Off Limits (Sparks in Texas Book 4) (9 page)

Once she opened the door to her apartment, he
followed her in and whistled. Damn. The place had been nothing more
than white walls and a few hand-me-down pieces of furniture last
time.

“You like it?” she asked, setting the chaise
down just inside the door. He followed suit, letting his gaze
travel around the space. Logan knew she had an eye for decorating
and a knack for taking someone else’s trash and uncovering hidden
treasures. But seeing all her efforts put together like this…

“It’s beautiful, Lace. So homey.”

Her apartment looked like the kind of place
where a man could come home, kick off his work boots and sink into
the comfy couch with a beer. He could spend hours just looking
around at all the cool pieces she’d found. While he knew most of
the decorations in the place were flea market and yard sale
castoffs, everything worked together. More than that, it looked
damned elegant.

Lacy was clearly pleased by his praise.
“Thanks. You know, if you ever want to redesign your showroom, I’d
be happy to help.”

“Is that your subtle way of telling me the
place looks like hell?”

“Well…”

He chuckled. “I’d love your help. Keep
intending to work on it, but I never manage to shift around more
than a couple pieces before I get overwhelmed and give up.”

“I was thinking that if you added some funky
artwork to the walls and maybe set it up like a house layout, it
would show off your furniture better. Plus, I could add a few
vases, knick-knacks, stuff like that, to add some color and some
visual interest. I think it would make the whole place pop.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’d really like that.”

“Awesome. I’ll come by next week on my day
off and we can draw up a layout. And then I’ll start hitting the
sales looking for the pieces I’m envisioning. It won’t cost much.
Promise.”

“Money’s not an issue. I suspect the
investment will be worth it in the long run.”

“And you’d be helping me out too.”

“How’s that?”

She grinned as she waved around the room.
“I’m sort of at maximum capacity for crap in here. This way I can
still fuel my bargain-shopping addiction without crowding up my
apartment.”

“I see. Speaking of, where’s this going?” he
asked, pointing at the chaise. There didn’t seem to be a spot for
it in the living room.

“My bedroom.”

Of course.

Logan blew out a long sigh. “Listen, Lace. I
think—”

She stepped closer and placed her finger over
his mouth. “You promised me three times.” She smelled like flowers
and French fries; the combination was ridiculously appealing.

“We need to be practical about this.”

“Okay. So be practical. You said Jane wasn’t
an issue. Is that true?”

He nodded though he wasn’t sure that answer
was entirely accurate. While he wasn’t still hung up on his ex, he
was struggling with the fallout, trying to find a way back to
normal.

“And what do you think Evan would say if he
found out?”

Logan knew the answer to that. “He wouldn’t
say anything. He’d beat the shit out of me very quietly.”

“You’re best friends, Logan. He loves you
like a brother. What makes you think he’d disapprove of us as a
couple? Is it the age difference?”

He shook his head. “No. It has nothing to do
with your age. We’re both consenting adults.”

“Then it’s the sex. I mean…the way we like to
have sex.”

Logan didn’t reply for a long time. He had
been terrified of scaring Lacy away with his sexual appetite, but
rather than run, she’d responded to it. With Jane, he’d worn the
kid gloves at the beginning, introducing her to his desires slowly.
That technique had blown up in his face. By the time he figured out
they weren’t compatible lovers, he was in love with her, so he
adapted, tried to hold back some of his stronger urges.

When the silence stretched too long, Lacy
filled it. “You didn’t seem to have these hang-ups when it came to
Yvette. What makes me different from her?”

He reared back. “Yvette?”

Lacy flushed. “I followed you one day.
Watched you take her when her grandmother was out of the
house.”

“That was nearly ten years ago.”

She shrugged. “I know.”

“You were just a kid.”

She scowled at his comment. The woman was
touchy about him referring to her youth, but he’d spent too many
years of his life seeing her as a kid. While that certainly wasn’t
true now, the fact remained that she had no business spying on him
at that age.

“I was seventeen and not entirely innocent.”
Then she seemed to recall what she’d seen. “Of course, after that,
I wasn’t innocent at all.” She laughed, but Logan didn’t find the
humor.

“Jesus. You were too young to see that.”

“Maybe I was, but I’m not going to pretend it
didn’t turn me on. A lot. Like
a lot
a lot.”

Logan ran a hand through his hair and forced
himself to recall all the things he had done with Yvette. He had no
idea which day she’d followed them, but any of them would have
provided her with a fairly substantial education in kinky sex.

The knowledge certainly explained her
interest in pursuing him, in her research on BDSM. He’d unwittingly
exposed her to his true nature and the spark had ignited. Years
ago.

He had no business being here.

“Let’s put this chaise in your bedroom. Then
I need to head home.”

“What? Why? Are you pissed off I followed you
and Yvette? Because—”

“No, Lace. I’m not pissed. I’m just coming to
my senses.”

She fell silent for several moments. He let
her sort through her thoughts, taking the time to get his own
settled.

“I’m getting tired of chasing you, Logan.
Sick of trying to force you to see something that’s standing right
in front of you. You want to be blind? Fine. Be blind. I’m not in
the mood to beg.”

She bent over and picked up her half of the
chaise. He lifted his side and followed her to the bedroom, her
words racing through his brain. Why couldn’t she see that he was
trying to do the right thing?

They were halfway across the room when
something on the bed captured his attention.

He put the chaise down and walked over to the
mattress. “What the hell?”

Lacy followed him, picking up a thick butt
plug and waving it around as if it was nothing more scandalous than
a hairbrush. “I did some online shopping after the last time we
were together. I was sort of hoping you’d educate me on all of
this.”

“That was one hell of a shopping trip.”

In addition to the plug, there was a
vibrator, a large dildo, nipple clamps, a crop and a jumbo-size
tube of lubrication.

He’d met the woman of his dreams. And he’d
known her his entire life.

Lacy sank down on her bed, letting her skirt
ride up high on her thighs. “Guess I’ll have to find someone else
to introduce me to—”

“Lacy,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Yeah?”

“Get undressed. Now.”

Lacy fought hard to hide her grin as she
tugged her t-shirt over her head. It was simply a stroke of luck
that her new toys had arrived that morning and she’d decided to
unpack them to take a peek. After that, she’d lost track of time,
fantasizing about Logan using all the toys on her until she’d been
late for work and had left them lying on the bed.

Logan was still resistant to a relationship,
but Lacy wasn’t sure why. Whatever was holding him back wasn’t
something he was ready to talk to her about. So she needed to find
ways to keep him returning to her bed until he was. She didn’t
intend to give up on him. Especially not now, when it was obvious
they were so perfect for each other.

Once she was naked, she waited, curious about
what he would ask her to do next. He was looking at her treasure
trove of naughty toys intently.

“You really want to try all of this?”

“Yes.” She was taken aback by his
uncharacteristic hesitance. She wasn’t used to seeing Logan unsure
of himself. Typically, he was the king of confidence. “Of course I
do.”

“You’re not doing this just to please me,
because you think it’s what
I
want?”

Lacy frowned, wondering where his questions
were coming from. This was the first time he’d shown this touch of
reticence. “I love what we do together. It doesn’t just please
you
, Logan. God, you’re giving me orgasms that make my teeth
rattle. It’s amazing.”

He considered that, and then—finally—the
dominant lover she’d come to adore reemerged. His gaze swept over
her naked form.

“Get on the bed. Lay down on your back in the
center.”

As she moved into position, Logan swept the
toys to one side of the bed.

“You forgot something,” he said as he walked
toward her closet.

“What’s that?”

“Handcuffs.”

Lacy squeezed her legs together and cursed
herself for the oversight. “I’ll steal some from Evan’s house
tomorrow.”

He chuckled. “I’d prefer to buy you some.
Last thing we need is Evan arresting his kinky kid sister for
stealing his cuffs.” He opened the closet door. “Scarves?”

“They’re in a box right there on the
floor.”

He followed her direction and tugged the box
out. Opening it, he searched until he found several long scarves
that apparently suited his purpose.

Lacy squirmed on the bed, wishing for the
millionth time she hadn’t taken sex off the table. As fun as the
toys looked, she would never be fully sated until Logan was buried
deep inside her.

She watched as he approached the bed. He
looked so large, so serious, so powerful. A sane woman would
probably be terrified. Lacy felt nothing but excitement.

“Lift your hands above your head.”

Lacy obeyed, directing her hands toward
opposite sides of the headboard.

He shook his head. “No. Cross your
wrists.”

She moved them together. In her fantasies,
she was always spread eagle. The idea that he would tie her up some
other way had her heart racing at a dangerous pace.

Logan rested one knee on the mattress by her
side as he reached up, tying her wrists together and then securing
them to the headboard. Her arms were stretched taut, and she didn’t
bother to test the knots for more than a second or two. Those
suckers weren’t coming loose.

Logan rose from the bed and pulled his
t-shirt over his head. She was treated to a visual feast of
muscular arms, six-pack abs and smooth, tanned skin she longed to
lick like an ice cream cone. She hoped the striptease would
continue, but Logan stopped with just the shirt.

“Pants,” she suggested hopefully.

His eyes narrowed and she knew she’d made
some sort of faux pas. “I won’t gag you this time because it’s all
new to you and I want you to be able to say your safe word. So
here’s your only warning. We’re doing this my way.”

“So…in other words, no suggestions from the
peanut gallery. Got it.”

His stern expression slipped for just a
moment, his lips tipping up in a smile he was trying to hide. He
recovered quickly, but the twinkle in his eyes told her he wasn’t
really annoyed with her.

“Don’t make me regret the gag decision.”

She bit her lip, trying to look chastised. In
truth, the action was helping her to not laugh. It wasn’t that she
wasn’t taking this seriously. She was. It was just that she was so
happy. God, her joy was seeping out of her and it was hard to keep
inside, contained.

She had loved Logan Grady her entire life and
now, being here with him like this, she felt as if she’d come home.
As if every dream she’d ever had was coming true.

Logan returned to the bed, crawling between
her legs as he pushed them apart. The man certainly liked having
her on display. She didn’t mind her nudity with him. He looked at
her as if she were the most beautiful piece of artwork in the
museum. It warmed her up, made her feel cherished. Sexy.

He ran his fingers along her slit. This time,
she did flush. She was dripping wet. To the point where it was
slightly embarrassing.

“Guess we won’t need that lube,” she said,
jokingly.

Logan moved one finger lower and pressed just
the tip into her anus. The move was unexpected, the penetration
tight. It pinched slightly and she gasped.

“We’re going to need it.”

Suddenly, Lacy was reconsidering the size of
the butt plug she’d purchased. In her overheated, horny mind, she
had selected one that would be approximately the same size as his
dick. She hadn’t fully considered the ramifications of putting
something that big in such a small hole.

“Relax, Lacy.”

The man read her like a book. “I’m cool,” she
lied.

This time he didn’t bother to hide his grin.
“No. You’re not, but you’re worrying about the wrong things.”

As always, his words calmed her down. She
assumed it all came back to that trust thing. He wouldn’t hurt her,
wouldn’t abuse her or force her to do anything she didn’t want to
do. She knew that as sure as she knew tomorrow was Saturday.

Logan lifted her legs, resting them on his
shoulders as he bent forward to suck on her nipples. She was
suddenly grateful she’d started taking those yoga classes at the
gym. Logan was definitely going to stretch her flexibility
limits.

When his teeth bit into her nipple, her mind
went blank. She longed to grip his head, to run her fingers through
his thick dark hair, but the scarf held firm.

She’d never had anyone pay so much attention
to her breasts. Or to just one nipple. Logan spent ages laving the
distended flesh, licking, sucking, biting. Every sting of pain he
produced was followed by softness. He hurt. He soothed. Over and
over. Her body trembled with the conflicting sensations, her pussy
clenching resentfully on empty air.