breath away.”
And suddenly she didn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed anymore. She didn’t feel vulnerable. She wanted this. She wanted Logan. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind.
Next, he removed his shirt and a glow lit her eyes when everything else came off.
“Mercy,” Sophia uttered, gazing at him.
“I’ll take that as a compliment, darlin’.”
But Logan didn’t cover her with his body right away. Instead he came up beside her to kiss her again. “Close your eyes,” he ordered.
She obeyed.
His touch was soft and gentle as he stroked her between her thighs. And when his ministrations grew more bold, more forceful, she shuddered and let go a tiny moan of pleasure. Logan was relentless and worked her body, tormenting her until her moans were continuous and in tune with the throbbing heat pulsating at her core.
Her body jerked and splintered. Her breaths short and quick, she experienced a powerful release.
“Sophia,” Logan murmured, as she came down to earth. Gently, he stroked her hair and kissed her cheeks. “You have no idea what a turn-on it is seeing you go wild like that.”
The room was darker now. The sun had almost set and Sophia could barely make out Logan’s shadow as he brought himself down on top of her. She reached out, desperately wanting to be joined with him.
He spoke with urgency, his voice a rasp that thrilled her. “I’ve waited a long time for this. For you.”
Twenty minutes later, cocooned in the warmth of Logan’s strong arms, Sophia opened her eyes to darkness. The air inside the tack room was Nevada-dry and cool yet both of their bodies glistened with hot, sticky sweat.
Sophia sighed at the completion she felt. A soft purr hummed through her body. Every ounce of her flesh felt pleasantly devoured. Logan was an expert lover and he’d brought out her wilder side with his whispered words of encouragement, his powerful thrusts and his strong body covering hers.
Their releases had come out of sync with each other, but Sophia hadn’t minded. She liked going first. Then she watched Logan’s face twist with pleasure as he groaned from his inner depths until one last potent plunge brought him over the edge.
After that, they’d both fallen in a heap of exhaustion.
Quietly stunned.
And when Sophia’s thoughts traveled once again to that dark place of uncertainty, Logan was there, stroking her arm and kissing her forehead. She relished his touch and the soothing way he treated her in the aftermath of lovemaking. The few lovers she’d had before hadn’t been nearly as attentive after the deed was done. Sophia had made mistakes with men, but she’d never kept a man around if he wasn’t respectful.
Where would she and Logan go from here? She had no idea what he was thinking. He’d said all the right things. He’d done all the right things and her body sang from the sweetest pleasure a man could give a woman. Now Sophia was at a crossroads in her life.
She’d been wary of Logan Slade for as long as she could remember. Tonight, she’d let down her guard and allowed him entrance not only to her body, but to her heart.
She loved Logan.
She was sure of it now.
She couldn’t have given to him what she’d denied even the most persuasive of men who had come in and out of her life, without feeling great emotion. She’d given him her trust and hadn’t regretted it for a second.
“How you doing, darlin’?”
The endearments he’d been using with her tonight made her smile inside. She assumed that he thought of her as a brat, a bitch and a hussy so to hear him come full circle gave her joy. “I’m pretty good.”
“I won’t argue there.” He turned on his side to face her and she curled around to look him in the eyes. “You cold?” he asked.
“A little bit.”
He slid his hand up and down along the curve of her hip, and each inch of naked skin warmed under his touch. “We should probably get out of here. Someone might walk in.”
Sophia’s eyes rounded. She hadn’t thought of that. She’d lost all sense of time and place when Logan had seduced her. “We probably should.”
Logan gave her a reluctant look, and then rose first. In the dark, he found her clothes strewn across the floor and handed them to her. She sat up to put them on and watched him in the shadows, a sense of pride swelling in her heart. How could she feel this way about a man who had injured her so often?
Once they were dressed—Sophia had a dickens of a time securing her blouse without the buttons, so Logan gave her his shirt to put on—they walked quietly out of the room and through the barn. Horses whinnied and snickered as they strode by, but they didn’t take the time to give them attention. When they reached the wide double doors, Logan peered out, looking right, then left.
“Do you think someone’s out there?” she asked, not worried about her would-be stalker so much as an employee wandering the grounds and catching them half dressed.
“Don’t know.”
“Should we walk out separately?”
Logan grinned and shook his head. “Honey, you moved into my house three days ago. You think any man on my ranch is thinking we’re baking cookies inside?”
Sophia’s brows lifted. “But that’s not true! We weren’t doing anything.”
His grin slipped into a small smile. He gazed out the barn door again. “Not up until about an hour ago. Doesn’t matter now. You want to make a run for it?” He put out his hand and stared at her.
Sophia saw the adventure in that. They had to travel the length of half a football field to make it to the house. She tucked her hand in his and they made a mad dash across the yard.
Sophia’s soft laughter bubbled over. She hadn’t felt this carefree in years. She ran a step behind Logan, who tugged her along, and she could have sworn she heard the beautiful sound of his laughter, too.
Tonight, Logan wanted dessert. And he wanted Sophia. The two went hand in hand in his mind. Both would satisfy his craving. “Let’s have some ice cream,” he said as they came to a halt inside his house.
Sophia’s topaz eyes brilliant and her breaths labored, she smiled at him as if he were a child. “Let me guess. You want strawberry?”
He blinked. “How did you know?”
“It’s your favorite. I remember from birthday parties here. I like vanilla, Luke likes chocolate and you love strawberry.”
“Observant. Add that to the list of things I like about Sophia Montrose. Come on,” he said, stifling his frustration. He wouldn’t let the fact that Sophia always had Luke’s name on her lips bother him tonight. His brother was a part of their equation and he always had been. Luke and Sophia were friends, and he would make sure that’s all they ever would be.
