Page 50 of Logan (The Valeur Billionaires #1)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

LOGAN

I wake slowly, my limbs heavy and languid against the soft sheets. For a moment, I’m disoriented, my mind fuzzy as I blink up at the unfamiliar wooden beams of the ceiling. Where am I?

Then the memories of the previous day come rushing back in a dizzying flood—the confessions, the kisses, the way our bodies moved together in a desperate tangle of heat and need.

I roll over, my heart in my throat, suddenly terrified it was all a dream.

But no, there she is—Sloane, her hair a wild tangle on the pillow, the sheet riding low on her hips to reveal the sweet curve of her waist. She’s breathtaking in the hazy morning light, her skin golden against the white linens, and the sight of her steals the air from my lungs.

My phone vibrates on the nightstand, and I reach for it with a groan. The screen flashes with Lucas’s name. At this hour? I debate letting it go to voicemail, but my brother rarely calls without a reason.

“This better be good,” I answer, keeping my voice low and walking out of the bedroom to avoid waking Sloane beside me.

“Good morning to you too, sunshine,” Lucas’s voice comes through, a mix of irritation and his trademark sarcasm. “Or is it afternoon there? I can never keep track with the time difference.”

I check the clock: 6:12 AM. “It’s dawn, you asshole.”

“Perfect timing. I just closed the Singapore deal. Largest tech infrastructure contract in their history.”

I know Lucas well enough to hear the edge of frustration beneath his boasting. “Let me guess. Dad’s not impressed?”

Lucas lets out a harsh laugh. “I literally restructured their entire communication network. Projected savings of fourty million over five years. But all Dad can talk about is how the board doesn’t ‘approve of my public image.’”

“Doesn’t approve?” I ask, knowing exactly what he means.

“Apparently, my ‘lifestyle’ is ‘concerning.’” He mimics Dad’s serious tone. “Never mind that I’m consistently delivering record-breaking results. No, let’s focus on the fact that I enjoy life between deals.”

“You mean that photo of you with the models that made the business section?”

“It was the society pages, thank you very much. And they’re not just models—Katarina is also a quantum physicist. We had a fascinating discussion about string theory.”

I hear the real frustration now. Lucas has always been more serious than his playboy image suggests. Brilliant. Driven. Just different from me.

“The board wants me to ‘settle down,’” he continues. “As if my personal life has anything to do with my professional performance. I closed the Singapore deal. I’m killing it in Hong Kong. But somehow, that’s not enough.”

“What does Dad specifically want?” I ask.

“Marriage. Respectability. Less... me.” Lucas’s voice drops, losing its usual bravado. “They want me to be you. Buttoned-up. Serious. As if there’s only one way to be successful.”

I can hear the genuine hurt beneath the sarcasm. Lucas works harder than anyone realizes.

“How do you make them see you’re serious?” he asks, a rare moment of vulnerability slipping through.

“Results,” I say. “The numbers speak for themselves.”

“I deliver results. In spades.”

“Then maybe the problem isn’t your results, but how people perceive you. Perception matters in business.”

“So you’re saying I should just pretend to settle down?”

“I’m saying you need to decide what matters more—the freedom to do whatever you want, or proving you’re the right person to eventually take over.”

There’s an unexpected pause on the line. When Lucas speaks again, his voice has lost its bravado. “The company means more to me than anyone realizes. Then I let on.”

“I know that,” I mumble.

“Do you? Sometimes I think you all see me as nothing but a walking punchline.”

“Lucas—”

“Forget it.” His tone shifts back to lightness so quickly I almost get whiplash. “Just having a momentary crisis of confidence. Probably the Hong Kong pollution.”

Before I can respond, I hear a female voice in the background on his end.

He laughs, the moment of vulnerability gone. “Duty calls. Some of us are blessed with extraordinary stamina.”

“And humility,” I deadpan.

“Humility is for people with nothing to brag about,” Lucas retorts. “Love you, big brother.”

“Love you too,” I respond.

The line goes dead. I crawl back to bed, emotions swell in my chest, so intense they’re almost painful. Love and relief and a fierce, exultant joy threaten to crack my ribs when I look at Sloane.

She’s here. And last night, in the shelter of darkness, she whispered the words I never thought I’d hear from anyone, let alone her.

I’m not even sure it’s real. I feel an urge to wake her just to hear those words again.

I reach between her legs, cup her, and pull her against me, molding my front to her sleep-warm back, my arm slipping around her waist to rest my palm against the velvet skin of her belly.

She makes a soft sound, halfway between a sigh and a moan, and nestles back into the cradle of my hips. I groan low in my throat as her ass brushes against my erection, and I fight the urge to grind against her, to take what I so desperately need.

“Logan...” she murmurs in a low voice, her eyes still closed.

My cock twitches at the sound, and I grit my teeth against the urge to just take her, hard and fast and brutal. “I need you, baby. God, I need you so much.”

She moans in response, still half-asleep. I pinch an exposed nipple and delight in watching her stiffen under my fingers. My hand glides over her smooth belly and moves down to find her sensitive spot. She arches her back, inviting me.

I shift her leg back over mine, opening her to me, and then slide home in one long, deep thrust that punches the air from both our lungs. She cries out, her head falling back against my shoulder, and I bury my face in the crook of her neck, muffling my groan against her skin.

“Logan!” she screams.

“Yes, scream my name. Remember who makes you feel this way.”

“You. Only you,” she gasps. “Harder, Logan, please. I need you hard.”

I comply with her demands, increasing the pace, pounding into her harder, faster. My fingers toy with her clit, which swells under my touch, and I revel in the sounds bursting from her, the murmurs and moans of my name.

Her walls clench around me, milking me as she nears her climax, and I rub her clit faster, knowing I won’t last much longer myself.

“That’s it, baby,” I urge, increasing the pressure of my fingers. “I want to feel you come apart.”

A few more strokes and she’s flying apart with a ragged cry, her body clamping down around me.

The sensation is too much, and I follow her over the edge with a guttural shout, burying myself as deep as I can as I empty inside her welcoming heat .

We stay locked together as the aftershocks roll through us, our sweat-slick skin sliding together with each ragged breath. Eventually, I slip out of her, but I don’t let her go, can’t bear to relinquish the reassuring press of her body against mine. I turn her to me and press my lips to hers.

She rears back, looking at me through half-lidded eyes. “Ugh, Logan, I haven’t even brushed my teeth.”

I laugh. “I just came inside you, and yesterday I took your virgin ass, and you think I care about your morning breath?” I kiss her anyway, savoring her lips. “You realize you’re mine, right? Because I’m never letting you go after last night.”

“I don’t want to leave you. I’ll tell you as many times as you need until you believe me. I love you.”

A shiver runs down my spine. “I will never tire of hearing you say those words.”

“I love you,” she says again.

“What do you want to do today? We could shower together, go for a walk. A fuck in the wild sounds nice.”

“Logan.” Her expression becomes serious. “We can’t hide out here forever, as much as I wish we could. We need to talk about all we avoided last night.”

I sit up. “I’m going to tell them it was me and resign, and you can stay. They won’t blame you if they think I took advantage of you.”

“Are you crazy? They’ll think you’re a sexual harasser. You could go to jail.”

“Not if you don’t complain and support me that it was consensual. They’ll say nothing; they’d rather I resign, and everything gets settled under the table than hurt the company’s reputation. ”

“No, the company is important to you. I don’t want you to resign.”

“The company is important to my father. But all this time, I’ve been doing everything to please him.

Even at the cost of my health. The headaches haven’t let up, and I’ve ignored them.

I think it’s a sign. A sign that it’s time to spread my wings and do something else.

I’m thinking about starting my own company.

Making software to fight road accidents. I have some ideas.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I talked to my dad, and a lot of things I’ve assumed for so long turned out to be wrong. He might not like the idea of me leaving, but I’m ready to take that step.”

“I’ll resign too, I can’t show my face there anymore after Liam saw that video and who knows who else.”

I chuckle. “Baby, even if you leave, Liam will still be in your life.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re together now, and whether you work there or not, you’ll continue to see him. He is my brother, don’t forget.”

She groans. “Damn, I didn’t think about that. So, how much does facial reconstruction surgery cost? You have a lot of money, right?”

“I have money, and it’s all yours, but there’s no way I’m letting you undergo any surgery. I love your face and your body just as they are.”

“No one will hire me after they hear about that video. It’s probably all over the internet by now.” She buries her face in the sheets.

“It’s not. I’ve taken care of that. I deleted it from all the company servers. And I’m working on finding the source. No one will ever see or hear it again.”

She lets out a relieved breath. “I can’t thank you enough for that, but I still can’t continue at Valeur.” Sloan pauses as if in thought, then says, “I could help you. Take me to your new company.”

“I’m not known as a friendly boss. I’m tough, and I have high demands. Besides, what if we argue?”

“I’ve heard good things about makeup sex,” she whispers.

Fuck. I’m aroused again. “Hmm… The thought of fucking you in the office every time you piss me off… Sounds like a good punishment.”

“I think so too.” Her eyes light up. “In the office, in the shower, in bed, on the way to work. So many possibilities.”

My heart races, and I place her hand on my chest. “Do you feel that? My heart beats for you. Only for you. If that’s what you want, then that’s what will happen.”