THE BRAVO BOYS - SNAKE EATER [book three]

Chapter TWENTY SIX

Shelby Quinn

With his refusing resolve vanquished Logan steps aside to allow me farther into his apartment and I turn to watch as he locks the deadbolt of the front door behind me.. Without another word he takes my hand, threading his fingers though mine before leading me up the narrow hallway to the bedroom at the end..

When I step into the welcoming space, I am stunned by the warmth of the pale glowing lamplight, plush cream and terracotta-toned soft furnishings and wall to ceiling bookcases filled with thick leather bound literature.. Unlike his office, his bedroom is neat and ordered.. Gone is the cluttered chaos of wires and electronic components, replaced by a calming and methodical layout, inviting with its organic earthy colours and stoney-grey walls..

The air is spiced with the sensual scent of his masculine cologne, cinnamon and brown sugar aromatics curl around me to wrap me in an intense lusty daze.. My chest flushes hot and my cheeks burn pink, the increase in temperature driving me to shrug the jacket from my shoulders which I toss onto the stately leather armchair that adorns the corner of the room.. Meanwhile Logan quietly locks the door behind us..

Neither of us make a sound, our breath audible in the tense silence as I watch as he then reaches over his head with swelling biceps to peel his sweatshirt off, the fabric of his white t-shirt tangling in the hoodie to flash an appealing glimpse of those washboard abs beneath..

God help me, his body is a heavenly sculpted masterpiece.. I can't help but wonder what kind of workout regimen keeps him so fit as I watch him carefully fold the sweater and set it atop the nearby dresser..

"Now what?" I whisper, suddenly aware of just how reckless it was for me to come here.. I am both apprehensive and excited all at once at the prospect of what he might do to me.. Electricity thrums through me like a livewire and the air hangs heavy with humidity, stuffy and sticky in my lungs..

"I ain't making it easy on you no more, Shelby.." Logan growls, kicking off his skate brand sneakers.. "So you're gonna have to tell me what you really came here for.." In the sacred space of his sanctuary, in this new light he looks more attractive than ever before.. More human, more natural.. Maybe it's the home turf advantage that has him so at ease, or maybe I just never fully appreciated his hypnotic power before because I'd been too busy resenting his effects on me..

"I-I don't know-" I stammer, unsure how many of my secrets to divulge.. Should I tell him how I am tired of trying to be tough?
Should I confess that I have all but abandoned my last modicum of hope?
Should I reveal that I am so filled with fear that my life is an exhausting fight that leaves me a little more defeated at the end of each day?

I have tried to keep it all inside for so long, pretending that everything is fine while my world falls apart, that letting it all out now doesn't come so easily.. "I guess I just want to feel something.."

"Something?" He hums in wry amusement.. 'You'll have to be more specific, Sweetheart.." Logan takes a prowling step forward before bending attentively to one knee, carefully unpicking the laces of my boots, one by one..

As I stare down into his simmering sunset stare my defences start to crack, fracturing into sharp shards that slice my soul open to desperately yearn for more.. For his touch.. For his embrace.. For his devotion.. "I want to feel- safe.."

"Safe from what?" He rises back to full height to tower over me, brushing his fingertips in a featherlight stroke over my bare collarbone causing my skin to prickle with humid heat..

"Everything.." I whimper, overcome by a whirlwind of emotions, caught in the sensory spell he has cast over me.. Heat and happiness, need and obedience.. "But I- I can't explain why.. All I know is when I'm with you that feeling disappears.. Don't you feel it too? Whatever this thing between us is, you must feel it.."