Second Chance

by Natasha Preston

  "That's better," he said as he pinged my bra open and pulled it off, discarding it on the floor somewhere. "Now..." His fingers glided between my breasts down to the button of my jeans. "...these need to go. Are you on the pill?"

  Right, contraception. I'd never forgot that before. "Um, no, I have the injection."

  Smiling, he replied, "Good, because I want to feel every inch of you." I shuddered and I wasn't sure if that was what made him groan or having his hands on me.

  My breathing was rough and loud and borderline embarrassing. Every touch was designed to drive me wild and he succeeded. I felt it everywhere. "Logan," I breathed, aching for him already.

  "I've got you, sweetheart." He popped my button undone and my jeans came off pretty quickly. "You're so beautiful, Chlo. I could spend every second of every day kissing every inch of your body."

  "Do it then," I replied, panting as his lips circled around my nipple. Moaning softly, I arched my back.

  He chuckled and the sound vibrated thorough my body.

  "I love how you react to me," he said.

  "You're not the only one." I had never wanted anything or anyone so much, as bad as that sounded. I ached, throbbed. Biting down on my lip, I tried to

  Logan was it for me. I couldn't even make myself consider the possibility that this might not work out. We fit in every way possible.

  "I think I hate foreplay," he groaned into my skin, kissing down dangerously close to where I wanted his mouth the most.

  I wasn't that crazy about it right now. As much as I wanted his hands and mouth everywhere I wanted to feel him inside me more. I wanted, needed, that connection. "Let's skip it then," I replied.

  He shook his head, lips brushing my hipbone. That felt really good. "Oh no, I've wanted to do this for a while, too."

  My throat went dry as he hooked his fingers over my lace thong. His lips parted and I heard the sharp intake of his breath as my underwear slid down my thighs. I heard the soft thud as my thong hit the floor but I couldn't look away from his hungry eyes.

  Slowly, too, too slowly, he lowered himself and his mouth between my legs and I almost jumped up. It was too much already. I gripped the sheets, crying out to try to deal with the sensations he was creating in my body.

  I didn't want to think about how he'd come to be so talented with his tongue. I was jealous and grateful for all those women in equal measures.

  He rolled his tongue around the sensitive ball of nerves and I clawed at the sheets. I was so turned on, so ready to burst I wasn't sure how long I was going to last.

  His tongue left my skin and his mouth clamped over my opening. I gasped, fisting my hand in his hair, pulling him deeper into me. I heard him briefly chuckle before his tongue entered me.

  "Logan!" My body jerked and arched. That made him flick his tongue harder, faster.

  When the soft pad of his thumb rubbed the most sensitive part of me I fell apart, gripping his hair and tugging what was probably a little too hard. My eyes closed involuntary as I convulsed around his tongue.

  I don't think I pulled too hard for Logan because as soon as my eyes flicked open he got up, removed his clothes in a second flat, and buried himself inside me in one very quick, very swift movement. I hadn't had enough time to recover before I was building again and he hadn't even started moving yet.

  He kissed me and I'd never had someone do that before, kiss right after they'd been down there but I was too caught up in how he felt, how I felt, to worry about that.

  "What're you doing?" I asked when he still hadn't moved.

  His lips were swollen and red and his heavy lidded eyes were on fire. "Nothing has ever felt this good before, Chlo, I can't..." Closing his eyes, he kissed me again and I felt what he was trying to say. He was savouring the feeling, the moment of our first time. Or he was close and wanted to hold off.

  He stopped kissing me and I felt a gentle pressure as his forehead touched mine. His breath, shallow and twice as fast as normal, blew across my face. This was just as big of a deal to him as it was to me and that made my heart ache.

  He finally started to move but his eyes stayed closed and he groaned, low and deep in his throat. It was the most erotic sound I'd ever heard and did nothing to slow down the race my body seemed to be in to finish, again.

  His eyes finally opened and his hand tangled in my long hair. Moaning again, he bent his head and kissed me. I got my legs back around his waist and the slight change in position sent him deeper. I gripped his toned shoulders, feeling the muscles ripple beneath my fingers. I felt every inch of him, felt myself tighten around him and thought I was going to go crazy with how intense it felt.

  "Chloe," he breathed into our kiss and slipped his tongue in my mouth, winding it around mine. Everything became more frantic. My nails cut into his skin and he grabbed my hip roughly, holding me in place and kissing me harder. My lips felt like they were going to be twice the thickness when we stopped but I could not have cared less.

  My heart was flying in my chest. I clawed his flesh, writhing under his unrelenting pace. He was too much, too good, too everything and I didn't know how to cope. My back arched and toes curled. Scrunching my eyes so tight it almost hurt, I cried out against his mouth, his tongue, and fell over the edge, taking him with me. With one last guttural groan he thrust hard and held himself deep inside me.

  We clung to each other, slick with sweat. No doubt the skin we'd attacked would bruise.

  Logan was panting hard when he finally let me up for air but then I was too. He didn't say anything, just stared into my eyes as if I was the answer to every question he'd ever had. He pulled out slowly, sucking air in sharply, and lay beside me, bringing me with him so we were still face to face but on our side.

  We were still silent; there weren't any words for how amazing that was, so neither of us tried. All we did was watch each other for a long time and occasionally he leant forward and gave me a soft kiss that was so far away from the passionate I need to bruise your lips kiss we'd shared just minutes ago. Both were perfect.

  I worried that it might feel weird after but it wasn't, at all. We were supposed to do this. When we were together I wasn't Jace's ex and he wasn't Jace's brother, we were just us and nothing had ever felt so good or so right before.

  "Well, that was considerably better than my right hand," he said, being the first one to break the quiet. He smiled in amusement

  "I could've lived without knowing that, Logan." I hadn't expected the moment to last long but had hoped I'd get at least ten more minutes of Sweet Logan before he went back to Logan Logan. Still, I was pretty much crazy about all versions of him.

  "Sorry," he replied, chuckling. "It is, though. I've thought about how this would be many, many times and it was never anywhere near that good."

  "You thought of it a lot, huh?"

  "Every damn day." He tightened his arms, holding me closer.

  "Well, now you can have me every damn day."

  "Hmm, can I get that in writing?"

  Laughing, I slapped his chest playfully and he rolled on top of me. Every inch of him was perfect and I had a hard time looking into those gorgeous eyes when I got to see the rest.

  Putting his weight on one arm he trailed the other down my side. My skin broke out in goose bumps. "Logan... What're you doing?" I closed my eyes as his hand worked its way across the bottom of my stomach.

  "What do you think?"

  "My parents will be home soon," I said, making a feeble attempt to push him away.

  "What time did they say they'd be back?"

  "Twelve."

  He looked at the clock on my bedside table and brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. "That gives me twenty minutes. I'm pretty confident I can make you come a handful times in twenty minutes."

  I bit my lip, squirming underneath him. "I bet you can't," I whispered.

  He gave me a devilish smile. "Game on, sweetheart."

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chloe

  Being in Logan'
s room and not Jace's had only been strange for that first night, now it felt so natural I knew for sure that giving us a chance was right.

  Logan stirred beside me and rolled over, wrapping me in his arms. "Not yet, Chlo," he mumbled into my back, his sexy voice filled with sleep.

  The sun had just risen and soft light drifted in through the gap between the curtains. Julia was an early riser and I didn't want anyone to learn me and Logan were me and Logan before we sat them down and told them.

  I didn't want to leave. Since our first time four nights ago it had been a lot harder to leave his room in the mornings. Plus, he was a fan of replaying our twenty-minute bet and I was happy to report that he won every time.

  "You know I have to."

  He sighed and I felt his hot breath cascade down my back. It did nothing to help me stay strong and get out of bed. In the last four days we'd barely been able to keep our hands off each other. If we were alone we were going to end up naked and sweaty.

  "Chloe, I don't want you sneaking out of the house." He let go and sat up. I rolled onto my back. "Let's tell them now."

  Was I ready for them to know?

  "Come on," he said. "I don't want to wait. I don't want to pretend we're not together. My family loves you so what are you scared of?"

  "They love me because I was Jace's girlfriend."

  "You're more to them than that and you know it. Why're you holding back?"

  "That is why? You're intelligent, Logan, surely you can understand."

  "I do. I loved Jace as much as you." He stopped and frowned. "But in a completely different way. We're not going to get egged for being together though, you know that."

  "Please, just give me a little more time?"

  He held his hands up. "Fine. I'll speak to you later."

  There was no point in talking to him anymore, especially when he'd gone brooding, moody male so I got dressed as fast as I could and left his room without another word.

  I reached the living room when Logan grabbed my wrist. I was too lost in thought and hadn't heard him creeping down the stairs behind me. "Don't leave," he said, turning me around. "I'm sorry, okay. I was a dick. Please... just don't leave, Chlo."

  Julia stepped out of the kitchen and I stopped breathing. She was up earlier than usual and she was staring at us. With both of us having a mini-domestic at half past five in the morning and Logan just in a pair of jeans it was more than obvious what had been going on.

  Please, don't hate me.

  "Good morning," she said.

  Good morning? That was it? I didn't know what to do, where to look or what to say. Was that all she had to say about the fact that I was now with Logan? I almost felt like crying with happiness. She wasn't ordering me out of her house, screaming at me that I'd betrayed Jace. Either that or she really didn't have a clue what was going on under her nose.

  "Hey," Logan said, letting go of my wrist. "You're up early, even for you."

  "So are you two."

  He smiled. "Touche, Mother."

  Frowning, she said, "Don't call me mother, you make me sound old. Is everything okay? Chloe?"

  I opened my mouth to say speak but not a word came out. She was going to hate me, of course, she was. Even if she was glad Logan was happy she couldn't think very highly of me, surely. I'd promised her I'd love Jace forever and while I still did that love had changed.

  "Why don't you two come in the kitchen for coffee and a chat?"

  Oh, she was going to do the speech calmly. I wanted to run. Shit, shit, shit!

  Logan agreed and walked past his mum. I wasn't quite sure why he was so calm when I was full on panicking.

  Silently, I sat at the table, listening to the thudding of my heart. Logan was beside me, watching me so intently I felt naked. "At least breathe, sweetheart," he said.

  Julia turned around. "Are you okay, Chloe?"

  "I..." Licking my dry lips, I sat up straighter. How was I going to convince anyone that me and Logan were meant to be together when I looked ashamed of us? "I'm okay," I replied.

  "How long?" she asked, speaking softly.

  "Not long," I replied. "Just over three weeks. Are you mad?"

  Cocking her head to the side, her eyes softened and she replied, "No. Of course I'm not mad. I love you both and I want you both to be happy."

  "What about Jace?"

  "Jace is my baby, always has been and always will be. Nothing will change that, but he's gone and nothing will change that either. If you and Logan have a chance at happiness then you take it because you never know what's around the corner. I don't believe everything happens for a reason, there's far too much suffering for that to be true. I believe that if you want something you work for it. Little satisfaction comes from what just falls into your lap. You and Logan have worked damn hard at rebuilding your lives and through all the pain you've found each other. I could never be angry at that. Besides, who else is going to put up with him?"

  I laughed and wiped a tear away. My emotions were all over the place recently. Logan was a complete head fuck and I was pretty sure he felt the same about me.

  "Thank you," I whispered, too choked up to speak properly.

  Logan was quiet beside me but I took that as a good sign. Rather than crying he went quiet.

  "No more sneaking around, okay. I don't want you to have to hide what makes you both happy."

  "Yeah," Logan said. "Chloe?"

  "I never wanted to hide anything."

  He hesitated for a second too long before nodding. Did he not believe me? If the situation wasn't complicated I wouldn't have waited. It wasn't something I wanted to do it was more something I needed to do.

  "I know." He said the words but didn't look at all convinced.

  "Thank you for understanding, Julia," I said. "You don't know how much it means to not have you throw me out of your house."

  She laughed and hugged me. "That would never happen. You'll get no judgement from me. I can see it's not been easy and I know that neither of you would risk creating a rift in the family over nothing. I won't lie, when I first started suspecting I was surprised but I never felt angry, I guess that was my clue that I'm okay with it. And I can't see Jace hating either of you."

  Shit. I swallowed hard, almost on the verge of tears again. I didn't think he'd hate us, not really, but to hear his mum say it meant a lot and made it real. And when did she suspect?

  "I am right that this is something serious, aren't I?"

  We hadn't had that conversation about where we were going but we didn't need to. We were in this for the long haul.

  Logan looked at me, right into me, into every part it seemed. "It's serious."

  Oh, it was definitely serious.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Logan

  "I think we should have a party," Chloe said. She was currently curled up on my lap as we were spending the afternoon lounging on the sofa at my house. I loved having her here as my girlfriend and I loved that it was totally normal, even to my family.

  "Where is this coming from?"

  "Suck it up, you're having a party to celebrate your birthday."

  "You didn't have one." It was a child's argument but an argument nonetheless.

  "I had a night out."

  "Hmm, that's right, you had a girls' night out. I might have a boys' night." I didn't really want a night out now we were getting down to it at every opportunity, I'd rather spend my birthday naked and nasty but a piss up with Ollie could be a laugh, too. We'd not really spent much time together since he was working long hours as a lorry driver while he tried to think of a business he wanted to start up himself.

  "Absolutely. Your birthday is on a Tuesday this year so have a boys' night then. The party will be the Saturday before." She smiled triumphantly. I was a little surprised, and slightly overjoyed, that she knew what day my birthday was on. I didn't know what day it was on.

  I wasn't really opposed to a party, it made no difference to me, but I really liked the banter when she di
sagreed or tried to get me to do something.

  "Fine, I'll have a party," I replied, pulling her closer. Little things like chilling on the sofa with her were the things that I looked forward to the most. That and getting her naked at every opportunity.

  It was easier now we were out in the open, I could be with her properly at her house and mine. We still hadn't done the tell the world thing yet but that didn't matter. One step at a time.

  She laid her head on my shoulder. "Good. Who do you want to invite?"

  "You and Ollie."

  "Really, Logan!" she said.

  "What're you two doing?" Mum asked, walking in the front door, dropping her bag down and slipping off her shoes. I wanted to frown. Chloe being off uni for the summer and early shifts this week meant we got the house to ourselves for a couple hours before everyone got home. I preferred having her to myself.

  "Planning Logan's birthday party," Chloe replied. She went to sit up but I held her in place, keeping her body flush against mine. She often pulled back that little bit and I knew she was only trying to be respectful but Mum pretty much had a huge smile on her face every time she saw us together, as did Dad and Cass.

  "Oh, you're having a party?" Mum asked, her eyes lighting up. I didn't really have parties so she would be all over this.

  "Apparently."

  Chloe nudged me. "We're working on the guest list."

  "Family will be there, right?" Mum asked.

  "Sure." I shrugged. "Ask whoever you want."

  Mum sat down, grabbing a note pad and pen from the side. "When were you thinking, Chloe?"

  "The Saturday before his birthday."

  "Good idea."

  So I wasn't even needed anymore. Maybe they wouldn't need me to be there either.

  It was decided - not by me - that all my family, Chloe's parents, Ollie and Nell were invited. We were having it at home and Dad would do a barbecue.

  I sat there quietly as Cassie came home and got involved, too, volunteering herself to bake me a cake and make vodka jelly. When Dad, my saviour, got home, I kissed the top of Chloe's head and followed him into the kitchen.

  "What're those three cooking up?" he asked.