Don’t fucking look. Don’t fucking look.
He looked.
Of course.
Curled on her side with one hand under her head, she peered at him. The goddamned T-shirt had ridden up, exposing her creamy thighs and the three fucking freckles that drove him nuts. Saliva pooled in his mouth at the thought of running his tongue over the trio. If this was his punishment for the sins of his past, it hit the fucking mark. One lick. That’s all he needed. Just a hit of her flavor to slate the hunger.
Okay, that was a fucking lie.
A sample would never be enough. If she gave him a taste, he’d devour the whole fucking meal.
“Chloe, you need to cover the fuck up.” The words came out harsh.
One half of her mouth curled up in a semi-smirk. He was around painted up women daily at the clubhouse, yet the sight of Chloe’s naked mouth was sexier than any shade of lipstick he’d ever seen.
“I don’t believe you,” she said.
He snorted. “No?” Grabbing her hand, he pulled it across his body until it rested right over his hard-on. “That make you a convert?”
Her soft chuckle did nothing to ease his desire. Her hand curled, giving him the slightest squeeze.
“Fuck me,” he said on a groan as he stared up at the ceiling. Yeah, there most definitely was a God and he was in full-on smiting mode.
“While I appreciate the warning, that’s not at all what I was referring to. I was talking about the bullshit you spouted earlier.”
Rocket couldn’t help it. She was too fucking cute with her nose wrinkled and her pissed off expression that didn’t quite take away her cream-puff look. “What bullshit are you talking about?”
“The bullshit about you leaving DarkOps because they were using you, not because you had a problem killing an innocent man. Or if you don’t want to call him innocent, a man that didn’t deserved to be killed.” She fell silent, just stared at him with those emerald eyes that seemed to see clear into his soul.
Why couldn’t she just buy the damn story, walk away from him, and let him suffer in peace? He steeled his expression. Looked like he was going to have to fall back on plan B: being a total dick.
Her hating him was far better than Esposito getting his filthy mitts on her.
“Little girl,” he practically growled as he loomed over her. Fear flashed for just one second before she schooled it, but it was enough to make him want to vomit. If hell wasn’t his after-life plan before, he’d made it so now. “You think you fucking know me? You don’t know shit about me. I’ve done shit that would make Lefty look like a fuckin choir boy.” Let her chew on that for a while.
Expression so calm it was almost serene, she reached a hand up and covered his mouth. Rocket flinched, the initial contact like fire and silk all at once. “Stop,” she said, but her voice held no fear. More like a teacher scolding a disobedient student. “I don’t know everything there is to know about you. Not even close. And I don’t know the details of your work with DarkOps, but I’ve gathered it’s dark and probably twisted.”
Understatement of the century.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with you recently. My past may be bright and shiny, but my present is pretty damned dark and twisted. Yet there is only one man I can say with one hundred percent certainty I trust to keep me safe. One man I know without a doubt will not hurt me no matter how vulnerable I make myself. And it’s you. I know you, Logan. Your name and Lefty’s should never be spoken in the same sentence, unless it’s to describe the ways you plan to make him suffer.”
He froze, the breath in his lungs seizing. A slow, yet powerful thump sounded in his ears in time with each beat of his heart. She was right. He’d die before hurting her, physically at least. Before this was over, both their hearts could end up flayed.
“So why don’t you try again. Tell me what really eats at you about your time with DarkOps. Tell me why you were upset today. You know my deepest shame and are the only one who has seen me in the very lowest moment of my life. Let me see you in yours. I will not betray your trust. And I will not walk away from you because of it.”
He didn’t dare blink. If he did, the angel lying next to him would surely vanish. How could a woman who’d been raised by a loving, supportive family, one that sheltered her from life’s ugly side, accept him so easily? Sure, she’d gotten an up close and personal view of hell recently, but she should only be more critical of him because of it.