He swallowed. As if on its own accord, his hand reached to push a lock of chestnut hair from her eyes. She flinched as if he’dhither.
“He hurt you, didn’t he?” Loganasked.
She looked down. “Please, don’t ask me aboutthepast.”
“If I’dknown…”
“You would have just used itagainstme.”
“No.” He sat on the edge of the bed and gently pulled her into his arms. “I would haveprotectedyou.”
As he pressed the voluptuous woman against his chest, she trembled. The brush of her breast against his arm was enough to drive his bear crazy with need. When he’d thought about getting her into bed, he hadn’tpicturedthis.
He was drawn to her vulnerability. Maybe he wasn’t any better than that real estate shark, taking advantage of her when she was hurting, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to take away her pain and he only knew one way todoit.
He tilted her chin up. “As long as you own this place, I’llprotectyou.”
The deep blue color of her eyes drew him in. His gaze dropped to her lips. Plump, pink, and sexy—justlikeher.
As he leaned closer, her lips parted. Her breath quickened. As if asking permission, he rubbed the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip. When she didn’t move away, he cupped her face and brought his mouth down. The first brush of skin on skin sent tendrils of desire throughout hisentirebody.
Chapter4
Alow moanescaped her throat as he parted her lips with his tongue. The hot, possessive quality of his mouth brought on a new wave of desire. His hands slid from her waist to her full hips. She was drowning in the ecstasy of being in hispowerfularms.
For a few minutes she didn’t want to think about her father, about the pain in her arm, or about the betrayals of the past. She only wanted to think about the scrape of stubble across her cheek, and the brush of calloused hands acrossherback.
She’d lost track of when he’d pulled her shirt out from her jeans. All she knew was that his hands were pure magic. As he caressed and kneaded the knots out of her back, she surrendered to his sensual kisses. Unable to catch her breath, she moaned into his mouth and whimpered when his roaming hands unhooked her bra with practiced ease.Of course he’d be goodatthat.
After pushing the unwanted thought away, she laced her fingers into his hair. Somewhere along the way, he’d lost his cowboy hat, and with it, a layer of intimidation. Maybe if she unbuttoned his shirt, he’d lose his cocky arrogance too. There was only one way tofindout.
Without stopping to wonder why she’d suddenly grown so bold, she reached for the top button on his flannel shirt. He leaned back and watched her through a sexy, hooded gaze. The way he stared at her brought on a rush of uncertainty. What if this was all a joketohim?
“Keep going,” hewhispered.
Her fingers trembled as she unhooked the second button to reveal another few inches of his impossibly ripped chest. He belonged in a bull rider’s magazine. As she released another button, the smattering of hair on his chest gave way to the tightest, hardest six-pack she’deverseen.
She licked her lips. He was magnificent. A god among men. What the hell was he doing in bed with someone as plain and boring as her? And what did she think she was doing? She had very little experience with men. Maybe she’d been watching too many soap operas, or reading too many steamy romances. She couldn’t fool a man as experienced as Logan. He’d see right through her and know she had absolutely no idea what todonext.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to mind her hesitation. He finished unbuttoning his shirt and slid it off his broad shoulders. She reached up to run her fingertips across his biceps. Fascinated, she couldn’t reconcile the silken smoothness of his skin with the hardness of his muscles. It was like velvet oversteel.
“You’re staring,” hemurmured.
“Oh,Ijust…”
“Ithappens.”
There was that smug grin again. If she’d been in her right mind, she would have thrown him out of her room, but he’d captured her with his piney scent and rippling abs. Even if she’d wanted to, she couldn’t stop herself from reachingforhim.
He leaned over her and brought his lips down to just a breath away from her neck. Poised to kiss the hollow of her throat, she arched for him, offering herself in the most vulnerable position a shifter could ever be in. In her human form, she’d be incapable of stopping him from ripping out her throat if he wanted tokillher.
But she had no doubt about his intentions. He wanted to lavish her with pleasure, nothing more. And she hated wanting him as much as she did, but she couldn’t deny her impulses. Her bear thrashed with the need to mate. She’d never given into her base instincts before, so why now?Whyhim?
“This is crazy,” shemurmured.
“Isit?”
As his lips blazed a trail of liquid heat down her neck, his hands pushed her shirt up over her head. With the exception of a single second of lost contact, his mouth teased and tempted her flesh until she writhed with lust. She’d never been so wet in herentirelife.
