Watching them, I wonder how they deal with Leif’s antagonizing character or his not-so-subtle conduct. Or Lucas, and his concept of core values that has been permeated into many aspects of his life, beginning in training and continuing into combat. As I study the Cade family, I become curious as to what influenced these men to grow up so differently.
~Logan~
Seeing her after a long two and a half months, I am incapable of concentrating on my conversation about the project my mother started with a cancer research company. My brothers love discussing all the details and developments in the field, but not me. Today, my head and my senses are overloaded with her being so close.
Raine passes Cassandra a book, and she opens the first colorful page to read. With the first uttered words, the twins freeze as they listen to their mother. Their mouths part slightly as they look and touch the colorful book pages.
I trace her lean body that has been transformed due to obvious working out, and her face is much brighter. Her friendship with Lucas and Leif has helped her deal with everyday challenges.
The Christmas period is our first time coming together after a long time apart. Being super aware of her every move, my nerves burn with the need to reunite us in a tangle of naked bodies, to quench my thirst with passionate kisses. Her increased breathing and rosy complexion make me believe she is super conscious of me as well.
Lightly brushing myself against her, I send the message of what will follow afterward. The anticipation building in my stomach shoots electric currents to my cock, urging me to claim this woman. I lean into her as my breath caresses her neck, and a shiver runs down her body, leaving goose bumps in its wake. She looks at me with furrowed eyebrows, silently reprimanding me, which only makes my playful nature come out to challenge hers.
A warning spark in her stubborn eyes causes my heart to palpitate faster. Fastening my gaze on hers, I let her know I will leave no choice but sweetly surrender. Cassandra tries to create as much space as she can, but I am not giving up. I gently tug her back to me, nibbling on her sensitive spot. When she looks back at me, with annoyance etched in her cute features.
As soon as the lights go out, she will be mine again. This has been on my mind since we left, and the time apart hasn’t diminished my thirst for her.
Leon watches us with his all-seeing little eyes, as he analyzes our faces. Smart detective. After a while, he’s bouncing and babbling conversationally as the things he sees between his parents apparently please his expectations.
“They are both tryin’ to get their parents together,” Lucas observes, like a proud captain with his soldiers.
~Cassandra~
“They are so cute,” Raine comments, as she watches them play and interact with everyone, eventually getting exhausted. My sleepy, worn-out twins need their beds, so at nine o’clock, we take them upstairs to first give them a relaxing bath, and then settle them in for a good night’s sleep.
“Hey, we brought all the stuff for your soldiers. Don’t start your striptease just yet. Let your kids go to sleep first.” An annoying Leif walks in with his eyes closed, not peeking at all.
“Thanks, brother!” Logan pats him on the back. Leif opens his eyes, which sparkle in delight, and then he turns his mischievous gaze on me.
“Don’t worry about the guests, we’ll take good care of them. You should get on with the important mission to populate the earth, all right?”
I grab the nearest soft furry toy and launch it at him as he runs out of the room, laughing.
“Are you ever going to stop teasing each other?”
I shrug. I love Leif for his ability to make any situation humorous, dispel sadness, and distract me from my issues. We run the bath for our tired kids. Our limbs tangle together as our hands are submerged in the water, in case one of them might slip. The soft blue lights are relaxing and create an intimate atmosphere. I watch the twins explore the toys and splash in the water.
The water splashing in their surprised faces makes them stop for a moment, and then they quickly resume the battle after delirious cackles fill up the space. I look at the man in front of me and wonder if that’s how he grew up with his brothers. Having group baths and playing together, never knowing what it was like to be lonely or apart.
“What are you thinking, Angel?” He lightly sprinkles my face with the bath water, as if on purpose, to rouse me. I return the favor as he quickly grabs me by the torso, drawing me towards him for a sweet kiss in front of our curious twins. Leon stands up in the tub, demanding attention, and Liane screeches since she doesn’t like being left out.
We shake our heads and giggle at their behavior. Their happy coos directed at us make my heart burst with happiness.
Finally, we place them both to sleep, peppering their skin with our devotion and love. Their angelic faces are relaxed, and hands twitch lightly, as if they’re in dreamland. Logan gently embraces me as I place my head on his chest, and I contently watch my children rest.
In a comfortable silence, his heart beats in a steady rhythm under my ear. After a long time, I feel warmth permeating my bones and a sublime feeling glows inside me as I wrap my hands tightly around him. I find his intense greens locked on my face, and I feel connected.
After we’re done, he leads me out of the room. Leaving our children to rest, I catch the last glimpse of their sleeping forms before I close the door and follow the man my heart yearns for.
The anticipation’s feeding a powerful longing that is pulsing through my veins. A moment later, he opens the door to my room and hauls me into his arms, carrying me towards the bed.
Chapter 13
Hearts entwined
~Logan~
I place her in the middle of the bed and climb in to lie down next to her, considering my next move.
“I’ve missed you.” I need her to know how much it cost me to be apart.
Impatiently, I capture her lips, drawing her slim figure into me. Soft moans reach my ears as her sweet taste explodes in my mouth, and my body becomes primed and ready.
“I’ve missed you too, Logan.” Her plump lips look too delicious not to taste, so I mesh our mouths again in an urgent need to claim her.
Cassandra turns on her side, facing me, as we both stare at each other. Touching lightly with her fingers, she explores my facial features with fascinated curiosity. As I study her face and fast-rising chest, I know that she is affected by this cozy setup.
My little mouse was never first to make a bold move, unless provoked. It takes just a few buttons to trigger her fierce response that will burn with the passionate flames.
~Cassandra~
He undresses me, deliberately slow, watching and taking cues from my reactions to his touch or kiss. Logan leaves me in only lacy black underwear, and sitting on my knees. His hot intent gaze traces my improved body lines, and his nostrils flare.
“Do you like what you see?” I ask him coyly, trying to propel him to chase me, needing his muscular frame to be pressed against me.
He lifts his beautiful eyes and locks me in a predatory gaze, eliciting shivers. My heart booms, nipples pebble, and my center melts as I watch him. It’s obvious his patience is at its limits, but I want to play with his control.
The temptation to see how far I could push him fills my veins with pulsing energy. He never fails to awaken my impish spirit to override shyness.
Probably seeing my burning desire to tease him, he gives me a slow smile. His eyes light up with hunger, and he delivers me a smoldering look. Well, I’m not ready to be anyone’s captive just yet. So, I jump out of bed and before my feet can touch the ground, I am airborne and being thrown over his shoulder.
Laughing, I wiggle in his hold, trying to escape. To sweeten the deal, his palm smacks my butt cheek in warning, making my blood boil with a need to bite him for the offensive act. Before I have a chance to scold him, he spins around and tosses me onto the mattress. I fasten my legs around his torso and flip him over on his back.
Satis
fied with my fast thinking, I give the man underneath me an arrogant smirk and start moving sensually. Logan groans in pleasure and instantly, both hands go to my hips to aid me. I teasingly stroke him through his clothes, creating delicious shivers at the contact.
“I know what you’re doing, little mouse.” He smacks my ass, and my eyes go wide as I expel a surprised breath.
Oh, no you don’t!
But before I can make my move, he flips me over, trapping my body beneath him. He captures my hands above my head, playfully smirking. Logan’s scent invades my senses, heat permeating my skin.
“Let’s see if I can make this mouse squeak.”
I lift my hips, brushing his crotch. Bring it on!
He shakes his head in disbelief and leans in. “Have you ever been tied up to a bed, Angel?” Not waiting for my answer, he uses his t-shirt to tie my hands above my head, twisting the material until it’s tight around my wrists.
“You need to shed more clothing if you’re planning to use that.” I point at his manhood, smirking. There is no way for him to secure my hands to the bed frame, and I might have a chance to escape his hold. I guess he comes to the same conclusion because he smirks at me. Oops!
“Logan…”
He tugs my hands until my body stretches out long, for his exploring gaze. Once he has me in place, he begins to caress my skin with calculating precision.
“What shall I do with you first?” He is reckoning the plan of action. Helpless, I fight the delicious sparks exploding on every part of my skin. “Want to play?” he asks, trying not to scare me away with the intensity he needs me.
I am overcome with the desire to touch him, reconnecting in a tender embrace until we are both lightheaded with passion. He bows his head, resting it on my shoulder, and as he gives me featherlight caresses, he gently releases my wrists and kisses them softly. I lift up onto my elbows, and look at him. My hands travel his naked chest as my lips map his defined ridges.
“Undress, now.”
The command makes him even more primed. I know that, at some point, he won’t allow me a choice. He slips from the bed to shed his clothes, tracking my every move. A moment later, he stands stark naked, proud and hard.
“Have you been working out? You look ripped.” I lick my lips. Every muscle is a pure art of work as the delectable V points straight to his thick and ready cock hanging between his masculine legs.
“I’m glad that I please you. Let me remind you that I’m not the only one with perfected curves.” His scorching gaze caresses my body, igniting my desire.
“Come here, Logan, let me touch you.” He sits next to me on the bed, as if he’s not sure what I’m asking of him.
“I really don’t want to ruin this. Tell me what you want.” I raise a vulnerable gaze as my insecurities torment me.
He brushes the scar the scalpel left after my C-section. On the other side, I have a different scar, the one I received after the death of my boys as I wandered on the bridge.
“Today, I was reminded of the day I received this scar. I met the old woman who patched me up and took me home after. Since then, the memory is looking for the way in.” I look away as I try to explain to him that, underneath my skin, there are so many things I’m still dealing with.
His green eyes watch me as I try to explain to him the probability of me never completely healing from the PTSD. Eventually, he picks me up and gently places me on my back. My dark-haired man leans down and kisses both scars, making me gasp at the feel of his mouth on my sensitive skin.
“Do you want to try to remember while I am here? You’re safe with me, you know that, right?”
“I thought we were here for something else?” I tease him, as he slips his hand into my hair, cupping my cheek and pulling me in for a taste.
“Grant me one secret from your past, Night, as you once promised.”
I close my eyes as apprehension floods me. I still hate myself for being a coward. To make me feel more comfortable, Logan envelops us in a soft blanket as I settle into his strong embrace. Placing my head on his chest, I listen to his heartbeat.
“It’s ok, you can let go,” his deep voice whispers, close to my ear, which makes me want to nestle into him like a cat.
Eventually, my surroundings dissolve and fade away, as my closed eyes drag me down into the abyss. The memories begin to spin like a cyclone, and I try to reach for one that was evading me all this time. Whirlwind emotions brush against me, eliciting shivers. Depressing presence touches my heart and strokes my body with invisible hands.
The day comes, with high-quality colors and sounds.
The jovial chirpy laughs and giggles in the park are like music to my heart. The amused grins on their faces are genuine signs of happiness that promised us the world would be our oyster. That day flew past me in horrifying images of their end.
I walked away. The soft ground underneath my boots as I walked towards the trees, as if they could quiet my agitated, restless soul trapped in the frozen body.
There is no one around, just a tree I’ve bumped into. I’m somewhat shocked by its appearance in my way. Waiting for my head to stop spinning and the sharp pain in my womb to pass, my hands touch the old wrinkled bark. The wind softly ruffles leaves in a soothing rhythm, making me want to close my eyes.
On the ground, the fallen crispy leaves crumple as I move. So, I lay my exhausted body on the ground between protruding roots from the ground. I fall asleep, Ethan nestled with me. Until Nate wakes me up later and takes him away from me…
Someone told me that everything will be all right. But now, I am alone.
Then the memory of an old lady comes.
After she made me tea, she told me about her lost friends and sisters. Then she cleaned my wound and noticed more blood on my pants.
“Do you have your period? Poor you, go to the bathroom and clean up. I will wash them, and afterward, I will iron them dry, all right?”
The kind lady, using her savings, takes me home. Old lips kiss my forehead as she blesses me and leaves through the back door.
A moment later, the air, saturated with the familiar aura, starts to seep into my frozen bones.
Logan.
“You are safe, Cassandra.” His calm husky voice urges me to suck in air saturated with his scent. Subsequently, I realize I am enveloped in his arms. Safe.
“Tell me.” Logan watches me with a soft loving expression as my tears disappear into my hairline.
Closing my eyes, I tell him about those three days that seemed like a dream. And I recall one more thing I dismissed before.
“I was pregnant.” As soon as I tell him, I know it’s the truth. “I found out a few days earlier, Sam didn’t know. I thought if I waited long enough, I could give him the news on his birthday. I lost the baby. The pain didn’t register.”
Logan lifts us into a sitting position, embracing me as I wrap my legs around his hips and press my shivering body against his. I try to let his warmth seep into my bones as I weep.
“You lived through a lot. Let yourself feel it all now. Don’t run from it, embrace it.” I squeeze him, afraid if I let go, he won’t come back.
“I am terrified to lose you.” I force the words out, holding my breath, listening to his.
“I am not going anywhere.” He cups my face, pressing our lips together. The relief I feel transforms into the fire smoldering inside of me and I get lost in his passionate kiss.
The sensation’s exploding inside my chest, shooting down straight to my core. My breasts become heavy with the need to be touched, and my aroused nipples brush Logan's chest as we move. Engaged in each other’s taste and feel, we battle, and my nostrils flare. Logan is pushing my hips against his hardness, brushing my clit, and a gasp escapes my lips. The electric sensation starts to build within me.
I grab his hair and tug, making him groan and then attack my neck with his teeth, soothing the spot with his lips after. My roaming hands try to touch him everywhere as desperation overtakes us. H
is fingers travel to my breast, stroking the sensitive hard tip, causing me to gasp into his mouth. The other muscular hand presses me into him as I ride teasingly against his pulsing length. Logan’s wild green eyes ignited with lust. He thrusts inside, watching his length claim me.
When he is wholly sheathed in my throbbing womb, he draws me close to him, holding his hand on my throat as he begins to move, my eyes captured in a fierce battle as the pleasure and rightfulness pulses through every nerve ending, every fiber.
I touch myself, watching him as his nostrils flare. With an animalistic need, he starts to pound me punishingly. His hand moves to my collarbone, brushing the sensitive skin.
“Logan…” The past fades.
His hand moves to wind into my hair as he pulls me in for a savage kiss, increasing the tempo. We both lose the rhythm as the violence of our love-making besieges us.
“Night...” A hoarse groan leaves his mouth as he thrusts in me.
The rhythm is wrecking me, unmaking and undoing. The pleasure’s fusing us inside the typhoon. My fingers dig into his skin as the swelling sensation spirals out of control.
“Let go.” His firm command is a trigger and we both explode as the tsunami shatters me in its passionate rage.
Powerful love bursts inside, burning the walls, the pain, and sorrow. I’m ready to give everything I have to this man who is capable of stripping me to the core. He kisses my shoulder as his hard length throbs inside of me, spent.
“Logan?” My tears stream down, cleansing my soul. I am flooded with a blissful sense of contentment. “I love you so damn much,” I cry as he embraces me.
A satisfied Logan pours all his love and devotion into the most soothing kiss, and my peaceful soul falls into the oblivion surrounded by him. Sleeping next to him, I feel warmly cocooned, as if coming home.
Entwined IN YOU (In You #2) Page 12