Tara didn’t want to listen to him. Frustration gnawed at his stomach. He’d been right to put the decision to hear him out in her hands. He wasn’t going to be able to force her to believe him, especially a few minutes after breaking up with her fiancé. Unlike her behavior in the dungeon, this had to be her choice. She’d been through a lot already today, and it was barely after noon.
“Tell you what, Cherry. We’ll talk about it when we’re both in a better place.”
Tara was silent for such a long moment, her face so angry and full of hurt. Dread wound its way through Logan’s system. “You manipulated my future. I started to trust you and . . . you hurt me.”
He winced. Every word was true. He was used to being ruthless; fighting terrorist thugs required it, and sometimes, he forgot to turn that off.
“Baby, I didn’t mean . . .” To come between Tara and Brad? Yeah, he had. Or at least he’d hoped to make her think about where her heart truly lay. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Logan couldn’t say that he was sorry for the result—but he was sorry for her pain.
She wouldn’t even look at him. “What you did was despicable, but I shouldn’t have expected any different. It doesn’t matter. I won’t let you matter. Physically, you’ll teach me and keep me safe, and that’s all I need. So let’s get back to business. Strictly business. The sooner I learn what I need to know, the sooner I’ll be away from you.”
Ouch. He probably deserved that. He still had plenty to say on this topic, but he’d play it her way for now. Forcing her to talk before she was ready wasn’t going to make her feel any better or get him what he wanted.
“All right, work it is,” he conceded. “But we will revisit the subject later.”
“You’ve just stabbed me in the back and exploded my personal life all to hell. From now on, it’s off-limits to you.”
“You really think that your breakup with Brad had nothing to do with me?” Logan knew he should shut up, but if Tara imagined that to be true for a second, then she’d lied to her former fiancé—and herself. “The way I see it, you responded to my hands on your body, my mouth on your clit so completely that there’s no way you don’t have feelings for me. You’ve never been the kind of girl to get off with a guy she doesn’t care for. I’m guessing that was your problem with Brad.”
She flushed, but still managed to scowl. “You’re delusional. Go f**k yourself.”
Not gonna happen. He had six days to convince Tara that he’d always loved her and that she was his. He refused to waste another second.
“You want to get down to business, fine. Lose the chip on your shoulder, get your ass over to the bed, then wait for my command.”
“You’re such a prick,” she muttered as she made her way across the room.
Logan caught up to her in a heartbeat. “That’s Master Prick to you.”
Tara rolled her eyes. With that attitude, she wouldn’t learn anything about how to behave with a suspect trying to dominate her. She was also testing his authority. Yes, she was angry, but she’d broken her engagement to roll the dice with him again. Deep down, she knew it, even if she wasn’t ready to admit it.
But if she wanted to work, the first thing he was going to do was put a stop to her shitty attitude—quickly.
He grabbed her wrist and turned her around, thrusting his hand into the silky length of that fiery red hair. Fuck, he wanted to slide his tongue along her skin, his c**k deeper into her body than any man ever had, and stay there until she acknowledged who she belonged to.
Taking a calming breath, Logan released her and sat on the bed, then pulled her naked backside across his lap.
Tara stiffened. “You’re not abusing my ass again, you bastard! Romeo! ”
He smoothed a hand across her firm, pale cheeks as he held her struggling form. Tara was topping from the bottom. But in case she was actually scared, he paused.
“Am I going to hurt you past what you can bear? Make you bleed? Permanently mark you?”
“No, but I—”
“Do you fear for your physical safety?”
She sighed. “No.”
“No what? Rephrase your answer.”
A long pause later, she grumbled, “No, I don’t fear for my physical safety, Logan.”
“I’ve barely touched you, but I’ve pushed you beyond what you can endure?”
Tara didn’t answer, just wriggled, trying to displace his hold on her.