Anything But Mine

by Taryn Elliott

  But then that delicious abrasion buzzed over her swollen lips. She hissed as he slid his tongue inside of her. His breath came out on a groan.

  He’d been so calculating. Watchful. Almost scary-focused, but that moan made her whimper. “Logan,” she growled.

  The bed dipped and then there he was. The broad head of his cock stretched her, opened her. Slick walls welcomed him as she let out a shuddering cry. So full. The ache bloomed into a thousand pinpoints of pleasure as he drove into her.

  He was everywhere. There wasn’t a single space inside of her left untouched. She turned her face into a pillow and screamed with each powerful thrust. The angle, the length and width of his cock, all of it was too much.

  She flew apart, her thighs shaking as he continually hit something deep inside of her that ratcheted up the intensity. She tried to crawl away from it. Too much, the pleasure was knife-sharp.

  He stretched her out, his arms surrounding her as his mouth came down at the back of her neck. He rolled them onto their side as he opened her wider, thrust up into her with his teeth and mouth focused on her neck and shoulder. His fingers were wild on her clit and the broken way he growled her name destroyed her.

  She cried out, sure that there would never be a way out now. Not after this.

  She laced her fingers with his over where they were joined and let herself fall.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Fuck.”

  Evidently breathing was optional when it came to sex with this woman. It had been like holding onto the tail of a hurricane.

  Izzy rolled over in his arms, her eyes hooded with sleepy bliss. “Pretty sure we just did that.”

  He laughed and groaned as he eased away from her. “Just a sec.” He took care of the condom and snapped up his down coverlet, rolling them both under the cool fabric.

  She curled into him, her cheek on his chest, their legs tangled. “I should be all responsible and go home, but—”

  “Nope. You’re staying here so I can do that again with the morning sun streaming in.”

  She sighed and twisted her finger into his necklace. “Okay.”

  He rubbed his chin over the top of her head. “Okay.” He couldn’t remember a time that he’d been so content. He reached for the smart remote on his bedside table and killed the lights. “I’m not going anywhere, you know.”

  “Oh, really? Not shooting out of town like a bullet when the festival is over?”

  He stared up at the skylight. The huge panel was the only way to get light in his room without giving up way too much access to the telephoto lenses that ruled his life lately. “No. I’m taking some time off. I want to spend it with you, Iz.”

  “Yeah?”

  He stroked his hand up her hip to the side of her breast then back down. “If that’s all right with you.”

  She brushed a kiss over his neck. “More than okay. I’ll enjoy you as long as you’re here, Logan.”

  “What about when I have to go?” He held his breath.

  “I don’t know. You’ll probably be the hardest man I’ve ever had to get over.”

  He linked their fingers and pulled her hand to his mouth. “I don’t want you to get over me. I want you to be with me.” The minute he said it, he wish he hadn’t. He didn’t have any right to ask that of her. Not when he hadn’t told her about Aimee.

  But he knew he was better with Izzy. Knew that he could handle things now.

  “You’re just in that post-coital glow.”

  He dragged her over him. “No. I’ve had good sex before.”

  She flattened her palms into his chest. “Logan, let’s just take it slow.”

  He slid his hand around the back of her neck and drew her down to him. “I want this. You want this.”

  She shook her head, but met his mouth in the same hot, hard kiss. He reached for the drawer, readied himself, and slid into her welcoming heat. The pace was slower this time. Darkness and starlight were their only witnesses.

  It was enough.

  He stroked her mouth with his tongue and her pussy with his cock as she assured her, in the only way he knew how, just how much he needed her. She gasped into his mouth, broke around him, and he held her tight.

  Held onto her like a lifeline.

  ∞ ♦ ∞

  Bella shoved her head under the pillow. Too bright, too loud.

  Sun streamed through the room and her phone was going off from somewhere across the room.

  Logan was sprawled on his belly next to her, his arm heavy across her waist. She buried herself further under the pillow. Finally the ringer stopped only to start over again with its eerie piano.

  “Is there a reason why Michael Myers is in my bedroom? Is he going to kill us?”

  She giggled out a moan. “Ringtone.”

  The bed dipped and her pillow disappeared. “Who gets that? Or is that everyone?”

  She laughed, peering up at him through one eye. “Sharon.”

  He snorted and dragged her into his side. “Nice.” He tucked his chin into her neck and nibbled his way up to her ear, the fingers of his free slid under the sheet to her ribs.

  “No.” She tried to wiggle away. She was way too ticklish for that action so early.

  Like a dog with a bone, he attacked her until she was shrieking with laughter. She bucked under him, but he just threw his thigh over her legs and held her down.

  “No fair. You’re bigger.”

  He grinned down at her. Mussed hair, sleepy green eyes, and a carefree happiness lighting his features. Gone was the tension he usually carried like a shield. Had she done that?

  Because she liked the idea of that a little too much, she pushed at his shoulders when her phone went off again. He rolled off her with a sigh and stretched. Good grief. Bronzed and freckled, he was simply too delicious to comprehend.

  “Keep looking at me like that and you will not be answering that phone.”

  She sat up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She looked around for her shorts, finally spotting them in front of the door. How the hell had they gotten all the way over there? She snatched a blue Henley shirt off a chair in the corner and slid it on.

  “I prefer you naked, but you look damn good in my shirt, Iz.”

  She grinned over her shoulder. “I might just steal it.”

  He propped himself up on a couple of pillows, the sheet barely covering him. She quickly looked away. No way, no how was she going to get drawn back into that bed right now. She crouched to unearth her phone from the pile of clothes and winced, both at the time and how sore she was.

  Logan had reached for her half a dozen times during the night, from sleepy sex to the eager and desperate at dawn kind and every other kind in between. Both deliciously used and a little confused, she wasn’t sure what to make of their morning after. She was happy, but a little tiny part of her wondered why he was so adamant to convince her he wanted more.

  She had too many questions and not enough answers, but that kind of dissection would have to wait until after the festival. She still had that day and Sunday to contend with. She scanned the messages. Three from Sharon, each one more insistent for a reply. There were two from Cam about no-shows in the vendor area. She fired off replies for those. Dee Valentine, from the diner, was always good for a last minute table of goodies.

  She perched on the edge of the bed and chewed the side of her thumb. If she replied to Sharon, then the morning would be over. The mayor would have a laundry list of things for Bella to handle. But if she could lure Logan out with her, then maybe she could keep her to-do list to a minimum.

  “You’re way too quiet over there. Is the world falling apart without you?”

  “Well, not quite, but…”

  He crossed his arms. “I don’t like that look.”

  She turned and crawled up the bed and straddled his thighs. “What do you think about walking around the festival with me for a little bit?”

  He arched a brow. “And why would I do that?”

  Bel
la draped her arms over his shoulders and inched up a little higher. “People would get a kick out of it. And it’s not an official meet and greet so you’d probably get away with walking around for a little bit.”

  He squinted at her. “Just as long as you don’t set up a kissing booth.”

  “No way. I’m the only one getting to kiss these lips now.” She grinned and leaned down. “Oh, sorry.” She pulled back. “Need to brush my teeth.”

  He pulled her back down for a long, dirty, open-mouthed kiss. Her lungs had backed up by the time he let her up for air. “Sharon can wait twenty more minutes.” She hopped to the floor, pulled the shirt up and over her head, then tugged him out of bed.

  He lifted her off her feet and hauled her into the bathroom.

  Forty minutes later, she and Logan stumbled out of the shower. Her legs were still shaking and she was technically clean. The images in her brain, however, were not. It was going to be a long time before she forgot what Logan looked like kneeling before her with starred lashes, his mouth wet from her. Or the obscene jets that he knew how to use for maximum efficiency.

  “You, over there.” She shooed him away. “You cannot be trusted.”

  His smile was annoyingly smug as he swiped a towel across his chest. “What? Are you complaining?”

  “I am…no, no I’m not.” She laughed when he reached for her and she backed away, tucking her towel around her breasts more securely. “I’m just a little broken.”

  He backed her into the counter. “Just showing you how good we are together.”

  Any better and they’d need their own X-rated show. “Dear God,” she muttered when he nuzzled her neck.

  He laughed into her shoulder and turned her around to the mirror. “See that face.” He tucked his chin onto her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her middle. “That’s why I keep coming back for more. Those topaz eyes and that smile. There, that one. The one you only give to me.”

  She didn’t want to think too hard about what he saw in her face. Not when she didn’t even know how she felt yet. “You’re quite the romantic, Mr. King.”

  “Not usually.” He reached around her and opened the medicine cabinet. He took out a toothbrush and one still in its packaging. She spotted two prescription bottles. As he was getting the toothpaste off the shelf, she was able to read the labels. One she didn’t recognize, but the other she certainly did. Valium.

  He wasn’t paying attention to her as he loaded up his brush and popped it in his mouth. She ripped hers out of its packaging and did the same, trying not to react to the information. It was none of her business if he took them, or why he would. The bottle looked full, but that didn’t mean anything.

  When he smiled at her with the brush sticking out of her mouth, she smiled back and followed his lead. They got dressed. Logan wore a mustard brown pair of shorts with a cheap burgundy souvenir shirt from Austin. She laughed at him when he put a baseball cap on with aviator shades.

  “Disguise?”

  “You’d be surprised how many people pass me by when I wear stuff like this.”

  “Because you look like a colorblind college kid.”

  “What? I like these pants.”

  Her lips twitched, but she managed not to laugh in his face. She wore her clothes from the night before, using the tank top as a bra and filching another one of his super soft Henleys.

  Downstairs, Lindsey was the only person awake so far. Well, sort of awake. She was curled into the corner of the sectional with her iPad and a blanket. She gave them a sleepy wave and went back to whatever she was reading. Logan unlocked a cabinet near the fridge and took out his wallet.

  It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him do something so security-conscious. He had a smart house. She’d seen the panels all over the house and the remote by his bed the night before. Was it just because of his lifestyle? That he was rich? It seemed more than that. He was always very aware of his surroundings.

  In fact, when she’d snuck backstage the night before, she’d definitely startled him. He’d covered it well with one of his melt-Izzy-brainless kisses, but she’d seen the flash of something in his eyes.

  “Ready to go?”

  She nodded.

  His eyebrows lowered. “Everything okay?”

  “Fine. Just not looking forward to going back to the real world.”

  He hooked his arm around her neck and kissed her temple. “Me neither.” He took her hand and helped her navigate the gravel in her wedges.

  “I’m going to need to bring a pair of flats in my car for when I come over.”

  He caged her in at the passenger side door. “I think I’ve only seen you dressed down once.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Believe me, don’t get used to seeing me in all these cute outfits. I’m usually dusty from working with books all day.”

  “So, you mostly work at the store?”

  She shook her head. “Nic and Adam run the store more often than not. I’m usually going to auctions or doing research. Rare books.”

  He stroked down her hair absently. “Like first editions?”

  “Sometimes. A lot of times, actually. But it’s usually the really freaky rare stuff. Last week I had to track down a guide to botany from the eighteen hundreds.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

  “Yep. I even got a request to find the sheet music to your short lived boyband status.”

  Logan groaned. “God. I hope you didn’t find it.”

  “I’m very good. Seventeen year old Logan was adorable. Very cute bleached tips.”

  “All right. Enough.”

  Delighted at his gruff reaction, she went up on her toes. “Parachute pants were hot.”

  He lifted her into the seat. “I hate you.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  He nodded, his eyes wide as he shut the door. Her phone trilled again, the racing piano sounds filling the cab.

  Logan got in and laughed. “She’s not that bad, you know.”

  “You haven’t planned an entire festival with her. You just show up and look pretty.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  She replied to a few of the texts. The ride into town was quiet as Logan seemed content to let her do her thing. They stopped at her shop and she shot up the back steps, changed, and met him on the sidewalk.

  Her hand slid into his without thought. There was nothing awkward about it, just the smooth linking of fingers. It was nice. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been able to simply be with someone.

  The closer she got to the park, the more she got twitchy. Bella felt eyes on her. Not the usual leering kind that women dealt with since they sprouted breasts, but the kind that came with whispers.

  She curled her other hand around their joined hands. For the first few minutes they’d gone unnoticed. She figured maybe the gossips had caught on. But it was more than that.

  Logan squeezed. “Sorry. Welcome to the super fun part of being with me.” He smiled at the trio of girls that had gathered around their phones. The squealing that happened made Bella blink. Was this an everyday thing for him?

  Without a hey, how are you, people lifted their phones for pictures. Others stopped them with requests for an autograph or a combination of the two. Twice she’d been pushed aside so a stranger could cozy up to Logan and get her picture taken. Each time he did it, with barely a ruffle in their conversation, then his hand was in hers again and they were moving on to the next booth.

  After the twentieth person interrupted them, she dragged him out of the main traffic area. “How do you stand it?”

  He shrugged. “Most people are polite about it. Some people get a little out of hand.”

  “A little? That redhead was a second away from cupping your ass.”

  He grinned down at her. “Jealous?”

  “I—” Was she? “No.”

  His grin spread into a smile. He looked over his lowered sunglasses. “You’re the only one for me, baby.”

  She slu
gged him in his arm.

  He winced and rolled his shoulder. “Ow.”

  “You didn’t warn me about this.”

  “You saw the people at rehearsal. You’re the one who wanted me to come out with you in a public setting.”

  “Yeah, well, it was stupid.”

  He curled an arm around her shoulder and angled his head down to shadow her face with the brim of his hat. “Not stupid. I like being with you. I like people seeing you with me.”

  She wrinkled her nose at him. He leaned down for a kiss. It wasn’t the toe-curling kind. More of a soft meeting of mouths. The kind you had on a sunny Saturday at a fair.

  She backed up, tugging him along with her. “I have to make sure Dee got set up okay. Then another walk around to make sure everyone’s okay and we’re done.”

  “Sounds good.”

  They got to the balloon and darts game and he pulled her to a stop. “Want a dragon?”

  She peered up at the pink and purple dragon sitting on the top shelf. She drilled her finger into his belly. “You know how many darts that’ll be?”

  “Don’t think I can do it?”

  She shook her head no. “Yes.”

  “Nice. Way to have faith.” He stepped up to the booth and dug out his wallet. “Two dollars worth, please.”

  She leaned on the end of the wooden structure and folded her arms. “All right, let’s see it.”

  He bounced the darts in his hand. “Not exactly competition weight.”

  “Aww, poor baby.”

  “How many do I need for the dragon?”

  The kid looked between Logan and Bella and swallowed so hard his Adam’s apple jumped. “Three red balloons.”

  “Cake.”

  She put her elbows on the shelf and propped up her head. “Oh, baby. I so want that dragon. You can do it.”

  He laughed outright at her baby doll voice. Turned his head to stare at her face and threw the first dart.

  The pop of the balloon made her tip her head back with a laugh. “Competition darts. You shark.”

  He hit the second red balloon and she shook her head. He was lining up for the third when three men with cameras came up.