Walk Through Fire (Chaos #4)(11)

Which, with the rate I was going, would take another date.

This, for some reason, didn’t freak me.

No.

It should. It should freak me. It should feel wrong.

But it only felt right—oh so right...

I... could not... wait.

He pulled his face from out of my neck and I instantly missed his heavy breaths there.

But when his eyes caught mine in the moonlight, I suddenly declared, “I’m not easy. You’re my second. And if you think I am and this isn’t about the fact that we’re good together... if you’ve missed what’s going on with us... if you take this, what just happened, and don’t call again... all I can say is... your loss, Logan Judd.”

I said this and I did it with attitude.

But I also did it completely terrified by the very idea that he might not call again.

He grinned and his body started shaking on mine.

“That it?” he asked, his words also shaking with humor.

“Yes,” I answered, deciding from his amusement not to be freaked that I’d just blurted all that out.

“Just sayin’, already got our second date scoped out,” he replied.

I relaxed under him and did it biting back a whoop of glee.

“And the third,” he continued.

I slid my hand up his spine.

“All the way to the sixth,” he kept going. “And then it’s your turn to decide what we do, so best start thinkin’, Millie, ’cause that’s gonna happen next week.”

Man, oh man, he had our first six dates planned.

He was going to call me again.

And again.

And again.

And this made me unbelievably happy.

“I like you.”

God, still blurting!

The grin he was still wearing got bigger.

“That’s good seein’ as you just let me have you as in all a’ you. I liked it a f*ckuva lot but even if you hadn’t given me that, I also liked shootin’ the shit with you so think it’s safe to say I like you too.”

I turned my head to the side, suddenly scared at how relieved I was that he liked all he’d gotten from me and wanted more.

“Millie,” he called.

“Hmm?” I asked the tall grass at the side of the blanket.

“Beautiful, look at me.”

At the “beautiful,” my fingers clenched into his skin and my eyes went to his.

“No bullshit, baby,” he whispered the second he got my gaze. “I am absolutely, one hundred percent not missin’ what’s goin’ on.”

It was then I suddenly wanted to cry because I’d just been made love to, had my first orgasm, and was still connected to a man I liked a lot, a lot, a lot in a way I knew I was falling in love.

“This is kinda crazy,” I whispered back.

“This is all kinds of crazy,” he agreed. “Crazy good. And we’d both be fools, we don’t roll with it.”

He was right. I knew it down deep.

I slid my hands up so they were both cupped, one over the other, at the back of his neck.

“I really liked that,” I told him softly. “What we just did.”

He dipped his face closer and gave me a hint more of his weight, replying quietly, “Got that when you came for me, darlin’.”

“Does our second date involve more of that?” I asked, and watched his eyes begin to shine.

“Definitely.”

“Good,” I whispered.

More shining from his eyes before I lost that shine because I closed mine, seeing as he was kissing me.

In the end, our first date involved more of that.

I got home late.

I knew my parents worried even though they didn’t say a word.

But Logan and I had plans to go out the next night.

So I was walking on air.

CHAPTER THREE

Thank You

Millie

Present day, two and a half weeks later...

I STOOD IN front of my bathroom mirror wearing my undies and bra and holding the handle of a large hand mirror.

I turned and lifted my free hand to my neck. Sweeping aside my hair and holding it at my opposite shoulder, I raised the mirror and looked.

I forced my eyes to stay open even when I wanted to squeeze them shut.

Unless I looked, I didn’t see. And my hair was long enough that it was rare I caught a glimpse.

And if by chance I caught a glimpse, I’d pretend I didn’t.

Now I was looking.

And there it was, as it would be since it was a tattoo.

Well done, the artist a master, not faded at all.

Then again, it was all in black.

Squat words that scrolled long in a beautiful, flowing script: Only him...

And I knew the second part of that tat started on Logan’s hip bone and ran across his hip, in bold scripted black underlined with a flourish of barbed wire:... only her.

The words and memories burned through me as I dropped my hair, turned, set the mirror on the counter, and moved toward the walk-in closet in the bathroom.

It was time to get dressed and go.

It was time to find Logan.

It was time for him to know.

*  *  *

I stood removed, watching and feeling shock at all the changes I saw.