Page 36 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“I wanna read the book about dinosaurs,” Caleb said, pushing the large book onto his sister’s lap and shoved the comforter away so that he could crawl off the bed and race across the room to grab the thick dinosaur book off the shelf.

When she felt the bed shift next to her, Jill looked down to find Emma moving closer to her and holding up the book. “Do you want me to read to you?”

With a nod, Emma placed the book on her lap, grabbed her teddy bear and settled in closer to her. Unable to help but smile, Jill opened the book and began to read, which earned a gasp from Caleb as he raced back to the bed to join them.

“Wait for me!” he said, tossing the book on the bed before climbing onto the bed and joined them, snuggling in closer to his sister. Jill kept her tone warm the way that Marc used to like it when he snuggled in her bed late at night so that she could read to him.

While she read the adventures of the teddy bear family living in the forest, Shane walked into the bedroom and made his way to his corner, a muscle in his jaw clenching every step of the way. Without a word, he sat down and after a slight hesitation, he dropped his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

When she finished reading the teddy bear book for Emma, Jill placed it on the nightstand and began reading the dinosaur book for Caleb. Before she was finished, Caleb and Emma were fast asleep next to her and Shane was slouched in the corner, making her heart break for him.

She climbed off the bed, careful not to wake Caleb and Emma and-

Watched as Logan quietly walked into the room and made his way to the corner. Without a word, he scooped Shane up in his arms and carefully laid him down on the bed while Jill grabbed the blanket folded over the end of the bed and placed it over him. She watched Logan’s expression soften as he gazed down at the children and-

“You’re late, Angel,” Logan said, clearing his throat as he looked away.

“Well, now I’m waiting on you,” Jill said as her gaze dropped to his hands and found herself with one more question to add to the list.

“You’re not healing,”came the announcement that had his lips twitching as he sat there, too fucking exhausted to do anything more than close his eyes as he dropped his head back against the leather chair and slowly exhaled.

“No, I’m not,” Logan murmured, ignoring the pain shooting through his fingers as he absently flexed them.

“Is there a reason why?” Jill asked as the sounds of her chain sliding across the floor filled the large bedroom.

“Probably,” Logan said, knowing without a doubt now that it was because of her.

He’d gorged on bagged blood on the drive home from the airport, knowing Magnus’ reputation well enough to know that he’d use the cuffs to send the children one last warning before he handed them over to Pierce. The blood should have kicked in with the first jolt of electricity and healed him before the next only it never happened. He’d felt every fucking jolt of electricity that surged through his body, boiling his blood as it burned his skin, leaving him struggling not to lose his fucking mind, but he needed those cuffs off the children. He had no idea how many more remotes were out there and he wasn’t about to risk Magnus getting his hands on another one.

As soon as they were off, Logan made his way to his room, stumbling every fucking step of the way until he finally made it to the bathroom, where he stepped into the shower and turned the cold water on before passing out. When he woke up a few hours later, the excruciating pain that had knocked him on his ass was gone, replaced by a dull ache. The blisters that had formed all over his body were gone and the skin that had been burned off was replaced, leaving behind patches of painful red skin.

“Are you going to share with the rest of the class?” came the question that had his lips twitching.

“Not today,” Logan said, more than a little fucking tempted to negotiate with her for more blood.

“I have a theory,” Jill absently murmured, sounding thoughtful.

“Are you going to share with the rest of the class?” Logan drawled as he opened his eyes to find the stubborn woman sitting on the floor by the door.

“It depends on how this conversation goes,” Jill said as he found himself running his eyes over her, taking in everything from her long dark hair that was pulled up into a messy bun at the back of her head to the loose strands that teased her sun-kissed skin and found himself absolutely fucking mesmerized.

She was so incredibly beautiful, Logan thought as he allowed his gaze to move down, taking in the way the black sundress hugged every decadent curve and found himself mourning the loss of her red hair and pale skin. For the past two years, he’d thought about her, imagining just how good it would feel to run his fingers through her red hair, the way it would feel to have the silky strands slide over his skin as he traced every curve of her body with his mouth.

He’d lost count of how many times he woke up with his hand wrapped around his cock as her name was ripped from his lips and-

Christ, she was dangerous.

“How are you still alive after drinking my blood?” Jill asked, watching him curiously.

“Disappointed that I lived, Angel?” Logan drawled as he debated sending her away.

It would be the smart thing to do.

He could send her away, have Tomas look after her to keep her safe while he finally took care of Pierce and once he was gone…

This hold that she had on him would be destroyed.

“You knew that my blood was safe,” Jill said, looking away as she thought that over.

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