“Whatever you say, Addi.”
Her fingers tucked a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear as she leaned over the file box. Tension formed a crease between her brows. “We’re going to figure this out, aren’t we? I mean, you do these kinds of things all the time and you always find the bad guys, right?”
The tightness in her voice blew a hole in his chest. Strong as she was, even Addison could be worn down by the fear of someone watching. Waiting. Hoping for a moment to strike.
“Of course we will. Trust me, there’s nothing I won’t do to take care of you,” he said. An odd feeling clutched at his chest, squeezing the air out of his lungs.
On any other case, he’d be cool as a cucumber. But this was different. He had to figure out who was after her, because his gut told him that the creep wouldn’t stop at vague notes and computer viruses. He wanted to harm Addison, and Logan wouldn’t let that happen.
12
A FEW HOURS later Addison leaned back against the shelves and rubbed at her foot, which had fallen asleep. The pile of cases requiring further review had grown as they’d worked, though far fewer ended in some kind of police involvement than Addison had initially surmised.
“This could be something,” she said, tapping the open folder in her lap. “It’s a case from five years ago. A maintenance manager in a co-op building was breaking into apartments while the tenants were on vacation.”
“You’d be surprised how often that kind of thing happens,” Logan said. “What was the outcome?”
“The notes say he ended up getting a felony conviction for aggravated robbery even though the defense argued that no one was in the apartment at the time of the burglary. I guess they must have had some proof he carried a weapon even if there was no intent to use it.”
“A harsh sentence could certainly make for an enemy, especially if he feels like the charges were inflated.”
Addison nodded. “But wouldn’t he still be in jail if he got that kind of a conviction?”
“What’s his name? We’ll look him up.” Logan pushed up from the floor, taking a moment to stretch his arms above his head.
She tried not to look as his T-shirt revealed a sliver of taut skin at his belly. The cotton stretched across his chest, revealing the outline of muscles she knew felt like heaven under her palms. It would be wonderful to forget all about her stalker and her secret and indulge in a little pleasure.
When did her life get so damn complicated?
Addison forced her eyes back down to the file. “Uh, his name is Adrian Marco Vendetti. Born 1955, Brownsville, New York.”
Logan leaned over the small square table where his laptop sat and typed the name into a search engine. A few moments later he let out a surprised hmm.
“He’s dead.”
Addison blinked and rose to join him. “Huh?”
“He was killed during a prison riot, it seems. According to this article, Vendetti’s son is suing the state for wrongful death.” Logan paused while Addison leaned over him to see the article. “Vendetti had been denied a transfer after a fight with the guy who ended up killing him.”
“Brutal.”
He scrolled further down the page. “His son is the one pursuing the legal action.” He cocked his head. “Michael Zetta. Why does that name sound familiar?”
“No idea.” Addison shook her head. “It doesn’t sound familiar to me.”
At that moment her stomach grumbled loud enough to startle them both. Logan chuckled. “I guess we should take a dinner break.”
She glanced down at her watch. It was 9:00 p.m. “Why don’t we call it a night? We’ll take the files back to my place and keep working on them over the weekend.”
“Is that your way of saying you’d like me to hang around?” He closed the laptop and turned to her.
“I’ve accepted the inevitable. You’re not going anywhere, so I may as well embrace it.” For some reason the words comforted rather than stifled her.
In the past week, Logan had been by her side more than ever. They’d rekindled the spark that had drawn them to each other over the years, the spark that she’d thought had been extinguished when she’d turned up at his door to find him with another woman.
Just because he cares about you doesn’t mean he knows how to treat you right. Don’t get attached. Don’t be vulnerable again unless you’re prepared to get hurt.
“Well, it’s not a glowing invitation, but I’ll take it.” He offered her a roguish grin. “You’re a hard woman to please, Addison Cobalt.”
“Yeah, right,” she scoffed. “You’re insufferable. I’m sure other guys wouldn’t find me hard to please.”
“And you think another guy could rev you up the way I do?” He folded his arms across his chest, the muscles bulging under the cotton of his T-shirt. Clearly, her words had hit their mark. “Would another guy have been able to convince you to go to work without panties? I bet you didn’t even put them back on when you got changed.”
Heat flared through her, pooling in her cheeks. And between her legs. “What makes you say that?”
“Because you like the thrill of being bossed around.”
Oh, how she wanted to slap the smug expression off his face with one of the case files. “Bullshit.”
Hate it as she might, there was no denying the denim shorts did brush deliciously against her bare sex. She ached for him. Against her will, her body craved his like a drug. And he was right; the power play between them only served to build excitement in her until it felt as if a tornado were blowing through her body. No other man had ever come close to making her feel the way he did.
Don’t let him suck you in.
“Prove it,” he challenged. “Take your shorts off now and show me you put your panties back on.”
“No way.” Her eyes darted around the room. “There are cameras in here.”
“Cameras that we own.” He shrugged. “That’s the best thing about being the boss—no one can punish you. We can do whatever we like.”
“This is...ridiculous.”
Dammit, why did he have to be so right about her? He knew her better than anyone, and right now he was totally using it to his advantage.
“What’s ridiculous is you maintaining this charade.” His smile morphed from amused to wolfish. His dark eyes practically glittered with excitement. “I’m in your head, Addi. And you love it.”
He took a step toward her and she immediately backed up. “You’ve got an inflated sense of your abilities, Dane.”
“Oh I’m Dane now, am I? What’s the matter, baby? Too afraid to say my name in case your shorts melt right off your body?”
“You’re so full of it.” She rolled her eyes, but as her back hit the shelves she realized she was in trouble. “So goddamn full of it.”
“I think the lady doth protest too much.” He stalked over to her, his hands landing on her waist. His thumbs brushed the waistband of her shorts, pushing up her tank top. “It’s okay. I’m more than happy to conduct an independent investigation.”
He lowered to his knees in front of her, his warm breath tickling her bare skin. A ripple of awareness shot through her, like he’d found a secret on switch to her entire nervous system. Everything was heightened—the sensitivity of her skin, the feel of his palms running over her hips. He electrified her. Burned her from the inside out.
But that was the thing about flames—the warmth was great until you got too close.
“Let’s see what you’ve been hiding under here.” He toyed with the button on her shorts for a moment before popping it loose. “Are you as immune to me as you say?”
The moment he grabbed the zipper and dragged it down, the fight left Addison’s body. He had her. Cornered. Trapped.
Totally and utterly at his mercy.
“Ju
st as I thought.” He dragged the denim shorts down her thighs until they pooled around her ankles. “You’re a good girl at heart, Addi. Good at following orders. Good at giving me what I want.”
“Screw you,” she bit out, ready to push him away.
But the moment his lips pressed against her sex, she was lost. His tongue pushed between her folds, seeking out her clit. Not a moment was wasted. “Oh, you will. You’ll be so ready to screw me that I won’t even have time to get you back to your apartment. You’re already so wet for me.”
A cry caught in her throat as he sucked at her. He extracted one foot from the shorts tangled around her ankles and threw her leg over his shoulder, and she melted. His fingers dug into her ass, supporting her. Holding her steady while he feasted. It was the kind of reckless abandon that she never allowed herself in life. The kind that came with an inherent sense of risk.
But it didn’t matter now. Nothing mattered except the orgasm that welled deep inside her.
“I can feel you shaking,” he murmured against her. “It’s so good, Addi. So fucking good.”
“No kidding,” she gasped, her hands threading through his hair as a tremor ripped through her. “Oh, Logan.”
“That’s it, Addi. Let it all out.”
Her head lolled back against the case files as she struggled to stay upright. Waves of pleasure lapped at her. Her hips rolled in time with the sensation, her body seeming to move of its own accord.
“I’m close,” she gasped.
“Not yet.” He pulled away, ignoring her cry of protest. “I want to be inside you when you come.”
Fishing the wallet out of his pants, he located one of the condoms he kept stashed there. In seconds, he’d stripped his pants and sheathed himself. His body seemed to vibrate.
“Come here.” She reached for him and they landed hard against the shelving unit.
“God, Addi.” He tugged her leg over his hip, guiding his cock to her entrance with his hand. “I need you so bad.”
“I need you, too.” She gasped as he pushed inside her.
The feeling of him breaching her tight sex was near divine. His warm skin and greedy hands overwhelmed her senses as he thrust into her. Hard. Desperate. This wouldn’t be delicate. It wouldn’t be sweet or even sensual. Whenever they came together, there was a rawness that undid her.
“Take me,” she gasped.
He hoisted her up and she wrapped both legs around him, her thighs squeezing his waist. The metal shelving unit groaned as they writhed. She reached up with one hand and wrapped her fingers around the edge of a shelf, trying to find leverage to meet his thrusts.
“You ruin me.” He buried his face into the crook of her neck. “This feels too fucking good.”
His hands were all over her, as though he had to touch every inch of her in order to survive. Her body trembled as she lost herself. Eyes clamped shut, she let the feeling take her over. Lights danced behind her lids and she was vaguely aware of his name falling from her lips.
As she tried to push the post-orgasm fog from her mind, she felt his strong hands lower her to the ground. Being in his arms shouldn’t have felt like the best place in the world. Being at his mercy shouldn’t have felt like everything she’d ever wanted.
But it did. And now she was at risk of giving herself completely over to him.
* * *
AS ADDISON’S BREATH SLOWED, she stirred against Logan’s chest. How long they’d been standing there wrapped up in each other, he had no idea. But he wasn’t about to move until she was ready. Truth be told, he would have stood in that same position until he lost all sensation in his arms just to have her curled up against him.
“I’m starving,” she mumbled, her face rubbing against the base of his neck. “Need pizza now.”
They grabbed the files and swung past their regular pizza joint on the way back to his apartment. It struck him how at ease he was with Addison—how well he knew her favorite pizza toppings, the jokes that would make her laugh, that she was superstitious about not stepping on a crack in the street.
She’d pulled away from him in the last two years and he’d studiously ignored how much he missed her. How his life had a giant gaping hole in it.
And now, even though she’d come back to him, there was a sense of panic that wouldn’t budge. A foreboding hanging over his head like a thundercloud. He was at risk of losing her again, but he didn’t know why.
“I regret the way we ended things last time,” he blurted out.
They walked into his apartment and Addison raised a brow as she put their dinner onto the coffee table. “What?”
“Last time.” He cleared his throat as he lowered the box of files to the floor. “After we, you know...”
Someone take me out to a pasture and shoot me. It’ll be less painful.
“Since when are you the blushing wallflower?” She laughed, but her eyes avoided his. It was easy to see that hurt still lay there. She hadn’t forgotten what he’d done.
“It was a dick thing to do.”
She shrugged. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“I owe you my respect.” He raked a hand through his hair, grappling for the right thing to say. If only he could better express himself. Unfortunately, years of keeping his distance from others made it hard for him to open up. “And, uh, jumping into bed with someone else right away wasn’t very respectful.”
“Why did you do it?” She folded her arms across her chest, creating a shield between them.
Why, indeed? Because he was stupid to epic proportions.
“I was terrified of losing someone else.” First his mother, then his father, then Daniel...he seemed to lose people quicker than he could build relationships.
“So you made sure you would lose me. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
“No, it doesn’t. But I guess my screwed-up brain figured that I couldn’t technically lose you if I didn’t have you in the first place.” It sounded even dumber aloud than it had in his head. “And I felt like I’d pissed on your father’s memory by being with you in that way.”
“You think he’d prefer for you to treat me like a piece of trash?” Her voice trembled. “I’m not disposable, Logan.”
This wasn’t going the way he wanted it to. It was clear Addison still didn’t trust him, and why should she?
“I’m sorry.” She held up a hand, her mask clicking back into place. “I shouldn’t have said that. It was out of line.”
He swallowed. “I deserve it.”
“No, you don’t. You’re only human and so am I.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I have high expectations and sometimes that makes me go a little crazy. We weren’t in a relationship, so I had no claim on you.”
This was the out he’d hoped for all those months ago. The acknowledgment that technically he hadn’t done the wrong thing. But technicalities were worth shit and nothing would make him feel better about hurting her.
“Still, I shouldn’t have rubbed it in your face like that.”
“True, but the past is the past. Right?” She smiled brightly. Fake. “Let’s not talk about this ever again and I promise I’ll try to forget it happened.”
It should have been what he wanted, but her suggestion turned like sour milk in his stomach. He didn’t want her to forget. He wanted her to remember his hands tangling in her hair, his teeth marking her skin. He wanted her to be consumed by the memories of the fire they’d made together, just as he was.
He wanted her to be his.
“Sure.” He shook his head, the thoughts bouncing like Ping-Pong balls against the inside of his skull.
What do you mean you want her to be yours? So you can inflict your fucked-up issues on her? No way, no how. Not ever.
“We should eat,” she said, opening up the pizza box t
o grab a slice. “You don’t want to see me when I’m hangry.”
“Nothing you could possibly do would scare me. I’ve seen a lot, trust me.” He dropped down beside her and patted her knee as if nothing was wrong.
But his feelings for Addison had deepened. They’d gone from an insistent whisper to a roar that had the force of a buffalo stampede. How much longer would he be able to pretend that casual sex would satisfy him? Fulfill him?
But you can’t give her what she deserves.
Couldn’t he? For Addison, maybe he could be the upstanding guy who communicated and compromised and trusted. For her, maybe he could change. If she didn’t leave him first.
13
BY THE TIME Monday rolled around, Logan and Addison had barely left his apartment. Between the white-hot sex and the old case files, she’d been unable to concentrate on anything else. On anyone else.
They’d cooked dinner together last night and let it burn in the saucepan while they lost themselves in pleasure on the dining table.
“You’d better hope I can get that horrible burned smell out of this place,” she said as she turned the coffee machine on. “You’re such a distraction.”
“Me?” He pressed a hand to his chest in mock outrage. “You were the one who decided it would be a good idea to cook naked.”
A sly smile lifted at the corner of her lips. “I had an apron on.”
“Yes, and that glorious ass of yours was hanging out. What was I supposed to do?” He growled the question into her ear as he pressed her against the kitchen counter. His hands were everywhere—cupping her face, kneading her backside, parting her thighs so he could stroke her still-needy sex.
“You’re like a drug. You know that, right?” She sank her teeth down into her lip as he rubbed his stubble-coated jaw along her neck. “Potent. Intoxicating. Addictive.”
“Addictive?” He nipped at her. “And here I was thinking it was time to up the dosage.”
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