Page 85 of Code of Heart

“Good afternoon, dear husband,” she purred in response, her voice rich and teasing. “How’s your day going?”

Levi chuckled, leaning forward, elbows on his desk. “It was horrendous until about thirty seconds ago. Now it’s looking up.”

He heard the warmth in her laugh, and it curled deliciously through his blood.

“Such an astonishing turn of events,” she mused. “Tell me, how’s the rest of your afternoon looking?”

Levi sighed. “Back-to-back meetings until four-thirty. The first one starts in about twenty minutes.”

A low, sympathetic sound hummed through the line. “That sounds dreadful…” Her voice dropped to a sultry whisper. “Unfortunately, I’m about to make it even harder for you. Well…make you a bit harder.”

Levi sat up so fast he cracked his knee against the underside of his desk. He bit back a curse.

She continued before he could recover.

“I’ve been alone in this house all afternoon,” she murmured, her voice a dark, sensual caress, “wearing nothing but thin purple lace that doesn’t cover much of anything…”

His pulse slammed in his throat.

“And it’s definitely not enough to keep me warm.”

He felt the air in his office thicken, heat spiking as her words wrapped around him.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about my husband,” she went on, slow and decadent, “thinking about the ravishing he promised me…and how desperately I need it. Right. Now. But apparently, I’m going to have to wait.”

He gripped the edge of his desk, his knuckles bone-white.

“I’m not a very patient woman, Levi. If you’re not home andinside meby five o’clock…” Her breath hitched. “Then I’ll have to start without you.”

He was already on his feet, stalking toward his private bathroom like a man possessed.

Voice low and dangerous, he growled, “If I get home and find you’ve started without me, I won’t be gentle, Auri.”

Her breathless laugh curled through the phone. “Whether you come on time is completely up to you. I’ll be taken care of either way. Have a productive afternoon.”

The line went dead.

Levi stared at his phone in stunned disbelief before a new message came through.

With shaking hands, he opened it.

And there she was—laid out on their bed in nothing but the sheerest purple lace, her wild rainbow hair a halo around her flushed face, full breasts peaked and straining against the delicate fabric. One hand was planted above her head snapping the photo…while the other was slipping lower.

Locked in his private bathroom, he swore viciously under his breath.

And then he lost the battle entirely, unfastening his pants. Groaning, he took himself in his hand, desperate to take the edge off. His eyes never left the screen as his mind filled in every torturous detail of what waited for him at home.

Five o’clock couldn’t come fast enough.

The next three and a half hours were pure torture.

Levi had tried desperately to cancel at least his last meeting of the day, but no amount of pleading or rescheduling magic could get him out of it. Another endless Board meeting, the same recycled agenda, and the same power struggles.

The only thing Levi could focus on was the ticking clock and the unbearable ache building beneath his belt.

He was barely holding it together when the room went quiet, every head swiveling toward him. Levi snapped his gaze up from the table to find a sea of expectant faces…and Tyler Faulkner glaring at him like he wanted to commit murder.

“You haven’t heard a single word that’s been said, Lockwood,” Tyler snapped, his face an alarming shade of red. “Do you have more pressing matters than running this company? Or are you too busy playing house?”