Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Her eyes cracked open. Her hand stretched out on the pillow beside her. A black pillow case. Silk. And her hand…her left hand…
There’s a ring on that hand.
She sat upright, fast, whipping up in the bed. She was naked. Naked in Logan’s bed. Wearing a ring on her left hand. Memories flooded through her mind.
She was…
They were…
“Good morning, my beautiful wife,” Logan’s voice boomed.
Married?
“No!” Charlotte jumped from the bed. Grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around her body in a flash.
From the doorway, a fully dressed Logan frowned.
“You’re right,” he said, nodding. “Not morning. It’s more like…
noon? No, afternoon. You certainly look gorgeous.
Love the sheet. High fashion at its finest.” He lifted the tray he held.
“Even though it’s afternoon, I brought you breakfast. The doctor said you’d be starving. ”
She remembered the doctor. Maybe in his seventies, kind eyes, intelligent face. He’d come to the hotel last night and thoroughly checked her out before revealing that she was in excellent shape.
Charlotte remembered the doctor.
She remembered waking up in the hospital bed. She remembered Logan being by her side. She remembered Jezebel coming to speak with them.
“I’ve got croissants for you. Some chocolate chip muffins, too. And orange juice.”
Logan thinks Jez wants him to kill the perp we are after.
She also remembered…
A wedding. At a drive-thru chapel.
“You…” Charlotte whipped back around and frowned at the bed. “We didn’t consummate the marriage.”
“Not last night. You were exhausted. Had to let you energize up so you could handle the big events.”
Her head jerked back toward him. “Where did you sleep?” Her eyebrows beetled at him.
“Uh, on my side of the bed? With the pillow between us?”
The pillow that she’d noticed as soon as she opened her eyes. The pillow her hand had been resting on.
“Someone had to watch over you while you slept.” He put the tray down on the nightstand. “I got pretty good at the job while you were in the hospital. But, future reference note, I never, ever want you winding up in a hospital again, understand? Zero injuries would be preferred for your future.”
“You watched me sleep?” Her nimble fingers snagged a chocolate chip muffin. What was she, made of stone? Chocolate chip muffins were the best, and this one was warm and tasty, and the chips melted in her mouth. She almost moaned.
“Don’t worry. I had a guard watching the preparation of all the food. No one will be drugging you again.”
She paused, mid-chew. “Thanks.” Mumbled around the muffin. “Thanks for that.” She finished chewing, but a bit more slowly because…
Drugging you.
“I only watched you sleep last night for a short while. Probably an hour, tops. Then I, too, had to sleep.”
He appeared disgustingly refreshed and put together. Fine, not disgustingly so. Sexily so. Black pants. Blue button-down. Top few buttons unbuttoned. Hair thick and dark. Eyes gleaming. Jaw freshly shaved so it was all smooth but still hard and strong and…
She grabbed a glass and gulped down the orange juice.
“All of your clothes and toiletries are in the suite.” Logan’s gaze watched her carefully. “Take a long shower when you’re done eating. Or go back to bed if you want. I can promise, you are protected here.” He turned on his heel and headed back for the open bedroom door.
She gaped after him. “That’s it?”
He looked back at her. “I’m sorry, do you want more? Should I get additional food brought up?”
One hand kept the sheet in place as she trudged toward him. “You married me!”
“Um, you married me.”
Same thing. “I’m wearing your grandmother’s ring!”
“Right. And you should meet Nana soon. Don’t worry. I’m sure she will love you.”
She… “Logan!”
“Yes?”
“You didn’t fuck me.”
“No.” A negative shake of his head.
“Why not?” She distinctly remembered crawling into the bed after the doctor left the suite, being all nervous and anticipating and he’d…
Put the pillow between them.
There had been no fucking. Zero. But he’d reached for her hand. She recalled that. He’d held her hand on top of the pillow that separated them until she’d fallen asleep.
A half-smile curved his lips. “Is that disappointment I detect in your voice?”
It damn well was.
“You’d been drugged, darling. You’d just gotten out of the hospital. You were exhausted.”
“Probably all reasons why I shouldn’t have gotten married,” she snapped back.
Slowly, he turned to fully face her. “Regrets?”
No. Correction, she regretted the no-sex part of the equation. But…
“Because if you woke up today and decided the marriage doesn’t work, then you still can get an annulment. Part of the whole no-sex reasoning for last night.”
“You said we were going to have sex. That was part of our terms.”
He closed the small bit of distance between them. His hand lifted. Pressed to her cheek. “You needed more energy.”
She felt plenty energized right then. Maybe because of the sleep she’d had. Or the muffin she’d eaten. Or because of the sexy man in front of her.
“You still have a way out right now,” Logan explained with no emotion in his voice.
“In case you woke up, all burdened by regret, you can get out.” A wry smile curved his lips.
“Look at me, offering to let you go. But do understand that it’s a one-time deal.
It’s my conscience, screaming at me, because it’s you. ”
What was he even talking about? Though it was great that he’d admitted to having a conscience. Something she’d already known, sure, but still wonderful for him to say the words.
“You can have your annulment. Provided you get it today. Because I’m planning that intense fucking we previously discussed.
I’m planning for it to happen at the first opportunity.
I’ve waited. I’ve given you time. I’ve given you rest. I’ve given you food.
” His hand lingered against her cheek “A man’s control can only last so long. ”
“I knew what I was doing when I said my vows in that drive-thru.” Wedding of her dreams?
Not quite. Then again, she’d never really thought about what her wedding might look like.
When you were always pretending to be someone else and your whole life was about working undercover, you didn’t give yourself a lot of time for dreams.
“Excellent news.” His thumb brushed over her lower lip. Slowly. Sensually. “You have a little bit of chocolate…” His eyes fell to her mouth. “Right here.”
Her lips parted more and then…
She closed her lips around his thumb. She sucked it.
His pupils flared. His face hardened. He…
Looks like he wants to devour me.
She sucked a bit harder on his thumb.
“Do you know what you are doing?” Logan growled.
She licked his thumb. Sucked a little longer. Then let go. “I knew what I was doing last night when I said ‘I do.’ Trust me, I am quite aware of what I am doing right now, too.” She was trying to seduce her husband. She wanted him naked. She wanted him tumbling back on that big bed with her.
She’d never crossed any lines on a mission before. But this wasn’t a mission any longer. She was married to Logan. For her, the wedding hadn’t just been pretend. For her, it had been…
A man who holds my hand in the dark.
A man who carries me away from danger.
Who stays at my hospital bed when no one else ever has done that.
“Charlotte…”
A bell pealed.
He swore. Long, inventively. Descriptively. With a lot of fucks.
He also backed away from her. “Have to get that,” he muttered even as his gaze burned with desire. “Unfinished business.” He took another step away from her.
She decided to let the sheet drop. Whoops. “Look how clumsy I am.”
“Fucking fuck.” He lunged toward her but caught himself. His hands fisted. His jaw locked.
The bell pealed again.
“Clumsy, my ass. You are perfect.”
“We’re married,” she said simply. “What’s mine…is yours.” Her body, his for the taking.
But…
What’s mine…is yours…
Horror had her mouth dropping. “We…we got married.”
Another pealing of the bell. It just kept ringing.
His eyes drank her in. “Damn straight we did.”
“You…you didn’t have me sign any prenup or anything.”
“Didn’t exactly want to take time for all of that. You might have changed your mind if you had thought about things too long.”
Her head shook, over and over. “But…but no prenup means…Logan, all of the stuff you own—”
He smiled at her. A slow, body-melting smile. “What’s mine…is yours.”
The bell rang again.
Logan sighed. “Jake is one determined bastard. Don’t put on clothes. Don’t leave the room. I’ll be right back.” Another long look at her body. “Right. Back.”
He left her. Shut the bedroom door with a hard jerk of his hand.
She stood there a moment, completely naked. Her eyes on the door.
She heard voices beyond the door. Logan’s voice. Jake’s.
Rushing, she grabbed another chocolate muffin. Gulped it down. Then she leapt for the bathroom. If she was having sex for the first time with Logan, she needed to shower. She needed to wash away the memory of the hospital and brush her teeth and get ready.
A first time should be perfect, shouldn’t it?
Her hands shook with nerves as she reached for a toothbrush.
This is the part of the story where Logan realizes I may be an experienced spy, but when it comes to other areas of my life…She still had a lot to learn. But something told her that he would be an exceptional teacher.
When it came to sex with Logan, Charlotte had very high expectations for her new husband.
Husband. Oh, wow. I actually married him.
Jezebel was going to freak out.