STORY EXCERPT

“She looked so happy in this picture.”

Logan didn’t answer her, and Lindsey surprised him by stepping up behind him and putting her hands over this.

“Please, Sir, we need to talk about her. I need to talk about her.”

Logan pulled his hands away, taking a deep breath in, and turned around to face her. It was surreal to be standing in his kitchen, looking down on Lindsey with Elena smiling at him from the wall.

“She was happy,” he finally said, and ran an unsteady hand through his hair. “We were happy. I took that picture on our honeymoon. It’s one of my favorite photos of her.”

Lindsey didn’t say anything, just blinked away silent tears that made him feel like a complete heel.

“However, that was then and this is now. What Elena and I had has no bearing on us right now.”

Lindsey didn’t look convinced and her next words confirmed that assessment.

“Because you loved her, and you’re only marrying me out of some misguided sense of duty, right?”

Logan swore under his breath, and, to buy himself some time, he shoved the pizzas in the oven, then walked over to the fridge and poured them both a glass of wine. Their fingers touched when he handed Lindsey her glass, and a jolt of connection shot up his arm. She must have felt it, too, because her mouth opened and her cheeks heated.

“I did love my wife, this is true.” She blinked away more suspicious moisture from her expressive eyes, and took a long swallow of her wine. “And yes, if you’d asked me even a week ago if I was going to marry again, I’d have called you crazy.”

This time, a tear rolled down Lindsey’s cheek. Putting his wine glass down, he took hers off her again and framed her face in his hands. A shudder went through her when he used his thumbs to swipe the moisture away.

“That doesn’t mean I’m only marrying you out of a sense of duty, though.” He paused to assess her reaction. Her frown spoke volumes, however.

“Then why are you marrying me, really, Sir?”

Logan pulled her closer, rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes to inhale her sweet scent. Predictably, his cock took that close proximity to her as an invitation and surged to full mast. She gasped when she noticed, and, opening his eyes and pulling back slightly, he smiled at her.

“Yes, that’s one of the reasons, and the other…I’m sick and tired of waking up on my own, of coming home to an empty house with no one there to share my day with. I know we don’t love each other, but I know you want me, and I want you, so I reckon we’ll rub along well enough.”

Lindsey didn’t answer him, just worried her bottom lip with her teeth until he pulled the soft flesh away from danger with his thumb.

“Say something, Lindsey. I’m baring my soul here.” He tempered that statement by winking at her, but she didn’t smile. She pulled away from him instead.

“What if we don’t rub along? What if we’ll end up hating each other, and what if we’re not compatible?” He raised one eyebrow at that, and the most fascinating blush appeared on her cheekbones.

“Compatible in what department, exactly, little bird?”

That blush of hers deepened, much to his amusement. Anyone would think she truly was an innocent, which should have been ridiculous, and yet… She couldn’t be, could she?

He grasped her chin again to make her look at him, and she blew out a shaky breath.

“You know…”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, now, would I?”

“Oh, for pity’s sake, in the bedroom, all right?”

He burst out laughing and Lindsey hugged her arms to herself in a defensive move that set his alarm bells ringing. Still, he pressed on.

“Sweetheart, if we were confining ourselves to the bedroom, then we would have a compatibility issue. I intend to have you on every surface of this house, as well as in the bedroom.”

“Oh, right, that is… Oh.”

“Lindsey, is there something I should know? Has something happened in your past to make you afraid of sex, or—”

“No, nothing like that.” Lindsey threw a hand over her mouth when it seemed to dawn on her that she had interrupted him, and he smiled to show he wasn’t displeased with her right now. Besides, he wanted, needed to know, what was holding her back.

“Okay, so has this to do with the other man, the one your mother claims you love? Are you worried about getting intimate with me when…”

He paused when she frantically shook her head, while stepping away further. He matched her retreat step by step, until the patio doors stopped her.

Putting his hands on either side of her face, he crowded her against the door.

“Tell me about him,” he said.

“About who?”

“Lindsey.”

He had to wonder at the trapped deer-in-the-headlights look before she opened her mouth to speak.

“There’s nothing to tell.” She flicked him a glance, took a deep breath in and then settled her gaze on his collarbone. “He’s in love with his dead wife, still, that’s all.”

Logan reared back at that statement, and a whimper escaped her at his reaction. His gut churned as the puzzle pieces locked into place and he saw what had been staring him in the face all this time.

“Little bird,” he grimaced at the hoarse quality of his voice, but it did make her look up at him, and the depth of emotion he saw in her dark eyes punched him in the gut.

Fuck.

“Lindsey, I can’t…I mean, fuck. Please tell me it’s not me.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Wordlessly, he carried her through to the living room and sat down with her on his lap on the old worn leather couch. With his arms around her and his murmuring soothing nonsense into her hair, she eventually got her emotions back under control, and her heart stuttered to a stop when he lifted her head up and kissed the tears off her face.

Every soft touch of his lips left tingles of awareness behind, and when he finally claimed her lips in a kiss so tender it made her want to cry again, she kissed him back with all the love she’d kept locked in her heart for so long.

Logan groaned into the kiss, wrapped his hands in her hair, and took charge of her mouth like only he could. His cock hardened under her ass, and Lindsey wriggled her hips in a need to get closer, to finally experience this with him.

When his free hand roamed to her breast and gently squeezed, she gasped and Logan broke the kiss.

“Look at me, little bird.”

Reluctantly, Lindsey opened her eyes, afraid to break the spell, but she couldn’t not obey that gentle demand. He smiled at her and she lost herself in the heated intensity of his gaze as he spoke.

“I’m sorry about my reaction in there. I just wasn’t expecting…”

He kissed her again, just a brush of his lips over hers, but it was enough to send another trickle of moisture past her pussy lips.

“I want you, Sir, please. Just make me yours.”

Logan groaned and she swallowed hard when he shifted her so that she was straddling his thighs. Her dress rose up, exposing her naked pussy, and Logan grunted as he massaged her ass cheeks while looking his fill of her naked cunt. There was no way he would miss how wet she was for him, and sure enough, his smile grew sinful as he slowly brought his gaze up her body until their gazes connected.

“So wet for me, so ready, such a fucking turn-on, my sweet little bird.”

Lindsey didn’t know what to say. She probably ought to say something sexy and alluring, but nothing would come out of her mouth bar a squeak, because Logan chose that moment to slowly pull down her zipper. The sides of the dress fell off her shoulders to bunch on her midriff, and his sharp intake of breath made her feel beautiful, as did his husky words, as her breasts were exposed.

“You have the most amazing rack, but then I suspect men tell you that all the time.”

He flicked his gaze up to hers and, studying her, cocked his head to one side as his fingertips brushed across the tips of her nipples.

The already-tight buds firmed further and pushed against the confines of her bra in a blatant attempt to get closer to the digits tormenting her so skillfully. Lindsey couldn’t stop her moan of need, and she tried to push her breasts into his hands. He wouldn’t let her, of course, simply withdrew his fingers and shook his head.

“Who’s in charge here, little bird?” he asked, and his smile deepened when she groaned in frustration.

“You are, Sir, but please…I want.”

He shut her up by kissing her again, while his hands roamed to her back and undid her bra strap. Her breasts fell free, her breathing turned shallow, and she whimpered as he pulled the bra off her. Logan broke the kiss and, lifting her arms up high above her head, used the straps of her bra to tie her wrists together. Another wave of liquid arousal left her pussy at the restraints as he ducked under her bound arms, lifted her up by her ass cheeks, and, with a wicked grin up at her, nuzzled into her cleavage. His stubble scraped across the sensitive flesh as he rubbed his jaw along her nipples. The slight sting shot straight to her clit, and she lifted herself up higher, silently begging him for more.

“Hmm, these are all mine now, aren’t they, baby?”

“Yes, Sir, please, I need…please.”

A strangled groan escaped her when he took one of her nipples into his mouth and pinched the other between his thumb and forefinger.

She registered his smile around his mouthful of breast, before all conscious thought left her brain when he started to suck. Oh god, that felt way too good.

Every suck, nip, and tug sent waves of arousal through her system. Her clit quivered, her internal muscles clenched and released in tune to his sucks, expelling more of her arousal. Lindsey had never been so wet in all her life and she jumped when Logan released her breasts, blew his hot breath over the wet tip of her nipple, and then grazed his teeth along the other one.

His hands roamed down her body, and another needy gasp escaped her when he cupped her wet mound.

“So fucking wet, and we’ve barely started. I could take you right now, couldn’t I, my little bird?”

“God, yes, please.” Lindsey barely recognized her voice. Husky, breathy, it wasn’t hers, but belonged to some wanton thing who rubbed herself along the hand cupping her pussy. When his palm connected with her needy clit, that little bundle of nerves contracted, sending the most delightful shivers all over her body.

Logan chuckled and swatted her ass with his free hand, even as he slipped one finger into her body. Her internal muscles clamped down on the invader, and Logan swore under his breath.

“Relax, baby, I’ll take care of you. You’re so fucking tight. How long has it been?”