He touched her knee. "Pepper."

She drew one more big breath, let it out slowly, and opened her eyes. Three seconds ticked by and then... "That was worth the wait."

He trailed his fingers up and down her thigh. "I'm glad."

"If you're waiting for an invite, you got it the minute I stepped into the room."

A half smile hid his deeper thoughts.

Truthfully, he didn't want to rush it, because he knew she'd want to leave him again afterward. But telling her that would be too emasculating, so he lowered himself over her without comment.

"Mmm," she said. "So you were waiting for another invitation."

He kissed the side of the neck, her jaw. "I like how you taste, Pepper." He drew on the soft skin of her throat, put a damp love bite to her shoulder. "And I love seeing you like this." In his bed, soft and accepting.

The mention of love threw her for a second, then she teased, "Well-sated, you mean?"

He kissed her jaw again, the top of her cheekbone, the bridge of her nose and her forehead. "Not yet, honey."

Guiding his cock to her, he sank deep, to be held in snug, slippery warmth.

Emotion caught in his chest, stilling him, forcing him to take a moment to regroup.

A little breathless, she agreed, "Not yet."

And that did it for him. He held her head and took her mouth in a deep, tongue-thrusting kiss. Locking her tight to him, he started the rhythm they both needed. Never in his life had he felt so connected to a woman. Less than two minutes later, she hugged him hard and cried out as another climax rippled through her.

His heart thundering, he put his face in her neck and gave in to his own release.

Minutes later, when his heartbeat finally slowed and his breath evened out, it struck Logan that she still held him. Every so often he felt the soft brush of her mouth on his shoulder.

The gentle touch leveled him as nothing else could. Hell, a sucker punch to the chin couldn't have left him reeling the same way. He lifted up to his elbows to see her face, but the second her gaze met his, he knew.

She would leave him again.

He saw the regret in her eyes, felt the way she emotionally withdrew. Was it pride that pulled her away, even when she wanted to stay? Or did she not feel the same things?

Persuasive arguments formed alongside his hurt-a hurt he buried under irritation. "Damn it, Pepper, this is ridiculous. You know you want-"

His cell phone rang. Given her dark frown, the interruption had probably stopped him from saying too much.

Logan eased away from her and stretched out a hand to snag it off the dresser. In case she had thoughts of leaving before they talked, he held her ankle with his free hand.

She came up to her elbows. "My brother?"

"I assume so." He flipped open the phone. "What's up?"

"I'm sitting here with one of the traffickers."

Logan straightened. "You're okay?"

"He's an ugly fucker-more so now that we've finished our chat-but yeah, no problem."

He relaxed and gave Pepper a nod, smoothed his hand over her calf. "Your sister is here with me."

Rowdy's voice dropped to a whisper.

"That's your way of saying I shouldn't scare her?"

"Pretty much."

Rowdy snorted. "Feel free to edit things however you want, but don't make the mistake of keeping anything from her."

No, he wouldn't do that. Pepper had proven more resourceful than any woman he knew. She could handle the truth-and she deserved nothing less. "I wouldn't."

"No names, and nothing incriminating, got that?"

So the guy was listening to him?

"Understood. Tell me what happened."

"I was set to meet with a friend at a local bar, but instead, five bozos came in looking for me. I managed to get one of them-"

"How exactly did you do that?"

Visions of Rowdy maiming someone, totally screwing the case, got his temples throbbing.

"He was stationed by the back exit, waiting for me. But I'm a faster, harder puncher than him."

"He was alone?"

"Yeah. The other guys were going through the rest of the bar, asking questions, looking under tables, doing God knows what."

A muffled protest ensued, followed by a thump. It got quiet again.

Logan choked back his annoyance.

"So you punched him, and he decided to spill his guts to you, huh? He didn't call out to the other four guys?"

Pepper jerked upright. "Other four guys? What are you talking about?

Rowdy's okay?"

"He's bragging," Logan told her, making sure Rowdy heard. "I'd say he's still in one piece."

Rowdy laughed. "Before he came to enough to start squawking, I stuffed him in my trunk and drove to a secure location to...question him."

The muffled complaints escalated again.

Logan blew out a breath. "Care to tell me where this secure location is?"

"No."

Pepper leaned against his back and twined her arms around his throat. He felt the cushion of her breasts, and her warm breath on his ear.

It maddened him.

Cutting to the chase, Logan said, "How bad is he hurt, and what does he know?"

"He's alive, but not real happy. He says he's a top guy for the trafficker- and the guy who took a bullet to the noggin was a negotiator. Seems old Morton had planned to buy several young girls."

His guts cramped. "How young?"

"Seventeen, eighteen. Thereabouts."

Bastard. "He'd have used them at the club?"

"The idiot is unsure about that. All he knows is that Morton wanted a shipment, made a deal, but then tried to renege when it came time for final arrangements."

"He didn't want the girls after all?"

"Oh, he wanted them. He just didn't want to pay the asking price." As if coming to grips with the reality of human trafficking, Rowdy took several slow breaths.

Logan heard a thump, a groan and another thump. He didn't need to be a psychic to know what happened.

"Rowdy, listen to me." He infused authority into his tone. "You need to get a handle on that temper. He's scum, and he deserves it, but if you kill him I can't help you."

On alert, Pepper leaned back. She left her hands on his shoulders, idly caressing him.

"Help me what?"

"Stay clear of this." Logan stood to put some space between himself and Pepper's luscious naked body. She didn't know the ugliness of the conversation or the fine line her brother walked right now. He needed his wits to talk Rowdy off the ledge before he did irreparable harm. "I know you'd like to kill him."

"With my bare hands," Rowdy said in a gravelly rasp. He breathed too fast, too low. "Do you know that he talks about women, about girls, like they're fucking property?"

"I know." He hadn't dealt much in human trafficking, but there were other things just as revolting. The ones responsible seldom put any value on human life, and they almost never felt any real remorse. "I don't blame you for roughing him up-"

"Good." A few more solid punches and a few more groans. "I'm only giving him a little of what he deserves."

"I'd have done the same." Logan locked his jaw. "But you have to stop."

Silence.

It wasn't concern for the trafficker that kept Logan pacing, but Rowdy didn't seem to be in the mood to listen, so he redirected his attention. "Tell me what you've found out so far."

He practically heard Rowdy gathering himself before he finally said, "Morton tried blackmail."

"Against who?"

"The traffickers. He said he had cops on his payroll, and on a whim, he could bring the force of the law against anyone on his shit list."

"Why would he do that?"

"He wanted his supply dirt cheap, but that was a no-go. He got threatened in return, and he found out the trafficker has his own considerable means of retribution. For a lot of people, that sheds suspicion on his timely death."

"It'd be good motivation to fake it." If Andrews was believed dead, the traffickers would forget about revenge- and then Andrews could strike against them first.

"The theory is that Morton would get his shipment free, and maybe even try to take over the business. The two were battling for the rights to buy and sell women..." Rowdy sucked in several tight breaths. "Honest to God, I might have to slug him a few more times."

Recognizing that as less volatile bluster, Logan asked, "He'll live?"

"Unfortunately."

It was easy enough to understand Rowdy's rage. Any good man would feel the same. Any man who'd ever loved a woman would be especially outraged at the idea of trafficking.

Glancing over at Pepper, Logan found her on her knees, her hands resting on her thighs, her blond hair curled down and around her breasts. Jesus, she twisted him up inside.

He turned his back on her and dropped his voice. "You know I'm not going to let anything happen to her, right?"

"So you've said."

"You have my word." He'd die before he let anyone, especially anyone as corrupt as Morton Andrews or a flesh peddler, get anywhere near Pepper.

"Some things are out of your control."

"No, not this. Not ever."

Rowdy took that in, then murmured, "I appreciate that."

"The same goes for you, Rowdy."

"Whoa. What the fuck does that mean?"

Turning back to Pepper, staring into her beautiful light brown eyes, he said, "I don't want there to be any fallback on you, either."

"Forget that shit." He snorted. "I don't need a damned babysitter. Just concentrate on keeping my sister in the clear."

No, Rowdy didn't need a babysitter- but he needed a friend. And he needed a real life. "Everything your sister deserves, you deserve, as well." Before Rowdy could get insulted over a perceived slight on his ability, Logan added, "Think how happy it'd make your sister to know you were safely settled somewhere, with no reason to look over your shoulder."

It amazed Logan, but big tears filled her eyes. They didn't fall. She didn't sniff or make a big deal of the emotional vulnerability.

The tiniest, most endearing smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

Logan knew he was in it for the long haul, and he knew how important Rowdy was to her. But even if he'd never met Pepper, he'd feel the same. Rowdy was a good man who'd never been given a break.

In another whisper, Rowdy said, "I hate it that she worries about me."

"Let's stop giving her reason to, okay?" Logan walked over and stroked Pepper's hair. Before it all ended, he'd make it right for them both.