He didn’t need me to describe the pain that was squeezing my chest, an ache that always appeared during the holidays. Logan owned a map of my heart, and he knew every fracture, every river, and every canyon.
He bent down and planted a chaste kiss on my mouth. When a purr rumbled deep in his chest, I sank into his embrace. Damn, I loved it when that man purred. Sometimes late at night when he thought I was asleep, he’d pull me tight against him and turn on his motor. There was nothing sexier. Logan Cross was six and a half feet of pure male, and he was all mine.
I gazed up at his golden eyes rimmed in black and touched his long hair. “Mr. Cross?”
He tilted his head to the side. “Yes?”
“Hand over the cheese. That’s not for snacking on until Christmas.”
He inclined his head and smiled fiendishly. “As you wish, my sweet. But only on one condition.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
Logan wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me onto the counter. He wedged himself between my legs and nuzzled against my neck, sending goose pimples across my skin. The bag of cheese fell to the floor as he sensually brushed his lips along my jaw, making me blush with desire. “You may belong to the kitchen tomorrow, but tonight you’remine.”
Chapter 2
Silver and Logan
Everyonein our six-story residence had their own floor except for Sadie and Leo. When Sadie first met up with her brothers, she wanted to get to know them, so living with Leo wasn’t a bad situation. But after a while they both needed their own space. Justus was working with a builder to add an additional level for Sadie, but it was going to take time.
Lucian lived on the first floor where the family room, gym, and study were located. He preferred less square footage, so his apartment only took up a small space on the west side. Since he was a computer whiz and did contract work, Lucian pulled his weight monitoring our security systems, fingerprint scanners, and the underground parking garage. Someone had to watch the cameras for trespassers and make sure the equipment was working properly, and it gave Justus more time to focus on his cases and raise a family.
Finn lived on the second floor, Justus and Page above him, then Levi on the fourth, Logan and I on the fifth, and finally Leo and Sadie on the top floor. We had two levels of underground parking, and I often teased Justus that we could just convert one of those into living quarters. But Justus wasn’t about to give up real estate meant for his growing car collection. Aside from family, Justus had one passion in life: expensive vehicles.
Justus still retained his status as my Ghuardian, and even though he no longer had any say in making decisions for me, he acted as my advisor and made sure my physical Mage training was up to par. Between that and working as an apprentice for Novis, I had my hands full. Even though my Mage powers surpassed almost everyone else’s, careers weren’t handed out on a silver platter. You had to put in your time, work hard, and build your reputation.
And there was so much to learn in our world.
I put another apple pie in the oven and set the timer. Logan and I had spent the previous night naked in bed. He usually slept in the nude, but last night we were doing anything but sleeping. Just remembering the feel of his mouth on my bare thigh made me lose my concentration.
“Something smells good,” he purred from behind me. “And it’s not the pie.”
“Quit sniffing my emotions.” I slapped him playfully with a kitchen towel covered in flour. “Can you run down to Levi’s and bring the cakes up here? Something tells me he’s going to try to slice off an end and re-ice it. If he eats all the desserts, he’s going to have to deal with Justus.”
“Why Justus?”
“Because Rose loves sweets, and her tears are his kryptonite.”
Logan chuckled. “I’ve already issued Levi a warning that if he puts one finger on my female’s cake, his residency here will be terminated.”
I turned around, the red oven mitt still on my hand. “You wouldn’t really do that, would you?”
He stepped forward, his gaze piercing mine. “I’ve never made an empty threat. Brother or not, no man touches my female’s lemon cake.”
Typical Logan.
“Well, let’s avoid a family feud and bring them up to remove all temptation. You guys can carry everything down tomorrow morning. I think Page bought special tablecloths, so don’t put anything on the table until those are down. We need someone to get all the dishes, wine, condiments, silverware—”
Logan pressed his finger against my lips. “Everything’s taken care of. You won’t have to lift a finger, and Little Wolf volunteered to decorate the room.”
I arched my eyebrows. “Finn?”
“He’s shopping with Lucian.”
“That should be interesting.”
Lucian was the quieter Cross brother. He was the only one with black hair, a rare and undesired trait among Chitahs. Lucian was an intellectual and more introverted than his gregarious brothers. Because of his insomnia, he was usually up at odd hours doing programming work. Between his dark hair and five-ten stature, strangers treated him differently when they found out he was a Chitah. Perhaps that’s why he got along with Finn so well. Even though Finn was a Shifter, those two had a lot in common when it came to the adversities they faced in our world.
