Page 44 of Until You Found Me

He nods, placing the gun on the ground at a safe distance and indicating she should turn away from him.

“Shoulder massage again?” Her nervousness is evident in the hitch in her words, disguised as a joke.

“Relax, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“I know that.” Her bristled reply comes out defensive, her mood shifting on a dime.

The leaves crunch under his boots and she tenses, despite knowing it’s only Logan. Then his arms encircle her from behind, one around her waist to pin her arms and one at her throat. He moves slowly to keep from startling her and his grip is light. That’s the only reason she doesn’t flinch, but training herself to be still is an effort she didn’t realize she’d have to make.

“Someone’s gotcha like this and you think you can’t escape, but you can.”

His words are a soft rumble in her ear and the fear she had at first begins to transform into something else as the heat of his chest warms her back and his scruff rubs at the curve of her chin. A sizzle shoots down between her legs and instead of wanting to run, she has to suppress the desire to push her ass back against him.

“Slam your foot into the top of his, then the back of your head into his nose. Mimic it now, not for real though ‘cause I like walking and not bleeding.”

She does the moves in slow motion, earning herself a release. When she turns to face him she’s proud, her smile quick and her blood singing with the urge to have him closer. “Again?”

“Not gonna go that slow this time. Gonna come up on you like I’m really grabbing you, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You’re sure you’re good with this?”

She scoffs. “Logan, I’m fine. I trust you.”

“Same deal, foot then head butt, butyougo slow, don’t fuck me up.”

“You don’t trustme?” she teases.

He levels her with a raise of his brow. “Turn around.”

She obeys, waiting patiently for him to initiate the scenario. Her arousal is at peak levels and her eagerness to feel him at an all-time high. Then everything shifts the moment his arms encircle her in a harder grip. They snake around her body fast and press firmly, as if he’s actually trying to carry her away or wrestle her to the ground.

If she was in a rational state of mind, she’d notice that he isn’t strangling her. She can still breathe or she wouldn’t be able to gasp in every inhale. She’d feel how careful he is not to hurt her, how gentle his efforts are, but she’s not rational. She’s back in that kitchen, bent against the stove, a hand squeezing her throat, yanking her head back while she burns herself on hot water.

Her body locks up and her mind blanks with nothing but two words on a loop that she wishes she could have said to that bastard but never got the chance to.

“Stop…no…stop, no, no, no.”

He lets her go so fast that she collapses in the snow on her hands and knees as she fights the bile in her throat.

“Shit, I’m sorry. You okay? Did I hurt you? Tessa, talk to me.” He kneels beside her, guilt-ridden.

“I’m so messed up,” she sobs. “I don’t know what I’m feeling. What I’m doing.”

“Can I touch you?”

She meets his eyes, her lower lip trembling, and offers anod of agreement that has him pulling her into a tentative hug. She nearly crawls right under his coat just to get closer, prompting him to sweep her up in a proper embrace. For someone that seems to think he isn’t much good at any of this, he knows exactly how to let her nestle against him and make her feel safe instead of smothered.

“I’d never hurt you,” he whispers. “This was too much, too soon. It’s my fault. I shoulda known.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the problem, Logan. I was right back in one of those nightmares, and all I could feel was him. What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing. You’re the strongest person I know.”

She scoffs with a sniffle, burying her nose against his neck where it’s warm.

“I mean it. After everything, you keep going, keep trying, keep pushing. Lotta people couldn’t.”

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