Dirty Dealers

by Tia Louise

  “No!” My eyes widen, and I fumble for his lips, placing my fingers against them. “Don’t say that! You were the greatest thing… You are…” I can’t finish.

  He’s quiet, but my fingers remain on his lips. I trace the outline of them, noting their serious shape, until they move. “So all this time, you’ve been… blind?”

  Pulling my lip between my teeth, I do the slightest nod.

  “That’s why today… In the bookstore.” He rolls onto his back, and I scoot closer, placing my cheek against his chest. I hear his heart beating. It’s only slightly elevated.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t know what you’d done for me at first.”

  He tenses. “Don’t apologize to me. I should apologize to you. I was making you choose books and walk through the store like you’d been there before. I was a complete dick.”

  “You treated me like I could see,” I say softly. “I want you to continue treating me like I can see.”

  Rolling toward me, we’re facing each other again. I know he’s studying me. I can feel the weight of his attempts to understand.

  “But your eyes are still so beautiful.” His voice is tentative. “They’re not clouded or blank. Are you in darkness?”

  “No… It’s more like a dense fog.” I’m speaking faster. He isn’t afraid or freaked out or trying to find an excuse to leave, and the relief pulsing through me with every heartbeat makes me want to cry. “If things are very close, I can still see them.”

  At once he moves so close our noses touch. “Logan!” I squeal, pulling back. He catches me.

  “I want you to see me.” His voice squeezes my chest, and this time my eyes do mist.

  “I see you,” I whisper. “Your face is one of my most vivid memories.” My fingers touch his beard. “This is new, but I see your tanned skin and straight white teeth. Sometimes I can hear your cocky grin when you tease me—”

  “Cocky grin,” he repeats, still not pulling away or pitying me. Instead he pulls me closer. “Oh, Kass. How can I ever let you out of my sight now?”

  “What?” Of all the things he might say, that wasn’t what I expected to hear.

  “Shit, I’m going to be a fucking wreck whenever you’re away from me. What if someone tries to hurt you? What if a car pulls out when you’re crossing the street? Jesus!”

  “Stop right there.” I sit up fast, pulling the sheet around my naked body. “You’re freaking yourself out, and I will not let you do this. I’ve managed my condition going on five years now—”

  “Five?” He pushes up to sitting beside me.

  “Five. Which means, I’m not made of glass.” My lips press into a frown, and my brows pull together. “Don’t treat me like I’m handicapped.”

  He blows out his breath and turns his back to the headboard. “I’ll be honest. It’s going to be hard.”

  I’m so offended, my voice is almost a shout. “Not to treat me like I’m handicapped?”

  “No!” He catches me and pulls me to him. “Damn, you’re still so feisty.”

  Pushing against him, I straighten. “I can take care of myself.”

  “Clearly you can…” His tone is thoughtful. “It’s just… I had already noted all the ways your apartment building isn’t safe, and I didn’t even know about this.”

  My anger cools slightly. “What are you trying to say?”

  “My job is protection, Sass.” He touches my cheek. “I can’t help what’s in me. I will protect you, and now—”

  “Now?” Yes, I’m still a bit defensive.

  “Now I’m going to have to figure out a mantra of some kind. Extreme meditation. Anything to keep me sane. Unless you’re content never to leave my side… Any chance you might consider that option?”

  Two blinks and I’m at a loss for what to say. I actually consider the prospect of never leaving his side, and I start to laugh. “Oh, Logan,” I say, shaking my head. Cocking my head, I look up at him through my lashes. It’s a gesture of habit, since all I can see is a hazy dark mass where I know he’s sitting. “Shut up and kiss me.”

  A low growl, and he pulls me onto his lap in a straddle. I catch his cheeks and dive for his mouth, pulling and kissing him. His hands are sliding all over my naked body, waking my insides again. I reach down between my legs and give his cock a few gentle tugs.

  His face breaks away, and he looks up groaning. “Ah… that feels good.”

  “I know what else you like,” I purr at the side of his jaw, pulling his skin between my teeth.

  “You give great head for a blind girl.”

  I jump off his lap at that, pissed and ready to go. Just as fast, he breaks into a loud laugh, diving across the bed and grabbing me before I can dodge his hands.

  “Let me go!” I struggle, but he lifts me easily, holding me under the ass against his chest.

  “Stop struggling. I was only teasing.” His voice is strong, his hold even stronger, and I relent. “I’m amazed by you,” he continues, causing me to melt. “You blow my mind. You always have, but shit. Now you’re like super girl.” My fingers thread in his hair and he starts to walk. “Let’s hit the shower. I’m nowhere near finished with you tonight.”

  I hold him as he carries me to the bathroom, resting my head on his shoulder. He’s the one who amazes me. He’s so far past anything I ever expected. I’m perfectly blissed, but that tinge of dread is never far away. As much as I love this, as much as it’s everything I want to do… it’s what I’m here to do. I’m following orders. I want to cry.

  Logan thinks I’m special, but he hasn’t heard my whole story. I don’t know if he’ll be as understanding once he knows everything. If he ever knows everything.

  We’re in the bathroom, and he stands me next to the cool shower stall while he adjusts the water. I reach out to trace my fingers along the lines of his shoulders. I let them travel down, learning every inch of his new physique. His younger one was my old memory, now this sexy man is burning new memories.

  When he comes back, he carries me under the warm spray. Our mouths reunite and fresh water combines with the salt of our kisses. Long fingers slide down between my legs, teasing and making me moan. Round 2 is just getting started.

  Internally, I make a decision. No matter the outcome, I will tell him everything. He might hate me, but he deserves the right to that decision. It’s a good plan, just and noble, and first I want to enjoy him one more time.

  Reality

  Logan

  Kass is blind.

  Blind.

  I’m still reeling from the revelation.

  Don’t get me wrong. It changes nothing about how I feel about her. If anything, my feelings have intensified… But I don’t know how to handle this knowledge. It’s like a sucker-punch to my most vulnerable, basic instinct.

  Protect, guard… these things are my life. Can I ever go back to the palace and leave her alone—especially knowing what’s out there? Especially knowing the kinds of maniacs we deal with, and their expertise at finding our weaknesses. She’ll be a sitting duck.

  Jesus! I think about that shitty apartment building where she lives. I walked right in off the street, and she never even saw me coming. She almost ran right past me in the stairwell, but I caught her, backed her against the wall, and kissed her. I could’ve been any intruder grabbing her that way.

  Her initial shock makes a hell of a lot more sense now. It’s a wonder she didn’t mace me.

  I’m a fucking asshole.

  She needs a can of mace.

  Sunlight streams through the window, and she’s right here, curled at my side, her pale blonde hair spread around us on the pillow. Dark lashes touch the tops of her cheeks. She’s so damn beautiful. She’s ethereal, and she looks so young with her face relaxed in sleep. I want to touch her, but I don’t want to wake her.

  She’s the same girl I knew that summer, yet she’s different. She’s stronger, better. I try to remind myself she’s survived this long without my help. At the same time, I know how fast she could
be taken from me. I can’t help wondering if she’s already a target.

  I’m breathing harder as my protective anger rises. Just let anyone try to lay a hand on her. I’ll break their necks. At the same time, I’m going to have a fucking aneurysm whenever she’s out of my sight. What the hell… I already tried to resign, but Rowan wouldn’t accept it.

  How can I protect Kass and Ava at the same time?

  Maybe I can get her a dog. A badass dog, like a Rottweiler or a German Shepherd…

  “What’s wrong?” Kass’s soft voice pulls me from my spiraling thoughts.

  Her slim brow wrinkles as she rolls onto her back and holds out her hand. I take it and pull it to my lips. She immediately pushes into a sitting position and holds out the other one. “Can I touch your face?”

  Her hair hangs in pretty, messy waves around her shoulders, and her eyes are downcast. I kiss her hand again with all the warmth I feel. “Of course you can.”

  Her brow relaxes, and a little smile curls her lips. She carefully places her fingers on my cheeks, sliding them up to my brow before moving them down to my jaw, where she rakes her fingernails through my beard.

  “You’re angry. Why?”

  My hands circle her waist, and I pull her onto my lap in a straddle, burying my face in her neck. She squeals a little laugh and wraps her slim arms around my neck as I kiss her collarbone.

  “Your beard tickles,” she sighs, and I’m getting hard.

  I speak between a kiss to the top of her shoulder. “I’m not angry.”

  “You were breathing fast, your body is tense, and I can feel you frowning. Don’t lie to me, Logan Hunt.” The gentle reproving tone in her voice makes me catch her cheeks, pulling her mouth to mine. Even after all the times we made love last night, I want her again.

  “Oh!” She struggles to break free. “Don’t kiss me. I’ve got morning breath!”

  That makes me laugh, and I kiss her anyway, albeit a closed-mouth kiss, warm and tender against those soft pink lips. Her eyes flutter closed, and I feel her smile just before she scoots back.

  “Tell me why you’re angry.”

  “I’m trying to remember,” I tease. “Were you always this stubborn?”

  Her head tilts to the side as if she’s thinking. “Probably not. I’ve changed since we’ve been apart.”

  That makes me frown again, and I smooth my finger along the line of her hair. “I know.” My voice betrays my emotion, and I’m going to have to learn just how perceptive my girl is even without sight.

  Her chin drops. “It’s the blind thing, isn’t it.” Her voice is full of something like… embarrassment or shame?

  “Hey,” I catch that chin and place another soft kiss on her lips.

  “Please don’t. You don’t have to do that.” She starts to move away, but I’ve got her by the waist. She’s not going anywhere.

  “I don’t know what you’re thinking right now,” I say, “but you’ve got it all wrong.”

  She shakes her head. “It’s a lot to take in, a major bomb to drop. I can only imagine how you must feel.”

  Dammit, I can’t take one more second of this.

  “Listen to me.” My voice is stern, but my hand on her cheek is gentle. “I’m still trying to believe my luck in finding you again.” She starts to interrupt, but I keep going. “If I seem angry, it’s because, well, dammit, Kass. I don’t know how to deal with these urges running through me.”

  Her slim brows clutch. “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I am, what I do for a living.”

  “You’re… one of the king’s guards.” I can’t believe she’s still confused.

  “You are the most precious thing in my life right now, and you’re essentially the most vulnerable as well. I don’t know what to do with that. How can I ever let you leave, walk around in the world, without me beside you?”

  Pink floods her cheeks, and she looks down as a brilliant smile lights her face. “Logan,” she says quietly, blinking fast again. “I’ve been getting around on my own for years now.”

  “I’m trying to tell myself that, but it isn’t working. Especially now with the added danger of you being associated with me.”

  Her lips press together, and she’s adorably bossy. “You’ll just have to try harder. If you start thinking of me as a… a disabled person, you’ll never be able to think of me as anything else.”

  For a moment I run my eyes over her tiny frame sitting in my bed. She’s like a stubborn drop of sunshine in my navy sheets, and the only thing covering her body is one of my thin white tanks. The dark peaks of her breasts are visible through the fabric, and my semi is turning to full hard-on.

  “You said that before. You think I won’t find you attractive?” I’m grinning as I slide the back of my finger up and down the fabric, over her beaded nipple. She jumps and does a little gasp, sliding her hand over mine.

  Her other hand rises to touch my lips. “That cocky grin.”

  The flush in her cheeks spreads down her neck, and I’m ready to remove all doubt from her mind about how attractive I find her.

  “My attraction to you is something you never have to worry about.” My thumb closes over that hard peak.

  “Logan…” her voice is a soft warning, and I catch the hem of my shirt, pulling it quickly over her head. She lets out a little startled laugh, and I wrap my arms around her slim frame, pulling her to me.

  “Come here,” I growl, moving my lips over her soft skin, starting at her ribcage and working my way up to her breast. “I’ve dreamed of this body for years.”

  A beaded nipple is between my lips, and I give it a hard pull while I stroke and tease her other breast. She exhales a moan, and her fingers thread into my hair.

  Turning our bodies, I lay her back on the pillows, rising on my knees a moment to study her slim frame, back arched and legs spread. Her hair fans around her, and her dark lashes just skim the tops of her cheeks. A pretty flush covers her breasts and upper body where my beard has left traces. I’m surprised by how much I like the signs that I’ve had her body… that her body is mine.

  Leaning down, I hook my arms around her hips, pulling her to my mouth before giving her pussy a long and lingering French kiss. Her hands slap the mattress beside me as her back rises.

  “Oh, god!” She cries as I slide my tongue across her clit faster and faster. “Ahh!”

  Her hips rotate in time with my movements. I feel the shuddering breaking through her thighs, which are wrapped in my arms. Her hand moves frantically in my hair, and she starts to wail, shaking and coming apart on my mouth.

  She’s trembling a bit as I kiss the inside of her thigh, moving my mouth to the top of her hipbone. As much as my cock is aching for her wet heat, I pause to give her hip a little suck, a pull to mark her pale body. Her fingers thread in my hair, and every brush of my beard against her sensitive skin makes her jump.

  “Come to me, Logan, please,” she gasps, reaching for me.

  I break away from her, planting a little kiss on the bright red hickey now tattooed on her hip.

  “You want me, Sass?” Sliding my chest against hers, I rest on my forearms, holding the backs of her shoulders in my palms.

  Her slim knees rise, positioning her entrance right at my tip. “Please,” she whispers, and I don’t make her ask twice.

  With one swift thrust, I bury myself in her, balls deep. “Oh, god,” we groan together. My forehead drops to her shoulder, and I pause a moment, doing my best to get control, to make it last a little longer.

  Kass lets out a whine and shifts her hips back and forth against me, pulling me with her clenching insides. My eyes squeeze shut, and I can’t hold back any longer. I grab her face and kiss her deeply, rocking my hips in a fast pace with my building orgasm.

  “Oh, Kass,” I break away with a ragged groan as pleasure explodes through my pelvis. My body shudders, and I wrap my arms around her, holding her to me as the aftershocks tumble through my insides.

  Her leg
s wrap around my waist, and with her arms around my neck, we’re as close as we could possibly be. I have her right where I want her—so close, so safe.

  “Hmm,” she lets out a contented little sigh right at my ear. I can hear her smile, and warmth floods my veins. “The most precious thing in your life?”

  I hold her and turn us to the side so she’s cradled in my arms. She moves forward to press her face against my jaw. “I’ve thought about you off and on, pretty much nonstop since you left. I thought I knew how it would be if I did see you again. I was wrong. It’s so much more.”

  Her fingers trace the lines up and down my biceps as she listens. We’re quiet a moment when I’ve finished speaking, and I close my eyes as I hold her, listening to her breath, feeling her warmth against me. Her body vibrates, and I hear the faintest words drift by on a whisper. It almost sounds like I’m so sorry.

  “What?” I frown, leaning back to catch her eyes.

  That shadow is in them, that sadness is back. I’m confused, but she quickly changes, returning to light, teasing. “I wonder…” she smiles. “Do you still make the greatest coffee I’ve ever tasted?”

  I prop my head on my hand and look down at her shimmering blue eyes, lifting a strand of silky blonde hair away from her face, wondering what could be left for her to hold back. I opt for patience and answer her question.

  “Maybe. I don’t have the opportunity to do it as much anymore. And I don’t know whose coffee you’ve been tasting while we’ve been apart.”

  Her lips curl in a bigger grin at the unexpected innuendo. “I’ve actually had very few coffees since we’ve been apart. They might as well have been tea compared to yours.”

  Leaning down, I cover her mouth again in a slow, lingering kiss. When I pull up, I’m rewarded with another little contented sigh and a smile.

  “Let me see what I’ve got,” I say, rolling to the side and climbing out of bed. I walk to the kitchen naked, and I’m opening and closing cabinets when I notice Kass slip out of the bed and gingerly make her way around my apartment.

  She’s surprisingly accurate, considering her vision. She makes several cute little clicking sounds with her mouth and as a result, she manages to avoid the sofa, the lamp, and even my low coffee table. Without a word from me, she makes it to the bathroom and closes the door.