Page 56 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“And yet, you still refuse to say the magic words that would make them go away,” Jill said with a heartfelt sigh and a sad shake of her head as she focused back on her book.

“And what are those magic words?” Logan drawled as he sat there watching her and-

This wasn’t enough.

For the past week, he’d put everything that he had into finding Pierce, reminding himself that it was the only fucking thing that mattered. Every day, he read through the reports that his men sent in from the night before, checked on the forum, and tore through the files that he had on Pierce, hoping to find something, any-fucking-thing, that would help find him all while pretending that he wasn’t painfully aware of the small woman that was slowly destroying his sanity.

Every day, he tried to stay away from her, telling himself that this connection was enough, but it wasn’t enough. He struggled to stay away from her, to stop thinking about her, only to find himself looking for any excuse to be near her and even when he was near her, it wasn’t enough.

Not nearly fucking enough.

He felt this connection to her like a whisper, just enough to let him know what he was missing and-

He wanted more.

“That really depends on you, but there really should be some groveling involved,” Jill absently murmured, making his lips twitch.

“You want me to beg?” Logan asked, beyond fucking amused.

“That’s not the word that I used,” Jill pointed out with a sad shake of her head.

“I believe you mentioned groveling,” Logan said, watching her beautiful pink lips pull up into a smile before she managed to pull it back and cleared her throat.

“That does sound like something that I would say,” Jill murmured absently with a nod as she turned the page.

“And if I asked for another sip of your blood…”

“I believe I expressed my preference for groveling,” Jill said, releasing her hold on the book just long enough to gesture for him to get on with it.

“Is that all?” Logan drawled as he sat there, debating his next move as he absently drummed his fingertips against the leather armrest, ignoring the slight ache that accompanied the move.

“I believe that there was mention of removing my chain,” Jill said, giving her foot a pointed wiggle beneath the covers to make the chain rattle against the bed.

“And I believe I mentioned that was never going to happen,” Logan said because as much as he hated seeing that chain secured to her leg, he knew that taking it off wasn’t an option.

“Afraid I’ll try to escape?” Jill asked, sounding bored as she turned another page.

“Something like that,” Logan murmured before asking, “What else?”

“I believe that there was a tale of woe that you wanted to share with me,” Jill said with a heartfelt sigh as she pointedly settled in more comfortably in his bed.

“You first,” Logan said, watching her as a trickle of something close to fear settled over him before it disappeared just as suddenly, reminding him of just how fucking weak this connection to her was and leaving him even more frustrated.

“I’m an open book,” Jill said, sounding bored as she turned another page.

“Not according to my men,” Logan said, watching her as she shrugged it off.

“That’s a damn shame,” Jill said with a sad shake of her head and a heavy sigh. “Whatever will you do now?” she asked dryly, making his lips twitch.

“I could torture you until you told me what I wanted to know,” Logan drawled with a pointed look at the chain that disappeared beneath the comforter.

“You could…” Jill said, not really sounding all that concerned.

“You’re really not afraid of me, are you?”

“Not even a little bit, but I can pretend if that helps,” Jill offered as she reluctantly closed the book and placed it on the nightstand.

“That’s very generous of you,” Logan said dryly as he watched her curl up onto her side.

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