“Which answer do you want?” I asked. “The non-alpha non-caveman one, or the one that jumps to mind? The one that seems right in my soul?”
“It doesn’t really matter,” she admitted, her hands latching onto my head, her fingers digging into my hair right above my ears. “I’d say yes to either one. I just want to prepare myself.”
I snorted and bit down lightly on one nipple.
“Then, in that case,” I said as I pulled back, blowing on the other nipple in return. “I’ll surprise you.”
Her fingers flexed in my hair.
“I think I may be addled in the brain since I’m considering marrying you after just a few days of knowing you,” she admitted. “Two weeks. That’s all.”
Two weeks of knowing me.
It felt like a lifetime.
“It doesn’t feel like two weeks,” I countered. “It feels like I’ve known you my entire life. It feels like, from the moment that I met you, my soul knew that you were the one made to complete it. Honestly, it feels like a dream. Like we’re stuck in some romantic movie that only has one ending—happiness.”
She ran one finger down the bridge of my nose.
“You don’t think that you deserve happiness?” she asked curiously.
I thought about that for a few short seconds before answering.
“I’m honestly not sure,” I told her. “I just…I don’t feel deserving. What did I do to deserve you?”
Her smile was sweet.
“The same could go for me,” she countered. “What did I do to deserve you?”
I had no answer for her.
I felt like I was doing her a disservice by seizing this opportunity.
I wasn’t sure what she saw in me.
I knew that I was out of her league, yet I couldn’t let go.
Couldn’t step away like a good man would do.
All I knew was, this was exactly where I was meant to be.
Everything that had happened in my life had led me to right here, at this very moment, holding this woman in my arms.
“It may be fast,” I told her. “But I’m going to hold you like I’m going to lose you. I’m never going to let you go.”
“I want to say a few words,” she said. “I want to admit that I’m falling for you…but I don’t want to be that stupid girl who says them and doesn’t hear them back.”
I grinned.
“I don’t want to be that moron who says them, and everything falls to pieces,” I confessed right back.
“I’ll give it a month,” she said. “Then I’m saying them.”
I squeezed her ass and hauled her closer, only to hook my hands in her panties and start easing them down her legs.
“Step out of these,” I ordered.
She did, first the left leg, followed shortly by the right.
I let them drop to the floor beneath her feet, then lifted her up until she was straddling my belly.
“I don’t think that expectations should be made during this relationship,” I said. “We’re not normal. Nothing about any of this is normal. So, I’m just going to say it before I get caught up in the high of having sex with you. I love you, Katerina Roberts. It may be just days after meeting you…but I don’t care. What I feel is right. What we feel is right.”
She leaned over me, her fists going into the bed on either side of my head, her breasts dangling down in front of my face.
But it was her eyes that I was looking at.
“I love you, too, Logan Gibbs,” she whispered right back. “And you’re right. We’re right.”
Grinning, I gave in to the torture and leaned up, licking one of the nipples that was hanging directly in front of my face.
“Scoot up here and let me taste you,” I ordered. “Good girl.”
She climbed up until her pussy was hovering over my face.
Then, wrapping my hands around her hips, I pulled her down until she was sitting on my face.
Then I tasted, and devoured, and licked my way over every inch of her.
“You taste good,” I said a few long moments later, pushing her up slightly so I could get a solid breath.
Her eyes were glazed, and she was staring down at me with a look of desperation on her face.
“Close?” I teased.
She licked her lips. “So close. And I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
I grinned and pulled her back down, this time getting my fingers into the mix.
When I was done, and her orgasm had left her a limp mess on my chest, I rolled her over and sank my cock inside of her wet and willing body.
And with the taste of her on my tongue, I kissed her.
It didn’t take long.
Within a minute of being inside of her, I was ready to come.
And when I pulled back to look into her eyes as I released, I knew another thing, too.
I wanted her to carry my baby.
And I hated that I may not ever get to see that.
Chapter 21
If he’s willing to give you the moon and the stars, you should be willing to sacrifice Uranus.
-Text from Katy to Logan
Katy
“You here to see your dad?”
I looked up to see one of my dad’s best friends, Downy, grinning down at me.
I smiled and wrapped my arms around him quickly, giving him a swift hug before letting go.
“Actually, no,” I said, my eyes automatically scanning the area. “Somebody else.”
“Really?” Downy asked. “So, it’s true?”
I didn’t bother to answer him because the man I’d been searching for finally came into view.
“Gotta go,” I said dismissively, much ruder than I would’ve been normally. “Tell Lock I said hi! Oh, and Jonah if you ever see him.”
Then, before he could say another word, I was booking it across the uneven brick street.
The streets of downtown Kilgore were lined with bricks, as were the walkways. Though, they were new instead of the old crumbling roads they used to be when I’d grown up. Still, bricks were uneven as hell, and I had a problem walking on a flat surface at the best of times.
Luckily, I was wearing tennis shoes.
Also, luckily, if I did trip, I knew my man would catch me.
The moment I got close enough, I threw myself into Logan’s unsuspecting arms.
He went back on a foot in a small shuffle step, then started laughing when I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my mouth against his cheek.
“Logan!” I cried out, nuzzling his neck.
His hands went to my ass to help hoist me higher and he gave me a long, drawn-out squeeze before he dropped me.
“As much as I’d fucking love to keep my hands on your ass for forever, your dad is here somewhere, and I’d rather not die today.” He grinned. “I’d rather come home and spend the night in bed with you with full use of my arms.”
I rolled my eyes.
“My dad wouldn’t kick your ass for me being a little exuberant.”
“He so would.”
I looked up to find the younger version of the man I’d previously been talking to staring down at me with a grin.
Lock, much like his father, was a red-head. He was built a lot like his father, too.
The only difference between the two men were their eye color.
“Lock,” I smiled. “I was just talking to your dad.”
He grinned even wider.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “I told him to tell you hi for me.”
He snorted. “My dad will forget. Watch.”
My mouth formed into a half grin.
“It’s good that I saw you then.” I turned away from him and stared at my man.
“How’s it going so far?” I asked.
“Good,” he answered. “I like that they decided to do a block party and all that jazz, but I wish it wouldn
’t have been mandatory. I’ve had a doozy of a day.”
“You mean, you wish my father hadn’t said, ‘show your presence or else?’” I teased.
Lock started to laugh behind us.
“That was definitely in the memo,” Lock agreed. “But he said a little more than just that. It was more a ‘be there or I’ll find a reason to fire you’ kind of thing.”
“So, is it just y’all?” I wondered, taking a glance around.
“Jonah’s here somewhere,” he said. “As are a few others.”
“Why is it just the motorcycle patrol unit?” I questioned, spotting my father in the far corner.
“We’re getting a lot of good press lately,” Lock answered. “Or, at least, your man is.”
I frowned and turned to him.
“What?” I asked, sounding just as confused as I was.
“You didn’t hear that Logan here has gotten a little popular?” Lock jeered.
I turned until my eyes were on Logan again.
“No,” I said. “Why are you all of a sudden popular?”
I mean, other than the obvious.
It’d been three weeks since Tasia had been beaten up.
She was now released from the hospital, there was a trial set for Tasia, her and her parents for custody, and it had definitely not been a quiet affair.
Since there was no custody set, and the judge refused to hear anything on it after hearing the parties involved, Tasia had just had to make do with the fact that Paydon and his parents had her child, and that was the end of it.
Paydon had taken to fatherhood like a duck to water.
We’d met up with Paydon, his parents, and baby Gibby quite a few times since they’d arrived in town, and each time it was obvious to see that Paydon loved having Gibby around.
Which was good since she was his…for now.
Tasia, I knew, wasn’t going to roll over and give the Maxwells what they wanted. She’d let that be known far and wide, and I knew that the family would have a fight on their hands.
And, I had a feeling, if she didn’t win, she’d take Gibby and run.
To where, I didn’t know. But every time that I heard what Tasia had pulled, I only got more and more convinced that things were about to deteriorate.
Like today, Logan had called me during his break to say that Tasia had set fire to Nina Maxwell’s car.
Though, that was all speculation at this point since ‘whoever’ did it, did it during the dead of night. And since the house they’d bought years back was outdated, they had no security measures in place. Nor had they thought that Tasia would stoop to the level of arsonist.
It might not have been her. Technically, it could’ve been some random man she’d hired to do the deed, too. But I was honestly betting on it being Tasia.
It was her brand of crazy.
“Apparently making a sacrifice for your mentally challenged best friend is a sweet thing to do,” he grumbled.
I rolled my eyes. “It is. But I thought that y’all weren’t sharing what had happened.”
“I wasn’t. Your dad wasn’t. You weren’t. Paydon, on the other hand, didn’t agree to that. He came by the station yesterday, and apparently, he began talking to anyone that would listen. He told Merry.”
I winced.
Lock burst out laughing.
Merry was the biggest gossip in Kilgore. The funny thing was, he was also a really good cop, but damn, give him something juicy and the man was going to spread it far and wide.
“Sucks for you,” I teased. “But it’s not breaking my heart that they know you’re a good person, Logan.”
“I don’t know about a good person,” Lock said. “I saw him take down a two-hundred-and-twenty-pound man today like he was a stack of newspapers and not a grown ass adult man.”
My eyes flicked to Lock’s.
“Really?” I drawled. “Because Logan didn’t tell me anything exciting happened today. I literally just spoke to him about twenty minutes ago when I asked what part of the block party he was on.”
Logan squeezed my hip in amusement.
“There was a robbery at the Quick Mart.” Lock grinned. “I’d pulled over to assist. Logan came about twenty minutes later right when I managed to get the guy out of the gas station. I was walking with him to my bike where I was parked at the curb when the man’s getaway driver burst out of the bushes. Logan pulled over and started running after him before he could even get ten feet away.”
“And you tackled him,” I guessed.
Logan shrugged. “Kid was fast. If I’d given him much more time, he would’ve pulled away from me and I would’ve had no chance of getting him.”
“I filmed it,” Lock said. “Or at least my bodycam did. I have Captain Morgan pulling it and sending it to me.”
Logan chuckled.
That chuckled died in his throat when Tasia came into view.
“Oh, shit,” I said, looking at the walking disaster that was about to tear into our lives once again. “Did she see you?”
Logan’s hand on my hip squeezed. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Let’s go to the edge of the block over here,” I gestured with my hand. “That way there aren’t as many people.”
“Good idea,” Logan muttered. “But I don’t think it’s going to be far enough away.”
No, I didn’t either.
Which was why I pulled my phone out of my bag and messaged my dad to come meet us at the corner of the two streets.
Instead of shoving it back into my bag, I shoved it into my back pocket, then repositioned my large purse on my shoulder, wishing I had thought ahead and hadn’t bothered bringing it.
We managed to make it to the big building at the corner of Second and Third Street, then turned and waited, unsurprised to see Tasia barreling down on us. Well, as fast as she could barrel down on us.
She was recovering slowly but surely, but she was still in a walking boot due to a fracture in her foot.
Her mouth hadn’t suffered, though.
She’d been chatting far and wide to anyone that would listen that Logan had stolen her child from her and that Logan had beaten her up.
Speaking of, when Tasia finally arrived, she didn’t mince words.
Nor did she waste time pulling a gun out of her pocket and aiming it straight at my man.
Both Lock and Logan froze.
“You beat up my father!” Tasia screeched, pointing her gun in Logan’s direction. “I know you did!”
I looked around to see if we’d been noticed yet, but we’d done a good job in hiding ourselves, because the closest man was the DJ, and he had fucking earphones on his head to muffle the sound that was coming out of the speakers next to his feet.
“I didn’t,” Logan promised. “You can ask Lock or Katy. I’ve been with one or the other for weeks. I haven’t patrolled by myself in just as long.”
That was true.
The day after the incident with Tasia’s assault, Captain Morgan had gone to my dad and devised a plan. From then on, on each shift, there would be partners on every shift. Each motor patrol rider would ride with one of the three on shift. It just so happened that Lock had been Logan’s partner for the last three weeks.
Logan hadn’t been alone.
And if he had, it’d been for about five minutes, which was the exact amount of time that it would take to get from the police station to the apartments where he would meet me.
I’d literally timed it seeing as I was waiting outside for him the moment he got home so we could walk the dogs.
“You did!” she shook the gun. “I know you did.”
Logan was already shaking his head again. “No, Tasia. I didn’t.”
“You found out what Daddy was about to do,” Tasia continued to ramble. “You found out that he was going to go take Gibby back, and you didn’t like it.”
Logan started shifting slowly, and soon I found myself staring at Logan
’s back.
Lock had shifted too. His arm was pressed against Logan’s.
They were both pinning me in. Covering me with their own bodies.
“Tasia,” Lock tried. “Ma’am. Please put down the weapon.”
That was when I saw him reach in the direction of the gun.
“You pick that weapon up, and I’m shooting you in the face,” Tasia promised.
I pressed my forehead to Logan’s back and felt his body armor underneath his uniform shirt.
Thank God he hadn’t taken that off.
Technically he’d been off twenty minutes ago. He could’ve easily taken it off and left it at work.
Yet he hadn’t.
He’d left it on.
Thank God.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, indicating I’d gotten a text message, and I prayed that it was my father saying he was on his way.
“Tasia, sweetheart,” Logan tried a different tactic. “I didn’t hurt you. I would never hurt you.”
What he said was true.
For the most part.
Though he would hurt her if it was to protect me.
I knew it in my heart to be true.
“I said don’t move!” Tasia shook the gun at Lock who once again had begun slowly inching his way toward his gun.
Lock’s fist clenched, and I peeked out from the small gap between the two men’s arms and stared at Tasia.
She looked crazy.
She also looked like she was about to shoot someone for real. I could tell that she was more than serious. She would shoot Lock if he moved for his gun again.
“Get my daughter here,” she ordered. “Now.”
Negative.
“Sorry, Tasia, but no…”
Logan staggered from the shot that he took to the chest, and everything inside of me screamed.
“Logan!” I cried out, wishing I could see his face.
But he’d stayed put, as did Lock, pinning me to the wall and making me unable to move.
But I’d felt his body rock with the bullet he’d just received, and my imagination started going wild.
Was he shot? Did Tasia miss? What had happened?
“The next one goes to your head,” Tasia hissed.
I peeked my head around the side of Logan’s body, and before he pushed it back carefully with his elbow, I saw something.
Out of the shadows, as if he was an avenging angel, came Bruno.
Hide Your Crazy Page 18
