Magic Kiss (Hope Falls Book 11) (25 page)

When her body fell limp on the bed, he reached down to retrieve a condom from his pants. While he took care of protection, Emma’s head fell to the side and her breaths began to slow.

“I’ve never been so happy to be wrong about anything in my entire life,” Emma mumbled.

Logan smiled broadly as he moved up over her body. He wasn’t one to gloat, but in this case, he was happy to have proved her wrong.

Leaning on his left elbow, he moved his right hand between their bodies and positioned his engorged head at her opening. He ran it up and down, and it slid easily from the lubrication her release had provided. Gently, he pushed the tip of his penis inside her, and her body clamped down on him.

Looking up at her, he saw that she was biting her lip and her eyebrows were drawn together.

“Don’t stop,” she said as she tried to catch her breath, her eyes clenched shut.

As much as he wanted to heed her direction, there was no way this was going to happen if she wasn’t enjoying it.

Logan’s jaw clenched as sweat broke out on his brow. His size had been an issue with a few women he’d been with. He needed to see her eyes. He needed to take this on a moment-to-moment basis and adjust accordingly.

“Emma.” Her name came out sounding harsher than he’d intended, but since his body was strung so tight that he was going to either explode or implode, he couldn’t do a hell of a lot to temper it.

Her eyes flew open.

Shifting his hips so he could pull her knee up to give himself better control over his movements, he framed her face with the arm holding him up. That slid him farther into her, and this time, she shut her eyes but her face didn’t look pained. Instead, she bit her lip and sighed softly.

He kissed her forehead as he instructed softly, “Open your eyes, baby. I need you to keep looking at me.”

Her lids lifted and her baby blues stared up at him.

As he began slowly rolling his hips in small motions, causing his shaft to penetrate her in tiny increments, she gasped and her cheeks flushed.

His progress was miniscule, but every time he sank deeper into her tight canal, he cursed under his breath. Her body felt so fucking good; he wasn’t going to last long.

Her eyes never left his, and when he finally filled her to the hilt, her legs were shaking as she grew closer to another climax. He stilled, wanting to feel the sensation of being inside her. There was no guarantee that this was going to happen again, so he wanted to draw this intense connection out for as long as he could.

“How do you feel this good?” Emma asked as her hips began rocking against his.

“I could ask you the same thing.” He grinned before leaning down and softly kissing her on the lips.

The second their mouths touched, a flame so hot ignited between them that, as much as Logan didn’t want this to be over, he could no longer delay the inevitable.

As they began moving together in rhythmic harmony, he stopped thinking. He stopped analyzing. He spiraled into a place of total abandon, losing himself in erotic oblivion.

When Emma’s legs locked around his waist and she called out his name, he thrust once more before his entire world shattered into a white-hot eruption. His body tensed as his fingers gripped the soft flesh of her hip, and he groaned in blissful agony. Then he shuddered through the final moments of pulsating pleasure.

After his senses returned, he realized he’d collapsed on top of Emma, so he began to move off her.

“Wait,” she whispered against his neck as her arms clutched his back.

He stilled. Then he slid his arm beneath her so he could hold her even tighter to him. He had no idea what had just happened between them, but he did know one thing: the last thing he wanted to do was break the bubble they were in and return to reality.

This was what he wanted. For as long as he could have it.

‡

L
ogan sat straight up in bed. Startled. His heart was racing. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins. His body was primed for a fight, and the only sound he heard was his own breathing. Panic gripped his chest, squeezing it like a vise.

He blinked several times to try to clear his blurry vision. Flashes of gunfire and explosions were flipping through his head like a slideshow. Blood. Carnage. Death was all around him.

It wasn’t real. It wasn’t happening. He knew that, but his body was responding like it was.

Tucking his chin down, he focused on his breathing. In and out slowly, so he didn’t hyperventilate, which had happened before. Then he pressed his palms into his eyes as hard as he could. It didn’t make the memories go away, but somehow, it helped.

When a hand touched his shoulder, he reacted on instinct by grabbing the wrist. He was about to twist it when he turned and saw who it belonged to. He released his grasp on Emma’s wrist like he’d just touched a hot stove, before jumping out of bed.

Her sleepy eyes opened and closed, and she looked between her hand and Logan’s face.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was strangled from the fear of how close he’d come to hurting her.

Logan grabbed his pants and was halfway across the room, before his name being called even registered. He didn’t look back at the bed. He needed to get out of there. Away from her. Alone. He needed to be alone.

Before he was able to make his escape, she was standing in the doorway.

“Wait!” she commanded forcefully, holding her hands up in front of her to block his path. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Logan’s body was shaking. He was still coming down from the adrenaline rush, and now, he had the added benefit of terror over how close he’d been to seriously harming the last person in the world who deserved it.

Emma was the most amazing, most incredible, woman he’d ever known. He’d thought that before they’d had sex. Now, she was… There weren’t even words to express what she was to him.

“Nothing.” He shook his head as he pulled his pants up, needing to feel less exposed.

“Logan.” Her tone changed from concerned to frustrated. “What is going on? Did you have a nightmare? Are you okay? Talk to me.”

“I’m fine.” He zipped his jeans and started to move around her.

But when she put her hand on his chest, he froze. It felt wrong to have her touch him after what he’d just done. He looked down at the hand that was covering his heart and checked to see if he’d left any marks on her wrist.

Taking a step towards him, she spoke softly. “You didn’t hurt me. Is that why you’re leaving? Because you thought you hurt me?”

He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t because he had no idea what to say. Other than the shrink, he’d never spoken to anyone about what he’d gone through.

His limbs were heavy as they hung beside him, and his lips and fingers tingled. That happened a lot after these episodes. Sometimes, his head would feel like it was going to float away. Sometimes, it would feel like there was so much pressure in it that it was going to explode. Usually, it took at least thirty minutes to start coming down. However, Emma’s touch, her voice, her smell were all somehow putting that process into hyperdrive. His heart rate began slowing as his mind cleared like a steamy mirror after a hot shower, when you pointed a hair dryer at it. His heart rate slowed. He felt anchored to the here and now. He felt safe.

“You don’t have to talk,” she whispered as she closed the distance between them. Then she laid her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.

After several minutes, Logan lifted his heavy arms and hugged her tight. One hand ran through the silky strands of her soft hair, and the other ran up and down her bare back. The longer they stood there, the more intimate the connection felt.

When Logan felt completely himself again, he kissed the top of her head and said, “Thank you.”

She looked up at him, her eyes wide with acceptance and another emotion Logan didn’t want to name. A sweet smile spread on her face. “Hey, I would do it for
anyone
who initiated me into the multiple O club.”

He grinned, knowing she was teasing him. But inside, the thought of someone else touching her, of her body responding to someone else’s like it did to his, was like a knife gutting him. And just like that, he reverted back to the caveman only she had ever awakened in him.

“Speaking of that club…” He picked her up and pinned her against the wall.

Though she gasped in surprise, her legs and arms automatically wrapped around him. He covered her mouth with his. No, she wasn’t his, but this kiss still felt like he was claiming her. Just as their kiss deepened and her body was melting against his, a blue light filled the room and the song “I Just Called To Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder started playing.

“It’s Drew,” she said with alarm as Logan lowered her to the ground.

Oh shit.

Fear once again flooded his system, but this time, it wasn’t because his past was haunting him. This was a real fear. He looked at the red LED clock—it was three thirty-five a.m. Something was wrong.

Emma grabbed her phone and answered breathlessly. “Drew? Oh, Amanda. Hi. Where’s Drew?”

“She sat on the bed, staring at the floor. One hand held the phone to her ear, the other covering her bare stomach. After a few seconds, she shook her head and looked up at Logan like she was looking for answers.

“Were they drinking?”

Double shit.

“Oh, okay.”

A small amount of relief replaced the worry on Emma’s face, and Logan too breathed a sigh of relief. He had no idea what was going on, but seeing Emma relax, even slightly, was like winning the lottery.

Logan lifted his shirt from the floor and pulled it on.

“Okay. I’ll be right there. I’m so sorry about this, Amanda.” She ran her hand through her hair while she listened for a couple of seconds before a small smile appeared on her face and she let out a forced chuckle, “Okay, thanks. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“What happened?” Logan asked before she’d even set the phone on the nightstand.

“Drew and Noah are both sick as dogs. Amanda woke up to them throwing up outside her tent.” She stood and started getting dressed.

“Were they drinking?”

“No, Amanda doesn’t think so. They did, however, eat several pizzas between them, not to mention they finished off an entire flat of soda. There were also several empty packages of chips and cookies in their tents.

“Justin and Amanda brought them both down the mountain. Thankfully, Sam and Luke had decided to tag along last minute, so they stayed with the group.” She rushed to the front room. “I can’t believe he did this. He knows better than to eat that much junk food.”

Logan’s memory being what it was, he knew the trouble he and Lucky had gotten into when they were teens. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know how Levi hadn’t killed one or both of them. He didn’t want to stress her out, but as he grabbed his keys, he was thinking that this was probably only the beginning.

When he opened the door for her, she looked up at him. “Where are you going?”

“To pick up Drew.” He wasn’t sure if she was just distracted from worry about the kid, but he’d thought that his actions had been fairly obvious.

Her face twitched as her brow knitted together. “You don’t have to do that. I can get him. You can go back to bed.”

“You’re not going out in the middle of the night by yourself.” He hadn’t meant to sound so domineering, but that didn’t change his sentiment.

“I’m fine. Really,” she said defiantly, like it was her final answer on a game show.

She wasn’t trying to be cute, but she was. Especially if she thought she was going to leave the house by herself. She was fucking adorable.

“Do you want to stand here and argue or go get Drew?” he asked flatly.

“Fine. I’m perfectly capable of picking up my son, but hey. Whatever floats your boat.” She pulled the strap on her purse higher on her shoulder and started down the walkway to his truck. When they got in, she mumbled as she looked out the window, “If I was at home, I would be doing this by myself.”

“Well, you’re not home,” he answered.

But even as he said it, it felt like a lie. It felt like she was home. Like she was
his
home. And that was scarier than any night terror ever could be.

*