"Come again for me," he growled against her lips. "Let me feel you squeeze me."
The command tipped her over. The orgasm hit harder than the first—white-hot, consuming, her body clenching around him in pulsing waves. Logan followed with a guttural groan, burying himself to the hilt as he came, hips stuttering, every muscle taut as he spilled inside her.
They collapsed together, chests heaving, limbs tangled. He stayed inside her a long moment, softening slowly, kissing her temple, her cheek, the corner of her mouth.
Finally he eased out, disposed of the condom, then gathered her close again. The open window let in the humid night air—jasmine, spilled beer, faint trumpet notes, laughter from the street below.
Afterward, they lay tangled in hotel sheets with the sounds of the Quarter drifting through the open window. Logan traced patterns on her shoulder and Mara felt more content than she had in years.
"That was..." Logan started.
"Yeah," Mara agreed. "It really was."
He laughed and pulled her closer. "Stay tonight. Don't go back yet."
"I wasn't planning on it." She kissed his chest. "We have the whole week, remember?"
"Best week of my life so far."
"It's only Sunday."
"Doesn't matter. Already the best."
The week passed in a blur of moments that felt both infinite and too short. They fell into an easy rhythm. Mornings started late, tangled in hotel sheets with coffee delivered to the room and no rush to be anywhere. When they finally ventured out, it was for breakfast at small cafés where locals knew Mara by name, or afternoons exploring the Garden District with Logan's hand warm in hers. But mostly, they stayed in.
Logan's hotel room became their world. They'd order room service and eat sprawled across the bed, talking for hours about everything and nothing. Mara would trace the scars on his chest while he told her stories about his team. Logan would run his fingers through her hair while she explained how Shadow Veil had started, careful to keep details vague but honest about what drove her.
"Tell me about the first person you saved," Logan said one afternoon, both of them lying in bed watching shadows move across the ceiling.
"Her name was Sarah. Sixteen. Taken from a bus stop in Houston." Mara's voice was soft. "I was barely trained. Terrified I'd mess it up. But we got her out. And when she looked at me in that moment after, when she realized she was safe, that's when I knew this was what I was supposed to do."
Logan pulled her closer. "You're amazing. You know that?"
"You're not so bad yourself." She kissed his shoulder. "Tell me something you've never told anyone else."
He was quiet for a long moment. "After my dad died, I almost got out. Put in my paperwork. Was done with all of it. But then we got deployed and I watched Bulldog pull a family out of a collapsed building. Watched him risk everything for people he'd never met. And I realized I couldn't walk away from that. From being the person who shows up when no one else will."
"That's why we fit," Mara said softly. "We're both too stubborn to quit the hard things."
They learned each other's bodies and hearts in equal measure. Logan discovered Mara was ticklish just below her ribs. Mara found out Logan talked in his sleep about missions he couldn't remember in the morning. He learned she preferred his weight on top of her, the grounding pressure making her feel safe. She discovered he needed gentleness after, his fingers tracing patterns on her skin while his breathing settled.
They ventured out for live music on Frenchmen Street, where they'd dance until their feet hurt. Logan would spin her and dip her and make her laugh until she couldn't breathe. Then they'd stumble back to the hotel, kissing in doorways and against walls until they finally made it upstairs.
One evening they took a sunset walk along the river, the Mississippi dark and quiet beside them. Logan had his jacket around her shoulders and Mara fit perfectly against his side.
"I don't want this to end," he said quietly.
"Then we don't let it." She looked up at him. "Long distance is hard but we can make it work."
"You really think so?"
"I know so." She stopped walking and turned to face him. "Logan, I don't let people in. Not like this. Not ever. But you're different. This is different. And I'm not ready to walk away from it just because geography makes it complicated."
He kissed her right there on the riverwalk, deep and thorough and full of promise. When they broke apart, he rested his forehead against hers. "I'm falling for you. I need you to know that."
"I'm falling for you too." She took his hand. "Come on. Let's go back."
Wednesday morning, Logan's phone rang while they were still in bed. He groaned and reached for it, squinting at the screen. "It's my CO."
