Logan's Flame, page 6
Suddenly, his brain came back online and began screaming at him to get his shit together. He reluctantly let go of her though he kept her pinned between himself and the building. He pressed his forehead against hers and tried to calm the tremors that ran through his body, head to toe.
“Serafina… Go. Go inside now. Lock the door.”
“Do you want to…”
“Now!”
Eyes closed against the image of her standing there looking as thoroughly kissed as he knew she actually had been, he backed up to give her room to move. The urgency in his tone breached the sexual haze that had fogged her brain into incomprehension. She stepped inside and began to close the door while he stood there, his body taut with sexual tension. She paused before she closed it completely and looked out at him.
“This time, Logan. This time, I’ll let you push me away. Don’t count on it happening again.” She closed the door and gave the deadbolt a quick turn, locking herself in – locking him out.
Chapter Eight
Sunday mornings at the Ouray Hot Springs were typically quiet, especially during the members’ only hours before the public had access. The hot mineral water continuously entering and exiting the pools from nearby Box Canyon Creek relaxed and soothed, offering healing properties to those who came to soak. It was exactly what Logan needed for his sore muscles after a restless night and a brutal, punishing workout, that morning.
He’d stood outside Sera’s door for a long time after she’d gone inside the night before. The struggle that had brewed within him had been a constant game of tug-of-war as he’d bounced back and forth between leaving and simply breaking down the door and claiming her as his own.
His honor and integrity had finally won out, though. And with a wish in his heart that things could be different, he’d finally walked down the stairs, got in his truck, and drove away. The further he’d gotten from her, the more he’d ached - mind, body, and soul.
Going home, though it had been the middle of the night, had been the last thing he’d wanted to do. So, with no particular destination in mind, he’d gone for a drive. He’d been tired but wound up from his encounter with Sera. Calming himself enough to sleep had seemed next to impossible, which was how he’d found himself in Silverton at four o’clock in the morning.
He’d pulled into an empty parking lot and leaned his seat back. As he’d stared out the sunroof at the moon riding high in the dark sky, he’d contemplated all that had happened over the past two days. Each moment with Sera had been permanently etched into his mind and he’d found them playing in a continual loop in his memory.
He’d had the passing thought that maybe he should have taken Heather up on her offer. Well, not the date part, but the casual hook-up could have been fun, and if nothing else, a release he desperately needed. But from prior experience, he’d never been able to have anything casual, no friends-with-benefits relationships, because inevitably everyone he’d ever tried with had decided they’d wanted more.
He couldn’t give anyone more than that. His heart belonged to Sera no matter how he wished otherwise, and he refused to lead anyone on by letting them think there was a chance for something more.
Seraphina Matthias.
When he’d first met her, he’d been so infatuated that he’d tried to learn everything he could about her. He’d even gone so far as to look up her name to see if there was some special meaning behind it. He hadn’t been surprised when he’d found that her first name meant ‘fiery’ or ‘burning’, and her last name had meant ‘gift from God’. Yes, he’d thought, that’s exactly what she was to him – a fiery gift from God that made him burn with need, with love.
And with her scent still lingering on his skin from the brief moments he held her, and his body still singing from the ripples of current that had zinged through him when they kissed, he’d closed his eyes and drifted. When he woke an hour later, he’d driven to a gas station and purchased a bad cup of coffee in hopes that it would fuel his system, then he’d driven back to Ouray and directly to the gym.
Intensely focused and fueled by frustration, he hit the weight circuit before heading to one of the treadmills for cardio. He worked out harder than he’d meant to, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself or slow down. It had taken muscle fatigue aching throughout his body before he realized he’d overdone it. The decision to go soak in the hot springs had been an easy one.
He stepped into the heated pool as steam rose in the cool morning air and waded out toward the center before holding his breath and going under. He stayed as long as he could and when he surfaced and wiped the water from his face, he opened his eyes to see that the portion of the pool that he had completely to himself when he’d gone under, had been invaded.
Bundled in a fluffy white robe, Sera stood at the edge of the pool staring down at him. With a smile on her face, she dropped the robe and with one swift move, bundled her dark curls on top of her head.
He wondered exactly how he hadn’t passed out at that point as all the blood in his body had shot straight to his groin, leaving him light-headed as he studied each and every inch of her luscious curves. His erection had been instant and though that part of him was still submerged in the pool water, he knew it was obvious how aroused he’d become.
The bikini she wore covered only the barest of necessities, and the red and white stripes reminded him of a candy cane. He wanted to lick every inch of her sweetness, head to toe.
She stepped into the pool and waded over to where he stood.
“What are you doing, Sera?”
“Obviously, I came to soak for a bit.”
“That’s not what I was asking, and you know it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Logan.”
He grabbed her by the arms and shook her gently as he growled at her through clenched teeth. “Yes, you do.”
An older couple walked by them, hand-in-hand as they were leaving the pool, and Logan lowered his voice as he hissed his frustrations. “Yes, Sera. You do know what you’re doing. I want to know why? What are you playing at? What are you trying to accomplish? And, damn it, why me?”
It hadn’t been the response she was expecting. Dismayed by his reaction, she found that she was somewhat hurt by his abruptness. She’d seen him as she walked toward the pool from the changing area and had been excited that they’d been on the same wavelength. She’d gone to him figuring they could spend some time together soaking in the hot mineral water and getting to know each other a little better. She hadn’t planned on him being so upset, angry even, at her mere presence.
She jerked out of his grasp. “I’m not playing at anything, Logan. I just thought as we’re both here, we could spend some time together getting to know each other again. You know, talking. But if that’s a problem for you, I’ll just go to another part of the pool.”
She turned to leave only to have him grab her and pull her back against him.
“You want to get to know me? Get reacquainted?” Being in her presence after the intensity of their encounters the past couple of days, especially with her wearing next to nothing, had pushed him too far. He whispered in her ear, “How’s this for getting to know me, baby girl?” He held her tighter, wrapping his arms more securely around her, pressing her against his erection, and grinding it into her backside.
Her body began to show signs of her own arousal, and the evidence pushed Logan to seek more. With a gasp, her head fell back to his shoulder, eyes closed as he began to explore.
“Is this what you want, Sera?”
She reached back to him and placed her hand on the side of his face.
“I don’t know. I think so, but I…Logan…” his name left her lips in a sexy whisper full of need.
His right hand lightly kneaded her hip as his left wandered up her body and cupped her breast. She quickly glanced around to see if they were being watched.
“Shhh. There’s hardly anybody here and nobody’s paying attention to us.”
Looking over her shoulder, he pulled the triangle of material to the side of her full, perfectly rounded breast and exposed her nipple. His thumb brushed the stiff peak, and she moaned with pleasure.
“More. I want more; I need more. Moan for me, Sera. Let me hear you moan for me, because of what I’m doing to you. Moan for me because it’s me you want doing these things to you, with you.”
He pinched and teased her nipple then slipped the material off her other breast. Once again she moaned as he worshipped her breasts. But when his right hand slid down her stomach into the top of her bikini bottoms, her breath caught and she whispered his name- a plea for more as she begged for release. He wasted no time, and his fingers immediately landed on her clit, circling against the tight bundle of nerves.
“Is this what you want, darlin’? Can you take it?” He pushed his erection against her even harder as he gently sucked her earlobe into his mouth. He writhed against her with his cock, the barrier of his swim trunks non-existent against the stiffness that begged to be inside her.
He felt it build quickly, felt her body tense up as the orgasm he gave her sent her rocketing out of orbit in pleasure. And feeling her lose control, hearing her soft cry of ecstasy, and knowing that he owned her climax, pushed him past his own limits. His body stiffened as hot jets of his cum surged from his cock and a whimper escaped his throat as he tried to keep from roaring in the throes of his own pleasure.
“Oh, God. What are you doing to me? We can’t do this. Fuck! We can’t do this, Sera!” Logan let go of her as she replaced the triangles of her bikini top. Then he turned his back to her as he freaked out over what he’d just done, what they’d just done. Sera didn’t understand why he was so upset.
“Why? Why can’t we? What would be so wrong about it?”
“You’re my best friend’s sister.”
“And?”
“I made a promise a long time ago – we all did. You’re off limits, Sera.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Yeah, well, tell that to Jax.”
“Okay.”
“What? No! Don’t do that!”
“Logan. I really don’t care what promise you made to my brother.”
“Just let it go.”
“Are you going to stand there and tell me that you’re choosing my brother over me?”
“It isn’t like that, and you know it.”
“Explain it to me, then.”
He scrubbed his hands over his hair, grabbing handfuls and tugging hard in frustration.
“Right around the time you moved here, a few months before, actually, we went on one of our camping trips. We made promises about certain things, made a pact, and part of that pact was that sisters were off-limits. I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I went back on my word.”
“Seriously? You were what fifteen? Sixteen?”
“Yeah, just turned sixteen.”
“So, you’re going to let a ridiculous promise that you made fifteen years ago dictate how you live your life now?” She shook her head as she tried to understand his reluctance. “I know that Jax can be very over-protective, and I love him for that, but I will not let him tell me who I can and can’t be with, and you shouldn’t either.”
She climbed from the pool and dried herself quickly before pulling on her robe.
“You know what? I always took you to be a highly intelligent person, but if you’re going to let some stupid decision you made half your lifetime ago determine how you live your life now, maybe you aren’t nearly as intelligent as you’ve always seemed.”
With her robe belted tightly around her, she left him standing there in the pool, staring after her as she walked away.
Chapter Nine
The doors to the bar parted as yet another couple walked in looking through the crowd in hopes of finding an empty table. Logan glanced their way just as he had every time the doors had swung open since the beginning of his shift – just as he had every night throughout the week.
He tried to tell himself that he wasn’t looking for Sera, hoping for Sera, but he knew he was lying to himself. The past week had proven to him that no matter how bad he’d had it before, having a taste of her had made it worse. A small sampling of her would never satisfy him or the beast inside him that craved her with a longing that was edging on madness.
Her absence throughout the week had been a knife to his heart, but no matter how much he’d longed to see her walk through those doors, he knew it was for the best that she’d kept her distance. Their encounter at the hot springs had gone too far and every time he thought of it, he felt conflicted.
He couldn’t believe that he’d taken things as far as he had. It had been wrong, so very wrong of him to give in to his wants. He had broken the pact and betrayed his promise to his friend. But no matter how many times he told himself it was wrong, his body contradicted him by telling him it had felt so right.
She had been so responsive, so perfect as she’d all but melted in his arms. And although he was slowly driving himself insane thinking about her and all of her gasps and moans as he brought her to orgasm, he found he couldn’t stop. No matter how crazy it was making him, it was a moment he never wanted to forget. Sweet agony.
It was Friday again, and he was glad to see the weekend finally arrive and bring with it an uptick in business. It had been a very long week, the weeknight patronage slowing as the weather grew warmer. He supposed that the change in temperatures meant that everybody was trying to spend as much time outside as possible. And while he couldn’t blame them for enjoying the weather, the reduction in business had made the hours behind the bar interminable.
He pulled the last beer mug from the steam of the washer, dried it off, then set it with the others. Wash, rinse, repeat, he thought as he began to work on filling an order for a corner table. He’d decided that the lull in business might not have been so bad if it weren’t for the fact that every time the doors opened, he longed for it to be Sera walking through them.
He’d been disappointed repeatedly as night after night he waited for her appearance. And though he wanted to see her, ached to see her, part of him knew that it was for the best that they had some distance. When he’d found himself driving out of his way just to circle past her apartment in hopes of seeing her, it had become blatantly obvious how imperative that distance was.
He’d just finished filling the order when he looked up to see Jax push through the doors. As at home as Ryder had been when he’d visited over the weekend, Jax walked through the pass-through and gave Logan a fist bump. He grabbed one of the mugs that had just been cleaned and filled it with one of the local brewery’s amber ales.
At 6’5” and carrying 270 pounds of lean, bulging muscle, Jax made for a commanding presence behind the bar.
“You here to work or just shoot the shit and drink all my beer?”
“I’m a man of many talents, my friend, I can do it all.”
“We’re hopping tonight, so if you can lend a hand for a few hours, I’d appreciate it. Pay in pizza and beer?”
“Deal.”
“Good. You run the stick - I’ll mix.”
“You just want to show off some of those fancy Cocktail moves, but I got you. Go ahead and do your thing, Tom Cruise. Show ‘em what you got.”
“Your movie references are outdated, big guy.”
“True. Outdated, but they’re on point.”
Logan grinned as the next order came in. With hands long practiced, he began to mix the drinks. Mixing tumblers flipped and landed perfectly while bottles of hard liquor did the same followed by perfect pours of fruity concoctions. It only took a few minutes for the patrons to get interested in the show and begin crowding the bar.
Oohs, ahhs, and cheers rang out with every flip, catch, and pour. The more drinks he mixed, the more orders came in, so he continued to entertain the crowd and gave the bar a boost in sales at the same time.
After a while, he took his bows and began to clean up, and as he did so, the crowd slowly began to disperse back to their tables, back to their conversations. When he looked up to see that Sera and her friends had walked in at some point and were headed toward him, he felt his heart skip a beat.
He swore she was trying to kill him or, at the very least, make him suffer. The black leather skirt she wore covered the essentials – barely. But it was the red lace-up bustier and matching red heels that sent his hormones out of orbit. Her shoulders were bare, her breasts spilling out the tops of the cups, and those heels made her legs seem long enough to tie a man in knots. She’d pulled her mass of curls on top of her head again, and the large gold hoop earrings she wore reflected the bar lights in sparkles across her shoulders.
Her lips, painted a luscious red, smiled at him as she and her friends hopped onto barstools that had been graciously given up so that they could sit in the overcrowded room. He leaned on the bar in front of them as he greeted them, trying his hardest not to make a fool of himself staring at Sera.
“Ladies.”
“Hey, Logan!”
“Are we having wine tonight or is this a margarita night?”
“Oh, it’s definitely a margarita night. Too bad we couldn’t get closer to the bar when you were putting on that show. Do you have any of those fancy moves left to make our margaritas?”
“Maybe.” He grinned cheekily at Val.
“Oh, I bet he does…” Alex whispered under her breath as she leaned close to Sera, “and I bet behind the bar isn’t the only place he’s got moves.”
Sera looked at her friend wide-eyed and mouthed, “Stop!”
Logan, having missed the exchange, put a serious look on his face as he stared each one of them in the eye, “It’ll cost ya, though.”
“Oh, really? And just what’s the fee?”
“Oh, it's cheap enough.” He moved in front of Val, cocked his head to the side, and tapped his cheek as he playfully winked at her. “Lay it on me, beautiful. I promise I won’t tell your husband.”
