Chapter 16 - Logan
Sixteen
Logan
For a full hour, I watch Sierra perform feat after feat that make me sweat.
“I’m going to push myself a little. Tension.”
She leaps—her whole body leaving the rock as she grasps for a tiny ledge above her. She misses, and my heart stutters. Did she pull stunts like this while tethered to the dickwad who unclipped himself?
“Be careful,” I call up to her.
She tries again, swinging up by one arm, her powerful legs driving her upward in a tremendous jump. She knows she’s testing my limits; I can see it in the way she glances down before and after each insane move, reading my face, flashing that mischievous smirk when she catches my shock or fear.
Another wild move, another heart-stopping drop. When she finally comes down, her eyes sparkle, her cheeks flushed and glowing from the climb. She takes my breath away.
She turns to me with that same wicked smile. That damned smile.
“Belay off,” I say, then stride toward her.
“What did you think—”
I cut her off with my lips.
She doesn’t hesitate. She throws her arms around me and kisses me back.
Finally.
It is the word that keeps repeating over in my head as we kiss and kiss and kiss. How long have I dreamed about kissing this girl again? This feels more right than any other kiss in my life. This is what I have been missing. I have been searching for years for this feeling. No. For her.
Her fingertips brush under my shirt and trace achingly sweet whispers along my skin. I am shaking with desire.
“You liked my climbing that much, huh?” she teases breathlessly as I kiss down her neck.
“It was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” I growl against her skin.
She shivers. “This is probably the most enthusiastic performance review I’ve ever received,” she continues.
My eyes roll to the back of my head as her nails gently dig into my hair and scrape my scalp. “It had better be.”
Her answering giggle quickly turns into a sigh when I suck against the curve of her graceful neck. Her skin tastes sweet and a little salty from sweat. I lick a line up her neck and nibble lightly on her jaw. “Please don’t tell me you were doing things like that with that asshole belaying for you.”
“I stopped once I realized he wasn’t going to catch me.”
Rage surges through me. I steal my hands under her shirt, her sun-warmed skin smooth beneath my palms. I press my forehead to hers. “What if you had fallen?”
“I didn’t.”
More rage spreads, crisp and hot, like little flames all over my skin. I breathe deep from my diaphragm. I imagine calm, peaceful lakes. All the techniques I shored up over the past five years. But then I imagine this asshole letting her fall. My heart rate spikes again.
“You could have. You didn’t notice any red flags before you trusted him with your life?
Did you report him? No? You’re just going to let him get away with it?
People like that always get away with everything.
It is so fucking—” I stop, shutting down my anger so forcefully, I feel almost dizzy. “I’m sorry,” I breathe.
She looks at me curiously. “You really are still angry all the time. Have you tried finding a different route?”
“What?”
Her fingers traced up my back in a soothing motion.
“I’ve been thinking about what we talked about, why I love climbing.
How it’s shaped my thinking. I think you could benefit from that way of thinking too.
You’ve gotten better at suppressing your anger, but you still try to force everything to match your expectations.
It’s not a failure if it doesn’t perfectly match how you envisioned it. There are other paths.”
“He could have killed you, Sierra.”
“We can’t control what other people do, but things can still work out for the best. For example, if that hadn’t happened with Dave, I wouldn’t have ended up here, with you. It wasn’t perfect, or even good, but it brought me back to you.”
I crush her to me. “Don’t make me feel grateful toward fucking Dave,” I whisper. “That guy deserves to fall off a cliff himself. After I push him.”
“I’m okay, Logan.” Her lungs expand when mine do. She’s breathing with me. The rage simmers down to a low burn.
“I know. Jesus, you’re incredible. I’ve never seen anyone so fearless. But you scared me to death, watching you swing yourself around like Donkey Kong after telling me that.”
“I was going for more of a Tiny Kong vibe,” she says, grinning. “You know, the little female monkey that spins her hair to fly like a helicopter?”
She twists her head side to side so her ponytail whirls in a circle. It’s so unexpectedly cute that I can’t help but press my lips against hers. Our kiss is slow, sweet, perfect.
“I’ve missed you so much, baby,” I murmur.
With a shuddering breath, she pulls back from me. “Logan, stop. I know what I said, but…not like that.”
“I want you back,” I blurt. So much for gentle persuasion. “I’ve never stopped wanting you. You belong here with me, in Sagebrush.” I kiss the tip of her ear and whisper, “With me, in my bed.”
I feel the shiver of desire moving through her, but her face looks pained. “Logan, I’m so proud of what you’ve accomplished and the life you’ve built—”
“That you can be a part of.”
“I don’t want us to hurt each other again.”
“We won’t. I swear I’ll be good. I’ll let you win every argument.”
“Every argument?” She quirks an eyebrow at that. “That’s a recipe for a healthy relationship?”
“Maybe not,” I concede. I am overwhelming her again, pushing and pushing just like when I convinced her to take the job and stay in my house. I need to dial it back down. “You said you want me. What would you like this to be? I’m open to whatever.”
She hesitates, as her emotions seem to war within her.
And I wait, and wait, and wait, touching every bit of her that I can while I still can.
She leans into my touch, her eyelashes fluttering before a look of realization snaps her eyes open again.
She glares at me with an I know what you’re doing look as I rub her sumptuous backside.
“It’s getting late,” she says finally. “If you want a turn climbing, we should get started.”
“We can go slow,” I murmur. I brush my mouth softly over hers, and she sighs. “Let me take you on a date.”
“I think that would be a bad idea,” she says, but her voice is uncertain. She leans forward and inhales my scent, undermining her refusal. She clearly wants me as much as I want her, so why is she fighting this?
I walk us back a few steps until we’re leaning against a large boulder.
I press her against it, trapping her between my arms. Her breath catches and her eyes dilate at the intimate position.
She looks so beautiful. Thoroughly kissed, swollen lips, dazed expression, messy hair where I dug my fingers into her ponytail.
“What would be a good idea?” I ask.
“Probably nothing,” she sighs. “No-strings-attached sex where no one suspects anything? Is it too late for that?”
She looks so hopeful that I bite back my laugh. The strings are so viciously knotted around us, there’s no hope of ever getting them unwound.
But we could pretend. It would be a start. “No, it’s not too late.” I kiss her gently. “One order of a no-strings-attached, secret affair coming right up.”
She groans. “It’s a bad idea. Mark this day, Logan. I did warn us. But…fuck it.”
She seals her lips to mine, her tongue stroking inside my mouth. I groan and deepen the kiss. It’s too good. Too perfect. She hitches her leg over my hip and grinds against me. We both grunt in pain from the harnesses digging into our bellies.
“Come on. Let’s head back.” I want to take my time to worship and cherish every inch of her. I want her in my bed at home, where she belongs.
“No one’s around,” she says mischievously.
“How much more clandestine can we get?” She pulls up my shirt and fixes her mouth to my chest, brushing soft kisses against my pecs.
Her ponytail tickles against my chin. I pull off my shirt so I can watch her.
“Please tell me you have a condom,” she says breathlessly.
“No. I don’t suppose you’re on birth control?”
Sierra let out a desperate laugh. “I’m a dirtbag. You think I have health insurance?”
“Sierra, you don’t have health insurance?” I say, appalled. “You do dangerous stuff—”
“Live fast, die young. You can get angry about my irresponsible insurance portfolio later. Kiss me.”
I sigh, then catch her lips with mine. “I’ll add you to ours,” I say before I press open-mouth kisses to the hollow above her collarbone.
“You don’t need to do that. It’s a temp job, Logan.”
“I’ve got protection at the house,” I say. “Let me take you home.”
“Come on, Golden Boy,” she teases. “We don’t need condoms. We can be creative.”
She steps back from me and glances around the open-air canyon.
I can read her so well. That small hesitation, her breath quickening with excitement, the temptation to do something risky too great.
My heart thuds heavily. She’s still a bad girl at heart, yes, but now she’s my bad girl.
Her eyes are hooded as she stares at me intently before lifting off her tank top. Then she reaches for her bra.
It doesn’t come off as smoothly. The sports bra sticks, and we both laugh a little as I try to extract her from it. I tug and tug and then finally her breasts pop free.
My mouth goes dry. Her breasts look so soft.
My hands itch to squeeze them, but I hold off.
They’re too beautiful not to take a moment to appreciate them.
I study their flawless shape—tear-shaped with a slight, mouthwatering roundness on the top slope—and how they rise and fall with each breath.
Those perfect, rosy-ringed nipples. They harden under my long perusal.
“We’ve even got dental,” I say hoarsely.