As I attempted to walk past, Logan extended his arm, pressing his hand firmly against my torso. I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked down at Logan,
“Brooklyn—” He ran his free hand through his auburn hair, “please don’t run away from me. I don’t know what it is about you…and I don’t know if I’m the right person for you, but one thing is for sure—I will have regrets if I don’t at least give us a chance—Brooklyn, please look at me,” he requested, coaxing me to look into his deep green irises. I turned my head at his request.
“I believe that trust is a hard thing to come by, and once it’s broken, it’s very hard to rebuild. I know it will take time for you to believe me, but please trust me when I say, my intent is not to hurt you.”
“Logan, I’m scared,” I whispered, “and when I get scared, I run. I’ve been running for three years, and I am tired, but I don’t do the whole friends with benefits thing, so if you think there’s a possibility that we’re going down that road, we should stop now before—” I lose myself in you, I finished silently. I tore my gaze away from him again, choosing to focus on a small hole in the wall where a nail used to be. I felt like I was jumping into the open ocean with no life vest—and I was beyond terrified.
“Don’t worry Brooklyn, we’re on the same page. I am a very private person, and I don’t trust easily.”
“You could end up just being a space filler for the gaping hole that has been left in my heart from past hurts. That can’t be what you want,” I admitted, letting a low breath fall from my mouth. There were so many repercussions if we crossed over the sovereign line of friendship.
“Well, that’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he whispered.
My heart skipped a beat. The words that Logan uttered in his moment of honesty undid one of the tough ropes that restricted my heart from feeling. He was willing to try—with me. I knew what I had to do. I had to stop letting fear define me. My subconscious warned me to turn back before I headed into dangerous territory, but I kept walking straight ahead.
He pulled me down to his lap and sealed his lips over mine. He kissed me more seductively than the last time. As if familiar, our lips moved together in synchronized steps. I willed my eyes closed and they obeyed my command. My subconscious screamed at me to stop before things got out of hand, but I just wanted to erase the nagging anguish, isolation, and aching that I felt most days—even if it was only for a little while. His kiss made me forget those things and I became more focused on the enticing desire that was building between my legs.
I put my mind on cruise control and stopped thinking of all the reasons why being with Logan would likely be a fatal mistake.
He pulled my bottom lip into his mouth and lusciously sucked. I wanted to reciprocate his touch, but my arms were frozen to my sides. My body was slowly igniting.
I was so caught up in our kiss I barely realized that he’d unbuttoned my shirt until I felt his hand cup my breast. Logan pulled back and looked at me.
“Is anyone home?” I shook my head no.
“Come here,” he said, offering his hand.
Logan pulled me up from my bed and led me to my bathroom in just my bra and sweats. He switched on the shower faucet and I let his hand go to close and lock my bathroom door. The only light in the room came from the tiny window. In the darkness I could hear Logan rustling out of his clothes.
Logan reached behind me and pulled me close. I liked the feeling of being pinned to his warm chest. In a matter of minutes my bathroom had turned into a steamy sauna. The pitter-patter of the water drowned out all other sounds.
“Let’s get in,” he whispered, nibbling on my ear. He helped me out of the rest of my clothes and we stepped into the warm shower.
“Soap?” I asked.
I handed him the body wash from my shower caddy and he squeezed soap into his hand. I squirted soap onto my bathing sponge and dropped the bottle back in its holder. After I worked up a good lather I ran my sponge over Logan’s hard body, taking my sweet time to enjoy each contour.
“I could get used to these types of showers,” he murmured as he rubbed his soapy hands all over my body, ensuring that no part of my body was left unturned.
“I don’t doubt it,” I replied, smiling.
By the time we’d rinsed off, areas of my body that had been asleep for years were suddenly wide awake and tingling.
As I stood in the steamy water, I could feel the length of him rubbing against my lower back. He brushed my hair to one side and traced a path of featherweight kisses from one shoulder blade to the other. Each kiss scorched my skin and I was lost. I finally gained control of my mobility and lifted my arms, wrapping them around his neck. I combed my fingers through his hair and directed his lips to my neck. His talented lips strolled leisurely along my collarbone. A low whimper escaped me as he cupped my breasts, and rolled my nipples between his fingertips.
In one swoop, his hands stopped roaming over my front to turn and press me into the shower wall. He left a soft kiss on my lips before he moved his way down my front until he was conveniently situated between my legs, his face perfectly eye level with my aching flesh. His hands pushed my thighs apart, and I knew exactly where he intended to go next.
He used his fingers to open me. Pure fire rushed through my body as he ran a solitary finger over my small bundle of nerves. He circled my tiny knot over and over.
“Oh…please don’t stop,” I begged, as water trailed down my body.
“I hadn’t planned on it.” I could hear that smile in his voice. He bored his tongue deep inside me and devoured every crevice of my pulsing groin as I tugged at his hair. I felt myself going higher and higher. Damn, it had been so long.
When Logan sweetly pulled my clit into his warm mouth and sucked feverishly, it became hard for me to hold on. It was like his mouth was telling me to let go—and my body finally obeyed his command.
As my mouth became slack and the side of my face was pinned against the tiles, my breathing became shallower. I slammed my hands against the wall, my fingers splayed like a fan. I let out a shrill cry as I fell off the edge and crashed into the waves, shuddering violently.
After I was able to pull my wits about me, Logan helped me out of the shower and I snuggled into the waffle bathrobe my mom had sent me. I pulled a spare towel out of my vanity drawer and handed it to Logan so he could dry off.
“Thanks,” he said.
I opened my bathroom door to see if anyone was home yet. The last thing I needed was Alex seeing Logan in nothing more than a too-small bath towel. Thankfully the house was still dark and quiet. We stealthily made our way back into my bedroom and I headed over to my closet to put on my pajamas.
“Oh no baby,” Logan said from behind me. Confused, I turned to look at him.
“What are…oh…” I stopped mid-sentence. My eyes took in a full frontal of Logan sans the towel I’d given him. My eyes traveled from his face to his perfectly defined chest and finally landed on the apex of his manhood, which was fully erect. I turned away quickly, not wanting to stare.
In the bathroom we were cloaked in darkness, but now that we were basking in the light of my bedroom I was unbearably shy, which was a little funny since minutes earlier Logan had become intimately familiar with my most private areas.
“We’re nowhere near done,” he said, walking up to me and pulling the shirt I’d intended to sleep in out of my hand. He dropped the shirt onto the floor, took my hand, and led me back to my bed.
He looked me squarely in the eye. “I want to look at you,” he said as he freed my robe belt, letting the flaps fall open. He pushed my robe to my back, exposing my entire body into plain view. He traced his finger along the expanse of my front—from my neck, to my breasts, to my stomach. My skin began to warm under his touch.
His fiery gaze daunted me—I hadn’t been fully naked in front of a man—in the light—since…Damon? I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of him being able to see my slight cellulite in the unforgiving brightness.
&
nbsp; “I only imagined what you looked like underneath your outfits, but now I get to see you up close and—you’re beautiful.” I sucked in a deep breath as he curved his hand around the back of my thigh. Self-consciousness left me as desire pulled at me again.
“We should probably lock my door, so we don’t have any unexpected visitors—aka Alex,” I said, smiling sheepishly.
“I definitely wouldn’t want that.” Tingles spread up and down my spine. He stepped from me and walked to lock my bedroom door, giving me a great view of his taunt backside and something even more surprising. Logan had two intertwined circles tattooed on his right shoulder blade. I couldn’t make out the tiny script at the top.
“Didn’t figure you for the tattoo type,” I said as I freed myself of my robe and clamored into my bed, sliding between the sheets.
“Sounds like I should issue you a strike for making assumptions,” he said as he approached me. I laughed at how he was now using my own words against me.
Logan stopped short of my bed and grabbed his pants. He pulled a gold foil packet from one of the pockets and laid it on the nightstand. Are you ready to go there? My subconscious asked me. I silently nodded my answer: yes, I am.
“Maybe you should,” I challenged. Logan was now intimately hovered over me. I reached from underneath him, fumbling to hit the outlet switch on the base of my lamp.
“You know, I can’t admire your beauty in the dark, Miss Caldwell.”
“Flattery really won’t get you far,” I joked, brushing off his compliment.
He found my ear in the darkness, “Well it’s hardly flattery when it’s the truth,” he murmured, and then my eyes were blinded by my lamp revving back to life.
“Better,” he commented as he pulled back the sheet and stared at me in the bright light. He brushed his fingers through my hair and leaned down to kiss me. Our tongues met and twisted delightfully, and before I knew it I was unsheathed and wrapped in Logan’s arms, panting and pleading for every touch. He ran his hand down my thigh as he lightly suckled my breast.
“I want you badly, Brooklyn, but only if you’re ready,” he breathed as he massaged the entrance to me. The brush of his fingers made me writhe like a fish in desperate need of oxygen.
“Oh God…y-e--s” I stuttered under his touch as he relentlessly rubbed my clit, “it’s been a rea-l-l-y long time.” I tried to sound coherent in my speech as he continued his skilled coup over my body.
“Then it’s my honor to reacquaint you with the pleasures of being with a man,” he murmured as he nibbled on my other breast.
“Puuhlease…go slow…” I murmured in between breaths as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I wanted to remember every time he touched me.
“Don’t worry baby, I can handle that.”
Logan released me and made his way down to my now heated core. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to feel him there again. The years of self-imposed celibacy had caught up to me. His tongue moved over my swollen flesh, and I jumped slightly at the sensation. God, he was good. He ran his tongue through my slit mischievously.
“You taste good,” he said. Our eyes locked briefly as my fingers played in his brown locks. I was too wrapped up in the feeling of my muscles becoming slack to be embarrassed by his comment.
I could feel an orgasm building rapidly. “I want you to come for me” he murmured, as he engulfed my flesh with his mouth.
“Oh…yes…” I breathed. I let go of his hair and clutched either side of the bed sheet. A familiar tightening came over me and I climaxed with a throaty cry. Logan released me from his mouth and crawled back up my body.
“The look in your eyes says you liked that” he said, pecking me sweetly on the lips.
“How could I not?” I responded sleepily. What time was it? I was so spent. Two orgasms in an hour was not what I’d planned on when he showed up at my door.
“We’re still not done” he said slyly, “I can’t keep my hands to myself—it’s been too long.”
“No Logan, I’m so…” He brought his mouth down over mine, and I was silenced. He wrapped his arms around me and rolled me on top of him so that I was straddling his waist.
“You can do it.” He was right. I wanted to do it. I grabbed the gold foil packet off the nightstand and rolled the condom onto his twitching shaft.
I mounted on top of Logan slowly, letting him fill me. I took a few deep breaths as I inched down. Logan gripped my hips, and I began to slide up and down his length.
“Ah…you feel so good Brooklyn.” He leaned into the pillow that was supporting his head and thrust slightly into me. With his thrust I fell forward, supporting myself with my palms pressed into my mattress on either side of his head. I clenched down and rocked back and forth. I found his lips and bit down softly.
Hearing Logan’s moans spurred me to want to take him over the edge, the way he’d done for me. I sat upright and grabbed both of his hands, entwining our fingers.
“Ready?” I asked, taunting him by clenching and releasing my muscles around him. I liked the control that riding him gave me. I could feel my body beginning to mist from the exertion of riding him.
“Don’t stop,” he said, gulping in air. At his request, I rocked back and forth, up and down. Logan’s eager fingers roamed around as I took him on a collision course to ecstasy. As I rode him, I could feel yet another climax building. When Logan’s greedy fingers found my sweet spot again, I had trouble holding on.
“Oh God…stop… I’m going to lose it before ...”
“It’s okay, let go baby. I like hearing you.” He moved his hand away from my clit and grabbed my hips. He plunged upward to meet me thrust for thrust, filling me to the hilt. He was making it hard for me to breath. My jaws clamped down as another climax engulfed me. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from screaming his name in case Alex and Jay were home. Thank God her room wasn’t directly next to mine.
I rode out my climax on him. I could hear Logan’s breaths becoming uneven. I knew he was close. Mid stride I relentlessly clenched my muscles down on him. Logan closed his eyes and tensed, shuddering violently as he spilled into me while hissing my name.
For a while afterward, we were both silent, letting our breathing return to normal as I hunched over him, resting my face on his shoulder. After we finally separated from each other and he disposed of the condom, Logan slid back into bed with me, pulling me into him and kissing me on my forehead.
Once I regained all of my bodily functions I changed into a nightshirt and retrieved one of Jay’s shirts and basketball shorts from the dryer. Logan was a bit bigger than Jay, so the shorts fit rather tight, showing off everything south of his navel.
After we were dressed, we climbed into bed.
“That was...amazing,” he cooed, planting another kiss on my temple.
“Ditto,” I agreed, as I reached over to turn out the light, “Nite hot pants,” I joked, as I turned over in bed, leaning into him.
“Haha, not funny. Good night.”
Eventually I heard Logan’s breathing even out and then realized that he was asleep.
THE NEXT MORNING my body was awakened by kisses on my shoulder.
“Ughh,” I grumbled as I cracked my eyelids. It was still dark in my room and I could barely make out Logan’s figure. Logan laughed at my unenthusiastic greeting.
“It cannot be time to get up yet. What time is it?” I whined, stretching and groaning again as I felt the tightness of my muscles—and other areas.
“Just after five,” he murmured.
“You’re out of your mind,” I muttered. “Good night.”
He chuckled again. “I know it’s early, but I have to go. I have a breakfast meeting at eight thirty.”
“Logan?” I whispered hoarsely. Now that I wasn’t being smothered by lustful thoughts I wanted to speak with him candidly. Last night had undoubtedly been the best sex of my life, but outside of my physical desires being met, I still had qualms. He’d openly admitted
that he may not be the greatest at being in a relationship and I was deathly afraid of being wounded in the process of him finding his way.
“Yeah?”
“What—” I was cut off by his warm lips.
“In for a penny, in for a pound,” he murmured when he came up for air. He placed a light kiss on my forehead and I heard him open my bedroom door and shut it.
As I lay silently in the darkness, a smirk came across my face. I guess his cryptic message meant he was in it for the long haul. I quietly did a happy dance under my blankets until I felt my body slip back into unconsciousness.
14
I was so excruciatingly tired it was pathetic. I threw on the first thing I could find that was clean and presentable. I didn’t know what time we went to bed, but it seemed like the night had sped by and I was now being forced to drudge through two more days at work. Last night had been—unexpected, but definitely fulfilling—although I was tremendously sore. My tenderness served as a reminder of where Logan had been.
When I arrived at Copple I booted up my computer and dropped my bag into my desk drawer with a thud. Just as I was settling into my chair Anna popped her head into my cubicle.
“Good morning Brooklyn.” She was all smiles in patent leather heels and a pleated blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly. Why was she here? I wondered. Ninety-nine percent of the time she barely even noticed we breathed the same air.
“Good morning Anna.” I said, my voice equally phony. “What brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“Oh, no biggie, Trent just wanted me to coordinate with you to find out when the cost of sales analysis would be sent out to the board of directors.” As the marketing manager, Anna was responsible for going over the sales numbers with her subordinate staff.
“They’ll be going out later this afternoon,” I answered flatly.
“Oh, perfect! Now I can schedule my meeting with staff. Coincidentally, I actually wanted to ask you one other thing, you know, woman to woman—” Huh? She and I had never confided in one another as gal pals.
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