Chapter 2 #2
He wouldn’t have to worry about being arrested. Evan would simply pull out his gun and shoot him.
Lacy was the one to break the kiss as her orgasm began to wane. She panted, her eyes resting on his face unseeingly. He wasn’t sure where her climax had taken her, but she wasn’t back yet.
It gave him some time to consider what had just happened. He’d just finger-fucked Lacy to an orgasm. And he hadn’t been gentle about it.
This was Evan’s little sister. Not only did the promise they’d made to each other all those years ago hover in the air like a swarm of killer bees, but so did the fact that Evan knew him, knew what he liked in the bedroom too well. He’d never approve of this.
He shouldn’t do this.
No. He couldn’t do this.
He slowly dragged his fingers out of her, her pussy walls fluttering against them. She would feel like heaven on his dick. They sat in silence for a few moments as he gave her time to recover. And himself time to figure out how to end this without hurting her feelings.
“Lacy—”
She shook her head and placed a quick kiss on his lips. “No. Don’t say it. We both know the reasons we shouldn’t do this. There’s no need to list them.”
“I shouldn’t have started it. Shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”
Lacy grinned and gave him a friendly shrug. “You don’t really expect me to complain, do you? I’m still sort of flying high from that orgasm.”
He chuckled. Leave it to Lacy to take what should have been a damn awkward situation and make it funny.
“My relationship with Jane…it ended badly.”
“Okay.” The word belied the tone. Lacy didn’t understand. “So…the timing is bad?”
He shook his head. He was over Jane before she’d pulled away from the curb.
Maybe he should feel guilty about that, but she hadn’t shed any tears either.
As far as breakups went, theirs had been as lackluster as the last year of the relationship.
If anything, she’d fucked up his head more than his heart.
“No. Not really. After she left, I took some time to reevaluate my life, my priorities. To decide what I want and need.”
Jane was everything he’d always thought he wanted in a woman. Sophisticated, stylish, elegant, educated. She wasn’t from Maris. She was big city. Prep school. And a far cry from every woman in town.
Evan claimed Logan had been attracted to her because she reminded him of Yvette.
Yvette had been the first woman to expose his penchant for BDSM.
While their affections hadn’t been engaged, their sexual attraction had been off the charts.
Yvette and Jane had many similar attributes and, looking back, Logan figured his friend had probably been right.
He probably had homed in on Jane and thought she was the complete package.
Sexual attraction and love. He thought he’d found both in her.
Jane was an artist, a sculptor, and they’d spent hours together following their creative endeavors and sharing their love for the work. She had been attentive, intellectual, interesting. He’d fallen for her hard.
However, the chemistry they shared initially had morphed into something much less chemical—although it was certainly toxic—over the years. He had believed her the perfect submissive to his dominant tendencies because in the beginning, she had let him believe that she shared the same interests.
As more time passed, Jane began to balk at his sexual requests until finally, at the end, she acted as if he were a monster anytime he suggested bondage or a sensual spanking or wax play.
That was when he’d discovered she had started a long-distance, online flirtation with an old boyfriend.
Apparently, the guy convinced her BDSM was something enjoyed by sociopaths, so she packed her bags.
“And I don’t fit the bill?” Lacy asked. “As far as these needs go?”
Logan was worried if they took these explorations much further, he’d discover that she fit perfectly. But what would happen a few years down the road? Would she still feel the same? He never wanted to be a monster in Lacy’s eyes.
“Evan.” He merely spoke her brother’s name. More for himself than her.
She rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe that stupid bro code thing is still in effect. You guys made that silly promise when you were in high school. We’re all adults now.”
He needed to explain, needed her to understand why, though the promise they’d made back then had been based on something childish and immature, it still remained today.
Because of the man he’d become, because of his need for control.
Evan knew way too much about Logan’s bedroom habits.
He wouldn’t like the idea of his sister on the receiving end of them, even if she did enjoy them.
And given Lacy’s responses to him tonight, Logan was pretty sure she’d love submitting to him. For now.
“I’m not an easy man to be with, Lacy. Evan knows that.”
She frowned, obviously confused. “Evan is your best friend. He loves you, Logan. I hardly think that would be the case if you were an asshole or something.”
“I just got out of a relationship where I basically had to shut away a big part of who I was. I spent years denying my needs in the name of love. When Jane left, I swore I wouldn’t do that again. Wouldn’t pretend to be anything other than the man I am.”
“I’m not asking you to change. I would never do that. I’m not even asking for a relationship, Logan. Just a hookup.”
Her words were a lie. He knew her well enough to understand that. But Lacy knew him, too, which was why she knew exactly what to say right now to diffuse the situation. She thought that by convincing him the stakes were low, he’d give in.
Logan forced himself to look at Lacy and he recognized something that he should have seen right from the start. Something that had been there for years.
Lacy loved him. She had always loved him.
And he’d ignored it. First because she’d been too young and because she’d been Evan’s sister, and then because he’d been in love with Jane. Seeing it now only drove home exactly how high the stakes were.
That realization gave him the strength to say the hardest words he’d ever uttered. “It’s not going to happen, Lacy. Ever.”
Her eyes narrowed with anger and frustration. “Because of that stupid promise?”
He shook his head. He owed her the truth. Total honesty. Even if it did shock her.
His sex drive was too strong for her. And right now, it was on system overload. He’d spent the last few years of his life playing Missionary Man and feeling like an ogre for wanting more. He couldn’t go back to that. Not even for Lacy. He’d explode.
“No. Because I’m not going to lay you down on my bed and make love to you like I’m Prince fucking Charming.
If I took you to my bed, I’d fuck you hard, Lacy.
Tie you down. Clamp your nipples. Gag you.
Spank your ass with my hand, my belt. Take your mouth, your pussy, your ass.
I’d make demands I would expect you to obey and if you didn’t, I’d punish you.
I couldn’t just love you, Lacy. I’d claim you.
Body and soul. That’s what I would want from you. ”
Her mouth gaped, but no sound emerged.
“I need to leave, Lacy. Now.”
“But—”
“Have you ever been tied up?”
She shook her head.
“Fucked in the ass?” His question was deliberately crude. He needed to make her see reason.
Again, she shook her head. “But I—”
“You need to get out of this truck while you still can. While I can still let you.”
“Logan—”
“Now!” he shouted.
Lacy jerked at the anger in his voice, then slowly slid across the seat and reached for the door handle. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, no doubt with fear.
Maybe now she’d give up on this schoolgirl crush and turn her attention toward a nice man who could give her everything she needed, who would put her on a pedestal and treat her the way she deserved.
He couldn’t be that man. He had tried for Jane and it had nearly killed him.
She slammed the truck door behind her. Logan started the engine, ignoring the way his hands trembled. He waited until she’d entered her building and then he pulled away from the curb.
In the past, it hadn’t been difficult to say goodbye to her, to watch Lacy walk away. Now, it took every ounce of strength he had not to follow her inside.
Nine years earlier…
“Y’all played really good tonight,” Lacy said, leaning against Logan’s truck.
Logan lifted an amp and placed it in the truck bed. “Thanks. What are you doing out here?”
“Waiting for my cousin, Paige. She’s my ride. She’s inside flirting with some guy. Thought I’d give her space to work.”
Logan laughed. “That’s real nice of you.”
“Was sweet of y’all to play a song for my birthday.” Lacy hadn’t been able to take her eyes off him all night. She loved watching him knock out a deep beat on the bass.
“Not every day our girl turns eighteen.”
She sighed. The older Logan got, the more he treated her like a kid sister. It was starting to get annoying. “So, I was thinking maybe you could give me my other present.”
Logan’s forehead crinkled. “I’m sorry, Lace, but I didn’t buy you anything.”
She grinned and stepped closer. “No, nothing like that. You said you’d kiss me when I turned eighteen.”
His confusion grew. “I did? When?”
“That day on my back porch when I was crying because Missy had kissed Bucky.”
The light went on. “That’s not exactly what I said.”
“You said you’d kiss me on my eighteenth birthday if nobody else had. Well, I’m here to tell you I’ve been kissed by a bunch of nobodies.”
“Forget it. That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
She crossed her arms. “I don’t want to forget it. You promised.”
“Be reasonable, Lacy.”
“It’s my birthday. Please?”
Logan glanced around the dark parking lot. The community dance had wound down. Most people had gone home, and now there were only a few folks left inside, cleaning up the mess.
“Fine.” He leaned forward and placed a quick buss to her forehead. “There. Happy birthday.”
She lifted one shoulder in a dismissive shrug, not bothering to hide her disappointment. “Whatever, Logan. I was hoping to finally get a kiss from someone who knew what he was doing, but obviously, you’re as clueless as every other guy I’ve ever kissed.”
He moved toward her, caging her against his truck as his hands rested on the roof of the Chevy. “You think taunting me will get you your kiss, little girl?”
She hadn’t really expected it to work until he moved. Now, she wasn’t so sure. “Yeah. I do.”
“Your brother is going to kick my ass for this.”
“I won’t tell,” she whispered a mere second before his lips touched hers.
Lacy didn’t possess blinders when it came to Logan.
She had watched him far too closely her entire life.
She’d seen him kiss other girls, seen the way he cupped their faces, pulled them close and took control.
Hell, she’d seen him do a lot more than kiss them, though she certainly wasn’t going to tell him about that.
He didn’t do any of that with her. The kiss was sweet, gentle, and excruciatingly boring. His tongue touched hers only once, a brief stroke, and then he pushed away.
Then he practically dared her to complain with serious eyes that said she wouldn’t get anything else from him tonight. Her heart refused to add the word “ever” to that thought.
Logan didn’t think she was ready for him. But one day, he would change his mind about that. She’d make sure he did.