by Amy Lamont
When I ran out of breath, I stopped to rest and looked back to shore. Logan prowled along the shoreline, the camera up but clearly more concerned with keeping a close eye on me in the ocean than taking pictures.
“You should join me. It’ll wake you right up.”
“I don’t have a suit.”
I waggled my eyebrows at him. “I know.”
He shook his head and grinned. A breeze blew over the surface and I shivered. I hadn’t minded the cold water so much while I was moving but I was starting to feel the effects now that I’d stopped swimming.
“You need to come on in now, Jade.” Logan’s voice was all business.
“You just want to see me naked. Again.”
“I just don’t want to explain to your parents how you caught hypothermia on my watch.”
I rolled my eyes but started moving toward shore. “Okay, okay. Don’t get your boxers in a wad.”
“Not wearing any.”
I stopped dead, the water level hitting me right above the tips of my breasts.
I glanced up at him and he flashed me an evil grin. So that’s how he wanted to play it. It was so on.
I started moving forward again much more slowly. I raised my hands and pushed my hair off my face, letting my nipples rise above the surface of the water. Logan stood frozen on the shore, staring at me with the camera forgotten in his hand.
With each step, I exposed more and more flesh—breasts, belly, waist, hips, the neatly trimmed triangle at the junction of my thighs. By the time I stood with only a foot between us, the water only up to my ankles, all thoughts of teasing him had left the building. His gaze heated me from the inside out, chasing away any trace of a chill.
I walked straight to him, not pausing until I had my arms around his neck and both legs hooked over his hips. His hands went to my bare ass, dropping the camera to the sand. His mouth came down hard on mine and I was lost to everything but him.
He shifted and I moaned into his mouth at the friction of his T-shirt and cargo shorts against my skin. I bucked my hips against him and felt him rise up hard and fierce against my core.
He ripped his mouth away from me, leaving both of us panting for breath. His forehead landed against mine and he stared deeply into my eyes. “So much for platonic.”
I wrapped my arms more tightly around his neck. “Platonic is definitely overrated.”
He kissed me again and one arm slid up to support my back, the other remaining under my ass to hold me to him. Without missing a beat, he moved us toward the deck. I held on tight and kissed my way down his neck, licking and nipping his jawline, and trusting him completely to get me somewhere safe and sound.
He eased me into the lounge chair where I’d straddled him just yesterday. I looked up at him, holding my arms up to coax him down to me.
He moved forward and then stopped, one word coming from him in a raspy, need-filled voice. “Condoms?”
My brain blanked for an instant, but then it caught up at warp speed, my eyes going wide. Damn it! How could I forget again?
My mind raced, searching through the fog of my need for an answer. “My bedroom. In the bedside table.”
He froze and kept staring down at me for several long seconds. I wanted to whine and scream and urge him to move. All I wanted was to feel him on me, over me, in me. Why didn’t he move?
But then I knew what had given him pause.
“I’ve never…with anyone here. I mean, aside from you. I don’t hook up here. Paige put them in there as a joke, and I figured it wasn’t a bad idea to be prepared. In case. Well, you know. In case…”
He grinned at my babbling and, thank goodness, finally shut me up with a hard, quick kiss. “Be right back.”
He disappeared into the house and left me there on the back deck, naked and all but panting with desire. I was aware of every inch of my nudity, but didn’t think to hide it for a second.
I stretched, arching my back and curling my toes, raising my arms above my head and reveling in the touch of the morning sunshine heating my body. My eyes closed as the sea breeze drifted over me, teasing my nipples into hard peaks like the touch of a lover. Something primal deep inside me basked in the feeling of being exposed to all the elements as I waited for the man my body recognized as mine from the moment he arrived two days ago.
The glide of the screen sliding back and forth brought a smile to my lips, but I didn’t open my eyes. A shadow moved over me, blocking out the sun. I arched more, offering myself.
“You’re beautiful, Jade.” Logan’s hoarse voice made me shiver. I slowly allowed my eyes to drift open and offered him a smile full of promise.
I leaned up on both hands and his gaze dipped down to my breasts, but he made no other movement.
“Logan, I need you.” I reached up to him.
He didn’t take my hand. He slowly stripped off his shirt and shorts until he stood before me naked.
I licked my lips as my eyes wandered over every hard, muscled inch of him, stopping only when they got to his cock, jutting up against his belly. My gaze flew to meet his. “I don’t think I can wait another minute, Logan.”
He didn’t make me. He reached for his shorts and snatched a condom from his pocket. In seconds, he unwrapped it and sheathed himself and bore me back down on the lounge chair with the weight of his body.
I went willingly, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders and opening my thighs to accommodate him. He held my gaze with his as his prodding erection sought my entrance. He found the slick notch easily and in one motion slid inside me to the hilt.
I gasped and my eyes fell closed. Nothing had ever felt better than the fullness of having him fully sheathed inside me. Nothing until he started moving.
His mouth played over my jaw and neck as his hips rocked against mine. I moaned out loud, my neck arching back as he hit a spot deep inside me.
“You feel so good, baby. So hot and wet. Is that all for me?”
My eyes opened at his words. The look in his eyes, so many emotions tangled with hot need, pulled a gasp from me. He picked up speed, pounding into me harder.
“All for you,” I managed to get out. I dug my nails into the hard muscles at his shoulders, holding tight as the orgasm began to build deep in my belly.
He groaned in my ear and I clasped my legs tighter around him, using my heels to pull him into me deeper and harder.
“Oh, God, Logan.” The words were dragged from somewhere deep inside of me.
He kissed me, his tongue exploring my mouth in a motion that mimicked what our bodies were doing. Every one of my senses engaged in the action taking place on that lounge chair. The taste of him on my tongue, a combination of coffee and salty air. His scent filled my lungs with every breath—the ocean tang mixed with clean sweat and something that was all Logan, clean and warm.
When he pulled away from the kiss to stare down at me, my vision filled with the deep blue of his eyes, dark with desire. The skin over his cheeks was pulled tight as he held onto his control, working hard to carry me to the brink and beyond.
The sounds—his groans, the mewling noise from deep in my throat, the rhythmic slap of our bodies connecting again and again—threatened to push me over the edge.
But it was the feel of him against my skin that ensnared me and dragged me closer to a feeling unlike any I’d ever experienced before. The friction of the light sprinkling of hair on his chest against my already sensitized nipples. His lips against mine, soft at once and then harder and more demanding. The push and pull of him as he thrust inside me, going so deep, he touched me in places I barely knew existed.
The onslaught of sensory overload was too much. My body arched up, strung tight and tense.
“That’s it, sweetheart.” Logan’s voice whispered in my ear, adding one more layer of sensation. “Come for me. I want to see you.”
His thrusts sped up and I couldn’t hold off another moment. I raised my hips to meet him and exploded into an orgasm that caused such deep
bursts of pleasure throughout my body that my vision faded at the same time I called out his name. I clutched his short hair tight in my grip as I yanked him into a hot, wet, open-mouthed meeting of our lips and tongues and teeth.
His rhythmic pounding became more erratic and before the final wave of my orgasm had left me, he followed me over the edge.
“God, Jade. So good. So good, baby.” He buried his face in my neck and collapsed on top of me.
I welcomed his weight as it pushed me down into the lounger. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, desperate to keep every inch of his skin pressed to mine as aftershocks of pure bliss rippled through my body.
After several minutes, he raised his head and stared down at me with an almost dazed grin. “You’re right. Platonic’s got nothing on this.”
Giggles welled up inside me and broke free. All I could do was hold him against me, my body shaking with laughter as I reveled in having Logan with me. For however long I’d get to keep him.
Chapter 14
The rest of the day passed in a sensual haze. We didn’t stop to talk about what our inability to keep our hands off each other might mean. We just enjoyed every moment of it. It was one of the best days I could remember. We splashed in the ocean, ran back up to the house to make love on another deck chair, this time with Logan sitting, and me straddling him with my knees firmly planted on either side of his hips so I could ride him in the way that made him hit all my most sensitive spots.
We took breaks to eat and shower, though even those activities came with a sensual twist. We fed each other bites of plump strawberries and perfectly ripe watermelon, the sticky juice dribbling in a number of places only to be licked clean.
The shower we took might have been the longest, steamiest one of my life. Logan spent a long time lathering me from head to toe, rinsing me and tasting me all over. After I’d ridden out my pleasure on his tongue and fingers, I returned the favor. Seeing him backed against the shower wall, his hands braced against the tile and his head thrown back, his expression a mixture of pleasure and intense concentration as I eased his hard length into my mouth and out again, sucking and licking and tasting him on my tongue…I had no words. I’d carry the memory of how he looked in that moment for the rest of my life.
We talked about everything—our friends and family, his debate with himself about whether to reenlist or not, my lack of desire for respectable employment, television shows he’d missed while he was away.
The only things we avoided discussing were the hypothetical baby and exactly what this new attraction that had so unexpectedly grown up between us meant.
By the time the sun went down, we were both pleasantly exhausted. Muscles I hadn’t used in I-don’t-know-how-long protested each movement as we tucked ourselves under the crisp white sheets of my bed.
“Oh my God, Logan. I think you broke me.”
He did an exaggerated stretch and tucked his hands under his head, elbows out. “I prefer to think of it as ruining you for all other men.”
A burst of laughter escaped me and I poked him in the ribs. I didn’t dwell too long on the little prick of fear that ran through me at the thought that it was no joke. Between the way I felt about him and the fact I couldn’t keep my hands off him, I might indeed be ruined for all other men.
I pushed any and all serious thoughts aside and tickled his ribs. “We can’t all be well trained soldiers, our bodies used to whatever abuse is dished up.”
He sent me a lascivious smile. “Jade, if you call what you did to my body today abuse, then please, by all means, feel free to abuse me as much as you want in the future.”
My heart leapt and I scolded it the way I would a hyperactive puppy. Logan was joking. He didn’t actually mean anything with his mention of a future. I couldn’t read anything into his offhand remark.
“I don’t think I have the energy to dole out any more abuse,” I told him, sticking my lip out before I collapsed down onto his chest.
“That’s too bad.” One of his arms came around me, holding me close while he reached out to the nightstand with the other. “We have one more condom left.” He held up the square, foil-wrapped package for me to see.
I snuggled in closer. “Hmm. It would be a shame to let the last lonely condom go to waste.”
His arm tightened and I could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke. “Plus, it might be an irreparable blow to my manhood if I leave a condom behind. What kind of soldier does that?”
I poked him in the ribs. “I don't think your manhood has anything to worry about,” I said dryly.
“No?” His tipped my face up with a finger under my chin, his cocky grin firmly in place. “Impressed were you?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think your ego needs any stroking either.”
“But hey, while you’re already thinking of stroking…” He waggled his eyebrows at me.
Internally I was doing a happy dance. Heck, it was more like a happy cheer. Seeing the shadows gone from Logan’s eyes, the smile that reminded me so much of the boy I grew up with, I felt like I’d moved a mountain.
I didn’t want to assume I’d totally eradicated the blank-faced, shell-shocked soldier. It would be silly to think one day of sex, no matter how amazing, and playful teasing could wipe out three deployments to war zones. But even being able to give him that for a day or so made my heart squeeze in my chest.
And if part of me wished that I could give him that every day for a good long time to come, well, I wouldn’t admit it out loud. He had enough on his plate without me making demands on him.
If it turned out I was pregnant, we’d have no choice but to figure things out. But until we knew for sure, I couldn’t assume Logan wanted more than we had right this minute. Couldn’t hope. Couldn’t do anything that would put a crimp in the easy friendship we’d always had or our relationships with Katelyn.
“Jade?” Logan ran a gentle finger down my check, breaking me from my thoughts.
I shook my head against his chest and then grinned at him. “Sorry. My mind wandered.”
“To stroking?” His tone was gentle, but his words continued the teasing banter we’d kept up all day. “Cause I’d be happy to help you with that.”
“You wish.” I buried my face in his neck and inhaled deeply, pulling pure Logan into my lungs. “How can you even think about any more sex? We’ve been going at it like bunnies for about twelve hours now.”
He pushed my hair out of my face, tenderly stroking my jaw and down my neck. “It’s been a while. I guess I had a lot of pent up...energy.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Energy? Is that what the cool kids are calling it these days?”
He wrapped me in both arms and hugged me, burying a kiss on the crown of my head.
He chuckled and his body shook under mine. I hugged him back, totally blissful just being held in his arms, listening to him laugh.
What a sap I’m turning into.
Logan shifted and scooted us down more comfortably on the pillows. He reached for the comforter and pulled it up over us. “I’m going to be dreaming about this bed when I go back to my unit.”
My heart stuttered and then picked back up at twice the speed. It was the first time he’d really brought up anything about being in Afghanistan. I felt the need to tread carefully with this subject. I had no desire to be the cause of the shadows returning to his eyes.
“Just the bed, huh?” I kept my tone light and teasing, as I burrowed into his chest.
He gave me a quick squeeze and then left his arm draped over my waist. “I’d say I’d miss the company, too, but you haven’t passed the test yet.”
“The test?” I asked, sleepiness stealing its way into my voice.
“Mmhmm. I was too far gone the other night to notice. And I guess I was never around when you were sleeping at our house during slumber parties.”
I stayed cuddled against him, my mind starting to wander off as I waited for him to say more. When he was quiet a few more minutes
, I tilted my head up. “What didn’t you notice?”
He ran his nose down my cheek before pressing a soft kiss to the spot right below my ear.
“Whether or not you snore.”
I cuddled closer, my body beginning to react to his touch before his words registered. I froze and then gave him a sharp pinch on the ass.
He jumped, startled. “Oww.” A chuckle escaped him. “What was that for?”
“I don’t snore,” I said indignantly, relaxing my body into his even as I scolded him. “And even if I did, you should be so lucky to get to hear it every night, Logan Murphy!”
He laughed and dropped a gentle kiss on the corner of my mouth before pulling me close to his chest again. Who would have taken Logan for a cuddler?
When he didn’t speak for a little while, my mind started to drift once again toward sleep, lulled into a contented fog by the combination of good food, the ocean air, amazing sex, and Logan.
“I should be so lucky.”
I wasn’t sure if I heard the words or dreamed them as sleep finally claimed me.
I drifted awake slowly the next morning. I was on my belly, my arms wrapped around the pillow Logan slept on last night. I inhaled deeply and then caught myself. I was developing a fetish. I couldn’t seem to get enough of Logan’s scent.
I flipped onto my back and stared up at the ceiling fan that turned in slow circles, stirring the edge of the sheet just a little. The truth was, it wasn’t just Logan’s scent I was getting addicted to.
My mind drifted to how we’d made use of the last condom in the middle of the night. A small, satisfied smile tipped my lips up and for just a second I was happy Logan wasn’t there to see it. The room wouldn’t be big enough for his ego.
But the thought only lasted a moment. I tried not to think too deeply about the fact I’d have loved to have woken up with Logan still beside me. A glance at the clock told me I’d slept well past what I guessed a career soldier would consider sleeping in. The morning had gotten a head start on me for sure.
