Logan could have kicked himself in the ass. He needed to learn how to rein it in and damn quickly. When he'd made the mistake of telling her that he'd pick her up at the airport, her demeanor had changed. She'd gone from sweet, soft and biddable, to 'don't fuck with me' in an instant.
And he planned on fucking with her, a whole lot more.
So he'd better get with the program, and if he couldn't do that, then he at least needed to bluff her into thinking he was with the program.
On Sunday night, Logan counted to ten as he waited for Lauren to open her front door. The weekend had been sheer, unmitigated hell as he imagined every bad scenario under the sun. The thought kept beating at him over and over again that he couldn't let her see how badly her out-of-town trip had affected him.
But he admitted to himself that the weekend had not been good. All he'd been able to think about was how beautiful she was, and he knew how badly he wanted her, so didn't it stand to reason that every other horny motherfucker out there would feel the same?
And goddamnit, she was almost like an innocent little virgin, inexperienced and having not a single clue what went on the minds of ninety-five percent of the men out there. He could just imagine some fucker buying one too many rounds and Lauren trying to keep up with the men by drinking with them. She couldn't handle liquor, she'd admitted it to him and he'd seen it for himself. One margarita went to her head and lowered her inhibitions. He could just see some fucker walking her up to her room on the pretext of seeing her safely to her door and then trying to take advantage of her.
And not only did that piss him off, it put his protective instincts on high alert. Why the fuck should she have to deal with that? Did she get scared? Was she put in situations that she didn't know how to handle that worried her?
No, the weekend had not gone well as he'd imagined all kinds of crazy-assed shit happening.
Before he could get fired up even more, the door opened and she stood smiling back at him. The sight soothed the shit out of him, calmed the fires raging in his bloodstream, and he ran his gaze over her to make sure she was in one piece.
She looked fine, as if nothing or nobody could faze her, and her obvious happiness at seeming him made him take a bold move.
He pushed inside the apartment and turned and locked the door. Yeah, she looked good, but he needed a little something more than just a quick observation.
He reached out and grabbed her.
She gasped as her torso was propelled into his, but he didn't stop to think. He was acting purely on physical impulse, and the impulse blaring through his brain was to strip her naked and push inside of her.
He wasn't going to deny himself.
He took the time to kiss her once, only briefly, and then he lifted her up and carried her through to the bedroom. He pushed her shorts and underwear down her legs and tossed them to the floor. Lowering his head, he slid his tongue inside her mouth as he unsnapped his jeans and shoved them to his ankles.
Not bothering to step from them or to remove any more clothing, he clenched his stomach muscles as he forced himself to don protection as they stood by the side of the bed.
With that feat accomplished, he separated her legs and pushed her butt to the bed. Standing between her thighs, he grabbed her knees and levered them up and out and away from her body.
He could hear her panting breaths through the ringing in his ears but he couldn't stop or slow down.
He wrapped his hands through her hair, his fingers molding her scalp and as he came down over her, her spine hit the mattress. Her eyes held his with a possible touch of panic in their depths, but she wasn't stopping him and thank fuck for that, because he didn't think he was capable of stopping.
The head of his erection unerringly found her wet heat and he began pushing into her, studying her reactions as he slid all the way inside. Relief hit him immediately, but her eyes began to close and he couldn't stand it. "Look at me, Lauren," he managed in a voice he couldn't control.
She inhaled raggedly and opened her eyes, and the almost-drugged look he saw reflected there both fascinated him and fuelled the flames of his lust. The slight question he read in her eyes had him answering with an aggression he was incapable of taming. "It. Was. A. Fucked. Up. Weekend."
She sucked in a breath and he felt his abs clench as he pushed harder and impaled her to an impossible depth that calmed him not one fucking bit.
She let out a tiny whelp and he stilled completely. "Did that hurt?"
Her eyes were huge and blue and she shook her head just once.
He pulled out and pushed in again and her breath strangled on an abbreviated cry.
"Son of a bitch, babe. Am I hurting you?"
"No," she panted.
Relief grabbed Logan by the throat; he'd stop if he had to. Thank God he didn't have to. He pumped once more and adjusted his hold as he tightened his hand on the side of her face and looked into her eyes. "I don't like it when you go out of town." He pumped again. "It sucked pure shit." He tried to shut his fucking mouth but the words kept spilling out as he thrust in and out of her. "There's no fucking way you can be safe out there." He attempted to take a calming breath but it didn't help and he kept on burying himself deeper with his words. "Somebody tries something with you and I swear to God, I won't be responsible for my actions."
Her eyes flared and he read what looked like distress as she took a shallow pant and stared back at him. He needed to shut the fuck up; he knew he must be scaring her but in that second, he felt her shiver of response and her uncontrollable physical reaction that manifested itself in a rush of moisture that wrapped around him where he penetrated her. It both eased his way as he pounded into her and goaded him into seizing her hands in a restraint that he needed more than anything he'd ever craved before.
Chapter Five
Oh my God. She was crazy. She was crazy. She must be insane. How could she like this? Like it? Hell, she loved it. In what universe was it right for her to love the way he was hanging over her, holding her down, staking her to the side of the bed while his feet were still on the floor?
How could she love the way he had her knees shoved up to her hips in a position that put her under his uncontested control? How could the fact that he'd stripped her of her shorts and panties while leaving the rest of her clothes intact excite her? How could she love the dangerous sizzle of his antagonistic words pummeling her brain while he pummeled her body with his?
How could she love the way he was out of control, almost out of his mind as he restrained her to the bed?
How could she trust him enough to even now, feel her imminent orgasm?
Oh God, she knew how.
It was because of the wild look of relief that crossed his features as he sank inside of her on the first stroke. It was because of the fact that he hadn't been able to take the time to remove the rest of their clothing before joining with her. She felt his need that could only be appeased with that joining he hadn't been able to wait another second for.
And it was because of the depth of his concern when he'd thought he might be hurting her. He would stop if she asked him to; she had absolutely no doubt of that.
It was that level of trust that she already felt in his arms that was screwing her up so much.
So yeah, she knew why she loved this. As she sank under the most mind-blowing orgasm she'd ever experienced in her life, she knew she had the best of both worlds: she had an absolute caveman in bed . . . and one who cared for her. And he wasn't capable of hiding either fact.
Another six weeks slid by and Lauren was getting in a little over her head. Logan was only showing her a good side, and she wondered what had happened to the crazy-assed man she'd first met. He was just as uncontrolled and hot in bed, but the rest of the time, he treated her with kid gloves.
He spoiled her, pampered her, and was protective of her.
She was beyond suspicious; she knew he was playing her. But it didn't matter. He was getting under her skin in a good way and she loved it.
She almost, almost wanted to have the 'exclusivity' conversation with him.
But she thought it was too soon, and besides, she wondered if they even needed it.
He showed no signs of even being interested in other women. Like, she didn't think he even registered that there were other women alive. Like there were no other women but her living on the planet.
They'd gone dancing a few times, and when they walked into a club or a restaurant, she immediately noticed when other women checked him out. And why wouldn't they? He was infinitely hot, and if she could see it, then everyone else could see it.
But Logan didn't seem to notice they stared at him or, in fact, even existed.
Which was good, it really was.
Although with no actual conversation, it kind of left their relationship status up in the air.
The night of her birthday, Lauren walked out of the bedroom ready to go out. Logan had asked her the night before what she wanted to do and she'd told him. She wanted to go out to a club where they would meet all her friends from work and dance the night away.
It seemed like a good and reasonable plan to her and he went along with it. The problem was, he'd never met her friends from work and she was very much afraid that he'd assumed they would all be women.
And they weren't.
It wasn't as if she was a social butterfly, no matter what her mother called her, but she did have a lot of friends, both men and women. If you got down to it, John was probably her only true guy friend. Since he was gay, Lauren felt comfortable around him and she could just be herself. Heidi had invited the rest of the men who would be there tonight.