Wounded Souls

by R J Nolan

  Logan laid her hand on Dale’s arm. “But you’re right. I do need to see about getting an apartment. It’s just a lot to take in, and these are really big changes for me. Please, just give me some time.”

  Dale smiled and laid her hand on top of Logan’s where it rested on her arm. “You’ve got it. I’ll help in any way I can.”

  After a quick glance to make sure their server wasn’t about to interrupt again, Logan placed a soft kiss on Dale’s cheek. “Thank you.”

  Dale captured Logan’s lips in a quick kiss. She pulled away before things could escalate. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

  Logan nodded eagerly. Her lips were tingling from the brief touch with Dale’s.

  Dale flagged down their server. “Check, please.”

  Dale stopped her Jeep in front of Logan’s motor home. Would Logan invite her in? While seeing her without her leg and in a wheelchair earlier clearly had not dimmed Logan’s ardor, getting up close and personal with her scars and stump was something totally different. She longed to make love with Logan, but at the same time, her fears held her back.

  “Thank you for tonight.” Logan turned in her seat. “I really enjoyed our dinner.”

  “Me too. I’m sorry the game wasn’t—”

  “Stop. It was fine. Now that I know more about it, I’ll know what to expect next time.”

  Dale smiled at the mention of next time. Her thoughts went back to their earlier conversation, and her heartbeat sped up. “Well…I do still have those boo-boos that need some care.” She held up her bruised hand.

  Logan cupped Dale’s hand in her palm and placed a soft kiss on the bruise. She pushed up the sleeve of Dale’s shirt and turned her arm over to kiss the tender skin of her wrist. “Where are the rest?”

  The husky timbre of Logan’s voice made Dale swallow heavily. She turned toward Logan as she pushed aside her shirt with trembling fingers and tugged down the collar of her T-shirt underneath to expose the bruise over her clavicle on the undamaged side of her chest. “There’s one right here.”

  Logan leaned across the console and pressed her lips against the spot. Trailing a line of kisses up Dale’s neck, she left goose bumps in her wake. “Where else?” she whispered close to her ear.

  Arousal washed over Dale, and she struggled to find her voice. She pressed a finger to her own lips.

  Logan wrapped her hand around Dale’s and kissed her finger before capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

  Opening to her, Dale moaned when Logan’s tongue slipped into her mouth. Logan’s hand threaded through her hair and cradled the nape of her neck. She clutched Logan’s shoulders as the world around her faded away and all her senses lit up with the sensations rushing through her.

  A sharp rap on the window behind her shattered the moment. They jerked apart, both panting for breath.

  Dale turned to find a petite, older woman glaring at her.

  The woman motioned for her to open the window.

  “Oh, great,” Logan muttered.

  Dale glanced at her. Did she know the woman?

  “You can’t park here,” the woman said before the window was even halfway down. “Have you checked in? What space are you assigned?”

  “Sorry, Bernice. She was just dropping me off.”

  Bernice peered inside the vehicle. “Logan?”

  Logan leaned across the console so that the nearby security light shone on her face. “Yeah. It’s me.”

  The woman’s gaze darted to Dale, and her eyes went wide. “Oh!” She shuffled her feet. “Well…I umm…I just took Drake out.”

  Dale could feel the tension radiating from Logan. Clearly, Bernice hadn’t known she was a lesbian. She cursed herself for her stupid boo-boo comment that had started their mini make-out session. Would Bernice stop caring for Drake now that she knew?

  “Thank you for looking after him.”

  Bernice’s gaze bounced between them, and the silence stretched to the point of being uncomfortable.

  Logan blew out a breath. “Bernice, I—”

  Bernice held up a hand to stop her. “If you need anything just let me know. I’m always here—for you and Drake.”

  “Thanks, Bernice. That means a lot.”

  Bernice smiled. “Have a good evening. Oh, and don’t forget you promised Danny that you’d let him help you bathe Drake next time.” She waved and walked away.

  Logan flopped back into her seat.

  “I’m really sorry.” Dale gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles blanched white. “That was all my fault,” she said, feeling like a fifteen-year-old who had gotten caught by her girlfriend’s mother.

  “I sure as hell wasn’t protesting, and I’m the one who escalated things.” Logan raked her hands through her hair. “At least she took it well. She wouldn’t have reminded me of my plans with her grandson if she had an issue with it.”

  Dale couldn’t help feeling guilty about outing Logan, no matter how inadvertently. It had certainly put a damper on things. “Well, I guess I should get going.”

  “You don’t want to come in?”

  Dale didn’t miss the sudden uncertainty in Logan’s voice. “Yeah. I do, but I thought after what just happened…”

  Logan placed a quick kiss on Dale’s lips. “Go park your Jeep in a visitor’s spot. I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Her lips tingling from the kiss, Dale didn’t need any other convincing. She lingered long enough to enjoy the sight of Logan’s ass as she walked away, then drove to the front of the park.

  As she headed back to Logan’s motor home, her earlier anxiety resurfaced. Just the memory of Logan touching her was enough to send her pulse pounding. Yet at the same time, the thought of seeing a look of discomfort or, God forbid, pity in Logan’s eyes when she exposed her scars made her stomach burn. She shook her head, forcing the worries down. One step at a time.

  Logan opened the door of the motor home as Dale approached. She moved back to allow Dale inside.

  Dale stepped into the narrow stairwell and tugged the door shut behind her.

  Drake stuck his big head past Logan to greet her.

  She petted his neck. “Hey, big guy.”

  Logan pointed at his bed. “Park it, Drake.” When he turned to get in his bed, his butt banged against Logan’s legs and knocked her off balance. She stumbled into Dale.

  Still standing a step below Logan, Dale found herself with her face pressed against Logan’s full breasts. She groaned as arousal flared. Her hands came up, and she grabbed Logan’s hips to stabilize her.

  Logan caught hold of the handrail next to the door and pushed away from Dale. When their gazes met, a bright blush suffused her face. “Sorry about that.” She moved back, stepped over Drake, and sat down on the small couch.

  Dale wasn’t the least bit sorry. But she refrained from saying so to avoid looking like a horny teenager, although she sure felt like one at the moment. She wanted Logan with a passion she had thought long dead.

  As she moved into the motor home more fully, Dale realized the limitation of Logan’s RV. While the small space had been tight but workable with just the two of them, with Drake present and taking up the lion’s share of the already tiny space, there was nowhere to go.

  She settled for slipping into the passenger seat behind the small pedestal table, where she had sat during her last visit. She would have liked to join Logan on the couch, but with Drake occupying the floor space in front of it, that wasn’t feasible.

  Logan looked at Dale, then glanced down at Drake. A frown briefly marred her face. “Hang on a sec.” She rose and stepped over Drake again.

  When Logan opened the trifold door and went into the back of the motor home, Dale peered after her. What looked like a double bed filled most of the space with only a narrow aisle next to it. Cabinets lined the walls above the bed.

&n
bsp; Logan grabbed the end of the bed and lifted. It opened on large, piston-type hinges to expose a storage compartment underneath. She pulled out a blanket, lowered the bed back into position, and spread the blanket over the bedding already in place. “Drake. Come,” she called.

  Drake trotted into the back. When Logan patted the bed and urged him onto it, he readily hopped up and settled down with a sigh loud enough for Dale to hear.

  Logan chuckled. “Good boy. Stay.”

  When Logan closed the trifold door and shut Drake into the back of the motor home, he let out a loud woo-woo.

  “Stay,” she repeated through the door.

  “Is everything okay with him?” Dale had grown accustomed to the vocalization; it no longer sounded threatening as it once had, but it did mean that Drake had an issue with something.

  “Don’t mind him. It’s dog logic. It’s one thing to be let up on the bed, which I normally don’t allow, and quite another to be told you have to stay there. Guess it takes the ‘I’m getting special treatment’ pleasure away from it.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t feel right banishing him because I’m here.” Dale was struck by the realization of how much her feelings had changed. There was a time when she would have been thrilled if Logan had put Drake in another room.

  “Don’t worry about him. He’s fine. My bed is a lot more comfortable than his.” She patted the couch. “Come sit down.”

  The last time she had sat on the small couch, Dale had kept a space between them. This time, she sat down close to Logan so that their thighs touched along their length.

  “Much better.” Logan draped her arm across Dale’s shoulders.

  Unable to resist Logan’s nearness, Dale turned slightly and kissed her.

  Logan took control of the kiss and slid her tongue into Dale’s mouth.

  Dale groaned and brought her hand up to cup Logan’s breast as her tongue tangled with Logan’s in an erotic dance.

  Logan broke away from her lips and tugged down the collar of Dale’s T-shirt to kiss the bruise as she had earlier. She kissed up the side of her neck. “Where else are you bruised?”

  The husky tone of Logan’s voice made Dale shudder. “On my side.” She reached to pull her T-shirt from her pants on the undamaged half of her body.

  A high-pitched repetitive sound broke the moment. “What was that?”

  The sound came again. Drake was whining.

  Logan pulled away and shot a glare at the closed door. “Drake. Quiet.”

  The whining stopped abruptly.

  As soon as Logan’s lips touched hers again, Drake whined.

  Logan pulled away and blew out a breath. “Damn it.” She scrubbed her hands over her face. “I’m sorry.”

  Dale would be lying if she claimed she wasn’t frustrated by the interruption, but she also understood it wasn’t Logan’s fault. “It’s okay. He’s not used to sharing your attention.”

  “Well, he’s going to have to get used to it.”

  “Yes, he is. I’m going to be around—a lot.”

  That brought back Logan’s smile. “Thank you for understanding.” Her gaze locked onto Dale’s lips. She leaned forward.

  The moment their lips touched, Drake sounded off.

  Dale glared at the closed door. How the hell was he doing that?

  “Drake. Be quiet.”

  Drake let out a booming woof in response to Logan’s command.

  Logan shot off the couch. “Drake. You are in so much trouble.”

  Dale rose from the couch and caught her arm. This wasn’t going to work. “Wait. I guess I should get going.”

  “I don’t want you to go.”

  “I don’t want to, but I don’t want you to be mad at Drake either.”

  Logan slumped into Dale’s arms. “I’m not mad at him…just frustrated.”

  Dale held her close, enjoying the feel of Logan’s lush body against hers. “Do you want to try and let him out?”

  Glancing around the small space, Logan shook her head. “He’d be right in our laps.” She blew out a breath. “Just proves you’re right. I need an apartment.” Her gaze dropped to Dale’s lips. “Sooner rather than later.”

  Unable to resist the temptation, Dale pressed her lips to Logan’s.

  Drake sounded off on cue.

  This time it was Dale’s turn to growl.

  Logan pressed her forehead to Dale’s. “I’m sorry.”

  She wanted to ask Logan to come home with her, but it didn’t seem right to ask her to leave Drake here alone after he’d been on his own since early afternoon. And once she got Logan to her apartment, she knew she wouldn’t want to let her leave. Why couldn’t Logan have had a cat? As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Dale regretted it. She knew they came as a package deal. It was her frustration talking. She really had come to like the big dog.

  “It really is okay. Could I interest you in breakfast tomorrow? Afterward, we could pick up Drake and take him to the park or something?”

  The smile that lit Logan’s face took Dale’s breath away.

  “Yeah. I told Lark right. You’re an amazing woman.”

  She had? Dale flushed with pleasure. “I’ll pick you up at nine tomorrow.”

  Logan shook her head. “Nope. My turn to pick you up.”

  “It’s a date.” As much as Dale would have liked to linger, she knew it was time to go. There was a cold shower with her name on it waiting for her at home. “I’ll see you in the morning.” She pressed a quick kiss to Logan’s lips and left while she still had the willpower to do so.

  CHAPTER 35

  Dale pushed open the door to her apartment and motioned a grinning Logan inside. “It wasn’t that funny.”

  “It was. There you were standing next to a hundred-and-fifty-pound Great Dane, and a tiny six-pound Chihuahua had you scurrying to get away from him.”

  Scowling, Dale pulled off her jacket. “He kept giving me the evil eye. I’ve seen that bug-eyed crazed look before. My grandmother had a dog that looked just like that. Pepe was always waiting for a chance to ambush you the second you let your guard down.”

  Logan laughed and hung her jacket next to Dale’s on the hall tree. She kicked off her shoes. “I would have protected you.”

  Dale crossed her arms over her chest. “Drake didn’t like him either.” It had been embarrassing to have her bravado slip in front of Logan. She’d done so well with all the dogs until that evil little Pepe incarnate arrived.

  “Well, that settles it, then.” Grinning, Logan patted her arm. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be teasing you. It was really nice of you to not only find a restaurant where Drake could go with us to breakfast but then suggest the dog park afterward. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” They’d had great fun playing with Drake. “Have a seat.” Dale motioned toward the couch. “I’ll make us that hot chocolate I promised.” While the sun was out, the morning had been breezy and cool. “If you want, I can turn on the gas fireplace?”

  “I’m fine. Unless you’re cold?”

  Dale was anything but cold. After their bout of “canine interruptus” yesterday, her dreams last night had been of a much different ending to their evening. All morning, she had been aware of Logan’s proximity; the urge to touch her had been a constant temptation. “No, I’m good. I’ll be right back.”

  After returning with the hot chocolate, Dale settled on the couch next to Logan. Although she longed to do so, a part of her still hesitated to start something physical, knowing Logan would want to touch her as well. The thought of baring her scars and her stump weighed heavily on her mind. While Logan had already seen her scars, that had been in a clinical setting, not as a lover.

  “What’s wrong? You seem a million miles away all of a sudden.” Logan ran her hand down Dale’s thigh.

  Dale tensed when Loga
n’s hand approached the knee of her damaged leg. She cursed herself for having sat down with that leg closest to Logan.

  Logan’s brow furrowed and she pulled her hand away.

  Dale caught Logan’s hand in hers and brought it to her lips to kiss her palm. “Sorry. Just a little nervous.”

  Logan tipped her head, then looked pointedly at Dale’s leg. “You don’t have anything to worry about as far as I’m concerned. You know that—right?”

  The understanding in Logan’s gaze made Dale’s throat tighten. Tears prickled at the backs of her eyes. Damn it. She turned away.

  “Hey.” Logan took Dale’s mug and set it and her own on the table next to the couch. She cupped Dale’s chin and urged her to turn back toward her before placing a soft, almost chaste kiss on Dale’s lips. “Nothing will happen that you’re not ready for. This is a big step—for both of us.”

  Dale sighed, mentally cursing her nagging insecurities. She was screwing this up, just as she had with Glenda. “That’s just it. I’m more than ready. I want you so much, I just…” Gazing into Logan’s caring eyes, she gathered her courage. She cradled Logan’s face in her hands and kissed her long and deeply. The repressed passion between them flared brightly, burning away Dale’s anxieties—at least for the moment.

  When the need for breath broke them apart, Dale pressed against Logan. The feel of Logan’s breasts against hers sent Dale’s arousal soaring. She kissed down her neck, nudging her shirt aside as her kisses moved lower. When the shirt impeded her progress, Dale leaned back, breaking the connection between them so she could work the buttons of Logan’s shirt.

  Logan dipped her head and placed openmouthed kisses along her neck.

  Dale groaned and fumbled with the buttons. “I can’t think when you do that.”