Free Declan + Coraline by J.J. McAvoy Page A

seatbelt.
    Not that brave. I was frozen by the time he opened the door for me.
    “Trust me.”
    I didn’t really have a choice.
    I followed him out.
    “Welcome to the Sky House!” That was all I understood from the male and female instructors who met us outside.
    “Look up,” Declan said, and I could feel every inch of his hard chest behind me. Listening, I looked up just as three tiny people came floating—or tumbling down.
    “Second lesson: fun and danger are sometimes synonymous,” he whispered, his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll be behind you the entire time.”
    “Let’s do it,” I replied, even though my heart felt as if it were trying to escape through my chest and my ears were ringing as the blood rushed to my head.
    I didn’t fight when they ushered us in, strapped our gear onto us, and led us to the small plane, with a rectangular-shaped hole on the side. Climbing inside, Declan turned me around so that I could face him. He brushed my hair back and handed me a hair tie. It took me a second to pull it into a ponytail.
    “Good?” I asked him.
    “Not yet.” He lifted my chin up and kissed me softly. Leaning forward, I kissed him back, and all too soon he pulled away.
    “Just in case we don’t make it,” he said with a large grin on his face.
    I smacked his shoulder as I scowled. “We’re going to make it! I won’t allow otherwise.”
    “I’m glad to know. You have no reason to be nervous. Now turn around.”
    When I turned around, he strapped me onto him. Putting on my goggles, I gasped when I felt his hands brush up against my breasts as he pulled the latch down.
    “You okay?” he questioned, as he secured the belt that wrapped around my waist.
    I nodded, and held on as the plane took off.
    I glanced down once as we leveled out to what I could only assume was the dizzying height we were meant to jump from, and I turned my head away. “You should have kissed me way more passionately for a goodbye.”
    He didn’t reply, but I could feel him laughing behind me.
    “You guys ready?” the pilot in front of us asked.
    “No.”
    “Yes,” Declan said, and we moved closer to the door. “On the count of five.”
    I closed my eyes and counted, “1…2…3…”
    “Now!” He jumped forward, pushing me out of the plane and taking me with him.
    “DECLAN!” I screamed as I felt the rush of wind all around us. But I wasn’t brave enough to open my eyes.
    Oh my God. Oh my God.
    “Open your eyes, Coraline!”
    “No!”
    “Coraline!”
    I peeked out and as I saw the blue water, and the shoreline hundreds of feet below us, my eyes opened wider.
    “Oh my God!” I screamed and then I laughed.
    I wasn’t really sure how loud I was screaming or if it bothered him, but I couldn’t stop, not because I was scared, but because it felt exhilarating! I never wanted it to end and when we got closer to the ground and he pulled the chute, I was a little disappointed but that took nothing away from how I was feeling. Declan landed us perfectly. His feet touched the ground right before mine did.
    The moment I could, I turned around and jumped into his arms, kissing his lips as hard as I could. He arms snaked around me as he lifted me off the ground. Opening my mouth for him, his tongue brushed against my own.
    If it weren’t for our desperate need for air, I would’ve never let go.
    “Thank you,” I said through deep breaths. How I had managed to not have a heart attack was beyond me.
    “Are you living yet?” he whispered no more than an inch from my face.
    “I can die happy.”
    He frowned at that. “No, you can’t. I have too much to show you.”
    In one day, Declan Callahan had expanded my world more than I had ever thought possible. I felt like I was alive, every one of my senses were now fully awakened. He’d made me brave enough to jump.
    And now that I had, there was no going back.

DECLAN
    I stood on the porch outside our two-bedroom villa overlooking the beach. I’d made sure to have