Part 26 (2/2)

She knew they were the two halves of one whole. And she had been incomplete all her life without him.

He swirled his tongue over the sensitive tissue of her inner lips, then probed more deeply, claiming possession in a way that thrilled her. She felt herself giving over to the heat he kindled in her body. Her nipples grew hard. And with the tightness came a kind of yearning ache high up between her thighs.

Still, a frisson of alarm crept into her mind.

She knew he didn't understand that part. He only knew that she was responding to him s.e.xually, which made him confident that she wanted the same thing he did.

One of his hands tangled in her thick hair. The other slid under her s.h.i.+rt and stroked up and down her back. When she swayed on her feet, he steadied her, then moved back, propping his hips against a tree trunk and splaying his legs so that he could equalize their heights.

With a sound of satisfaction, he cupped his hands around her bottom and brought her aching center against the hard shaft of his erection.

That was the instant when full-blown panic came leaping to the surface. She stiffened in his arms. ”No. Please. No.”

Maybe he had been waiting for that to happen, because he dropped his arms and raised head, looking down at her.

”Every time we get close, you back away,” he said in a gritty voice.

”I don't want to,” she managed to answer, astonished that she had voiced her own thoughts so accurately.

”Tell me what's going on.”

She wanted to turn away, instead she stayed facing him, struggling with too many emotions. And because she saw the wounded look in his eyes, she forced herself to be brutally honest. ”I know you won't hurt me. Somewhere in my mind I know that, until the scary part takes over.”

He dragged in a draft of air and let it out in a rush, his gaze never leaving hers. ”Rinna, did someone... force himself on you?”

She wanted to look away. She wanted to deny the shameful secret that she hadn't even shared with Haig. But she knew that lying to Logan would be the worst thing she could do. ”Yes,” she answered in a barely audible voice.

”Who?”

Still she had to look away when she said the name. ”Falcone.”

”The b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I'll kill him.”

”Stay away from him. He'll kill you” she cried out. She was still grappling with her own emotions. She had told her terrible secret to Logan, and she waited for the world to fall in on top of her. When heartbeats pa.s.sed and she found the earth was still solid under her feet, she let out the breath she'd been holding.

”Can you tell me about it?”

”Not yet,” she answered, then took a step back, looking up at the night sky. It was cloudy and she smelled rain. When Logan raised his head and sniffed the air, she knew he did, too.

”We need to get inside.”

”Where?”

”I'm not sure. I think we're too far to make it home from here before the rain.”

Casually, he reached for her hand, and gave it a squeeze before leading her through the woods.

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