Logan (15 page)

LOGAN HELPED STELLA from the car. She’d hardly said two words on the drive from the hotel to her mother’s house. A deep vee had formed between her brows when they left the hotel, and it had been there ever since. She had a death grip on his hand.

“What’s wrong?”

“I…” She turned worried eyes up to him. “Are you sure Kutcher isn’t going to get out?”

Logan knew this fear would be with her for a very long time. “Yes. He’ll have to go through the legal process to get a conviction, but this is a sealed deal. He’s going to be behind bars for a long time. You’ve given them a positive identification on Kutcher. They’re talking to the neighbor who interrupted the attack to get an ID from him, too. They have the physical evidence they need to convict him. They had the DNA samples from the hospital visit after he stabbed you. He’s done, darlin’, and I’ll be with you every step of the way.” They’d been over this a dozen times that morning, and Logan was ready to reassure her a dozen more. Whatever it took, he was in, one hundred percent.

Stella breathed deeply as they waited for her mother to answer the door. They heard shuffling, and a voice similar to Stella’s called through the closed door, “Who is it?”

Tears sprang from Stella’s eyes. “It’s me, Mom. It’s Stella.”

They listened to two bolts sliding free, and the door opened as far as the chain lock would allow. A set of tired green eyes peered out at them, instantly filling with tears as they darted between Stella and Logan.

“It’s really me, Mom. It’s okay. It’s safe.”

A moment later Stella was wrapped in her mother’s arms, both of them crying, and Logan’s heart felt as if it had doubled in size. He turned away to give them privacy. Still within her mother’s embrace, Stella snagged his shirt.

“Stay.”

He did.

He always would.

Her mother’s cancer was in remission. Her hair had begun growing back, and although she appeared thin and tired, by the time they left several hours later, both Stella and her mother looked as if new life had been breathed into them. Stella had a bounce to her step, and Logan swore her eyes looked brighter than ever.

Stella stood beside the car, looking at her mother’s house for a long while. When she was ready, Logan opened the car door so they could leave.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest.

“Thank you for everything, Logan. You’ve done too much for me already, but there’s something else I’d like you to do.”

“Anything, darlin’. You know that.”

“We can’t escape our pasts, but we can be free from them and put them behind us.”

“That’s what we’re doing.”

“No,” she said. “That’s what I’m doing. Now it’s your turn. I wish you would come clean to your mother, let her know what happened so that you can put that burden behind you.”

A chill ran through him at the prospect. Logan shook his head. “I don’t want my mother thinking of me as a cold-blooded killer. This is different.”

“What you did wasn’t cold-blooded, Logan. You saved that woman and her son. You probably saved many women that night. Your mother will be proud of you. She deserves to know as much as you deserve to be relieved of the guilt that you’ve been carrying around for so long. I love you, but I can’t see how we can move forward with that noose hanging around your neck.”

Logan had thought about telling his mother a million times, and the thought had nearly suffocated him. It was one thing to handle a mission for his country. He could disconnect from the emotions when he was carrying out a duty to protect his country, but this…This was his personal mission. No one hired him to do it. All he could imagine was his mother thinking about him killing that man with his bare hands.

“Please?” Stella stepped in closer. “For us? At least think about it?”

One look at her penetrating, love-filled gaze, and he fell under her spell, just as he’d been since the day he’d met her. He’d give his life for Stella if he had to. But this...This was the toughest thing he’d ever been asked to do.

Earning Stella’s trust and love had changed him. She’d become
his
last night, and he’d been hers since the moment he’d followed her into that alley and rescued her.

He just hadn’t known that he’d needed rescuing, too.

“I used to think that the last thing I would ever willingly do is risk hurting my mother by telling her what I’ve done, or take the chance that she might see me differently. I was wrong. The last thing I’d ever want to do is let you down. You’re right, Stella. You faced your past. Now it’s my turn.”

“Logan.” Stella laced her fingers with his. “You could never let me down. This isn’t about hurting your mother. This is about setting you both free.”

STELLA WAITED ANXIOUSLY on the back steps of Logan’s mother’s house. He’d insisted on coming straight over after he’d agreed to come clean and tell his mother what he’d done. Stella had offered to be there when he told her, but he said he needed to do it on his own. He’d been in there for almost an hour already, and Stella prayed she hadn’t pushed him in the wrong direction.

The kitchen door opened. Logan walked silently onto the porch and sat beside her. His damp eyes sent a spear through her heart.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He shook his head and took her hand in his. She couldn’t read his pained expression as they sat in silence. Finally Logan unclenched his jaw and kissed the back of her hand.

“Thank you, darlin’.”

Her breath left her lungs in a rush. “It went okay?”

He nodded, though his brows knitted. “Yeah, it went okay. It was tough, reliving it all, talking about Dad. My mother would like to talk to you. Would you mind?”

A lump clogged Stella’s throat as she looked into his dark eyes. This amazing, loving man had not only turned his entire life upside down for her and saved her from a past that would have haunted her forever, if not killed her, but he’d also bared his soul to his mother, risking the love of the woman he’d spent years protecting—and he’d done it all for her. She needed to know that he was more than okay. That he was whole once again.

“No, of course not, but, Logan, are you okay?”

“Yes, darlin’. A little blown away, but I’m much better than I’ve been in a very long time.” He pulled her in close and kissed her. “Come. Let’s go talk to my mom. She’s been crying, so be prepared.”

THE WEIGHT LOGAN had been carrying around since he’d killed his father’s murderer while saving a woman and her child, had morphed into something else. It didn’t lift from his shoulders, as people always said happened when they revealed their worst demons. No, it wasn’t like that at all. As he led Stella through his mother’s kitchen and found her sitting on the couch exactly where he’d left her, red-eyed and clenching a handful of tissues, his heart ached in a way that felt both good and bad.

“Come in, sweetie,” his mother said, patting the cushions beside her.

He hated that he’d unearthed such a painful experience for his mother, and for himself. But in telling her what he’d done, in telling the woman who had loved him unconditionally his entire life, that he’d
killed
a man—he’d faced an even more powerful demon: the self-loathing and persecution that had been his constant companion ever since that terrible, awful night.

Logan and Stella sat on either side of Mary Lou.

“Hi, Mary Lou,” Stella said. “I’m sorry. For everything.”

His mother reached for Stella’s hand, then for Logan’s, and held them both tightly on her lap. Her gaze softened, and for the first time since Logan had begun telling her about what he’d done, his mother’s eyes were dry.

“Lovey, please don’t be sorry,” his mother said. “You followed your heart, and it’s that conviction in being true to the ones you love that drove Logan to do what he did in the first place. My Logan has needed you in his life for a very long time.”

Stella’s eyes filled with tears. Logan caught Stella’s gaze and mouthed,
Thank you. I love you
.

His mother looked at him and said, “You’re like your father, honey. You’ll show Stella how thankful you are, and how much you love her, every day of your life. You’re a good man, sweetheart, and your father would be proud of you.”

Logan’s heart lodged in his throat, and before he could form a response, his mother turned to Stella and said, “Our family lost someone very special to us for a very long time. Thank you for bringing him back.”

Tears slid down Logan’s cheeks. He’d cried more in the past hour than he had in years, but there was no shame in the emotions consuming him. He’d carried shame for too many years, hidden things from the people he loved most. Finally—
Lord, finally
—Logan found the name for what the weight that had nearly slain him had morphed into.

Forgiveness
.

—The End—

Heath, Jackson, and Cooper Wild’s books will be released in the coming weeks. Sign up for Melissa’s newsletter to be notified of the next After Dark release!

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Please enjoy this sneak peek of

WILD BOYS ~HEATH~ (After Dark, Book 2)

No last names. No strings. No ties.

Except of the silk variety
.

Dr. Heath Wild and Allyson Jenner only wanted a simple tryst. But Heath couldn’t live with just one night, just one taste, of Ally—and Ally couldn’t escape the memory of his hands on her skin, the way he looked at her like she was his obsession, or his seduction, which had pushed her to the edge and had made her want to do things she never had before.

One night leads to one tantalizing phone call. Can one phone call lead to forever?

FUCKING PERFECT
. THOSE words played over and over in Dr. Heath Wild’s mind as he thrust his tongue deeper into the receptive mouth of the sexy woman who was grinding her hips against his cock in the elevator of the Gray Mountain Lodge. He buried his hands in her hair and gave a less-than-gentle tug, testing the woman’s boundaries. The sexy moan that followed was all the green light he needed to press her up against the wall and pin her wrists above her head with one large, capable hand, while thrusting his other beneath her little black dress and into her—
thong, hot damn
—beneath. He didn’t waste any time finding his way inside this beautiful, willing creature. Her head tipped back, and he claimed her neck, sucking as he fingered her hot, wet center.

“Oh God. Yes. Right there,” she panted.

Acutely aware that the elevator was about to reach the sixth floor, he circled his thumb over her swollen clit as he claimed her mouth in another ravishing kiss. She clawed at his dress shirt, making sounds that had him picturing her spread-eagle on his bed, arms restrained, with his face buried between her legs.

“Ah. Fuck.” She dug her hands into his thick hair as the orgasm gripped her—and the elevator chimed.

Heath casually fixed her dress, unhurried by the elevator doors sliding open. He drank in her flushed cheeks, the light sheen of sweat on her upper lip that he wanted to lick off, and her full, heaving breasts.

“Open your eyes, sweetheart,” he said in a gravelly voice. He wanted more, and he was about to get it.

***

ALLYSON JENNER TRIED to act nonchalant as she passed an elderly couple in the hallway on the way to her room, hoping they didn’t smell sex wafting around her and the incredibly hot guy she was with. She lifted her chin as she unlocked the door, acting as if her hands weren’t shaking, like she did this type of thing every day, as the mind-blowing kisser she was about to fuck obviously did. She might not do it every day, but she wasn’t a stranger to hooking up with random guys, either. She enjoyed sex the way others might enjoy an occasional swim in the ocean; reveling in the shocking experience at first, then giving in to the exquisite pleasures, and finally, when she was satiated, going back to her normal life feeling rejuvenated for the next few months.

The door clicked shut, and the sound of the dead bolt sliding into place brought her back to the handsome man licking his lips. His piercing blue eyes raked over her body, lingering on her breasts. The edges of his mouth quirked up as he loosened his tie and cracked his neck to either side. Her nerves prickled. This was the moment she had to push past—the urge to flee from fear of the unknown. What if he was a psychopath? What if the staff found her bloodied body in the bathroom tomorrow morning? She’d watched him all afternoon at the medical conference downstairs. She hadn’t missed that, while she’d been sizing him up, he’d been stalking her like prey, and it had turned her on before he’d even bought her a drink after the conference. She really should have gotten his name. What had she been thinking?

She knew exactly what she’d been thinking, because the thought had only grown more intense with every passing minute. She wanted to feel his powerful body above her, his arms around her, and the enormous cock bulging beneath his zipper and outlined by his dress pants inside her.

He clutched her hips and tugged her against his expensive suit, taking her in another mind-numbing kiss. She fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, desperate to get to the smattering of chest hair she’d seen peeking out of the top. She could feel the strength of him in his kiss, in his grip, in the rock wall behind her hands. He was easily six two or six three. She was five five, maybe five eight in her heels, and he—
what’s his name?
—still had several inches on her.

“What’s your name?” she asked between kisses.

“Heath.”

Heath
. She liked that. Smooth and hot, like him. She’d always loved a man’s man. A man who made her feel feminine but didn’t treat her like she was a delicate flower. A man who took what he wanted but still made her feel special, and this guy had stroked her hand when they were in the bar, not her thigh. His eyes read,
I’m going to fuck you hard,
but his actions told her he knew how to respect
and
pleasure a woman. Crazy, she knew, because how much could he respect a stranger he was about to fuck? But if he’d put his hand on her thigh in public, it would have sent a completely different message.

“Ally,” she offered.

The edges of his mouth curled up, but his eyes turned midnight dark as he tore her dress over her head, tossed it on the chair, and pulled her against him again.

“I cannot wait to get my mouth on you,
Ally
. To taste your come and feel you shatter against my tongue.”

Her insides caught fire. If he could make her come with his fingers in less than a minute, she could only imagine what he could do with that viperous tongue of his.

Breathe, Ally. Be patient
.

He rubbed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip and ground his hips against hers, sending
patient
out the window.

“I want to feel your luscious lips wrapped around my cock.”

His voice was liquid lust, and it was all she could do to whisper, “Yes.”

She clawed at his shirt, the button of his trousers, his tie, desperate for him to fulfill his promise. He grabbed her wrists and trapped them by her hips.

“You in a hurry?” He lowered his mouth to her neck and sucked.

Yes. I want you inside me
. “No.” She squeezed her thighs together to try to satiate the longing between her legs. Every suck and stroke of his tongue made her nipples harder—if that was even possible. Good Lord, he was going to make her come without even touching her below the waist.

He stepped back, assessing her body with those lust-filled eyes again, pinning her in place as they slowly dragged over her.

“You’re fucking beautiful,
Ally
.” Her name slid off his tongue like a sensual promise. He took his time stripping off his trousers and dress shirt, leaving his tie loose around his neck and his black Calvin Klein boxer briefs covering his enormous erection.

Heat thrummed through her at his casual striptease.

“Heath what?” The question was driven by nerves.

His confidence was titillating, the way he languidly laid his dress shirt over the back of the chair, then did the same with his pants. He stopped mid-move, pulled his shoulders back, and eyed her skeptically. In the space of a breath, Ally drank in his five-o’clock shadow, which gave him an edgy aura. His skin pulled taut over his handsome, squarish face and strong jaw. He had full lips, and his mouth was slightly small—though she already knew it gave great pleasure. He turned, squaring his broad shoulders, and her eyes dipped south, to the perfect planes of flesh before her.

“I’m not looking for anything more than tonight, Ally. No last names, no talk of what we do for a living. Just a night of intense pleasure. Are you okay with that?” He lowered his chin, and his eyes implored her to answer.

“Yes,” she said with confidence. That’s what she’d been assuming anyway. Nothing new there, but hearing the words made her feel a little…something.
Cheap?
No. Definitely not. They brought a rush that was even more powerful, more enjoyable.

—End of Sneak Peek—

To continue reading, buy:
WILD BOYS ~HEATH~ (After Dark, Book Two)