CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

S imple, sweetheart. Because I'm an assassin.

Oh, my god.

One minute Logan was telling her it was dangerous to run outside. Then recommending she work out with an assassin.

Was he fucking insane?

Yes, he was.

Yet Brooklyn walked beside him into the training center and apparently trusted him.

So who's the crazy one?

Then again, it wasn't like she could talk.

She was responsible for the death of her own twin brother. Sure, it was slightly different, but taking a life was taking a life.

Brooklyn pushed back thoughts of Brad and slapped at Logan as he lifted her onto a treadmill. "I can do it. You just keep those giant testosterone predators away."

Logan snorted, took a step away and crossed his arms, watching her.

What was he doing?

"Go." She waved out her hand. "Do whatever you were going to do."

"I was going to box, but it's at the other end of the center." He nodded in the direction. As the machine started up and her feet started moving, Brooklyn cast her eyes down to the end of the enormous room.

It was far away.

Too far away.

Unless she was worried about being in the company of an assassin.

She should be.

"Exactly," Logan said, apparently reading her mind. He twirled his fingers around in the air. "So do your thing and then I'll do mine."

Brooklyn bunched her lips, thinking.

This wasn't going to work.

As intimidating as it was being the training center with all the huge vampires around, she didn't want him watching her get all sweaty and judging her fitness level.

The fact he was a vampire was already enough, let alone being a prime example of one.

A very, very prime and delicious one.

One who had heated her up from the inside out and she wanted very much to have sex with.

He'd given her no reason to trust him—orgasm aside—and even with a half dozen large vampires across from them lifting unfathomable weights and grunting away, Brooklyn did feel safe with Logan.

Ari had assured her no one would harm her, but anyone in her shoes would be wary. It was still taking time for her to gain confidence to head into the social spaces of the castle on her own.

So she was a little grateful for his protection right now. But didn't love him standing behind her watching her ass jiggle.

"I'll be fine." She lied and increased the speed and incline, letting her body warm up.

A moment later, when he ignored her, six males in Moretti uniforms walked out of a side room carrying a handful of rifles.

Logan leaned against the wall, watching the goings on around them, and she let her eyes drift down to his groin.

My god I'm a perv.

But gray sweatpants.

She wasn't a saint.

Plus, her body was still buzzing from earlier and she'd meant what she said. She was still horny. Yes, she'd come, and it had been powerful and amazing, but all she could think about was feeling Logan enter her and his cock thrusting inside her.

Deep.

Thick.

God...all of him.

She felt herself getting wet and the contrast with running on the treadmill was so weird.

Clearing her throat, she decided to change the topic in her head.

"Why aren't you asleep?" Brooklyn asked, annoyed she was sounding a little breathless already.

His dark eyes met hers.

Without saying a word, she knew. He couldn't sleep because he wanted the same thing she did.

To fuck.

She'd been thinking about him all night, not able to focus on her work, and had finished work early, saying she didn't feel well.

Brooklyn wondered if Logan had tried to deal with his own need before heading out to train.

"Yes, I jerked off." Logan uncrossed his arms and slid them into his pockets as he lifted his leg and pressed the heel of his Nike against the wall.

Heat rushed over her face and chest.

She glanced down at the machine, wondering if she could get out of there.

Four goddamn minutes.

"Oh. Well. That's normal." She began muttering. "I was a nurse. Am a nurse. Trained. It's not abnormal. You know. Because you didn't finish."

Her eyes lifted and found him watching with raised brows and a slight smirk.

"Not that we started. With you. Well. It might be different. I haven't had sex with a vampire."

God.

Stop talking.

"But you started. With me. And finished. Obviously. In case it wasn't obvious."

Please. Let one of the vampires attack me and shut me up.

"So no need to be ashamed. I'm sure you aren't. Clearly, you're a great example of a vampire."

My god.

She pressed her eyes closed, praying.

"And attractive. To other vampires. Females. Or males, if you are into them. Or both. Either would be fine. Not with me. I don't matter. And it's not my business—"

"Brooklyn." Logan's deep voice stopped her. She opened her eyes and saw the darkness on his face. "I need you to stop talking."

As she nodded, Logan turned his head, and the arousal on his face vanished. Replacing it was an almost soft concern which made her curious.

"Be right back," he said, jogging over to the red-headed female walking along the far wall.

She lifted her head as he neared and gave him a sad smile.

Oh.

Was she his ex? Or girlfriend?

The female nodded as he spoke to her. She appeared to listen, and then finally dropped her head as Logan wrapped his arms around her.

Brooklyn felt an irrational jealousy which she tried to push away.

Logan wasn't hers.

He'd touched her once and made her come. Whatever relationships he had with other females were none of her business, and she would be wise to distance herself from him.

She watched as Logan opened the door to a room and guided the female inside. His eyes darted to Brooklyn and glanced around her, keeping his promise to keep her safe.

How stupid she'd been.

Of course, a male like Logan would have multiple females in his world. He was extremely good looking and one of the renowned warriors in this world.

Apparently, they were adored like celebrities.

Hence his ego.

He'd been honest about not wanting to fuck her, but he'd still touched her. Kissed her. As if sampling her.

Was he planning to meet this female tonight and get rid of the frustration from their encounter?

How...disgusting.

Here she'd been eyeing his semi inside his gray sweatpants and nearly having another orgasm when he placed his hands on her hips to lift her onto the treadmill, while Logan was planning to fuck a different woman.

A vampire.

Ugh.

What a jerk.

Brooklyn increased the incline and worked her thighs until they burned.

Give me some Mount Everest level shit, treadmill. I need to get a life and stop choosing bad boys.

She needed to stay focused on work.

They were close to an antidote. However, there were a lot of false starts with these sorts of things. But it was looking hopeful.

Brooklyn had asked Sage if she was okay if she headed home to Seattle next week.

"Oh, it's not a great time, if I'm honest. Is it urgent?"

Yes and no.

"My parents are talking about moving to the East Coast. It's complicated," Brooklyn explained. "Next, they'll want to see where I work. I'm not sure how to talk them out of it. They aren't...strapped for cash and I'm their world."

She had felt stupid explaining but wasn't sure how to discourage them aside from heading home for a few days.

"Hmm," Sage said, nodding. "I see."

"I thought a visit back home for a few days might buy me some time," Brooklyn shared. "My brother died when we were kids, so they are a bit clingy."

Sage tilted her head. "That's really sad. I'm sorry."

Brooklyn shrugged. "Thanks. It's why I became a scientist. You know, to try to advance cures for diseases."

Sage gave her the same smile other people had for years: kind but pitying.

"Anyway, it would be just for a few days. But I understand if the timing is bad," she added.

"Let me get these samples into testing and I'll look at the timeline on this latest batch we're running," Sage said, lifting her tray.

"Thanks."

She understood it wasn't a great time and would try to keep her trip short if her new boss agreed.

Legs burning, Brooklyn slowed the treadmill to a light walk and glanced around. She'd belonged to a gym back home and enjoyed lifting weights, so because Logan was busy lining up his girlfriend-for-the-night, she decided to wrap this up and go home.

She had a frozen meal in the freezer and a favorite TV show to watch.

With a quick glance through the glass windows, she saw the two in a conversation. He had his hand on her shoulder.

What a player.

Brooklyn made her way over to the vast array of weight machines and started looking around. The center was pretty quiet except for half a dozen vampires milling around.

No one seemed interested in her.

Perhaps she could come in here before work and stop being a scaredy cat.

Choosing one of the machines, she set it at her usual weight amount and sat down, reaching up for the bar.

Then pulled.

Nothing happened. Huh?

She tugged again.

"Need some help?" a deep voice asked.

Brooklyn turned and found herself face-to-face with a grinning, bulked-up vampire.

Oh.

He was kind of cute, and the cheeky smirk on his lips made her blush.

"Yes please," Brooklyn said, dropping her arms. "I set it at twenty-five, which is normally fine."

He snickered and walked around the machine. "I'm going to assume you're human."

She giggled. "What gave it away?"

He winked at her and began lifting weight after weight after weight from behind the machine. Brooklyn leaned over and her eyes flew open at them all.

"Oh my god, no wonder I couldn't lift that." She laughed.

"I got you, little lady." He laughed. "So, you new here?"

"She's with me, Doug," Logan growled behind them. Brooklyn spun around and was surprised by the dark, possessive expression on his face.

"Oh, sorry, man. Just helping her out," Doug replied.

"No. I'm not with him," Brooklyn said quickly.

Doug stared between them, and within seconds, a smile stretched across his face like he knew something she didn't. He walked over to Logan and slapped him on the back.

"I'll leave you to help her out."

"Wait. No, I'm not with him," Brooklyn called as he walked away. "Ugh. Why did you do that?"

How dare he interfere with her making friends.

Doug seemed far nicer than Logan and so far—all sixty seconds of their encounter—hadn't once threatened her life. A vast difference from her experience with her assassin.

Her?

Logan stepped closer. "You really going to test me?"

"Maybe," she whispered.

"Don't. If I say you are with me, you are with me."

"I don't like you," Brooklyn muttered.

"Feeling's mutual, little mouse."