“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have left. I knew something was wrong when I got to Julia’s and she wasn’t there. I found her at Luke’s; her phone was missing. Fuck, I just saw Natasha. She’s all…Christ.” He shoved back, placing his hands on my face and looking me over. “This is my fault. I should—”
I lunged forward, pressing my lips to his. The kiss was slow and gentle. Tears glistened in his eyes.
When I broke the kiss, I said, “Natasha…is she…”
I couldn’t say it aloud. The image of her body burned and mangled flashed in my mind.
He slowed his breathing, inhaling deeply before answering. “She’ll survive. I went mad trying to find you. And then I saw them load her into the ambulance…I thought…I thought it was you.” His first tear slipped out. “I felt my entire body shut down. I couldn’t find Oliver, and the thought of him trapped in that house and you…”
On my tip toes, I kissed both his cheeks, collecting saltwater on my lips. Logan wasn’t one to cry, which was a shame given how beautiful he looked in that moment—so open and vulnerable, with no walls separating us.
He continued, inhaling deeply again as his tears ceased. “When I got close enough, I saw one of her wrists handcuffed to the gurney. I knew then it wasn’t you…that I still had a chance. They told me Oliver was in this ambulance and I took off, pleading with the universe that you were with him. I couldn’t lose—”
“Shhh,” I murmured. “It’s over. We’re safe.”
Logan’s forehead rested against mine. “Marry me.”
The most awkward bubble of a laugh burst from me, despite the scene surrounding us.
He did
not
just ask me that right now.
With a heavy-hearted sigh, I closed my eyes and answered, “Call me crazy, but is it too much to ask for a little romance?”
“Romance, huh?”
My tired eyes opened to find his glittering with a love deeper than I’d ever thought possible.
I lifted my head, a smile on my lips. “You need the definition?” I raised a brow.
He gripped my arms and drew me back in, kissing me harder. “No, I think I got it covered,” he murmured against my lips before releasing me, his hand scrubbing across his jaw.
“Thank you.”
My brows pinched together. “For what?”
“Saving my son’s life,” he replied, staring over at Oliver lying just behind us.
Swallowing hard, I said, “You need to thank Natasha too. If she hadn’t gone in first…” I shook the thought away. “She saved his life.”
“She was also the one who put his life in danger to begin with,” Logan rebuffed as quickly as the words had flown from my mouth. Anger colored his tight voice. “She’ll spend the rest of her pitiful life locked away for what she’s done today. I’ll make sure of it.”
Slowly, I nodded. The woman was dangerous, and the farther away from Oliver she was, the better.
“Good,” was all I had to say.
Logan placed one more lingering kiss to the top of my head, then moved around me to climb inside the ambulance with his son.
I watched as Logan hugged Oliver close, speaking quietly to him. Logan peeked up at me and waved his hand for me to climb in as well. When I did, he slid the oxygen mask over my face and held my hand in his while his other held Oliver’s.
We made it—all of us. A family.
Oliver lifted his mask just enough to whisper a single sentence to Logan.
“She’s my angel too, Daddy.”
Epilogue
“How much longer?” I pouted. A shiver surged through me, my body unable to resist shuddering. “It’s getting chilly in here.”
“I can tell.” Logan’s eyes landed on my pert nipples, his lips curling up into a wicked smirk. “Just stay still a while longer, sweetheart. “
A
while
longer?
It’d been over three hours, and as sexy as the first two were, I was ready to climb either under some blankets or him. Either would work, though I preferred the latter.
“Come on, you have to be close to finished by now,” I sulked after a few more minutes.
Logan stared at the canvas before him, entranced by his work, each brush stroke deliberate and thoughtful. It was one of the most gorgeous sights I’d ever witnessed.
I lay sprawled on the couch in his studio. The silk nightie I’d worn in his pool months ago was bunched around my hips, my legs spread just enough to barely reveal what was already his. The strap on one shoulder was down, and my breast peeked out just the slightest. Logan had taken great care to pose me exactly as his vision entailed.
The moment Oliver was out the door and in Julia’s car, heading to Blythe’s, Logan had been there with something behind his back and smugness in his grin. The last thing I’d expected him to surprise me with was the nightie I’d worn in his pool all those months ago. How he’d come into possession of it when the rest of my house was ash, I didn’t know. But that was the thing about Logan: He always kept me guessing.
Since I was waiting for construction to start on my house rebuild, I was staying with Logan for the time being. And when he led me up the stairs and opened the door to his studio, I knew exactly what he had in mind for our weekend alone.
Logan couldn’t be happier, but the longer I sat, the stiffer my neck became. Even my legs were weak from my stationary position.
Unable to hold the pose for much longer, I was relieved when Logan set his brush down and slipped out from around his canvas.
“We done?” I asked, reluctant to move until I knew for sure. Recreating the pose wasn’t exactly easy the last time I’d gotten up for a bathroom break.
His head shook with one slow movement.
“Oh.” I frowned, my composure dwindling.
He moved toward me with easy grace, his face as classically handsome as the first day I’d seen it. Paint streaked his hands, his chest bare and smooth with only a tiny bit of hair.
“Need to reposition me?” I asked, my voice weak as I caught the predatory spark in his bright eyes.
Logan shook his head again, his lips parting in a dazzling smile.
My stomach lit up with only the greediest, most ravenous butterflies that had been dormant with anticipation until that moment.
My tongue skimmed my lips. I peered up at those powerful shoulders I spent every night clinging to, then down to the massive bulge restrained beneath soft white cotton lounge pants.
He stopped at the edge of the couch, his strong thighs inches from my face.
“Thought you could use a break,” he said. His voice was low and gravelly, filled with countless innuendos.
I reached my hand out, stroking his length through the fabric. “I could use a little rest,” I purred, peeking up to meet his searing gaze.
“You can sleep later.” His fingers traced my cheek. “Right now, I’m going to show you every last fantasy that has played through my mind over the past couple hours.”
I sat up on my elbows, untying the drawstring at his waist.
“Is that so?” I murmured, freeing his granite cock and caressing him in my hand.
“You lying here like this, allowing me to celebrate every part of you? I don’t think it gets much better.”
I cupped my hands under the warm weight of him. “I’d beg to differ,” I said, sliding my tongue down the length of him.
His mouth fell open with a low growl, hands cradling my head as I bobbed my mouth up and down. My joy at the groans he released was short-lived when Logan grasped my arms abruptly and pulled me up against his chest.
He kissed me hard, his hands weaving through my hair that was down, loose, and wavy—just how he preferred it.
“I’m gonna make love to you over and over again tonight, but first, I want you to see.” There was a hint of vulnerability in his words; he didn’t sound as confident as I was used to, but he was quick to add, with an assertive tone, “This will be the first of many portraits.”
I didn’t complain, excited at the thought of posing again for him.
Logan released my hand, still feet away from his work, allowing me to finish the walk toward it on my own. Before I stepped around for the view, I looked back at him.
“I know I’m going to love it,” I said, feeling the need to reassure him.
He looked suddenly worried, and almost shy—an expression I rarely saw on Logan. His head tilted to the side, eyes hooded. “I hope so,” he said softly.
Unexpectedly nervous, I moved closer. As I stood in front of the masterpiece, a gasp caught in my throat. My hand rose to my lips, and tears welled up in my eyes.
The painting wasn’t finished, but what he’d captured thus far was magnificent.
I saw a confident, beautiful woman—nothing like the girl I saw myself as when Logan had first entered my life. Her body was lean and fit, with a subtle curve to the thighs. Her breasts were small but full, matching her proportions.
And then there was her face. It was so relaxed. She was undeniably comfortable in her skin, and only I knew why.
It was because of him—because of his love. For the strength he gave me, and the protection so tangible it bundled me in a warm, cozy shelter where I could be myself, let go, and fly with the man I loved and cherished more than anything else in the world. He saw me like no one else ever could, and he was mine.
I shed a scalding tear. A second was following close behind as I caught the silver band sparkling from her ring finger.
The tears streamed heavier as I lowered my head for a closer look at the delicate band of tiny stones, with a large princess-cut diamond framed in the center. It was simple and classic, but nothing short of exquisite.
When I lifted my head back up, the impact of the painting having wakened buried emotions within me, I found Logan on one knee with a black box in his hands, open and revealing the exact ring from the painting.
“I told you I’d keep asking, and I will. I’ll propose to you every day for the rest of my life if I have to.” Tears glistened in his bright eyes. “You’re it for me, Cassandra. I’ll never want or need for anyone else. You’re my angel, sent from above to resurrect the man I no longer believed was inside me. You saved me, and brought joy and love to both me and my son. I told you before, and I’ll say it again: I’ll never take for granted how incredible you are. And I want to spend the rest of my life proving that to you.”
With heavy steps and a pounding heart, I moved around the canvas, my eyes locking on his. He continued, his voice growing stronger and deeper with each word he spoke.
“Cassandra Clarke, will you do me the honor of making me the luckiest man alive by becoming my wife?”
My lip quivered, my sobs unrestrained as my feet skittered across the floor, sending me straight into Logan’s open arms. He caught me when I fell into him, his mouth colliding with mine.
Breathless, I broke the kiss, weeping with nothing but exhilaration.
“Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you!”
Logan nearly gasped. Was he that worried I’d say no?
“Does that mean you’ll make love to me now?” I teased, placing my hands on his shoulders so I could pull back and see the gorgeous face of my future husband.
His lips quirked up in a wicked smirk. “I’m going to make love to you every chance I have until this sexy little body of yours is carrying my child—our child.”
My cheeks erupted in flames. A baby? I couldn’t deny that even just the thought of it felt right, but I still had a lot of growing up of my own to do before that happened.
“I say we wait on the babies—spend some time with it being just us. Let Oliver adjust to me being around.”
He stared at me thoughtfully.
“Why rush? You have all of me now,” I murmured, kissing the corner of his mouth.
“And you have me—completely.”
“Maybe next year.” I leaned forward and placed kisses along his jaw.
“‘Next year’,” he mimicked, smiling. “Oliver would love a brother…maybe a couple sisters to drive him insane like mine does.”
I froze mid-kiss and swallowed, biting down on my bottom lip. Logan’s fingers cradled my chin, lifting my gaze to his.
“What is it?” he asked.
Fighting back my laughter, I confessed, “That reminds me: So Julia and I had this bet…”
The End
Not quite ready to say goodbye to Logan and Cassandra just yet? You don’t have to.
Angela’s currently working on a spin-off series featuring the characters of Harmony.
Questions will be answered and happily-ever-afters will be granted.
Each story is set to be a standalone book, no cliffhangers for those wondering, and both Logan and Cassandra will be secondary characters throughout.
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About the Author
Angela Graham resides in Tipp City, Ohio with her three beautiful children. She is a
USA Today
bestselling author of the Harmony series,
Inevitable
,
Irreplaceable
and
Indestructible,
as well as a novella,
Indulge
. Collaborating with S.E. Hall, she released two erotic short stories and is currently working on the next.
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