Valerie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
For years, she’d longed for Logan to say those words to her but never thought he actually would. Now that he had, she had to wonder if they were doing the right thing. Which she knew was stupid. But she didn’t want to keep her relationship with Logan a secret. From Brett or anyone else, for that matter. And she wasn’t entirely sure Logan had thought it all through any more than she had when she suggested the stupid idea.
But on the plus side, she’d finally gotten Logan to let down his guard. Yeah, Brett was going to kill…well, both of them. But at least she would die a happy death. A slow smile spread across her lips. “So do I get to come in now?”
He moved aside, but the blast of heat from his eyes warned her to enter with caution. And she did. But apparently she wasn’t cautious enough. The moment he closed the door behind them, he wrapped his strong arm around her waist and spun her toward him and then walked her back into the wall by the door. She came to a dead stop, his hands still loitering at her hips.
He stood perfectly still, as if he were cast out of molten rock like a dormant volcano with something sinister simmering just below the surface. She could almost feel the frustration in his fingertips, but with a seemingly determined spirit, he continued to keep himself in check.
Her stomach fluttered with anticipation, and her racing heart hammered against her rib cage so she sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. Did he even know how he was affecting her? She licked her dry lips, and his piercing gaze lowered to her mouth. She watched as a wicked grin developed on his face. Oh yeah. He definitely knew.
His dark eyes grew with intensity, and his pupils dilated, but he still didn’t move. Like he was giving her an out or a chance to reconsider. Maybe it was his way of telling her that, once this began, there would be no going back. But she didn’t want to go back. Not to a time where Logan wouldn’t be hers. She’d been there, done that, and she hadn’t liked it one bit. So she blew out another breath and forced her body to relax.
Logan must’ve taken that as a sign of surrender. Because, without warning, his strong arms lifted her, locking her legs around his waist. She squeaked at the unexpected movement and clutched at his broad shoulders, but the sound came out muffled as his lips fiercely took hers with a kiss that was anything but gentle. Then he turned and carried her down the hallway toward what she hoped was his bedroom.
With each step, the solid bulge in his black athletic shorts rocked against the notch between her legs, sparking a fire in her core. Her body ached to feel more of him so she leveraged her hands on his shoulders and rubbed herself more firmly against him. The frenzied kiss instantly grew to frantic proportions, and his tongue invaded her mouth, penetrating deep.
When they got to the bedroom, Logan loosened his tight grip on her, and she slid down his ripped body until her feet touched the floor. In between kisses, he paused and whispered, “Please tell me you’re wearing panties this time.”
Though she wasn’t sure why he’d asked such a thing, she grinned against his mouth. “I’m wearing panties this time.”
A low hum fell from his lips as he pulled away from her, ignoring the grunt of protest bubbling from her throat. “Good. Now take them off.”
“Why don’t you?”
His face grew serious, and his ferocious eyes met hers. “Because it’s one of my fantasies. You removing your panties while I watch.”
With his words, the pulse between her legs grew stronger, and she arched one eyebrow. “Do you want me to take them off slowly or rip them from my body?”
His eyes glazed over, and he groaned under his breath. “Surprise me,” he breathed out in a strained, husky voice that didn’t sound anything like his own.
With his hard gaze focused intently on her, Valerie slid her hands slowly under her lavender dress. She grasped the band of her lacy white panties, feeling the thin material stretch between her fingers. Then she bent over slightly, wiggling her butt, as she lowered them slowly down her legs and let them drift to the floor.
Logan stepped forward and lifted her dress, tugging it over her head and discarding it onto the floor as well. Then he gently directed her backward until her rear landed on the mattress behind her. One more little shove and he had her on her back as he knelt down in front of her, wedging his head between her legs. His mouth trailed over her sensitive thighs, moving higher and higher until he reached a more intimate part of her and lightly kissed it.
“More,” she murmured, needing to feel all of him on all of her.
She sucked in a quick breath as he flicked his tongue over her clit and worked two large fingers inside of her, scissoring them together. One warm hand closed over her breast, lightly stoking and stimulating before plucking firmly at her hardened nipple. She admired his amazing dexterity and loved how he slackened his touch just enough before applying more pressure just where she needed it most. As if he was learning her body and making it his.
His. She liked the sound of that.
Glancing down the length of her body, Valerie caught him staring back at her with blatant hunger in his piercing brown eyes. His hot mouth pressed more firmly over her mound, pleasuring her, possessing her, owning her. The erotic view took her breath away, and a deep, penetrating need roared to life inside of her.
Her head fell back, whipping from side to side, as her fingers clutched tightly to the comforter beneath her. “Oh God,” she moaned. “Yes, like that. Right there. Don’t stop.”
A furious storm grew inside of her. Her vision grew hazy as her heart thundered in her ears. Heated blood sloshed through her veins, and electricity crackled along her nerve endings before settling low and deep in her abdomen, growing into a hot ball of desperate energy that needed to be released.
Valerie cried out as the ball of lightning inside of her exploded, shattering her into a million pieces. Her thighs wrapped tightly around Logan’s ears, restricting his movements, but he was apparently hell-bent on following her all the way to the end. With rough hands, he yanked her legs open and held her in place with one large hand on her stomach as he continued to assault her with wave after turbulent wave of pleasure.
Even after she’d ridden through the crests and her languid body was weakened to the point of sensitivity, Logan didn’t stop. Hell, he didn’t even slow down. She was limp and light-headed, and when she couldn’t stand it any longer, she finally said, “Um, Logan. I know I said for you not to stop, but I didn’t mean for you to take that literally.”
She felt him smile against her. The sadistic jerk.
Logan drew his tongue over her one last time and made her shiver before rising to his feet and licking his glistening lips. “Mmm. But I like the way you taste.”
Valerie grinned and sat up. “Yeah, but it’s my turn now,” she said, pushing his shorts down his legs and grasping the thick, gloriously hard cock twitching in front of her face.
Before she could take him into her mouth, Logan placed his hand over hers. “Not this time, baby.”
She poked out her bottom lip. “What? Why not?”
“Because there are other things I want to do to your sweet body right now that don’t involve my dick in your mouth. We’ll save that one for later.”
Though his large hand stayed over the top of hers, he didn’t try to stop her from gliding her fingers down his length with a strong, firm tug. “I could change your mind, you know.”
“I don’t doubt that you could,” he said with a grin. “But right now, I just really need to be inside you. I want to fuck you for a while, and I can’t do that if you put your mouth on me. So why don’t you get on the bed and put that beautiful ass of yours in the air.”
Her eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch. “Is that an order?”
“No, it’s more of an impolite suggestion,” he said with a smirk. “Now do it. And in case there’s any confusion, that’s an order.”
Valerie giggled but climbed onto the bed and got into the requested position. Since he’d asked so nicely and all.
“Good. Now don’t move,” he told her.
“You’re so…bossy. I kind of like it.”
His soft chuckle drifted to her ears from behind her. “You don’t know the half of it, sweetheart.” His big hands rubbed over her backside, long fingers dipping between her cheeks. “God, your body is fucking amazing,” he murmured appreciatively.
“Look who’s talking,” she replied, trying to stifle the moan gurgling in the back of her throat. “You’re incredibly easy on the eyes.” Actually, he was rugged, manly, and hot as hell. But whatever. Same thing.
He leaned off the side of the bed and pulled a condom out of the nightstand. A crinkling of foil sounded, assuring her that he was unwrapping it and sheathing himself. Moving in behind her, he grasped her hip with one hand and positioned himself at her entrance with the other. Slowly, he inched into her until his long, thick member was seated fully inside, and a strangled gasp flew from her lips.
“Too deep?” he asked, holding himself motionless behind her.
“Um, a little.” She’d like to keep her cervix intact, thank you very much.
“Lean up and put your back against me,” he told her, guiding her torso backward until they were both on their knees and she was kneeling in front of him with his length still firmly lodged inside her. “How’s that? Better?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Good,” he said, his voice growing huskier by the second. “Because as sad as it is, this really isn’t going to take long. You’re too fucking much. I haven’t even started moving yet, and I’m almost there.”
Holding on to her hips, Logan rocked into her slowly with an unhurried glide, as if he were allowing her time to adjust to his thick size. Desire pooled low in her belly, and she rolled her hips backward, meeting each of his thrusts head on. With both of their heated bodies in motion, the tempo gradually increased as did their erratic breathing.
One of his hands slid around her front to her breast, deliciously torturing her nipple with the pads of his fingers, while the other ran down between her legs to apply direct stimulation to her aching clit. As if it wasn’t bad enough that every part of her was already on fire, her ears were burning from all the dirty, uncensored words that he continually whispered as he pumped himself in and out of her.
Adrenaline swamped her system, and her breath bottomed out. Although she’d planned to wait for him so they could fly over that orgasmic ledge together, she suddenly found her head arching back over his steady shoulder as her inner muscles clasped around him. The moment her body gripped on to his, he grunted and pounded harder into her with rough, vigorous strokes.
She barely remained upright, her thighs quivering from the effort. But Logan dug his fingers into her hips and held her in place. He slammed into her repeatedly, and she took the brunt of his lovemaking in stride, reveling in the way his cock throbbed hot inside of her since he was apparently in the zone and showed no signs of being close to finishing. Christ. How long can a guy be almost there?
After a few more minutes, Logan finally bit down on her right shoulder, held himself deep inside her, and released a guttural groan as his body jerked involuntarily. His hard chest heaved behind her as he gulped in large breaths, blowing them out against her neck and back. Once his breathing slowed a little, he carefully removed himself from her and fell onto the bed, pulling her down with him. Then he shifted her toward him, settling her onto his sweaty chest. “You okay, baby? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Hurt? No. Ravaged? Oh, hell yeah. That was the only way to describe how she felt right now. “No, I’m fine. Now rest up. Because in a few minutes, we’re doing all of this again.”
* * *
Logan was going crazy.
He’d spent the past two nights at the bar with his eyes glued to Valerie’s voluptuous body and his tongue hanging halfway out of his mouth like a panting dog with his favorite treat dangling in front of him. But when he glanced at her this time and spied Valerie wiggling her ass to the beat of the music, he realized there was no “going crazy” to it. He was already there.
Keeping his eyes off her was hard enough to do when she wasn’t moving her body in ways that reminded him of them having sex. Did she really have to tease him like that? When Valerie’s gaze caught his, she gave him an imperceptible nod toward the back room and a secretive little smile that forced him to take a deep breath and adjust the growing bulge in his pants. Damn her. He wished she would behave herself.
They’d already had so much sex in the past two days that he was surprised he could even still get it up. Before work. After work. A quickie in the backseat of his truck behind the bar because he couldn’t wait long enough to get her back to his place and into his bed. And then there was his office. The stuff they’d done together in there was permanently burned and branded into the back of his mind.
But he knew the risks they were taking by being together like that. And what he could lose in the process. Yet now that he had her, he couldn’t fathom the idea of letting her go. Even if it would be in her best interest. Guess he was more of a selfish bastard than he’d thought.
Valerie leaned over and said something to James that had him nodding in response. Then she grabbed the keys to the storeroom and strutted toward the swinging doors with a feral gleam in her catlike eyes and a lovely sway in those feminine hips. With both hands on the door, she paused long enough to throw a seductive, come-hither glance over her shoulder at Logan, and then she pushed her way through them.
And as pathetic as it was, Logan’s dick practically dragged him through that door after her. He barely made it into the storeroom before she slammed the door shut behind him and pounced on him like an attacking, deranged panther. She pawed at his shirt and pants, trying to rip them off his body, as her claws raked against his skin and her teeth sank into his bottom lip.
For a second, he almost considered not stopping her, but then he remembered why he’d followed her in there to begin with…and it hadn’t been for this. Okay, so maybe that was a lie. His dick had definitely planned for this. But he really needed to put a stop to all of it before they got caught together. It was too big a risk.
So Logan did the only thing he could. He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and gently held her away from him so the little sex kitten couldn’t scratch or bite him anymore…though he loved it when she did both. “Sweetheart, you have to stop. We can’t keep doing this at work. We’re going to get caught.”
Valerie batted her eyelashes innocently. “Well, it’s not like I forced you to follow me in here. You did that all on your own.”
“True. But I didn’t come in here for—” He noticed the hardened nipples poking through her top. “Are you cold or something?”
Her mouth curved into a wicked grin, and she pushed out her chest. “Right now I would say I’m the exact opposite of cold.”
His cock twitched, and he groaned under his breath. “Baby, you’re killing me here.”
She let out a hearty laugh. “What’s wrong? No self-control?”
“You know damn well that went out the window when you showed up at my house on Friday afternoon.” He released her and took a step back. Ya know, just in case.
“Poor baby,” she said, smirking. “Am I overwhelming you already?”
“God, yes.” He ran his trembling fingers through his hair and blew out a deep breath. “You’re doing shit to my brain and making it hard as hell to concentrate. Now what was I saying again?”
She rolled her eyes. “I believe you were chastising me about my insatiable need to have you inside me.”
“Oh yeah. That.” He paced toward the back of the room, putting more distance between them. “So as I was saying,” he began, turning to face her. Her gaze had apparently lowered but quickly darted back up to meet his. “Damn it, Val. Did you just check out my ass?”
“Um, no.”
“You did, you liar.”
She grinned. “Well, if you don’t want me to look at your ass, then don’t point it in my direction. By the way, it’s a great ass. Even better when there aren’t jeans covering it.”
“Valerie.” His voice held a stern warning.
“Okay, fine. I’ll stop trying to lure you into the storeroom. But I’m not promising anything else. Any time we aren’t at work, all bets are off. Just like my clothes will be.”
Yeah. He figured that much. And he was in complete agreement. “Fair enough.”
“Well, since you didn’t come back here to ravish me like I had hoped, then tell me, what are you doing in here?”
“Two reasons,” he replied. “One, I wanted to thank you for working with Derek and showing him some of your moves. He’s having fun with it, and I’ve seen a huge improvement in his speed and performance. I think you actually lit a fire under him.”
She waved him off. “Oh, that? I didn’t do much. He really wanted to learn so he’s been practicing the moves I showed him at home. He’s getting pretty good at some of them too.”
“I still appreciate it. This weekend ran a lot smoother because of it. By next week, I should have all the money I need.”
“Money you need for what?” she asked.
Shit. Why had he said that? “Uh, nothing. I’m just glad we’re all making money, that’s all. I hear the bar staff and waitresses have been bringing in several hundred dollars in tips per night. That’s great. Exactly what I was hoping for.”
She gazed at him warily, as if she sensed that he wasn’t telling her something. But he couldn’t tell her about the foreclosure on his mom’s house. The information was private, and his mother had gone to great lengths to keep everyone in town from finding out about the financial situation she was in. Including Logan.
If he hadn’t seen the foreclosure document sitting on his mother’s kitchen table when he’d paid her a visit, he probably never would’ve known what kind of mess she was in. Well, at least not until her house had been taken away from her. Then everyone would’ve known.
To keep Valerie from inquiring further, Logan quickly changed the subject. “The second thing I came in here for is to ask you a question. When is your next day off from the bakery?”
“Um, tomorrow. Why?”
“Let’s do something together.” Her sultry eyes lit up with ideas before he could even finish. “I mean something else. Like go out.”
Her brows furrowed. “Why can’t we just hang out at your place?”
“Because I want to take you out.”
“Okay. So where do you want to go?”
He shrugged. “We could go to the movies.”
“On a Monday?”
“Yeah, why not? Brett will be at work so we don’t have to worry about running into him. And since it’s dark in the theater, no one will see us together. It’s actually perfect.”
“Okay, so what are we going to see?”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to see all the erotic faces you pull as I give you one hell of an orgasm with my fingers.”
Her mouth fell open. “Uh, Logan, I don’t think—”
“Exactly. Don’t think.” He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss before heading to the door. When he reached it, he turned back and winked. “And don’t forget to wear a dress.”