Her Soldier Protector by Soraya Lane Page B

though she’d never had a one-night stand in her life, been with a man she wasn’t in a committed relationship with, there wasn’t a bone in her body that didn’t want this right now. She was always the good girl, the one who stayed out of the media and never made a wrong step, but she was on the other side of the world with a man who’d shown more interest in keeping her away from the limelight than trying to be in it himself. So if she was going to do something reckless, then why not with Logan?
    She’d tried marriage, tried settling down, and it had been disastrous. But this? This felt right in every way possible.
    “Candace, we don’t have to do this,” he mumbled, walking with her in his arms until he could set her on the bed.
    “I want this,” she whispered as he covered her body with his, her legs looping around his waist so he couldn’t get away, locking him in place.
    “I’m not going to ask you again, but I will stop if you ask me to,” he told her, propping himself up on his elbows and looking down at her, his hazel-brown eyes like pools of the darkest chocolate in the half-light. “You just say the word, and I’ll stop, okay?”
    Candace nodded, suddenly feeling vulnerable with this gorgeous, big man lying on top of her, yet being so careful with her at the same time. The last man she’d been with had never put her first, had hurt her with his mind and with his fists, which made her even more attracted to Logan. The fact that he was so strong yet so gentle told her that she’d been right to trust herself, at least in spending one night with him. In letting him be the first man to get close to her since her divorce.
    “Thank you, Logan,” she whispered.
    His eyebrows shot up. “For what?”
    “For just letting me be me tonight.”
    He dropped a slow, careful kiss to her forehead. It shouldn’t have, but it felt more intimate than all the touches, all the kisses, they’d already shared.
    “I haven’t been me in a long time, Candace, so this is a first for me, too.”
    She had the feeling like they were two lost souls who’d found one another, two people who’d crossed paths for a reason, if only for one night. Logan had shared some of what he’d been through with her, and she’d hinted at her past, too—just enough so they both understood that they were the way they were for a reason.
    Logan stared at her, his gaze unwavering, until she arched her body, stretching up to catch his mouth, to start the dance that they’d started in the kitchen. His gaze went from thoughtful to something that scared and excited her in equal parts, his mouth insistent, his hands even more so as he pushed up her top, sliding it up high so he could touch her stomach and then her breasts, his fingers teasing her nipples through the lace bra she was wearing.
    Candace was just as desperate for him, wanting his bare skin against hers, needing to feel his naked body pressed to her own. She wanted Logan to make love to her, and she wanted it now.
    *
    Logan was trying hard to hold back, to let Candace set the pace and not push her, but after months serving overseas and hardly even seeing a woman, having Candace beneath him was sending him stir-crazy. She had a body like he’d never touched before—her waist was tiny, her limbs long and slender, and her breasts... He stifled a groan. They were full and luscious, and he wanted them free from the scrap of lace she had them covered with.
    When she arched her body into him this time, her chest pressed to his, he took his chance to reach behind her and unhook her bra. He wanted to touch her, taste her, feel every part of her. And his impatience was starting to get the better of him. It wasn’t often he could block everything out—his past, the memories—but with Candace, right now he couldn’t think of anything else.
    “Candace, you’re so beautiful.”
    Her shy smile spurred him on even more because it was so unexpected.
    “You’re sure you want this?” He