Playing with Temptation (14 page)

“Hey, Raina,” Jared called from just outside the back door. “Everything is loaded. If you want to come out and sign for everything, that would be great.”

“Sure, Jared.” She gave Logan a
wait here
kind of look, since he could still see the two of them where he was standing, then stepped outside to the back of the open delivery truck.

Jared stopped beside her, his arm brushing hers as he handed her the clipboard with the paperwork attached.

“Who is that guy, anyway?” he asked, annoyance infusing his voice.

Jared’s head was very close to hers, so that his breath fluttered her hair against her cheek, and while it made her uncomfortable knowing that Logan was watching them, she assumed that Jared just wanted to be sure that Logan didn’t overhear their conversation.

“He’s temporary security,” she said, signing the pickup order slip.

“Security?” His voice raised a notch. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything is fine,” she assured him with a smile. It was one thing for her employees and close friends to be privy to the details about her being stalked, but she wasn’t sharing her personal business with anyone outside her trusted circle.

Jared glanced over his shoulder at Logan and gave him an insolent look before meeting Raina’s gaze again. “He seems awfully protective of you, considering he’s only the hired help.”

Raina heard the thread of jealousy in his tone and refused to confirm or deny what Jared was insinuating. “He’s just doing his job.” She handed back his clipboard. “Have a good weekend, Jared.”

“Yeah, you, too,” he muttered as she turned and walked away.

Raina stepped back inside the store, closed and locked the door, then faced Logan, who was blocking her way back into the boutique. She nearly laughed when she saw his surly expression. “Wipe that scowl off your face, or you’re going to scare away the customers.”

He grunted like a caveman. “The only one I wanted to scare off was your
infatuated
delivery guy.”

“Infatuated?” she repeated, unable to keep the amusement from her tone.

“Oh, yeah,” he drawled. “There was a hell of a lot of posturing going on, and he was just a little too defensive for my liking.”

She laughed at his poor reasoning. “Yeah, well, so were
you
.”

He closed the distance between them and backed her up against the nearest wall, trapping her there with his hands braced on either side of her arms. He wasn’t touching her at all, but she could feel the seductive heat emanating off of him. Her breasts tightened at his nearness, and her entire body melted and liquefied.

He dipped his head and brushed his lips against the side of her neck, just below her ear, in a slow, sensual tease. “I have every reason to make sure he, and any other man who looks your way, knows you’re off-limits.”

The gruff, territorial note to his voice thrilled her, but she wasn’t about to let him know how much she liked that dominant side to his personality and give him that much emotional power over her. “I’m not off-limits to anyone.”

“Yeah, you
are
.” He lifted his head and stared down at her, his dark green gaze as intoxicating as a shot of hard liquor on an empty stomach. “While we’re together, you belong to only
me
, no one else.”

She opened her mouth to dispute his statement, but before she could argue, his lips covered hers in a hard, fierce, possessive kiss. The deep, sinful kind that stole her breath and made her instantly wet and aroused. One hand curled around her neck, his thumb pushing her chin up so she couldn’t turn away—not that she intended to, despite the fact that she had a store full of customers and employees who could walk in on them at any second.

None of that mattered when she craved the addictive taste of Logan Cruz.

The man kissed like he fucked…down and dirty and without an ounce of shame. He kissed her like they were a couple, like they were exclusive, like she was
his
. Logan’s mouth ate at hers, his tongue licked and stroked, and with a soft moan of surrender, she gave him everything he demanded, every hesitation stripped away in favor of the pleasure he offered.

Just when she was on the verge of pulling him into her office so he could bend her over her desk and ease the throbbing ache he’d ignited between her thighs, he lifted his mouth from hers, but not before he bit gently on her plump lower lip, then soothed the sting with a slow lick of his tongue.

“
Mine
,” he growled adamantly.

The heady, masculine claim made her shiver—and what did it say about her that she couldn’t even bring herself to refute something she was beginning to want very badly—to belong to him, and no one else?

T
he evening couldn’t
arrive soon enough for Logan. After a busy Saturday at the store, Raina finally announced at six that she was ready to head home, and Aaron would work until closing time. Since she’d ordered in sandwiches and potato salad from the deli down the street at five, neither one of them were hungry, so stopping for dinner wasn’t on the agenda.

Getting Raina alone and naked as soon as possible was.

As he escorted her out the back door to his car, she curiously eyed the black Sugar and Spice shopping bag he held.

“What did you buy when I wasn’t paying attention?” she asked and playfully tried to reach for the bag.

He was quick to keep his new purchases out of her reach. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.” He waggled his brows at her. “Trust me, we’re gonna have a good time tonight, sugar.”

She made a cute face at him. “Tease.”

Enjoying this flirtatious side to Raina, he walked to the passenger side of the sports car and opened the door for her. “Oh, you have no idea how much of a tease I can be, but you’ll find out soon enough.”

Her gaze warmed in anticipation of his seductive promise right before she slid into the leather seat and buckled in.

He went around to the driver’s side, placed the package behind his chair, and started the car. Heading out of the parking lot, he drove toward Raina’s apartment, his mind planning out tonight’s activities. After that hot, deep kiss with her in the back of Sugar and Spice and her sassy comment about not being off-limits to anyone, he intended to prove her wrong. By the time he was done with her tonight, her body would belong to him.

And if he was lucky, the rest of her would follow.

There was no denying that he was in way over his head when it came to Raina. She was the extreme opposite of all the submissive women he’d been with since walking away from Charlotte, which had been a deliberate decision on his part in order to keep his encounters with women all about sex, the power of being in control, and physical release. Nothing more.

Being with Raina that first night at The Players Club had been the start. Spending more time with her since had flipped a switch inside of him and made him want something beyond a string of one-night stands. Her confidence had drawn him in, and her fire and passion had consumed him. She was the furthest thing from an easy lay, and the fact that she was a constant challenge, that she wasn’t afraid to be defiant and push back and make him work for her surrender, made him so fucking hot and hungry for her. All the damn time.

And he had a strong feeling that this burning need for Raina wasn’t going to be sated anytime soon. Surprisingly, he was okay with that. Now it was just a matter of gradually convincing her that this thing between the two of them was more than a temporary itch for them to scratch. That once his stint as her bodyguard was over, they didn’t have to go their separate ways.

“Was Dean able to get ahold of the security tapes from my apartment manager?” Raina asked, effectively pulling him from his personal thoughts.

He glanced over at her, surprised to see the hint of vulnerability in her gaze. Despite her brave front, her stalker definitely had her concerned, even though the person had yet to make another move beyond the handcuffs and note. But that didn’t mean Raina wasn’t being watched, that the person stalking her wasn’t just waiting for an opportune moment to strike again.

Logan was determined to make sure nothing happened to her on his watch.

“I talked to Mac about an hour ago,” he said as he turned down the street leading to her place. “He told me that they should have the tapes in their office by Monday morning. They’ll review them right away and let me know what they come up with.”

She released a heavy sigh. “I’ll be so glad when this is over. I hate having to constantly look over my shoulder to see if someone is watching me.”

At least she didn’t complain about him being her permanent shadow and bodyguard, and he took that as a positive sign. “I guess I’m growing on you, huh?” He grinned.

She rolled her eyes, though a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Maybe a little.”

Arriving at her apartment building, he parked his car in the guest lot, and they both got out. He grabbed the black shopping bag, came around to Raina’s side of the vehicle, and automatically clasped her hand in his. She looked at first startled by his bold move, but she didn’t pull away as they walked toward her unit, and he reveled in that small intimacy between them—as well as it being a silent gesture that claimed her as his.

It had been years since he’d held a woman’s hand for the sheer pleasure and affection of it, but having Raina’s slender fingers entwined with his just felt
right
. Like they’d been dating for months instead of only knowing each other for days, and he wasn’t about to question or analyze why.

As they neared the stairs leading up to the second landing, he felt her stiffen beside him and assumed she was bracing herself to see yet another threat left on her doorstep. But when they arrived, there were no surprises, and she visibly relaxed.

And that’s exactly how he wanted Raina tonight…relaxed, pliable, and very, very willing.

He took the key from her and opened the door. While she punched in the code to turn off the security alarm, he did his normal patrol through the entire place. Once he was satisfied that the apartment was fine, he met back up with her in the kitchen area, where he noticed that the handcuffs he’d taken off the door last night were still where he’d left them on the counter. He’d considered using them tonight, especially after insinuating he would, but he’d bought something much better and more suited to his own liking from her shop.

She was leaning against the counter, watching him with a look of pure anticipation as he approached her, the black bag of sexy toys still in his hand since he wanted to be certain she didn’t look inside while he’d been checking her apartment. He stopped in front of her, his body less than an inch away from hers, and stared directly into her big, sultry eyes.

“You ready to play my way, sugar?”

Her chin tipped up slightly, and she raised a blonde brow. “
Your
way?”

That subtle show of defiance had his dick swelling in his jeans. “Hard. Rough. And very,
very
dirty.”

Lust flickered in her gaze, and she licked her bottom lip and nodded eagerly. “Oh, yeah.”

“With me in charge and you obeying my orders and calling me sir?” He was pushing his luck, big-time, but he wanted to make sure Raina knew exactly what she was agreeing to before they got down to business. Because once he had her consent, it gave him the permission he needed to open the door to a whole other level of ecstasy and push her past her personal limits.

“What’s it going to be, sugar?” he murmured when she paused longer than he liked. “Plain ol’ vanilla sex or trusting me to give you the kind of searing pleasure you’ve only fantasized about?”
Trust
being the key word, he realized. That’s what he wanted from her most of all.

And she didn’t hesitate to give it to him.

“I trust you,” she whispered.

He was humbled by that precious gift, and elation flowed through him, but he kept his expression neutral and his mind focused. “The same safe word from The Players Club applies here, as well. If you want me to stop at any point, just say
red
.”

“Okay.” The word came out breathy and, if Logan wasn’t mistaken,
excited
.

God, she was so fucking perfect, and he couldn’t wait a second longer to get this party of two started. Grabbing her hand, he led the way into her bedroom. As soon as they walked inside, her queen-sized bed was to the immediate left, and in front of that were double French doors leading out to the same balcony that wrapped around to the dining area. The drapes were open, and he didn’t bother closing them since she lived on the second floor and no one could see into her place. Besides, he wanted as much light as possible streaming in so he could see every single inch of her once he had her stripped naked.

The room was decorated in soft shades of purple and green, with whitewash furniture and a matching bed frame with a sturdy headboard and thick slats that would help keep her restrained, when the time came. Setting his black shopping bag on the nightstand, he strolled over to a pretty floral chaise lounge and reclined comfortably on the elongated chair, hands clasped over his stomach, though he was anything but relaxed. The thick bulge already straining against the zipper in his jeans attested to just how aroused he already was.