Chapter 39
39
KATRINA
I wiggle my nose. Soft bedsheets brush against my skin; a silky, soothing sensation that leaves me tingling on the outside… while still tingling on the inside.
I tug the sheet down. Sunlight spills through the open curtains, bright and golden. I smile, eyes fluttering open as I stretch, waggling my fingers and toes.
A long, contented yawn escapes me as I glance around. The ceiling above. The furniture. The shape of the room.
Botsford Plaza Hotel. My home away from home.
I push myself upright; the sheets sliding off my naked chest as I scan the room. My dress lies pooled on the floor beside two pairs of shoes. Then there’s Logan’s jacket. His shirt. His pants.
Last night was…
I release a giddy laugh into the pillow, curling back into the warm cocoon of sheets.
Perfect.
Well, the Paul Monroe part I could’ve done without. But the rest?
Perfection.
A splash of yellow catches my eye on the nightstand. A glass of water with a sticky note attached.
GOOD MORNING, KITTY
I sit up and reach for the water. While I drink it, I glance at the empty spot on the bed beside me, then at the closed bathroom door across the suite.
The shower’s running.
Still smiling, I slide out of bed. My bare foot lands on something smooth—another yellow sticky note, trapped beneath my toe.
FOLLOW ME
My heart does a happy little leap. A trail of sticky notes leads from the bed toward the bathroom. I follow them, my steps light and bouncy.
A final note is stuck to the bathroom door.
JOIN ME
I laugh, then push open the door. Steamy heat rushes out to kiss my skin. Through the fogged glass of the shower, I can just make out a silhouette.
Tall. Lithe.
Mine.
I walk toward the shower, watching the way his muscles move as he lathers soap through his dirt-blond hair. I open the glass door quietly and step inside, letting my gaze rake over every inch of him before I announce my arrival.
I do it with a caress. Both palms flat against his back, gliding from his shoulder blades to the trim of his waist.
His head lifts, but he doesn’t turn. He lets me wrap around him, pressing my chest to his back.
“Good morning,” I greet.
His fingers find mine, squeezing gently. His laugh is soft and warm in my ear as he says, “Good morning.”
“How do you feel?”
“Honestly?” His chest rises and falls stiffly. “I don’t know.”
I circle around to face him. Water cascades over me, chasing away sleep, lighting up my skin as I loop my arms around his neck. “Why not?” I ask, reveling in the heat of our bodies, the skin-on-skin contact that wakes up every nerve ending. “I thought you’d be ecstatic.”
“Oh, I am.” His smile is wide. “Waking up naked next to you is the very definition of ecstasy.”
“Not about me.” I tilt closer, brushing my lips over his. “How does it feel to be the lead singer of the best band in the nation?”
Logan smiles, but it flickers. “Did that really happen?” he asks.
I kiss him. “Yes, Logan. It really happened. You went head-to-head with Criminal Records, and the people spoke.” I deepen the kiss, letting him feel me. “The era of The Electrics is here. Enjoy it.” I arch a brow. “Even though you cheated.”
His jaw drops, faux offended. “Excuse me?”
“What?”
“You think we cheated?”
“I know you did.”
“Okay, kitty. Explain.”
“Your last song,” I say, my toes curling just thinking about it.
He smirks. “What about it?”
“You told me it wasn’t for the Battle of the Bands. That it was for you.”
“It was. But then…” He pulls me in, kissing my bare shoulder with devastating tenderness. “I hurt you,” he says. “I got you back, but it wasn’t enough. I had to show you how much I adore you. Figured... might as well tell the world while I was at it.”
I blush in his embrace. “See?” I tease. “Cheater.”
Logan growls softly and grips my waist, pushing me back against the slick wall.
“I think...” His eyes darken, “someone’s just a sore loser.”
“Not at all,” I say, my voice hitching as I feel his cock pressing hard against me. “In fact, I don’t think I lost anything at all. Do you?”
He studies me, then smiles. “No,” he says. “You didn’t.”
He kisses me, full of promise and fire. Our bodies rock together, friction causing sparks.
“How do you feel?” he says. “Waking up naked next to the lead singer of the best band in the nation?”
I snort. “Meh.”
“ Meh ?”
“Well, my band lost, so… my ego is very, very bruised.”
“Is that right?” He takes my lips, bruising them, too. “Let’s see what we can do about that...”
Logan drops to his knees.
I laugh in surprise as he lifts one of my legs, propping it over his shoulder, forcing me into alignment with his mouth.
I gasp, then moan, as his tongue meets my flesh. I grab the shower bar behind me, struggling to stay upright as he devours me. No hesitation, no mercy.
Every breath, every heartbeat pushes me further toward the edge. I grip Logan’s hair with one hand, holding him in place, moaning for him to suck me harder, lick me faster, kiss me deeper.
My body bucks as I pant his name. “Lo—gan?—”
He doesn’t stop. Not when I come. Not when I shudder and shake. Not when my hand knots in his hair and I beg him, gasping, to go deeper, faster, harder.
I lose track of the water, the steam, the air. All I know is the sensation—the storm he creates, the way he wrecks me. Again and again.
That’s how it feels to love Logan Shock. To be loved by him in return.
It’s not like the books. Not like the movies. It’s not soft or safe or sweet.
It’s a beautiful corruption. A rebellion.
And I like it.
“Good kitty,” he says, licking the sweetness off my thighs.
He kisses up my body, slowly rising to his feet. He bites and sucks at my nipples, his hands groping and greedy, and I tremble against him, wanting more. Wanting everything .
“Logan,” I whisper, pulling him in for a kiss that tastes as wonderful as it does sinful. “Take me.”
His hand glides down my side, hooking under my thigh to raise it. He pins me to the wall with the solid heat of his body. “No condoms here,” he growls—a warning.
“Risk it,” I breathe. “Please. I need you.”
His eyes close for a second, the temptation far too sweet. “I’m a bad influence on you, kitty.”
Passion crashes over us both as he guides his cock to my entrance.
The thick head pushes into me and I gasp—the feel of his raw flesh on mine is even better than expected. I brace myself against the wall, my arms curling around his shoulders as he fills me.
He fucks me slow at first, deep and steady, each movement sending pleasure rippling through me. Logan latches onto me, groaning low with each breath, each thrust, and the sound pushes me closer to the edge.
“Fuck,” he whispers.
He takes me harder, faster, the wall rough against my back. I moan helplessly as another climax builds like a crashing wave. I squeeze him from the inside, memorizing every inch of him as he fucks me like he’s never letting me go.
I come with an inferno of heat. My whole body tightens, straining in his arms, only to melt apart again. Completely undone, I trust him to hold me up, to keep me together.
As I’m still floating down, Logan pulls out. He strokes himself, fast and firm, and comes on my belly—thick, hot ropes of it washing away beneath the falling water.
“Sorry, kitty,” he says with a crooked grin. “But you’re a good influence on me, too.”
I laugh, my body tingling all over again. “Oh, I’m definitely getting on birth control.”
“Fuck yes, you are.”
Logan slides back into me, his cock spent but still hard. He crushes his mouth to mine, claiming me, and I let him. I give him all of me. I think—no; I know —he’ll give me all of him, too.
After our showers—one for sin, one for soap—we take our time getting dressed. I slip into my sundress just as my phone buzzes on the nightstand.
“Wow,” I say, reading the message.
“What?” Logan asks from the edge of the bed, eyes glued to his phone.
“Update from Harmony,” I say. “Apparently Monroe had six figures tied up in bets on The Battle of the Bands. He put it all on The Electrics—that’s why he was so determined to break up Criminal Records. He needed you guys to win.”
Logan looks up, brow tightening with irritation. “So, he won in the end,” he says bitterly. “Made off like a fucking bandit, too.”
“Nope.” I grin. “After he ran off, he changed his bet at the last minute. Put everything on Criminal Records winning.”
Logan’s eyes snap to mine, brighter now. “He did?”
“That’s what Harmony heard from her mother,” I say, tossing my phone back onto the table. “He’s even broker today than he’s ever been.”
Logan goes still for a beat, then cracks a smile. “Today is a good day, isn’t it?”
“A very good day.” I chuckle as his phone buzzes again in his hand. “Priscilla?”
Logan sighs, his smile falling as he glances down.
His phone hasn’t stopped since we got out of the shower.
Offers. So many offers.
Exclusive interviews. Talk shows. Podcasts.
And contracts. A deluge of contracts.
Every record label from LA to NYC wants The Electrics.
“Goldie and Tesla don’t care what we do, so I guess it’s up to me,” he says, rubbing a hand down his face, the weight of the choice pressing in on him. “Sugar Sound is begging us to come back.”
I twist in the mirror, giving the back of my dress a quick glance. “You think you’ll sign with them again?”
“Prissy wants us to,” he says. “They’ve offered the most so far. Money-wise, at least.”
I hear the hesitation in his voice. “But?”
He looks at me. “Well, Sugar Sound is in New York.”
“Right,” I say. “That’s your home.”
“It is.”
I turn away from the mirror and step toward him. “What’s wrong with New York?”
“Nothing,” he says as I stop between his knees. “I love New York. It took me in when no one else would. It’s where I met Goldie and started all of this.”
“So… what’s wrong with New York?”
He looks up, hands sliding to my hips. “It doesn’t have you.”
I smile, soft and a little sad. “Guess we haven’t thought this part through yet, huh?”
“I didn’t want to,” he admits. “Now that I have you, the idea of being away from you…” He shakes his head. “I don’t think I can take it.”
I kiss his forehead. He sighs, his fingers tightening just slightly around my waist.
“Might be something we have to get used to,” I say. “Sometimes you’ll be on tour. Or I’ll be on tour. And we’ll both be in and out of studios, recording. It’s part of the deal.”
“Midnite Music sent an offer,” he says, looking up at me. “If we sign with them, I’d have every excuse to be in LA. To come see you here in Vegas.”
“Don’t make this decision for me, Logan,” I say gently, running my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “Do what’s right for you. For your girls.”
“You are one of my girls,” he says, his eyes on the lightning bolt pin attached to my dress. “Don’t forget that. Even if I’m recording three thousand miles away. Or playing in Germany.”
“Germany?”
“Priscilla mentioned something about a world tour,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Once Tessie’s legal stuff is cleared up—which might be sooner rather than later.” He chortles. “Ms. Walsh says the DA isn’t even considering charges. Can you believe that?”
“Don’t look too disappointed now,” I say. “That’s great news.”
“It is,” he says. “It’s just… if I’d known it wouldn’t have mattered, I wouldn’t have let Monroe…” He sighs, disappointed in himself.
I kiss him again, to comfort him, to ease the ache forming in my chest. Because the thought of being apart from him—from Goldie and Tesla—hurts more than expected. The hard studio days. The long nights on the road.
Without him… it’ll be agony.
“But you’re right,” he says, exhaling hard. “I should think about what’s best for everyone. Not just myself.” He wraps his arms tighter around me, resting his forehead against me. “I just wish there was a way I could have everything. The money. The freedom. The fame.” He lifts his eyes. “You.”
Lightning crashes in my mind, sharp and sudden.
A perfect, obvious path illuminates right in front of me, showing the way.
It’s perfect. It’s…
Oh, Knox is gonna kill me.
“Logan,” I say.
“Hmm?” he murmurs, voice muffled against my stomach.
“What if... there was?”