“But it scares me a little,” she admitted.

“I’m glad you shared that.” He kissed her back again, then whispered for her ears alone. “I’m going to make this so good for you, baby. I want you to imagine what it would be like to take me here, my chest covering your back as I pump you full and we breathe together. Can you feel the pleasure climbing?”

“Yes.” The sound was a breathy whimper.

“Me, too, baby. To get there, first you’re going to have to be ready. Can you push out on me? Yeah, like that. Bear down.”

In seconds, his finger slid completely inside, suddenly surrounded by hot satin fire. Logan began to sweat. God, something had changed between them last night, something fundamental. She’d tried to hide behind her professional façade and keep her distance, but now that he was stripping her of all those artificial barriers, he could see how she really felt. And her trust was so damn beautiful. He couldn’t wait to fuck her ass, to completely own her. It would require her to have a bit more faith in him, but if he was patient and gave her what she needed, it would happen.

The minute she let him slide completely into that pretty backside, he’d know that she truly trusted him. He’d ask her to stay with him, wear his collar. And no matter what he’d promised her earlier, as soon as this fucking assignment was over, he was going ask her to be his wife.

“Logan . . .”

“Yeah, Cherry? You okay?”

Her whole body tensed. “Do something.”

He dragged his fingers up her swollen labia, over the hard, needy knot of her clit. God, how responsive Tara was. She was more than ready to come. He was more than ready to let her, too.

But he had to finish his task first.

Slowly, he withdrew his fingers from her backside, quickly washed them, then rushed back to grab the plug he’d prepared. “I’m going to slide this in. It’s a little bigger than my fingers, but you can handle it. Just stay relaxed.”

Tara gave him a jerky nod. “Okay.”

His heart drummed in his ears as he pulled her cheeks apart with a thumb and finger, then settled the edge of the plug against her rosette. Slowly, he sank it into her depths, watching her closely for cues.

Her back stiffened. When he paused, she forced a breath out. As he resumed, her fists clenched. But when he paused again, she shook her head frantically.

“Don’t stop.”

Caressing his way down her ass again, Logan pushed the plug in a bit more. As he eased the thicker end into her virgin backside, Tara gasped.

“Too much, Cherry?”

Her breath shuddered, and he could almost hear her trying to collect her thoughts. “M-More intense than I expected.”

Intense in a good way? Logan eased his fingers between her thighs again. Wetter than before. Wetter than ever. He petted her clit, then settled a pair of fingers at her entrance. They slipped inside as if eased by melted butter. Slick. Smooth. Perfect.

“You want to come.” It wasn’t a question; he knew.

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to, baby. It’s all about feeling. Just hold back a few minutes for me. I want to share this orgasm with you.”

Tara whimpered, but sent him a shaky nod.

“Answer me,” he demanded.

“Yes, Logan.”

Her breathy submission went straight to his cock, as usual. God, she had another inch of the plug to take, and watching it slide into her body, seeing her incredible arousal soar, was getting to him. He’d been inside her less than two hours ago, and already he was dying for her again.

“Good girl. This is going to feel so good. You’re going to take the rest of this plug, baby. Then you’re going to take me. I’m going to fill this pretty wet pussy with my cock,” he whispered in her ear. “And I’m going to rub your hard little clit while I fuck you smooth and deep. You’re going to scream for me.”

She didn’t say anything, just panted.

“Do you want that?” Logan knew she did, but he wanted to hear her admit it. Being with her this way, her body so in tune with his, was drawing forth his every primal instinct.

Take. Possess. Own.

“Yes, Logan.”

Jesus, somehow when she said those two simple words, his dick pulsed in response, more than ready to give her everything he could.

With a deep breath, he withdrew his fingers from her pussy. She whined in protest, but a second later, he seated the plug deep in her ass, and that whine became a mewl.

“Fuck, she looks pretty,” Xander murmured from the bed.

As if Tara suddenly remembered they had an audience, she stiffened. “Is he staying?”

“Yes, you always have to be ready to perform for an audience. Now stop asking questions, Cherry. You take what I give or say your safe word. Everything I’m doing is designed to prepare you for what’s ahead. If you can’t handle it, say so.”

That would get her back up.

Sure enough, her spine stiffened. Logan distracted her by rubbing a pair of fingers across her clit again, settling his touch into little circles.

She didn’t say another word.

With a quick flick of his wrist and a lowering of his zipper, he freed his cock and settled himself against her wet portal. With his other hand, he grabbed the base of the plug. Then he eased into her hot, so-tight silken pussy, the feel of his bare cock against her flesh the most mind-blowing sensation ever. Yes, he was playing with fire without protection, and his brain knew they should discuss this, but he needed her this way so badly. The image of her round with his child almost made him come then and there.

Instead, he gritted his teeth, sucked it up, then withdrew the plug a fraction. Before she could even finish gasping, he shoved the little pink device into her ass as he eased back from her pussy, then repeated the process. Tara started to scratch at the spanking bench, her nails digging into the dark leather. Her body clamped down on him until his eyes nearly fucking crossed. Her response was hot in itself, but it was her trust driving him to the edge. The connection. He could literally feel her body overheating, overloading, going exactly where he led her. With every sigh and groan, every tensing of her muscles and shake of her head, she sent a message to him, telling him exactly how to finish unraveling her.

Fuck, he’d better do it quick. He wasn’t going to last.

He settled his left hand over her clit again, swiped her fingers across the little bud. Tara was hard, primed. Her orgasm was going to drag him with her, and he couldn’t wait.

Logan circled her clit again, then drove deep into her pussy. “Come!”

The word was barely out before her body began jolting with the force of her pleasure. She clamped down on his cock and she screamed, her body bucking, pulsing with release. A moment later, the climax that had been brewing at the base of his spine shot through his balls and sped up his cock like white-hot lightning. As he plunged with feral strokes into her pussy, the fire erupted and he convulsed, emptying himself inside her with a soul-deep groan.

And as he laid his sweat-slick chest over the heated skin of her back and wrapped his arm around her, he knew that he would do whatever necessary to keep her safe and make her his forever.

Chapter Ten

Club Dominion—Saturday afternoon

LOGAN entered the dungeon again, balancing a white paper bag in each hand and gripping a plastic bag with his teeth. Seeing him, Tara tossed her phone into the cabinet, then rushed to help him, relieving him of the bulk he held with his mouth first.

He sighed with relief. “Who knew sodas were so heavy?”

“That’s bad for your teeth,” she scolded.

“They’re all still here.” He grinned.

“Yeah, but if you want to continue chewing food in the future, you probably ought not to use them as tools, you know.”

With a wink, he maneuvered across the room and set the bags on the table. It struck her that this was a bit like high school. Then, she’d been forever trying to point out the smart thing, the logical thing. He’d always pushed back with a bit of mischief that inevitably made something inside her melt. By nature, she tended to be serious. She had a sense of humor, but too often let it get buried under duty and responsibility. Logan’s wit was relaxed, closer to the surface, and during their time together in high school, she’d always felt more . . . balanced around him. Happy.

She felt happier and lighter today than someone who’d just lost a fiancé, than a woman trying to rescue her best friend from sex slavers, than the female who’d been glutting on sex with the jerk who’d broken her heart once upon a time. That made her pause.

“Uh-oh,” Logan said, tearing into the first bag and withdrawing a tin round with a cardboard lid.

The food smelled heavenly, but her stomach was so tight, she wondered if she could eat. “What?”

“I know that look. You’re getting serious on me.”

And not for anything would she tell him that being with him now felt right. He already had these crazy ideas of love that she feared would fade once he realized that he was just getting her out of his system. She didn’t want to be crushed by this incredible hunk of man again. Yes, he’d left her last time for extenuating circumstances; she didn’t blame him. But the fact that he’d walked away with such seeming ease scared her.

“Thinking about the case,” she lied. “I leave in four days.”

“You’ll be ready, I promise. Have you heard any news from Bocelli?”

Tara shook her head. “I checked in while you were gone. The call was brief, but he said there was nothing new yet.”

“No more dead bodies is a good development, Cherry.”

Logan was right, but that didn’t make the worry any easier. She’d pushed her apprehension for Darcy’s safety and the mission’s success to the back of her mind by telling herself that panic would only slow down her training. But the second she closed her eyes, Darcy was there, sometimes screaming for help, sometimes already dead.

“Baby, now you’re just worrying me.” He set the food aside and crossed the room. “You’ve gone pale.”

“Sorry. I really am concerned about Darcy.”

“You’re doing your best.”

“What if it isn’t good enough?” The thought brought a rush of tears.

He cupped her shoulders, his blue eyes delving deep into hers. “It’s all you can do. Be comforted by the fact that the abductor’s goal isn’t to kill the women. It gives you more time.”

“I just wonder what she’s enduring now.”

“I don’t know Darcy, but if she’s a field agent for the Bureau, then she’s a tough woman.”

“She is,” Tara agreed, a bit of the anxiety in her stomach easing. “But . . . do you think they’ve figured out that she’s not really submissive?” And if so, would she end up like Laken Fox?

Logan hesitated. “Hard to say. If they were convinced of that, I think they’d have killed her already. They may think she’s just really bratty and needs a seriously firm hand.”

Tara swallowed. “In the wrong hands, that sounds terrible.”

“It could be. But you’ve got to worry about you now. You have to focus on being ready to rescue her or you’ll both wind up in serious trouble.”

“I know.” And she did. It just didn’t make the situation any easier. “What about Robert? Any updates from Axel?”

This time, Logan sighed. The hesitation on his face worried her.

“He’s not cut out for this, Cherry. I told you that. Axel says York has the self-control, but not the drive to earn submission. He brought in one of the club subs yesterday. Apparently, she topped from the bottom the entire time. York said he was sick of head games and walked out. Are he and Darcy an item?”

“No one is supposed to know, but yeah. I think he meant to propose soon. At least Darcy suspected so.”

“York is not only wrong for this assignment, he’s not focusing on what he needs to learn. He’s too anxious. I’ve told Bocelli that. So has Axel. Baby, you need a plan B.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “I know it’s smart to have one. I just don’t think I could go to this resort and hand over my body to someone I don’t know, not the way I give myself over to you.”

He cupped her cheek, and his face softened. “And you do it because you trust me.”

That expression scared the hell out of her, like he was expecting her to love him back. “With my body, yes.”

Logan narrowed his eyes, clearly not liking the way she qualified that statement. “We’re going to broaden that trust, Cherry. I’m going to earn it all, every last drop of forgiveness and lo—”

“Stop.”

Her heart pounded. She knew what he was going to say, and she wasn’t strong enough to resist it right now. Last night, he’d scaled so many of her defenses. If he’d been demanding or bossy, she could have easily told him to go fuck himself. But he’d been patient, tender, seductive. Even today . . . Who would have thought that taking the anal plug he’d inserted could seem like a bonding experience? Yet no denying that she felt even closer to him.