Page 25 of Bloom: Part 2

“Why did they hate me so much, Logan? Did they somehow know that I was a monster?”

“Hey.” Logan took my face in his hands. I could barely see him through the tears that streamed over my cheeks. “You arenota monster. Do you hear me? What they did to you—that’s what made you adapt to survive. And you’ll adapt again once you find that you are safe and loved and cherished. Never again will anyone hurt you like they did. You have my word. I won’t let them.”

The sincerity of his voice was hard not to believe. But Logan was a doctor. He saved people’s lives. He was kind, a healer. How could he protect me?

“You are safe with me,” he repeated softly, his voice firm. His hands were steady and warm against my face as though I were something delicate and cherished. “I won’t let anyone harm you again.”

Maybe I really had gone soft because I believed him.

8

LOGAN

“It’s home day!”

As I stepped into the room, Bloom sprang off the hospital bed, his grin as wide as ever. A few weeks ago, he’d been unconscious, and it was hard to tell by looking at him, except for the subtle bulge of a bandage where we’d operated on him, then patched him up. With a dramatic flick of his hair over his shoulder, he gave me a mischievous grin that ended in a grimace. “You must think I look a hot mess. First thing I’m doing is dyeing my hair and painting my nails.”

“Hey, not so fast.” I caught him by the waist and pulled him gently toward me. “What’s the rush? You can’t even spare a second to kiss me?”

Bloom rolled his eyes but leaned in to press a kiss to my cheek. “Happy?”

“Not exactly.” I took his face between my hands and gave him a long, deep kiss with a serving of tongue. He melted against me, clutching the front of my shirt. With his free hand, he traced the outline of my semi behind the fly of my jeans.

“Now you’re in the mood.” I chuckled, placed another quick kiss on his lips, and stepped back, satisfied he looked dazed. He had a lopsided grin as though he was still heavily medicated.

“It’s all your fault.” He glanced over at the bed. “Can we…”

I quirked an eyebrow and crossed my arms. “I thought you wanted to leave as soon as you got your marching orders.”

“Logaaaan,” he whined, then slipped an arm through his shirt.

“Jesus, Bloom, don’t get completely naked.”

I helped him put his arm back inside his shirt and reached for the waistband of his cargo pants.

What the hell was I doing? Before this tempter walked into my life, I would never think of doing such a thing. I cared too much about my job and reputation. Around him, I lost all common sense.

Peeling his pants along with his underwear down to his thighs, I nudged him toward the bed. “Lean over it.”

I placed the chair under the door handle. Not that it would hide the reason we’d locked it, but at least we’d get a couple of minutes to be decent again before we bared all to some unsuspecting nurse.

Bloom spread his legs as wide as they could go, his shirt clutched in his hand and pulled up the small of his back. Fuck. If second thoughts had been creeping in, they completely vanished. The gentle swell of his ass and the provocative pose instantly put my cock in charge of my brain.

“Dammit,” I grumbled, unfastening my jeans.

“What is it?” He twitched his ass. “Hurry, Logan. It’s been so long.”

“We don’t have any lube.”

“I’ve taken you without it before.”

But that was different. Neither of us had known if we would make it out of the hospital alive. This time, all I had to do was wait until we got to the clubhouse to devour him. I’d stocked upon lube and other essentials we might need while I stayed with him.

“We have to make this quick or my reputation’s ruined.”

“I like the thought of me ruining your reputation.”

“Of course you do.” I smacked his ass lightly, and he moaned. Saliva—loads of saliva—took the function of lube. I slipped a finger, then another, inside him, slowly working him loose. “We have to be quick, and you can’t move around too much, okay? I don’t want to hurt you.”

---