by Anne Conley
But he was here.
And she was hot.
The flames started in her belly, spreading outward and downward until she clenched her thighs together stupidly. Katie was practically in the fetal position on her bar stool before she realized how ridiculous she was acting.
Saying hi wouldn’t be bad, would it? Maybe he could point her in the right direction?
Slowly, she turned back around and found he had seated himself at a table with a small group of men. She belatedly noticed they all matched, dressed from head to toe in navy cargo pants and t-shirts that read PGFD.
Her panties—imported from France and made with the finest silk—were instantly wet and disintegrated into a gooey mess. Her sex throbbed, as in pulsing, like a live creature trying to escape the confines of the expensive silk and lace.
Logan, her Dom, was a fucking hero. Something about that had her practically fanning herself. Since Katie was still trying to fly under his radar, she refrained, but the heated flush that crawled across her skin was a palpable entity in the small bar.
His buddies were laughing at some joke, but he simply sat there, reclining in his chair with his hand resting on the table, his finger tracing the rim of his glass. It was like he was lost in thought. Maybe they had just come off a job and he was reliving it? His shoulders were tense, though, and she felt the undeniable desire to run her fingers across the broad expanse of muscle. She could massage out the tension, make him relax. That could be a good payment for the night of exquisite torture he’d introduced her to.
Of course, as she was imagining that, his eyes clashed with hers across the room. He stiffened further, his body no longer reclining in a relaxed position.
Uh oh …
Conflicting emotions raced through her as he stalked across the room to where she sat. With each step, she felt a lash across her skin.
Step.
Smack.
Step.
Smack.
She tried not to flinch at the heat that accompanied the memory of his flogger on her, but when Logan stood right in front of her, her body felt the memory of his touch.
Spreading her.
Licking her.
Consuming her.
There was nobody but him in this bar. As he stood in front of her, she didn’t see anything else. Katie’s peripheral vision faded until he was all she could see.
“What did I tell you, Katherine?” His voice rushed across her skin, branding her as his, no matter what his words said.
“Never again. I didn’t know you’d be here.” She dropped her eyes to the logo on his chest. “I live here.”
Logan’s eyebrows rose in surprise. His mouth opened, then shut, his jaw clenching while his temple flexed. His jawline was square, no dimples, nothing to soften the harsh edges of the sharp, chiseled shape.
“There are reasons I go out of town for play.” His voice softened into something akin to regret as his eyes blazed a trail up and down her body. Could it have been as amazing for him as it was for her? Her hopes rose as his eyes fell on her shoes—tall, black sandals with wide straps that went up her calves.
She held her hands up in front of her body in an innocent gesture but also as some sort of defense against him.
“I know. You don’t do second dates. I didn’t know you’d be here.” Feeling stupid for repeating herself, she managed a flirty grin, knowing it was one of her best features. It was in vain, since his eyes had landed on the ribbon around her neck and seemed to be glued there. “But now that we know we both live here, maybe we could get together?” Katie regretted the words as soon as his face shuttered in anger. Suddenly, this was an awful idea. Her worst.
And she’d had some doozies.
“We don’t know each other,” he growled, and it wasn’t the sexy growl she was familiar with. The erotic rumble that had fallen from his chest that night was replaced with a feral warning. “We will not see each other again.” He looked around and lowered his voice. “Not like that.”
“Okay,” she managed. Her voice was gone, a dumb-sounding squeak taking its place. Nothing sexy about it. Katie swallowed, her throat feeling like it was full of gravel. “Just throwing the offer out there. But whatever.” She’d meant to sound haughty, flippant even, but it was a whisper.
She was completely curled in on herself—her legs crossed as well as her arms, her shoulders hunched over. Deliberately, she straightened, thrusting her breasts out and uncrossing her legs. “If you will excuse me.”
Katie turned back to the bar and motioned to the bartender for another glass of wine as she guzzled the rest of her glass. It was an effort to look at something besides Logan.
“I need someone tonight, and if you’re not on the table, you’re just standing in front of it.” But when she spun back around, he was gone.
Message given.
Message received.
Back in her car, in front of Mo’s, Katie cursed her stupidity. She had no idea what was going to happen with Logan. She hadn’t since this had all started.
While she didn’t regret the discovery she’d made about herself that night, she completely regretted ever connecting with him. She had gotten several responses to her ad, but he’d seemed the most genuine and had resonated with her somehow. Logan’s words had spoken to her thrill for the fear of the unknown, something she’d always had. Firsts were amazing experiences for her, and he’d been the best first ever. It was something she wanted to have again, even if it were impossible.
She tried to reconcile the Logan she’d met two years ago with the Logan she’d known in her daily life the last two years and the Logan who’d made an appearance tonight. It was difficult, to be honest, and she couldn’t help but feel like she was being punked.
With a sigh, she backed out of her space and drove home. It was late, or early, depending on how you looked at the night. At any rate, the streets were deserted, leaving her to her thoughts.
Honestly, she had no idea Logan had even lived here—because of his weird shifts at the fire station—and when she’d found out he did, she wasn’t ashamed to admit she’d done some digging. He’d lived here a while, and though that made it totally strange, they’d never seen each other in a town this size, she admitted they did run in different circles. At least, they used to.
He had been a firefighter in Pamona Gulch for fifteen years. Most of that time she’d had guardianship of her brother and was taking him to and from school, planning and setting up her business, going to business classes, staying busy—essentially a single mom. When she did get the rare chance to go out, she’d stuck to the nicer bar in the ski lodge on the other side of the mountain. She didn’t want Walter’s friends’ parents to see her slutting it up and trying to get laid. It was laughable because she was now known as the loose girl who frittered away her daddy’s money on panties ever since she’d opened the lingerie shop. But whatever.
She couldn’t find anything about where Logan came from, but since she and Annette had become friends last year, she’d learned he didn’t talk about his past—ever. Jude, Annette’s boyfriend and Logan’s best friend, was very protective of him. Although he was standoffish with everyone, Logan was only rude to Katie.
Walking inside her house—her parents’ house, really—Katie worked the alarm and dropped her purse on the table next to the door.
She’d had Logan for one beautiful night. In that time, he’d taught her exactly what she’d been missing. As she walked up the stairs and down the hallway to her suite of rooms, she mentally thanked him, and herself, for the experience.
He’d broken her heart by refusing to continue the foray into her sexual discovery. She’d suspected she had a thing for pain but had no idea the reality of it until Logan had inflicted the most delicious sensations on her skin. From the prickling heat, to the psyche-invading stings which she
still relived, the pain had been everything. The delicious, erotic torture had instigated the most intense orgasms she’d ever had. Not one to be daunted, Katie had thrown herself at him for over a year.
Entering her room, her sanctuary, she stripped as she walked through her den area to her bedroom and collapsed on the bed.
Rolling to her back, she stared at her ceiling. Yup. He’d halted her sexual discovery, dropping her like a stack of hot flapjacks, as if she’d burned him. The idea brought a scoff from her throat. She’d never even kissed the man and she was half in love with him.
But he’d burned her repeatedly.
And then tonight had happened.
Nothing made sense anymore.
She’d have to just wait and see what his mood dictated next.
That didn’t make her sleep well.
Chapter Six
Logan drove to the fire station thinking about what he’d said. What he’d almost done. What he’d promised Katie.
Logan had seen Katie take home all manner of men from Mo’s, and he seen her attempts at flirting with him. He’d also actually been with her and knew her capabilities as a woman, a seductress, and a submissive. He knew how gorgeous she was, and he also knew the danger she’d put herself in repeatedly.
He suspected she did it because of him, but he still wasn’t sure about that. Katie was a woman who took chances, that was for sure. She opened a fucking lingerie shop in this tiny town, but it seemed to do well for her. That was a chance she’d taken. Sure, it wasn’t a huge chance, considering the money her parents had, but she hadn’t failed at it.
He knew being her friend didn’t mean tying her up and spanking the hell out of her, but that’s exactly what he’d offered.
As he thought about the terrified look on her face when he’d opened that closet door, the way she’d clung to that hot cocoa like it was a lifeline, he knew she needed this. Memories of her body responding to him assaulted his mind so forcefully he almost had to stop the truck.
He pushed all thoughts of Katie aside as he pulled into the parking area of the Pamona Gulch fire station and jumped out of his truck. He had a job to do and couldn’t do said job while he was thinking of Katie and whatever the fuck he was doing with her.
The fire on the square was raging hard by the time Logan had gotten suited up and on the auxiliary truck. He and Jude were given their assignment and got to work laying down a layer of water on the adjacent buildings to keep the fire contained. The restaurant on the square was burning, and it was heartbreaking to see. The square was a historic place nestled in the mountains of New Mexico. Seeing it aflame set Logan’s mind where it needed to be.
They had to keep the entire side of the square from burning and not let the fire get to the buildings that butted up to the one on fire. It was going to be bad enough losing it, but this entire side of the square? That would be detrimental to the community. On one side of it was the old Catholic church. On the other was the Knights of Columbus hall.
Alongside Joey and Zane, Logan and Jude trained their hose on the church. They were the team on call, secondary to the team working the restaurant.
This is what Logan loved to do, what gave him direction and pulled him off the streets when he was a kid. He and Elliot had been older, late teens, when they met Sam. He worked fires and actually took the time to talk to them. Elliot had taken an auxiliary job as a paramedic, but Logan had been all about being in the face of danger. There was something about the hero aspect that sang to his broken roots. He got off the streets, earned an education, and learned to save people and prevent destruction. That was a hell of a lot more than his drunk father expected of him.
He and Elliot had gone separate ways when they’d gotten jobs, but Elliot had made his way to Pamona Gulch, and they were back together. Between work schedules and Elliot’s wife and nephew, though, they didn’t see each other all that much.
He was glad they were in the same town again. Even if he didn’t see his oldest friend that much, just knowing he was here was a tether of sorts for Logan. The team was amazing, some of his best friends, but Elliot was his brother.
It wasn’t a mystery to Logan how he’d become the control freak he’d turned out to be. His entire youth had been one out-of-control incident after another that Logan had spent all his energy trying to regulate—for survival. And later, he realized it had all been just an illusion of control, but things could have gone awry at the drop of a hat. Logan and Elliot had just been smarter than most.
They’d had to be to survive as long as they did.
So when they found their chance—the meeting with Sam that changed their lives—they’d jumped on it. And here they were.
But with Katie’s face jumping into his mind at the most inopportune moments, Logan had to ask himself if he was still happy.
And he couldn’t answer that question.
When Chief called it, the sun was coming up, and the crowd around the restaurant was immense. There were kids, the elderly, even entire families. Everyone invested in the town’s survival had shown up to see what had happened.
Logan ignored it all and followed his fellow fighters inside to see the damage and try to figure out what had happened. Based on the size of the flames when they’d all arrived, the fire had started in the kitchen where the fryers were. It was a grease fire of epic proportions.
Miraculously, they’d managed to save the surrounding buildings.
As they looked around with the fire investigator, his intense interest in the fryers and what was inside them had Logan’s blood simmering.
Was this another arson case?
His team was dismissed, but the pull to stick around and watch the investigator was strong. If someone had deliberately set this fire, he would have the punk’s head on a stick. The arson profile said it was a kid, and Logan knew what bored, disgruntled kids were capable of, but only a dumb kid would do something as dangerous to the community as this.
And Logan was dying for a little one-on-one time with whomever had done it.
Chapter Seven
Katie was rushing around Hidden Intimacies trying to get things ready for Stephanie, the store manager. She only had three employees, most of them part-time, except Stephanie, who was promoted about a month ago. She’d been doing all the work of a manager, picking up Katie’s slack when she left to take care of Walter and closing three days a week, but when she started helping Katie get her statements ready for the accountant, she’d given her the official title as well as a raise. Hands down, Hidden Intimacies wouldn’t be as awesome as it was without Stephanie.
But today, the shipment had come early, and the asshole driver had just come in and dropped all the boxes by the front door, blocking the entrance, while Katie had been busy with a customer. She was in the process of moving them to the back of the shop so they could be opened and sorted.
Right now, Stephanie had the statements ready for the accountant, and Katie needed to deliver them so she could do payroll. Hopefully, there was enough for small Christmas bonuses in time for her employees to use them for shopping. Although the holiday was two months away, Katie had time to get them out, but she always liked to do it early if possible.
She loved her accountant. Doing the books herself had been time-consuming, and even when she had good math days, she still lost money somewhere and wasn’t nearly as organized as this woman who worked out of her house.
The bell over her door clanged, and Katie dropped the box she was struggling with on the table in the back room before going to the front with her sales smile pasted on her face. It became a genuine smile when she saw Vivian standing there.
“Hey, you! I haven’t seen your face as much as I’m used to. Things with Joey going well, I assume?” Katie pulled the broom and dustpan from behind her counter to sweep up the dust the boxes had left on the floor when the driver had dro
pped them. She had no idea why this mess got left every time, but it did.
“Yeah, they are.” Vivian had a look on her face that made Katie think of Pepe Le Pew—love struck and stupid. The glaze of her eyes and the vague smile on her face made Katie feel a sense of simultaneous joy for her friend and jealousy for herself. She wouldn’t ever really have that relationship with Logan. She could wish for it all she wanted, but she could also wish in one hand and shit in the other and watch which one filled up first.
“What was that for?” Vivian looked at her expectantly and leaned her hip against the counter.
“What?”
“That sigh. You sounded like Carly when I tell her she can’t have dessert until she finishes her green stuff.” Vivian smiled gently, and Katie wished her mom had been half the mom Vivian was for her daughter. Katie’s mom didn’t know what the word sacrifice meant. Vivian had sacrificed a lot for her daughter’s happiness, almost to the point of her own happiness.
“Nothing. Just feeling sorry for myself.” Katie forced good humor back into her voice. “Honestly, it’s nothing.”
“How are you and Logan doing? Last night, you both seemed … different,” Vivian mused.
“We’re friends. It was a conscious decision, but we’re having some issues with it.”
Like what the hell that means and how we’re going to do the kink thing and stay friends.
The thought brought last night slamming into her brain, pissing Katie off because she’d managed somehow to smush it down and not obsess about it all day. But here it was—the memory of Logan’s room and all its promises of pleasure and pain—right here where she couldn’t stop imagining things taking place.
Like a dragonfly, her brain flitted from scene to scene: The Beestro, where they’d made it through the awkward conversation and decided to be friends; to the dark closet, right before Logan had busted in like an avenging angel to save her; to his kitchen, where he’d made her cocoa and decided to punish her; to the room she had no idea he even had, filled with all sorts of things that made her panties wet and her knees weak.