Earl of Gold (Lords of Scandal 7)

Somehow the words deflated her further. On the one hand it felt so good to say them. Admit to someone she was tired, and afraid, and sure she’d fail.

On the other, it only seemed to make her feelings more real, finally speaking them out loud. “What if I don’t succeed? What will happen to them?”

He sucked in a breath and suddenly his arms were about her. He was warm and strong and so solid that her hands snaked about his waist too. “You won’t fail. I won’t let you. And you’re not alone. I’ve made my decision. I’m helping you.” Then he squeezed her tighter. “And in case you hadn’t noticed, I am stronger than average.”

Penny choked on a cry. But this was not a sad cry, gratitude overwhelmed her. It had been so long since she’d had someone she truly could share the burden with that she didn’t know how to even begin to say thank you.

So instead, she tilted her chin and pressed her lips to his.

It wasn’t soft or gentle. The kiss wasn’t even filled with lust.

But need made her push up on her toes and press closer. She wanted to be close to him. His strength, his heat.

The way he filled her with so much desire that she nearly forgot every other part of her life.

In his arms, she felt…safe. Cared for.

Rather than return her need, he relaxed his arms and slid a hand up her back to cradle her head.

He gently kissed her back as he held her close to his body. “I’ve got you,” he murmured against her lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She needed those words. Like she needed air and water. They filled her. She tightened her arms about his neck, loving the way her body, without a corset, fit into his.

He lifted her, her feet coming off the floor, and began moving as he deepened the kiss, his tongue plundering her mouth. It was hot, and sweet, and passionate all in the same moment. Her fingers threaded into his hair.

He pressed her body closer and she gasped in a breath, desire rising in her even as her desperate need to touch him still plagued her.

They didn’t stop until the back of her legs hit the bed. “Don’t leave,” she begged. “Don’t leave me now.”

“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart,” he returned, then lay her down on the deep, thick mattress. “I’m right here and I’ve got you.”

His weight came down on top of hers, his heat filling the coldest places she kept hidden deep inside. She wanted to stay like this forever.

Chapter Thirteen

Logan held her under him, his arms wrapped tightly around her. He’d known she’d needed help. More money, safety. Security.

But how could he not have seen that she shared his fear of abandonment? The pain of being left too young to walk in this world alone. He’d hardly seen it in himself. But reflected back in his desperation, he saw her for what she was. And he saw himself too.

Lonely. In need of love and attention. In need of a family to fill those dark spaces he didn’t like to admit were there.

But they were. Try as he might to deny them. And all this time, he’d been attempting to fill those places with gold. Money was tangible, after all. Touchable.

And so was Penny.

Under him now, begging him to hold her close and not let go.

With a clarity he hadn’t experienced in years, he realized they were perfect for one another. Both strong but both in need of love and affection. They understood one another.

He was never letting her go.

He kissed her again, deeply, as Logan confessed, deep in his heart, that he loved her. That he had found the other half of himself that had been missing for so long.

“I just need…” she gasped out between kisses. “To feel…”

“I understand,” he murmured, kissing her again as he slid his hand up and down her side. He did. Completely.

Not that he was going to explain all of that tonight. As her legs wrapped about his, his throbbing manhood settling in the cradle of her hips, she pushed against him, causing them both to groan.