Modern Romance January 2020 Books 5-8. Heidi Rice

bra. ‘Am I interrupting you?’

      ‘No.’ He walked from behind the desk and bent down to scratch Flossie behind the ears. He glanced up at Layla. ‘What’s up?’

      She hitched her sweater back over her shoulder. ‘I was wondering what you wanted me to do about…um…our sleeping arrangements.’ Her cheeks were stained a faint shade of pink. ‘Now that Aunt Elsie is going away and Robbie’s not around, we don’t have to share the west tower suite. For appearances’ sake, I mean.’

      Logan rose to his full height, only just resisting the urge to put his arms around her and draw her closer. She licked her lower lip and a lightning bolt of lust zapped him in the groin. ‘Are you worried I might not stick to the rules?’ he asked. Damn it. He was worried. Right at that moment he couldn’t think of a single reason why he should stick to the rules.

      Her gaze skittered away from his, concentrating on the open neck of his shirt instead. She began to pluck at the overly long sleeve of her sweater as if she needed something to do with her hands. ‘No, of course not. I just thought you’d prefer it if I was in my own quarters. Away from you. Or at least, that’s the message I’ve been getting since we left Hawaii.’

      Logan inched up her chin with the end of his finger, meshing his gaze with hers. Every rational cell in his body told him to stop. Do not pass go. Do not go any further. But right then his body was programmed to follow instinct, not rationality. A primal instinct that demanded contact. Physical contact.

      Intimate contact.

      ‘The problem is, I don’t want you away from me.’ He slid a hand behind her head to the nape of her neck under the silky curtain of her hair. ‘I want you close to me. Closer than is probably wise.’ He breathed in the fresh flowery scent of her perfume, his senses going haywire, his blood thickening with each thunderous beat of his pulse.

      She closed her eyes in a slow blink, like a sensuous cat enjoying a caress. Her lips softly parting, her breath hitching, her slim throat rising and falling over a swallow. ‘Why is that a problem when I want the same thing?’ Her voice was husky and it sent another punch of lust into his lower body.

      Logan slowly brought his mouth down to hers, promising himself one taste, one reminder of how sweet and soft her lips were. But as soon as their lips met, a wave of intense heat swept through him and he deepened the kiss with a gliding thrust of his tongue that made her moan and press herself closer. His arms went around her, holding her to the length of his hardening body, desire hot and strong rippling through him in an unstoppable tide.

      He buried one hand in the thick tresses of her hair, the other pressed into the small of her back to keep her pressed against him, his mouth locked on hers in a kiss that sent shivers across his scalp and down the entire length of his spine. He lifted his mouth off hers to graze her neck with his teeth, breathing in the scent of her skin. ‘I can’t tell you how hard I’ve fought with myself not to do this.’

      ‘But I want you to do it.’ Layla moved against him, sending a whiplash of longing through his body. ‘I want you.’

      ‘I want you so much it’s driving me nuts.’ He groaned and clamped his mouth back down on hers, their lips moving in perfect motion as if they had been kissing for years. Her tongue touched his and the backs of his knees tingled, his blood pounding through his veins like a tribal drum.

      He lifted her sweater so he could access her breasts, desperate to feel her soft creamy skin against his palm. He unclipped her bra to find her nipples were already tightly budded and he lowered his mouth to each one in turn, lavishing them with strokes and licks of his tongue, teasing them with the gentle press of his teeth. She made soft murmurs of approval, her breathing rate increasing, her hands reaching for the waistband of his trousers.

      Logan hauled her sweater over her head, tossing it to the floor and only just missing Flossie, who was lying on her side, snoring. It was enough to break his stride and he took a deep steadying breath and grasped Layla by the upper arms. ‘Let’s take this upstairs. I want you to be comfortable and I’d rather not have an audience.’ He jerked his head towards the sleeping dog.

      A shadow of worry passed through Layla’s gaze. ‘What if you change your mind before we get upstairs? I thought you were okay with taking our relationship further the other night but then you seemed to change your mind and could barely look at me, much less talk to me.’

      He took one of her hands and brought it up to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the backs of her knuckles, his eyes locked on hers. ‘If I was a better man—a stronger man—then that’s exactly what I would do. I would reinstate the rules. But apparently I’m not as strong as I thought.’ He released her hand and bent down to retrieve her sweater, helping her put it back on like she was a small child.

      She smiled as her head came out of the top of the sweater and something near his heart split open, leaking warmth into every cold and closed-off cavity of his chest. His breath hitched, his heart stuttered, his desire throbbed and pounded. He had never wanted anyone with such fervour, with such ferocity, with such frightening intensity. It was a clawing need inside him that he was worried would get out of control. Making him want her longer than the year they had agreed on. Making him want things he had sworn he would never want again. Closeness, commitment, connection beyond the physical. A lasting connection that would only get deeper, more abiding and bonding each and every year.

      But it was a risk he was prepared to take because he couldn’t go another day—another moment—without experiencing the heart-stopping thrill of their intimate union.

      Logan framed her face in his hands, lowering his mouth to hers in a lingering kiss, closing down his conscience, shutting away his fears, slamming the door on his damn rules.

      He wanted her.

      She wanted him.

      That’s all that mattered for now.

      Their journey to Logan’s room upstairs was a stop-start affair with kisses and caresses at various points along the way. Finally, they made it to the bed and he laid Layla down and leaned over her, kissing her lingeringly with his hands propped either side of her head, one of his knees resting on the bed near her legs. He raised his head to look down at her. ‘I can’t tell you how much I want you,’ he said, breathing as heavily as her.

      ‘Then don’t tell me. Show me.’ Layla wound her arms around his neck and brought his head back down so his mouth met hers.

      His kiss was deep and thrilling, his tongue dancing with hers in a sexy salsa that made her spine loosen vertebra by vertebra. Her heart picked up its pace, her pulse pounding with the need to have him closer, to feel him skin on skin.

      He lifted his mouth off hers to blaze a fiery trail of kisses along the sensitive skin of her neck, down lower to the shallow dish between her collarbones. She shivered in reaction, tingling from head to foot as desire swept through her in hot spreading waves. How could she have spent so many years of her life without experiencing this incredible passion? How could she experience it with anyone else? He was the one who evoked such powerful responses from her. Responses that travelled through her body with the force of a tumultuous storm. A tornado of lust that left her senses spinning in its wake.

      Logan helped her out of her clothes and she did the same for him, but with nowhere near the same efficiency. Her fingers fumbled in her haste and he eventually took over the task and stripped off the last of his clothes. He applied a condom and came back down on the bed beside her, gliding his hands over her naked breasts, and her spine arched when his mouth came down to kiss around her achingly tight nipple. Layla made a moaning sound as pleasure shot through her. A dragging ache tugged deep and low in her womanhood—a need that begged to be assuaged.

      He took her nipple into his mouth, his lips and tongue caressing it with such exquisite expertise she whimpered and writhed, impatient, greedy, desperate for more. He kissed the gentle slopes of each breast, paying particular attention to the sensitive undersides. She was almost breathless with