She nodded and tossed back her blanket, standing before him. She was so petite that he still towered over her like a bear. “I’m sorry. You have every right to be angry with me, but I want you to know why I didn’t tell my mother about you.”
He plastered a careless smile to his face. “Don’t bother. It’s obvious.”
“I don’t think it is.”
“Well I do,” he growled. “So if that’s all you have to tell me, then I see no reason for you to stay.”
“Logan, don’t shut me out,” she pleaded, those eyes riveting him.
The tenuous thread of his civility snapped. He raked her body with a hot look, deliberately lingering on her breasts. Her nipples hardened, forming stiff peaks beneath the thin layer of her dress. She’d changed, he noted, to a billowing dress that made her look like a goddess. The knowledge that he had such an instantaneous effect on her made him even harder than he already was.
“You have two choices, Claire,” he told her, just barely keeping himself from grabbing her up and taking her straight to his bed. “You can walk out the door and go home, or you can stay here tonight. But if you stay, it’s on my terms.”
She watched him warily, and he could almost see the wheels spinning in her mind. She didn’t know what to expect from him. Hell, he didn’t know what to expect from himself these says.
“What are your terms?”
A feral grin curled his lips. “I think you know.”
Claire swallowed, her eyes widening, pupils dilating. “Oh.”
“You’re still standing here,” he pointed out. It took all the willpower he possessed to keep himself from reaching out to her. But he refused to bend tonight.
“I know.”
Satisfaction, primal and heady, unfurled low in his belly. “Then you’re willing to abide by my terms?”
She licked her lips, drawing his attention back to her sexy mouth and tearing a groan from him. “Yes.”
“Come here,” he commanded.
Claire obeyed, moving closer to him, stopping when their legs brushed tantalizingly together. Logan’s every pore screamed for him to take her right there, on the floor or the sofa, whichever they reached first. But the tiny portion of his mind that had retained its sanity reminded him that he couldn’t, not with Derek staying in the guest bedroom. So he scooped Claire up in his arms instead and headed for the door.
She squeaked and began squirming. “Logan. Put me down. I’m too heavy.” He ignored her, so she continued protesting. “The television’s still on.”
“Screw the TV.” He didn’t break his stride.
“Logan.”
Logan spared her a glance. “If you keep yammering, you’ll wake Derek.”
That effectively silenced her until they reached Logan’s bedroom. He kicked the door closed behind them and set her on her feet. “Take off your dress,” he ordered without preamble.
“Logan,” she objected. “I want to talk about what happened.”
“No talking.” He had her exactly where he wanted her now, and he wasn’t interested in impediments to having her. Repeatedly.
“But—”
“No buts. My terms, remember?” He crossed his arms over his chest and watched her intently. “Now take off your dress.”
Claire’s lips tightened and he could discern from her expression that she was rethinking her compliance. But in the end, she seemed to realize that what was about to come was inevitable for both of them. She placed her hands on her thighs and clenched the fabric of her dress, bunching it. Inch by inch, it raised, revealing an ever mouthwatering expanse of silky-smooth ivory legs. His mouth went dry. The hemline continued its northward crawl, unveiling the tiny scrap of her red satin underwear.
She paused, the expression on her face suddenly hesitant. “Logan, I—”
“Go on,” he said, tone impassive. Logan knew her little belly was at the root of her trepidation, but her fears were groundless. He wanted her just as much and she remained every bit as beautiful, if not more so, now that she carried his child. He’d told her as much. She didn’t believe him.
But when this night was over, there would be no more doubts left in her mind.
