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  He knew he probably acted like he did because that was the asshole he was. Logan had always been the tough guy. Even before he’d discovered his Dom tendencies, he’d always been an asshole, his only friend being Elliot for years and years. Then he had come here and found a small tribe of firefighters. Not all of them, just Captain, Jude, Joey, and later, Zane.

  And he was an asshole to them half the time too.

  “So what do you want from me?” If she didn’t want movie nights and shit, she had to spell this out. He had no idea what to do with her—with or without their friends.

  “Friends, Logan. That’s all I’m asking. Let’s be friends. We don’t have to hang out alone or anything, but when we’re with our friends, we are friends too. That’s all.” Katie’s eyes pled with him, and he realized how important this was to her.

  He also realized what he’d done. The innocence and freshness he’d been so attracted to in the beginning was gone. And it was his fault. As she begged him to be her friend, he realized he was the reason the light had faded from her eyes.

  That light he’d once loved.

  The scent of sex, thick in the club, filled Logan’s lungs. The young woman’s reddened skin looked beautiful as it shone with sweat under the lights of the back room. Her slim ankles and wrists in the restraints tore at his resolute control, making it difficult to draw a breath. Her skin had been a gorgeous, creamy white before, porcelain and smooth. Now, she just looked well-used and comfortable, even as her red curls hung down her back wet with sweat. He took inventory of her while he regained some of his control.

  Strapped to the spanking bench, her ass was picturesque in its perfection. Her pulse hammered strong and sure in her neck, quicker and harder than it had been. Her enormous blue eyes had turned almost a navy color and drooped with lust, her heavy lids thick with makeup smearing down her face. Her breaths came in quick pants. She was doing fine. In fact, she was doing beautifully.

  “Breathe deeply,” he murmured into her ear.

  Logan nipped the shell of her ear and inhaled her perfume, an exotic mix of floral and vanilla that reminded him of sunshine in the forest—earthy and pure and sweet. The scent mingled with her sweat, and Logan had to stifle the shudder of animalistic lust wracking his body. She dutifully took in deep breaths, inhaling oxygen, her eyes widening. She exhaled her minty breath and inhaled again. Her back, ivory skin reddened by him, rose and fell in a ragged rhythm.

  She really was beautiful. Too bad he wasn’t going to see her again.

  His past dictated he didn’t do relationships. He hadn’t been raised by a proper family and wouldn’t know the first thing about being the half of a whole that dictated boyfriend status or, God forbid, husband material. He’d tried it once, and predictably, it hadn’t worked out.

  This woman, though, almost made him want to break his own damn rule. She responded to him with perfection, was new enough to the scene he could train her and mold her if he wanted to, or they could learn new things together. That might be fun, he mused. A second scene certainly wouldn’t suck, but he knew he wouldn’t let it happen.

  “You ready to go further?” he whispered in her ear, and she writhed in the leather cuffs, a slow undulation of her lithe body that had his cock stirring in his jeans. A low moan greeted him. “I need words, Katherine. Are you ready for something a little harder?”

  “Yes, Sir. Please, Sir.”

  Her breathy voice tugged at his dick, and Logan turned to select another implement from the rack lining the walls.

  He’d turned her ivory skin a lovely shade of red with the rubber paddle and then the wide flogger, but she apparently needed something a bit … more. Selecting a cat of nine tails, he turned to her.

  “Still good?”

  “Yes, Sir,” she moaned, her knees squeezing futilely against the cuffs around her ankles.

  “Color?”

  “Green, Sir. So, so green.”

  Excellent.

  She’d told him she had a high pain tolerance and enjoyed being pushed, but Logan had found many subs didn’t really understand what they wanted. Logan did though. He understood what they needed, sometimes better than they did. Logan liked control and was prepared to give her what she needed.

  After almost an hour of warm-ups on the spanking bench, Logan had tested her tolerance and sensitivities and was ready to take her to the release she was craving. He had worked her up into a sloppy mess of sensations, and now he was going to watch her fly apart.

  He wanted to take her home and try out his new toys on her, but that wouldn’t happen. He had a tilting cross in mind. He’d modified the original design and made it out of dark mahogany, which would complement her fair skin. He just needed to complete it. It would be perfect to be able to look at her long legs strapped to the ankle cuffs, with the cross tilted just so he could get into that hot, sweet pussy.

  He’d just have to imagine it. Meanwhile, he was still stalking around this woman like she was his supper, just waiting for him to take her where she needed to go. He was getting distracted by her compliance and needed to get on with it.

  He cocked his arm back and let fly with a smack of the cat to her ass, the leather strips leaving stunning, deep-red marks across her skin. She let out a hiss of air, but he didn’t even pause before doing it again. Logan kept his motions fluid and smooth, the crack of the leather coming in regular intervals until her ass and thighs were bright-red against the already pink skin.

  “Color?”

  “Green, Sir.”

  God, he could do this all damn night as long as she kept this up.

  But he knew that was silly. No person could do this all night. He began skimming the cat across her back, using his wrist to flick the color where he wanted it.

  Katherine had come into the club wearing a get-up he immediately admired but then discarded. Wearing a rubber corset with grommet detailing, her breasts had been presented on a shelf for his perusal. Her panties were practically nonexistent and now in his pocket. She had a flair about her, as well as a confidence that was altogether sexy, but her nudity was captivating.

  Draped over the bench with her ass on display, Logan gave in to the desire to touch her. He ran his hands across the warm skin, then down lower. Her thighs were perfectly sculpted, leading to legs he wanted locked to his bed at home.

  He shook his head. Nobody went to his home, and this was the second time he’d had that thought. That shit needed to stop. He would get what they both needed tonight, and then he would say goodbye. That’s what he did.

  But her pussy lips were right there, framed between her quivering thighs, glistening and swollen, almost as pink as the rest of her.

  He’d neglected them in his previous ministrations, using the crops and paddles all around the area without hitting anything sensitive. But as her clit stood proud out from under its hood, radiant and ready, Logan knew this was what she wanted. She stretched against the restraints as if she knew exactly where he was looking, and she needed it.

  Logan brought his hand back and let go, bringing the cat down on her pussy, watching it spasm with her climax. He’d told her this morning he wouldn’t make her hold it in. This was Katherine’s first scene. She wasn’t trained in orgasm control, had even voiced a concern about it in their conversation. Logan had to admit, he normally wouldn’t have played with her after hearing that—no Dom wants to lose the control of his sub’s orgasm—but he’d wanted her, and the freedom of letting her come when she needed to had been amazing. He’d still been in control, somewhat. If he knew anything, it was a woman’s body. Logan could get her onto that cliff and hold her there forever if he wanted to. Later, he could teach her a signal or something. Shocked, he pulled his head back and watched her come unglued. What the fuck was this later business? He wouldn’t see her again. He needed to bring himself back to the present and enjoy her while
he had her.

  She cried out, the sound so sweet and perfect. He’d brought her here. This was why she’d answered that ad. Her pussy kept rippling, and the low moan from her throat made his insides swell.

  Deciding he wasn’t finished yet, Logan took a deep breath and dropped to his knees, determined to make Katherine come again. This time, on his tongue.

  Gripping her thighs, a tenuous show of control where he wanted to completely lose it, Logan plunged his tongue into her quivering wetness. He soothed her, tasting her climax before she’d finished. Her pussy clamped around him as he swirled his tongue around inside her before bringing it out to stroke her throbbing clit. Logan spread her ass cheeks around his face and started licking.

  She tasted of the sweetest honey, earthy and perfect, her juices dripping down her thighs as he ate and licked her, greedy for every drop. She trembled in his hands, and he gripped harder.

  “Oh my God,” Katherine moaned, the words making his dick dance.

  One more orgasm from her, and he would take care of himself later, but Logan needed this right now. He thrived on women’s orgasms, and this one was no different. He lapped at her and could sense her next climax rising. Her thighs tensed, her toes curled, and her words were unintelligible.

  Logan prolonged her pleasure before delivering the bite that would send her over. Her clit was pulsing under his tongue, begging for the attention she desperately craved.

  He obliged, sucking it hard into his mouth before biting down on it.

  Katherine’s body wracked against the restraints, pulling taut as she came hard on his tongue. Her moans captivated his insides, pulling them tight, letting him know he was doing his job right. Logan couldn’t stop the moan from his chest, almost a growl—it was a possessive sound, a feral sound.

  Wild.

  Animalistic.

  The chains of the restraints rattled as she struggled with the sensations, but he couldn’t get enough of her flavor. He lapped it up like it was the best treat he’d ever had.

  And then he stood. Katherine was limp but breathing heavily. The pulse on her neck was pounding wildly, and her glazed eyes stared into the air around him. Her gaze wasn’t blank per se, but she wasn’t seeing him.

  He needed to hold her. He wanted her to see him.

  Logan unclasped the leather cuffs around her legs and wrists, picking her up easily from the bench. He walked over to a couch in the corner of the room and sat with her on his lap. His blood was ringing in his ears. She muttered something that sounded like “Thank you, Sir,” but he couldn’t be sure.

  He wanted to have sex with her, but that wasn’t what they’d agreed on. Tonight was a scene, not fucking, something he was loathe to do with a sub anyway. He preferred not to sleep with them, as it complicated things. But right now, his motivations were blurred, his intentions crumbling.

  He shushed her, gave her a bottle of water, and covered her with a blanket as he held this gorgeous woman. He was pretty sure she had given a fake name when they’d met earlier, but he used it anyway.

  “Katherine, that was amazing. You’re perfectly beautiful when you come for me.” He wanted to do that again and again, but they just had this one night. Neither of them was from here, and that was intentional on his part.

  Never mind that she was perfect, he would never see her again. Logan would go back to Pamona Gulch, and she would go back to wherever she was starting up her store and taking care of her little brother while her parents globe-trotted. That had to be fine with him.

  It was just how he was.

  He should have known the first time he saw her at Mo’s three weeks after their scene that she would be different from the rest. Logan had been reliving the experience more and more, his need to scene again not being satiated with his masturbatory sessions in the shower. He’d wanted to see her again and had been resisting the impulse to call her, breaking his own damn rule.

  And then he’d learned she lived here. Throwing his damn rule in his face. Slapping him with it.

  Now, in The Beestro, as she begged him to be her friend, he knew he had to give her this. Logan couldn’t be what she really wanted, that was damn sure, but he could do this.

  If he could figure out how, that was.

  “Okay.” He sighed, reaching out his hand in a peace offering that made him all sorts of unsure. “Friends.”

  Chapter Three

  Mo’s was busy, but Logan didn’t care. Unable to concentrate, he was sipping his soda like it was a lifeline. The events in his life weren’t conducive to his need for control. The fire chief had another bright idea to raise money to pay for the fucking tax hike that hadn’t passed on top of the lawsuit they’d been slapped with last year. The Pamona Gulch Fire Department still needed to raise money, and it looked like Logan couldn’t get out of doing it like he’d managed with the calendar and the Santa thing. And it started next weekend. It was looming—a dark cloud over the job he loved.

  He was going to have to teach a class to community members on what firefighters do. He sighed into his drink as he listened to his buddies’ plan. He’d be working closely with teenagers, housewives, and rednecks. Good times.

  “We are to teach them how to do some basic things and then end the class with an obstacle course race. They can suit up, carry shit, climb ladders, that sort of stuff,” Joey explained to Vivian.

  Joey sat next to Vivian, whose daughter was with a babysitter somewhere. Dude had gotten so into the ready-made family life, he was almost nauseating. Joey rarely came out with them anymore, but this was a business meeting of sorts, so he’d been pressured into it. In an effort to get Vivian here, Joey had invited her friends, who happened to be Lettie, Zane’s main squeeze; Annette, Jude’s girl; and Katie.

  Katie, a.k.a. Katherine. His new friend.

  Logan ignored her as she squeezed around the table between Lettie and Vivian. That put her square across from him, where he had to make an effort not to stare at her.

  Annette started bouncing in her seat. “I can make a sign for the square, and I bet Katie and Vivian could put them up in front of their stores.

  “I have a friend at the paper. We need to get the local media involved and talk it up in the community,” Katie pointed out, nodding at Annette’s suggestion.

  It was a good idea. It would get more people involved, and while the people aspect made his asshole clench, he had to admit it would bring more awareness, a.k.a. money, to the department. Logan was going to have a hard time ignoring her if she was going to come up with good ideas like that.

  He wasn’t supposed to be ignoring her. They were friends now. This was an entire shift in his way of thinking about Katie, and he didn’t know what to do with it.

  “Yeah, we’re having to work around emergencies with the class load. Chief said we couldn’t do overtime with this stuff. Hopefully, people won’t mind if we get a call in the middle of class or whatever,” Jude pointed out.

  “Or we could make guys do it on their free time,” Zane suggested.

  Logan shook his head. “Captain already nixed that. It might work for rookies, but we only have one of those now, and I wouldn’t trust him with this sort of shit.”

  Katie piped up. “Why not? He’s trusted to save lives but not get me up a ladder?”

  The image of Katie on a ladder climbing fifty feet into the air with Hollywood’s hand on her ass had Logan going clammy. “You’re taking the class?” he sputtered into his drink.

  “Why not? I want to support the fire department that takes care of my community.” The challenge in her eyes was clear. “Besides, Walter and his friends are already signed up. They need some supervision.” She laughed, the innocent giggle shooting shards of lust to his dick, her eyes daring him to do something over the rim of her glass.

  He wanted to shout and rail at her. Like hell was on the tip of
his tongue, but he knew the issues were his and had nothing to do with her ability. After their scene, when he came home and realized she actually fucking lived here, Logan had learned so much about Katie it was almost stalkerish.

  How he’d never seen her before was beyond him. Admittedly, Logan kept to himself for the most part—working, going home, and building his projects. He came here with the guys to let off a little steam, but he traveled to bigger, more anonymous cities to let off a lot of steam. Of course, he thought it was intentional on Katie’s part. The first time they’d bumped into each other here, she’d started showing up regularly.

  It simultaneously turned him on—remembering their night—and pissed him off. But mostly pissed him off because the very idea of her made him want to ignore every warning bell going off in his head every time he saw her.

  Katie gasped at the look on his face, and Logan realized he was snarling at her. He schooled his features, pulling his mouth back into a grim line so he didn’t look like a bear, but she’d seen it anyway.

  “You know what?” The red flush on her face brought back memories to Logan, but he didn’t address them. He never did. “I see someone I know over there who respects my opinions. Excuse me.” Katie stood, smoothed her skirt, and walked away. In spite of himself, Logan followed her with his eyes and saw her going to talk to some dude he sort of knew. Asshole lived in the apartment next door to his.

  If that douchebag actually respected anything Katie had to say, Logan would eat his own shoes. But he wasn’t going to tell her that. If she could get what she needed from that weasel Bonner, good riddance.

  That’s what he told himself anyway.

  This friend thing was working out nicely.

  “Why do you hate Katie so much anyway?” Lettie stared through him, her eyes lasers. He shrugged, ignoring Joey’s snort.

  “We don’t hate each other. We’re friends.” Logan tried out the phrase and heard how stupid it sounded coming out of his mouth.