by Anara Bella
Her new mantra had served her well for the past few days and she was going to keep it. It was an integral part of the new her. And she was going to hold onto its ideals with both hands, and experience life with the gusto she hadn’t had the nerve to show up until now.
Yep, she was going to do all of that. Just as soon as her heart stopped feeling as if it was going to shatter into a million jagged pieces. That should only take an eon or two. Just as soon as she forgot the bliss of being held in Logan’s arms. The sweet excitement of his lips against hers. The heart-stopping fullness of when he thrust home and took her to a hitherto unknown dimension where they alone existed.
Yeah, that shouldn’t take too long at all. Once that initial eon or two was past she was good to go.
Shit. She was so screwed.
She shivered as the early evening chill permeated her consciousness. It was getting dark. Because the cottage was two hours farther north than home the nights had more of a nip to them. She rubbed her arms for warmth as she headed inside just to stop short when she saw headlights flickering through the trees on the long driveway leading up to the cottage.
Had Tony followed her up here? Had Carmen decided Nica needed company no matter how much she’d insisted she didn’t? Curiosity overrode her desire to hide from whoever it was and she waited at the top of the steps.
When the pickup got close enough, shock chased through her as she realized it was Logan’s. Her heart slammed into her throat, almost choking her, and she clenched her hands tight with nerves.
What was he doing here? What did he want? The need to run inside and bolt the door like a wuss almost overtook her. She didn’t want to face him just yet. That’s why she was up here, to get away from him.
Taking deep, calming breaths, she forced herself to stand her ground. There was nothing she could do about it now. He was here and hiding was rather childish. Besides, she was made of tougher stuff than that.
With deliberate precision, she straightened her shoulders and pretended to look a hundred times calmer than she felt. At least, she hoped she looked calmer than she felt. Because if she didn’t, her eyes were bugging out and her hair was standing perpendicular to her head.
Logan parked his dusty GMC Sierra beside her two-year-old Chevy Cobalt and opened his door.
Still striving to look cool, she slowly descended the steps as he made his way towards her. “What are you doing here?”
He stopped in front of her and jammed his hands into his front jeans pockets, managing to look sexy as hell in the process. With him on the ground and her standing one step up, they were almost eye to eye. “I had a good talk with Tony.”
She clung to the railing for support while her heart skipped about erratically. “What about?”
“About us.” He reached out and skimmed his fingers along her cheek.
She closed her eyes, her traitorous heart relishing every nuance of his touch before sanity returned and she pulled back. “I thought you didn’t want Tony to know about us.”
“I didn’t. He already knew.” Logan gave her a sheepish smile. “I wish I could say it was my idea but Tony was the one who brought it up. How did he find out about us, Nica?”
Did he think she’d told Tony about them? She searched his face but he didn’t seem angry with her. “He guessed. He’s far more observant than either of us gave him credit for.”
Logan nodded, acknowledging what she’d said. “I still can’t believe he didn’t kill me on the spot. Hell, I would have killed me.”
She couldn’t stand the suspense. “Why are you here, Logan?”
“To tell you how sorry I am that I hurt you. To try to make things right.” His gaze bore into hers. “I’m here because we need to talk, to sort things out.”
He tentatively touched her arm but she shrugged it off, afraid of reading more into what he was saying than was there. “Nothing’s changed. I’m still Tony’s little sister and your honorary little sister by default.”
Logan shook his head. “That’s just it, everything’s changed. I thought Tony would be furious when he found out about us, but he isn’t. By some miracle he’s fine with us being together.” He reached out again but stopped short of touching her and dropped his hand. “Thank God for that, because I can’t stop thinking about you. Of how it is between us. Of how much I want to be with you.”
She stomped on the hope that flickered to life deep in her heart. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? Or was she reading more into it because she so desperately wanted to hear it? She had to be sure. “What do you mean?”
He leaned in closer. “I mean I want to give us a chance.”
His distracting closeness overwhelmed her so she backed up a step. He followed after her. “I mean I want to get to know you as a woman.”
She stepped back again, her insides shaking in earnest. Is this really happening?
He stalked her up yet another step. “I mean I want to know what we’re like together as a couple, not just as friends.”
“You do?” She hated the quavering in her voice.
He nodded, his gaze boring into hers. “I do. With every fiber of my being.”
She kept moving backwards and Logan shadowed her every move until her back hit the door to the cottage. He leaned in, all but touching her lips. “I finally know what I want, Nica. You. And I feel anything but brotherly towards you.”
He ran his fingers down her neck, sensitizing her skin. “I want to touch you. Everywhere. In every way imaginable.”
Her heart raced double-time. His thumb skimmed across her lips. “I want to kiss you until you melt in my arms and we both go insane from the pleasure of it.”
He brushed her lips with his own, the brief contact making them tingle. “I want to taste every inch of your luscious body until you’re mindless with ecstasy.”
Her body instantly heated and thrummed to life. His words seduced her, mesmerized her, drew her under the spell of his deep rich voice until she wanted nothing more than to fulfill every one of his desires and then some.
“I want to make love to you until you scream my name in blissful release over and over again.”
Yes, please.
Enthralled, she watched his fingers circle the tip of her right nipple, the hardened peak clearly showing through the fabric of her halter top. She shuddered with urgent hunger.
“Do you still want that?”
Was he kidding? She tried to breathe with lungs that had forgotten how. Her brain activity had shut down. She existed only to feel, absorb, react. Her head fell back against the door as she savored the sensation of his fingers on her breast with closed eyes.
After endless moments, she took a deep, shuddering breath and answered his question. “God, yes. I’ve wanted all of that and more for as long as I can remember.”
He continued caressing her breast while he nuzzled her neck, his warm breath sending tingles skittering throughout her body. “I think I have too. I was just too blind and too stupid to realize it.”
He cupped her face in his big, callused hands, making her feel cherished and wanted. Something she’d never thought to feel from him. Her breath hitched with burgeoning emotion and tears of joy slid down her cheeks. He brushed his lips across hers and the sweetest ache she’d ever known instantly set up somewhere around her heart.
She sighed in contended bliss as the pain of his previous rejections melted away. None of it mattered anymore. Nothing could touch her as long as he was here with her.
He deepened the kiss, devouring her mouth until she couldn’t think. Their tongues danced and tasted, parried and tantalized. Hot, hungry urgency raced down her spine to gather in her core. She never wanted this kiss to end, but he inexplicably pulled back. She was about to ask why when he undid the ties on her halter top. Cool air washed over her exposed breasts, making the already aroused peaks harden further. His hands covered them, both keeping them warm and exciting them to an almost unbearable degree.
Leaning down, he laved firs
t one nipple then the other until they felt achingly full and sensitive. The brisk evening air added a delicious biting contrast to his hot, moist mouth.
Her single thought was that they needed to take this inside.
Now.
She fumbled behind her back until she found the knob and opened the door. “Let’s take this where we can be more comfortable.”
He grinned against her breast. “I’m comfortable right here.”
Feeling a lightness of being she’d thought was lost to her, she laughed with pure delight. “I’ll just bet you are, but I’m not. I can think of somewhere much more comfortable.”
She backed through the open doorway and turned to scamper off to her bedroom, but didn’t get very far. Logan caught her hand and whirled her back around so he could kiss her senseless where they stood. When she’d stopped resisting he pinned her up against the old, worn dresser in the hallway, kissing and teasing everything his lips could reach.
Her top hit the floor. So did his shirt.
She let her fingers wander aimlessly across his chest, enjoying the feel of hard muscle under soft skin.
He tested the top of the dresser and waggled his eyebrows. “This looks plenty comfy to me.” His hands dropped to her hips while he leaned in close and ate at her ear. “Upstairs is way too far away.”
“Here?” Her voice squeaked in surprise. More than a little scandalized by the idea, she felt her face flame. Which was kind of ridiculous after they’d almost had sex in a public place just yesterday. This should have paled in comparison.
“Yes, here.” He teased her breast with his wickedly talented mouth. “And now.”
His urgency fed hers. In immediate response, her stomach muscles clenched and moist heat pooled in her throbbing core, weakening her resistance until her inner vixen won out over her embarrassment. The decision taken out of her hands, she was secretly thrilled about being decadent and having sex right here in the hallway. “You do realize I’ll never be able to look at this dresser the same way again.”
He grinned against her breast. “You’re right about that. So let’s make it memorable.” His nimble fingers slid down her belly and undid her shorts, shoving them out of the way. He cupped her mound, seeking out her clit. She couldn’t hold back the moan of ecstasy the intimate touch elicited. His magic fingers slicked through her hot folds as she clung to the dresser for support.
Looking at him through slumberous eyes, she gave him a teasing smile. “I had no idea you were so spontaneous.”
He nipped the sensitive skin below her ear. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
His fingers distracted her until she could barely think. “All good things, I hope.”
“I sure hope you think so.”
She almost cried when his fingers stopped their tormenting play. Before she could complain, she felt his hands caressing her behind, his fingers trailing along the crack between her butt cheeks. Her stomach muscles clenched in anticipation of something she couldn’t name. But instead of continuing his tantalizing explorations, he grasped her hips and hiked her up onto the dresser.
She squealed in surprise and grabbed onto his shoulders to steady herself. “Well, aren’t you the he-man.”
“You have no idea. The way I’m feeling right now I’m more beast than man. One that wants to eat you alive.”
She thrilled at his suggestive words. He kissed her belly and a trillion nerve-endings leapt to ecstatic life.
Not wanting the feelings to stop, she leaned back on her hands to give him easier access. “If what you’re doing right now is any indication, I can’t wait to find out more about this side of you.”
He grinned against her skin and then tongued her belly-button, setting her even more on fire. “Glad to hear it because I have big plans for you.”
“You do? What kind of plans?”
“Wait and see.” He kissed his way up to her breasts and suckled first one and then the other until she started squirming from the exquisite torture. He rested his hands on her legs, nudging them farther apart while his thumbs caressed her inner thighs in an erotic promise that teased and tantalized her needy center.
Her inner muscles clenched in anticipation of his touch. God, she wanted—no, needed—him to touch her there. But he continued teasing her, almost touching her, but not quite. She decided it was time to do some teasing of her own. Turnabout was fair play after all.
She hitched her fingers into the waistband of his jeans, dispensed with the opening and freed his iron-hard shaft into her waiting hands. She eagerly grasped it, loving the silky-steel feel of his impressive length throbbing in her grip, before reaching down with one hand to lovingly cup his sac. He groaned and surged forward, rocking against her in a primitive motion that fueled her excitement even more.
Impatient to have him inside her, she tried to pull him closer.
He pulled back. “Hold on.”
She so didn’t want to stop. “Why?”
“Protection.” Using quick, efficient movements, he shucked his jeans and donned a condom.
With a grin of pure lascivious intent, he grabbed her hips and pulled her to the edge of the dresser. “God, I’m hungry for you, but right now I just can’t wait. Next time.”
She wondered what he meant but immediately forgot when he buried himself to the hilt in one hard thrust.
Nica moaned long and loud. Wild heat spread like a flash fire, making her wetter than she already was. God she wanted this, his hard cock inside her. Stretching her. Filling her.
Logan groaned and dropped his head onto the top of hers. “I have to stop for a sec or this is going to be over real quick.”
Nica smiled, thrilled she affected him as much as he affected her. She savored the moment, appreciating just how precious it was. This was what she needed right now. To feel this closeness with him. To reaffirm their connection.
She kissed his strong neck where it met his shoulder, inhaling his unique scent, thankful to be with him like this. A well of emotion, overwhelming in its poignancy, threatened to bring her to tears again. Swallowing hard, she fought down the feeling, but the tender way he kissed her nape undid her.
He tilted her head up so he could meet her gaze. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
He thumbed away the one tear she hadn’t been able to hold back. “Doesn’t look like nothing to me. This is my fault, isn’t it?”
She sniffed and nodded. “Yes, it is.”
“Not pulling any punches, I see.”
She shook her head. “Nope. I can’t. Because it’s your fault I’m so happy right now.”
“You cry when you’re happy?”
“When I’m this happy, yes.” She gave him a watery smile. “I never thought I’d be this way with you again. Ever.”
He sighed and kissed her nose. “I’m sorry. For everything. For being an insensitive jerk. For thinking of myself before you. For not coming to my senses sooner. Can you ever forgive me?”
His earnest apology touched her on so many levels her heart almost burst with happiness. Suddenly, the humorous timing of his question struck her. She looked down and touched his cock where they were so intimately joined together. “Considering where you are at this very moment, I’d say I already have.”
He gave her a long, lingering kiss. “Thank you. I don’t deserve it.”
She pinched him on the ass hard. He yelped. “No, you don’t. Now stop talking and get back to the business at hand.”
Logan threw back his head and laughed, unbelievably grateful she’d forgiven him and given him another chance. “Your wish is my command.”
Wanting to draw it out, he started to move with long, slow thrusts, stoking the fire higher and higher until he thought he’d go up in flames. She started to pant and squeezed his shoulders so hard he was sure there’d be bruises tomorrow. Sweat broke out on his brow. He couldn’t hold back any longer.
Pounding into her, he reached down and fo
und her clit. That’s all it took. She arched her back and screamed out his name.
Thankful he’d been able to hold off long enough, he thundered against her in abandon until he joined her over the edge into the sweetest release of his life.
He collapsed against her, bracing himself on the dresser so he wouldn’t fall. Their agonized gasps filled the silence surrounding them.
When he was almost breathing normally, he lifted his head, taking in her flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips. His heart clenched at how beautiful she was. “That was amazing.”
Still trying to catch her breath, she merely nodded her agreement.
“So amazing, I want to do it all over again. Just not right here.”
Spent, but nowhere near done with her, he scooped her up to carry her to the nearest bed. She giggled and threw her arms around his neck. “Seems to me the bed was my idea from the beginning.”
He laughed and kissed her luscious mouth. “When you’re right, you’re right.”
He took the stairs two at a time. When he got to her room, he tossed her on the bed. She squealed as she bounced hard on the mattress. “Smart woman. You already made up the bed.”
Before she could move, he knelt between her legs, spreading them farther apart. Her pretty little pussy, glistening in invitation, set him on fire all over again. “I’ve been dying to taste you for days now.”
He kissed the inside of her thigh, his hair grazing her nether curls.
“What are you doing?” she gasped.
He chuckled. “What do you think I’m doing?”
Her face turned an adorable shade of pink. “You tell me.”
He nipped her soft, silky skin. “I’m going to make you come until you can’t see straight. And then I’m going to fuck you blind.”
She sighed blissfully. “Sounds wonderful.”
He saw the trust and love shining from her eyes and it almost brought him to his knees. “Doesn’t it? Now where was I?”