Counting Stars (A Donnelley Brother's Novel) (22 page)

I nodded. “Okay.”

Logan set me down on the
rocky bed of the river and the cold water rushed against the
delicate and untouched flesh between my legs as I removed my
swimsuit bottoms. Then, I unclasped the back of my bikini that had
fallen around my waist when I’d untied the neck-ties.

“I’ll take them.” Logan
said gruffly, holding out his hand.

I handed him my suit,
watching as he threw the pieces to the shore. Then, holding my
breath, I watched as he lowered his own shorts before throwing them
to the shore with my suit.

Taking in the sight of
his desire for me, my mouth dropped open. Logan was impressively
long and thick. His erection stood up straight and proud, the tip
breaking through the water.

I felt his fingers slide
under my chin as he tilted my head back, his eyes connecting with
mine. “Are you sure you’re ready for this, Reese?”

Swallowing, I replied.
“I’m sure, Logan.”

He smiled as he lowered
his head to kiss me. With my feet still on solid ground, I stepped
closer to him until I felt his erection pressing against my
stomach. The feel of his warm pulsing flesh against my body was
enough to make me clench my thighs together in a desperate attempt
to relieve the throbbing pressure that had built up inside my
body.

Logan grinned against my
lips, pulling back enough to scold me. “Don’t do that.”

“What?” I frowned.

“Don’t try to relieve
yourself, baby. That’s my job.” At his words, I felt one hand move
to my hip, steadying me, while the other tickled over the skin of
my stomach in its travel south.

Logan continued to kiss
me as his fingers moved over the outside of my lips. The feel of
his rough fingers against the sensitive flesh was enough to pull a
moan from deep in my throat. When I couldn’t help myself, I rocked
my hips against him and he groaned into my mouth. I swallowed his
sound, reveling in it.

“You’re so eager.” He
groaned.

“I just want you,” I
whispered. “I need you.”

Logan steadied me with
the hand on my hip as his fingers parted my lips, dipping into my
moist, private place. “I know, baby.” His fingers slid through my
liquid desire. “I can feel your need.”

I blushed at his words.
“Logan,”

“You’re so wet for me.”
He sighed, his eyes flickering over my face as his finger found and
swirled around the swollen nerves of my clit.

Blood rushed through my
body as my skin heated hotter and hotter with every flick of his
finger. His eyes locked on mine as he pushed his finger closer to
my opening. My heart raced impossibly fast and my breathing was
quick and sharp. My knees felt weak and I gripped his shoulder. At
my sudden weakness, Logan’s lips curved into a slow smile. He
lowered his head, pressing warm lips to my forehead as he pushed
one finger inside me.

Gasping at his delicious
intrusion, I held him tighter.

“You’re so tight,
Reese.” His words sounded on a strangled growl. “So tight.”

“Its,” my breath caught
as he flicked his finger inside my channel, his thumb pressing down
on my clit. “Its been a while.”

“I know, baby.” He
kissed my temple, my closed eyes, and then my lips. His strokes
quickened as I relaxed my tight body to the pleasure of his
motions. Without warning he added a second finger and I moaned just
as he covered his mouth over mine, swallowing my sound—capturing
it.

As he pushed deeper,
with more determination, I felt my body quivering,
coiling—unraveling. This man was making me come undone.

The pressure within my
body built as I tightened around his fingers, his thumb pressed
pulsing motions against my clit. Like a trigger, I came.

Pleasure coursed through
my body like liquid lightning and when I opened my eyes to find
Logan’s ebony gaze fastened on mine, it doubled. There was so much
intense heat in his eyes that I just wanted to bask in it. His
chest heaved and his fingers moved in slow circles around the
over-stimulated bundle of nerves at my sex.

Standing here, beneath
the light in his gaze, I felt complete. For the first time in such
a long time, I felt as though my life had purpose again—as though
there was hope. I wasn’t so alone.

Logan had given me so
much more than he knew in the time we’d shared. He’d proven to me
that although my heart had been wounded, it could be healed again.
In him, I had found someone I could laugh with, tease, banter and
enjoy. He tested my boundaries, but never pushed me past my point
of breaking. In this moment, I felt completely content with this
wonderful man. Somehow, through the days we’d spent together, Logan
had found a way into the remnants of my heart. I truly felt that it
was his gentle understanding of my love for Derek that encouraged
my feelings for Logan to blossom. His acceptance of my past was
what fueled the ability for my heart to see a future with him. I
could only hope that there was something in the cards for Logan and
I, because I couldn’t imagine living through the pain of losing
him. He was the first man I’d let into my heart after Derek, and I
simply couldn’t imagine allowing there to ever be another if I was
hurt again. A soul could only handle so much pain and I had a
pretty good sense that I had almost reached my cap.

“What are you thinking?”
Logan asked gently. Slowly, his hands moved around my waist as he
drew me closer to him. “You look confused.”

Shaking my head, I
folded my arms around his neck to pull myself tighter against his
body. I needed his warmth. I needed to feel him. “I was thinking
about us.”

“What about us?” His
breath caught and I felt his lips press against the curve of my
neck. “You can tell me anything.”

“I care about you,
Logan.” My entire body was trembling. “I don’t want to lose you
after this.”

“Why would you think
you’d lose me?” He pushed my hair away from my face. “I’m not going
anywhere, baby. So long as you want me, I’ll be here.”

His words encouraged an
abrupt sob-like sound to make its escape from between my lips and
he tensed against my body at the sound. Quickly, his head dipped
and his mouth closed over mine. It was as though he was trying to
claim my pain as his own, and I let him. In this moment, there was
nothing I wanted to keep from Logan. There was nothing I wanted to
hide from him, nothing I didn’t want to share.

In this moment—I wanted
him. Completely. So completely, that we became one.

“Logan, please,” I
gasped against his lips as he continued to kiss me. “I need you
now.”

In response, his hand
snaked around the back of my thigh, lifting my leg around his hip.
Eager to feel him against me, inside me, I held on tight as I
lifted my other leg. Pulling away, I shifted myself in his arms to
look into his eyes. He was gazing at me with so much emotion I
couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same way that I felt. Was
he falling in love with me?

“You’re so beautiful,
city girl.” He murmured gruffly, the sound of his heavy breathing
danced with the splashing water around us. “I can’t wait to be
inside you.”

I felt his words deep
inside of me as I tightened my thighs around his waist. There were
no words needed for the plea in my eyes to make it clear. Logan
understood. I wanted him. I had told him verbally and now he was
finally going to give me what I needed—all of him.

Holding me tight, Logan
reached his hand between us to grab hold of his erection. I watched
him with wide eyes, never even blinking, as he guided his tip to my
opening. When his head pushed against my core, everything inside of
me tensed and Logan leaned forward to press tiny kisses against my
lips.

“Feel me, baby.” He
whispered a pleading command.

I nodded, pushing my
hips down against him. He slid inside slowly, only an inch at first
before I pulled back, easing myself down again. It had been so long
since I’d been made love to. My skin was flushed and my breathing
was ragged—but most importantly, my heart felt full. For the first
time in a year, it felt as though it existed of more than just a
thousand fragmented pieces.

Locking my eyes on his,
I pushed down, impaling myself. At my sudden movement, Logan hissed
in a deep breath of surprise and his dark eyes widened. His hands
spread over my back as he held me against him, holding me down on
his shaft. His breathing, so sharp, matched my own. Pulling myself
up close to him, chest to chest, I allowed my body to grow
accustomed to his immense intrusion. Dropping his forehead to mine,
I felt his hips shift as he pulled out to push back inside. It
didn’t take long for Logan to find a steady rhythm for his thrusts.
Rising and falling, I held on tight to his shoulders as I rocked
against him, taking him deep before taking him again and again. My
breasts pressed flush against his chest and I could have sworn he
could feel my heart beating against his chest it was thrashing so
wonderfully, relentlessly hard.

Pressing my lips against
his, I tightened my thighs around him as we moaned together,
breathing hard and hot. I felt him jump inside me and then his
motions became quick—almost frantic. He was close—and so was I.
Together we would come. I didn’t need to tell him and he didn’t
need to voice his loss of control either. We were both there. We
were both climbing the wall of ecstasy together. And together, we
would both fall.

Feeling his arms tighten
around me, I shattered around him. With one more thrust, Logan came
too. I felt his hot seed spill deep inside my body as I cried out
against his shoulder, biting down gently on his flesh as a
strangled moan left his lips.

For long moments we
stayed that way, locked in each other’s arms—his shaft still buried
deep inside me. After a few minutes, our breathing slowed and he
pulled back to look into my eyes. His eyes flickered over my face
and he breathed in deep.

“You feel amazing,” he
rocked his hips slowly and my breath hitched. “I don’t want this to
be over.”

His words evoked a
smile, but now that I was coming down from the high, there was
something I had to tell him. “I’ve never done this—without a
condom.”

His eyes widened.
“Never?”

Shaking my head, I
spoke. “No. Never. We were always careful not to become, um,
pregnant.”

His breath caught. “You
must be on the pill—or something?”

Slowly, unsurely, I
shook my head. “I’m not. I haven’t needed to be on the pill for the
last year.”

He nodded, allowing my
words to sink in. “Okay,” he pressed his lips to my temple. “We’ll
be more careful next time, then.”

“Next time?” I asked,
surprised.

His eyes darkened in the
glimmer of the moonlight. “Yes, next time. There will be many
times, Reese.”

Grinning widely, I
pressed my lips to his. “Okay,” I kissed him again and again until
he started kissing me back. “We’ll be more careful next time.”

He chuckled and I felt
him grow again inside of me. “We better stop kissing or the next
time won’t be as careful as we want it to be.”

I wiggled my hips,
teasing his growing arousal. “You’re ready again?”

He growled low in his
throat. “I could have you a thousand times, city girl, and I would
still want you.”

“Then take me just once
more—like this.” I rocked my hips against him slowly, staring deep
into his eyes. “I like feeling you this way. Please, just once
more.”

“You make me weak, city
girl.” He trust deep once again.

And once again, I lost
myself to him.

Tucking the
towel around my moist body, we walked hand in hand back to our
little camp. Logan carried our swimsuits in his free hand and I
marveled at the peace of our silence after such an intimate
swim.

Breaking through the
trees, I caught sight of the fire that had burned down to coals
from the lack of wood to feed it. Logan released my hand with a
grunted explanation. “I should get that fire going again, or those
shivers you’ve got are going to get worse.”

Smiling, I nodded. “I’ll
hang the suits.”

Logan handed me the wet
clothing as he marched toward the fire. I watched him move with his
towel tied around his waist. The muscles of his back glowed
impressively against the orange glimmer of the coals. He was really
a very beautiful man and I couldn’t help but think that I was a
very lucky woman to be here with him—like this.

Shaking the thought from
my head, I moved to the tree we used to hang our wet items. After
throwing the articles to hang over the branch, I turned once again
to glance at Logan. The fire was well on its way to burning bright
and he was watching me with that dark intense expression of his. It
made my stomach flutter and my heart race. I loved how me made me
feel things inside with something so little as a heated glance.