Chance (11 page)

“I’m always right,” he
said with only the slightest hint of a smile.

She couldn’t tell whether
he was serious or just joking around, acting arrogant on purpose. She gave a
little laugh and kissed his cheek.

“How was
your
night, anyway?” she asked. “Did you wind up going out with anyone?”

“Um, yeah. For one drink.
Nothing special. I'm glad to be back with you…alone.”

He smiled and leaned in
to kiss her fully on the lips, soon running his hands down her side and sliding
up underneath her skirt.

“I want you,” he growled
into her ear, roughly pushing her backwards onto the sofa and taking command of
the situation. “Right here. Right now. No excuses.”

“I wasn’t going to make
any excuses,” she gasped, surprised by the sudden change in his mood.

She suddenly found herself
on her back with Logan on top of her.

“Good,” he whispered,
trailing kisses down her neck to her cleavage. “Because soon you’ll be my
wife…and I can have you whenever I want.”

With that, he began to
pull at her clothes. He began to strip her out of them as if he was mad with
desire for her.

A disturbing thought
suddenly went through her mind. Was Logan so aroused because she’d had a fight
with her friends? She didn't like that concept, but before she could devote any
thought to it, she was totally overwhelmed by Logan's passion.

As he threw her panties
to the floor, his mouth closed over hers, hungrily kissing her. His hands began
squeezing her breasts roughly, as his thumbs grazed her nipples. His tongue
invaded her mouth, dancing with hers. Logan used his lips, teeth and tongue as
he immersed himself into kissing her.

It was as if he were
starving for her, as if he couldn't get enough of her. He kissed her as if her
were drinking her in. His intensity and passion were both intoxicating and
contagious. She met his passion with her own, drugged by him, by his need for
her.

His body covered hers
completely, pressing down on her in a wonderful way. He began to move, slowly
grinding his pelvis into hers. His erection was rubbing against her, the friction
ratcheting both of their arousals even farther. Their breathing was ragged and
quick as she met his every movement with her own fervor. The only sounds in the
room were small moans, groans and their panting.

Charlotte found her body
responding to his rough, impassioned treatment. His total dominance was
extremely arousing for her. She hadn't been this excited for a very long while.
She grabbed his shirt bottom at the back and began to pull it up out of the
way. She wanted to feel his skin against hers. She opened her legs, inviting him
between them. She was desperate to feel him deep inside of her.

Logan broke contact with
her just long enough to rip his shirt off over his head and undo his pants. He
pulled his pants and underwear down together, as far as they'd go without needing
to get off of her. She hooked her feet into them, helping to get them down. She
wanted him inside of her so desperately.

As soon as his hard cock
was freed, she grabbed it firmly in her fist, pulling him back down toward her
to her body. She guided him to her entrance. The second he touched her warm,
slippery folds, they both gasped. He pushed into her deeply in one thrust,
seating himself to the hilt. They groaned in unison, as he positioned himself
closer to her.

Charlotte wrapped her
legs around him, hooking her ankles together. She lifted her ass off of the
sofa as she pulled her legs in toward herself, forcing him in deeper. They
moved together as if in a frantic rhythm, their gasps, grunts and groans
getting louder and more frequent as they moved.

As Logan got closer to
his climax, he used his hand to grab her breast, pinching her nipple. The
sudden extra stimulation sent her into sensory overload. Charlotte cried out
loudly as she came, triggering Logan's loud release as she gripped him tightly,
milking him dry, as she spasmed with him inside of her. Once their contractions
subsided, he collapsed onto her body, pressing her into the sofa cushions while
they caught their breath.

Their lovemaking, if you
could call it that, was wild and brief. However, it left Charlotte enormously
satisfied. She couldn't remember if she'd ever been this satisfied in her life.
She smiled from ear to ear as she enjoyed feeling Logan's weight on her, his
skin on hers.

At that moment, she
thought marrying Logan was the best decision she could ever make.

***

Within a few days after
their blowout, Charlotte's friends had each called her separately to apologize
to Charlotte about their less than supportive behavior on the night of her
Bachelorette party. Each one of them sounded sincere. They'd all meant so much
to her and she didn't want to be angry with them. So Charlotte accepted their
apologies.

Deep inside, Charlotte
knew her friends were genuinely concerned about her happiness and well-being.
They were trying to help her in their own, misguided and annoying way. However,
she had bigger fish to fry with the upcoming wedding, so she decided to put
this ugliness behind her and just try to enjoy her wedding.

Time moved quickly during
the following two weeks. Charlotte was surprised by the amount of time and
planning that went into their wedding. There was what seemed like an unending
amount of last minute arrangements. It was extremely stressful for her since
she was on her own for all of it.

The Day before the
wedding, Charlotte’s parents had made the two-hour trip by car and stayed in
the hotel where the reception was being held. Charlotte would've liked to offer
for them to stay with her and Logan in their big, luxurious, empty house. However,
she didn't want to force them on Logan. She knows he gets nervous around other
people, so she figured he might feel uncomfortable if they stayed with them.

She didn't want to come
out and ask Logan directly if her parents could stay with them, she just didn't
feel right about it. It seemed like such a huge imposition since it was his
house, after all. So she stooped to dropping increasingly less subtle hints of
what she wanted. Despite her most obvious hints, he never offered her any invitation
for them to stay. She finally lost hope of that wish coming to fruition.

Charlotte, however, did
ask him if they could come to dinner at the house. She desperately wanted an
opportunity to show her parents what a great chef Logan was, but he flatly
refused. Instead, he offered to take them out to dinner. This was going to be the
first time they’d met Logan, despite having heard about him through their many
emails and phone calls.

Overall, the family dinner
went okay. Logan was polite but seemed distracted, almost to the point of being
bored during most of the dinner. That bothered Charlotte since he was always
such an attentive listener with her. She really wanted her parents to like him
as well as for him to like them. Charlotte was nervous about their meeting
since they all meant so much to her.

Unfortunately, Logan only
seemed to come alive and finally fully engaged in a conversation when he and
her father began to voice their conflicting political views. While it never got
to the point of an actual argument, it did get quite tense. Their differences clearly
grated on each other.

Her father was the mayor
of their hometown and had always been a staunch but progressive republican. He
was also a skillful debater who managed to hold his own against Logan. That was
an admirable feat when facing off against Logan's intensity and passion. Charlotte
often though Logan would make an effective attorney, judging by how he'd always
been able to twist her words around and tie her into knots.

Charlotte and her mother remained
on high alert throughout the heated exchange, managing to intervene, putting out
small fires, on several occasions. However, the impassioned discussion changed
the mood of the evening. Their time together ended only after her mom
complained of being tired.

Logan paid the check
promptly and they exited onto the street. Charlotte had mixed feelings about
parting. Although she was relieved to separate the two most important men in
her life before an actual fight broke out, she'd missed her parents and had wanted
to spend more time with them. She kissed her mother then her father goodbye.
Logan politely kissed her mother goodnight and then turned and stepped closer to
her father.

“Goodnight, Mr. Rankin,”
he said as he gripped the older man’s hand.

While they men stood eye-to-eye
shaking hands, she saw her father wince, ever so slightly, in pain from Logan’s
aggressive grip. To his credit, he didn’t drop the stare of the younger and
stronger man. When Logan finally released his hand, her father continued
looking at him as though he was trying to figure him out. Logan turned away from
him with a smirk on his face.

“Come Charlotte,” he
snapped.

Charlotte raised her hand
in a final wave, unable to meet her dad’s gaze, and hurried along after her
husband to be. When they were seated safely in the car, Charlotte turned to him
unable to disguise the annoyance in her voice.

“What was all that about,
Logan?”

“What?” he asked,
innocently.

“That testosterone
display when you shook hands with my dad…” she asked, obviously upset with him
and his actions.

Logan’s eyes stayed on
the road.

“What are you talking
about, darling? Your parents seemed perfectly nice.”

Charlotte didn’t know how
to respond. Once again, he was managing to make her feel as though she was either
imagining something or overreacting. However, she knew full well he'd acted out
some sort of alpha male display for her father’s benefit. How was she supposed
to argue about it if he wouldn’t acknowledge it?

“But…oh forget it! I
really want you to get along with each other. It's important to me. Just don’t
be so
macho
next time, please,” she pleaded

“
Macho
? Wow, I
haven’t heard that word for a while…” he chuckled and grasped her hand, patting
it as though she were a petulant child.

Charlotte pulled her hand
away quickly and crossed her arms. She didn’t say another word for the entire drive
home.

***

The wedding was small and
intimate. In addition to her parents, her side of the wedding guests included her
brother Ewan and his wife, Jessi, as well as her Auntie Susan and Uncle Neil.
There were also her closest friends, Bethany, Louise and Sarah, as well as each
of their respective partners, totaling twelve attendees on her side.

On Logan’s side, there were
no family members and barely any friends in attendance. He'd promised Charlotte
to invite
a couple
of friends. He'd made true on his promise, as there were,
quite literally, two men, of roughly the same age as him, representing his side
of the wedding. They sat at the back of the Church, looking serious and out of
place.

The actual ceremony was
rather short and sweet, yet quite traditional. Charlotte looked lovely in her
gown, and Logan looked quite handsome. The couple didn’t have much time to talk
or mingle with anyone before the ceremony, but afterwards, once the nuptials
were over and they'd said their vows, Charlotte encouraged Logan to introduce
her to his friends.

One of his friends, a
tall, skinny man with a gaunt face and a tattoo of a snake peeking out above his
shirt collar, had acted as Logan’s best man. Charlotte particularly wanted to
meet him and thank him for the role he’d played on their big day. She felt it
wouldn’t have been right to get married without a best man, not when they
wanted to be traditional about it. Logan obliged Charlotte's request and
initiated their introduction.

“Charlotte, this is Shez,”
he said, as the man stood up from their table in the corner and offered a
tattooed, weather-beaten hand. He was really an unsavory looking man, almost
frightening. Charlotte took his hand politely and gingerly.

“Hello, Shez. I've never
heard that name before. Is
Shez
…short for something?” she asked with a
smile, as she shook his hand.

“Shesney,” he answered.

“Well, it’s very nice to
meet you um...Shez.”

“You too,” he said
gruffly, before hastily sitting back down and picking up his drink.

“And this is Orton,”
Logan said of his second friend, who was a shorter, muscular man with a more
stylish appearance than Shez. He had a similar hairstyle, slicked back like
Logan, but his hair was thinning considerably on top. He was nowhere nearly as
good looking as her husband, due to his pockmarked face and the thick, ugly
scar that ran down one side of his face, on his left cheek.

“It's nice to meet you,”
he mumbled, also rising up from his chair in order to shake her hand.

“So nice to meet you,
too,” she said. “I wanted to thank you both for coming to our wedding. I know Logan
doesn’t really have any family or many friends, so it means a lot to me that
you guys came and showed your support.”

“Anything for the Boss,” Shez
shrugged, still sipping at his beer.

At this statement, Orton
gave the other man a sharp look. Logan’s lips tightened and he quickly grabbed
Charlotte’s arm and swiftly led her away from the table. As she was pulled away
rather abruptly, she turned to them and smiled, raising her hand to wave a
quick goodbye.

“Come darling, I want to greet
your parents properly.”

She turned to Logan. “Did
he just call you, '
Boss
'?” Charlotte asked with a smile. “Are they your
employees?”

“Is it better to address
your dad as
Mr. Rankin
or should I call him
Mayor
?” Logan asked,
completely ignoring her question. “Which title do you think he'd prefer?”

Logan’s concern about how
to address her father was completely at odds with his behavior of the night
before. She knew he was simply trying to change the subject. It was obvious and
it amused her.

“Logan…” she said, but
she couldn't even finish her sentence before he interrupted her again, trying
to hijack the conversation.

“What about your mother? Should
I call her
Mrs. Rankin
or shou…”

“Logan, are you their
Boss?” she interrupted him.

This time, she firmly asked
him while determinedly looking into his eyes, maintaining her smile for anyone
who might be watching.

“Charlotte, please,” he
said firmly, tightening his grip around her wrist until it was painful, his
thumb digging into her nerve endings.

“Take me to your parents now,
and no more questions about those two idiots in the corner,” he commanded
tersely.

“
Ouch!
Stop that. Logan,
you’re hurting me,” she said, while wincing in pain.

“No more questions,” he
bit out through gritted teeth, with an intensely intimidating stare.

“Okay, okay!” she
acquiesced.

She struggled against his
painful grip, trying to tug her arm free.

“You’re causing a scene,”
he snapped in a low but menacing tone.

“You’re the one hurting
me and not letting go of my arm,
darling
,” she said forcing a big, fake smile.

He released her and
strode directly over to the table where her parents sat. He pulled a chair out
from the table and instantly turned on his special brand of '
Logan charm
',
complete with a forced twinkle his eye accompanied by his winning smile. It was
an act, one way he manipulated others.

She’d been with him long
enough to know he could turn it on and off as if he had a switch. More often
than not, he wasn’t actually smiling because he was happy or pleased to see someone;
he was just trying to giving them what they wanted. He'd say the words he
thought they wanted to hear, so he could get on their good side. So he could
get what he wanted from them.

Logan was a master
manipulator. He was excellent at it, usually able to weave his charm almost
into a spell that helped him control others. As the saying goes, he could
probably sell an Eskimo an air conditioner—if it suited him. Logan had an
uncanny ability to win people over when he wanted to.

Charlotte found it odd he
didn't choose to use this ability more often, especially when she'd wished he
would. Sometimes he'd seem so awkward around others, yet she'd seen him shine so
brightly so many times, with what appeared to be little to no effort. She'd
have appreciated if he'd turned on his charm at Bethany's wedding, as well as
the other night, when they went to dinner with her parents.

When Charlotte found out
Logan didn't have any friends other than her, she was totally shocked. How
could somebody as appealing and charming as him not have friends? It just
didn't make sense to her. From what she'd witnessed, everyone he'd met seemed
to like him, at least initially. She assumed he'd have many friends.

“It’s wonderful to see
you again,” he gushed, seemingly forgetting about the awkward time with her
father. “Charlotte never stops telling me what fantastic parents you've been
and what a great childhood she had.”

“Really?” Her dad said,
unsmiling.

He apparently hadn't
forgotten about all that occurred the previous night, at all.

“That doesn’t really
sound like Charlotte,” my father challenged him.

“Nonsense,” Logan
laughed, sitting down at their table without having been invited to join them.

He often took liberties
like that. He'd always assumed that people wouldn’t mind. They rarely objected,
even if they'd wanted to. It would be rude to do so. Logan would do as he
chose, taking advantage of the good manners of others. It usually worked in his
favor when he turn on his charm. However, if there were already negative
feelings, such as between my father and him, it wouldn't help the situation.

Charlotte's dad was quite
right in what he'd said when he challenged Logan. Her father knew his daughter
pretty well—apparently, better than Logan did. She hadn’t said those things at
all, no matter how true any of it might've been. She tended not to gush like
that over people. It simply wasn't her style.

Logan was in his
manipulative mode, saying what he
thought
her parents wanted to hear. It
was his way of ingratiating himself. It was possible he was trying to make
amends after the bad ending to the last time they'd seen each other. Sadly, it
was apparent he was unsuccessful, no matter what his intent was.