Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

Tamsin

Sometimes Sophie’s mouth shoots off and I want to bop her in the arm. I jump up out of Levi’s lap to tug on her arm.

“I mean, I get your partners-in-revenge, but you two have chemistry dripping off…”

“Sophie, honey, can you not? The last thing I want is for you to be overheard by those assholes or to chase Levi off.”

When I turn back to look at Levi, he’s giving me a look I don’t really understand. It’s intense and makes the blues of his eyes darken like the water of a lake right before a storm.

“No worries about me, Kitten. I’m not that easily scared off.”

What does that mean? And how do I feel about letting the cat out of the bag now that Zane's found out who I’ve been spending my time with? I think it went well but I can’t be for sure. April didn’t really look like she bought it.

This whole day has been…fun and awesome and perfect. I’ve never had so much fun or been so relaxed with anyone else except for Sophie. And Levi has been…the part that has been perfect. He’s not told me to ‘tone it down’ once or told me I shouldn’t dance around like I was because it annoys him or stopped me from ordering what I want -he did say I should probably eat something non-sugary, but it didn’t stop him from getting me another ice cream.

I love how handsy he is. Maybe it’s all for show, or practice perhaps, but he always finds ways to brush against me, take my hand, or pull me into his lap. Hugs, little kisses, and caresses have driven me all but crazy. I’m so nervy that every touch feels like more, more than it really is, deeper than it really should be. And Sophie is destroying any hope of me remaining cool and calm.

As my oldest and dearest friend, she realizes how much I really like all the attention from Levi, how the kisses make me feel so much, how far I’m…falling for someone who is only in it for the revenge. Damn it! I should have been smarter than I was, should have remembered this isn’t just a date so two people can spend time and get to know one another. This is about the Operation and I’m not sure how I could have lost track of that so quickly.

By the time we tell Max and Sophia bye, and he’s put a helmet on me again, I’m almost sure I have myself under control again.

“Come home with me?”

"What?" I did not just hear him correctly.

“Come home with me? I have to grab you a new lock for that front door…,” I don’t really see how coming home with him has anything to do with my door, “We're not really sure if Zane has made a copy or gotten that little traitor to make one…”

I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I deflated. “So, you want me to come home with you because you are worried about me?”

Not to really ‘take me home’ but to make sure his enemy doesn’t cause him problems.

“Now more than ever. Zane was not happy that you’ve moved on, especially not with me. Who knows what kind of shit he would pull?”

“Why not just come back to my place?”

“Because I've seen your bed. It’s tiny and your couch is even tinier than your bed. There is nothing I could sleep on and not hang halfway off it.”

“Oh.” That makes sense. “And you have a big bed and couch so you can sleep on the bed and I can take the couch.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. You can take the bed and I’ll take the couch. Unless, of course, you want to share the bed with me.”

“I hate to kick you out of your bed though.”

“So, it’s settled. We’ll share the bed.”

“Wait, what?” Not what I meant exactly.

“Hop on, baby.” He doesn’t give me time to really do what he says, instead picking me up and sitting me on the seat himself before swinging his leg over the bike too.

By the time we make it back to his place, the streets are empty, and the day is catching up to me. Being on the back of his motorcycle is exciting and thrilling but also oddly soothing. He ushers me up the steel stairs I took just days before when I came to ask him for help. This time there are no racers or catcallers, just silence and streetlights.

He wraps his arms around me to unlock his door before giving me a little push inside. This time I take a good look at what’s around me. Last time I was too worried about naked women hanging from the ceiling and doing horribly naughty things to him. Now the thought has me wishing I had come up with a good excuse to go back to my place. I’m very sure I don’t want to see or think about his harem being here.

The couch is much bigger. Everything here is. Made to be just like the owner. There are stairs at the back of the room leading up to where I imagine the bed and bathroom are. The kitchen is at the back of the studio-style apartment and everywhere I step I am reminded of who lives here. His scent is in the air, filling up my nose like some sort of drug I could snort.

“You look tired sweetheart. Come on, I’ll show you where the bathroom is and…”

I interrupt without thinking, “Oh no, I don’t have anything to wear to bed.”

“I’ll grab one of my shirts. It’s going to be long enough to be a dress on you.”

He shows me the door that leads to a large bathroom only stopping to grab the T-shirt he promised me, and I take a quick shower before popping out to stare at the bed. He was right. It is a big bed. The shower is big. Everything but me is well fit for Levi. I’m the smallest thing here.

Before I can find the right words to tell him I am going to take the couch, he is pulling me over to the bed and pushing me down on it.

“No, no, no. I…I’ll be fine…,”

His mouth taking mine stops me from arguing any further. Our tongues meet, the velvety touch of his to mine has me forgetting what I was supposed to be doing. God, Levi can kiss like lives depend on it. I'm not sure when I bring my arms up to twine around his neck or how my legs end up wrapped around his hips, but they do.

The shirt I am borrowing rides up and before I realize what’s happening, he’s running his hands under the hem touching my waist and stroking my bare hip. My body turns feverish and heavy with lust. My breasts swell like they are trying to reach for his touch and there is a flutter in my lower tummy that is both scary as hell and exciting and new. It's like being on a roller coaster, with every swoop you lose touch with the ground and become breathless.

His fingertips slowly inch up to brush against the underside of my breast causing me to gasp out, but I don’t try to pull my mouth away from him. When his palm fully cups my breast a moan is wrestled from me but he eats that up as well. This time he’s not teaching me, he’s not trying to go a little further for someone who doesn’t understand what she is doing. This time he is taking for himself.

I can feel that in the way he tightens his fingertips up around my already hard nipples. I mumble an 'Oh, God' against his lips before a cry escapes when he rolls my aching peak between his finger and thumb and adds the perfect amount of pressure. There’s no hiding how much I like this, how much my body is responding to what he is doing to me.

He pulls away long enough to pull my borrowed shirt up over my head. I have no time to even guess what he’s about to do as he lowers his head and places his mouth over one aching peak. All the air -what very little was left after his breath-taking kisses- leaves my body in a rush as I feel the drag of his tongue over the throbbing nub. My hands fly to the back of his head. I'm not sure if I’m trying to hold him to me or pull him away but once there all they seem to want to do is sink into his hair and use him as an anchor.

Sensations spiral through me, new and sharp, threatening to explode. His other hand comes up to play with my other breast before he switches places. I’m a puddle, a single-celled organism with only one thing on its mind. Every part of me is connected to where he licks and sucks. The scrape of his teeth causes me to gasp out and I’m certain moans and sighs are coming from me with no thought to try to hide them now.

“Levi…?”

He looks up without taking his mouth away from me. When our eyes meet, he starts kissing a trail over the rise of my breasts and up my neck. This time when he takes my lips the kiss is just a buzz instead of a mind-numbing play of tongues.

“Sorry, kitten. Sorry.”

My body goes cold underneath him like it’s had icy water poured over it. Is he sorry he…played with my…?

“I shouldn’t have lost my fucking mind like that, but you are so fucking beautiful. I didn’t mean to scare you. Or lose control like I did.”

Somehow, I find my voice, “You…didn’t scare me.”

He stares at me, pinning me to the bed with his gaze. I try to wiggle my hips; try to find the pressure I need to make the ache that has built up inside of me go away -or at least quieten down. I’ve never felt this sense of urgency before. I want to run and jump and…I just want to make this crazy intense feeling subside.

“Sweetheart, are you alright?”

I nod my head knowing if I try I won’t be able to hide the desperation rising inside of me and choke back the cry that wants to come out.

“You need me to help you, kitten?”

“Hel…help me?” How would he be able to help me?

I don’t have to wait long to find out.