Page 50 of Love in the Time of Wildfires

“Touch you like this?” he murmured against her skin, all of his senses honed to her responses.

“Yes.”

It was the only word he needed to hear. He brought his other hand under the tight skirt of her dress until he was able to grasp both edges of her underwear, sliding them off. It was the tiniest piece of black lace he’d ever seen. It was already difficult to breathe, and this almost made it stop, especially when he considered how she’d been walking around all night like this. It was so small she might as well not have been wearing anything. Logan stuffed it into one of his pants pockets before he could wonder if she’d let him keep a memento. Grasping her waist again, he slid her nearer to the counter edge as he returned his right hand between her legs. She was already so wet. He rubbed her there as he took her mouth again, slipping his tongue alongside hers until she whimpered and broke away. “Logan.” His name more of a desperate plea. Her eyes bright as she stared into his, her skin flushed and dewy.

Logan had never avoided the heat. In fact, he ran straight toward it. But whatever blaze was building here was his favorite kind of fire. He pushed a finger into her. She was hot, tight, and River moaned as he glided in and out of her. Pressing his forehead to her temple, Logan was afraid he was going to lose it but was also determined to see it through. He didn’t have to wait long before she gasped sharply, clamping onto his hand between her thighs before crying out.

Several moments later nothing but the breaths filled the air. Pulling back, he brushed a strand from her cheek. “More?”

She nibbled on the corner of her lip, a smile slipping out before giving him a small nod. It was both cute and sexy. He was in danger of becoming permanently undone by her.

Logan smiled as he scooped her into his arms, throwing her over his shoulder and giving into his caveman instincts. Her stilettos fell as he made his way to the hallway.

“Wait,” she said as he passed a bathroom. “Back up,” she ordered, slapping him playfully on the ass. For once, Logan didn’t mind her treating him like an animal—he was about to embody one soon anyway.

Inside the bathroom, she shifted on his shoulder as she opened the medicine cabinet and rifled through it.

She giggled, smacking him lightly on the ass again. “Proceed to the bedroom.”

Pushing open the door, there was a large bed with a fluffy white comforter along with several bookcases bursting with books and a hamper in the corner overflowing with clothes. It wasn’t the most stylish bedroom, but he only cared about the bed and seeing her in it. He set her gently on her feet, but River stood on tiptoes, pressing another giggly kiss to his lips before saying, “Here, hold this for a minute.”

There’d been a moment this evening when Logan wondered if he should’ve dragged her into his place instead of hers, but this proved to be a better choice. In his hands was a box of condoms. It’d been a while since he felt the need for them—mainly because he hadn’t had to worry about things like pregnancy for the last couple of years. But he didn’t want to get into that whole discussion right now and, besides, condoms offered more protection than from just the whole baby thing.

He was thankful she had enough brain cells to think about this, because once she let him go, she took the hemline of her dress between her fingers and pulled it over her head. After dropping the dress on the floor, River stood in front of him with nothing on but a strapless lacy bra that made her cleavage pop, and the box bent between his fingers. He needed those condoms to desensitize him because, as much as he wanted to blow her mind, he wasn’t sure how long he’d last. Especially with the current glint in her eye like she couldn’t wait to eat him up.

“Let me have that,” she said, taking the box currently in his death grip before tossing it onto the bed. “Are you still okay with this?”

“I haven’t been with anyone since my ex-wife.” God dammit, now he was the one blurting out historical facts. He took a shaky breath, admitting, “It’s been a while.” He grew nervous he wasn’t going to be able to live up to all those earlier promises he’d made inside his own head. It was possibly going to be worse if he wasn’t able to slow things down.

“Ah,” she replied. “It’s okay. We can be awkward and fumble together.” River offered him a warm smile, and the pressure melted away. She slid closer, her lips kissing his neck as he brushed a hand along her spine to the curve of her ass. His fingers were tasked with the job of making careful notes of the cartography of her landscape, wanting to familiarize himself with it as soon as he could.

As she continued pressing kisses to his skin, there was a pull as River undid his pants, sliding her hand inside until she was able to stroke him. He couldn’t help but groan into it, already feeling himself slipping. “Okay, wait, let’s hold off on that for right now.” Logan grabbed her hand, pulling it out. “I know you like warnings, so I’m giving it to you now. I’m going to take off my shirt.”

“Okay.” She grinned. River took a seat on the edge of her bed, crossing her legs like she was ready for a show but still a lady, even while mostly naked.

He hadn’t planned on giving a performance here, but she was waiting expectantly. Logan did enjoy that the more buttons he undid, the bigger her smile became. When it was completely open, she covered the bottom half of her face with a hand before it moved over her eyes and she became giggly. He’d been no stranger to women finding him attractive and even enjoyed it before he’d gotten married, but he really liked how River reacted. He pulled his shirt off as he leaned down, finding her lips with his own, and fell with her when she leaned back onto the mattress. River hummed with pleasure as he pressed into her. What started out as silliness and giggles soon morphed into something more enthralling as they explored one another.

He couldn’t get enough of touching her, trailing paths along her waist, hips, thighs with his hands as they continued making out. She eventually reached behind her, undoing her bra and tossing it. Logan covered a breast with a hand, squeezing it before brushing a thumb across her nipple. She dropped her head to the side and released a moan. “Logan,” she whispered.

He couldn’t take much more, his body demanding he give it free reign to get something done. Logan covered his body with hers, pushing off his shoes with his feet, and he dragged himself up enough to push down his pants as he kept taking her mouth with his. He managed to grab the box of condoms, pausing long enough to rip it open, grab a packet, and slip one on.

Pulling him to her, she wrapped her legs around him. Logan knew this was it. This was going to test him on how much he could stand. How much he could stand not being around her and wanting to be. Either way, he hadn’t come this far not to find out what she felt like, and he pushed into her. “River,” he mumbled, because he couldn’t help it as he immersed himself in this.

There’d been a brief moment earlier where the thought that doing this once would possibly be enough. She’d be out of his system, and he could tell her that them being together wasn’t something she would want. But now Logan knew he’d be nothing but a selfish bastard because he was going to take all that he could from her.

He closed his eyes, pulling out before pushing back in again, instantly becoming addicted to this feeling as he continued repeating the motion, increasing in fervor, loving the moans coming from the woman beneath him. Logan soon felt like he was in a mad sprint, needing to see this through, surprised he was hanging on, especially when she gasped and jerked under him, murmuring that it was too much. It did feel too much, like there was no way everything he was feeling could be contained and wouldn’t spill out.

He didn’t stop, pressing his face into her neck, panting hard until he pushed into her a final time and had his own release. As the small moment of peaceful bliss filled him, Logan lifted his head to study her face, knowing they’d crossed a line that wouldn’t be easy to get back over again, especially knowing how sweet she felt.

River tossed an arm over her eyes while releasing a small laugh. “Oh my gosh. Well, that definitely was . . . something,” she said. She appeared glowy and happy, and that feeling of love tugged on his chest again.

River was right. This was something, and there was no way he was going to have the mistake talk with her anytime soon. Not if he could help it, even if he felt this thing between them was a lost cause, especially if she ever wanted to have children. Even so, mistake or not, he couldn’t bring himself to give this up yet, not if she could see past all the cons that made up his life and take him anyway.

He wasn’t going to self-sabotage. This time would be different.

Chapter Sixteen

River had woken up in the middle of the night, having to use the bathroom, only to trip over one of Logan’s enormous shoes as she attempted to travel quietly across the bedroom. Being fully splayed on the floor wasn’t sexy, even while naked.