Ulterior Designs (House of Evans Book 1) (31 page)

Perhaps the thing she wanted to keep had never really been within her reach. Maybe this life, as much as she wanted it, just wasn’t meant for her … maybe …

Chloe jolted from a deep sleep to find Logan standing a mere foot away from her, staring down at her.
Or, was he glaring?
She couldn’t tell, and she was too tired to care. When she tried to rise too quickly, a dizzy spell nearly made her tumble over. It was then she realized that in her quest to get more work done, she had forgotten to eat lunch. When Logan gripped her shoulders to steady her, she was reminded of the first time she had tried to kiss him and he had refused her. Like so many other times.

“You look exhausted,” he said with pinched brows.

She was.
So, so tired.
Of everything. Of this look he was giving her that said he wanted her, but didn’t want her. Of the way his hands lingered on her shoulders too long. Of the way his mouth twitched into a forced smile.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the beautiful image of how the House of Evans would look when it was completed in hopes that it would give her the balance she so desperately needed.

“Come upstairs and rest.”

God, that sounded so good. But she didn’t want rest. She wanted Logan to overwhelm her like he had the past three nights. She wanted his hands to control her and his mouth to devour her. With newfound resilience, she pried her eyes open and spoke.

“Fuck me, Logan.”

And just like that, his resistance melted. But it wouldn’t be for long and Chloe knew that.

Like all the times before, he led her to the bedroom, and she followed.

Brutal and deep, Logan gave her what she had requested. He contorted her, manipulated her, and controlled her, and she allowed it. Because she wanted it just as much as he needed it. She wanted
more
too, but this thing that he was giving was good enough for now. A surge of anger and adrenaline coursed through her and she viciously dug her nails into his back, making him hiss.

“Harder,” she demanded as she bucked her hips upward, meeting him thrust for thrust.

When he hit the spot,
that spot,
the one that made her feel as if she would lose her mind, she grabbed his shoulders, pushed and flipped him over. Straddling him with her eyes tightly closed, she slammed down onto him over and over until their moans of pleasure echoed in unison off his bedroom walls.

Yes,
this
was good enough. Fuck
more.
Fuck Logan. Fuck everything.

She began to circle her middle finger around her clit until her body began to shudder. As if the sex gods had watched their impassioned coupling and had been compelled by their efforts, they came together.

As Logan lay panting on the bed next to her, she pried her eyes open to stare up at the ceiling fan as it whirred and cooled her heated flesh. When she felt Logan turn onto his side and stretch an arm out to her, she slid off the bed and reached for her clothes.

“Video call,” she lied as she pulled her shirt over her head.

“Again?”

She left his question unanswered as she tugged her jeans up her legs.

“So, did you check your schedule?” Logan asked, persuading her to finally meet his gaze.

Momentarily confused by his question, she paused to give him a questioning lift of her brows.

“About Saturday,” he huffed.

“Oh, that. I’m pretty sure I have something planned,” she countered .“Yeah,” she continued while pulling her mussed hair back into a bun. “I have something planned that night.”

When she finally faced him, he was seated on the edge of the bed with a bewildered expression on his face.
God, he really was fucking clueless.

“Can’t you reschedule?”

“No,” she answered, as she stepped into her clogs.

“
No
?”

Chloe stared back at him, stunned at the look of utter astonishment on his face that told her unequivocally that no woman had ever said
no
to him. But that was just too damned bad, because blowing him off was something that
could not
be rescheduled.

*

Logan stood in the threshold of his front door and watched as Chloe backed out of the driveway. Still reeling from her aggressiveness, he was left a combination of agitated and satisfied. He didn’t like being topped, even if it was by a beautiful woman. But to then be cast off in favor of taking a video call? If she was angry because he hadn’t texted her, she would just have to get over it. He had been busy. He was a working man for Christ’s sake.

He slammed his door closed and spun to face his living area. When he realized the St. Andrew’s cross was no longer in the room, a new surge of annoyance crept up on him. Reaching for his phone lying on the side table, he dialed Chloe’s number.

“Where the hell is the cross?” he blared when she picked up.

“In the spare room.”

“I made my design plans perfectly clear, Chloe,” he heard himself saying. “I didn’t purchase that item so that it could be hidden away.”

“It’s not hidden away. It’s too large for the living area. I’ve taken into account your design plans and compensated for the changes,” she growled.

Chloe was right and Logan knew it. He’d said the same damned thing to himself, but it made no difference, because her insubordination and tone of voice had set him off.

“Get your ass back here and fix this!”

“Fine,” she grumbled just before the phone disconnected.

In less than ten minutes, Chloe was back in his driveway and tearing through the front door. She promptly pushed past him to head straight for the pedestal. Logan hadn’t noticed the changes until that moment. Painted a soothing shade of ivory, the initials etched into one side were offset by the same shade of black as his piano and
Adela
chair. When she rapidly began disassembling it, his mouth parted in horror. When he lunged toward her to stop her from destroying the piece she had clearly taken care to make, he suddenly froze. Piece by piece, step by step, the pedestal became something else. Something bigger. An attachment here. A slide of a pin into a hinge there. In a matter of minutes, the thing he’d thought was unexciting suddenly became a St. Andrew’s cross.

With flushed cheeks and tears bordering her lashes, Chloe faced him “I wanted it to be a surprise,” she whispered. “I wanted … I just wanted to make you happy,” she stammered and swallowed loudly. “Why do you have to ruin everything good?”

Logan’s throat tightened at the look of despair on her face. He didn’t know why. He hadn’t meant to ruin her surprise, even if he hated them.

“
Minou
…” he murmured as he reached out for her. When she rebuffed his touch, his irritation flared. “What the hell has gotten into you? Is this because I said dinner on Saturday wouldn’t be a date?”

Chloe’s fisted hands fell to her sides. “Yes, it is.”

Unprepared for her quick comeback, Logan could only stare back at her.

“How is it that you can meet my parents and take them sightseeing, share the news of your promotion with me, and bang me seven ways to Sunday, but think taking me out on a date is out of the question?”

Put on the spot, Logan could only do what he always did, which was avoid the question altogether and get defensive. Sure, it was fucked up, but the expression on Chloe’s face was devastating and her words crushed him.

“I thought asking you to go with me would be a good way for you to get your name out there. Excuse the hell out of me for trying to help.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and huffed. “Everyone knows where you engineer-types hang out. If I want to
network
and
get my name out there,
I’ll go hang out at the Brass Compass. At least it’ll save me the hassle of dealing with your B.S.”

Logan’s nerves prickled at the thought of Chloe patronizing that dick den
.
“That place is nothing but a meat-market,” he griped.

“You would know?” she shot back.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. If you want to call it a
date,
then fine—it’ll be a date.
Okay
?”

Two delicate lines bracketed her mouth in a disappointed frown. “Your calling it a date doesn’t really make it one, does it? God, Logan, I want you to
want
to take me on a date, not do it because you feel backed into a corner.”

He just couldn’t win. And he didn’t even know how to, except to give into that gnawing feeling in the pit of his gut, but he wasn't about to go there. Not with the creeping sensation that she was just going to crush his soul like Jess and all the others had was also gnawing at him.

At a loss for words he asked, “What do you want me to say?”

“Nothing; you’ve said enough,” she replied on a sigh as she turned to walk out.

“So, you’re not going with me?”

Facing him she gave him a look of complete disbelief. “I wouldn’t go with you now if Zeus himself came down and offered me a golden dildo.” She spun around again to leave, only to face him one last time. “You’re a brilliant man, Logan—a genius when it comes to architecture. But when it comes to women, you need to go back to school.”

S
taring out at the unkempt landscape at the School of Arts, Logan scratched the stubble on his cheek. He could almost envision what the finished one acre that the Victorian home sat on would look like once he and his team members implemented all of their ideas. The home was currently abuzz with people, from air quality control to inspectors, to his fellow team members all throwing in their two cents. When he spun around to answer a question a surveyor had posed to him, he caught a whiff of Chloe’s scent. It was only faint, but it was there, reminding of when he had taken her in that very room.

It was also a reminder of her harsh rebuttal the previous evening. To be told by a twenty-two-year-old with little-to-no sexual experience that he
needed to go back to school
had been like a slap in the face. He almost wished she
had
slapped him. At least he knew how to respond to that kind of assault. The one and
only
time Jess had laid hands on him in that way was the last night their ill-fated romance had come to a screeching halt. In fact, it was the
very
last time he had spoken to her. Not so much as a polite
hello
when passing in the same social circles, or a well-deserved
fuck you, you lying, cheating bitch
had been uttered by his lips since that moment. He had nothing to say to someone who had disrespected him in the worse possible way, especially considering all that he had given to her—his love and loyalty, his time, and a promise of forever.

As for the others before Jess—well, there may not have been any physical altercations between them, but their respect had been just as lacking.

But Chloe … she had always shown him respect.
Always.
Even in the moments of despair when he had failed to make her feel wanted, she had shown him reverence. Even when she had spoken of his need to be re-educated when it came to women, she had been civil. It was a telling character trait that made him wish he wasn’t so fucked up so that he could be the man she both needed and was worthy of.

“Two full levels, plus attic space and full basement come to 4,628 square feet. Out buildings come to …”

Logan barely registered what the surveyor had told him or what the voices around him were discussing. His mind was too filled with thoughts of what the hell he was going to do about the interior decorator that was drifting further and further out of his reach.

*

Showered, hair pulled up into a high ponytail and light make-up applied, Chloe slung the strap of her duffle bag over her shoulder. A glance at her watch told her she had half an hour before Logan’s arrival. After the previous night’s confrontation, she really didn’t want to see the look of disappointment on his face again, so she had timed it in order to be done before he came home. The words she had said to him had clearly hurt his ego, and in turn, his look of dejection had seared a path through her heart. It would make no difference in the long run if he could make a commitment or not if she had treated him badly. Actions like those would stay with the both of them forever, and she didn’t want to be remembered for being
that girl
.

With her hand on the doorknob, she looked one last time around the living area. With Logan’s old loveseat a thing of the past and his
unusual
furniture pieces essentially in their final resting spots, the room was taking shape. The large area rug and new seating were still a week out from being delivered, but once those were put into place, it was just a matter of putting on final touches before she could say that part of the project was complete.

As her eyes moved around the room, the shelf that she had worked on for nearly three hours that afternoon and the unpacked boxes near it became the targets of her focus. Propped up against a wall near Logan’s piano, it sat starkly blank. Unable to resist, she set her bag down and strode to the three boxes of childhood and college memorabilia that she had found in Logan’s garage.

She had just placed a high school year book and several music books onto a tier of the shelf when she heard the front door open. When she spun around, Logan was standing by the staircase with a curious expression on his face. In one arm he held a garment bag and box, which she assumed was his attire for the nomination dinner, and in the other hand he held his satchel. Irritated with herself for not having left sooner, she promptly stopped what she was doing and made a wide path to get past Logan to get to the door. But it wasn’t wide enough. He blocked her escape route with his solid body as he looked her over.

“You look fantastic.”

“Thanks,” she whispered as she eyed the toes of her heels.

When she peeked up at him, he offered her a weak smile. “I have something for you,” he commented, lifting one arm as proof.

He stepped toward the piano, laid his bag on the floor, and placed the other items on the piano top. When he unzipped the bag to reveal a dress, Chloe’s eyes widened. It was the most stunning piece of clothing she had ever seen. When he removed the frock fully from its protective bag, Chloe was faced with a
Saint Laurent
white, sequin-embellished, silk-georgette mini dress with a hefty price tag. Instinctively, she reached a hand out to glide her fingertips along the black trim and bow. When Logan opened a shoe box to expose a pair of designer black sparkle pumps, she heard herself softly gasp.

“For tomorrow night,” he added.

She zoomed in on his facial expression. Though his presumptuousness was ill-concealed, hopefulness sparkled in the depths of his eyes. When he gave her his signature crooked smile, her hands fell to her sides. The smile that she had once loved was nothing more than a cruel ruse, and she wasn’t going to fall for it.

“They’re beautiful, but I hope the store you bought them at has generous return policy,” she countered as she pushed past him.

“Chloe,” Logan whispered as if pleading with her.

When she reached the door, he was fast on her heels.

“What’s the rush? I thought maybe we could …”

She didn’t allow him to finish his sentence before she responded, “I can’t. I have plans.”

A look of concern flashed in his eyes, quickly followed by displeasure. “What kind plans?”

“Dinner and drinks,” she answered. Before she could stop herself, her next statement slipped out. “You know,
networking
.”

She reached for her bag on the floor, only for Logan to prevent her passage again.

“Will there be men there?”

It was hard not to miss the panic in his voice. Chloe almost wavered, but held strong. “I’m meeting old college friends at a bar, so yeah, there will be men there.”

His eyes narrowed down to slits. “Which
bar
?”

“A place downtown,” she rejoined while trying to slip past him.

But it was his turn to hold strong.

“Which
place
, Chloe?” his demanded as his voice suddenly took on a fatherly tone she knew all-too-well.

A surge of defensiveness barreled through her. “What does it matter?”

“It
does
matter. I don’t want you hanging out at the Brass Compass. I already told you that place is nothing but a pickup joint. One look at you and those men will …,” he grumbled before snapping his mouth closed.

Chloe took a step back and glared up at him. He had no right to demand answers as to her whereabouts
or
to give her limitations on where she could go, but the lightning bolts of worry that darted into his eyes made her balk.

“It’s
not
the Brass Compass, okay?”

His eyes flitted between her mouth and eyes as if he didn’t believe her, but she met his accusing stare head on.

“Can I go now?” she sullenly asked for permission that was entirely unnecessary.

A glaze seemed to come down over his penetrating eyes. “
Minou
,” he growled as he drew close to her, “it’s Friday. Wouldn’t you rather stay in with me than talk shop? We can crack open a bottle of wine,” he whispered, gliding his fingertips down her exposed upper arm. “Better yet, we could break in the St. Andrew’s cross,” he added with a nod toward the cross that she had assembled angrily the previous night.

With a long, slow slide of his gaze over her body, Chloe’s resilience began to melt. She wanted to stand firm against his advances, but the body heat he was putting off could warm a small city. Even if she had tried to resist, the blue flame of desire in his eyes told her that he wouldn’t have allowed it.

Blithely ignoring the voice of reason that said
no,
she took his hand.

*

Chloe’s defiance wavered for only a split second, and Logan seized the moment. With her hand in his, he tugged her along until she came to stand in front of the cross. As if hypnotized by him, her eyes fixed on his mouth. Her look of utter raptness on her face went far beyond any woman he’d ever known before her, and it was intoxicating.

Wearing the same white floral pencil skirt and black ruffled shirt that she had worn the first day she began working for him, she looked the part of a temptress. Feline-like eyes, arched brows and matte-red lips only added to her sex-appeal. She was absolutely fucking perfect. When he envisioned her hanging out with a group of unknowns, in a place where there would likely be men ogling her, he backed her up to the cross with a fiercely protective look. She belonged to him, even if he didn’t deserve her.

He hiked her skirt up around her waist, exposing her thigh-high stockings and silk-covered mound. In a primitive act of domination, he gripped the back of her neck and captured her lips with his own, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. Drawing his body against hers to make her aware of his entire length, he ground his rigidness into her. When he withdrew, several strands of hair had slipped loose from her ponytail making her appear as if she was watching him warily from far inside herself like an animal looking out from the brush. It was a look so mesmerizing, the panoramic view of deep-purple and tree-topped hills outside didn’t compare.

Before Chloe could change her mind, he retrieved the wrist and ankle cuffs from his treasure chest, and using quick, lithe movements, he had her shackled in a matter of minutes. As if sensing his growing arousal, her breathing became ragged, urging him forward.

Since his offering hadn’t convinced her of his need to have her by his side the following evening, he would just have to coax an agreement out of her the only way he could think of—by persuading her body that what he could provide was too irresistible to say ever say
no
to.

*

Stealthily and with determination, Logan unbuttoned Chloe’s blouse and tugged the cups of her bra down, freeing her nipples from their lacy prison. His brutal kiss had already left her breathless, but when his mouth captured a breast and his other hand tweaked her nipple erect, she nearly sputtered and choked from the sweet sensation of excitement.

Panties pushed aside, his fingers crept into her. Thrusting followed by stroking of her inner walls, she began to writhe against the restraints binding her to not only to that beautiful piece of furniture, but to Logan. Sucking and nibbling at her breast as if on a mission to leave his mark, Logan murmured her name against her flesh, causing Chloe to pant and undulate against his pumping motions.

Just as dazzling pinpoints of light began to flicker behind her tightly closed lids, she felt Logan back away.

“Do you want to come,
Minou
?”

A slow nod of her head answered his question.

Again, his fingers worked their way into her, pumping and swirling, teasing and enticing the depths of her body. On the verge of an orgasm, he withdrew once again.

“How badly do you want to come?” he murmured as he leaned into her to ghost his lips against hers.

Her heart and body shuddered expectantly at the covetous look in his steely blue eyes. “Please,” she begged.

Once more, he inserted his fingers and searched until he found her sweet spot.

“God, you’re
so wet
. You do want to come, don’t you? I can feel it. Right here,” he said with a lick of his lips as he watched his digits penetrate her deeper still. “Can you feel it?”

An exuberant nod of her head and a garbled yes, made him smile and cock his head to one side as if enjoying this kind of sweet warfare. Backing his fingers out ever so slightly and stilling his motions, he stared directly into her eyes.

“Say
yes
to my invitation
,
and I’ll make you come.”

Chloe’s surroundings suddenly brightened with awareness, and Logan’s face came into full clarity. When she simply stared back at him as if she had misheard him, he pulled his fingers all the way out.

“It’s easy,
Minou
. Say:
yes, Logan. I’ll go with you tomorrow night,
and I’ll make you come so hard you’ll never want another man.”