And I sink to my knees. “Daphne.”
She kneels and hugs me, snuggling her head to my chest. Her weight over my heart...it’s everything.
“I gave everything up for you,” she whispers. “Belladonna. The patents…I’m not with you for them. I’ve let them all go. I want you for you.”
“I don’t know what I did to deserve this.” She’s breaking me, doesn’t she realize that? No one ever wants me. I’m a shit. I’m worthless. My own mom didn’t think I was worth sticking around for. No foster family ever wanted me. Even Dr. Laurel threw me away when I became inconvenient.
There’s no way this goddess could actually want the dirty little boy whose mom couldn’t even remember to feed him.
But she clutches my face and forces me to look her in the eyes.
“You woke me up. I get to live my life starting now. And I choose you.” She shivers, and I stop fighting my protective impulses and wrap her up in my arms. Or maybe I need it as much as she does. I need to hold her and feel that she’s real. I still can’t believe that happiness like this could actually be in reach for someone like me.
“Stay with me, Logan,” she whispers and I hold her tighter. “I don’t know who I am, or what I’m going to do, or where I’m going, but I want you. Not because of the patents. Not because of our past. Because of who you are …and who we could be.”
Thirty-Seven
Present Day
Daphne
The creaking floor wakes me. I blink in the honeyed morning light.
I haven’t slept this well since…since the last time Logan held me until I fell asleep. The bed is warm but he’s not beside me.
The lights are on. Huh. I squint and look around. My bedroom’s wallpaper is still faded, but the floor is swept clean...and everything smells like lemon cleanser. I sit up and that’s when I notice that I’m not lying on a pile of curtains anymore, but a legit mattress hovering off the ground on some sort of frame. And I’m super warm because I’m wrapped in a brand new looking sleeping bag.
“I thought you’d wake when I moved you to the camp bed, but you must have been tired,” Logan says from the door. I grin at the deep sound of his voice and look his way.
And damn, he’s fine. He’s dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt instead of the suit from last night. He’s holding a bunch of roses. And when I catch his gaze, well, let me tell you, I feel it all the way down to my lady bits.
“Are those for me?” I ask, pulling the sleeping bag up to my chin, feeling ridiculously shy and terribly happy all at the same time.
“Always.” He sits carefully on the edge of the bed and hands them to me. I immediately bury my face in the flowers.
“A bit early for these to bloom.”
“I had them delivered from my greenhouse. Along with…” he leans down and reaches into a giant hamper of food beside the bed. I gape at the full picnic spread laid out on a big plaid blanket. There’s even a mini propane stove with a shiny stovetop espresso maker.
“Oh my gods, Logan. Are we glamping?” I look up at him, excited.
Everything has just been so damn heavy lately. But after last night’s reconciliation…I have to say, I adore the playful spark in Logan’s eyes. I can’t remember the last time I saw it. He seems totally open, finally nothing held back. The boy I once knew in the body of the man I love.
He shrugs and uncaps a bottle of sparkling water. “Just until this place gets cleaned up. I turned the electricity back on. The water, too.” He takes the roses back and trades me the water bottle.
“I wanted you to wake up surrounded by roses. The garden’s overgrown, but I’ve made arrangements for gardeners and contractors to come. They’ll fix this place. I’ll fix everything.”
I lay my hand on his stubble roughed jaw. He turns his face and kisses my palm.
“You want to live here?” My laugh bounces between the bare walls. Only they’re not so bare, because he’s found the old frame for my diploma and awards, and rehung them.
“If you want. Daphne, I’ll give you everything. Just...come back to me.”
Logan
She’s looking at me with the whole world in her eyes. “Daphne?” I can’t bring myself to repeat my plea. I can only hope she’ll say yes.
“Silly man,” she says, “I never left.”
My exhale is half groan. I don’t move, afraid to break this moment. Afraid it will shatter. I’ll wake up from this dream.
“Daphne.” Her name is a light and I’m a lost man, staggering towards salvation.
“Logan. I choose you. I love you.”
Her words send electricity shooting through my body. I’ll never get tired of her saying that. In fact I think I’ll make her say it about a thousand times every day, and maybe two thousand times a day on the weekends. This sleeping bag is brand new, but it’s in the way. I rip it open to free her. I need to be inside her...now.
Daphne lets off peals of laughter, like little bells. Gods, she’s adorable. “What’s the rush? We have time.”
“Need you,” I grunt, dragging off my jeans. She has no idea. The fact that I managed to leave her alone last night was a miracle.
Daphne stretches out on the mattress. I ease her panties off and lean in to kiss her flat stomach. My dick is so hard it might split, but I catch a whiff of her perfume, and I can’t resist climbing down her body and burying my face in her muff.
“Logan, ah, Logan,” she chants. Her hands bat at my shoulders and I capture them, pinning them down. One more taste. Just one more. And another. I swipe my tongue over her fragrant pussy, long, lingering drags to savor all her sweetness. Doesn’t she understand? I need to devour her. I need to convince myself she’s real. She’s mine and she’s real and she’s here and this is actually happening and this can be forever—
Her body bows off the bed as far as I’ll let it. Her cries of pleasure crash around me and still I delve my tongue into her folds, chasing her essence. Fuck, I love her taste and watching her absolutely lose it.
“Give it to me,” I order when she protests it’s too much. “Now, Daphne. I want it all.”
Her slender legs shake and drum on my back as my tongue sends her body higher and higher. When she finally lies limp, I rise up and climb gingerly onto the camp bed. I rush ordered the frame and mattress so Daphne wouldn’t spend another night on the floor, but it’s way too spindly for my weight.
I’m shaking as I guide myself in between her legs. No bells or whistles this time. I just need my body connected to hers. I need the intimacy and to just bury myself in her. So deep, I want to disappear inside her. And Daphne is just as eager, urging me on with breathy pleas and little kisses that make me grit my teeth so I don’t blow too soon.
As I rock into position, the camp bed crashes to the floor. Shit!
“Logan!” Daphne is laughing so hard, tears stream from her eyes.
“Fucking piece of crap,” I mutter, arms around her body to protect her from the wreckage.
“We killed it,” Daphne cackles, curling into my arms and lifting her hands to clutch around my neck.