WinterIce

by Jaci Burton

  Finally, someone understood her. She beamed under Angelina’s praise. “Thank you. I don’t know about admirable, but it fulfills me, if that makes sense.”

  “It does.”

  Satisfied that she’d at least managed to win over Logan’s family, she relaxed and enjoyed the rest of dinner, listening to them argue and talk over one another. Logan stayed silent, but at least didn’t challenge her further.

  So Logan didn’t admire what she did. So what? It wasn’t like she’d ever needed his approval, anyway. She did what she did because it was her destiny. She had no other choice, and wouldn’t change it even if she could.

  At least his family had embraced her and didn’t ridicule her for what she did.

  It was times like these that Sophie wished she’d had brothers and sisters. She regularly shared dinner with Sam and Joshua, but it wasn’t the same as real family. Her own family.

  An intense longing came over her. The need to have someone to love, and a family that loved her.

  The only thing that would have topped off the day would be if Logan had managed to unwind a bit and enjoy himself around her.

  That hadn’t happened yet. From the looks he shot across the table, it wasn’t going to happen at all.

  “You have something to say, then say it,” she said to Logan, tiring of his glares and shaking head.

  “I just don’t get it, that’s all. You’re wasting your life.”

  Before she could respond, he got up from the table and grabbed his plate, mumbling something about needing air as he headed toward the kitchen.

  Sophie moved to go after him, but Angelina laid a hand over hers and shook her head. “Let him be for now, cher.”

  She nodded. Angelina sent a pointed look to Galen.

  “Time for us men to clear the table and leave the women alone,” Galen said, getting up and taking plates into the kitchen. Aidan and Max followed him, leaving Sophie with Angelina, Kaitlyn, Shannon and Lissa.

  After the men had vacated the kitchen, the women moved in to do the remaining dishes and put the leftover food away.

  Sophie worked amiably beside the other women, once again struck with the comfortable sense of family.

  Yet the entire time she wanted to go after Logan, to explain to him why she had made the choices that had led her to find him in a dark alley one winter night.

  “Be patient, ma belle,” Angelina said, taking the plates that Sophie offered and slipping them onto the stack in a cabinet. “Logan is…difficult.”

  Shannon snorted. “Difficult. Yeah, that’s an understatement. Cold-hearted, stubborn, narrow-minded, opinionated…should I go on?”

  Kaitlyn laughed. “If you did, we’d be going all night.”

  “All right, that’s enough,” Angelina said with a smile before turning back to Sophie. “Now, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this or not, but Aidan and Lissa’s wedding is coming up in a few weeks.”

  Sophie’s gaze flitted to Lissa. “I didn’t know it was so soon. Are you ready?”

  Lissa shook her head, her long, blonde ponytail swaying back and forth. “I’m never going to be ready, and yet I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. There are so many details.”

  “Details that I’m attending to, so quit worrying,” Kaitlyn announced, wrapping her arm around Lissa’s shoulders.

  “Oh I know you are, Kait. I’m just getting jittery. My stomach is tied up in knots at the thought that something might go wrong.”

  Sophie let her eyes drift closed for a moment and let her magic surround her. She wondered if what she had seen in her visions had anything to do with Aidan and Melissa’s wedding.

  She felt the danger, but still couldn’t pinpoint the time period.

  “I’d like you to come to the wedding,” Angelina announced.

  “Oh yes,” Lissa exclaimed. “Please come.”

  Shaking off the visions of impending catastrophe, she shook her head. “Oh, I couldn’t. Thank you, but I’m sure you have more than enough people coming.”

  “Nonsense,” Shannon said. “There’s plenty of space in the main ballroom at the hotel. We’d love to have you there.”

  Sophie fought back tears. Silly, it was only an invitation to attend the wedding, and yet she felt part of this family.

  Which was a dangerous feeling, because she wasn’t part of the family. She wasn’t Logan’s girlfriend. She wasn’t…anything to them.

  Besides, it wasn’t as if Logan had asked her to come with him. What if he had plans to bring another woman as his date? She’d feel awkward, or even worse, hurt. And she’d have no right to feel that way. “I don’t know. What would Logan think? You know he doesn’t care much for me.”

  Shannon snorted. “Logan needs a baseball bat to the head to knock some sense into his brain cells.”

  “Be patient with Logan, cher,” Angelina said. “He feels something for you.”

  “No, he doesn’t.”

  “Yes, he does. I know it. I feel the turmoil raging within him.”

  Oh great. Just what she hadn’t wanted to do. Upset Logan, and now his mother. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

  Angelina held up her hand. “Don’t apologize. I know you sense something happening with our family. When you told me that the night of the ball, I believed you, because I felt something too.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lissa asked, her voice shaky. “Something bad about the wedding?”

  Angelina motioned them to the huge table in the kitchen. Kaitlyn poured coffee and they all sat, staring at her.

  “Go on, cher,” Angelina encouraged. “Tell them what you know.”

  She sucked in a breath and said, “That’s the problem. I feel danger surrounding your family, but I can’t pinpoint a where and when.”

  “Is that why you sought out Logan?” Kaitlyn asked.

  Sophie nodded. “Yes.”

  “I don’t know the circumstances of your meeting, but I know he hasn’t been the same since that day he chased after you. Lissa told us about that.”

  Okay, so maybe they didn’t know about the night in the alley. “I’ve had visions about Logan for months now. He’s in my dreams, in all of my meditative visions. But all I sense is danger, and it has something to do with your family. I wish I could offer more, but I feel it’s my duty to hang around and see if the images get stronger. I don’t know why, but I keep thinking that I might be able to do something to either change things, or stop whatever may happen.”

  “You’ve come into Logan’s life for a reason, Sophie,” Angelina said. “But my son is not easy. He is stubborn, refuses to acknowledge or use his gifts, and claims not to want anything to do with people who possess magic.”

  “I know.”

  “But he’s conflicted, because he feels something for you.”

  “I’m sorry, but I really don’t think he does.” He may have felt a momentary physical attraction for her, but he’d scratched that itch at the ball. He’d been even more distant today, as if he regretted their encounter.

  She hadn’t, though. Making love with him, even in such a frenzied and passionate way, had been exhilarating. He aroused her in ways no other man ever had. He made her want things no man had ever made her want before.

  “It’s strange,” she admitted, “but I feel that Logan is the man I’m supposed to be with. I know you probably think I’m crazy, but I can’t help it.” She let out a small laugh. “And of course I had to choose the one man who wants nothing to do with me.”

  “Don’t be too sure of that,” Shannon said. “I’ve seen Logan with women before. When it’s someone he doesn’t care for, he’s solicitous, smiles a lot and is very pleasant. But there’s no sincerity behind it. It’s just part of his façade. With you, he’s grouchy and almost jittery.”

  Sophie groaned and laid her head in her hands. “Oh great.”

  “No, that’s a good thing,” Kaitlyn said, tipping Sophie’s chin with her fingers so they made eye contact. “You’ve gotten under his skin.”r />
  “Yeah, I’ve annoyed the hell out of him.”

  “You’ve captured his attention. If he didn’t feel something for you, he wouldn’t be so upset about it,” Angelina said. “You will have to remain steadfast and determined if you want to win his heart, because Logan has built a nearly impenetrable wall around himself. It will take a strong woman to make it crumble.”

  Like climbing a steep mountain in an icy snowstorm. Nearly impossible to grab a foothold, let alone reach the top. “I’ve never forced myself on a man before.”

  “And you won’t have to with Logan. You’re the right woman for him, Sophie Breaux,” Angelina said, her voice softening in a way that made her warm from the inside out.

  “Thank you. I hope so. I can’t seem to break away from him, despite his protests that he wants nothing to do with me.”

  “If you want him, kiddo,” Shannon said. “And I have no idea why you’d want to put up with a pain in the ass like my brother—then you’re going to have to work at it.”

  Kaitlyn nodded. “And if you’re willing to butt heads with him and try your best, we’ll do everything we can to help.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t understand why you’d want to help me.”

  Lissa grinned. “Because we feel you’re already family, Sophie. The same thing happened with me. I wanted nothing to do with Aidan, and yet fate continued to toss us together. It took me awhile to accept the inevitable. In fact,” she added, sweeping her hand across the table, “they all knew before I did. It’s the same with you.”

  “Very true,” Angelina said. “You’re the one for Logan. We all feel it. Now you just need to convince him of that. If you want to.”

  She did want to, for more reasons than just her visions.

  “I’ll give it my best shot.”

  “Great!” Shannon said. “Then you’ll come to Lissa and Aidan’s wedding, right?”

  She had a feeling they weren’t going to take no for an answer. Besides, she was family now. The thought filled her with giddy happiness. “I’d be honored.”

  “I’m glad,” Angelina said, then frowned as she glanced outside the kitchen window at the late afternoon sky. “A big storm is coming. Girls, go fetch Logan and ask him to take Sophie home. The weather is about to take a bad turn.”

  When the women left, Angelina stood and hugged her. “Tonight will be a turning point for you and Logan.”

  How did she know that? Sophie hadn’t felt anything. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Your relationship with him will change tonight, and he won’t like it. It may not happen right away, but eventually he’ll try to hurt you. He’ll do his best to crush your heart so you’ll walk away. This won’t be easy, but I can guarantee the end result will be worth any pain you have to go through.”

  “I appreciate that, Angelina, and I’m not afraid of Logan. I feel him inside me, as if he’s already a part of me. I have to see it through, no matter the outcome.”

  She knew it wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, she wondered if it wasn’t impossible.

  But she wouldn’t give up on him until she’d tried her best. Yes, her heart was involved, but also the fear that her visions might come true and put his family in danger.

  Somehow, whatever the mysterious danger, it revolved around Logan.

  She had to make him see what she saw, had to make sure he understood the danger.

  He might want to drive her away, but Sophie wasn’t a quitter.

  Chapter Eight

  Conscious of Sophie’s gaze on him as he drove her home, Logan did his best to ignore her.

  Dinner had been a disaster. They all treated her as if she were part of the family.

  Despite his voiced reservations about Sophie, they accepted her. He’d never known his family to be so accommodating to a stranger that he’d warned them about. Couldn’t they see through her smiling, friendly exterior into the devious liar she was underneath?

  Ph.D., his ass. He’d check on that right away. No fucking way could someone with that level of education be wasting her life practicing voodoo magic.

  Did she take him for an idiot?

  Yet his family had fallen for her lies. And they were no fools.

  He shook his head, more confused than ever, the truth blurring in front of him like the hard rain falling on his windshield. He flipped on the wipers.

  “The weather is going to get really bad tonight, Logan.”

  “It’s just rain.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Hell if he knew. To be certain, he’d have to allow his powers to sweep through him. And he’d never let that happen. It weakened him, made him vulnerable, made him appear less than…

  …normal.

  “It’s just rain,” he said again.

  Sophie pulled her light jacket around her. “It’s getting colder. The rain may turn to ice.”

  He laughed. “Not in New Orleans, cher. We don’t get ice storms here.”

  “Never say never, Logan. It does happen.”

  “Rarely.”

  By the time he pulled into the gravel driveway in front of her trailer, the rain had turned to sleet. He thought about just letting her get out and see her own way in, but somehow he knew his mother wouldn’t approve of less than gentlemanly behavior. Turning off the ignition, he went around to her side and opened the door, then held on to her arm as he led her to the steps. The temperature outside was plummeting rapidly, colder than he could ever remember for winter in New Orleans.

  Ducking his head down against the relentless ice pellets, he waited while she unlocked the door.

  A goddamned ice storm. Just like she’d said. Shit.

  When she had the door open, he started to thank her for coming to dinner so he could make a hasty exit.

  But Sophie spoke first. “Logan, please come in with me.”

  He should have said no. But he didn’t. Instead, like a man under some kind of spell he followed her inside, shaking the water from his hair and damning himself for not turning around and walking out right then.

  “I’ll get you a towel,” she said, eagerly shrugging out of her wet jacket and heading into her bedroom. She returned with a towel and a hairbrush, motioning him to sit on the tiny, threadbare sofa.

  “I’m fine here. I really don’t need to dry off.”

  “Yes, you do. You’re soaked. And the sleet is coming down harder now. So you might as well wait it out. I’ll fix us some hot tea.”

  Grudgingly, he picked up the towel and dried himself off, allowing a bit of his magic out to dry his wet clothes. Sophie put water on to boil, then returned to the living room, dragging the brush through her long hair.

  Watching her brush her hair was fascinating, though he couldn’t pinpoint why. There was something so incredibly sensual about a woman touching her own hair, especially hers. She ran her fingers down each section, her slender hands smoothing the tendrils into waves. His cock reacted with a sudden twitch. Hell, he wanted her to touch him that same way!

  Her hair hung almost to her waist. He could imagine the feel of the silky strands wrapped around his shaft as she bent over him, taking his cock between her full, tempting lips and sucking him deeply.

  Now his cock roared to life, hard and pulsing. Despite his vehement mental objections, the damn thing wouldn’t lie down and play dead like he wanted it to. His senses filled with her as she walked back and forth, her beautiful ass hugged by the worn jeans, her breasts caressing her sweater. Finally, she brought two cups of tea and sat on the couch next to him.

  Her damp skin smelled so much like cinnamon and patchouli, those scents forever a part of his senses now. As her hair began to dry, curls formed from the ends upward.

  A sudden desire to take the brush from her hands and finish the job himself had him nearly leaping off the couch. Anything to put distance between his barely leashed passions and the woman creating such havoc to his senses.

  She put the brush down and reached for her cup, curling her legs underneath
her as she settled in. When she turned to him, her violet eyes questioned, invited him. She licked the flavored tea off her lips. He wanted to follow with his own mouth on hers.

  No. Abso-fucking-lutely no way. He had to get away from her, and now.

  As nonchalantly as possible, he stood and walked to the small window to look outside. Icicles formed on the bare trees, pellets of ice hitting the roof of his car. Shit, sure as hell was one hell of an ice storm coming down.

  “I should go before the weather gets worse.”

  “The roads are already icy and dangerous.” She was silent for a few seconds, then said, “I think you should stay here tonight.”

  His throat went dry at the thoughts conjured up by her suggestion. “I don’t think so. I’ll be fine driving home.”

  “But I won’t be. I’ll worry about you.”

  He didn’t want her worrying about him. He shook his head, refusing to turn around and look at her. “I hardly need anyone worrying about me, Sophie. I know how to drive.”

  In fact, he should already be on the road. A few steps and he’d be out the door and away from temptation.

  Away from her. Her scent, her mouth, her long, silken hair, her full breasts.

  Fuck. He had to go. Now.

  He heard her shift and stand, smelled her as she approached him. Still, he wouldn’t turn around. He wasn’t sure he could trust himself if he looked at her.

  Instead of touching him or speaking, she stopped inches behind him and inhaled, then sighed.

  Christ, how much was he supposed to endure?

  “I know you’re aware of me, Logan,” she whispered, her husky voice like a caress, torturing his already frayed nerve endings.

  “Yes, I know you’re there.”

  “Why won’t you look at me?”

  How was he supposed to answer that? He could imagine what she would say if he told her he was afraid to.

  “It’s enough that I feel your presence, Sophie.”