by A. M. Myers
I can’t speak.
I can’t move.
I’m powerless as I stare into a face that is so familiar and yet, so foreign.
I know him.
Where do I know him from?
Where have I seen him?
I stare at him and all of the sudden it hits me.
He looks like…
“Logan!” I scream as loud as I can, tears streaming down my face, and my heart beating against my ribcage like it wants release. The face in my window disappears seconds before Logan bursts into the room, gun drawn. His gaze wildly flies around the room before landing on me, huddled up in a ball on the floor. Quickly tucking the gun back in his jeans, he crouches down and pulls me into his arms.
Kodiak and Smith burst into the room, looking around for the danger as I start to hyperventilate, gripping Logan’s shirt like his mere presence will keep me from spiraling into the abyss of my fear.
“Go search outside,” he barks at them, clutching me tighter, and I sob into his neck. “I’ve got her.”
The guys rush out of the room, and Logan rubs his hand down my back, trying to calm me, but nothing is working. It’s one thing to know that someone is following you but to see him actually staring in your window and feeling that powerlessness is another thing altogether. It feels monumental in this moment. How will I ever come back in this room? How will I ever look in a window again without my heart kicking in my chest? I’m consumed by the fear, shaking uncontrollably in Logan’s embrace.
“You’re okay, Kitten,” he whispers in my ear, kissing my cheek gently, and my sobs gradually settle into hiccups as a few more tears streak down my face. “I’ve got you.”
I don’t know how long he just holds me, whispering soothing words in my ear, but eventually Kodiak and Smith come back into the room with grim expressions. My stomach knots. “There are boot prints in the mud outside Ali’s window but other than that, nothing.”
“I need one of you on each door. I’m taking her to the clubhouse as soon as I can get her calmed down.”
They both nod, and Smith claps his shoulder. “You got it, Brother.”
When they leave, Logan cups my cheek and pulls my gaze up to his. “What happened, Baby?”
I start to breathe heavily again as I replay those sixty seconds in my head. God, was it really only that long? Tears form in my eyes again as I try to tell him. I can see it so perfectly in my mind, each tick of the clock exaggerated by fear and the adrenaline coursing through my body, but I can’t seem to get the words out.
“He’s gone, Gorgeous. We’re not going to let anything happen to you. I love you.”
I peek up at him and take a deep breath. “I started to get undressed, and when I turned toward the window, I thought I saw someone there but then I thought I was just imagining things.”
“Okay, and?”
“I was about to turn away to get in the shower, and then he was there,” I say, tears starting to fall again as my body trembles against him. He nods and leans down, gently kissing my lips, and surprisingly, it helps.
“Did you get a good look at him, Kitten?”
I nod, my lip trembling.
“What did he look like?”
I start shaking again, my eyes watering as his face appears in my mind once more. “He kind of looked…like you.”
He blinks and pulls away from me, his brow furrowing in confusion as he gazes down at me. “What?”
“He looked like you. The same clothes, the same haircut, same hair color, and even had the same scar but it looked fresh,” I say, touching the thin scar that runs through his eyebrow. “Except his eyes were all wrong. They were brown and lifeless.”
“And there wasn’t anything else?” he asks, and I shrug, my mind blanking.
“I don’t know.”
“Okay,” he says, pulling me close again and tucking my head under his chin. “We’re going to go to the clubhouse, and I don’t want to hear any arguments. It’s safe there, Baby.”
“I’m scared,” I whisper, feeling small as I admit my feelings to him.
“I know but I’m never going to let anything happen to you.”
I pull back and look up at him, wanting to look in his eyes when I say this. “I love you, Logan.”
He nods and cradles my face in his hands as he leans in and kisses me gently. “I love you, Ali, and I’m going to end this, I promise you.”
* * * *
“Sweet, Ali,” the voice says, echoing off the dark barren room, and I spin around, looking for the source, but all I see are reflections of myself. Taking a tentative step forward, I reach out and press my fingers to smooth glass.
Mirrors.
They’re all mirrors.
They surround me. Everywhere I look, my own terrified face stares back at me, and I don’t know which way leads to my salvation and which leads to my demise. The voice laughs, a chilling sound that creeps down my spine and raises the hair on my arms.
“I’m not there, my sweet, Ali. Come find me.”
“No,” I whisper, my head whipping back and forth as I search for the voice.
“Yes.”
“No!” I scream out into the space, my voice magnified by the echo, and he laughs again.
“I’ve missed you so much, Sweetheart. Why would you leave me?” Pain overshadows his voice, and I look around, feeling like I’m losing my mind.
“I didn’t leave you. We were never together.”
The sound of glass shattering swells around me, and I spin around, looking for a broken mirror, but I can’t find one anywhere.
“Why do you do this to us? To me!” he roars, and I spin again, searching for him as my skin prickles from his gaze. He’s here. And he can see me but no matter how hard I search, I can’t find him.
“You’re delusional. I was never yours.”
“Lies!” he screams, followed by the sound of more breaking glass, and I back up, my paranoia overwhelming me. “What we had was special, and you just threw it away.”
“I don’t even know you,” I spit, my eyes flying wildly around the space but he’s still hidden from me. My gaze lands back on the mirror directly in front of me, and I back up as his face appears.
Arms wrap around me from behind, covering my mouth as he leans down, whispering in my ear. “Sweet, sweet, Ali. You should know by now that I’m never going to let you go.”
Screaming, I shoot up in bed, and Logan is at my side a second later.
“Shh, Kitten. You’re okay. It was just a dream,” he whispers, rubbing a hand down my back, and I collapse into him as I start sobbing.
“I saw his face,” I say, reliving it in my head all over again. “He got me. He grabbed me from behind.”
Logan lifts me up and pulls me into his lap, moving my legs to straddle him as he reaches up and cups my cheek. “That’s never going to happen, Baby. Do you hear me? I won’t ever let that happen.”
The door flies open, and I scream as Logan binds his arms around me and mutters a curse, pulling the blanket up over us to cover our naked bodies. “Don’t fucking look at her. It was just a nightmare.”
I peek over at Fuzz and Blaze as they both give me sympathetic looks. “You guys need anything?” Blaze asks, and Logan shakes his head. They mutter an apology before leaving and closing the door behind them. As soon as they’re gone, my nightmare is in the forefront of my mind again, and I start to shake.
“Look at me, Alison,” Logan says, nudging me to lift my head and meet his gaze. His gray eyes are fierce as he stares up at me, giving me a little bit of strength as I take a deep breath and nod.
“Do you feel this?” he asks, pulling my hand toward him and placing it over his heart. My fingers dig into his broad chest as the steady thump of his pulse pounds against my palm, calming me. “It beats for you, and someone will have to put a bullet through this heart to get anywhere near you. I promise that nothing is going to happen to you, Darlin’.”
“I love you,” I whisper, leaning down and k
issing him softly before pulling away again. “Each time you vow to protect me, I’m overwhelmed by how much I love you and how much you mean to me, but please remember as you fight that you are just as vital to my survival as the air that I breathe.”
He nods, hooking his hand behind my neck and pulling me closer as he claims me with a kiss. It feels like I’m being branded with his name on every part of my body for the entire world to see so they’ll know whom I belong to. If you had told me I wanted to be claimed by someone only a couple of months ago, I would have laughed you right out of my life, but now I crave it. I want him to mark me, and I want everyone to know that this man owns my heart.
I sink into his kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck as his grip around my waist tightens, and he pushes me down on his erection as he thrusts up off the bed. Moaning, I place one hand on his chest, my fingers digging into his skin as I grind on top of him, and he lets out a long, low groan that sends a shiver rushing through me. My core clenches, and I run my nails down his back. He pulls away from my lips, his chest heaving as he gasps for air.
“You sure this is what you need right now?”
I nod, rocking my hips over him. “Please, Logan. I need to feel you.”
“You know I can’t deny you, Ali,” he whispers, capturing my lips again before scooting us up the bed so he can lean back against the headboard. I rock my hips, and his cock brushes against my entrance. I reach down between us and grab the base as I lower myself a little, rubbing the head against my clit. He hisses, and a soft moan spills out of my mouth as I do it a couple more times.
“You keep teasing me,” he growls, “and I’m gonna take over and fuck your sweet little cunt until you can’t walk anymore.”
I shiver and push his cock back until it’s brushing against my entrance before I sink down slowly. Once I get about halfway, I pull up again and slowly sink to the same halfway point before I pull up.
“Kitten,” he warns, and I grin as I sink to the halfway point again. He reaches for me but I manage to grab his hands as I lean forward and pin them to the bed. I won’t be able to hold him for long but I should be able to tease him a couple more times. Sinking down to the halfway point again, I hum and let my eyes drift closed as I pull back up. Growling, he tries to thrust up into me but I pull away, letting him slip out of me completely.
“This is your last warning,” he says, the gravel in his voice sending sparks across my skin as he looks at me with pure fire in his eyes. I wrap my fingers around his cock and line him up again before slowly sinking all the way to the base. He throws his head back, gripping my hips firmly in his hands as he groans.
Leaning forward, I press my lips to his neck, tears forming in my eyes when his stubble scrapes against my nose but I love it. With a soft moan, I stick my tongue out and drag it up his neck, and his grip on my body tightens, his fingers digging into my skin. I lift my hips, pulling off him slightly before sinking my teeth into his neck and dropping back down. Repeating the same motion a few more times, I kiss up to his ear and nibble on his earlobe as his hand slips into my hair. He fists it and gives it a tug, pulling my head back as I place my hand on his chest and rise up and sink down again and again.
“Sweet Jesus,” he groans, palming my breast as I ride him, my head thrown back and eyes closed.
“Look at me, Gorgeous,” he orders, and my head snaps forward, hooded eyes meeting his as I continue bobbing up and down on his length. He groans, releasing my hair but holding me captive with his gaze as his swallows me up. I lose myself in his gray depths, and there’s nothing else anymore. Just us. He reaches up and hooks his hand around the back of my neck, pulling me down to kiss him.
His arm tightens around my waist, and he flips me onto my back in the middle of the bed. I gaze up at him with wide eyes as I suck air into my lungs. He plunges into me, and I gasp, my back arching off the bed as he pins my hands above my head.
“Is this what you wanted, Baby? You wanted to get me so worked up that I would fuck you like this?” he asks, pulling out and driving back into me with a desperation that I’ve never felt from him before, and I love it.
“Yes,” I hiss.
“You want me to fuck you so good that any other man just has to be near you to know that you fucking belong to me?”
I nod, my body arching off the bed again as he continues thrusting into me ferociously. He keeps the same pace as he leans down and runs his tongue up the side of my neck, and I cry out, sensations assaulting me from every angle. He releases my hands and props himself up over me as my body hurtles toward a release that I so desperately need.
“Say it, Kitten. Tell me who owns this sweet pussy?”
“Oh, God, you do, Logan,” I gasp, my eyes squeezing shut as my fingers dig into his shoulders.
“Damn fucking right, I do,” he says, smirking. “No one else can make you come like this.”
He leans down and bites my neck as his thrusts speed up, and he slips a hand between us to rub my clit. I black out, stars exploding behind my eyes as my release rockets through me. I scream his name, clutching the sheets beneath me as I writhe underneath him, and he groans, tensing over me as his cock jerks inside me. Gasping, he drops his forehead to mine for a second before rolling off to my side. I’m exhausted, and it’s a struggle to keep my eyes open. He pulls me back up to the pillows and tucks me into his side as he slips his arm under my head.
“Go to sleep, my gorgeous girl. I’ve got you,” he whispers against my temple, and I sigh, sleep already claiming me.
Chapter Thirty-One
Storm
“I’m going to go try and find some food in this place,” Ali says, and I smile.
“I think you’re forgetting something, Kitten.”
Her brows rise in question, and she glances around the room, only making me grin wider. “What?”
Holding my hand out, I give her an expectant look, and she smiles as she skips over to my chair and braces her hands on the arms, dipping down to kiss me.
“Is this what you were looking for?” she asks, and I nod.
“Yeah, this is almost perfect.”
She jerks back and glares at me. “Almost perfect?”
Nodding, I push her hands off the arms of the chair and pull her into my lap. She straddles my legs and huffs as her stomach growls.
“It might be a little chilly in hell today,” she quips, challenging me with just a look, and I laugh.
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’m hungry, and you’re not feeding me.”
“Careful, Darlin’. That’s like challenging my manhood.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and smirks at me. “Well, then I guess you should do something about it.”
“You’re just askin’ for trouble today,” I tell her as I pull her closer and capture her lips. She melts into me, a little hum rising up from the back of her throat, and as badly as I want to pin her to the bed and make her sorry for going up against me, I’m not gonna let her starve. Pulling away, I smack her ass. “Why don’t you go see if there is any food downstairs, and if there’s not, we’ll go out?”
“Is it safe?” she asks timidly, and it breaks my fucking heart. I never wanted any of this to touch her. I never wanted her to know this fear.
“Yeah, Baby. We’ll take some of the guys and make them sit somewhere else.”
She smiles and leans in, kissing me again before she jumps off my lap. “I love you,” she says, smiling as she walks away from me backward.
“I love you, too. I just gotta talk to Streak, and then I’ll be down there.”
She blows me a kiss and leaves the room. I stay in my seat, watching her leave until she disappears from my sight before sinking back into my chair for a second. My mind has been working overdrive since Sunday night, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. It seemed so straightforward until she told me that the man in her window looked like me. Why the fuck would Ian’s brother do that? Is it part of the game?
Shov
ing out of the chair, I slip out of my room and go down to the end of the hall where Streak’s office is set up, knocking on the door twice before I open it. He glances up from one of the three computer screens in front of him with bleary eyes.
“Yeah?”
I close the door and sit in the chair next to his desk. “Did you find any social media profiles on the brother when you searched him?”
“No. He’s probably one of the only people in the world without Facebook.”
“Shit,” I curse, running a hand through my hair.
“Why? What’s going on?”
I shake my head, trying to work it all out in my mind but it’s just not adding up for me, and that makes me uneasy. “The other night when Ali saw that guy in her window, she said he looked like me. He even had a scar through his eyebrow but his looked fresh.”
“That’s awfully coincidental,” he muses, and I shake my head.
“Or not.”
“You think someone made themselves look like you?”
I shrug. “It’s either that or it really is a coincidence, and I don’t really believe in those.”
“Yeah, me either,” he says, turning back to his computer and typing. “Well, this is interesting.”
“What?”
“I’ve been trying to access some of Ian’s medical records since you asked me but it’s been difficult. I just got one this morning from right after he was sentenced. It’s from a psychologist.”
I lean forward, trying to look at the screen, but I have no idea what I’m looking at. “What does it say?”
“It says that Ian is perfectly normal mentally except mental illness does run in his family.” He stares at the computer screen again, and I can see the wheels turnin’ in his head.