. He was everything I had never experienced before in a man and that in itself, scared and excited me. My feelings for him were so conflicted that I could barely contain the war that was inside of me.

The first half of me wanted nothing to do with him. It made me want to run away from the potential future I could have with him because it was unknown and that was scary. He was still a man after all and I had never been able to trust one before. He was supposed to be everything I despised in this world and yet...

The other side of me wanted to never leave his side. He made me feel safe and warm for once in my life and that was comforting. He was the only man I had ever met who seemed to truly care for me. Not to mention, he's tried to protect me from so many things already, how could I not help but trust him? He broke down my walls and found my inner demons. And even though those things should have scared him off, here he was, standing by my side through all of it.

So this was my decision, I was letting the second half of me consume the first. I was done second guessing myself and I was going to fully let myself give in to him.

I would let myself love Declan.

"Here you go." His voice brought me out of my thoughts as he set a plate of food in front of me. As usual, the meal looked extremely healthy; Grilled chicken, quinoa, and sweet peas with a glass of red wine. I looked up to see Declan grab his own plate and sit down beside me at the small glass table that sat to the side of his kitchen. He started eating and I couldn't help but watch him.

After a moment, I turned back to my plate and took a bite of chicken. It was delicious with great seasoning and it was perfectly moist. After we finished our food, I insisted on cleaning up since he cooked. He fought with me at first but when he finally realized I wasn't going to give up on this one, he caved. I happily started washing the dishes and set them to the side on a towel. Declan started drying them and soon, I could feel his eyes on me. I looked up to see his eyes fixed on my lips. I stared hard at him, feeling my heart beat start to pick up a bit.

"What?" I asked.

"You were humming." He said quietly. I felt my heart skip a beat and I suddenly felt very self conscious. I realized that it probably reminded him of his mom and I felt guilty that I had subconsciously done something to upset him.

"I'm sorry." I whispered and he shook his head.

"Don't be...it was nice." He added softly and then returned to drying off the dishes. I became overwhelmed with a feeling that I wasn't sure of. Happiness? Sort of, but stronger...This overpowering feeling to embrace him and hold him close to my heart where nothing could ever hurt him. But I also didn't want to because there was a part of me that was still trying to deny my feelings for him. I made a promise to myself that I would let myself love him, so why was it so hard to let my other half die?

"I told you I would take care of the dishes." I said in an annoyed tone. Damn it. I couldn't help myself. The stubborn side of me just didn't want to give in. He rose an eyebrow at me and then smirked playfully.

"You know, you have something on your face." He commented. I quickly went to wipe my face with my hands and completely forgot that they were still wet from washing the dishes. My face was now dripping wet as I narrowed my eyes at him. He started chuckling as he brought a hand to his mouth to try to stifle his laughter.

"You butthead." I said and then I took a handful of soapy water and splashed it on him. He jumped back but didn't escape as it soaked his shirt. I started laughing now as he examined his clothes. He started walking closer with a mischievous grin on his face.