An Act of Redemption (17 page)

His eyes slowly move back up to meet mine. “Why are you nervous?”

The question catches me off-guard. I had hoped I was hiding my emotions better, but I guess not. “Because I’m scared,” I answer truthfully.

Guilt flashes in his eyes. “You don’t need to be, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“I’m not scared for myself, I’m scared for you.”

His expression is one I can’t decipher, but something shifts in the night air between us, something that has my heart rate kicking up. He holds his hand out to me. “Come here.”

I reach out to take it and he pulls me over before lifting me in a swift move to straddle him. My breath seizes in my throat at the unexpected act and I bite back a moan at the feel of his erection between my legs.

His fierce gaze locks with mine as he holds me close. “Nothing is going to happen to me, baby, I promise.”

I wish I felt as confident as him, but I can’t get that man’s awful threat out of my head. “I hate that they’re using you for this.” I more than hate it, I’m furious about it.

He shrugs. “In the end it works out for all of us.”

“Because you don’t have to go back there?” I ask softly, remembering his earlier words to me, words that had my heart swelling so painfully at the desperation it brought to his eyes.

“Yeah, and because it also gives me a chance to redeem myself.”

My head tilts inquisitively. “What do you mean? For what happened with Robert?”

He nods. “A little. I guess a part of me feels that by helping them I can prove I’m not the murderer everyone thinks I am.

I hate that he feels the need to prove he’s a good person. Reaching up, I cup the side of his face. “You’re not a murderer, what happened was an accident. He was the bad person, Logan, not you.”

He stares back at me, his eyes intense as he encircles my wrist and presses a kiss to my palm. “That’s not the most important redemption I have.”

“Oh?” I whisper, through my sudden-dry throat. “Then what is?”

“You.”

Even though I figured that was going to be his answer it still rocks me to my core. I suck in a sharp breath and drop my head down on his, my eyes closing at the storm of emotions battling inside of me. I fight back the regret trying to bubble up, my heart hurting for all the time we’ve lost together.

Logan’s hands weave up into my hair, keeping us only a breath away from one another. “I’m going to fix us, Anna. I’m going to make everything right again or I’m going to fucking die trying.”

Before he can say more my mouth finds his. All of the fear and frustration from tonight fuels a desperation from us both as we inhale one another. My hands frame his face while his cup my bottom to bring me closer, but it’s not close enough. I reach between us for his shirt and drag it up. “Take this off, I need to feel you.” I need to feel all of him, every part. I need him to erase the memories that threatened to take me tonight. He’s the only one who has ever been able to do that for me.

We only break the kiss long enough to remove our shirts then we are back on each other, mouth to mouth, skin to skin. My gasp and his groan mingle as electricity shoots through every nerve ending in my body.

“I love feeling your bare skin against mine,” I admit, breathing into the kiss.

“Me too, baby. I love just breathing the same fucking air as you.”

His words have my heart warming and my hips rocking to be closer. My hands are urgent as they move to the button of his jeans. With a growl he helps me get his pants undone and frees himself. I grasp his smooth, hard cock in both of my hands and he pumps his hips up into my firm grip. The raw and wild sound that erupts from him proves he’s as desperate for my touch as I am for his.

“I swore to myself the next time I had you I was going to take my time rediscovering every inch of your sweet body. But goddamn, I can’t right now, I need you too fucking bad.”

“I need you more,” I breathe out.

“Not fucking possible.” With that he shreds my panties from my body then plunges inside of me in one single thrust that knocks the breath from my lungs.

“Oh god!”

“Fuck, Anna, you’re perfect.” He groans. We both remain still and take a moment to revel in how it feels for him to be deep inside of me. Nothing else matters right now but this and how we complete one another.

“We’re perfect together,” I whisper.

“That’s right, baby, and you wanna know why?” I wait for him to tell me. “Because you’re mine, you always have been. Every goddamn part of you belongs to me.”

“Yes.” It’s a scary thing for me to admit, especially when I’m taking a chance on him again after he pushed me away, but in the end it’s the truth. My heart will always belong to him; everything that’s happened has only proven that.

“Damn straight. And no one is going to fuck with this.
No one
will ever keep you from me again.”

“Promise?” I ask, sounding as vulnerable as I feel. I need him to promise me this, because if I lost him a second time I know I wouldn’t survive it.

Instead of answering, he snakes a hand around my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. A long, powerful one that touches the very depths of my soul. “Yeah, baby, I promise,” he whispers against my lips. His hands move to cup my breasts and his thumbs brush over my stiff nipples, drawing a whimper from me. “You like that?”

“Yes.”

“You want me to take these pretty nipples into my mouth?”

A moan slips past me at his dirty words. “Yes.”

He leans down and takes a tortured bud into his mouth, sucking with a pressure that borders on a beautiful pain that I feel all the way to my core. My head falls back on a cry and my fingers weave into his rumpled hair with a grip so tight I’m sure I’m ripping strands out. By the growl that escapes him, I’m assuming he doesn’t mind. He goes back and forth between each breast, giving them the attention they yearn for; bringing my body to highs I’ve only ever known with him. When I can’t take the burn any longer, I plant my bare feet on the cool cement and rise up until the tip of his shaft is inside of me then drop back down.

An explosion of sensations erupts through my body and Logan drops his head back on the building with a groan. “Aw fuck yeah, that’s my girl. Do it again, baby.” His fingers grip my hips and he helps guide me. I do it again, rising slowly to my tiptoes then drop back down on him hard, bringing him deeper inside of me than I thought possible. I do this over and over, having pleasure blast through me every time. Logan restrains himself, letting me lead until he can’t take any more and slams up inside of me. I suck in a sharp breath and grab onto his shoulders to steady myself.

He stills. “This okay?”

I nod, because I’m incapable of talking at the moment, but it’s not good enough for him.

“Tell me, Anna, that it’s okay. Tell me you want me to fuck you.”

I lick my dry lips then whisper, “I want you to fuck me.”

With a growl that’s exactly what he does. He plunges inside of me over and over again. My mouth opens on a silent scream, the intensity of his thrusts rendering me speechless. I dig my nails into his shoulders while I hold onto him for dear life.

“Yes. Let me feel your nails, baby, fucking mark me.”

“Logan.” I whimper, my tummy beginning to pull tight with my impending orgasm.

“Look at me, Anna.” My eyes snap open at his command, I hadn’t even realized they were closed. “I want to see your pretty eyes while you come on my cock.”

His words, along with his delicious assault, have me falling over the edge. I drop my forehead on his and he draws me down to his mouth, swallowing my cries of ecstasy. In the midst of my pleasure I feel him go still and groan out his own release. I bury my face in his neck and hold him close while we both try to catch our breath. A slight breeze kicks up and sends goose bumps across my heated flesh, reminding me we’re outside.

“Oh god. We just had sex outside and everyone is probably watching us.” Now that we are no longer in the throes of passion, the thought has panic bubbling up inside of me.

Logan chuckles, clearly not feeling the same torment I am. “No one can see us. The building across from us is a storage unit with no windows.”

I brave the chance to look behind me and see that what he says is true. I also do a quick scan of the dark alleyway to see everything quiet and vacant.

When I turn back to Logan he has an amused smirk. “Did you really think I would let anyone see what’s mine? I’m open to a lot of kinky shit, but allowing someone to watch me fuck my girl isn’t one of them.”

My stomach dips at his words, wondering just what kind of kinky things he’s talking about. With a chuckle he leans in and gives me a hard kiss. “Come on, let’s get inside so I can sleep with you in my arms for the rest of the night.”

“That sounds like heaven. Only this time no sneaking out on me in the morning.”

“Not this time, baby,” he promises as he carries me inside. He gives me another clean shirt of his before I enter into the bathroom to clean up. I also stole a pair of his boxer briefs since he ripped my panties to shreds. Just the thought has butterflies swirling in my tummy.

I walk back out and into his room to see he’s already in bed with the covers pulled back, waiting for me. The small space is completely bare except for a bed and dresser, the bed looking out of place from where it’s pushed against the wall. I shove away the niggling question as to why. I don’t want anything to ruin the easy mood we’ve found. With a small smile I walk over and crawl in next to him. He pulls me in close so our bodies are flush against each other, and our faces only a breath away.

Laying his hand on my face, he brushes his thumb under my eye. “Talk to me.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Tell me everything about you, everything I’ve missed, and don’t leave a single thing out. I want to know you better than anyone again.”

He doesn’t realize that he still knows me better than anyone because no one has had me the way he has—not my heart or my body. “Well, considering it’s been a long time you would think I’d have a lot to tell you, but I don’t. I’m still boring ol’ Anna.” I joke halfheartedly, trying to lighten the mood, but he doesn’t smile like I hoped he would.

“You could never be boring, Anna. Whether you eat, laugh, read or sleep, I find you completely fascinating.”

I smile softly. “You have a way with words, you know that?”

“Only when it comes to you.”

His admission has my smile spreading. I think about his original question and wonder where to start. “After I graduated I decided not to stay in Summerland. I moved in with Jaxson and Julia for the summer. My dad was able to pull some strings and get me transferred to Charleston University so I lived with them until school started.” I leave out the part about why I left, I’m sure he knows and it’s not something I want to drudge up.

“Are you liking it? Psychology, I mean.”

I nod. “Yeah, I do. The workload is really daunting some days, actually most days,” I admit with a smile. “But I like it a lot. It took me a bit to decide what field I wanted to get into but I decided on counseling. I really want to help people, maybe even people who went through what I did.” I shrug.

“The panic attack you had tonight was pretty bad,” he starts cautiously, his hard gaze contradicting his soft tone. “When did they come back?”

“When you were first gone,” I admit quietly. I don’t bother to share that they started right from the first night I had to sleep without him, knowing it will only make him feel worse. “But I eventually found a way to control them, and I’ve been okay until tonight.” I shake my head in frustration. “I hate it. I hate that he scared me enough that all those long-buried memories came rushing back. I was completely helpless against them.”

His jaw flexes with rage and guilt flashes in his eyes. “I’m sorry you got caught up in this shit, Anna. I never wanted that to happen.”

“I know. It’s not your fault, you can’t control other people’s actions.”

I can tell he doesn’t believe me, but before I can say more he speaks again. “Where are your memories now?”

I stare back at him and tell him the truth. “Gone, thanks to you.”

Relief washes over his expression before he gives me a brief kiss. “Good, I’ll always chase away your demons, baby.”

“Maybe one day you will let me chase yours away.”

Something painful flashes in his gaze before his eyes fall closed and he drops his forehead to mine. “You do, Anna, just being near you quiets them.”

Hearing him say that should make me feel better but it doesn’t. I don’t want them
quieted
, I want them gone, and it hurts that after all this time he still won’t let me in to do it.

Anna

L
ogan and I pull up to White Corals Edge, a beach that’s between Charleston and Sunset Bay. The last few days have been surrounded with tension. Between the heavy training Logan has had to endure and the tension hindering everyone’s mood, we all need a break. So when Julia suggested a day at the beach I eagerly agreed. We need this, a day of fun and to let loose, because the fight is fast approaching and all I’ve done is worry. I’m trying to hide it from Logan, knowing he has to do this but it’s been hard, really hard.

Grabbing my beach bag from the back seat, I hop down from the new truck that the FBI rented for Logan and land right into his waiting arms. He slams the door then pins me against it before laying one heck of a kiss on me.

By the time he pulls back we are both breathless. “What was that for?” I ask with a smile.

“Because I know when I see what you have under this sundress it’s going to wreak havoc on my self-control, and since Jaxson is around I can’t do a goddamn thing about it.”

I giggle. “True, plus there will be children around.” Leaning in close, I bring my lips to touch his. “But I promise I’ll make it up to you later.” I follow up my comment by taking his lip between my teeth, wondering if it still drives him crazy.

I get my answer when a low growl erupts from him. His hand snakes up my dress and I moan as he cups my ass. Right when I’m about to throw caution out the window, the sound of children squealing my name breaks us up. Logan drops me to my feet and I quickly right my dress before kneeling down with open arms to greet all my favorite little people.