Fuck, it felt so good—seeing the ecstasy on her face, hearing it in the sounds she was making. After a beat, I let myself go. When I did, I couldn’t hear anything. It was the loudest silence I’d ever heard in my life. Out of nowhere, my vision went a little hazy, and there was a gentle ache that radiated around all parts of my cock—all reminders of the intensity we were sharing.

When I was spent, I dropped down and buried my face in her neck. After a few minutes I was able to move, and I rolled over and pulled her to my chest. She smiled against my neck and rested her head on my shoulder. I had to say something, so I murmured in her hair, “That felt so good.”

She lifted her head and her beautiful eyes danced in the light. “More than good.”

With a grin, I nodded in concurrence.

More than good, the truest words ever spoken.

ELLE

What had I been missing?

If this was it, I had a lot of making up to do.

In the midst of all the chaos in my life right now, Logan was a welcome distraction. The post-sex glow I was feeling had to be plastered across my face like a neon sign. True to both our natures, we didn’t stay wrapped in each other’s arms for long. Cuddling, snuggling, nestling, or whatever you want to call it didn’t appear to be either of our things. We were lying next to each other, but neither of us was speaking.

Maybe we were both thinking about what had just taken place?

My phone rang and we separated from each other. I rolled onto my back. Logan shifted to his feet before me.

Distracted by him, I didn’t reach to answer it. The mere sight of him made my eyelashes flutter, my throat burn, and my heart pound. He hadn’t shaved and his hair fell forward as he moved, making him look impossibly sexy. The hint of stubble I was staring at had just rubbed against the sensitive skin of my face, my stomach, and everywhere else, but the yearning I felt for him was still raging—I couldn’t believe it but I wanted more.

Wasting no time, he pulled up his pants and zipped them. Standing before me bare-chested, he looked hotter than sin.

His eyes, as usual, weren’t on mine. Yet he must have felt my gaze because soon enough those lustful hazel pools were looking at me. He reached for his shirt but before he pulled it on, he leaned down and kissed me. “I’ve got to go into work this morning. I’m going to run back to my hotel and shower. Will you be okay here until later?”

I bit my lip. “Yes, of course.”

He eyed me and I wasn’t certain what he was looking for.

Did he want me to say I’d miss him?

At that, I laughed a little and jokingly quipped, “Don’t get too caught up in me.”

“It’s a little late for that,” he said with a wink.

My heart felt like it might explode a thousand times over. It was my turn to look away. He was too much to look at and I averted my gaze back to his body. I’d allow myself the luxury of this sexual affair. I deserved it. I also knew not to read any more into it than what it was about. Plain and simple, it was about the fucking.

My eyes drifted. I licked my lips at the sight of the way his pants hung low on his hips, and I took in the perfection of his chest, the muscles in his arms, the line of his collarbone up to his neck. The jaw I was desperate to kiss, to taste.

I could almost feel my hands sliding inside those pants and I sucked in a deep breath as I imagined the feel of his warm, thick cock—the one I’d just felt. My pulse was racing at the thought and when I finally raised my eyes back to his beautiful face, he was watching me curiously.

“Elle, your phone is ringing again. Maybe you should answer it. Whoever it is has called twice now.”

I was on the other side of the bed and as I rolled toward it, he grinned and reached for it.

He glanced down and handed it to me. “Here, it’s Peyton.”

I blinked out of my trance and tapped my screen. “Hello,” I answered, and let that warm tingle I was still feeling continue to caress its way through my veins while I forced myself to look at the clock. It was early even for Peyton to be calling.

Logan tucked his gun in his waistband and was walking toward the door.

“Elle, I hope I didn’t wake you. I know it’s early, but I’m in the hospital and wanted you to know I won’t be able to make it in to work today,” Peyton said warily.

My heart stopped and I quickly sat up. “Hospital? What happened? Are you okay?”

Machines beeping in the background told me she couldn’t be, yet she sounded like she always did—fine. “Yes, or I will be. Some jerk attacked me last night after I left the boutique. A few cuts here and there, but nothing major and certainly nothing to worry about. You know me—I’m tough.”

My pulse was literally in my ears. “You were attacked?” I gasped in question, unable to believe it.

Logan was stepping out of my room when his spine straightened and he jerked around. His body language had me concerned about more than just Peyton.

“Yeah. Some asshole looking to get his jollies jumped me and pulled me into an alley when I was walking to my car.”

Covering my mouth, trying to find my pulse, and feeling awful for her, I didn’t know what to say or what to ask. “But you’re not hurt?” was my only concern.

Stupid question. She was in the hospital.

Her voice was firm. “No, not really. He just scared the shit out of me.”

“What did the police say?”

She laughed. I swore she laughed. “They aren’t certain yet. I can’t ID him, so there isn’t much to go on. The creeper wore a ski mask and I didn’t get a good look at his build at all. It was just too dark. But I think I hurt him because when he took off, he limped away. The police think it was an attempted mugging gone wrong.”

I gasped again. “Did he take your purse?”

“No. Weird, right?”

“Muggers don’t usually attack you and then leave your purse behind. Why would they think that?”

“Who knows? If you ask me, the guy had an agenda.”

Still trying to process all of this, I asked, “What do you mean, he had an agenda?”

“I don’t know. Like it was a dare or a gang initiation. He grabbed me, pulled me into the alley, and with his knife, sliced through my clothing right to my stomach to start carving the letter E on it. Freak. Somehow, I managed to free the chopstick I had holding my hair up and then I plunged it into his thigh. He screamed, and someone started shouting at him. That’s when he ran. The person shouting was a homeless man. He hurried over to me and I gave him my phone to call 911. The ambulance arrived quickly and I was kept overnight for a dose of IV antibiotics, but I’m being released this morning.”

“Peyton, oh my God, a knife!” I cried. “But you’re okay? You’re certain?”

Logan was next to me now, looking really pale. “What exactly happened?” he asked, expelling all the air from his lungs.

Covering the microphone with my hand, I whispered what she’d just told me.

He bristled and looked like he wanted to jump out of his skin or maybe lose his stomach. “Ask her if he said anything,” Logan said.

Peyton was talking. “That man was really nice. I have to find him.”

Perplexed, I gave Logan a curious look. “Peyton,” I interrupted her.

“Right. I’m droning. Honestly, Elle, I’ll be fine.”

“Did the guy who attacked you say anything?” I asked her, wondering why Logan wanted to know that.

There were voices in the background. “Yeah, he told me to tell that dog he’d been warned.”

“Dog? That makes no sense.”

A noise escaped Logan’s throat. His hands were clenched into fists and he looked like he was a loaded gun and ready to shoot himself through the wall.

“Yes. I know. He was a crazy tweaker if you ask me.”

My mind became a maze of impossibility. “I’m so sorry. What hospital are you at? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”