***

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, amazed at how different I looked in my midnight blue silk dress and flowing locks. I had brushed my hair to a shining luster and my eyes sparkled as I took in my appearance. I stared at the blatant red on my lips and swallowed hard. I looked like a seductress or vixen, and I wasn’t sure what my dad or Logan was going to say. I was hoping Logan would be blown away by my appearance. That he would stare at me and think I was the most beautiful woman in the world.

“Maddison, guests are starting to arrive.” My mother stopped by my room and peered in. “You look beautiful, my darling.”

“Thank you, Mom.” I smiled at her gratefully.

She kissed my cheek. “I love the woman you are becoming, Maddison Wright.” She ran her fingers across my cheek. “You are beautiful and strong and caring. Don’t ever let anyone make you change, you hear me?”

“Yes, Mom.” I tried not to roll my eyes at her, and she laughed.

“I’m excited to meet Logan.” Her eyes saddened. “I heard he has mother’s eyes.”

“He’s gorgeous, Mom,” I paused. “I think I love him. I mean I know I love him. He’s the most wonderful man.”

“Just remember what we decided.” She smiled at me widely. “I think tomorrow will be a lot better, it will just be the four of us, and it will mean a lot more.”

“I know, Mom.” I nodded in agreement. “I put a note on Logan’s invite so he knows as well.”

“Good.” She pulled my hand. “Now go downstairs and greet your guests.”

“Yes, Mom.” I ran down the stairs to see who had arrived and laughed at my disappointment when I realized Logan wasn’t one of the first to arrive. I walked over to Lucy and some other girls I knew from the neighborhood and grinned to myself as I remembered I wasn’t wearing any underwear. These girls had no idea that I was dating Logan and that he was hands-down the best lover I had ever had in my life. Add to that, he was the nicest, most sincere, and most generous man I had ever met.

“Hey, Maddison.” Lucy looked up at me with wide eyes. “Wow, you look hot. Who are you expecting to show up—Bradley Cooper? Ha, ha, ha.”

“No, silly. I just wanted to dress up.”

“Celebrate your last weeks of freedom before school starts back?” She laughed.

I groaned. “Don’t remind me, I’ve got to write my thesis this semester. It’s going to be killer.”

“I’ve got to take the GREs,” she whined. “I really need to take a refresher course in math because I have no clue how to do half of those problems.”

“Which ones?” I asked, slightly distracted. I couldn’t keep my mind off of Logan, and I was having a hard time reining my excitement in.

“Fractions, algebra, stats.” Lucy laughed. “If it’s slightly related to math, then I need help.”

“Oh, Lucy.” I laughed at my friend. I had no idea how she had gotten admitted to Dartmouth with her intellect, but I supposed it didn’t hurt that her father had connections and a lot of money to donate. The doorbell rang again, and I froze as the hairs on my arms stood up. Intuitively, I knew that Logan had arrived and my heart started beating fast. “Excuse me, girls, let me go get that.” I walked away from the group quickly, without waiting for an answer. I groaned as I saw my dad walking to the front door from the other side of the room. This wasn’t good. I didn’t want my dad to be the first person Logan saw as he walked into my house.

“Maddison, darling, you look beautiful.” My father walked over and gave me a big hug. “You look like a woman and not my daughter.” He sighed and shook his head. “Where did the time go?”

“Well, I’m a woman now, Dad.” I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath as he opened the door. It was like I was watching a movie, and I noticed my dad’s nostrils flaring as he saw who was on the other side of the door.

“May I help you?” His voice was polite, but I could hear the hint of a threat in his tone.

“I’m here for Maddie’s party.” Logan’s tone was smooth as silk, and my heart skipped a beat as I heard his voice.

“And you are?” My dad’s voice was slow, but we all knew his question was a farce. I could tell from the arch of his back that he was very much aware that this was Logan Martelli at his front door.

“Dad, don’t be silly.” I pushed past him. “Let my guest in.” I gave Logan a huge smile. “I’m glad you were able to make it.” His eyes looked slightly confused as he looked at me, but I turned to my father quickly, wanting to get Logan away from him as quickly as possible.

“Dad, this is my friend Logan. Logan, this is my dad.” I introduced them to each other, and they stared at each other for a moment before shaking hands.

“Come in, Logan.” I ushered him inside and frowned as I noticed the hurt and slightly angry look in his eyes.

“Logan, is it?” Dad looked him up and down and paused. “Are you new to town?”

“No.” He shook his head. “My brothers and I were born and raised in River Valley.”

“Oh?” My dad raised his eyebrow. “Do I know your parents?”

“I think so.” Logan smiled bitterly. “I think you were pretty good friends with my dad.”

“What’s the name?” My dad pretended to be interested, but I saw his eyes narrow as he controlled his breathing. I was glad that I had told him that Logan was my friend and not my boyfriend. I wasn’t sure what would have happened.

“Martelli.” Logan’s tone was deadly as he stared at my father.

I touched his arm lightly. “Logan, let me introduce you to some of my other friends.”

“Yes, you should do that, Maddie.” My dad smiled at me. “Maybe one of the girls here will take a liking to your new friend.”

“Yeah.” I nodded and gave him a weak smile. Logan reached over to grab my hand, and I walked away from him quickly. I didn’t want my dad to see any physical contact between us. “Logan, have you met Lucy, Marie, and Joanna?” I turned to him with a smile, and his eyes looked at me vacantly. He was standing stiffly, and I frowned at him.

“No, but it’s a pleasure to meet you all.” He gave them all a sexy smile and kissed each of their hands. “I haven’t seen women as beautiful as you in a long time.” I noticed Lucy’s face reddening, and I tried to smile at her, even though I was upset that Logan was being so friendly to them.

“Logan, let me introduce you to everyone else.” I tried to grab his arm, and he flinched at my touch.

“It’s okay. I’d love to spend some time with these gorgeous young women.” He avoided eye contact with me and I felt crushed, wondering what I had done for him to treat me this way.

“So, Lucy.” He walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder. “You’re Joey’s sister, right? You’re even more beautiful than my brother Jared told me.”

“Jared said I’m beautiful?” Lucy’s eyes lit up and I wasn’t sure if it was because Logan was touching her or because of what he said.

“Logan, come. I want you to meet my—”

“Not right now, Maddie.” His eyes made contact with mine, and he looked me up and down, stopping to stare suggestively at my partially exposed bosom. “Nice dress, Maddie. Very classy.” He laughed and turned back to Lucy. “So, Lucy, tell me. Are you dating anyone?”

“No, no, no,” she giggled. “I’m single. You?”

“Oh, I’m very single and looking.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear suggestively. “You know anyone who would be interested in going out with someone like me?” He stood up straight and all four of us stared at him. He looked absolutely gorgeous, his hair looked blonder than I remembered and it complimented his golden tan nicely. His green eyes sparkled dangerously and he had a smug look on his face as we stared at him. He was wearing a pair of khaki pants, with a nice shirt and jacket, and all I wanted to do was go to him and touch his chest and kiss him. But I knew that now wasn’t the time. I didn’t want my dad to see me with Logan.

“I sure do.” Joanna leaned towards him and winked. “In fact, my boyfriend and I broke up a few weeks ago and I’ve been feeling horny as hell.”

“Joanna.” My voice was loud and shocked. “That’s not appropriate.”

“Why not?” She giggled and leaned into him. “He’s single and I’m single.”

“Logan and I wanted to tell you something.” I smiled at them widely and walked over to him. “We are actually …”

“I don’t think you really want to say something you don’t mean, do you, Maddie?” Logan interrupted me. “It’s funny how things change, isn’t it?”

“Logan.” I grabbed his hand and frowned. “We need to talk.”

“Yeah, I guess we do.” He glared at me, and we walked away from the other girls. I looked back and saw them staring at us, and I gave them a quick smile.

“Can we go upstairs and talk?” I pulled him to the side.

“Why can’t we talk here?” He looked around the room with a deceptive smile. “Don’t you want everyone to see us standing here?”

“Logan, please. I don’t understand why you’re upset.”

“You don’t understand why I’m upset?” He looked at me with slanted eyes. “I thought you were different, Maddie. Out of everyone, I thought you were the one person I could always count on to be proud of me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I guess I was wrong.” His eyes hardened. “I suppose Jared was right all along.”

“Right about what?” I shook my head, confused. “What’s going on, Logan? I don’t understand why you’re so upset with me.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “What the f**k ever, I was the idiot who thought you were different.”

“Logan, I don’t know why you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset.” He smiled at me. “I have nothing to be upset about.”

“Are you sure?” I bit my lip, unsure if things were really okay between us.

“Yeah.” He leaned in towards me and kissed me on the lips quickly. “Let’s go upstairs.”

“What?” My lips tingled from his brief touch and I looked up into his eyes.

“I said, let’s go upstairs.”

“You want to talk?”

“No.” He licked his lips. “I don’t want to talk.”

“Oh.” I felt my body tremble as he stared at me with unadulterated lust. “I don’t know.”

“I’ve missed you,” he whispered in my ear. “You look f**king hot tonight, Maddie. I want to f**k you while everyone is downstairs wondering where you are. I want to lift that sexy dress up and have you screaming my name while you come for me, and then I want to watch you come back downstairs smiling because you just had the best f**k of your life.”

“I don’t know.” I swallowed, incredibly turned on by his words.

“Let me show you how much you mean to me.” He ran his hand through his hair and turned to look around the room quickly. He spotted my father and then turned back to me with a smile. “I’ve missed you this last week. I need to feel myself inside of you, please, Maddie.”

“Okay,” I whispered. “Let’s go.” I ran up the stairs quickly and heard Logan behind me. As soon as we reached the top of the stairs, he pulled me towards him, and kissed me, his mouth pressing down on mine hungrily, and I responded to him just as passionately. “Let’s go in my room.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the room, and he shook his head.

“No, let’s go the bathroom.” He grinned at me. “I want you bent over the bathtub.”

“Oh.” I blushed as he f**ked me with his eyes, and I pulled him to the bathroom a few doors away. We hurried in and I made sure to push the door closed. As soon as we walked in, Logan pushed me against the door, and I felt his hands on my breasts, caressing them roughly. He pushed the straps of my dress down and pulled the front down so he had access to my na**d breasts. He bent down and took my nipple in his mouth and bit down on it so hard that I cried out in pain and pleasure. He nibbled lightly and I felt his hand on my other breast, rubbing my nipple lightly. I put my hands through his hair and closed my eyes, groaning as I felt the wetness in between my legs.

“I missed you, Logan,” I moaned as he kissed his way back up to my lips. His eyes locked into mine as he kissed me roughly and pushed his erection against me, crushing my br**sts against his chest. I reached under his shirt and ran my hands across his stomach, relishing of the feel of his na**d skin against my fingers. I then ran my hands down to his pants and undid his button and unzipped him. I reached my hand down into his pants and held his erection in my hands, delighting in the feel of him growing as I squeezed it. He gasped as my fingers ran up and down his shaft, and he looked down at me with a devious smile.

“Suck me.” His voice was coarse as he commanded me.

“What?” I looked up at him with a slight smile.

“Suck me.” He raised an eyebrow at me, and I couldn’t read the expression in his eyes. I kneeled down on the floor and took him into my mouth. I heard him groan as I sucked on the tip of his hardness and licked along his shaft. I took as much of him into my mouth as possible and moved my mouth back and forth on him as quickly as possible. “Fuck, Maddie, I’m going to come,” he groaned as I continued sucking him off. I looked up at him and smiled and he shuddered as he came hard and fast into my mouth. I swallowed his cum quickly, relishing the taste of him in my mouth. I laughed as I felt his c**k hardening again after his orgasm.