“You know how it’s easy for me to do what I do?”
“Because of what they did to you two,” he says, his voice barely above a broken whisper.
“No, Jake. It’s because there’s nothing but hatred inside of me that’s been driving me since I was able to do something other than curl in a corner in fear of them finding me again. I never thought anything else would drive me. I thought after this was over…I had nothing to look forward to after I killed them all. Now… Now there’s hope. I never realized the power of hope until he suddenly appeared in my life as though the universe was giving me a gift at the wrong time.”
He exhales harshly, and I sag backwards a little.
“I’m glad to hear you have hope, Lana. Really. I am. Just… Just couldn’t you have found it with someone who couldn’t toss your ass in prison?”
His tone ends on a joking note, but the seriousness of the situation is still present.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we have to. Trust me to be cautious.”
“If anything ever feels off… If he ever asks you questions… Just listen to the questions he asks you. You know what to look for. Promise me you’ll get the hell out of there if that ever happens.”
“Promise,” I tell him, grinning.
“You’re going to make me go bald with worry,” he groans, as I start walking back inside.
“I’ll call you later.”
As I hang up and make it back to where Logan is in just a pair of boxers and working diligently on making some type of drink in the blender, I lean against the island, soaking in the sight of him.
He turns and catches me ogling him, and he waggles his eyebrows.
“Do you have to leave?” I ask him, desperately trying to keep any neediness out of my tone.
“Not tonight. Possibly tomorrow, but not tonight.”
I smile, even though it’s masking a certain level of disappointment. I wanted at least two days, but I’ll take what I can get, since it’s more than I thought this cruel life would ever allow me to have.
“You’re incredible, you know?” he asks, coming closer.
The blender gets forgotten as he reaches me, and I tilt my head back, giving him access just as he bends forward and kisses me long and hard and deep and… There aren’t enough words to explain how each kiss gets closer to touching my soul.
I almost think it can knock away some of the blackness there, maybe even spread around some light.
His arms come around me, pinning me to him as he lifts me, giving him a better angle on my mouth instead of having to bend over so far.
The guy is just too tall and I’m just too short.
I grin against his lips as my legs come up to wrap around his waist. The only reason I break the kiss is to absorb some of the normalcy of the situation, revel in each second of it.
“So we’ve made it to the level where you just walk around in your boxers in front of me?”
He winks while sliding me onto a countertop, and I frown as I release him with my legs as he backs away. When he turns around to put his back to me, I take notice of some scars I never noticed the last time I had him naked.
“What are these?” I ask before I think about it.
My fingers immediately dart out to touch one semi-circular scar near his shoulder, and I grimace. I hate for people to touch my scars, and here I am touching his.
He doesn’t flinch away the way I do as my finger skims over the marred surface.
“Bullet did that two years ago. Just barely missed the damn vest. Half an inch over, and I’d have had a bruise instead of having a bullet removed. A rookie cleared the scene and missed a guy who had a gun, hiding in a closet. He shot through the door, and I was one of the ones hit.”
Another scar is jagged and long, moving from his other shoulder blade to his spine. When my fingers skate across it, he backs into my touch. I wish I could let him touch mine. Maybe he could pull away the painful memories laced inside the scar tissue.
“That one is from a knife.” That answer has me swallowing down a painful knot. “It was when I was fresh in the field and the guy I was arresting had a friend that came out of nowhere. He caught me off guard.”