by Lori Ryan
“Yes, you can,” she whispered as her tongue teased the lobe of his ear. She followed that with a small nip and he went wild, just as she’d hoped.
He bit out a curse, wrapping one arm around her waist as he pulled her tight to him and slammed into her, setting a pace that made Sam see stars. Her body clenched around him and another orgasm built, more slowly this time, but with no less intensity.
As he let out a guttural cry and came inside her, Samantha felt her own orgasm wash over her, snapping all control. She bit down on his shoulder, sinking her teeth much harder than she’d intended into the taut muscle, but that only seemed to make him wilder. When the last of the searing pleasure drained, Logan was there, holding her.
He turned them so they lay on the bed together, his hands still running over her sensitized skin.
“Incredible, Sam,” he whispered, his eyes still on her. “You’re incredible.”
Sam closed her eyes and let his words wash over her. She had never felt so treasured with any other man. The care he took with her, the way he made sure she orgasmed before he did, all of it made her feel special. Logan might think he was damaged in some way, but she knew otherwise. She knew he was stronger than he could see right now. He’d realize it eventually, but until then, she’d hold him up just like he held her up. She’d help him to see how incredible he was, just as he helped her to see how beautiful she was. They made each other whole in that way.
His words continued in soft, sweet whispers as she drifted off to sleep, and slept dreamlessly for the first time since the attack. A small part of her felt the way his arms held her tightly the entire night. The way he kissed her temple when she stirred and whispered in her ear until she fell back to sleep. The way he didn’t leave her side until she woke with the first rays of the rising sun, and he made love to her again.
Chapter Twenty-three
Ernie was the only one who turned right at the end of the road that led back into Sam’s town house complex. Logan and Sam were in one car and Zach and Chad in another. Both cars turned left to head toward One Church Plaza, where Sutton Capital’s office was located. Billy stretched across the back seat of Logan’s car, head lolling off the edge of the seat as he napped.
“That’s seriously the calmest dog I’ve ever seen,” Sam said. “Do you think Ernie doped him up with something just to convince you he was a super cool, superhero dog? Maybe when whatever it is wears off, he’ll be bouncing off the walls and needing a ten-hour jog everyday just to maintain him.”
Logan laughed. “Jogging wouldn’t be the end of the world.”
Sam scowled at him. “Crazy man.”
She reached for the radio and turned it on, fiddling until she found a station she wanted.
“Really?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Yeah. What’s wrong with Garth?”
Logan grinned. “Not a damn thing, lady. Not a damn thing,” Logan said as Garth Brooks belted out the chorus of “The Thunder Rolls” as they pulled into the parking garage.
Logan realized as they parked and he checked their surroundings that he hadn’t been quite as on edge for the trip to work as he normally was in a car. He’d been aware of everything going on around them, of course, but that seemed less an edgy response to grating nerves and more due to the actual threat against Sam than anything. Maybe it had helped that Chad and Zach had been in the car behind them.
When he was satisfied they hadn’t been followed and no one lay in wait for them, he opened his door and rounded the car to get Sam. Chad and Zach joined them and they entered the building as a unit, Billy taking up his position at Logan’s side. Logan almost laughed when he thought of the small bag of dog food and blanket he had stowed in the backpack on his shoulder. He’d packed a freaking lunch and bed for his damned dog. What the hell was happening to him?
When the group entered the twenty-sixth floor where the majority of the Sutton offices were, Chad and Zach turned one way to bring Jack up-to-date on things, while Logan and Sam headed in the other direction. They walked, side-by-side, back to where their offices lined the back wall.
Logan felt the looks of those he and Sam worked with and he was more than a little startled when the group, as a whole, broke out in applause. He didn’t know if it was for Sam coming back or what, but when people surrounded them and began to hug Sam and clap him on the back, with thanks for saving her, he wanted to crawl under one of the desks and hide. He nodded his head a few times to people, but then felt Sam squeeze his hand. He didn’t know if she was feeling overwhelmed or if she was only worried he might be, but he tugged her back to her office and everyone fell away, going back to their work.
“They’re proud of you,” Sam said quietly as he closed the door behind them. Logan didn’t say anything as he opened his pack and pulled Billy’s blanket out. He tossed it down in a corner of the room and then pulled Sam’s desk out away from the wall, taking care to move the two large computer monitors she had away from the edge first so they wouldn’t fall. She watched but didn’t say anything as he centered the desk in the middle of the room and then went to his office next door, bringing back his chair. He gave her the majority of the desk, setting his chair and laptop opposite her and shut the door again.
Sam smiled at him and then slipped a finger into the gap between the buttons of his shirt on his chest. She tugged and he let her pull him close, where she wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled into him. He breathed a deep breath of her hair, loving the soothing scent of her shampoo. It wasn’t flowery. If anything, it was almost spicy and more what you might expect on a man, but it worked for her. It was just right somehow.
“Feeling a bit overprotective?” She crooned in his ear and he groaned as he kissed her mouth, slipping his tongue between her lips to taste her, feel the silken heat.
“Hell, yes,” he said and traveled to her neck where he found soft skin designed to drive a man out of his mind with need. “Sam,” he growled.
She moaned in return and slanted her head to the side, allowing further access to her neck and he let his lips trail lower, teasing her where her blouse dipped slightly between her breasts. God, he wanted to tear her clothes off right here. He didn’t know if he’d ever get enough of her, but as the sound of their breathing cut through the silence of the room, sanity cut through his muddled brain. They were in the office. He needed to get ahold of himself and exercise even a small measure of restraint if they were going to make this work.
He tore his mouth from her body and rebuttoned the button on her blouse he hadn’t even been aware he’d undone, until that moment. He was tempted to keep buttoning them right to the top of her neck. Maybe if he couldn’t see the creamy expanse of her neck, he wouldn’t be quite so lured by her.
He cleared his throat and took a very purposeful step away from her, setting her at arm’s length from him.
“I’m going to check in with Jack. You’re all right here?”
She nodded. “I’m fine. No one’s going to get to me here, Logan.”
He nodded and turned to the door, and then stopped with his hand on the knob and took a few deep breaths.
“Really, Logan, I’m fine.”
He laughed and tossed a look at her over his shoulder. “I’m, um, collecting myself.”
She looked at him quizzically, so he turned his crotch to her and gestured to where his arousal was evident.
Sam’s laughter was immediate, unrepentant, and utterly unabashed. And he loved it. Loved the joy in her face as he playfully scowled at her and tried to memorize the look on her face, to hold the memory to him forever.
Then, even as his mind vaguely registered Billy’s intent gaze on Sam and the whimper that came from the dog, Logan’s brain processed the red light pinpointing Sam’s temple. With a roar, Logan launched himself at Sam, taking her down to the floor. The sickening thud of her head hitting the wall behind her cut through the fog as he covered her body with his. Glass shattered behind them and the report of a sniper’s
rifle sounded.
Logan heard chaos in the outer office as he pulled Sam against the outer wall of the office. They would be protected by the thick outer concrete wall. Pinned down, but protected. He began to run his hands over Sam’s head, barely raising himself up on his elbows. Her eyes locked on his and relief flooded him to see she hadn’t been knocked out when he’d thrown her against the wall. Thankfully, the glass of the windows was safety glass that cracked in harmless pieces, because they were both covered in bits of it. Only one shot had been fired, but Logan remained where he was, providing cover for Sam as the door to his office swung open. Logan had his gun in his hand, trained on the door, but quickly saw both Chad and Zach crouched on either side of the doorframe, guns in their hands as well. He could see the rest of the employees filing toward the elevators in a semi orderly exodus.
“Everyone okay?” Chad scanned the room and the space outside the now broken window.
“We’re good,” Logan said, the calmness in his voice belying the fury racing through his veins. They needed to track down this asshole and end this. No more standing by and letting the police take care of things for them. “It was an amateur; used a laser scope. Not to mention, shooting into this side of the building, at this time of day, almost guaranteed a faulty shot with the glare of the sun.”
“Stay put,” Chad called into the room. “Police are on their way. I know the security guys at that building. We’ll get with them and sweep, see if we can catch him. Chances are, he’s already gone, but stay here until we can be sure.”
Logan could feel Sam begin to tremble beneath him and his heart ached for her. She was trying so hard to hold it together, but he knew it couldn’t be easy for her. It wasn’t like she was used to battle the way he and Chad and Zach were.
“It’s all right, Sam,” he whispered, dropping a kiss to the top of her head as he cradled her. “I’m not going anywhere, baby.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Two days later, Logan and Sam were still arguing over whether she could ever leave the house again, but she’d called in reserves. Jack and Kelly arrived and Logan was surprised to find Monique Cain, his lawyer, with them.
Kelly kissed Sam on the cheek and hugged her tight before they all traipsed upstairs to where Chad and Zach were. Sam had tried to send Chad and Zach home to their wives, but neither would budge. Their wives had called Sam and told them they’d never forgive her if she sent them away while she was still in danger. Logan had been tight with all the men he’d served with, and this group of friends reminded him of that feeling of being more than friends, of being family without the blood relation.
They were all there for Sam, and he had no doubt they would continue to be for as long as she needed them. They all sat in the living room while Sam distributed drinks around to everyone. When she finished, she settled in next to Logan on the couch, but he tugged her in more tightly to him. Since the minute he’d seen that laser on her temple in the office, he hadn’t been able to be far from her for long. The closer the better.
When the building across the street from Sutton Capital’s offices had been searched, a newly leased office had revealed an abandoned sniper rifle. It was one that was poorly chosen for the job at hand, and Chad suspected the person who had tried to shoot Samantha was not a trained sniper, but an amateur, at best. The police had found a number of prints in the room, but running them would take time.
“Monique,” Sam said, “It’s not that I’m not happy to see you, but—” Sam began, but Monique laughed and waved her words away.
“Yeah, yeah. No one ever wants to see the lawyer,” Monique said with a wink at Kelly. Kelly was in her third year of law school, but she was also pregnant. She was trying to decide if she wanted to practice law when the baby got a little older or stay home with her kids, or possibly look for a part time associate spot somewhere.
“Logan,” Jack said, “it looks like Westbrook is going to push the issue and question whether you acted reasonably in defending Sam. Monique has a couple of friends on the force—”
Logan raised an eyebrow, prompting yet more hand waving from Monique. “Yeah, yeah, funny man. Not every cop hates every defense lawyer. Get over it. The point is, Westbrook has two of New Haven’s finest coming over here today to take you in for questioning. From what I understand, even the detectives he’s assigned to the case are pretty unenthusiastic about questioning a veteran for defending a woman who was being attacked, but Westbrook has latched onto the idea that deadly force wasn’t necessary. He has a pro-states’ rights election agenda and he’s going to push it.”
“That’s crazy! Logan was only saving me when he acted. How can they possibly think he did anything wrong?” Sam cried out.
Monique wiggled her head back and forth as though weighing the debate. “Well, technically, he can bring it to trial over the issue of whether deadly force was necessary.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Sam said, and crossed to pick up her phone. The group watched as she furiously texted someone with one hand while she brought her laptop to life with the other and began pulling up screens and typing furiously.
“Uh,” Jack said, “do we want Sam bringing this out to the media, because I have a feeling that’s what she’s doing.”
Monique nodded. “I’m okay fighting this on all fronts. I’ll take care of the legal side of things. If Sam wants to play this out in the public eye, I’m all right with that if Logan is.”
They all looked to Logan who had to fight not to squirm. The idea of even the people in this room debating the merits of what he’d done or talking about his service record made him uneasy. Having everyone in the tri-state area do the same? Hell.
Before he could answer, a photo on Sam’s computer screen snagged his focus. “Is that me?”
Of course it was. There he stood in full tactical gear beside two of his teammates. He recognized the photo. It was actually one released by the Navyseals.com Facebook page awhile back. He and his team hadn’t been identified in the photo so he had no clue how Sam knew it was him, but he wasn’t surprised. Sam blacked out the faces of the men standing next to him and now inserted the photo into a page with a few highlights of his career.
“Don’t worry. I’m not releasing anything that’s not already a matter of public record.”
“Sam,” he warned her.
“I know, it’s rude,” she said with the same wave of the hand Monique had been giving him. “I shouldn’t hack into your personnel record. Sorry, babe. Desperate times and all that.”
She hit a few keys and turned to him. “Sorry, honey. I’m not letting you go to prison. If that means I have to make a big deal out of the fact that you’re a veteran and a hero, I’ll do it. I know you hate that. I get it. You don’t think you deserve the Medal of Honor. You only did what you thought you needed to do when you served your country, but they don’t give those things out like peanuts, my friend. They only give you that if you deserve it. And, the fact of the matter is, we need to play up that part of the equation. We need to make a big deal out of the fact that Westbrook is going after a war hero.”
Hell. He sensed Sam needed this. He’d suck it up for her, because something told him she needed to do this for him so that she could heal. So that she could feel like she wasn’t powerless against what was happening to her or to him.
“You’re okay with this?” Jack asked Logan. Jack caught Logan’s eye behind Sam and Logan could see the concern in his face. He didn’t know if it was for Sam or for him, but he nodded.
“Yeah, I’m okay with this.” Logan wasn’t anywhere near okay with this, but he’d do it.
Monique had moved to the window, but now turned back to the group. “Sam, did you do this?”
Logan had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as Monique jerked her head toward the windows and Sam grinned.
“Yup. Fast, aren’t they?”
Logan just didn’t want to know. But, damn, he could hear people. A lot of people. Kelly and J
ack joined Sam and Monique by the window and peered down. The look Jack gave Logan wasn’t good. It left no doubt in Logan’s mind that whatever he was about to go through wouldn’t be good. But his eyes fell to Sam and all he could think about was what she’d been through in the last few days. There she was, standing up for him. Baring her soul to the public and the media to defend him after she’d been through hell. After she’d been attacked, sliced open, and scared spitless.
Logan inched forward and looked out the window and down to the parking lot below.
“Who are they?” Logan was stunned. There were some media trucks, but the majority of the parking lot was filled with people. Citizens with signs, chanting “Support Our Vets, Defend Logan Stone.”
“Friends,” said Sam with a smile as she slipped her hand into his. “I had them on standby in case we needed them. I personally think Westbrook’s state’s rights stance is actually going to lose the election for him, but I’m still not going to stand by and let him do this to you. If Westbrook thinks he’s going to railroad you or make some kind of example out of you, he’s not going to do it without people speaking out and telling him how wrong he is. He’s been playing this out in the media, grandstanding left and right. Well, two can play that game. I’m not going to let him do that without giving people something else to think about.”
Logan swallowed and tried to speak, but there was no way in hell he could open his mouth right now. The knot in his throat was so dang big, he’d probably just croak if he tried to get anything out past it.
“The detectives are here,” said Monique quietly from her position at the window. “Let’s head on downstairs. I want you to wait inside for a few minutes, everyone. I’ll go out and make a statement to the media and the protesters. I’ll tell them you’ve been asked to voluntarily come in to speak with the detectives and answer some questions, and that you were happy to oblige them. I’ll ask them to please be courteous to the officers and then we’ll get you outside to the cars. They’re most likely going to insist you drive with them. Even in a cooperative situation, they’ll want to use that car ride to get you talking. Smile and be polite. Don’t talk. Do you understand?”