Two Years Earlier

We stepped out the back door and walked past the limo driver, who was flirting with one of the club's waitresses. He started to follow after us, but Logan waved him off. The driver shrugged and returned to smiling at the pretty girl as we hurried across the dark parking lot to the limo.

Logan opened the door, tucking his free arm behind him and standing at attention as if he were escorting royalty. I giggled and slid across the leather seats into the vehicle. I had never been in a limo before, and it took me a moment to soak it all in. The seats were made of white leather and wrapped three-quarters of the limo in comfort. The fourth side was a bar, complete with champagne, glasses, and an assortment of mixers and booze. The ceiling was composed of blue lights and mirrors that cast the entire back seat in sexy shadows.

Giddy butterflies danced around in my stomach. It had been a while since I had been with a man, and an even longer while since I had been this attracted to one. I hoped that we were going to do what I thought we were going to do. I had never had a one-night-stand-- not even in college-- but there was just something about Logan that made me want him and trust him. Being with him felt like instinct and didn't require any thought. It felt right.

Logan sat down beside me and closed the door behind him. He reached over and hit a couple of buttons on a panel, which turned on some low, sultry jazz and raised the privacy window. Our knees bumped as we sat on the shorter seat at the very rear of the limo. Now that we were here-- now we were actually about to do this-- I was suddenly nervous. What if he didn't like me as much as I liked him?

I turned to kiss him just as he reached for me. Instead of meeting in a sensuous, passionate kiss, we bumped noses and missed the kiss entirely. I could feel a blush radiate from my forehead down to my toes.

Thankfully, Logan laughed. “So much for me being suave,” he joked, instantly taking away any embarrassment. He shrugged out of his jacket and folded it over the back of the seat. “Shall we try again?”

I nodded, grinning like a love-struck idiot. He put his thumb to my cheek and lightly curled his fingers against my jaw. Gently, he drew me to him, guiding our mouths together in a sweet and sensual kiss. It was deep and hungry as he tasted me completely before pulling back to look at me. He had such beautiful eyes. They were warm and dark like velvet, and with burning golden embers scattered throughout that enveloped me completely. A girl would do just about anything to be lost in those eyes.

His hand went to my back as I leaned forward to taste him again, pressing my leg against his. I loved the way his palm and fingers caressed my skin, stopping only when they hit the silky black fabric at my lower back. I started to unbutton his shirt, working my way up from the bottom with careful fingers. The creamy fabric opened easily, revealing his smooth, muscular chest underneath.

Placing my palms on his pectoral muscles, I could feel his heart pounding in his chest. It was beating just as hard as mine was. The idea that this confident, charming man could be as excited and nervous as I was gave me a strange sort of courage. Maybe he did like me after all.

I pushed the shirt from his shoulders, and he helped me remove it completely. I stared at his broad shoulders and chest, my mouth going dry with lust. He was gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. They say that sometimes the suit makes the man, but in this case, the man made the suit. Logan looked even more amazing without his shirt than I ever could have imagined. For a moment, I felt self-conscious about the padding around my middle, but then I looked up into his eyes and realized that he didn't see it. He was looking at me like I was some sort of creamy, delicious dessert.

A tattoo just above his heart caught my eye. In a flowing font that could only be a woman's handwriting, the words “All my love” were marked on his chest. I traced them with my finger, feeling the pulse of his heart underneath.

“It's for my mom,” he said, answering my unspoken question. “She wrote that on the bottom of the last birthday card she gave me. When she died, I wanted a part of her to always be with me.”

There was an ache deep in my chest for his loss. I had read enough about Travel, Inc. to know that Logan's mother had helped his father start the company and then died in a tragic car accident when Logan was just a boy. The fact that none of the Hayes men ever talked about her in public spoke to the pain they still felt from her passing. Touching her words, I knew I was now part of a very elite few.

“It's a beautiful tribute,” I said quietly.

I looked up at Logan's face. There was just a hint of sadness, but he didn't move my hand from his mother's words. “I think she would have liked you,” he replied. Smiling, he banished any remaining traces of sadness from his eyes. “Do you have any tattoos?”

I shook my head. “No, I almost got a butterfly on my lower back when I turned eighteen, but I didn't have a good reason for it, other than being eighteen. But then I realized that I wouldn't care about being eighteen in a year, but that tattoo would be with me forever. I decided then that my tattoos should have meaning. Like yours.”

I touched the words on his chest again. Logan reached down and took my chin in his fingers, raising my face to look at him. He smiled, soft and sweet. It melted what was left of my heart into a puddle. Slowly, he pulled me to him and kissed me again.

I closed my eyes and reveled in his kiss. I didn't want to open them; I was afraid that this was a dream and I would wake up at any moment to find that this sexy, handsome, funny man was all in my imagination. I didn't even care that he was insanely wealthy. He liked me and found me attractive. Stubborn, perfectionist, goofy me. It had to be a dream.

The intensity of the kiss increased in intensity from tender to insistent. Heat and passion erupted from our lips. Logan's hands went again to the skin on my back like he couldn't get enough of it. His every movement made me hotter. I wanted him so badly I could barely think. His mouth was firm and hungry, his tongue caressing mine like he couldn't get enough of my taste.

I pulled back, gasping for breath. Logan's eyes burned with desire, drawing me to him like a moth to the flame. I reached behind me and tugged on the short zipper that held my dress together. Logan's pupils dilated as the tight fabric loosened. I held it to my chest for a moment, my heart speeding out of control. This was the moment of truth. I let the dress fall. He stared, open mouthed and completely enthralled.

“You are so damn beautiful,” he finally whispered, raising his eyes from my body. I blushed. The look on his face made me feel incredibly feminine and wanted. Desire poured from him as I tugged on the hem and wiggled out of the dress, leaving nothing behind but my heels and a pretty little lacy panty.

As Logan let out a strained breath, a thrill went through me. Granted, I wasn't the most experienced girl in the world, but no man had ever looked at me like that. His reaction was genuine and empowering. I could easily see the effect I was having on him, and it made me want him all the more.

I kissed him, this time pressing my bare chest against his. He groaned into my lips, wrapping his strong arms around me and pulling me more tightly against him. I shifted my legs, lifting one and sliding it across his lap until I was straddling him. The bulge of his erection pressed through his pants and up toward the lace of my underwear. I rocked gently against him, wanting to do far more than just that.

Cupping one of my breasts in his palm, he stroked my nipple with his thumb until it grew taut. A string of desire ran straight from that nipple into the depths of my core and sent vibrations of lust throughout my whole being. I couldn't stop my hands from tracing down the line of his stomach, lower and lower to his waistline. It only took me a moment to undo the belt and the button below it so I could slide my hand into his pants.

We both gasped as I touched him. He was hard and ready. I caressed the stretched fabric of his briefs, feeling the heat and strength of his erection increase with every touch. His visceral reaction turned me on more than I could imagine. It made me braver, made me want more, made me take more.

“Lie down,” he commanded, putting his hands on my hips. I cocked my head, and he grinned, lifting me off of him and onto the longer limo seat. He pushed his pants down, kicking them and his shoes to the side as he knelt on the floor by my feet. Excitement bubbled in my stomach at the wonderful things he could do from that position.

With strong hands, he bent one of my legs up on the seat and spread the other wide so my foot touched the floor. I was deliciously exposed to him. With a feather-light touch, he ran his fingers up from sensitive skin of my inner thigh, up to the lacy edge of my panties. Just feeling his fingers brush across my most erogenous zone made me gasp. He chuckled, and did it again.

I lay my head back and watched his reflection in the blue mirrors of the ceiling as he pulled on the stretchy lace band and slowly removed my underwear. I lay bare for him, wearing nothing but heels and a smile as he spread my legs further and dipped his head to taste me.

The first lick was wet and warm and sent me shooting into the stratosphere with pleasure. He hummed and teased, using his tongue, lips and teeth to deliver the most exquisite torture. I arched and writhed under his touch, but he never stopped pushing me to the edge of what I could tolerate. The fire he had started within me was flashing with white heat, and the deep need to be filled growing more insistent. I skittered over the edge of oblivion, gasping as I froze and shook, lost to the erotic waves coursing through every fiber of my being.

When I came back to my senses, the ache to be filled, to have him inside of me was unbearable. I would have done anything to have him complete me.

“Please,” I whimpered, raising my head to look at his handsome face. “I want you.”

The air was charged with electric anticipation. My eyes drifted across his face, letting the hunger for him show through. He nodded sharply, reaching for his pants. In less than a heartbeat, he had his briefs off and a condom ready. I couldn't take my eyes from his body, watching as he came closer and then slowly prepared to join me.

It was heaven. He filled me to the hilt, sliding in and out to a slow, sensual beat that drove me wild. I arched and writhed against his strength, gasping his name as he filled me again and again. He was like no other lover I had ever had. He completed me in the most physical and carnal way possible.

He panted, increasing his rhythm as lust overtook him. With a sweet shock, I realized it was me that was making him pant, making him lose himself. I shuddered against him, letting him claim me for his own. Sweet climax washed over me, and I cried out in ecstasy. He took my body and gave me his in return. Logan's low, ragged groan answered my cry as he followed me over the edge and into pure pleasure.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and found him smiling warmly down at me. I had to consciously relax my hands from his back; I had been clinging to him with a desperation that surprised me. I never wanted this moment to end. Here in his arms, I was safe and warm. I felt loved, though I knew it was too early for me to have the right to say it out loud.

“Logan?” I murmured, enjoying the way his name felt on my lips.

“Hmm?” he answered, smiling down at me with those beautiful brown eyes.

“That was wonderful,” which was a complete understatement. There was no word in the human language that described just how wonderful it had been.

“I agree.” He shifted his weight slightly, giving me more space but still staying within me. I never wanted him to leave me. The corners of his mouth quirked up in a cocky grin. “Can I call you again? I know this great little Italian restaurant with an even better parking lot.”

I giggled. “That would be great.”

He kissed me gently before slowly moving away. I ached for more as he left me, wanting to be close to him forever. He rummaged through the bar until he found some napkins. Together we cleaned up and slowly put our clothes back on. I wondered if the limo driver was in the front seat yet or if he was still flirting with the waitress.

“Do you want to go back in?” Logan asked, helping me zip my dress.

I opened my mouth to answer, but instead a jaw-cracking yawn escaped. I pressed my hand to my mouth. “Sorry.”

He smiled. “No, you're fine.”

“I was nervous about our meeting, so I didn't sleep very well last night. I guess it's catching up with me. It's just been a busy day,” I admitted.

“It's been a great day,” he corrected.

I grinned at him. “Better than great.” And then I yawned again. “I'm so sorry!”

“Don't be,” he reassured me. “Let me take you home.”

“Okay,” I said, settling into one of the seats of the limo, suddenly very sleepy. “Who knows, maybe I'll even invite you up.”

Logan went to the door and opened it, sticking his head out and waving to the limo driver. It took a moment, but I soon heard the door open and shut as the driver returned. Logan lowered the privacy screen.

“Where to, sir?” the driver asked as soon as it was down.

The limo's engine purred to life as I recited my address. The lights dimmed, and Logan wrapped his arm around me as we started moving. Everything was comfortable and warm. I felt protected and wanted. Maybe even loved. I had never felt this strongly about someone before, nor had I ever imagined I could feel so deeply so soon. I actually felt happy instead of guilty about our horizontal tango, which was a first for me. I really, really liked him. It surprised me, but it felt right. Logan felt right. We belonged together.

I rested my head against Logan's shoulder, unable to stay upright. The day's events had finally caught up to me. Throw in some mind-blowing sex, and I was amazed I still had the energy to breathe. Even though I didn't mean to, I couldn't help dozing off, lulled by the engine and Logan's warmth.

“Where are your keys?” Logan asked gently, waking me as we arrived at my apartment.

“Purse,” I murmured, my tongue thick with sleep. “The gold key's for the front door and the silver one undoes the deadbolt on my apartment... 2B...”

I heard the jingle of my keys and then I was in Logan's arms. He lifted me as though I were a child, carrying me out of the limo and up the stairs to my apartment. I could hear the driver mumbling my instructions of gold and silver keys as he opened the doors ahead of us. I was glad Logan was carrying me. I was so tired, I fell asleep again in his arms on the way up the stairs.

The next thing I knew was the soft, welcoming embrace of my mattress. Logan carefully took off my shoes and neatly placed them on the floor by my bed before pulling the covers up to my chin. Deep sleep was beckoning me forward, but I struggled to stay awake to say goodnight. A beam of light from the living room shone on his handsome face.

“Shh,” Logan whispered, soothing me back to sleep. He smoothed my hair from my face and gently kissed my forehead. “Sweet dreams, Olivia.”

He closed the door behind him, taking the light with him, and I quickly lost myself again to dreams.