29
Claire walked through the doorway of her DC condo and glanced back over her shoulder at Logan. “I wish I could say I’m glad to be back but I’m not. I had so much fun with you.”
Logan closed the door behind them and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans before crossing the room to stand in front of her. “And I had fun with you, Claire.”
It was late and she’d invited him to spend the night before he’d fly to Paradise in the morning. He’d yet to reveal anything about his motives for inviting her to go with him on vacation, but before he left, he would. He would tell her the truth about how he felt, and would ask her to believe in them enough to continue what they’d started. He’d noticed she hadn’t been as talkative on the plane as usual and wondered why. It was as if her mind had been preoccupied with something.
“Have you talked to Lance lately?” she asked, breaking into his thoughts.
“Not since we left the Grand Canyon. The only person I’ve heard from is Carrie. She’s been sending updates about Pop’s budding romance. She finally got to meet the woman and really likes her.”
“That’s good. I know how protective she is of your father.”
“Yes, she is that. And speaking of Lance, I need to send a text to remind him I’m coming.”
“He hasn’t forgotten. Asia mentioned it when I talked to her the other night. They’re looking forward to your visit.”
Logan chuckled. “Are they?
“Yes.”
He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist. “It’s not too late for you to change your mind about going there with me. I’m sure you want to see Leland.”
“Yes, but…”
He lifted a brow. “But what?”
She opened her mouth to say something, but then, as if she’d thought better of it, she replied, “Nothing. I’ll get to Paradise just before I head back to Algiers. Besides, I’m leaving to visit Mom tomorrow in South Carolina.”
Logan nodded. “Tell your mom I said hello.”
He wasn’t sure why, but he felt there was something Claire wasn’t telling him. And it was something that was bothering her. Had she somehow picked up on his true feelings for her? If so, then now was as good a time as any to let her know what those feelings were. “Claire?”
“Yes?”
“There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“Umm.” She leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “And there’s something I want to do with you that is a whole lot better than talking. Trust me. We can talk later.”
She then covered his mouth with hers.
Claire stretched out over Logan’s body. She wasn’t sure why it was important for her to take charge of their lovemaking now, but it was. She tried convincing herself it had nothing to do with the fact that this would be their last night together, that tomorrow, he’d be headed for Paradise…and a woman name Susan. A woman he didn’t know existed. One who could very well turn out to be his soulmate.
The very woman Claire was not.
She had accepted that Logan needed a woman in his life who was not afraid to fall in love again. One who embraced the idea of marriage and family without fear. One who was ready to settle down and make her man a permanent fixture in her life.
But Claire wasn’t ready for any of the things Logan needed in his life. All they had was this.
Their final night together.
Even if she could be ready for those things, Logan had given her no reason to think he wanted them with her. So, it was a good thing she hadn’t fallen for him like Asia had warned. Although Logan was a man any woman would be proud to call hers, he deserved someone who was sure of what she wanted. And if Asia was convinced this Susan was the ideal woman for him, who was Claire to argue? Still, they had tonight. And she was determined to make it a night they’d both remember.
She shifted her body above his shaft and began lowering her hips down to ease it into her body. She felt every inch of her insides stretch to accommodate him. She didn’t stop until he was fully embedded inside of her.
Claire glanced up. Their hands were joined above his head and she felt connected to him from top to bottom, especially in the middle. For a moment, she didn’t want to move. She just wanted to feel him. Just knowing he was there--and how he was there--sent a rush of heat flowing through her.
“Claire…”
Suddenly, he said her name in a distinctive ragged tone. “I’m here, Logan,” she said, meeting his eyes and holding them. She wished she could tell him that she would always be here for him, but she knew that was not true. When it came to matters of the heart, when the going got tough, she got going.
Then she began moving while leaning forward a little to offer him her breasts. His mouth snagged a nipple and began a sucking motion. Not to be outdone, she arched her back as she eased off him and then came back down. Withdrawing… almost… and then coming back down. Over and over again.
She wanted this. She needed this. With Logan. Only with Logan. He was making the sound of full-throated carnal pleasure while feasting on her nipples. Those sounds and the feeling of their bodies mating began pushing her over the edge, but she fought to hang on a little longer.
“Keep those strokes coming, baby,” Logan murmured, urging her while grabbing hold of her hips.
She began riding him hard, in a frenzied need that seemed to consume her. Her inner muscles tightened, caught total hold of his shaft and seemed to squeeze tight. The heat building between her legs where their bodies were joined radiated fire.
“Logan!”
She screamed his name as a climax ripped through her and before she realized what was happening, he shifted his body so that she was on her knees in bed with him behind her. She felt his hands gliding to the area between her legs just seconds before he thrust hard inside of her.
He began pounding hard and she succumbed to the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Groans versus moans. Every hormone in her body sizzled in need. She could feel him graze his beard against the center of her back as he continued to thrust into her from behind.
Her body began throbbing all over again, a primal reaction to his every stroke inside of her. She could feel her control slipping. And when he growled out her name, she felt him explode inside of her, felt liquid heat shoot straight from his groin to her womb. It was as if their bodies were burning and there was no way to put out the fire. So, they didn’t even try. His masculine power surrounded her. Was in her. Became her.
She screamed his name one last time as sexual fulfilment curled in her stomach. Then she let herself drown in a sea of erotic pleasure that she knew would be a part of her forever.
Logan pulled Claire down into his arms as they fought to tame their rapid breathing and heartbeats. They hadn’t talked yet, but they would in a minute. But for now, they needed to consume more oxygen and come back down to earth.
He loved her so damn much and wished they could stay in this bed forever and never return to reality. But they had to and the sooner they talked, the better.
“Ready to talk now, Claire?”
When she didn’t say anything, he glanced down at her and saw that she’d fallen asleep. “I guess you aren’t.”
Tightening his arms around her, he joined her in sleep. Tomorrow would be soon enough.
Claire awakened to the aroma of morning coffee. She slowly pulled herself up in bed and remembered making love with Logan last night. Wow! If she didn’t know better, she’d think he’d been trying to make some memories last night as well. They had made love over and over, catching only moments of sleep in between.
She had to grab a few things before she visited her mother and Timothy now that they were back from their recent cruise. But she couldn’t seem to put the fact that Logan was going to Paradise—and Susan—out of her mind.
Claire wasn’t sure of what Asia had planned, but she knew her sister wanted to help Logan meet someone who could satisfy all his needs. A part of Claire wanted to be mad at Asia, but then, her sister had given her fair warning. Accept Logan as the man any woman in her right mind would want to love…or step aside.
More than anything, she wished she could accept him, but couldn’t accept any man for fear of…
“Good morning, beautiful.”
She glanced across the room. Logan, dressed only in jeans, was leaning in the doorway with a cup of coffee in his hand. A gush of feminine awareness jolted her to the bone when she saw him. Only he had the ability to arouse her with only a smile.
She smiled at him. “Good morning. You’re up early. It’s barely dawn.”
“I leave for the airport soon and we still need to talk,” he said, crossing the room and handing her the cup of coffee.
“Thanks,” she said, and then took a sip. She loved the way he made coffee. She wondered what he wanted to talk about. He’d said the same thing yesterday, and like now, he’d looked rather serious. She hadn’t wanted serious at the time, she had only wanted him. This morning she didn’t want serious either, especially since she had an idea what that serious look on his face was about.
A part of her figured that now that he had gotten a taste of how good a casual relationship could be, he wanted them to continue.
But she was a loner, at heart, regardless of how much she had enjoyed this vacation fling with him. All things had to come to an end, sometime. Besides, Logan was a forever kind of guy who needed a forever kind of girl. And that, she was not.
She glanced up at him and drew in a deep breath. “Okay, let’s talk. What’s on your mind, Logan?”
Logan slid on the bed to sit beside Claire and gazed over at her, the woman he loved today more than he had yesterday. The woman he loved more now than he had when they’d first begun their vacation together. “There was a reason I invited you to come with me, Claire.”
He watched her nod as she took another sip of her coffee. “I know,” she said softly. “I was a pitiful mess, filled with grief over losing my friends. Being the kind and thoughtful person that you are, you wanted to take me away to forget my troubles.”
“Not exactly, although I figured that’s what you would think. I wanted us to get to know each other. Although we’d met three years ago, we really didn’t know each other.”
He watched her lift a brow as she placed the coffee cup on the nightstand. “Of course, we knew each other. We would see each other at family gatherings on Paradise. And we talked a lot on the phone all the time. We even hung out together at Lyle’s wedding.”
He recalled the things she had mentioned. But now, he needed her to understand that hadn’t been enough--and why. “Yes, but I wanted to get to really know you. And more than anything, I wanted you to get to know me. It was important to me that we did that.”
She lifted a brow. “Why?”
“Because I felt it was time you knew,” he said gently, taking her hand in his.
“Knew what?”
The curious look on her face touched his heart. Did she honestly not have a clue? Did she think these past weeks had only been about the physical, not the mental or emotional? “That I have fallen in love with you.”
He watched the emotions in her features go from surprise and shock to panic and then horror. She shook her head. “No.”
He reached out and placed a finger under her chin, lifting it to meet his gaze directly. “Yes.”
She swallowed deeply before pushing his hand away and easing out of bed. She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind, right before she began pacing. Then she stopped and stared at him again. He figured the intensity in his gaze backed up his story, and she wasn’t sure how to deal with it yet.
“But, I–I told you a number of times that I don’t want to get serious about anyone. That I never wanted to fall in love again.”
He nodded. “Yes, you said that, but I was hoping I could make you change your mind, that once you got to know me and saw what we could have together, you would consider the idea of an “us”.”
She shook her head. “No. The reason I told you--and kept telling you--was because I’ve always known you were a forever kind of guy, Logan. That one day, you’d want a wife and kids. But I’m not ready for that. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready. I kept telling you that. Why wouldn’t you take me at my word?”
He eased off the bed to stand in front of her. “Because I was hoping that I could be the man who changed your mind, Claire. That what we shared would mean something, enough to at least make you consider having an exclusive relationship with me, with the intent of one day having more. In my heart, I felt you were worth fighting for.”
He could see her fighting back tears when she said, “No. You are a forever kind of guy and need a forever kind of girl. I’m not her, Logan. I’m not what you want or apparently need. I had a good time these past weeks with you, but that’s it. I tried to tell you and you should have listened.”
She began pacing again and he watched her, knowing she was fighting for composure. Well, he wasn’t having any of it.
“I love you, Claire. Why can’t you accept my love?”
“Because I can’t.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute and then asked, “Do you need more time?”
She met his gaze, lifting a furious chin. “No, I don’t need more time, Logan. What I need is for you to understand I am who I am and I feel what I feel. You were wrong to assume a vacation would change me. That wasn’t fair. And I’ve always thought you to be a fair person.”
Logan shoved his hands into his pockets. This wasn’t going very well, definitely not the way he’d hoped. Why couldn’t she understand that he loved him and with love came choices and chances. Why couldn’t she choose to take a chance on him?
“Please leave, Logan.”
“What?”
“I need some time alone, so I want you to leave. Thank you again for the adventure, even though you took me with you for the wrong reasons. Regardless, I enjoyed being with you but…”
“I failed at what I wanted to do,” he finished for her.
“If your goal was getting me to come around to your way of thinking, then yes.” She then turned her back to him, dismissing him.
The anger Logan tried holding in check snapped. He was a patient man but all the patience in the world wouldn’t help him accept what she was saying and what she was doing. “Why can’t you see the mistake you’re making?”
She whirled around, her eyes filled with anger, her spine ramrod straight. “Why can’t you accept my feelings and move on? I don’t love you, Logan. It’s as simple as that.”
He felt as if he’d been slapped. It wasn’t simple, but he didn’t intend to argue with her. He would leave now before he said something he would regret. Drawing in a deep breath, he moved away to grab his shirt off the chair, and then put on his shoes and socks. He repacked the few things he’d taken out of his luggage this morning, all while she stood, silently, in the same spot, watching him.
When he was ready to go, he thought about telling her again that he loved her, but decided not to waste his breath. “Goodbye, Claire.”
“Goodbye, Logan.”
Then he walked out the door.