But Logan didn’t seem to notice they stared at him or, in fact, even existed.
Which was good, it really was.
Although with no actual conversation, it kind of left their relationship status up in the air.
****
The night of her birthday, Lauren walked out of the bedroom ready to go out. Logan had asked her the night before what she wanted to do and she’d told him. She wanted to go out to a club where they would meet all her friends from work and dance the night away.
It seemed like a good and reasonable plan to her and he went along with it. The problem was, he’d never met her friends from work and she was very much afraid that he’d assumed they would all be women.
And they weren’t.
It wasn’t as if she was a social butterfly, no matter what her mother called her, but she did have a lot of friends, both men and women. If you got down to it, John was probably her only true guy friend. Since he was gay, Lauren felt comfortable around him and she could just be herself. Heidi had invited the rest of the men who would be there tonight.
Lauren bent and grabbed her purse and Logan stood to his feet, frowning. “You’re wearing that?”
Lauren glanced down and looked at herself. She wore a red blouse with the shoulders cut out, black shorts and stilettos. She glanced back up. “Too slutty?” She watched his intent stare and had to smile. “It’s conservative slutty. I’ll have you know these are lined, linen shorts.”
He didn’t comment and Lauren received the impression that he couldn’t. She almost laughed; she’d never even remotely seen him speechless before.
His eyes continued to run over her and when he didn’t speak, she said, “We’re going to a dance club. I’m twenty-five years old and you know what they say: you’re only young once. I’m going to be among friends and besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t let any harm come to me, right?”
His gaze slid back to hers and examined her thoroughly. His look became territorial and Lauren was hit with the same shaky feeling she always got when he was this close to her. Butterflies started fluttering in her stomach and her knees weakened. He walked forward with a purpose and picked up a lock of her hair and twirled it around his finger until he stopped at her scalp. She felt the tug on her hair center all the way to the juncture between her thighs. “Did I just hear you correctly?” The words rattled from his throat in a brusque, possessive tone. “Did you just grant me the right to be the man who protects you?”
Lauren’s heart began beating viciously in her chest. She heard his question through a roaring in her ears. Her remark had been off-handed. She hadn’t really meant anything serious with her question, so why was he taking it so seriously and why did she think this was suddenly a pivotal moment in their relationship? She tried to think, tried to get her brain to work.
She licked her lips and tried to put the ball back in his court. “Do you … do you want to be that man?”
His answer was a silent one. A glimmer of heat exploded in his eyes and he began nodding his head, slowly, up and down. With one hand wrapped around her hair, his other hand snaked up and wrapped around her cheek and lifted her face to his.
He bent down and kissed her, quickly but firmly.
He raised his head. “Okay. It’s a done deal.”
The look in his eyes was scaring her shitless. Scaring her shitless and exciting the living crap out of her all at the same time. Her mother had never told her that there were men like this one living on the planet. Nobody had ever warned her. “Okay, yeah, but—” she began.
He cut her off. “No buts.”
Lauren was excited and nervous and panicky. “Yeah, there’s a ‘but’.”
“And what would that be?” he questioned slowly and succinctly, only seeming to be humoring her.
“I guess this means we’re … exclusive—” she began, but he cut her off again.
“Damn right,” he breathed out in a possessive hiss.
“Okay, so it’s just you and me, but that doesn’t mean … “
“Doesn’t mean what?” he questioned shortly, obviously wanting no conditions on the relationship whatsoever.
She narrowed her eyes and gathered her nerves together. “It doesn’t mean that you make the rules. You need to understand that going in. You’re not the boss of me, you don’t tell me what to do, what to wear, or what time I have to be home. We’re together, but we’re not married or anything like that, and I’m all grown-up and have been for some time and I make my own rules.”
His eyes impaled hers but Lauren could tell he was listening to her mandate carefully and strategically. Damn him! She’d been right! It had been a strategy all along! And suddenly she knew that whether she’d given him an opening or not, he’d planned on having a confrontation with her tonight about … boundaries. And she’d played into his hands with that statement about him not letting her come to any harm. She really needed to watch what she said around this man.
His hands stayed plastered to her skull, and his body filled with a tension that was palpable. “All right, I agree,” he answered in a voice that reflected his mercurial mood. “We’re not married and I don’t own you. You’re a big girl and can live by your own rules, for now. All I’m going to say is one thing: You called it. We’re together.” His hand left her face and slid down and cupped the heat between her legs firmly and aggressively. “And this is mine.” His fingers tightened. “Nobody fucks you but me, and if somebody lays so much as a finger on a single strand of your hair, they’ll wish they were dead.”
Lauren’s jaw dropped and she couldn’t seem to close her mouth as he stared down at her.
“You got that, babe?” He hissed out while his hand between her legs enclosed her in an unyielding grasp.
Lauren sucked in a ragged breath and nodded her head, too stunned to speak. Son of a bitch.
She’d just released the Kraken.
****
The very minute that they walked into the darkened club and found Lauren’s friends, Logan knew he would have to pull off the biggest con job of his life. If he could con Lauren into thinking he was having fun and that he was as calm as shit, she’d never know that his insides were tied into knots and that he was actually running on a surge of adrenalin.
Her friends, whom he thought would be women, definitely included men. There were more women, true, and one in particular named Heidi who Logan focused on. This was the chick who wanted Lauren to start sleeping around and having ‘fun’. It was enough to make him grit his teeth, but not enough to set him on the warpath.
Oh, no.
That was left to a couple of douche bags who Lauren introduced as John and Nico. Both were men she worked with, and Logan quickly realized it was this John fucker who she’d gone out of town with. The bastard just had to be single, tall and fit, and wouldn’t you just fucking know it, had goddamn eyes for Lauren. The guy could not keep his fucking eyes off of Lauren.
And of course, being the birthday girl, she was passed from one set of arms to the next and kisses and goddamn touches were plastered all over her.
Logan stood back and felt his temperature soar. His back teeth were clenched so tightly that his jaw was aching.
He knew that he needed to calm the fuck down, because Lauren had been looking at him like he was Attila the Hun ever since they’d left her apartment. One little innuendo about killing anyone who touched her, and she’d started looking at him as if he was crazy. Her eyes kept darting sideways at him, almost like she was sizing him up, and he knew she was speculating on his possible sanity or lack thereof. He needed to get his jealousy under control and he needed to do it now.
He took a stabilizing breath.
He could never let her find out how fucking jealous he was.
****
As the night wore on, Lauren watched Logan from below her lashes. He seemed to be handling everything okay. He was laughing and joking with her girlfriends, and he was almost pleasant to John and Nico, who Heidi had insisted on invit
ing.
But there was just something about Logan’s demeanor that Lauren didn’t believe. It seemed almost contrived, although she couldn’t exactly put her finger on why. She realized that by bringing him here, putting him among all her friends and co-workers, that she was putting him to the test.
She really liked Logan, cared for him deeply already. He was amazing, actually astounding, in bed. He made her insides quiver and the thought of breaking up with him made her extremely sad, upset if the truth were told.
But they had to be able to get along; they had to be able to have a social life that included other people. But this was all so new, and he was so very, very intense.
Yeah, intense. That was the word.
He needed to tone that shit down if he expected this relationship to mature into something more.
And holy crap, wouldn’t that be amazing? To experience that sexual chemistry all the time? To have that hunk of man-meat hanging over her in bed for the unending future?
Yeah, she wanted that. If he could just tone it down a bit.
She had to be able to keep her identity, to be her own person. It was way, way too soon to start giving into him.
If she gave in too soon, he’d control her faster than the blink of an eye.
****
Logan thought he was doing exceptionally fucking well until the John fucker asked Lauren to dance and without even giving him a heads up, she took the fucker’s hand and went to the dance floor with him.
When she stood to her feet and walked off, his temples began throbbing and tension filled his muscles.
The song was a fast one, but it was almost over and by the time they got to the dance floor, the music had turned slow. Logan fisted his hands and cracked his knuckles under the table and waited, not knowing what he was going to do or if he could even control his reactions. When she went into the motherfucker’s arms and began dancing with him, Logan saw red and began counting.
Exactly how many goddamn weeks had Logan been sleeping with her? Was it too fucking soon? Could he reasonably go over there and put his fist in that motherfucker’s face and then drag her ass out of here and take her home and explain exactly how the fuck it would be from then on?
Logan kept his eyes glued on her and could see that Lauren was watching him in return. She was dancing with the other guy, but she was watching him. And then, like a bolt of lightning, he knew. This was a fucking test. She was testing him to see if he could keep his ass in his seat and not cause a fucking scene.
Goddamnit. He wanted to beat the living shit out of the guy. Nothing, absolutely nothing, would please him more.
He took five deep breaths and slowly began counting to ten, and then to fifty. Could he make it through the dance? He wasn’t even going to think about whether or not she was going to dance with the dude again. Even in his brain, he couldn’t go there yet. One fucking thing at a time.
He had a decision to make. If he wanted to keep her, and he did, he had to sit here and prove he … what? Wasn’t an animal?
Did she think he was an animal?
Fine. He’d sit here and nurse his drink and play nice. He could play nice when he had to. But later, when he got her clothes off …
****
The song ended and segued into another round of slow music. John raised his brows in question but Lauren shook her head and he began leading her back toward the table.
They hadn’t taken two steps before Nico came upon them and made a grab for Lauren’s hand. Not knowing there was a problem, John walked off the dance floor and left Lauren to face Nico alone. Lauren shook her head with a half smile, trying to get out of this without any repercussions.
“Oh, come on, Lauren, you danced with John,” Nico began, belligerently.
“I know, but I’m tired. I feel a bit light-headed and—”
Her words were cut off when he swung her around and wrapped his arms around her, preparing to dance with her whether she liked it or not. Her hands went to his chest and she began pushing against him.
He reared back from her, and she was slightly amazed that she’d been able to get him off her that quickly. It took a moment to realize that Logan held Nico by the shirt collar and that the look on Logan’s face portended trouble, bad trouble. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, asshole? She clearly told you that she didn’t want to dance.”
“Get the fuck off me, you piece of shit,” Nico said to Logan. “You don’t deserve her.”
Lauren recognized the glimmer of emotion that shone from Logan’s eyes. It looked as if he finally had somebody he could take his anger out on. And unfortunately for Nico, he happened to be that person. There was no question in Lauren’s mind that Logan was about to hit the other man. He pulled his arm back and was about to let loose when he was stopped abruptly by two big, beefy bouncers. “That’s enough. All three of y’all can leave. Now.”
Logan released Nico instantly with a look of resentment. His nostrils flared, his legs were braced apart, but all he did was grab Lauren’s hand and say, “We’re leaving.”
Logan gave Lauren time to grab her bag but that was it. He escorted her out of the door under the watchful eyes of one of the bouncers. He hustled her into his truck and started the engine. “Buckle up.”
Lauren fumbled with the buckle, her head spinning. “I’m sorry about that. Nico’s a douche sometimes. Heidi invited him, not me.”
As Logan pulled onto the street, he said, “That was your fault.”
“My fault?”
“If you hadn’t been dancing with the other fucker and laughing and joking and flirting your ass off like you were goddamn single, then that jackass wouldn’t have thought he had a chance at you. You gave them both entirely the wrong impression and you expected me to sit on my ass and watch it happening. Yeah, your fault,” he seethed.
“Logan… “
Logan stopped at a red light and turned to her, anger on the clear cut lines of his features. “What?”
Lauren took a deep breath and confessed, “John’s gay and everyone, including Nico, knows it.”
If looks could have killed, Lauren would have been a dead woman. “Gay,” Logan said flatly, his mouth held rigidly. “You neglected to mention that to me, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, it was just an oversight—”
“Bullshit. And the guy wasn’t watching you like he’s gay. He was watching you like he wants to fuck you.”
Lauren’s throat tried to close up as she felt his animosity. “No, you’re mistaken. He tries to protect me, that’s all. And I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you before, it was an oversight—”
“Bullshit. You were testing me. And who better to test me with than someone who isn’t a threat to you?” Logan pressed on the brakes and made a barely legal u-turn. “And you weren’t going to tell me the dude is gay. You were going to let me stew in my own jealousy.”
As he made the u-turn, Lauren felt almost faint. “Where are you going? You can’t go back there.”
“I’m not going back there. Being around a crap load of people is the last thing I want right now. Besides, we got thrown out, remember?”
He didn’t want to be around people? Lauren swallowed as she saw the brooding displeasure clearly written on his face and in the rigid way that he held himself. She cleared her throat. “Then I don’t understand. Why’d you turn around?”
“We’re going this way.”
“But I live that way,” Lauren said softly as she pointed behind her.
“Yeah, and I live this way,” Logan kept his eyes on the road and tilted his head forward.
She watched him, analyzing his statement. “You haven’t asked me if I want to go home with you—”
“No, and I’m not going to.”
Lauren was held spellbound by that tersely worded announcement and by his thick, sinewy wrists gripping the steering wheel. “Logan—”
He looked to the left and to the right and swiftly pulled the truck into a twenty-four hour Wal-Mart and id
led the engine. “It’s time to get some shit straight,” his said in a voice so guttural, so primal that Lauren knew he was about to unleash the dominant personality he tried so hard to keep hidden from her. She wasn’t fooled; she’d known what lay underneath that thin veneer of civility since the day she’d met him.
She began shaking her head. “No, it’s not time to get shit straight. It’s way, way, way too soon to be getting any shit straight.”
His mouth clamped and his muscles corded angrily in his neck. “Fine. I’ll let it be for now. But answer me one goddamn question because I’m sick and fucking tired of tiptoeing around you.” Logan’s hands were wrapped around the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.
Tiptoeing around her? Holy crap, he thought he’d been tiptoeing around her? How the hell would he act if he wasn’t taking care? “What?” she asked, almost afraid to know what the question was going to be.
“Are you scared of me? You think I’m going to go off the deep-end and hurt you or some shit?” He turned his head to look at her, and she could read his eyes. “Because I’m not.” As his words stilled, his expression grew agonized. His gaze swept over her, and his unguarded look of longing was defined by his exposed anxiety.
Lauren stared, not sure how she should answer. She wasn’t scared of him, exactly. She didn’t think he’d hurt her. She actually didn’t doubt that at all. In fact, she felt … utterly safe with him. But … she wasn’t so sure that he wouldn’t hurt someone else or put a hole in the wall or something like that. “I don’t think you’d hurt me, no.”
“I’d never hurt you.” His voice was adamant.
She studied him a moment before answering. “You’re pretty damn intense, Logan.”
“Yeah, I get that.” He exhaled deeply. “So, here’s the question. Can you handle it?”
“I … I—”
““Cause I have to know pretty damn soon. If you want to cut me loose then you just need to do it now. I can’t change the way I am, Lauren. The longer this goes on … I don’t know … “
“What? The longer this goes on, what?” She wanted to know; she needed to know.
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