CHAPTER 226: EMOTIONALLY RECKLESS

Logan’s blood ran cold. "Jean!"

His voice ripped through the roar of rain. But Jean, lost in her storm of thoughts, didn’t move.

The branch cracked, the lamppost groaned louder. The metal surrenders to the weight of wet wood.

Without thinking, Logan surged forward, water splashing around his shoes, the world narrowing to just her and the falling shadow. "Jean, move!"

But she didn’t hear.

In the second before disaster, Logan’s arm wrapped around her waist. The lamppost creaked above, beginning its fatal fall...

And he yanked her back against his chest, spinning them both away.

The heavy metal crashed onto the pavement with a deafening clang, sending shards of broken glass and water spraying across the driveway.

Rain poured harder, hammering their skin. Logan’s chest heaved, his breath ragged. Jean stood pressed against him, her heart thundering as wildly as the sky.

For a moment, neither spoke... only the pounding of rain and their quick, shallow breaths filled the space between them.

Logan’s hand trembled slightly against her back, gripping as if he might lose her if he let go. His forehead lowered until it almost touched hers, rainwater dripping down both their faces.

"What were you thinking?" he rasped, voice rougher than the storm. "Do you have any idea..."

His words caught, breaking off. Jean’s wide, wet eyes lifted to him.

And in the shattered quiet after the danger, something deep, unspoken feeling passed between them.

Jean’s chest heaved, rain running down her face, her dress clinging to her like a second skin.

She could feel the tremor of Logan’s heartbeat through his soaked shirt, feel his breath brush her cheek.

For a moment, she thought she wouldn’t say it. But the words fell out anyway, cracked and wet, too precious to take back.

"Make love to me."

Logan’s body stiffened as if he’d been struck by lightning. He pulled back slightly, just enough to see her face, searching her eyes as if trying to read something hidden there.

"What?" His voice was hoarse. "Jean... what did you just say?"

Her lips parted, and even with the rain masking her tears, there was a desperation shining through her gaze.

"Logan," she whispered, her voice shaking, "please... just make love to me."

For a split second, Logan thought he must’ve misheard. But the pleading in her eyes was real.

"Did you hit your head, Jean?" He asked, his voice suddenly sharper, laced with panic. His hands moved quickly, fingers pushing back her wet hair, skimming along her scalp, her shoulders, looking for any sign of injury. "Tell me... did something fall on you? Are you hurt?"

She caught his hands, gripping them tightly, forcing him to look at her instead of searching for wounds. "No, I’m not hurt."

Her voice trembled, but her eyes stayed locked on his.

"Then why... Why now?" Logan’s voice cracked around the words, his disbelief warring with the raw, primal hope rising in his chest. "Jean, this isn’t you. Not like this, not after... Everything happened today."

"Because I’m tired, Logan," she cut in, her words tumbling out. "I’m tired of being afraid. I’m tired of thinking about the past. I just... I want to feel something real. I want to remember what it’s like to feel alive. And with you... I want it to be you."

The rain kept falling, soaking them to the bone. Jean’s chest rose and fell, her breath ragged, vulnerability laid bare under the weight of every word.

Logan stood frozen, heart pounding so violently it hurt.

Part of him wanted to crush her against him, to give in completely to what she was asking.

But another part, the part that had watched her fight so hard to hold herself together, was terrified of what this might cost her in the morning.

"Jean..." his voice dropped, softer now, but edged with pain, "I don’t want to take advantage of you when you are emotionally reckless."

And in that suspended moment... thunder rumbling above them, rain washing around their feet...

"I’m a heartless bitch Logan and if I’m emotional then don’t offend my feelings saying it reckless."

She says, her wet lashes trembling, eyes burning into his.

"Prove to me that your love is not like Tyler’s. Your love will not hurt me. Your love will not shatter me. Your love will not haunt me, Logan."

Logan stood frozen, rain streaming down his face and mingling with the sweat breaking on his brow. Jean’s words settled into his chest like a live coal, burning deeper with every breath.

Prove to me you’re not Tyler.

His pulse roared in his ears.

"What...? Jean, what are you..."

She stepped closer, her wet hair clinging to her face, her dress plastered to every delicate curve. On her tiptoes now, she cupped his jaw, her cold, rain drenched palms shaking against his skin.

"Prove it to me," she whispered, voice cracking, "that your love won’t hurt me. That your love won’t make me hate myself."

Logan’s mouth opened, but the words wouldn’t come. His throat was too tight, strangled by emotion.

I don’t... I love...

It felt so small, so useless compared to what she was asking for.

Jean smiled through the rain... a small, fragile curve of her lips that shattered something in him.

"I know, Logan. I’ve known since the first day of our so-called marriage. You could have taken me against my will that night on the island, but you didn’t. Because you love me."

Her certainty stripped him bare, leaving nothing but the raw truth he’d tried so hard to bury. Logan’s chest caved under the weight of her trust. She knew. All this time, she had known.

Before he could speak... before he could stop her... she closed the distance between them. Their lips crashed together, rain-slick and trembling, her kiss desperate and wholehearted, carrying every scar and every hope she had left.

Logan felt his body respond instantly, his desire for her always lurking just under his skin, now burning bright and hungry. But even as his hands came up to hold her, his mind screamed with restraint. She was tired. Hurt. Carrying so many ghosts.

Yet her mouth on his tasted of reckless courage... of someone choosing him, despite the past.