Temptation in Texas: Logan and Lauren (3 page)

He lifted his head from hers and her eyes opened. She found him studying her intensely, his look fevered, smoldering. "Are you okay, baby?" His hand left her spine and slid to her cheek. "Is your head hurting too much? I'll leave you alone if I have to."

A shiver of response slid through her bloodstream.
Oh, God. She loved him so much.
He was so sweet to her, so tender, even when she'd upset him. "I never want you to leave me alone. Never, Logan." She slid her fingers over his five o-clock shadow, and felt the roughness of his cheek. His dark brown eyes flared, and his gaze intensified.

He stood to his feet with one quick movement, and flipped her until she lay on the sofa, her butt on the edge and her legs dangling over the side. Grasping her at the hips, he ripped her panties off and shoved them down her legs. He spread her thighs and pushed between them. He fell to his knees, his hands pushing against her inner thighs. He waited not even a moment, and spread her open, his fingers on the inner folds between her legs. He looked down, and his face became tinged with red, a growl coming low and deep from his throat, and he fell on her like a ravenous animal, licking her and sucking her, all his attention centered on the pleasure he was trying to give her. And the pleasure he was taking from her.

Lauren was hit with a delirious feeling of arousal, hot and fast, and her world quickly narrowed to Logan's tongue rasping against her hot flesh. His tongue was wet and rough, and he used it against her repeatedly, taking long swipes up and down, and then finding her clit and taking it between his teeth.

A high-pitched squeal came from the back of her throat, and she sank her fingers into his hair and lifted her hips against his mouth. He retaliated quickly, sinking his middle finger into her, plunging it inside, again and again before shoving it up hard inside of her and swirling it around it a dedicated assault on her senses.

She tried to stop it, she tried to make it last, but she had no control and her eyes glazed over as she began to come. She came hard and fast, quakes shaking her body as the depth of the orgasm hit her.

He ripped his boxers down and before she could come down from the high he had set her on, he sank inside of her, one long hard thrust joining them together. He held still inside her a moment and let her ride out the rest of her orgasm before moving. And then he began thrusting inside of her, short, stabbing thrusts that quickly brought her to the edge again.

She clung onto his shoulders as he held himself over her, and when she opened her eyes, his were hot on hers. "I won't share you, understand me? I'll never let anybody near you." His eyes were hot, fierce, inflexible. "You're mine. You'll always be mine."

"Yes, babe. And you're mine. Nobody touches you either. It goes both ways."

At the reassurance, his eyes closed and all his concentration seemed to focus on the point where they were connected. He stroked her with firm motions, going deeper, and then deeper still, until Lauren didn't know where he stopped and she began. He surged inside of her, suddenly becoming larger and harder and his thrusts came faster and rougher in orgasm. A keening wail sounded in the room, and she was dimly aware that the sound was coming from her throat as she came again. For him. With him.

****

Lauren woke up in their bed and couldn't remember how she had gotten there. Of course, she could guess, and she heard the water running in the shower before she even opened her eyes. The sunlight seemed to be coming in brightly from the windows and as she opened her eyes, she realized it had to be later than she normally woke up. She'd had a rough night. She'd had a great night in bed with Logan, but the anxiety and stress she was feeling hadn't gone away, and sleep had evaded her until the dawn hours.

The water turned off, and a few minutes later, Logan walked into the room with a towel wrapped around his hips and another one in his hand, running it roughly through his hair. "Get up, babe." His words were rough again this morning and she knew he was still unhappy. And who the hell could blame him?

She smiled at him and tried to gentle him from his sour mood. "Get up? I thought this was the place you always want me to be."

He smiled back, but it was mirthless and his eyes were troubled. "You need to get up and get ready. We're catching a flight in two hours." His words were inflexible. They stated a fact and she knew immediately that she wasn't going to get a vote.

Her smile dropped and she sat up quickly, clutching the sheet to her naked form. "A flight?"

"Yeah."

"Mind telling me where we're going?" She asked as nicely as she could manage.

"The Bahamas."

"The Bahamas." She repeated flatly. "Why? Since when?"

"Since I made the reservations last night. Now get up, I don't want to be late." His tone was inflexible.

"Logan, don't you have to work today? You can't just expect me to leave at the drop of the hat and be ready in what, an hour?"

"Forty-five minutes. And if you're not ready, I'll pick you up and carry you out of the house butt-ass-naked, don't think I won't. So you need to quit talking and start moving, got it?"

Lauren studied him for the space of three seconds until she realized that he was dead serious. If she wasn't ready, he'd drag her out of here kicking and screaming. And crap. He wasn't going to have to drag her, because she wanted to go. A long weekend in The Bahamas? Hell, yes.

She jumped up and flew to the bathroom and showered and washed her hair in under ten minutes. When she came out, he was throwing his clothes into a duffel. He walked into the bathroom to gather his toiletries, and said, "Just a carry-on. We're not going to check any luggage. All you need are a couple of pairs of shorts and a swimsuit. Maybe a sundress or something. If you need anything when we get there, you can buy it."

Lauren glanced at the clock. She had roughly thirty minutes left to fix her hair, make-up and to pack whatever she could manage. Thank God she'd done all the laundry the day before.

****

The flight was on time and went without a hitch. Once they boarded, the frantic morning caught up with them and they napped for a while. Lauren woke to Logan's hand running up and down her leg, making lazy circles under the hem of her sundress. He ordered mimosas and they sipped them, holding hands. She'd had to get up once and use the facilities, and even though they sat in first class and were only feet from the restroom, Logan stood to his feet and escorted her there and waited for her to come out. Did he think something would happen to her within the confines of the airplane?

They sat back down, and after the flight attendant brought them a blanket at Logan's request, he spread it out over them and pulled her head onto his shoulder. She let the glow from the champagne and the warmth from his hand on her thigh slide down and sizzle through her system. She forced everything from her mind that was even remotely upsetting, and focused on the one thing that made her so happy.

Logan.

This trip was so unlike him. Logan wasn't spontaneous in any way, shape or form. He was the consummate planner. He planned out everything to the
nth
degree. Sometimes it made her crazy, he was so anal. But damn, they had the cleanest garage in the neighborhood. Her girlfriends couldn't believe what a clean freak he was, and everything, absolutely everything, had a place. He'd accused her of taking his things a few times when he couldn't find something exactly where it was supposed to be, and although she'd denied it the few times it had happened, damned if he hadn't been right. She'd realize it when she found the object he was looking for somewhere that absolutely made her guilty, like on her vanity or someplace like that.

Yeah. He was organization personified, and a spontaneous trip like this wasn't anywhere in his psyche. This was only happening because he was upset . . . and his being upset was upsetting to her. She reached down and squeezed the hand on her thigh and turned her head so she could see into his eyes. He was looking down at her, and emotion, strong and intense, glowed from the dark brown orbs. She cleared her throat. "I love you."

He hesitated a moment. "Do you?"

"You know I do," she responded softly.

"Hmm. A couple of days ago, I knew you did. But now. . . not so much."

That response tore at her insides. "Logan. Don't say that."

He stared at her steadily. "Something's up with you."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me what you're hiding from me."

Lauren studied him; his emotional upheaval was easy to read. It cut her deeply that he was unhappy, and knowing that it was her fault made it doubly hard to take. Abruptly, she realized that now that they'd left home, she should be safe telling Logan the truth. He wouldn't be able to get in his car and drive to Jillian's house and threaten her husband. Lauren didn't have to wait the entire three days that she'd promised Jillian. The relief was all-consuming. She so desperately wanted to put Logan out of his misery and now she could, this very second. "I
have
been keeping a secret from you and I'm so sorry."

He stared back at her, the lines of his face becoming rigid and Lauren didn't give him anytime to get even angrier. "But it doesn't have anything to do with me, babe." She touched his cheek, and felt tears well in her eyes. "I'd never in a million years do anything to hurt you. We're solid, I promise."

Relief, immediate and fierce came from his eyes as they held hers. His hand reached up and grabbed hers. He linked his fingers with hers so tightly that the blood drained from their hands and their knuckles turned white. "Who the hell were you talking to then? And why the fuck didn't you tell me this last night?" he asked quickly, in a whispered, angry hiss.

Lauren took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "You're not going to like the answer. You're going to be upset."

His eyes flared. "Quit stalling, Lauren. Spit it out."

She swallowed hard. "Steve is messing around on Jillian."

Logan was quiet for so long that Lauren began to think he hadn't heard her, but that was impossible. His shoulders became rigid, and the accusation she read in his eyes rendered her helpless. Why would he be looking at her as if it were her fault? Shouldn't his anger at her have disappeared and been redirected toward Steve?

His mouth flattened. "So why'd you put me through hell last night? Why didn't you tell me? You knew I was worried . . . and you fucking let me worry?"

"Jillian made me promise not to tell you. She begged me to let her have three days. . . to let her have the weekend before I told you. I didn't want to keep it from you, but I didn't feel like it was my secret to tell."

His face was a glowering mask of fury. "You made the wrong choice."

All emotion died from his voice and any remaining warmth left his eyes. It chilled Lauren to the bone. She tried to get her fevered brain to function. "She's your sister, Logan. Would you have me betray her confidence?"

"Instead of betraying me? Yeah." His words were sharp, almost sarcastic.

"I didn't betray you. I kept a secret from you."

His stare was penetrating and Lauren understood in that second that to Logan, secrets and betrayal went hand in hand. "I get that you want to be friends with my sister. But you understand she has faults, right? She's twenty-four years old and she's on her third husband. Does that tell you anything, babe?"

Lauren was quiet as his words sank in and he continued, "She's my sister and I love her, but she's not always innocent of all wrong-doing like she makes out to be. Not even close. Trust me, you don't want to let her and her array of problems come between us. I don't know what the hell you thought I was going to do . . . I'm sure as shit not going to barge in and kick Steve's ass. It's none of my damn business."

"Logan, I--"

"She's using you, Lauren. And that pisses me off, almost as much as you lying to me."

"Logan--"

He cut her off before she could speak. "We're landing. And I'm done with this conversation."