by Sierra Rose
“Okay—where am I going?” he panted, feeling so light-headed, it was a miracle that he didn’t lift right off the ground. “And how many rooms do you possibly have in this house?”
She giggled, swinging her legs down to the floor. “It’s an old house. Tons of little rooms, but the bath is right up there.” She pointed without looking, keeping her locked eyes on him instead. “We could go right now. Or we could wait a little.”
“Wait?” Logan looked down in surprise. “Sure, we can do whatever you want. I just thought that you were cold—”
“I was,” she interrupted, sinking down onto her knees, “but I’ve found a way to heat myself back up...”
This time, it was Logan’s turn to get thrown against the wall. It was him who gasped as she took him suddenly in her hands, then even more suddenly in her mouth. An explosion of sensation swept over him and he closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall.
“This...is better than a bath.”
She grinned, peering up mischievously through her lashes.
“I thought you might enjoy it.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but let out a moan instead—throwing his arm across his mouth to muffle the sound. She was just as relentless as him. Picking up the speed without giving him a second to catch his breath. Wrapping her lips around him so hard, he felt like there was a chance he could pass out right there in the hallway.
His legs stiffened, and his hands drifted without thinking to wind themselves into her long hair. His back arched off the wall, as his hips swayed gently towards her. There was a pressure building, one he couldn’t possibly hope to control.
“I’m going to come,” he whispered, wrapping his fingers around the tops of her arms to pull her to her feet. “Lacy, hang on—”
But she refused. Moving even faster, sucking even harder, twirling the tip of her tongue.
He moaned again, leaning heavily on the wall behind him. A rush of sensation started sweeping over him. Starting in his toes, and shooting up his legs.
“Please,” he pulled her arms again, “let me do this with you.”
Instead of standing up, she pulled him down—turning at the same time so he was on his knees behind her. She leaned forward, bracing her hands against the ground, as he pushed into her with one violent thrust. Both of them cried out at the same time, and he wrapped his hands around her waist—keeping her steady as he pounded into her from behind.
She bowed her head with a moan, as he snaked one hand between her legs—never breaking his relentless rhythm. His fingers flicked and played, sending her into fits of pleasure, before all at once, it was too much for the both of them.
They came at the same time. Crying out into the darkness. Half-falling onto the floor.
He managed to catch her, barely, and the two of them leaned back in yet another open hallway. Him, resting his head against the wall. Her, nestled peacefully in his arms.
Their hair was damp, but their bodies were warm. Warm enough that they sat there contentedly for quite some time, before she twisted around with a little smile.
“...bath time?”
TEN MINUTES LATER, Lacy and Logan were soaking in the tub. Nestled down amongst a sea of lavender-scented bubbles. The light of a dozen candles flickering over their skin.
“You know,” Lacy murmured, casting a sudden look over her shoulder, “you made a serious miscalculation in coming here today.”
He gazed down at her, kissing the top of her hair.
“Oh yeah?”
She nodded happily, snuggling deeper into his arms. “Your plan backfired. If that was your version of punishment...then I’m interrupting your showers from now on.”
He laughed quietly, tightening his arms around her waist. They hadn’t done a lot of talking since getting into the water, they’d done a lot of thinking instead. Cuddling comfortably in the restful silence. What Lacy had been thinking about, Logan didn’t know. But for him, it was easy. There was only one thing on his mind.
She had called him Dylan.
Just once. When he was inside her. When she was gazing up into his eyes. She’d whispered the name without thinking, and it was like a dagger to the chest.
He had to tell her. He should have told her the day they met. The first moment she showed him those pictures and accused him of cheating. He should have told her then.
Now...was it too late? Could she ever forgive him? Ever understand?
“What are you thinking about?”
He looked down with a start to see her gazing up at him, a contented smile painted across her lovely face. His chest tightened and his mind raced—searching for something plausible. For something that wouldn’t break her heart.
“I was wondering...why you started your detective agency.”
Perfect. That was neutral ground, right?
Lacy’s eyes widened in surprise, then her entire body wilted with a tired sigh.
...or maybe not?
“A few years ago, I was dating this guy. Jeffrey.” Her voice tightened at the word, then she continued on in a soft monotone. “We’d been together for a really long time. Since high school, in fact. He was my first real boyfriend. I trusted him completely...”
She trailed off, gazing into the light of the candles.
“I never would have guessed that he was cheating on me the entire time.”
Logan’s mouth fell open in shock at the abrupt end to the story. What the hell kind of guy would do such a thing? And who, in their right mind, could possibly do it to Lacy?
His fists clenched in a belated sort of rage, before relaxing slowly and wrapping even tighter around her skin. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, feeling genuinely heartbroken for the girl cradled in his arms. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. How did you find out?”
She flashed a tight smile, as her eyes gazed years into the past.
“He got sloppy. I came home one day to find them both lying in our bed.” Her lips curved up in a wry smile. “Kind of hard for him to deny it then.”
For a second, both of them were quiet. Then she pushed past it with a deliberate smile.
“After that, I decided to use my experience to help women in the same situation. Women who were so caught up in the love, that they couldn’t see the lie. Make a career out of my silver lining. Does that make any sense?”
...so caught up in the love, that they couldn’t see the lie...
Logan was completely frozen, paralyzed by those simple words. With every beat of his heart, he felt as though the guilt would overpower him. With every faltering breath, he felt as though he would die if he didn’t confess the truth.
But then she would leave. And he’d never see her again.
“Yeah...” He rested his cheek against the top of her head. “That makes sense.”
Chapter 27
After a few false starts (during which Lacy and Logan discovered how many different places in her house they could have sex) they finally made it to the bedroom. It was small, but cozy. Personalized. Exactly the kind of place Logan would expect.
Not that he could really appreciate it having been sexed into a coma for the last six hours.
They pulled back the covers and climbed onto the mattress without a single word. His arms opened and she made a valiant effort to crawl inside, but it was no use.
They were out before their heads even hit the pillow.
When Logan opened his eyes, what felt like an eternity later, the sun was already shining over the tops of the trees—spilling a wave of golden light through the gauzy curtains. He blinked at it for a moment, trying to remember where he was, before his eyes came to rest on the woman lying beside him. A woman who managed to take his breath away, every time.
I could literally watch her for hours. Spend the whole day watching her sleep.
His lips curved up with a contented sigh.
Speaking of which, what time is it...?
He twisted around to glance at the clock, before his mouth fell open
in shock. Ten?! He was still in bed at ten o’clock?! How the hell did that happen?!
For the life of him, he couldn’t remember a single day in the last five years that he’d slept in past seven. Even on the weekend. Even on vacation. Even when he had the flu and Millard kept bursting into his room throughout the night with bits of toast and water.
Ten o’clock? His eyes drifted once more to Lacy, a sleeping angel bathed in the golden glow. Guess I just needed a good enough reason...
A beaming smile lit his handsome face, and he resisted the urge to wake her up right then and there. Like a small child who couldn’t wait to play. Who couldn’t wait to hear the first thing she’d say when she finally opened her eyes.
For a split second, he actually considered ‘accidentally’ nudging her awake. Then he decided that would make him a monster, and he seized upon another plan instead. One that had an admittedly low success rate.
He was going to make her breakfast in bed.
It didn’t matter that he didn’t know how to cook. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know what Lacy had in her kitchen. Logan leapt out of bed stark naked and swept lightly down the hall, armed with the inexplicable certainty that it was going to work.
A certainty that was quick to fade...
Would it kill some of the magic if I just brought her a bowl of cereal?
Logan stared helplessly into the cupboards. Then stared helplessly into the refrigerator, shivering slightly as the cold air swept over his naked skin. There was boxes with pictures of things like waffles and pancakes and such, but short of a youtube tutorial, he didn’t know how to make the dough.
Dough? Batter? Crust? What did you even call it in box form?
Thankfully, a bowl of fruit caught his attention. Along with a box of chocolates.
A few minutes later, he was tiptoeing back into the room. Balancing a tray he’d found in one of the cabinets. Still naked as the day he was born.
“...good morning.”
Lacy’s breathing hitched, then she opened her eyes—blinking up at Logan, like she was convinced the entire thing might be a dream. A few seconds went by, before she pushed onto her elbows in a daze, gazing at him in wonder.
“You made breakfast?”
A radiant smile lit his face, illuminating all of his features.
“Better than that...I scavenged breakfast.”
He tilted the tray, proudly showing off his wares. There was only a single plate, but it was tastefully decorated with apple slices, truffles, toffees, and a lone brownie. As if that wasn’t enough to melt her heart, he’d placed a rose he’d found in the garden along the top.
Her lips curved up into a tender smile, as she looked first at the tray, then up into his eyes. They stared for a moment, feeling absurdly affectionate towards one another, before her eyes drifted back down to the glorious body half-hidden behind the tray.
“I hope it’s breakfast and a show...”
The old Logan would have blushed a million shades of red. The old Logan wouldn’t have been caught in bed at ten o’clock to begin with. But the new Logan flashed her a mischievous smile before dancing towards her—still holding the tray.
It was like she had unlocked something deep inside him. Made him lighter, made him free. There was a playful energy to the way he danced his hips back and forth, a careless ease to the way his locks of wavy hair fell messily into his face.
Lacy burst out laughing, clapping her hands in applause. He soaked it in for a moment, bowing ostentatiously, before setting the tray on the nightstand so he could lean down for a kiss.
“So this crazy guy wanted to wake you up this morning,” he murmured between kisses, pulling back every so often to stare deep into her eyes. “He missed you like crazy and didn’t want to wait another second. But I saved you. Told him not to be an asshole. Told him to wait.”
“Is that so?” Lacy’s eyes sparkled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “So this first guy—the jerk—did he have anything in particular in mind?”
Logan bit down on his lip with a grin.
“Oh, I’m sure he had a few ideas...”
Without another word, Lacy pulled him down into the bed.
WHEN THE TWO OF THEM finally reemerged, a few hours later, it was already coming up on one. Their brilliant plan to go to the lake was pushed to the next day, and Logan was content to stay in bed all day—cuddling and making love—until Lacy reminded him about the dog.
“He would have been fine,” Logan said sullenly, as they made their way up the front walk to his house. “The thing’s a giant—if he really needed to get out, he could just break a window.”
Lacy chuckled as he fished out his keys. “And that would be okay with you? You’d rather that Spartacus broke one of the windows, rather than you just opening a door?”
Logan almost shrugged and said ‘not my house,’ before he caught himself. Instead, he just shrugged as the two of them made their way inside. The house was still chilly—he had yet to pay the utility bill—and two of them huddled close as he called around for the dog.
“Spartacus?” A ringing silence echoed through the house, and Logan took a cautious look around. “Hey boy—you in here?”
He’d better be. Dylan would kill him if he somehow lost the dog.
“Come on, you beast! You’re not fooling...”
He trailed off when he spotted a happy tail wagging in the backyard. Spartacus barked twice in greeting, then continued to dig around the fence—looking for gophers.
A little frown flitted across Lacy’s face as she gazed out with him.
“Did you let him out last night?” she asked quietly.
“No,” Logan replied, just as confused. “I made sure he was in—”
A sudden noise upstairs made them both freeze in place. A muffled thud that could only have been made by a person. For a second, they stood there—staring up in alarm. Then Logan pushed Lacy back and began walking up himself.
“Stay here,” he whispered. “I’ll be right back.”
By now, he should have known that was never going to happen. As soon as he turned his back, her hand slipped into his as she began climbing with him.
“Between the two of us, you’re the one who got knocked out by his own dog,” she whispered back. “I think I’ll come along.”
He knew better than to argue, and together, the two of them climbed the stairs. There were no lights since the electricity was still down, but the drapes had been pulled open in the bedroom to let in the afternoon light. Logan and Lacy approached the door carefully, paused outside, then yanked it open as they jumped inside.
...only to see a naked woman grinning back at them.
“Oh,” her pouty lips turned up in surprise, “you brought a friend?”
Logan froze. Lacy froze. The woman froze.
Then, all at once, everything started to crumble.
“Well don’t be shy, darling.” The woman flashed Lacy a welcoming smile and patted the sheets beside her. “There’s enough of him to go around—climb on in.”
Logan’s heart stopped beating as Lacy took a step back, shaking from head to toe.
“...excuse me?”
Before the woman could answer, Logan jumped in. Desperate to save whatever was left of his crumbling relationship. Knowing already, there was nothing left to save.
“Who the hell are you?” he demanded. “What are you doing here?”
The woman raised her eyebrows with a sarcastic smile. “We played ‘strangers’ last time, Dylan. Do you really want to do it again?”
There was a quiet gasp beside him, as Lacy backed up into the hall. A look of sheer devastation flashed across her face, before sharpening just as quickly into white-hot rage. Her eyes locked onto Logan’s, and whatever had been between them suddenly died.
“I’ll leave you to it.”
“No, Lacy—”
He rushed out after her, catching her by the arm, but she wrenched herself free with a violent curse. “Don’t touch
me!” Her eyes flashed dangerously. “Don’t ever touch me again!”
Logan flinched back like he’d burned, staring at her in horror.
“Lacy, it’s not...please just let me explain.”
Her eyes cooled as all those defensive walls came right back up.
“You remember what I said about my ex-boyfriend? That it was kind of impossible for him to deny it when there was a naked woman in the bed?”
Logan’s mouth opened helplessly, but he could think of not a single word to say. She was right. How could he possibly explain this? How could he possibly make it right without telling her the truth? And if he did that...would there be anything left to come back to?
“Please,” he whispered, “just stay. Just give me—”
“Baby—you ready for bed?”
His eyes snapped shut in a painful grimace as the woman’s voice echoed in the hall between them. When he opened them back up...Lacy was already gone.
An ice-cold chill ran over his body. Like someone had poured freezing water down his spine. All the light left his eyes, as he turned robotically back to the bedroom—where the naked woman who’d just ruined his life was still waiting with a smile.
“Come on in, baby.” She patted the sheets beside her with a seductive smile. “You know I can’t heat up this big bed all by myself.”
To be continued...
