Chapter 2: Lights Out
"I�m no lightweight," Max insisted. "Don�t cut that in half." She extended her palm, demanding the whole pill that Logan was about to split.
"It�s called building a tolerance, Max. I�m not going to take any chances." Logan made the cut and pressed half a pink pill into her hand. Her lopsided grin made his heart skip a beat. In unnerved him to be this nervous over a simple Eyes Only mission. He involved Max in dangerous activity all the time, but he�d never purposefully handed her a drug that would knock her out and leave him totally in control. Once she�d decided to play along, her trust was immediate and total. She was almost cavalier about the whole thing, making twisted and darkly funny references to doomed princesses in Disney movies and teasing him about being a true pimp daddy. He knew it was just her way of trying to get him to ease up, but he couldn�t, not for a second. Feeding Carfanol to the woman he loved� now, there was an activity that wouldn�t be on the Club Med vacation schedule any time soon. In no time at all, Max would be completely helpless and under his care. No way would he lose vigilance over this.
"See?" Max swallowed the pill easily, without water, and batted her eyelashes at him. "Now you can have your wicked way with me."
Logan grimaced and pushed away from the table, fuming. He knew she was kidding. He knew it for sure in the way her eyes sparkled and her body slouched in the chair. They both knew he wouldn�t touch her if she wasn�t awake to allow it, but for one brief second an image of Max, asleep on his bed, sent his hormones into hyperspace. Normal male reaction aside, it made him furious that even one drop of that idea had entered his brain. He�d had fantasies that ranged to a further extreme, but none involved the use of manipulative drugs. Even fleeting thoughts in this scenario counted in the "Logan Cale should go straight to hell" section of his guilt files.
"I would never hurt you," he said softly, turning and spearing her with his sincerity.
"Logan. I was kidding."
"I know it," he agreed. "But I�ve seen a video of how fast this drug works. Laid awake all night after I saw it, praying it wouldn�t happen to you some night at Crash. The thought of you being hurt by something like this�"
Logan audibly swallowed an unmanly lump in his throat, cleared it and tried to muster up a self-deprecating smile. Max�s face wasn�t jocund anymore, and his own smile faltered. She stood, made her decision, then walked over to him and knelt on the floor at his feet. His head was only slightly above hers and she was bold enough to reach around his waist and lock her fingers together. He couldn�t wheel away without making her fall.
"You can�t fight all the bullies on my playground," she stated.
"I can fight this one," he promised.
"My hero," Max said, bringing back the smile that made her cheeks dimple. She gracefully rose to her feet and deposited herself on his lap, draping one arm around his shoulders. She�d been in his lap a lot tonight, she reflected, and neither of them really seemed to mind. "So, how long til lights out?"
"I have no idea."
"We should really find something to do to pass the time."
"Chess?" Logan suggested innocently. Max was staring at his mouth, her heavy-lidded gaze concentrated on what suddenly seemed like the entrance point to ecstasy. "Max�"
"I�m not unconscious yet," she whispered, her lips so close her could feel her words as she spoke them.
Logan wasn�t sure who kissed whom. As soon as he felt Max�s lips on his, Logan reached up and sunk one hand into her tousled curls, tangling his fingers in the strands. She may have initiated contact, but he was the one who set the pace. Slow, easy, all closed-mouth explorations that didn�t have him seeking her tonsils like a randy teenager. Make no mistake about the randiness, but Logan wasn�t about to ever put his pleasure before hers. Trying to encourage the race of her heart and the unconscious squirming she was torturing him with, Logan licked her lower lip. Max gasped, and Logan took the opportunity to seek her tongue. They both jumped at the first tentative, wet contact and fused their mouths together. Logan�s hand fisted in her hair now, Max moved to straddle him, all energy and concentration poured into one soul-searching, mind-numbing kiss that tasted like rain and felt like fire.
If a hundred Manticore soldiers crashed into the room, Max would gladly give herself up into their hands as long as they let her finish this kiss. Logan had confidence and patience, which was rare in her experience. Just when she thought he was gonna play it safe, he�d turned up the heat and kissed her with a desperate edge, a driving force of pure male desire. Instinctively, she arched her back, pressing her breasts against him, pleased to hear him groan and deepen the kiss. The hand that wasn�t in her hair splayed against her lower back, his thumb teasing the hot skin underneath her shirt. The wild kiss continued until Logan broke away, breathing heavily. Max heard herself whimper at the loss of him and ran her tongue around the inside of her mouth.
"I can still taste you," she said.
"Jesus," Logan breathed, both curse and prayer.
"Some kiss," Max murmured, her eyes on his swollen mouth. Her jaw tingled from where his scruff had scraped her, and she went boneless thinking of how that would feel pressed intimately against other parts of her. She�d never come to the brink of release from a single kiss before. Kendra�s wild claims were starting to make a lot more sense and Max wished she�d paid better attention.
"What?" Logan prodded when he saw her smile.
"Kendra."
"Your roommate?"
"Yeah. Damn, she was right."
"Right about what? Wait, do I want to know this?"
"I can�t even compete with her sexcapades. Mostly I�m just livin� vicariously, happy for a sister to get some and not be emotionally wrecked afterwards. But now she�s in love and says all the rules change. Says a kiss feels different. Says you can puddle just looking at the man who�s got your number, if you�ve got his." Max broke off, embarrassed. "Whatever. I don�t really have any words for how you just kissed me. All I know is that I want you to do it again�ah."
"Max?"
"Everything went black for a second. Just for a second."
Gone was the lust, replaced by trepidation.
"Come on. I�m taking you to bed." Logan blushed at the Freudian slip, even as he unlocked the wheels and started carrying the two of them across the penthouse. Max laughed but stayed put, not trusting herself to get up and walk across the vast expanse of wood floor.
"Everything�s getting fuzzy. Like a brown-out in my brain."
"Almost there."
Max remembered crawling into bed and dragging soft sheets over her. She remembered Logan tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and promising to take care of her.
And then she slept.
