Page 40 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“There’s nothing to negotiate,” Logan said, watching her curiously as she took her time releasing the buttons on his shirt one by one.

“Are you sure about that?” Jill asked, her gaze flickering to meet silver eyes as she worked the last two buttons free.

“Positive,” he said as she looked down and-

“So, I’m going to need my cuff removed first,” Jill said with a heartfelt sigh as she took in the angry patches of red skin covering his chest and stomach.

“It’s never going to happen,” Logan said as Jill took her time running her eyes over a perfectly sculptured chest and chiseled abs marred by what could only be described as patches of what looked like a really painful sunburn.

“Why aren’t you healing?” Jill asked as she looked up and met his glare.

She watched a muscle in his jaw clench tightly while she waited for an answer, one that she had a feeling she already knew. “And before you tell me that you just need to drink more blood, you should probably know that I watched you gorge on six bags of blood this afternoon.”

“I just need more blood,” Logan said dryly as Jill reached over and gently ran her fingertips along the edge of the burn marring his chest.

“You needmyblood,” Jill said as she looked up and met his gaze.

“What makes you say that?” Logan asked as his hands slid over her thighs, the gentle caress leaving a trail of goosebumps beneath her cotton dress.

“You mean besides the fact that you were able to consume my blood without dying violently?” Jill asked dryly, watching his lips twitch.

“Besides that,” Logan murmured softly as his gaze dropped down to his hands as they continued moving over her thighs.

“And the part about you not healing after gorging on bagged blood?” Jill asked as she dropped her hands away from his chest and placed them over his hands.

“Is just a coincidence,” Logan said, watching her as she slowly wrapped her hands around his hands.

“In that case…” Jill said with a heartfelt sigh as she picked up his hands and moved them off her thighs before she climbed off his lap and made her way back to her spot by the door.

“Giving up that easily, Angel?” Logan asked, seeming amused as he once again closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the leather chair.

“Just giving you a moment to consider your options,” Jill said as she adjusted her skirt over her legs.

God, she missed being able to wear pants, Jill thought, biting back a heartfelt sigh as she shifted to get comfortable only to amend that previous thought to include panties because the bikini bottoms that she was forced to wear just wasn’t doing it for her. When she got out of here, the first thing that she was going to do, besides evade capture by the Sentinels, was find a comfortable pair of granny panties and the baggiest, softest sweatpants that money could buy.

“And what are my options?” Logan asked, looking absolutely bored and making her wonder if she was wrong about this.

“Remove my cuff and I’ll allow you to partake of my delicious blood,” Jill said, watching his lips twitch.

“You do realize that I could just take your blood if I really wanted it, right?” Logan reminded her with a bored sigh.

“You wouldn’t do that,” Jill pointed out with a sad shake of her head.

“And why is that exactly?”

“Because you owe me,” Jill said with a solemn nod.

“For…”

“Not unmanning you when I had the chance,” she said, making him chuckle at the reminder of the first time they met in that alleyway when she took him by surprise by pressing a dagger coated in holy oil and Sentinel blood against his fly.

“And as much as I appreciate that, Angel, I think saving your life makes us even,” Logan said, raising his hand to absently gesture for her to get on with it. “You have nothing that I want.”

“Really? Because I thought you wanted answers,” Jill said, blinking at him.

“You already bargained those away, Angel.”

“So did you,” Jill reminded him as she thought about that other thing that she’d been wondering about for a while now.

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