33. Logan
logan
I open my front door and shake my head. “No.”
“Hey!” Stetson’s foot stops the door from slamming shut in his face, and I groan against the weight of him pushing back, him and his six-pack. “Let me in!”
“I’m busy!” I yell back at my little brother, rolling my eyes at how he’s acting. I try to stomp on his foot.
“Dude! What the hell?” He gives another heave, and I feel a ghost pain radiate up my arm as my muscles twitch to hold him out.
“Ah!” I let go of the door suddenly as the pain holds me for a few seconds, and I have the brief satisfaction of my brother heaping onto the floor at the sudden loss of resistance.
Stetson stands while I massage my arm. Glaring at me, he stalks into the kitchen, me right on his heels.
He stutters to a stop at the sight he sees to the left when the living room comes into view .
“What’s all this?” Stetson’s eyes dart around from the candles on the coffee table, the roses that I picked up from the florists this afternoon, the wine I have set out so it can breathe, and the blankets spread out on the floor in front of the fireplace.
“It sure as hell isn’t for you,” I growl at him, my arm lifting to check my watch. “You need to leave. Thea will be home any minute.”
“Ooh, is this why you shipped my niece off?”
I roll my eyes at him, a tiny prick of guilt stinging me at his words. “I didn’t ship her off, she begged me to let her go with Dani and CT this weekend.”
It was their last show of the season, and Lue had been having so much fun shadowing Dani with her work that she was dying to see Dani show and compete too. It took a little convincing, but I trust my cousin.
Or cousins now.
“Sure, sure.” Stetson nods his head like he’s not about to be a jackass about something. “I was just swinging by to watch the game and talk about our miserable and lonely brother who at this minute is sitting at home with Mom, learning how to crochet.”
I frown at him, crossing my arms over my chest. “Learning to crochet?”
He shrugs. “Yup, guess you’ll never know what’s going on. Tell me.” He gestures to the space I’ve set up. “Are you going to propose?”
“Alright, enough.” I walk toward him and grip his arm, dragging him back the way he came.
I swing the door open, and Thea’s standing there, eyes wide and about to enter the house. She smiles when she sees my brother .
“Oh, hey, Stetson.” She takes a step inside, and I maneuver him out the door.
“Hello, Thea, looking beautiful today. Tell me, how’s your sister?”
Thea’s mouth opens to answer, but I slam the door in his face before she can reply.
Turning to me, she looks puzzled if not slightly amused. “That wasn’t very nice.”
“Trust me, he had it coming.” Realizing that she’s been in front of me for almost a full minute, and I haven’t reached for her, I grab her and pull her to me, locking her in my embrace and taking a full breath now that she is here. I hear her purse fall to the ground.
“Hi.” She smiles up at me, that slight shyness still there, but there’s also something else. A warmth in her smile when she shines it in my direction.
“Hello,” I say, leaning down and pressing my lips to hers. I mean for it to only be a quick peck, for us to only greet each other quickly.
But it turns into so much more when she opens her mouth below mine, and I deepen the kiss.
I never knew that it could be quite like this, that beyond the sexual tension with the person you loved was this intensity.
Thea’s arms wind around my shoulders, and I hold her to me closely, loving every minute of the feel of her in my arms.
I wasn’t lying when I told her that I had found affection for her the moment she took Lue under her wing and treated her with kindness.
I wasn’t lying when I said that I was just waiting for the right opportunity to come clean, to find a way for us to love each other wholly before I broached the subject.
If I had had any indication that we could have had this years ago, that she would have been ready for it, I would have leaped at the opportunity.
I break the kiss for a moment and pull her down the hall and into the living room. Her small gasp at the sight brings a smile to my lips, and I take the moment of her being distracted to relieve her of her sweater.
I didn’t dress up for the occasion, opting to shower quickly after work and just throw on some jeans and a T-shirt. I would dress up tomorrow night when I went to the bar for our Friday night dance.
“Logan, this is so sweet.” Thea’s voice is small as she takes in every little detail.
“I don’t get to do enough of this stuff for you, you deserve it.”
She shakes her head, her expression full of warmth and love. “You do everything for me.”
“Well, I want to do more. Because like it or not, you do a hell of a lot for me too.”
She was everything.
Thea had taken to living with us well, falling into our routines and making new ones for us that Lue and I both jumped on. Like breakfast in the mornings. We got to sit down for a few moments every morning and eat together as a family.
Not like a family.
As a family.
Because that’s exactly what we are.
I pull her into me again, stripping her of her shirt and me of mine, pulling us so our skin—mine on fire and hers slightly chilled—collides.
She kicks her shoes off and reaches for my belt, unbuckling it and undoing the buttons of my jeans .
Immediately at the feel of her, I’m ready to take her on the floor right here.
Which was my intention at first. However, the look in Thea’s eyes tells me that she has other plans, and what kind of husband would I be if I didn’t let my wife take the lead?
She takes my jeans down, and with them, she also falls to the floor on her knees. I stare down at her, now hard as steel as I watch the love of my life in this position.
How did I get this lucky?
Before I know what’s happening, she takes me in her mouth, and I have no choice but to grip her hair as my breath leaves me.
Thea moves like she’s done this before, and I can’t help but be grateful for the skill, even if no one else deserved this kind of treatment from her.
Not even I do, if I’m honest.
It doesn’t take long before I have no choice but to pull away from her and drop to my knees, kissing her hard and passionately, showing her with my actions what she’s doing to me.
I love this woman.
I love her.
I…
“I love you, Dorothy Cash.”
Her eyes lock onto mine, and a smile lights up her whole face. “I love you, too, Logan Cash.”
I nip at her lips, holding her head in place while I deliver each punishing kiss. “Tell me you’re mine. Tell me this is all real.”
“This is completely real.” Her eyes hold mine still, and they grow wet with tears. “So real that I’m terrified of losing it.”
“You’re not going to lose it.” I shake my head against hers, the heat of our bodies coming together and lighting us both on fire. “You’ll never lose me.”
A new determination lights her eyes, and she stands, looking over the blankets we’re on. “Lie back.”
Like an obedient man, I do, taking a moment to kick my boxers off all the way.
I lie there completely naked on the bed made of blankets, waiting for the woman who owns my heart and soul to do whatever she needs.
She takes her jeans off slowly, smiling slyly at me as she does, and I revel in the fact that she’s stripping herself of not just her clothes, but whatever walls she’s hid behind all these years. She’s not hiding anymore.
Next goes her bra, then her panties, and she comes to a stop right by me. “I’ve never done this before.”
“What’s that?” I ask in a hoarse voice. Just seeing her standing there naked, it makes me believe in fucking miracles.
“Felt the need to take charge.”
I can see it now. Just under her bravado is that sliver of fear that always lingers. I thought it was that she didn’t believe that we were real, but now I’m wondering what that bastard did to ever make her doubt herself.
“Come here, baby. Tell me exactly what it is you need.”
She stands over me, but then, shocking me, she climbs over my hips and straddles me, her core meeting mine and making me almost curse out loud. I grip her hips the moment I can reach them.
“I only need you,” she tells me right before she slides fully onto me. I groan loudly at the contact. It’s been way too long.
Thea refuses to sleep in the same bed as I do, even though each night we say good night, she looks at me longingly, like she doesn’t want to go into the guest room.
Because we don’t sleep in the same room, I have to sneak into hers and hold her each night, but she wasn’t ready to move past cuddling with my daughter just down the hallway.
So, it’s been a while, and with her little performance before this act, I feel like I’m about to blow my top with no hint of a warning.
For a few minutes, or seconds, but it feels like minutes, I let her lead, let her take control.
She moves her hips up and down, back and forth. Her nails grip my pecs, and I help move her along with my hands still on her hips. Her head tips back, and she moans, and that’s about the point where if I want to ensure that she comes, I need to move us a little.
Without warning her, because where is the sexiness in saying I’m about to lose it like a teenager if we don’t move, I sit up.
Her shocked eyes hold mine, and she smiles at me before pressing her lips to mine, drawing out the kiss and making me damn near woozy.
I encourage her legs to wrap around my waist, and I hold her to me tightly, my fingers moving to her center to rub right where she needs me too, but I’m not sure she needs that.
The forced proximity of our position feels damn near explosive, and I take charge of moving her hips and controlling the movements while she clings to me like she never wants to let go.
I never want her to let go.
I hold her close, letting her ride out her orgasm, and we come together without warning or pretenses.
Our breaths pant out together and still, we hold each other tight, her arms wrapped tightly around my head, my hands on her back and in her hair, my face resting on her chest with my mouth placing gentle, lingering kisses on her breasts as we come down.
And fuck, it’s damn near perfect.