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"You have changed," she said as a wicked grin crept across her face.

"But let's see how much." She leaned in close then, her hand now clutching my chest through my shirt.

She brought her lips close to my ear, her hot breath against my neck, as she whispered in the sultry tone she knew drove me wild, "I bet this… still hardens your cock, doesn't it?"

Fuck yes it does.

My body responded instantly. She looked down at the unmistakable bulge rising between my legs and she let out a short, playful laugh. "Still works, huh?"

Her nearness, her heat, her scent, her nails digging into my chest, her cockiness, her mastery over my body, her voice, that voice, all came together to overpower me.

I had never, in this life or my previous one, ever swooned before.

But I sure as hell did just then. Words failed me, so I did the only thing I could think to do.

I brushed my fingers against the back of her neck on the spot . The one place that always made her shiver, always weakened her legs, and often made her whimper. Like it did in that moment.

Her breath hitched, subtle but undeniable.

I grinned. “Still works, huh?”

She shot me a warning look, trying and failing, not to smile. “Don’t get cocky.”

“Too late,” I said. “That ship sailed the moment you said ‘cock.’”

She rolled her eyes, but didn’t move away. “You’re impossible.”

“But slightly improved,” I said as I moved closer.

“Debatable."

"We can debate later," I kissed her throat once, tentatively.

“You’re not making this easy, you know,” her voice a mixture of warmth and warning.

I paused, a slight laugh escaping me. “What do you mean? I’m... remembering.”

“Remembering what?”

I traced the edge of her jaw with my thumb. “The way you feel. The way we used to be. I never forgot, Sloane, not really. But I’ve... missed this.” I lowered my hand from her neck to her back gently. "May I?"

She nodded. We let the silence speak where words would have fumbled, moving slowly as our clothes eased away, barriers dropping with each careful motion.

Her warm skin beneath my hands, sun-kissed and soft in a way that felt like home.

I removed her bra, my breath catching in my throat as the fabric slid off, my eyes tracing the swell of her breasts and all the familiar contours of her body that I once took for granted .

I took my time, memorizing all of her again, each freckle, every curve, as if I was tracing a memory that time had taken from me; her body was familiar and new all at once.

We explored each other, unspoken but understood, with each brush of fingertips, each sigh, each shared glance that lingered, swollen with longing.

Her breath shook underneath me, her chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven gasps as I took her nipple into my mouth. A tremble rippled through her as I teased the sensitive bud.

My hand slid to her side, thumb tracing the curve of her ribs, and I kissed the beauty mark beneath her left breast as if it was sacred. To me it was.

Lower still, I followed the path of her navel with my tongue, then paused at the delicate dip of her hips.

I looked up at her from where I knelt. Our eyes locked. “Can I keep going?” I asked, my voice quiet, sincere.

She nodded, slow and sure, then reached for me, threading her fingers through my hair. “Yes,” she whispered. “Please.”

When she said please , it lit a fire inside me. I kissed the inside of her thigh with tender reverence. Her fingers tightened in my hair, a quiet plea. I answered by settling between her thighs, parting her gently with my tongue, and devouring her as a growl escaped from deep within my chest.

“Fuck, Sloane,” I breathed against her. “You taste divine.”

She gasped, one hand rushing to her mouth to muffle her moans.

I stayed there and savored every reaction, transfixed by every flicker of emotion that crossed her features.

Her stuttered breaths. How her hips lifted instinctively, inviting more.

The way she bit her lower lip anytime she wasn't covering her mouth drove me mad.

I took my time and drummed a steady rhythm against her with my tongue until her legs trembled around me, until I felt her body grow taunt like a drawn bow string.

“Fuck, Levi, fuck, I'm gonna… I'm gonna…” Her whispered mewl edged me as I listened to her desperate cry for release.

“Come for me, Sloane.” I growled as I slid my fingers inside her silky heat.

That was enough to push her over the edge. She muffled her strangled cry into the couch pillow she bit into as the orgasm tore through her, sending her whole body into quivering tremors.

Only when she stopped convulsing did I pull back, kissing my way up her body. Her skin was slick with heat, her breath shallow, eyes heavy-lidded and drunk with pleasure.

I hovered over her, brushing a strand of hair from her face as I murmured, “That was so hot, Sloane. You're such a good girl, coming all over my fingers like that.”

Her eyes opened, still glazed but sharp enough to catch my cocky grin. She took a few heavy breaths, but when she spoke her voice was a velveted challenge, laced with teasing that quickened my pulse. “You like listening to yourself talk, don’t you, Levi?”

I laughed, genuinely caught off guard. “Is that what it is? I thought I was offering praise where praise is due.”

She raised an eyebrow, lips twitching in a smirk. “Mm-hmm. If this whole builder thing doesn’t work out, you could always become a phone sex operator. You really commit to the dialogue.”

I leaned in, brushing a kiss against her cheek, then her jaw, then her throat, letting my voice dip into a whisper. “Only for you. I live for your five-star reviews.”

She huffed a laugh, body still trembling beneath mine. “Shut up and kiss me. ”

You don't have to tell me twice.

She pulled me up to meet her mouth. Her kiss was frantic, needful, hungry. Her hands moved down to wrap around my cock. I groaned into her mouth as she gripped me and guided me to her. Our foreheads pressed together, breath mingling.

“Levi… I'm… ” Uncertainty cracked her voice as I positioned myself at her entrance. The heat radiating off her drove me nearly insane.

“Give me your permission, Sloane,” I whispered, my voice raw, barely above a breath. “Your choice. I’m here. I’m never leaving again.”

The vow reverberated between us. Her breath came in shallow, uneven gasps, her body tensed at the weight of the choice she was about to make, the vulnerability she was allowing, the grace she was granting.

She reached up. Her fingers gripped the back of my neck to pull me closer. “Yes.”

The word was a thread between us, a lifeline. I slid into her slowly, so very slowly. I savored her divine warmth as it enveloped me inch by languid inch. The world fell away. There was nothing else in that moment but us.

She gasped again, the sound trembling through her body, and her arms locked around my neck to pull me against her. “Oh god, Levi,” she whispered. Her voice wavered with the heat of our connection.

Some unfathomable feeling beyond desire, something primal and frightening, tightened within my chest. “You’re a goddess,” I breathed, unable to stop the words from escaping. “You deserve worshipping.”

I kissed her deeply as I moved in and out of her, as if I could somehow show her, with every kiss, every breath, every thrust, that I was there. That I was hers, fully and completely.

We moved together. Our bodies rediscovered our secret rhythm as we rocked back and forth, remembering what it meant to belong to one another.

Her legs wrapped around me, anchoring me to her.

Her name broke from my lips and her breath hitched when my hand slid under her thigh, pulling her closer, deeper, needing all of her.

“Fuck, Sloane… you feel so good. So damn wet and tight.”

She moaned, deep and guttural. “Levi… please don’t be gentle.” Her nails dug into me, urging me faster.

I felt the heat of her skin, felt every inch of her body drawing me deeper, pleading for more. My control, my sanity, was slipping away, lost in the sound of her voice, and in the desperate need between us.

“Anything for you,” I whispered between ragged breaths as I gave in to the overwhelming pull of her.

There was no room for hesitation now. No space for the doubt that had lingered between us. Just her, just us, consumed by the need to reconnect, to feel alive again in each other’s arms.

I leaned close, whispering into her ear, "I'll fuck you until you scream my name, Sloane.

Brand it across your lips, seal your own into my skin.

I can't live without you, fuck, can't live unless I'm inside you.

" I bit her neck, right beneath her ear, and relished the gasp that mingled with her moans before I whispered, "I'm yours. Only yours."

Her cunt tightened around me and I almost came. She whimpered against my neck, "God yes, Levi. Faster. Fuck me harder."

My heart thundered, driven by a deep, uncontrollable hunger for her, to feel every part of her. The urge was indomitable as my thrusts hastened, harder and faster, to bring her the release she craved. Her breaths came quicker as we both teetered on the edge of this raw, vulnerable precipice.

“Fuck, Sloane. I’m close.”

Her gasp came out torn, “Me too… can you? Please? ”

I reached down, my fingers finding her clit, edging her until her release crested when she called out my name again and again. I buried my face in her neck, unable to hold back any longer as I followed her over the edge, every nerve alive, every part of me unraveled and remade in her arms.

Afterwards, I didn’t move. I couldn't move. We lay tangled together, breathing heavy and deep, hearts racing.

Her fingers brushed through my hair. “That was…” her voice broke off as she touched my chest. “That was really you , wasn't it? All those things you said… felt so true.”

"Yeah... I meant it before, during, and after.” I kissed her fingertips. “I’m not going anywhere, Sloane.”