Page 96 of Winter’s Fire

“Tell me.”

“She made it clear that you… belonged to her. That you had a previous relationship and you’d broken up through a silly mistake. She said you’d never even look at someone as dull and dreary as me.”

If there’d ever been any doubt in his mind about how poisonous Diana could be, the pain in his sweet and gentle woman’s voice would have annihilated it. “I wish you hadn’t gone through that. I should have—”

Her fingers on his lips silenced him. “Shh. It’s done. You weren’t responsible for what she chose to do and say. It’s gone; it’s in the past. Don’t give it another thought. I won’t.”

She would, though—there’d be times when she remembered, and he’d be there for her. He’d always be there for her. Logan removed her fingers from his mouth and looked at her hand in his. Her fingers seemed so small, delicate, and in need of a kiss.

“For the record, Miss Winter, ‘dull’ and ‘dreary’ are words no one in their right mind would ever associate with you.”

Her smile held a hint of doubt.

“Don’t you believe me?”

The smile became a little more confident. “I don’t know. I may take some convincing.”

“Oh. And how do you propose I do that?” He could play along.

“I’m not sure. We may need to work on a plan.” She kissed him. “Could take some time. One-to-one sessions. Maybe even some role-play.” She kissed him again. “And I might need to practise doing that. A lot.”

She stood and offered him her hand, a downright wicked grin that made her glow. “Let’s go back home. Mum and Dad’ll be back by now. They’re going to want to meet you.”

Chapter 25

“I’m going to sell this place.” Logan unlocked the door to his apartment and ushered Lucy inside.

“Whatever for? All it needs—”

“I’m not interested in what it needs—it’s a question of what we need.”

Lucy spun on her heel and stared at him. “We?”

“Yes, we.” He looked squarely at her. “We’ll work out the details later, but just so you know—I want it all. A real home for us, and a family—two point four children, a dog, the works. If you want it, too.” He caressed her cheek, moving his thumb gently over her lips when she would have answered him. “Later. And when we do talk, all I want from you is honesty. Okay?”

She nodded. Her gaze glittered with a joy that made his heart ache with wanting her… loving her.

Logan closed the door behind him. When he’d headed out of town to go to his woman, it hadn’t even occurred to him that events might take the turn they had. Facing Lucy’s parents—his future parents-in-law, if he had his way—had been an interrogation for which he hadn’t been prepared. His future brothers-in-law had whisked his girl from under his nose, no doubt at their father’s suggestion, and Logan’s presence had very politely been requested for a meeting in the den.

Rachel Winter had greeted him with a smile and a welcoming hug—her husband’s alpha male stance had made it clear he’d be a harder nut to crack. Thirty seconds into the conversation, Logan had figured out why. D/s didn’t just run in that family, it galloped. As soon as he’d worked that out, he’d adjusted his responses to the inquisition accordingly. Once he’d made it clear that their daughter was the centre of his world, that he adored her, would lay down his life for her—and without going into too much detail, that he had the necessary skills to give her everything she needed—the rest had slotted into place. Her parents had given him their blessing, and since he was now part of the family, he was expected back in a few days’ time, with Lucy, to join in the celebrations for Rachel’s birthday.

All in all, a long day, but a good one. No—the best. And now he had a woman to take care of—which did not include sharing her parents’ secrets. Hell, no.

He turned his attention back to his love, and was stunned when she dropped to her knees, placed her hands palm-up on her spread thighs, and lowered her gaze. She must have been buzzing with questions, yet now she waited patiently to take her cue from him. He stooped to take her hands and encouraged her to stand. “Not tonight, princess.”

He lowered his head to steal a kiss. Her lips were sweeter than honey, and he couldn’t get enough. After a day that had been too crazy for words, all he wanted was to take his girl to bed, make love to her, and wake up with her beside him tomorrow morning.

Her arms around him filled Logan with the peace he’d been missing since the night they were taken from Nenufar. No matter what happened, everything would work out all right now, including the whole in-laws thing. They spoke the same language.

Loving the way Lucy was leaning into him, Logan nuzzled her hair, inhaling the springlike fragrance of the shampoo he associated only with her. The Dom in him demanded that he take proper care of her, get her something to eat and allow her to rest, but the primitive human male was impatient and wanted only one thing—to take his woman and in no uncertain terms, make sure she was his.

“Sir, I know we still have a lot to talk about, but it’s been a long day for both of us. I don’t know about you, but I could do with going straight to bed.”

Too damn right they still had a lot to talk about, not least of which was Sir Guy’s hare-brained scheme to train Lucy as a field officer. His little subbie had told him about the plan before they’d left to return to London. No way in hell was that happening—once was more than enough for her to play fast and loose with his sanity. He tried hard not to be swayed by thoughts of how good a team they’d made during their assignment and what it might be like if that team became permanent. That was so not happening.

“Tired, princess?”

“Not in the least. It wasn’t sleep I had in mind.” She pulled away from him. Her face was glowing, with a mischievous smile that told him he’d been had. “Or we could do it here, if you prefer?”