Chapter Thirty-One
T ris was already smiling when she opened her eyes. It began because she didn’t think she’d ever felt so comfortable as she did this morning. It was enough to turn her into a morning person. The peace, the quiet, the fresh air from the open window, were the perfect ambiance, as far as she was concerned. And this simple, secluded house in the Texas hills might just be the perfect place.
But the most perfect thing of all, of course, was the feel of Logan’s arms around her, of his long, strong body pressed against her, of the luscious warmth of him. Not that it was cold, even at this early hour—this was Texas in June after all. But it was cool enough that she could savor that warmth…and everything else he’d given her last night. Lying naked under the sweep of stars, while his hands and mouth and body made her feel as if she were soaring among them.
Face it, he drove you starkly, utterly, completely mad last night.
That was another thing the seclusion of this place offered—there was no need to be…quiet.
She felt a different kind of heat rising, a self-conscious sort of flush as she remembered her own cries last night. And how every time one broke from her it seemed to make him wilder, which drove her further, until they were both on the edge of being out of control.
Or maybe over that edge.
She felt Logan’s arms tighten around her, just slightly, as a sleepy sort of murmur came from him. “Mmm.”
And then he went suddenly very still. Almost rigid.
Not as rigid as one part of him last night, though.
She nearly laughed embarrassedly at herself; she wasn’t used to having thoughts like that. But after last night, everything had changed.
She had changed.
“I thought I’d dreamed it.” The words he whispered in her ear took her breath away.
She shifted so that she could reach up to touch his face. “If this is a dream, I don’t ever want to wake up.”
He kissed her then, long and deep, a prelude to revisiting that wildness in each other they’d discovered last night.
It was much later, when a different kind of hunger drove them to scavenge what they could in his kitchen, that she paused and looked out the wide bank of windows that looked out over the Hill Country. The expanse was beautiful, and to her the peace and solitude of it soothed her soul.
“This place is…perfect,” she whispered to herself. “Just perfect.”
“You mean that?”
She’d sensed him coming up behind her, but didn’t care if he heard her words. “I mean it completely. It’s as close to my idea of paradise as anyplace I’ve ever been.”
There was a second of silence, as if he were gathering himself. When he spoke she understood why, because he said, “Then stay.”
She went very still. Then, slowly, she turned to look up at him. All beautiful six feet of him. “Are you asking me to…move in?”
“I thought we could at least…try.”
“Oh, we’ll do better than try, Logan Fox.” She almost purred it as she put her arms around his neck. “Thank you. For asking.”
He gave her the crooked smile she’d come to love. “Thank your brother.”
“Jackson?”
“He’s the one who told me he wished I would…help you build a new ship.”
It was so like her brother her eyes stung with tears for a moment. Then, smiling through it, she said, “Well, at least you don’t have to go ask for his approval, since he’s already given it.”
“Thank goodness,” he said, rather fervently.
To her the next week flew by. They spent it all together, alone, savoring the isolation that she knew would drive some mad. Logan postponed two routine appointments until the next week, just so they didn’t have to emerge from this wonderful cocoon they’d built together.
This new ship we’re getting ready to launch, Jackson.
She thought briefly of the other scars she’d found on him, besides the one that was always visible on his face—which was from a laceration when his mother had tossed him in that dumpster, he’d finally told her—and the one he’d said had been a hot iron learning experience. Smaller, round marks that she knew all too well from one of her students who’d been pulled out of an abusive home. Cigarette burns. Longer, thin marks across his back, which told her he’d been whipped until he’d bled at some point.
She had kissed and stroked every one of them, and told him in every way she could think of, both physical and verbal, what they meant to her as proof of just how strong he was.
One morning she woke up to find him gone from what she was now thinking of as their bed, and for a moment she felt a qualm. But she remembered something he’d said yesterday, almost to himself, about going back out to the workshop to finish…something, she didn’t know what since the words had faded away as he looked at her, and they’d ended up on the couch in the great room.
But he had been out there a few times, although not for long, and she’d thought it best to give him that time alone. She’d decided before she’d even moved in here that she was never going to assume there was a problem. She knew he needed time alone, just as she did, and she wasn’t going to be offended if he took some of it. She was just glad that for him, as for her, simply being quiet in the same room together was enough. He’d told her that, just last night, that she soothed him as much as that quiet time did.
She got up, smiling at the memory. They were indeed building, and building well. She quickly dressed, ran a brush through her hair before she pulled it back in a tail at the back of her neck. She went for the coffee he’d put on earlier, and thought about going out to the workshop, wondering if it would be intruding.
Even as she thought it she heard steps on the porch. A moment later the front door swung open. Logan stopped when he spotted her up and at the kitchen counter. He had something in his hand, and it seemed almost like he was trying to hide it.
“Logan?”
She saw him take a deep breath, then he said, “It’s kind of silly, but I know you love them and…you said maybe I should try something like this myself…”
His voice trailed off, and at last he lifted the thing and held it out to her.
It was a bluebonnet. A Texas bluebonnet, forged in gleaming Texas steel yet as delicate as the real flower that exploded across the Hill Country every spring. Her very favorite flower. She stared at what he had done, more than a little stunned. The belt buckles had been a hint at what he could do, but this…this was genius.
The main stem was sturdy, the blossoms that burst all around it looked impossibly graceful, as if they would move in the slight whiff of air. The tiny petals curved perfectly, like the sun bonnets they were named for, and the overall shape was the same familiar cylinder with the burst of blossom at the top. He’d even managed to show the change in color pattern on each petal by a change in the texture of the metal.
“I thought you might…like it.”
Only when he finally spoke did she realize she’d been staring, motionless, in wonder. She reached out and took the stem, the weight of the piece reminding her that no matter how delicate and fragile this looked, it was not. And she let every bit of that wonder echo in her voice when she shifted her gaze to his face.
“You took my breath away, Logan. It’s…wonderful. It doesn’t even look possible, but there it is.”
“It…reminds me of you. Beautiful. Fragile-looking, but underneath as strong as steel.”
That easily, she melted inside yet again. And she spent the rest of the day telling him how much she loved it. And him.
And spent that night showing him.
It wasn’t until she got a text on Thursday evening that reality intruded on their bliss, but in a good way. It was from Nic, and it was more along the lines of a demand than a request.
Meet us at the saloon tomorrow for the Friday night get-together. BOTH of you!
A moment later that was followed by a second text.
Do it or Jackson will be out there pounding on the door to check on you.
“Well, I don’t want your brother mad at me,” Logan said when she showed him the messages.
She’d been half afraid he’d say no, that he wasn’t ready for this. Or maybe he didn’t realize this would be, in essence, going public. Not, she thought with a smile she had to hide, that she didn’t figure most of Last Stand already knew anyway. She not only didn’t care, she was delighted.
And as she was getting ready the next evening, she silently made one last acknowledgment.
I’m going to be fine, David. Better than fine. Thank you. For everything.
She took in a deep breath, glanced at herself in the mirror, then nodded firmly.
It was time to launch this new ship.