Chapter Five – Control Slipping

Logan stayed.

That was the answer he’d given Julian, not in words, but in the way he’d walked out of that locker room after Julian’s offer. No amount of smooth talking or fat checks had pulled him away. He chose me.

And I hated how much that mattered.

Because he hadn’t chosen me, not really. He’d chosen the Phantoms. The ice. The chance to prove himself against me, under me. He wanted the war, not the man.

And still my wolf pretended like he’d been claimed.

The league assembly the next week dragged on way too long. Sponsors went on and on regarding branding, overseas streams, and performance provision. But I still hadn’t gotten over the fact that Julian had tried to steal my star player.

I gritted my jaw in place, pretending to listen while my wolf grew restless. At the opposite end of the ancient oak table, Logan was perched, his pressed suit out of place on his rough build. Somehow his hair managed to look messy, and a part of me itched to bury my fingers in it.

When the meeting finally adjourned, I strode toward the elevators. My head pounded with restraint. 

And then, of course, fate shoved him in with me.

"Heading down, boss?" Logan drawled, slipping into the car just in time before the doors shut. He was sporting a lethal blend of adrenaline and arrogance, he was still smiling and it was a corrosive knife in my direction.

I exhaled through my nose. "Don't talk to me."

“Aw, but you love it when I talk. Get you all wound up.”

The elevator hummed. We descended two floors, and then all of a sudden, the elevator jolted. The car shuddered and stopped dead between levels.

Logan blinked at the ceiling. "Huh. It seems even your wealth can't cover the bill for lights."

I pressed the emergency call button, but it was static. Great. I was stuck with a man I wasn’t able to get out of my head.

“You do look anxious," he remarked, leaning comfortably against the wall. "Control freak such as you, locked in a box. You must have started sweating already."

"I don't."

"You clench your teeth, though. It's audible." He grinned, tilted his head. "How does it feel, having to manage everybody you're around just in case you lose it?"

I spun around to face him before I could rein in my impulse. “What’s it like to be an arrogant brat who has nothing to support it but your words?”

Logan was no longer smiling. "Repeat it."

I took a step forward, my wolf rising quickly beneath my flesh. "You are reckless, undisciplined, and you feel your talent makes you untouchable. But without me, you are nothing more than a wasted possibility."

His chest rose as his breath quickened. “Better wasted than a man who’s always angry. Every time I see you, your hands are always folded into fists.” He looked down at my hands, and they were indeed folded into fists.

We were chest-to-chest then, close enough to sense the heat emanating from his body. My wolf clawed, growled because he wanted him a little nearer.

Then the lights went out and darkness engulfed us completely. Quiet filled the room instantaneously, only interrupted by his breath which had turned harsh and jerky.

"Logan…” I was warned. “Say one more word, and I’ll…”

Logan suddenly wrinkled his nose. "Don't… don't touch me—"

Panic rolled through me in a mighty wave. His body moved, scraping against the wall as his breath became short and shallow. Claustrophobia.

 The wolf in me knew it in an instant because he smelled like trapped prey.

Instinct won out over reason, and I reached out, and located his shoulders in the dark. He flinched but I held tight, grounding him.

"Look at me," I instructed, forgetting everywhere was dark, and he was human. "Take a breath with me. In and Out. Follow my lead."

"I c-can't…”

"You can." I answered, using the voice with which I controlled wolves on the brink of madness. "I've got you. You're not being trapped. You're safe."

He was breathing unevenly, but then, agonizingly, it synchronized with mine. His forehead on my chest, the hum of his body vibrating through me. I shouldn’t have touched him. I shouldn’t have cared. Yet, in that fleeting moment, with his trust precariously balanced in my hands, there was nothing else I could possibly do.

The lights came back on, dim but enough for me to see him. Glassy green eyes, parted lips, his face near mine. Helpless in a way that I'd not seen from him before.

And fuck, he was beautiful.

My control snapped. One second I was holding him steady, the next my mouth was on his. He froze, just for a heartbeat and then surged forward, fisting my shirt and kissing me back like he wanted to burn me alive.

Heat tore through me. His lips bruised mine, his tongue dared entry, and I took it, devoured it, claimed it. His body pressed hard against mine, every line of him fitting too perfectly, like the bond had been waiting for this.

A groan ripped from my own voice. My wolf howled, triumphantly. I;ve been waiting for this for too long. It howled.

The elevator jerked. The car lurched and with a ding, the doors slid open. We separated, breathless, our faces mere inches apart, the flavor of one another lingering vividly on our tongues.

Logan's gaze shot to the open hallway and back again to me. He wiped the back of his hand against his lips, the erratic grin back in place but it seemed genuine this time.

"Seems I was right," he whispered. "You do love it when I talk."

Just like that, he was gone, exiting the elevator as though nothing had happened, and I was left with my wolf devouring my sides and the aftershock of his kiss burning through me.