3
BLOOM
T he squiggly lines on the heart monitor raced in tandem to the frantic beat of my heart. Logan was going to make me come. I never thought he would actually do it, even though I’d asked. He was too disciplined, too dedicated to his job, too respectful of his work to risk it, but he propped the chair under the door handle and returned to my side.
“How long do you think you’ll need?” he asked.
“Not long. I’ve been on edge since you walked in.”
Logan inhaled deeply, then let the breath out slowly. “For god’s sake, Bloom, please stop talking.”
My mouth fell open. “What?”
“Every time you open your mouth, I find myself doing something I shouldn’t. The worst part is that you don’t have a clue how much control you have over me. Do you?”
A warmth spread through me at his confession. I always thought I loved him more. Dr. Simms surely thought so, but from his earlier jealousy over Crowe and hearing the raw vulnerability in his voice, perhaps we were more even than I thought.
“Logan—”
“No.” He wagged his finger at me. “No more talking. You keep those honey sweet lips closed. Lie there on the hospital bed like the good boy I know you can be, and when you’re ready to release, come down my throat.”
Struck dumb from both his words and my eagerness to come after so long—dammit, a week was an eternity, and nobody could tell me otherwise—I lay back against the pillows. Logan took my hands and placed them above my head. He grasped the hem of the hospital gown and lifted it gently so his fingers grazed over my skin. Every nerve ending in my body came alive with a buzz like volts of electricity skittering beneath my flesh. I held my breath and stayed as still as I could. Now that I was exposed, nothing would stop me from feeling Logan’s mouth driving me to an orgasm.
“You know, sweetheart, I never once thought you’d become so needy for me, but I like it. Like how much you love it when I put you in my lap and play with your hole. Such a pity…”
His mouth enclosed over the head of my cock, and I didn’t see any pity at all. I saw myself as lucky, so damn lucky to have a man like Logan who made me feel so extraordinarily good with the way he handled my body. Whenever he touched me, I didn’t even feel like I owned me anymore.
I was his.
I never want to be anything else but his.
Logan expertly used his tongue to stroke me, even as he swallowed me farther to the back of his throat. So tempting to dig my fingers into his hair, pull his face to my pubes, and fuck his throat. But I loved it more when he was in control. When he decided it was time for me to come.
I tried to stifle my moans, but they rolled out anyway. Each gasp echoed against the walls. His mouth was so fucking good with him sucking on my cock, relentlessly bobbing his head. The room spun around me, and I squirmed beneath him. He placed a hand gently against my stomach, narrowing his eyes, reminding me of the promise I’d made to keep still.
He wasn’t playing fair. How could I keep still? I was heaving and panting like a racehorse. He dragged his lips, soft and insistent, up and down my shaft, the suction and heat making my toes curl.
Close.
I was so close.
A cry stuck inside my throat as the pleasure spiked. His rhythm was just right, his suction just strong enough. I bit my lower lip to muffle my sounds. The world blurred. The only thing that mattered was the pressure of Logan’s mouth. The doorknob rattled. Logan was too busy slurping me down in one swoop to notice.
Oh fuck.
I tried to stifle my moans. I really did, but my body spasmed. My climax rammed through me, sending waves of mind-numbing pleasure coursing through my veins. I jerked against the sheets, fisting my fingers in the cool material while my body convulsed. Logan’s grip on my hip tightened to anchor me against him, his mouth never once leaving me until he’d swallowed every drop.
My muscles screamed in pleasure, my heart throbbed, and I lay on the bed, gasping for air. My body was a sticky mess of sweat. Logan released me from his mouth, and my softening cock fell onto my stomach. He rearranged the gown to cover me up.
“You can talk now,” he said.
“Someone…was at the door,” I croaked.
He glanced over his shoulder, but the doorknob had stopped rattling. “Are you sure?”
“I think so.”
“Hmm.”
Just hmmm? Who was this new Logan? I couldn’t help the silly grin. I’d fallen head over heels in obsession with the stubborn, unsmiling man. How far would I go for this one who looked at me with hearts in his eyes and touched me gently like I was made from glass?
“You make me so happy.” I needed him to know that.
He placed the sweetest kiss on my forehead. “That’s all I want for you. Your life has been too rough. I want to make it easy from now on.”
“Even I know that’s not the way life works, Logan.”
He sighed, grabbed the chair from the door, and placed it next to the bed, but I shuffled over and patted the space next to me. “No, lie with me.”
“I’m not going to have sex in that bed, Bloom. Your injury…”
“Not sex. I haven’t had your arms around me in a long time. I miss the way you used to hold me at night.”
Logan groaned, but he kicked his loafers off and climbed into the hospital bed. I was expecting more argument from him. I loved this Logan, who didn’t seem to care what others thought.
His large body took up most of the space, pressing tightly against me. The warmth seeped through the thin hospital gown. He wrapped his strong arms around my waist, his chest pressed against my back in a comforting embrace. Our bodies naturally slotted together like puzzle pieces.
The position wasn’t the most comfortable with my healing wound. I much preferred lying on my back, but had I been bleeding all over the sheets, I wouldn’t have said a word.
I’d forgotten what being in his arms felt like.
Home.
His sigh washed over my neck as he nuzzled closer, brushing his lips against the sensitive skin of my collarbone, leaving tingles in their wake. It was comforting, sweet, and everything I needed. Being in the hospital gave me too much time to think. Like earlier, when I’d almost done something stupid by leaving because I thought his lateness meant he wasn’t coming.
But Logan cares about me. He would never do that.
His arm rested on my hip, and his heartbeat vibrated against me. His warm breath tickled at the back of my neck, fanning out over my skin and sending chills down my spine.
“Bloom.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry you got hurt because of me.”
“What?” I craned my neck and looked back at him. “I thought we’ve been over this. It was all a mistake.”
“That could have gotten you killed.”
A thought struck me. An unpleasant one, but I couldn’t repress it. “Would you love someone else if I died?”
“What?”
“I wanna know. See, you’re the only one for me. If something happened to you, if you had died that day because you wanted to give yourself over to those fuckturds…”
He inhaled sharply.
“What?”
“The world would have been a much darker place with me in it, but no you.”
“God, you’re so…”
“Stupid? Intense? Weird? I know.”
“No, I was going to say ‘incredibly sweet.’”
“I’m not sweet. I’m a biker.”
“A sweet one. I like it, but you must never try to leave the hospital again. Your recovery comes first.”
“But I don’t know why I’m still here. It’s been two weeks already. I’m all better.”
“Be patient. I don’t want any mistakes made, and it was a major surgery. Can you endure it a little longer for me?”
His lips touched my neck. He thought I had control over him? What about the way I was helpless against his requests?
“Okay.”
“Good boy.”
His good boy.
Best feeling in the world.
A knock sounded on the door. Logan held on to me tightly for a second, as if he wouldn’t let go, then got out of bed just as the door opened. A familiar man I had seen a handful of times speaking about the incident at the hospital entered the room. When he saw Logan, he turned down his lips and pulled back his shoulders. Behind him was a young woman with short red hair, dressed professionally in a black pantsuit.
“What the hell is this, Andrews?” Logan’s voice was strung tight, and his jaw set in a determined line.
“Dr. Collier, if you could step outside for a minute? This concerns the patient.”
I blew a breath out of my nostrils. How dared he speak to Logan like that? Especially in front of me. Didn’t he fear me cutting open his throat?
“Whatever concerns him concerns me.”
“Man, you just know how to step in it, don’t you?” Andrews smiled, the stretch of his lips malicious. “Natasha, are you getting this? This man is—”
“Dr. Logan Collier,” Natasha said. “He’s the one those men were after the day of the tragedy.”
“Is there a reason you are here?” Logan asked.
“As a matter of fact, yes.” Andrews shifted his attention from Logan to me. “Bloom, how are you doing? I trust we’ve been doing all we can to make your stay with us comfortable.”
I bit my bottom lip. Would Logan give me a tongue lashing if I told this man to go fuck himself? I knew what he’d done. Logan had tried keeping it from me, but Jamie was a bit of a chatterbox. This man was the reason Dr. Collier had been asked to take an extended leave from the hospital.
“As well as expected,” Logan replied. “He’s on the mend but can’t accept long visits. He tires easily.”
Andrews scowled. For a second, he looked as if he wanted to argue with Logan, but he snapped his mouth shut.
“You’re upsetting Logan,” I said slowly. “I don’t like that. Maybe you should go.”
“Bloom, it’s okay.” Logan brushed a lock of hair away from my face. “I’m sure Andrews has a good reason for being here.”
“Actually, I do. This young lady is Natasha Hastings with the Smoky Vale Star, and she’s here to write an article about what happened.”
“Aren’t there enough articles?” I’d scoured every one I could find to see which I’d been mentioned in. All of them.
“Not of me informing Bloom that the hospital will be honoring him this Saturday for his bravery that kept so many of our people alive during the hostage situation here at the hospital. That he was wounded protecting us must be rewarded and celebrated. We will present you with the hospital’s Golden Heart Award.”
I crinkled my nose. “But I don’t deserve an award. If anything, Logan should be recognized. I only wanted to save him. He was the reason I did what I did while he was ready to hand himself over to those other men to let the staff go. See? He’s a hero, but I’m a villain who would do anything to protect him.”
“That’s enough, sweetheart,” Logan said gently but firmly.
I exhaled loudly at his use of the endearment in front of others. Logan turned his glare back on Andrews, his jaw hardening in a way that made me grin despite the situation.
“You should go. Bloom will accept your award, but there will be no press.”
“That’s not for you to decide. You shouldn’t even be here. You’re on the verge of being fired!”
“I’m here in the capacity of his emergency contact. We have nothing more to say to you, Andrews. Come back without the press if you are serious about thanking him for what he’s done for this hospital.”
Andrews spluttered for a moment, his face turning a shade of red that matched his tie perfectly. “I’ll come back when you’re not here. Honestly, Dr. Simms was right about the hold you have over this young man. Let’s go, Natasha.”
As the door closed behind them, silence descended that was only broken by the slight hum of the hospital machinery. Logan’s grip on my hand tightened to the point of pain, and his knuckles turned white under the strain. That man had upset Logan.
“I can make him disappear, if you want,” I whispered. “You can decide if you want it to be quick or painful.”
Logan’s breath hitched. “What kind of question is that?”
“One that can solve your problem if you give me the right answer.”
His features softened, and Logan smiled. “You’d do it if I asked, wouldn’t you?”
I tilted my head back. “Are you asking?”
“Of course not, you adorable little gremlin. I can’t believe I’m touched that you’re willing to go that extra mile for me.” He chucked my chin. “But listen, Bloom. I’ll never ask you to do anything like that. Ever.”
“Even if I’m willing?”
“Even then.”
“Then what good am I?”
“More good than you realize,” Logan said so softly I had to strain to hear him.
“I guess there’s the sex.”
“I’m not talking about the sex either. You’re good enough just for being you.” He chuckled at my bewildered expression. “Just being with you, talking to you, holding you…loving you is enough.”