LOGAN (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 5) (14 page)

The intense longing in his voice accompanied by the need so visible in his eyes stripped her of what little sense she had left. "
Logan
."

His lips came to hers then left again with a tenderness that made her heart ache. Her fingers combed the lock of hair off his forehead, as she repeated, "
Logan
."

Once more his mouth met hers, softly, as though he feared her rejection. When she didn't retreat, he murmured something unintelligible and pressed a bit harder. She felt the muscles in his arms tremble slightly, so she wrapped her legs around his waist to keep from slipping away. Intent upon the depth of emotion he was pouring into the simple, closed-mouth kiss, she barely noticed when he descended to his knees with her on his lap.

His lips grazed her cheek and tickled her ear. When he spoke, she felt his words more than she heard them.

"You can't know how many times I've fantasized about holding you like this." He continued planting butterfly kisses down her neck, up her throat and moved to her face. "I'd see your caring eyes and hear your sexy voice, and you never, ever left me to go take care of someone else."

His claims made no sense and yet pure honesty laced each kiss. The hand easing up and down her back, his fingers threading through her hair, every touch gave proof that having her in his arms filled him with innocent wonder. Though she knew she shouldn't believe him, her intuition insisted she should. "You fantasized about
me
? Like this?" She felt the vibration of his muffled laughter.

"Like this." He lowered her onto her back and stretched out beside her. "And
this
." His fingers explored her face as his dark eyes made seductive promises. "In my fantasies, you open your mouth for me. You stroke my tongue with yours and let me taste you for as long as I want."

She pulled his head down to hers and whispered against his lips, "Like this?" His groan of pleasure assured her that she was living up to his fantasy. For her, however, he surpassed any fantasy she had ever had of what the perfect kiss would be like. Time passed without either caring, while the kiss went on and on.

Finally Logan raised his head and said, "Like that."

He had her trembling with a need for more than deep kisses and, with a brazen smile, she asked, "And nothing more?"

His return smile was equally suggestive. "Sometimes that was enough."

"And other times?"

He took a deep breath and dragged his bent leg up across hers. "Sometimes I need more. You touch me. And you ask me to touch you."

Although Tarla felt his arousal throbbing insistently against her thigh, so far he had done nothing more aggressive than enticing her to make a choice that would please them both. "Like this?" Her fingertips caressed his cheek, trailed down and up his arm and settled on his chest.

His adoring gaze held hers and he whispered, "And more."

"Show me." She closed her eyes when he guided her hand down below his waist to confirm just how hard he was straining to control his desire for her. As she learned the width and length of him, she made the request he awaited. "I'd like you to touch me too, Logan."

Her breath caught in her throat until his hand slowly found its way to her breast. Cupping it in his palm, his thumb teased the hardened peak through her shirt as his mouth returned to hers for a kiss that could only be described as reverent.

He made her feel things she didn't know were possible. There was nothing in her considerable sexual experience that compared to this. And yet, she wasn't surprised. She had believed from the first that there was something special about Logan. She was torn between wanting this sweet torture to go on forever and the desire to rush headlong toward the magical burst of satisfaction she knew he could give her. To her immense relief, he made the decision for her by slipping his hand beneath the waistband of her slacks.

"I love you, Tarla."

His words brought back a painful memory but she couldn't hold on to it. As she tried to respond, he found the tiny bundle of nerves at her core and her only answer was a gasp of pleasure. She wanted to feel him in the same way but his experienced touch brought her to a peak so quickly, she could only lie there, melting, dying, feeding on kisses that had finally, thankfully, become demanding and urgent.

"
Logan
!" Geoffrey shouted through the door, then pounded on it for good measure. "Are you in there, man?"

Chapter 8

Logan's hand stilled as both his and Tarla's heads jerked toward the door in shock.

"
Sh-sh-sh
," Logan sounded. "He'll go away if we don't answer him." His mouth returned to hers and his fingers resumed their exciting play between her legs.

For several heartbeats, she was more than willing to complete what they had begun. Then she heard Geoffrey's voice talking to someone just outside and the sensual haze began to lift from her mind. Ending the kiss and moving his hand from her body, she whispered, "We have to answer him. If we don't, there's liable to be a whole crowd out there waiting for us to come out." He tried to pull her close again but she managed to resist this time. "
No
. Logan please. This shouldn't have happened... and... and they'll
know
."

That seemed to make an impression on him and he took a deep, calming breath. "I'm in here," Logan said loudly enough to be heard through the door. He and Tarla sat up and started extracting straw from each other's hair. "Just running an experiment."

"Have you seen Tarla?" Geoffrey asked. "She's nowhere around."

"She's in here too," Logan replied, his eyes still making love to her. "We're almost finished. We'll be out in a minute."

"Right. I'll meet you outside. Lunch is on and I need to discuss something with the both of you."

Tarla made a move to rise but her legs weren't ready to support her. She closed her eyes and tried to regain control of her body.

Logan wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. "I'm sorry. This should have waited until we were assured of privacy. After lunch, we can—"

"
No
," Tarla protested, her head bobbing up from his shoulder. Sanity abruptly returned like an icy gust of wind. "This... this
really
shouldn't have happened. I don't even know how it did. Something is very wrong."

Logan eased back from her and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You... I... I'm not sure what I mean," Tarla stuttered as her mind tried to form an excuse for her reckless behavior. "It must be this crazy situation. We're both under a lot of stress, and—"

"I'm not feeling any stress," he countered with an easy smile. "In fact, I don't remember ever feeling so relaxed."

"You're doing it again," she said rising to her feet and stepping back from him.

"What?"

"Smiling."

He stood up and kissed her nose. "Of course I'm smiling. I just had my own personal angel in my arms."

Her heart wanted to believe the look of utter devotion on his face but her intuition was insisting that something was off-kilter besides her balance. "That's not why. You were smiling before. I wondered about it when you first came in but then..."

His smile turned sexy and he bent to kiss her mouth. She almost gave in but the moment his lips touched hers, she moved away. "I have to think. Please. Just give me some time to work this out."

Logan's fingers stroked her cheek. "I've waited this long for you. I guess a few more hours won't matter." His hand slid around to the back of her neck and urged her closer. "I'll give you the time you need but I need something from you to tide me over. Just one more kiss, angel. Please."

She knew she should deny him but her head angled beneath his and she couldn't resist one more quick flight to ecstasy. Much too easily, her body responded to him and the one kiss became several more. Only when both of them made an effort to remember that Geoffrey was waiting were they able to compose themselves enough to leave the tack room without clinging to each other.

* * *

Simone wasn't at all sure what she should do. The scene she had just witnessed on her monitor had her very confused. She had learned the facts of primitive male behavior long ago and thought they were quite clear. But the man in the tack room hadn't appeared cruel or violent. Nor had the woman looked repulsed or in pain. If anything, she seemed to be enjoying the way he was touching her and pressing his mouth to her face.

Watching them had caused the most peculiar feelings, a discomfort of sorts, especially in her womanpiece, yet it wasn't entirely unpleasant, either.

Should she tell Nadia or should she simply make a note of the incident in her report to Advisor Iris? Nadia would be furious if she wasn't informed of such an unusual occurrence. But if Iris learned that Nadia was aware of it, she would know that Simone had to be the one who had given out the information. Simone was the only one on duty at the monitors.

After a few minutes consideration, she decided it was a situation in which she could only come out a loser. The only way around it was to edit out the scene, as if it never happened. Before she erased it, however, she played the recording twice more to get a better understanding of what the pair had been doing. Nothing in her education explained it and yet she was certain their actions and dialogue had some importance.

* * *

"I can't put my finger on it," Geoffrey told Logan, Tarla and Robin as they ate lunch. "But something is going on. I expected Wilkes to cause trouble this morning. Instead, he was pleasant and worked as hard as everyone else. And when Lee Tang passed right by him in the kitchen just now, the look on his face was practically contrite."

"He's not the only one who's acting different," Robin interjected. "Now don't get me wrong here, but some of our men were giving me the eye yesterday. You know, like they were ready whenever I was."

Tarla noted the way Geoffrey grimaced at Robin's comment then kept his eyes glued to his plate as she went on.

"Today, though, those same men smiled nicely without any hint of sexual interest. I know it sounds egotistical but I'm a realist. I know what most men think when they look at me and those thoughts were noticeably missing today."

Tarla met Logan's gaze and knew his thoughts. Something strange had happened to them as well but neither was ready to discuss it with the others.

"How do
you
feel, Geoffrey?" Tarla asked. "Anything that you'd describe as unusual?"

"I feel fine," he answered with a smile. "If it's something in the air, I don't think it's affecting me."

She prompted him a little further. "Would you say you feel better than
fine
? Maybe more relaxed than you should under the circumstances?"

He chuckled. "Now that you mention it... I slept better last night than I have in years, even with all the excitement."

"Logan's very relaxed too," Tarla stated then glanced at him for confirmation. His smile said all that was necessary. "Robin? How about you?"

Robin pressed her forefingers to her temples, closed her eyes and hummed in a monotone for a few seconds. "All systems are A-OK," she said, imitating a computerized voice. Then with a thoughtful expression she amended her report. "Maybe I feel more relaxed than I should though."

Tarla nodded. "Same here." Mentally, she acknowledged that for her, it was more than being relaxed. What she had just done with Logan suggested her memories had been stifled and her entire defense system had broken down. "Now, I want you all to think about that. Is there any reason we should be at ease? Yesterday at this time we were nearing hysteria. Don't you think it's strange that no one—not a
single
person is fretting over our situation today?"

Logan's smile had faded as he realized how right Tarla was, and yet it still didn't worry him overmuch. "Did any of you see Higgs this morning? He was the worst yesterday."

"I did," Robin said. "I didn't give it a thought at the time, but he wasn't even trying to bend anyone's ear. He seemed perfectly content to quietly go about his work."

"Just like everyone else," Geoffrey said, his eyes narrowing with concern.

They were silent for a moment as they drew the same conclusion. Tarla said it aloud. "Whatever causes the residents here to act like androids must be affecting us as well."