by Ciara Cole
Right at that moment, he heard the front door open. Suddenly, he caught the voice of the housekeeper Kimmy greet the arrival, and next came Cara’s subdued voice returning the greeting.
Logan leaned back into his chair with a sigh of more relief than he cared to admit. Thank goodness, Cara was safe. She was home.
***
I’m home.
Cara breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief as the front door pressed closed behind her back. She was still shaking from her near brush with danger, but managed a smile when the portly African-American housekeeper Kimmy appeared and beamed when she saw Cara.
Cara felt instantly warmed by Kimmy’s welcome, just as she felt the succor of the mansion envelope her. She felt safest within these walls, and it wasn’t just because of the high gates and hi-tech security.
She just felt glad she made it back before she’d got into real trouble. She thought instantly of Logan. There was a toughness about him and yet, there was also a kindness beneath the surface that drew her. She remembered how shaken she’d been by their close encounter in the studio, but she hadn’t been afraid of him, not really.
She’d been more afraid of what he made her feel with just his touch, his gaze.
Now she was just trying to keep her shit together after what had just happened.
She’d spotted her ex, Jude. Or she thought she had. She’d just emerged from a supermarket with a shopping bag filled with chocolate and art supplies, when she’d seen him. He’d been down the block from her, glancing around as if looking for something—or someone.
Cara had gasped and ducked around the corner. She’d strained back against the wall and prayed he hadn’t spotted her. She couldn’t know for sure, but she couldn’t just stay there. She’d cut through the nearest back streets and had headed back to Logan’s house, the one place she felt safe.
She wanted to find him, have him tell her everything was going to be all right. But he didn’t owe her anything, least of all any reassurance or comfort. Was she a fool? Just because the man sought her out a few times, even cooked her breakfast once, and even embraced her even though out of necessity—did not give her any claim to his attentions.
Cara bit hard on her thumbnail as she paced from room to room in the mansion. She couldn’t go to her bedroom and coop herself up in there. She was glad the place was so huge that she could go through passages and past chamber after chamber in circles and not run into anyone. She just couldn’t settle down after the most unlikely instance of seeing Jude. How could he be here in this town of all places? Had he somehow tracked her down and was trying to pinpoint her location?
Whatever the case, he couldn’t get to her here. Hugging her arms around herself, Cara strayed into another wide-spaced room and stifled a sob. Thinking of the pain Jude had caused her, his threats, and his hate, made her want to hide in a tight corner and never come out again.
Through another door, and another, she moved. She couldn’t stop sobbing now and her feet all but shuffled as if unable to stop moving even though her legs felt tired from the constant motion. I have to keep going. I can’t stop, can’t let him catch me …
She almost screamed as big strong arms encircled her from behind. Then a distinct Irish accent sounded in her ear, warm lips whispering, “Hush. It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Cara sobbed hard and clung to the arms wrapped around her chest. She buried her nose and sniffed Logan’s familiar scent of woods and spice.
He stilled her struggling within those enclosing arms. “Cara,” he said over and over. “Cara.”
Hearing Logan say her name like that, in that smoky brogue made her inexplicable fear ebb into something organically sensual and thick, like a mist of desire. Her body reacted strangely to the simple eloquence of her name on Logan’s tongue.
“Logan,” she whispered back, closing her eyes tight as she shuddered in arousal.
“I never meant to frighten you. Tell me you’re not afraid of me,” he said softly in her ear.
“It’s not you,” she replied, slowly opening her eyes as she realized what he must think. That he’d scared her earlier, in the studio? Far from it. Even now she was recalling how turned on she’d felt and it was the same feeling presently.
“I’m not afraid of you,” she added firmly.
“Tell me to let you go now and I will.”
“No, don’t,” she said quickly, making herself blush. “I feel safe when you hold me. I don’t know why, I just do.”
“Even though you can tell I’m dangerous? Because I am. I’m no saint, Cara. Sometimes I think of the things I can do to your body, and I surprise even myself.”
Cara felt fixated by his voice, his intoxicating scent that seemed to further hypnotize her. He pulled her more tightly against his strong, muscular body. Cara wanted to resist, yet found her muscles loosening as she leaned against him. Being in his arms like this wouldn’t hurt anyone, would it? Her hands glided up, her spine arching, as her arms went up and around to clasp behind his head. She bit on her lip and moaned softly as his hold on her tightened and shifted, his hands now grasping her waist.
She involuntarily rocked her hips and felt him go hard. Whoa. She hadn’t truly believed what he’d said about wanting to do things to her body. But feeling his response to her grinding up on him, gave her the confirmation she needed.
“Tell me what you like. About my body,” she ventured huskily, again shocking herself into embarrassment. Cara knew she shouldn’t be teasing him, especially when she’d been trying so hard to be cautious about her feelings for him, but she couldn’t stop herself. There was just this magnetism he exuded, this solid, dark, and delicious danger that called to the sassy side of her she’d never known she possessed.
“Can you guess? The things about you that drive me crazy? I haven’t even kissed you, barely touched you,” he rasped in her ear, and then gently nipped the tender lobe. Cara whimpered.
“I know you haven’t. Maybe holding back this long was your way of prolonging the excitement.” She was teasing him again, testing him, and enjoying the rumble of his deep growl.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I wanted you the first moment I saw you, but obscured the truth in the belief that I could surmount it like everything else that tested my endurance,” Logan confessed.
Suddenly, he twisted her around to face him, his hands gripping her shoulders. Cara’s lips parted as she met his fiercely passionate gaze. She hadn’t expected the embers to burn this brightly, to feel her skin become almost singed by the heat in his mercurial green eyes.
“If I kiss you, I won’t stop. If I touch you, I won’t stop either.”
“Logan, I … I might not want you to stop, but there’s something important you forgot,” she said hesitantly.
He shook his head. “I didn’t forget. The appointment with the clinic’s tomorrow, and I’m not supposed to ejaculate less than the day before the procedure. But what’s the difference if I release in you tonight, or in a cup tomorrow?”
He didn’t wait for her answer. He backed her farther into the room and kicked the door shut behind him. He crowded her up against the nearest table, grabbed her waist, and lifted her up onto the surface. He tugged on her hips, bringing her to the very edge, and then parted her legs.
He stood in between them and positioned that overwhelming hardness against Cara’s own pulsating ache. Could he feel her moisture and heat through the barriers of her clothes?
She looked into his eyes as directly as she dared. His gaze followed the outline of her lips, then down to the jutting contours of her breasts barely outlined by her baggy sweats. Her work clothes, and hardly much in terms of seductive apparel. But the way Logan devoured her with his eyes, it didn’t matter.
“Unbutton my pants,” he commanded. His hands were working down her zipper, exposing her bra and nothing but a camisole beneath the hoodie.
Cara was torn between shyness and excitement. She hesitantly moved her fingers to undo his fastenings and then slid her ha
nd inside the gap. Once she felt him, her hesitation dissipated to awe. She clutched his impressive member and instinctively massaged him, hearing him groan. His hands moved beneath her camisole to rest on her heated flesh. Her stomach jumped beneath his touch as he glided up, underneath her bra to squeeze on her breasts.
Her nipples grew hard as pebbles when he grazed them with his palms. His touch felt so good, and she felt inclined to return the favor by stroking on his shaft; from base to tip, she manipulated him with her fingers. He was big and rigid as a rock in moments.
Cara could just see herself slipping off the edge of the table and dropping to her knees … pulling out his large member and guiding him into her mouth …
She’d deep-throat him and if he wanted, he’d grip her hair and commandeer her movements as she sucked him hard. He’d thrust faster and faster, using her mouth till he finished off by filling her gullet with his cum.
She’d love to hear him groan in pleasure and satisfaction at her efforts. But Cara could only float atop the clouds of fantasy, not adventurous enough to make the move. She followed Logan’s lead and let him explore her body, teasing her breasts and nipples as he nuzzled her throat. She ran her fist slowly over his manhood, then went faster as she tightened her grip each time she reached the bulbous cap.
His breath went thick as it quickened against her neck. Cara moaned his name and it was as much an invitation, as the way she pushed her mounds into his kneading hands.
“My bedroom’s closer,” he said, breath fanning her collarbone hotly as she shivered. “It’s also the place I keep my silk scarves and leather cuffs.”
Cara released her grip on him and hastily pulled back her hand in shock. She stared up at him as he lifted his head to bestow her a wicked grin.
“You want to tie me to your bed?” she asked, and found she liked the way it sounded when she said it out loud—even while she squealed internally in excited alarm.
“Tie you, tease you, take you,” he rumbled. “I’ll be able to give my answer then, about what I like about your body because I’ll be paying special treatment to each and every one.”
Cara was already getting into the whole idea. It was freaky, and she would normally not consider it, not after the way Jude made her hate the prospect of being helpless or trapped. But she found she trusted Logan and that made it a whole lot different.
Yet she already felt him withdrawing. A protest rose in her throat, but she couldn’t voice it as he slowly pulled his hands from her breasts and straightened both her bra and her camisole. Then he righted himself, fastening the front of his pants. Seeing how the length of him strained against the fabric and reaching halfway down his thighs made her chest constrict along with her vaginal walls.
“But?” she prodded, conscious of the fact that they’d lost the moment. What had made him change his mind? “It’s not worth jeopardizing the whole AI procedure, is it?”
“That’s a pretty good reason, but I’d be lying if that was just it,” he said. “The fact is, I don’t think you’re ready for what lies in store for us becoming lovers.”
“You can’t be so sure of that.” Cara couldn’t believe she was arguing with the man. He already all but stated he wanted her tied up and helpless in his bed, to do whatever he wanted.
He held out his hand to her. Cara took it and he pulled her off the desk. “I’m sure of the fact that you don’t trust me—or is it yourself? You’re hiding something, Cara,” he told her with gentle reproof.
Cara could have told Logan about her ex then, but she didn’t. Logan was much too astute and had sensed she hadn’t been completely honest with him. But how had he so easily guessed she had something to hide?
Cara was reminded once more what a dangerous man Logan was and couldn’t be played for a fool. She must have slipped up somehow and struck his suspicions. If she wanted to keep this job and stay safe, Cara had to decide what was more important—a few hours of rampant passion, or long months of getting to know this stimulating man and maybe, finding out if they had something going.
Maybe she didn’t have the right to want something like that, but Cara found the idea far too appealing to let go. But what if something happened to take the decision completely out of her hands?
Chapter Five
Cara felt able to set her base needs aside to focus on the surrogacy. Having the baby was what truly mattered and she wouldn’t get sidetracked again.
Since she would be the biological mother of the child, she could understand why Logan would present them as a married couple for the clinic. A traditional surrogacy where the mother supplied the egg, was prohibited in most jurisdictions, especially if there was compensation involved. However, if the procedure had involved Cara being implanted by an embryo from the sperm donor combined with another egg donor, then things would have been far more straightforward.
Whatever the case, Cara planned on only being a surrogate and didn’t foresee any chance she would cause legal conflict for Logan by trying to assert her parentage in the future. If she got pregnant by the AI procedure, then she’d make sure she made them enjoy the pregnancy by developing a close supportive relationship with Logan.
The clinic they used was the topmost in assisted reproductive technology procedures, and they coordinated not just the medical but also administrative matters regarding the surrogacy. From the moment she underwent the procedure itself, to the consultancy and even counseling, Cara never once had second thoughts or worries.
She’d been assured she was capable of having a safe, healthy pregnancy and birth. Just as importantly, Cara felt she’d built up a trusting and supportive relationship with Logan, the intended parent. So nothing could possibly go wrong, could it?
She’d stopped feeling slighted by the impression that she’d been rejected by Logan just because he’d chosen not to let them become lovers. He’d sensed she’d been at her most vulnerable, and he hadn’t wanted to take advantage of that. Cara felt her respect for him reach a new high and it made her wish more and more, that everything would go well with the surrogacy.
It was hard having to ignore the attraction between them, but Logan was determined to return relations to the status quo, thought Cara. Or why else did he seem to bury himself deeper in his work? He was spending more and more time away from her, at his office in the city.
Meanwhile all Cara could do was wait and try to occupy herself, knowing they had to wait two weeks before they found out if she was pregnant. Waiting was no fun, but somehow it was something to look forward to.
That day, Cara felt like a tightly bundled, bright ball of creative energy, bursting to find complete release. For the first time in days, her canvas was shaping just the way she wished it to. She’d been at work all morning and decided she needed a break when her stomach began to rumble. It was barely one o’clock and she’d had a healthy breakfast, so how could she be this hungry?
She decided to opt for a simple snack and head right back to the studio. She smiled and wondered what Logan would think of her current painting. He usually kept his opinion to himself but she liked it the few times he’d offered suggestions. She really wished he didn’t have to keep his distance so much but maybe that was wise. What smoldered between them was too volatile for them to stay simply casual with their interactions.
Cara opened the door to the studio and the least expected thing happened—she bumped into a broad, impossibly hard chest. Hands steadied her as she would have lost her footing. Shocked, she looked up into Logan’s face.
“What … what are you doing here?” she gasped. “I mean …”
“You mean, this early, or actually showing up at your door? I wanted to look in on you. It’s been a while since we ah … bumped into each other.”
Cara felt as giddy as a teenager seeing Logan so unexpectedly, and obviously here to see her. Her. She’d have been excessively joyous, if she didn’t just remember that she was his surrogate. Of course he’d be checking up on her from time to time.
“Yo
u look different. You shaved your beard,” she said, or more like accused. He smiled as if conscious of her thoughts. Shifting on her feet, she mumbled, “I liked it.”
But if she was to be honest, she liked a smooth-cheeked Logan even more. He looked more like a leading man now, especially in that sexy patterned suit only he could pull off so well.
“I liked it too. However, I did feel like a change. Hopefully you’ll warm up to it sooner or later. It wouldn’t do at all if you disapproved of my grooming tastes.”
Cara’s cheeks went warmer just imagining that somehow, her opinion mattered to Logan in any way. Of course, he could simply be teasing her and she was just being silly.
“I was about to make a snack. Would you like to join me or are you rushing off somewhere?” she asked, sidestepping him and heading for the kitchen.
“I felt snowed down by meetings and made my escape. Meg is probably wondering where I disappeared to,” rumbled Logan with a laugh. “I’ll probably call her in a few minutes to set her mind at ease.”
Cara chuckled at the thought of the coldly efficient Meg being put in a spot by her boss. Her eyes brightened as she threw Logan a look and said she’d be glad to be his accomplice and get him to enjoy being on the lam for once.
“Looks like you’re turning into a bad influence, Miss Stiles. I’m not totally sure what to do about that,” murmured Logan.
That bedroom voice of his that had her so gooey was in full force and Cara licked on her bottom lip, toying with the idea of replying, “You could just punish me, daddy.”
She didn’t offer such a risqué invitation, of course, which came out of absolutely nowhere and made her want to slap herself for straying far beyond her mental boundaries. Instead, she told Logan she’d make up for her wicked ways by whipping up a scrumptious snack for them both.
He’d cooked for her before and now was her chance to return the courtesy, she added. She planned on trying out one of the fancy recipes Gina the chef had shown her once. It involved four ingredients only, didn’t take long to prepare at all or that much skill—making it perfect for a snack.
