Logan (Carolina Reapers 4)

She moaned and tipped her head back, arching her neck to bare her throat.

I took the invitation and kissed her over and over, lightly sucking on the patches of skin that made her whimper.

“I walked away last week because you said we were just friends.”

“We agreed—” she argued, her fingers drifting into my hair.

“We did. But you’ve always been the first to throw the friend card. And I’ve agreed with you. But last week...fuck, Delaney if you had any idea how hard it was to walk away from you—how hard I was, you’d never doubt how badly I want to fuck you, trust me. But it can’t be just fucking. Not between us. We’re too close for that.”

“And if I want more?” she asked, her breath catching as I lifted my lips from her collarbone.

“Do you?” Shit, was there a tone of hope in my voice?

“Do you?” she challenged, rolling her hips over where only a few layers of cloth separated us.

If she did that one more time, I was going to shred her jeans and bury myself inside her against this damned wall.

“I know that I’m done fighting whatever this is between us.”

Our eyes were locked, the tension between us crackling so hard I could swear it popped against my skin.

“Me, too.” She nodded.

Something that felt like happiness burst through my chest and raced through my veins. Maybe I was still fucked up. Maybe I hadn’t really healed enough to start something with Delaney, but I wasn’t going to take the chance that I’d lose her while I got my shit together, either. I’d just have to figure it out as we went along.

I claimed her mouth, sweeping my tongue past her lips to stroke and tease. She whimpered and kissed me back like I was the dessert she’d decided to skip at dinner. The kiss turned primal, open and wet as we struggled to get as close as possible.

She tugged at my shirt, and she kept her ankles locked as I pulled the Henley over my head. Then hers joined it on the hardwood.

I groaned as her skin caressed mine, warm and soft as our torsos collided. I tilted her head and took her mouth deeper. It wasn’t enough. It was never enough with her.

The need to get her under me ate at the fraying thread of self-control.

“Bedroom,” she urged as if her thoughts were my own.

I braced my forehead against hers. “If I take you in there, I’m not stopping until I’m inside of you. God, Delaney, you already have me tipping over the edge, here. You have to know that’s what you want.”

She nodded and brushed a kiss over my lips.

“Say it,” I ordered. “I need to hear you say it.” I needed to know she really wanted all of me before I took us somewhere she would regret. My pulse pounded, and my fingers flexed where they held the curves of her hips.

“Take me to bed, Logan,” she said softly. “Take me to bed and fuck me.” She whispered that last part in my ear, then grazed the lobe with her teeth.

“Damn,” I groaned, already moving us down the hall toward my door. Her lips transformed that word from something dirty and primal to the definition of a mutual, undeniable need.

She was light in my arms, but my breath was already labored from the effort it took not to take her on the hallway floor. I knew it wasn’t because I hadn’t been with anyone in months. It was all because of her. She wasn’t just gorgeous and sexy as hell. Her heart was just as beautiful as her face. It was her heart that I wanted more than her body.

I nearly dropped her as that realization hit me. Instead, I supported her slight weight with one arm and opened my bedroom door with the other. Our tongues tangled as I closed the door and walked us to my king-sized bed.

Pausing next to the bed, I set her on her feet and then started kissing every exposed inch of her skin. She gasped as I put my teeth to her nipple through the lace of her bra. Then she moaned when I discarded the lavender scrap of fabric and took the peak of her breast between my lips, flicking it with my tongue.

“Logan,” she groaned, her fingers tangling in my hair as I hit my knees on the carpet. I kissed her bare stomach, lingering at her belly button and then worked my way down to the button on her jeans.

Our eyes met as I made sure she was with me. She nodded, her glasses slipping down her nose a little as she looked down at me.

I undid her zipper with a slight tremble in my hands. Where the fuck was my composure? My certainty under pressure? I was never nervous on the ice. Never nervous when I had a woman in my bed, but Delaney had me shaking with the need to make this so good for her that she wouldn’t throw the friend flag up in the morning.