Page 100 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

After everything they did last night, and God, she couldn’t stop thinking about it, he’d carried her into the shower, where he took his time kissing her, whispering words that she couldn’t quite make out in her ear as he ran his hands over her in gentle caresses. When they were done, he dried her off in a towel before he carried her back into her closet and helped her get dressed in his shirt.

He pulled on his underwear before joining her on the mattress and-

Couldn’t help but release a soft sigh when she felt Logan’s lips press against the back of her neck as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

“Need a nap?” Jill asked with a teasing smile as she placed her arm over his.

“Needed my angel,” Logan said, entwining his fingers with hers as she found herself wondering when she fell in love with a vampire.

CHAPTER 48

One Month Later…

“Ican’t drink any more tea until you ask me,” Logan explained only to have the little girl that he absolutely adored narrow her eyes on him as she held the plastic teacup up higher in silent demand.

Shaking his head, Logan finished tying his shoes while Emma knelt by the coffee table in his room, seething as she looked from him to the pink teacup in her hand to the iPad paused on the American Sign Language video that he’d showed her. Determined to do this her way, Emma held up the cup higher only to glare angrily at him when he shook his head while he signed “No” with his right hand.

For a moment, Emma glared at him until finally, she placed the teacup back on the coffee table, hit play, watched the video closely and when it was done, she played it again while she practiced the movements. When she was done, Emma faced him as she made the sign for tea followed by asking him if he wanted some.

“Yes, please,” Logan said, holding his fist up and made the sign for “Yes” before he placed his hand flatly against his chest and moved it in a circular motion.

With a nod of satisfaction, Emma refreshed his cup and handed it to him. Logan said, “Thank you,” and took the cup as he signed with his right hand. After he took a sip, he said, “Delicious,” making sure to sign the word. Logan sipped his imaginary tea as he watched Emma shift her attention back to the iPad and swiped to the next video.

After James examined the children and confirmed his suspicions that there was nothing wrong with Emma’s throat or vocal cords, Logan realized that he was going to need to find a way to help her communicate until she felt safe enough to start talking. He’d debated using a text-to-talk app, but that would only limit her while she was learning to read. It had taken him a few weeks, but now that he had a decent understanding of ASL, he’d decided that it was time to get his little shadow on board.

“I’m going to finish getting ready,” Logan said, signing for the little girl frowning down at the iPad and-

Found himself smiling when she raised her hand and slowly signed, “Okay.”

“Good girl,” Logan murmured as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head before he made his way into the bathroom.

Logan grabbed his shaving kit and set everything out. He made quick work of lathering his brush and applying shaving cream to his face. When he was done, he grabbed his razor and moved to start shaving only to think better of it when he thought about the way that Jill ran her fingertips over his stubble this morning, the sleepy smile on her face when she leaned in and brushed her lips against his and nearly fucking groaned.

God help him if she ever learned how much power she held over him, Logan thought, knowing that he would love every fucking minute of it. He cleaned up his neck and cheeks,deciding against shaving his face completely as he watched Caleb stumble into the bathroom in his teddy bear undies.

Yawning, Caleb stood there for a few seconds, watching him shave before he turned around and left only to return a minute later with the stepping stool that Logan built for them. He watched Caleb place the stepping stool on the floor in front of the bathroom sink before climbing on it and placed his teddy bear on the counter with a satisfied sigh.

Logan finished cleaning up his neck as he watched Caleb reach for his shaving brush and mug. Worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, Caleb rinsed off the brush and dipped it in the mug as movement in the mirror drew Logan’s attention to find Shane standing in the doorway watching them. He-

“It’s not working, Daddy,” Caleb said, taking him by surprise.

Swallowing hard, Logan looked down to find Caleb holding up the shaving brush to him. “Daddy?”

Smiling, Logan took the brush as he leaned down and kissed Caleb’s forehead. “Here,” he said softly, grabbing his shaving mug as he knelt down in front of Caleb and took his time lathering the little boy’s face. When he was done, Logan placed the mug on the counter and wiped the smudge of shaving cream that got on Caleb’s nose off with his thumb.

“All set,” Logan said as he stood up.

“Thank you, Daddy,” Caleb said, turning to admire himself in the mirror while Logan went back to shaving.

“You’re welcome, min swete sunu,” Logan said as he watched Shane join them in the mirror. He watched the teenage boy glance from the shaving mug to him before reaching for it, his nervous gaze still flickering to Logan as he picked up the brush and began lathering his face.

“I need to shave, Daddy,” Caleb announced with a firm nod.

“Try this,” Logan said, grabbing a toothbrush from the drawer and handed it to the little boy to practice with.

When Logan finished cleaning up his beard, he glanced at Shane to find him staring down at the razor. Logan cleaned off his face with a hand towel before tossing it on the counter and stepped around Caleb, who was taking his time shaving with the toothbrush, making sure that he didn’t miss a single drop.

“You want to shave against the grain,” Logan said, gesturing for Shane to tilt his head back.

---