Fyre & Revenge

by Mina Carter

  Rae nodded, not trusting herself to speak as she slid into a seat and looked around. A lump formed in the back of her throat. No one had ever gone to this much trouble for her before.

  A plate was slid in front of her. Chinese. Chicken fried rice if she wasn’t much mistaken. Her favourite. Surprised, she looked up, her eyes meeting his warm blue ones.

  “I’m not much of a cook I’m afraid.” Logan took his seat at the other side of the table. “Plating a takeout is about as much as I do in a kitchen.”

  Rae picked up her fork and started heaping the little bits of chicken into the middle of her plate so she could eat the rice first. It was a bad habit—something she did with a lot of food—separating it out into separate foods and eating them one by one. Perhaps a nervous habit or something, her therapist side said.

  “How did you know I loved chicken fried rice?” She looked up, a frown on her brow. “Did you remember, I mean?” Considering their situation she’d be amazed if he had.

  He shook his head, digging into his own dinner. “Nope, I’m afraid not. You’d circled it on the takeaway menu next to the phone so I took a guess.”

  Rae let out a sigh of relief and applied herself to her meal. Logan kept up a light flow of conversation she couldn’t help but respond to. Surprisingly, he was entertaining and funny, regaling her with anecdotes from the daytime TV he’d been forced to endure all day.

  “You should be banned from watching TV,” she told him as she cleared the dishes away, only to have them firmly taken away from her. “Tomorrow I’m stealing the remote. You can go out for a walk or something.”

  He gasped, an expression of mock horror on his face as he shooed her towards the main room. “Torture! I get out of the hospital and you want to send me out into the wilds of the countryside. Who knows what’ll happen to me out there! I might get lost and die of hypothermia.”

  Rae shook her head. “Wuss,” she teased, and disappeared into the main room with a small squeal as he flicked the tea-towel out at her.

  On automatic she checked the fire, using the poker to stab at the coals and bed them down. Putting it back in its place in the corner of the hearth, she turned her attention to the bottle in the ice bucket. Her slender fingers reached out and turned the bottle gently to read the label.

  Rae was no expert on champagne. Hell, she wasn’t even an expert on wine. A cheap and cheerful plonk from the village store was about as far as her expertise extended. But this looked expensive, very expensive, if the gold detailed label was any indication. Her eyes widened as she read the name Dom Pérignon. Shit, she’d been right, this stuff was expensive! She remembered drinking it once at some well-to-do relation’s wedding but she’d never consider buying a bottle. Hell, she could buy a mobile therapy couch for that kind of money.

  * * *

  With the kitchen cleaned and as near to its former pristine state as possible, Logan folded the towel over the rail and headed into the main room. Rae crouched by the ice bucket, checking out the label on the bottle. She looked up, surprise in her chocolate caramel eyes. “This stuff is expensive, what’s the occasion?”

  Logan hid his amusement at her bluntness. Actually, for him, the price of the champagne was irrelevant. Rae seemed to think he was some small-time property developer, which wasn’t a surprise as that’s what he’d led her to believe. She had no clue what he really did, that Jensen and Fyre was merely a sideline. An ambition from his childhood to play architect and an expensive hobby he could afford to indulge in.

  She really had no idea what she’d gotten herself into, but he sure as hell was going to enjoy this game. Enjoy seeing how far she was prepared to take this whole charade. As a rule Logan hated liars. Deception was his stock in trade in a way, a sort of legalised deception. He preferred to think of it more as sleight of hand with the facts.

  But he was always brutally honest when it came to relationships. His childhood hadn’t been a good one, his parents more into playing mind games with each other than looking after their only child. Him. So he’d grown up seeing what lies could do to a family and it wasn’t pleasant. As an adult he’d always been up front in his relationships—his lovers knew he didn’t love them and he wasn’t going to marry them. He laid the facts on the line from the start.

  Even so, some balked a little when he ended it, using tear-filled arguments that left him cold as they tried to claim they’d thought he’d changed his mind. Pleaded they thought he’d fallen in love with them at least a little because of his romantic manner and gestures.

  All an act. A part he played more than convincingly and one he intended to play to the hilt with Rae. In fact, he intended to play this game to the end, and it was one he intended to thoroughly enjoy. He smiled and walked further into the room, two glasses in his hand.

  “I thought we’d celebrate… the start of the rest of our lives.”

  He bent down to put the glasses next to the bottle, the crystal clinking as he set them on the hearth. Reaching out with his free hand he caught her at the back of the neck, gentle pressure from his fingers tilting her head up so he could kiss her. He felt the tiny, instinctive start and ignored it.

  When he’d first woken up after the accident it had bothered him that his ‘wife’ was wary of him touching her, but he knew the truth now. She was wary because they didn’t know each other. They’d never been the lovers he’d thought they were. He told himself that by the end of the night that would change.

  He pulled back a little to look into her eyes, as though searching for something. His voice rang with sincerity as he whispered, “I’m sorry for where we went wrong… Where I went wrong before.” He paused, his lips quirking a fraction. “And I’m learning enough about myself, about the way I think, to realise this had to be my fault. I don’t want to lose you Rae. I’ve only just found you.”

  It worked, as he’d known it would. Women fell hook, line and sinker for the sensitive, ‘new man in touch with his feelings’ type. An act Logan played to perfection. Her eyes softened, emotion swirling in the coffee-cream depths. The sudden darkness in them hit Logan like a punch in the gut. Sudden, swift arousal racing like fire through his blood.

  With hard-won control he clamped down on it—this had to be a slow, gentle seduction. Despite her fiery response when he’d kissed her on his first visit, he knew if he pushed she’d retreat into her shell. Using the mask of ‘separated wife’ to keep him at bay.

  Which meant he wouldn’t get so much as a sniff of any action between the sheets and that was definitely not how he wanted things to go. Tonight he didn’t intend to resort to a quickly concealed jerk-off on his lonesome. No, tonight he was after the real deal. He lowered his lips to hers again, touching, teasing and finally tasting. Just the touch of her lips was addictive as he pulled her closer, drawing her into his lap as he sat down in front of the fire.

  * * *

  Jesus Christ, the way this man kissed should be illegal! It was all Rae could do not to melt into a puddle on the rug in front of him. Instead she settled for smoothing her hands over the front of his shirt, crumbling the fabric in nerveless fingers. He moved, turning her in mid-kiss. Cradled in his arms he lowered her to lie on her back in front of the fire. His fingers stroked the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck as he leaned over her.

  The firelight turned his pale eyes to amber. Amber laced with a dark expression that made her shiver as he reached out, winding a strand of her hair around his finger.

  “You’re beautiful, absolutely beautiful.” His soft words captivated her, curled around her heart, and Rae was lost. This was wrong, she knew it was wrong. She wasn’t who he thought she was; she wasn’t his wife, and to let him carry on with thinking that was a huge breach of trust.

  “Logan.” Her hand stopped him before he could kiss her again. He did and she wouldn’t have the strength to stop this, to put things right.

  He paused, looking down at her in concern. “What’s the matter love? Am I going too fast? I’m sorry… I’ll stop�
� I shouldn’t have pushed you.” He sat up, his back to her as he looked into the fire broodingly. Behind him Rae sat up slowly, worry and nerves twisting in her gut.

  “I’m sorry.” He sighed, a deep heartfelt sigh and racked a hand through his close cropped hair. His hand was shaking.

  “I don’t want to screw this up. I have this weird feeling I won’t get a second chance.” He paused and laughed. A derisive little sound that pulled at Rae’s heart-strings. “But then I kiss you and I can’t help myself. You’re driving me mad, Rae.”

  She crept forwards, her hand stealing out to touch him on the arm. A gentle touch to reassure, to give comfort. His hand closed over hers. He looked over his shoulder, the expression in his eyes one of anguish.

  “Please Rae, just let me hold you.” He begged and she was lost. She couldn’t refuse a plea like that, not from another person only wanting comfort. She nodded, settling against him as he lay down on his back and pulled her into his arms. She rested her cheek on his chest and closed her eyes. Comfortable in front of the fire and nestled against the length of his body, she started to drift off.

  Logan felt the instant her body started to relax, and smiled up at the ceiling. Everything was going perfectly. She’d had a long day and had been on her feet for most of it. The hot bath had been calculated to relax her and with a full stomach she’d actually started to nod off. Far from being annoyed Logan was pleased. It meant she was getting more comfortable with him. Which meant he could move the evening into phase two. Sure, he’d gotten the champagne, but getting a woman drunk to seduce her was for amateurs. Logan’s game was far longer reaching.

  He rolled to his side, careful not to disturb her too much. She murmured a little at the change in position, her eyes opening for a second and fluttering closed again. Yeah, she was almost under. Almost but not quite. Leaning in he brushed his lips against hers, sighing in pleasure as she responded, the warm silk of her lips moving against his.

  He moved half over her to deepen the kiss, a thrill running through him as she responded automatically. Her eyes flicked open as she came to, for which Logan was grateful. He was into seduction, not rape. Taking an insensible woman was unforgiveable, and sort of sick in his opinion. No, she had to be aware of her surroundings, capable of making her own decisions. This evening was about lowering her inhibitions. Making her comfortable and getting past her guard. He wanted the thrill of her surrender, of being so swept away and turned on she couldn’t resist him.

  He carried on kissing her, sweeping his tongue along the seam of her lips. A silent request for access to their honeyed recesses. She stiffened a little and he held his breath. Surely she wasn’t going to stop him? Pressed against her from breast to thigh, he could feel her heart pounding, knew she was as affected by this as he was.

  Triumph filled him as she relaxed, opening up for him. A thrill shot through him, through his veins and straight to his cock, as he deepened the kiss. A groan escaped him as he swept his tongue into her mouth, drinking at her lips as though he couldn’t get enough. He never would be able to get enough of this; the thought hit him from nowhere as his hand swept up her side. He needed to touch her, needed to get these clothes off her and bury himself up to the hilt in her softness.

  His need transmitted itself to Rae, a shiver running through her body as his hands caressed the curve of her waist. Large hands which pushed the fabric of her top up so his hand could slide against her bare skin. His touch left fire in its wake, a tingling trail along her ribs. His thumb swept the under curve of her breast, not quite touching it but near enough to have Rae gasping. Under her t-shirt her nipples beaded, visible as they pushed against the thin fabric of her bra. Absently she was grateful she’d picked nice underwear that matched, rather than the mix-matched underwear she normally wore.

  His lips nibbled and drank at hers, blocking any chance she might have had of forming a coherent thought sometime this century, before he moved along her jaw and down her neck. Her back arched automatically, her body accepting and welcoming his touch even as her mind started to slide into blissful oblivion.

  How long was it since she’d had sex? Not since… Her mind tried to count up and came to a tally which surprised her. God, it can’t have been that long could it? Three years without sex? No wonder she was ready to leap on the first guy to show an interest. Another shiver hit her, a wave of goose bumps rising over her skin as he pushed her top up higher, baring her stomach.

  She sucked her breath in as he moved down, planting gentle kisses over the newly revealed skin. Why had no one told her the stomach was an erogenous zone? A moan tried to break free from her lips as he worked his way around, adding small licks between his kisses until the fabric of her top stopped him. He started to lift up but Rae moved, stopped him, making a decision and reaching down to pull the fabric up and over her head, discarding it over her head.

  She watched him nervously, lying underneath him in her bra and jeans, and putting the details of how they came to be here at the back of her mind. She wanted this, needed this. No man had touched her this way before, had made her this hot with just a few touches. But now that she was here and he was looking at her in all her glory, she was nervous. Shivery, shaky kneed and hot. She wasn’t the supermodel type, she knew that, but she had a good figure, curves in the right places.

  His eyes flared with heat as they travelled over her. “Gorgeous,” he murmured. “Just fu… gorgeous.” His last words were muffled as he leaned down and buried his face in her cleavage. She had an impressive cleavage and her bra displayed it to best advantage. His lips branded her skin as he kissed down the valley between her breasts, then over the soft mounds where they pushed up against black satin fabric.

  “Sorry babe, this is pretty but it’s got to go.” Rae didn’t get chance to argue or even absorb the words, Logan’s fingers snaking between her breasts to flick the catch on her bra. She gasped as it fell away, her breasts spilling from their confinement into his waiting hands. The next second his hot lips closed over one sensitive nipple, sucking it into the warm cavern of his mouth and suckling. This time the moan did escape, a soft breathy sound of complete arousal which had him smiling against the silky skin of her breast.

  “Oh you like that? Good, because I like doing it… I like the way you feel, how you taste…” Logan’s voice was sheer temptation as he fondled her breasts, his hands cupping and shaping them. He held them in place, lavishing attention on them until Rae was nearly squirming under him and begging him to take her, to fuck her, there and then.

  “Logan…” Her hands smoothed over his shoulders, along the side of his neck, through his hair. Anywhere she could touch him. She didn’t care, she needed to touch him.

  “It’s okay babe, I know.” His hands stroked down her rib cage and lower. “How about we get rid of these now, hmmm?” His fingers started worked at the fastener and zip of her jeans but he was too slow for Rae. With a small sound of impatience she pushed his hands away, unsnapping them herself and pushing them down her legs with quick movements. Finally she managed to kick them off, her attention on him.

  His nostrils flared slightly as the rest of her body was revealed to him, naked except for the tiny scrap of satin masquerading as underwear. He didn’t say anything, stripping off his own shirt, a dark look in his eyes which made Rae quake with need and anticipation.

  She’d never seen anything quite as erotic in her life. The look in Logan’s eyes as he looked at her was sheer lust, terrifying and beautiful. Primal in its intensity. She reached a hand out to smooth down his naked chest, fingers flicking over his flat male nipple gently before smoothing down his stomach to the impressive hardness tenting the front of his jeans.

  “Oh no doll, not yet.” His voice was somewhere between a growl of warning and one of need. “Touch me at the moment and I’ll lose control, you’ll be flat on your back under me before you can blink.”

  A thrill of pleasure shot through Rae at his words, pleasure and triumph that she had so much contr
ol, that she could reduce him that.

  “Oh yeah? And if that’s what I want?” She grew bolder and moved her hand down to massage him through the denim. His hand closed around her wrist, his eyes locked on hers as he pulled her hand away gently.

  “I have other plans, like making you scream with pleasure a couple of times beforehand.” He pushed her back down to lie on her back. He scooted down, his hand stroking down her front as he knelt between her thighs. Parting them with one hand he used the other to roll one of her nipples between his fingers.

  “Logan, plea—”

  He chuckled and gave in, trailing a finger up her inner thigh towards the part of her which ached for his touch. Her pussy clenched hard as he drew closer and closer to the damp scrap of satin between her thighs. But when he reached it he didn’t give Rae the touch she desperately needed, instead skipping over and stroking down the other side. She groaned in frustration, driving her hands in her hair, her back arching helplessly as he did it again. Teasing her, making her hotter and wetter with need.

  “You’re a tease,” she accused, peeking down at him through the tangled mess her hair had become. He grinned up at her unrepentantly as he slowly dragged her thongs down her legs.

  “Sweetheart, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” He promised as he settled down. Her eyes fluttered closed, the first touch of his lips by her knee making her jump a little. Oh god, how embarrassing, she was so turned on that a kiss on the inside of her knee nearly made her come!

  Her breathing stuttered, air difficult to draw into her lungs as he worked his way up her inner thigh. Doing exactly the same as he had on her stomach, soft kisses and small licks. She shivered, anticipating the touch of his tongue probing her folds, the first brush of his warm tongue against her clit. Her body tightened hard as he got closer, his hands spreading her thighs to allow him better access. Rae moved eagerly at his silent order. She bit her lip as he used his thumbs to spread her, anticipating his first touch… and nearly howled as he moved his hands, kissing down the inside of her other thigh.