Rock Bottom (The Gifted Realm #4)

by Jillian Neal

  “Oh heavens, no,” Lucas immediately backtracked. “Like I said, I’m pleased he makes her so happy.”

  “It has just been a rather exhausting night, I suppose. I’d retire for the evening and take my worries to my bedroll, but I was trying to let the newlyweds enjoy their evening in.” He tried to prove his acceptance of Logan as his daughter’s choice in husbands.

  63

  Better Every Time

  ~Logan Haydenshire~

  Adeline calmed and after a few minutes sat up.

  “Would you unzip me?” she pointed to the zipper that ran the length of the back of the dress.

  “That is one of my favorite things to do.” Logan was pleased that her energy was so much calmer, after just a few minutes of being alone with him. She laughed. The sparkle began to make a slight return to her eyes, as he sat up and helped her off of the bed.

  “So, you’re not getting tired of it? I don’t want to become one of those married couples that fights all the time and never have sex.”

  Though she was mostly teasing, Logan caught the slight concern in her voice. He chuckled as he slowly worked the zipper down her dress.

  “Uh, that may be the most absurd thing you’ve ever asked me. I’m still irritated that you’ve worn clothes at all on our honeymoon. Eventually, I plan on taking you somewhere without our friends and not letting you get dressed for weeks.”

  She began giggling. Her energy eased and her tears dried completely.

  Her laugh was one of the sweetest sounds in the world. Logan knew from the first time he’d told a lame joke at the Academy lunch table, and she’d cracked up. It was one of his favorite things to hear; he’d never get enough.

  “Do you think they think it’s rude that you didn’t go play pool?” she worried suddenly.

  Logan shook his head. He couldn’t help staring at her in the slight white bra with lace trim, and at her backside, as she hadn’t yet turned around, in the matching white lace panties.

  “No, I don’t, but I wouldn’t really care if they did, baby.” He reached and brushed his hand along her exposed backside. He was simply unable not to touch her. She tensed slightly, and he ached for her.

  “I want to be with you, Adeline. This has kind of been a hell of a night. I’m not certain what Lucas was thinking, but I’m not stowing you up in this ridiculous apartment alone, after everything you’ve been through.”

  “That’s not what marriage means to me. It means if you’re going through something then so am I. And if anything at all has scared you, or worried you, or even just ticked you off, then I’m right here to hold you, cast you, and talk to you. I’m not down in the basement drinking and playing pool.” He hadn’t realized until that moment how much the invitation had annoyed him.

  “That’s because you’re the best husband ever,” Adeline turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he embraced her tenderly.

  He felt her exhaustion and worry, but he also felt her desire swirling there, just under the fear. He just had to dissolve the apprehension before he could access the need.

  “Is it really bad that I kind of want to go home from my own honeymoon?” she asked in a worry-filled tone.

  Logan chuckled and shook his head. He kissed her cheek sweetly, before he pulled off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt.

  “No, baby. I get it; believe me.”

  “I just want to put on one of your sweatshirts, lay on the couch, eat popcorn, and watch The Godfather while you hold me.”

  “Well,” Logan winked at her. “I didn’t pack the Godfather, although I get the impression that any of the waitstaff would probably go out and scrounge you up a copy, if you really want one. How about I put you in one of my t-shirts, cuddle you up in the biggest bed I’ve ever seen, and hold you all night long.”

  “That sounds perfect,” she moved back to the bed. She slipped off her bra as she climbed up on the step-stool. She didn’t wait for the t-shirt. Logan held back a chuckle. He certainly wasn’t going to argue. He wasn’t stupid. If she wanted to be held next to him in nothing but a slight pair of panties, then he was only too happy to oblige.

  He tried to push away the thoughts of just how quickly he could have her out of the panties. Hell, I’ll just pull them aside, he thought savagely as he tossed his trousers over the back of a chair and crawled into bed beside her.

  She immediately curled up on his chest. The motion made everything in his world perfect.

  “Can I have a kiss, Mrs. Haydenshire?” He loved the way her energy leapt when he called her that. She grinned and nodded.

  “I really love it when you call me that.”

  “Well, I really love that I get to call you that. I love that it’s your name.”

  Her energy spun in blissful spirals. The feeling overwhelmed him.

  “Do you think Lucas is back from playing billiards yet?”

  He tried hard to hide his grin as he kissed her forehead.

  “Why? You planning on getting loud, screaming out my name, banging the headboard against the wall, something like that?”

  “Maybe,” she finally managed to get out as she giggled at her own joke and blushed violently.

  Logan laughed, but then gazed at her adoringly. He could never love anyone more. She stopped laughing as she met his longing gaze.

  Just like the very first time he’d ever kissed her, Logan leaned without thinking, without pretense, and brushed his mouth across her lips.

  He’d wanted to do it since he’d first laid eyes on her at sub-freshman orientation. That night, after he’d thoroughly embarrassed himself at dinner with his family, he’d taken her out on the side porch, and they’d sat on the swing.

  She’d been telling him how lovely his family was and how much she’d enjoyed the meal, and he’d kissed her. He was simply unable to wait any longer. He wanted to taste her and to feel her energy.

  He wanted her to stop talking about his family and his mother’s cooking. He’d just wanted to claim her in some small way, all for himself. From that first kiss, he’d known he’d never want anyone else.

  Slowly coming back to the present, after a long, drawn-out, intense kiss, Logan knew that she was the sweetest thing to ever fill his mouth. He let his hands slide down her slender neck. His right hand teased the delicate hollow of her throat and brushed over her right breast. He lifted it, massaged, and felt it swell all for him. He listened to her sweet moans as they filled his mouth.

  With a quick study of her, he tried to determine if she was uncomfortable making love with him in her father’s house. He retreated slightly, but she advanced.

  A low, rumbling groan thundered from his chest as her eyes darkened from his kiss.

  “Let’s see here,” he whispered as he began kissing down her neck and across her collarbone. “I believe my wife really likes it when I do this,” he halted his mouth at her breasts and spun his tongue over her left nipple. It pebbled and throbbed.

  He drew her breast into his mouth and sucked fervently as she moaned and panted. Her head fell back. The motion pushed her breast deeper in his mouth and showed her craving need. She trembled as her energy began to swirl in heated arcs all around him.

  He moved to her other breast and repeated the process. Her evulsive moans were intoxicating.

  While letting his hands caress what had just been sucked thoroughly, he moved down her stomach with his mouth.

  “Quiet, baby,” he husked. “Don’t think your father wants to hear the sounds you make for me when I do this,” he settled between her legs and pulled the thong to the side. He traced his tongue up her slit, and felt the liquid form of her energy flow readily into his mouth. He began his hungry feast.

  “Yes,” she quaked and moaned as he dipped his tongue between her folds, repeatedly. He kept it up as she began to beg.

  “Logan, please…” she drove him wild.

  “What, baby?” he urged her on as he slipped his fingers inside of her. He continued to bathe her clit with his tongue.


  “Please, please, I don’t want to think anymore. I just want to be with you, please,” she begged for release. She bucked under his touch and pled for distraction and relief. He was only too happy to meet her every need.

  With a fervent growl, Logan moved his mouth back to her breasts as he worked her over with his hands. She writhed and did, in fact, call out his name repeatedly.

  “That’s it, baby. That’s it,” he pressed as he brought her nearer. Her back arched, and her body flushed. “Let it go for me, sweetheart. I’m right here. I want to hear you lose it all for me.”

  The tension and stress of the night had her fettered and bound. He worked diligently. He curved his fingers and stroked all the right places. He moved his mouth back down to her clit, and began to suck. She came undone, suddenly. It unfurled around him as she cried out and convulsed. Her body writhed under his hands.

  “I’m gonna set the cast, baby, and then I’m gonna make you forget everything but you and me, ok?”

  Her eyes flashed in desire, and she moaned loudly. Logan couldn’t quite hide his smirk. If Lucas was home, he surely heard that.

  In a quick move, he removed the panties and threw them off the bed. He disposed of his boxers just as quickly. He casted her, and then rubbed his cock between her folds.

  “You ready for me, baby, because I need to be inside of you.” He felt her energy arc again, ready for more. She spread her legs further for him. Her moans streamed from her in unending need.

  Logan lowered his hips and slipped deeply into her. He felt her energy consume him.

  It was so different; it still shocked him. He’d never thought that making love with Adeline could be any better, ever. It was a pleasure that he’d never deserve, and certainly nothing had ever felt as good as being inside of her, but their wedding night had been utter, bliss-filled magic.

  Knowing that she was his, that she would never be with anyone else, and wearing the ring she’d slid on his finger, as he’d made her his wife, was unbelievable ecstasy. Heaven couldn’t be any better.

  He’d been mistaken that night. It seemed to get better every time he had the pleasure. He began to pump her full of him while laying in her father’s house.

  “That feels good doesn’t it, baby?” He thrust against her and moved her body in time with his.

  “It’s amazing,” she gasped as she met his every push. Her body shuddered deliciously, and she swelled. He moaned loudly. The feeling was all-consuming as he added to the intensity of his unrelenting thrusts.

  She broke hard around him. She spiraled out of control and let him have all of her. She writhed, unable to do anything but feel the powerful orgasm rock through her in fevered waves.

  “I’m not finished with you, baby. I want another one,” he demanded, and she called out his name in a passion-filled plea for more. She tensed and arched her back deeply as he began pumping her full again.

  Logan shuddered. He felt everything in him pull tight as his release threatened imminent explosion. It gathered fiercely in his groin.

  Through sheer determination, he held out until she broke again, then collapsed on top of her and filled her with everything that he was. He wanted her to have it all.

  When he regained the ability to breathe, he slipped out of her and pulled her onto his chest.

  A few blissful moments later, Adeline leaned and brushed a kiss across his jaw.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Logan laughed and kissed her cheek.

  “Trust me, the pleasure was all mine.”

  She tucked closer into his embrace as she giggled. He pulled the sheets and blankets around her and cradled her tenderly.

  “For bringing me here, helping me find my father, and for not going to play pool tonight.”

  With an adoring grin, Logan ran his hands up and down her back. He occasionally slipped them to her backside, and felt her grin against him.

  “Again, the pleasure was all mine.”

  Her energy relaxed into placid waves, and she let him soothe her to sleep.

  64

  An Australian Outback Monster

  ~Rainer Lawson~

  Rainer and Vindico trooped back out to the guesthouse a little after ten.

  “So, this is odd,” Vindico gestured to the house and then to Rainer.

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” he joined in Vindico’s chuckle. “I can’t believe they really thought Logan would play tonight.” Rainer was still surprised by Lucas’s concerns, and Lachlan’s shock that Logan hadn’t played.

  Vindico hemmed as they started up the stairs to the front door of the guesthouse. “I’m thinking that marriage and lifetime commitment are not really something they’re accustomed to.”

  Suddenly, they heard a harrowing shriek.

  “Fionna!” Vindico threw the door open as he and Rainer summoned. They sped into the house.

  “Thank goodness!” Fionna gasped. She and Emily were dressed in tiny white tank-tops and their matching short shorts, with Arlington on the front leg and Angel scrawled across their backsides. They were backed up in the corner of the living room, clinging to each other wide-eyed with terror.

  “What’s wrong?” Vindico had the ladies casted in his shield instantly. He held that with his left hand and swung his right out. He threw his radar scan around the room in a split second.

  “That,” Fionna shuddered as Rainer threw his own shield over himself and Vindico and turned to the opposite corner of the room.

  Rainer dropped his shield quickly and chuckled.

  Vindico’s eyes landed on a decent-sized spider a moment later. He dropped his cast then shot a weak stream of electricity and very effectively killed the spider. He turned a teasing grin on Fionna.

  “It was huge. Kill it again!” she commanded frantically.

  Emily moved and clung to Rainer. Vindico cracked up as he pulled Fionna to him.

  “Yeah, this is one of those boyfriend things you just sort of get used to,” Rainer supplied sarcastically. Vindico wrapped his arms around Fionna.

  “You may have a decade on me in the boyfriend department, Lawson, but this I can do. Three sisters, remember?”

  “Well, it was big,” Emily fussed. Rainer grinned at her adoringly.

  “And it kept making clicking noises,” Fionna shuddered against Vindico’s chest as he chuckled.

  “How long have you two been trapped in the corner?” he was trying very hard not to laugh outright.

  “Just a few minutes,” Fionna explained hesitantly. Her face glowed in her embarrassment. “We were trying to find some popcorn. When we came back in here, it was just there. It chased us,” she scowled and pointed to the remains of the bug with a convulsive shudder.

  “It chased you?” Vindico choked and made a concerted effort not to guffaw.

  After he drew a deep breath and shook his head, he moved away from Fionna slightly.

  “Here, let me get rid of it, sweetheart,” he grabbed a tissue and then threw away the spider’s remains.

  “I used to make Garrett come over and kill things for me, plus I have an exterminator, but if you want to be my boyfriend, then you have to come over and kill things for me,” Fionna declared, though her tone was very sweet. She was still blushing violently.

  Vindico grinned at her again. He sank onto one of the large couches in the room and pulled her in to his lap.

  “I’ll tell Garrett that he can stop moonlighting as an exterminator,” Vindico teased and then gave Fionna a cocky grin. “You know, if I’m there and you see a bug, then I will valiantly step in to save you.”

  Emily gave Rainer a delighted glance as they continued to watch.

  “Aww, my knight in shining armor,” Fionna gushed.

  Vindico laughed as he kissed her cheek.

  “Yeah, but if I’m not with you, then you have to wait on me to get there,” he winked at her.

  “Then you aren’t allowed to leave,” she informed him flirtatiously. “I’m taking you prisoner.” />
  “On that note, maybe we should leave them alone,” Rainer teased, and everyone laughed.

  “No,” Emily giggled. “Fi can tie you up later. We were talking until we were so rudely interrupted by that Australian outback monster,” she gestured to the approximate location where the spider had been killed.

  “And I want to hear about pool,” Fionna added hopefully.

  Rainer sank down on the sofa opposite Vindico and Fionna. Emily curled up beside him.

  “Monster, spider, whatever…” he teased Emily over her vernacular, and watched her cheeks turn the color of her hair.

  Fionna came to Emily’s aid.

  “It was huge, and gross, and clicky!” she shuddered again.

  It was very clear on Vindico’s face that he found her reaction to be completely adorable.

  “Oh, Garrett says to tell you two ‘hi’,” Fionna remembered suddenly.

  “When did you talk to Garrett?” Rainer quizzed.

  “He texted Fionna a little while ago. He was working a night shift for the Non-Gifted precinct. He was checking on her and on Adeline.” Emily gestured toward Fionna.

  Rainer caught the annoyed grimace that shadowed Vindico’s face, but he wiped it away quickly as Fionna turned back to gaze at him.

  “What did they say about Adeline?”

  Vindico smiled at her and brushed her hair away from her face.

  “All in all, I’d say Lucas is handling this pretty well. I think he’s very envious of Adeline’s relationship with Logan, but he’ll get over it.”

  Rainer nodded. The fact that Lucas was jealous of Logan hadn’t occurred to him until that moment. It seemed obvious when Vindico pointed it out.

  “I just cannot believe Adeline is a princess, for real, and that she is staying in a palace. I know she’s freaking out,” Emily’s tone was laced with worry.