***
LOGAN KNELT BEFORE Stormy, his hands on her knees, and looked deeply into her eyes. He’d been with enough women to know she was using sex as an escape, just as he had for so many years. Being one of the US Navy’s elite SEAL team had taken his full concentration and total dedication, because Logan didn’t believe in just being good at anything. He believed in being the best at everything he did. That didn’t end with his profession. It carried over to relationships, sex, and even friendships. That’s why he’d never settled down with just one woman. He’d never met anyone whom he wanted to be the best for, and as he gazed into Stormy’s eyes and saw relief cloud over, hardening her beautiful features, he felt something in his chest crack open.
He gathered her in his arms and held her close, kissed her cheek, and whispered, “You’re amazing, but I just want to hold you.” Hold you? What the hell? It was her vulnerability that took his emotions to a place they’d never been. She was trying so hard to be strong, to be whatever she felt she needed to be. He wanted to know what or who would put so much fear into this beautiful woman.
Her body was rigid against him, but he wasn’t about to let her go. He couldn’t allow her to slip right back into that steel vault she kept herself trapped in. He came down on the bed beside her and pulled her up with him, his knee between her thighs, his arms circling her body so he could feel her erratic heartbeat against him.
“Whatever you’re running from, let’s not think about it right now. Put it aside. For tonight, you’re safe.” He felt tension, fatigue, and so much unwanted emotion pent up in her that he wanted to give her a break. One night of peace, just like he and his brothers took turns trying to give their mother every night of the week. The feeling of safety, of knowing no one would ever hurt her again. When his mother had been attacked, and his father killed, Logan’s life had changed. He’d been protecting his country when the attack had happened, when he should have been home protecting the people he loved most.
“Just fuck me, Logan. Do it so we’re both satisfied. Then you can go back to your life. Just give me this one night.” Her words were hard but full of need, as if she were challenging herself as well as him.
“I will, babe. Just be with me a minute. Let yourself relax.” He didn’t know what was going on inside of him, but for the first time in his life he didn’t want a quick fuck. He knew the minute he walked out that door, Stormy would consume his thoughts. He’d worry about her. How could he not? With eyes that cut straight to the center of his chest, pleading and arguing in equal measure.
She laughed against his chest. “Relax? That’s not going to happen, so either fuck me or leave.”
He pulled back then and searched her eyes. “Do you really want me to leave?”
“No. I want you inside me so I can forget my life for another few minutes.”
“Babe, I can last longer than a few minutes, but how about first I hold you until you realize you can trust me? I’m really not into fucking people who don’t trust me.”
“Really? You came in my mouth pretty easily.”
She had him there. “Touché. What do you have against relaxing?”
“When you relax, bad things can happen.” She pushed away, and he pulled her closer again, smoothed her hair away from her face, and kissed her forehead.
“Not while I’m around.”
“So…what? You want me to relax, then have sex with you?”
He shrugged. “Sure. Or relax and don’t. Whatever.”
She cocked her head to the side, and he wondered how many men had hurt her, how many had treated her like shit. She touched her fingertip to the roundish scar on the right side of his chest, then traced the fine white line that ran along his ribs to the next, like she was connecting the dots.
“What happened?” She gazed up. Her brows knitted together, and he could see she was softening toward him again.
He shrugged. “I only give that out on a need-to-know basis, but I’d be willing to swap an answer for an answer.”