Page 57 of Code of Heart

Closing the small space between them, she rose onto her toes and brushed the lightest, most deliberate kiss across his lips. A whisper of contact, soft and teasing, her hand flattening over his chest to feel the steady beat of his heart beneath her palm.

There would be no going back after this. She knew it. And she didn’t care.

When she eased back, Levi remained perfectly still, his eyes glazed, his breath caught somewhere between restraint and wonder.

“That,” she murmured, voice barely above a breath, “was the kiss you should have gotten during our wedding ceremony.”

Her fingers began to move in slow, hypnotic circles across the firm planes of his chest. Her pulse hammered in her ears, but her voice was steady, commanding.

Levi swallowed hard, his jaw tightening as he took a shaky breath. “You don’t have to do anything. Not tonight, not ever, not unless youwantto. This is your call. Every step of the way. You’re in charge here.”

Aurelia’s sultry laugh curled around them like smoke.

Of course, she was in charge. She had always known that, but hearing it from him made her feel unstoppable.

Dangerous, even.

She leaned in, lips brushing the stubble on his jaw as she whispered, “What if I said I wanted to consummate thismarriage tonight?” Her fingers trailed lower, a slow descent that had Levi’s muscles tightening beneath her touch.

“Would you deny your wife the ravishing she’s entitled to?” she murmured, the words a gentle threat laced with longing.

His breath stuttered.

“We’re both adults,” she continued, her voice a velvet ribbon of temptation. “And I think it’s safe to say we’ve each had…less meaningfulnights with people we barely knew.” Her meaning wasn’t lost on him. His jaw clenched at the implication of another man’s hands on her.

Good.She wanted that reaction. She wantedhim.

Fully pressing her body to his, she left no room for doubt, no space for hesitation. She felt the full weight of his desire straining against her and leaned close, her lips grazing the shell of his ear.

“Would it be so wrong,” she whispered, “if your wife wanted her husband to be hers, in every way, on her wedding night?” Her teeth grazed his earlobe. One hand curled around his length through his pants, slow and possessive.

“To feel you inside me?”

That was all it took for Levi's restraint to crack.

Levi

Levi’s hands were immediately everywhere, urgent and reverent, as his mouth crashed against Aurelia’s in a kiss that demanded and gave in equal measure.

This was reckless and probably too soon. It broke every rule of caution he set for himself going into this.

He didn’t care. Not when she was pressed against him like this, all heat and hunger and wild permission. He had lived through enough calculated moments to recognize when life offered something precious. And Aurelia,his wife, was a miracle wrapped in flame.

He surrendered. He wanted toburn.

She broke the kiss, breathless, her chest rising and falling in heaving waves beneath her lace top. The sight nearly undid him.

Still, he paused, hands gentling against her waist, as his forehead rested against hers. “Are you sure?” he asked, voice low and rough with restraint. “I don’t want you to feel rushed…or regret this later.”

Aurelia answered with action. Her fingers slid his suit jacket off his shoulders, letting it fall to the floor in a whisper of fabric. She threaded her hands through his hair, tugging him down into a kiss that was no longer tender, but a fierce and possessive claiming.

Levi groaned against her mouth. She could have asked for anything in that moment, and he would have gladly scorched the earth to give it to her.

Her hands moved with intention, unbuttoning his shirt one agonizing button at a time. Each one loosened, revealed more golden skin, more muscle she was desperate to explore. He kissed her again, slower this time but no less consuming, his hands sliding over her hips, pulling her into the hard press of his body.

“I want my husband,” she whispered, voice smoky and raw before sealing the vow with another punishing kiss.

His shirt joined the growing pile of clothing on the floor, her eyes catching the wisps of ink scrawled across the top of his shoulders as she ran her hands over his bare chest. Before she could follow the markings leading to his back, Levi spun her around.