by Amy Andrews
She hadn’t ordered him to be quick, after all.
He licked around her belly button and further north to her nipples, with which he took his time and an inordinate amount of pride in making them good and stiff once more, before heading to her mouth. By the time he got there she was a little breathless again and he kissed her hard, making them both breathless.
She clung tight to his neck, winding her legs around his waist, clamping her calves tight against his buttocks. ‘Take your clothes off,’ she muttered breaking the kiss to grab his shirt and haul it over his head.
Levi was down with that. His cock was about to bust out of his underwear anyway. She kissed him again, her tongue toying with his as she unlocked her legs from his waist and together they pushed at the waistbands of his clothes, easing them down.
He groaned as she grabbed his dick the second it was free from the confines of his clothes. ‘God... I love how hard you are,’ she muttered against his mouth as she guided him to her entrance.
Levi’s eyes almost rolled back at the firmness of her hold and the slippery heat enveloping his head. Christ, she felt good. Hot and slick and ready. He wanted nothing more than to plunge on in and get lost in her.
He’d never wanted to be inside a woman more than right now. Right now, inside the woman he loved.
But sexual safety was something too ingrained to throw to the wind and he pulled back from the temptation with a monumental effort, levering himself half off her.
‘Hey,’ she protested, grabbing his arms and pulling him back down. His knee slid off the couch to the floor as she kissed him with a heat and passion he felt deep inside his loins.
Levi groaned and gave a shaky half laugh against her mouth. ‘Condoms. Bedroom.’
‘No.’ She shook her head, holding him tighter. ‘Too far.’ She ground herself against him and his balls pulled tighter. ‘I want you now.’
Levi’s heart rate slowed for a beat or two as her words sunk in. He stared down at her, their breathing a series of ragged pants. ‘Darcy?’
‘I have the implant and the only person I’ve had sex with in over two years is you.’ Her low raspy voice stroked like sandpaper against his skin. ‘And we used a condom.’
Levi’s pulse kicked in again, beating double time. The combination of lust and trust he saw in her eyes punched him straight in the gut. It was sexy as hell.
She was right. As far as protection went, they were pretty well covered. And hell if he didn’t want to be bare inside her, feeling all of her around all of him.
He kissed her then, long and slow as he shifted and settled into the cradle of her pelvis again, centring himself, slicking the head of his cock through the slippery readiness of her folds, revelling in the moan as he notched himself there. His pulse thundered through his head as he flexed his hips and slid inside her in one smooth, tight, glide.
The whole world stopped in that moment.
Yessss. This was where he belonged.
She cried out and her nails dug into his back and it felt so fucking good to be pressed in deep, hot and snug, her slick velvet walls fitting him like a glove. She squeezed around him and he pressed his face into her neck groaning her name, as he gathered her close. ‘Darcy.’
‘Levi.’ It wasn’t much more than a whisper but her internal muscles undulated along the length of him, rousing him, sparking him into action, the ache in his balls demanding to be relieved.
He pushed up onto his elbows, withdrawing almost all the way from her body before gliding in again, the forward motion pitching his torso forward, his chin brushing the top of her head.
Her lips brushed his throat, her legs circled his waist. ‘God... yes... Levi. More.’
He felt her words in every muscle cell. And every muscle cell clamoured to fulfil her dictates, to give her exactly what she wanted. He pulled out and slid in again, his torso rearing over top of hers.
Her hands slid to his shoulders and held on, her fingers digging into his scapulas. ‘More.’
He repeated the move, adding an extra little punch of his hips right at the end, which rocked her head against the arm of the couch. The hard clamp of her muscles gripped him and he groaned. ‘God.’ He held himself high and hard inside her. ‘You feel like you were made for me.’
She did. Everything about this felt tailor-made. Felt predestined. From their final coming together to the way they fit.
‘I was,’ she whispered.
Her words crashed over him, overwhelming in their sincerity, in their intensity. Yes—they were made for each other.
He made love to her then. It might have been too early to say it, to confess it, but he could still prove it with his body.
Love her with his body.
He moved slowly at first, easing in and out, savouring the slick, tight glove of her but the dictates of their libidos took over and his hips responded to the rhythm of hers until he was rearing over her again and again and she was trembling beneath him, calling his name.
Levi groaned as she started to shudder around him. ‘Yes, Darcy... yes.’
Her internal muscles clamped down tight as she cried out, thrashing in ecstasy beneath him, and it propelled him into his own release. Hot seed boiled up from the tight purse of his balls and he cried out as it spilled deep inside her, rocking and rocking and rocking her, burying his face in her shoulder as their climaxes became one.
***
It seemed to take forever to come back to himself afterwards, to rouse himself from the crook of her neck where he’d collapsed. It was her slight shift that finally propelled him, aware suddenly he must be squashing her.
He levered himself up onto his elbow, easing his weight half off her, the slick of sweat that had built between them cooling instantly as the remnants of his orgasm fizzled away.
She smiled up at him with another of her unfocused, melty expressions and Levi knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life putting that exact look on her face.
He dropped a light kiss on her mouth. ‘Let’s go to bed.’
He knew this wasn’t what they’d agreed but he was nowhere near done tonight and he hoped like hell she wasn’t either.
It’d gut him if she could just switch it off.
She smiled. ‘Yours or mine?’
Chapter 13
The next few days went far better than the previous week had been. Levi hadn’t known how things would go between them once they’d gotten their arses out of bed the next day.
He’d expected Darcy to head back to her corner. To try and re-establish something platonic. And he’d have been on board with that. There were only a few more weeks left in the season—he could wait.
But Darcy had shown absolutely no indication that she wanted to go back to being flatmates again. Roomies. She greeted him naked at the door when he got home from work or class, she made out with him on the couch when they were supposed to be watching television and climbed into the shower with him in the morning.
A process by which both of them got really, really clean by being really, really dirty.
And he was perfectly on board with all of it. Hell, going to sleep every night with Darcy in his arms had been beyond his wildest dreams. He didn’t even mind her seducing him out of his regular Saturday morning outdoor yoga session. Not when she’d delivered on her promise of a work-out that’d burn as many calories and work on his core strength.
Darcy, he was learning, was extremely creative.
***
‘Now see?’ She grinned, still a little breathless as she rolled up on her elbow to look down at him. She wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. ‘Didn’t I promise you a good work-out?’
Darcy had tied him to the bed and blown him for an hour, backing off every time he was close, refusing to let him come, anchoring herself over his face instead and making him get her off with his tongue before going back for more prolonged oral torture, using her tongue and hands on his dick, his balls, his perineum in ways designed to drive him out of his mind.
<
br /> It sure as hell had worked his core as he’d clamped down on his burgeoning orgasm over a dozen times.
It wasn’t until he was half crazed with lust and begging her for release that she acquiesced. And fuck if it hadn’t been worth it. Longest orgasm he’d had in his life, watching her watching him as he came, watching her swallow everything he had to give.
He chuckled as he pushed her hair off her shoulder and toyed with the ends. ‘You’re a witch.’ His head was still pounding from the way his orgasm had erupted and consumed him.
‘You loved it.’
Fuck yeah, he did. Hell, he wanted to be at her mercy again. He grinned. ‘Best Saturday morning work-out, ever.’
She looked at her nails with faux disinterest. ‘It was okay.’
Levi laughed. The woman had come half a dozen times at least. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t want to conserve your energy for the game this afternoon.’
‘No way.’ She shook her head and her eyes sparkled with energy. ‘I feel freaking invincible right now.’
He grinned at her. She was glowing and it wormed right into his heart and glowed in there too. He lifted a lock of her hair to his mouth and absently rubbed it along his lips, his gaze falling on the slight red marks still on his wrists.
Nothing that anyone would be able to identify as rope burn—but he knew.
‘You’re scarily good with knots, I’ll give you that. You should have been a sailor.’
‘Bugger that.’ She smiled. ‘I was thinking more along the lines of dominatrix.’
‘Oh yeah, that too.’ He kissed her sliding his hands onto her face, laughing against her mouth. She laughed against his too and Levi’s heart was so bloody full of loving her it was only natural to let it slip on out. ‘God I love you, Darcy Clarke.’
The first thing he noticed was her laughter abruptly cutting off followed by her stillness. ‘What?’ Her sparkling eyes had gone cloudy as she pulled back to look at him, removing his hands from her face.
Oh shit! Christ. What the hell had just happened?
‘I’m sorry. I... didn’t mean to say that.’
She blinked. ‘Because you didn’t mean it or you didn’t want to tell me.’
Levi cringed at his stupidity. At letting his guard down and being lulled into a false sense of security by the idyll of this perfect week.
‘Levi?’
‘I do mean it.’ It wasn’t the way he’d planned to tell her but it was out now and he wasn’t going to retract it. Still, a hot feeling of dread dripped like poison into his gut. ‘I was just waiting for the right moment... for the season to be over, before I told you.’
‘Right.’ She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before rolling onto her back, then rolling up and out of bed altogether.
‘Darcy?’
She grabbed her short silky gown that always lasted about five seconds on her whenever he saw her in it, and threw it on, her back still firmly to him.
Levi swore under his breath. ‘Darcy. Talk to me.’ He reached for his boxers which had been discarded at the end of the bed sometime early in the night. ‘You’re freaking out, right?’ He climbed out of bed and stepped into his shorts.
She turned. ‘We’ve been together for a few weeks.’ She looked stunned, her hand pressed to her chest. ‘We’re not really even... together.’
He tried to not let that barb maim him too much. He could tell from her dazed delivery she hadn’t meant for it to hurt. But he wasn’t going to let it go through to the keeper. ‘Well what in the hell have we been doing this week, Darcy?’
‘Having fun?’
Well, yes, they’d had a lot of fun. But it had meant a shitload more to him than that and he didn’t think she was naive enough to think that there hadn’t been deeper feelings involved on both sides.
Still, they didn’t have to talk about the L word now.
‘I’m not looking for you to say it back,’ he assured.
‘Well that’s good.’ Darcy snorted. ‘Because I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Tony. I don’t have time for love. I’ve finally got a national footy career and that has to be my focus.’
Levi breathed in deeply to find his Zen, hoping like hell she was being melodramatic about not having time for love. He’d freaked her out and she was retreating. That was okay. She would have time. After the season. When things were less intense, less high stakes. And in the interim he could walk this back to where they were before he let slip something he shouldn’t have.
‘I know that.’ He nodded. ‘You know I’m happy to wait.’
She shoved a hand through her hair as she continued to stare at him like she couldn’t believe he’d said what he’d said. He could hardly blame her; he couldn’t believe it either. ‘It’s only been three weeks, Levi.’
‘No.’ Levi was okay with letting this go for now, but he wasn’t going to let it go without setting the record straight. This wasn’t some recent crush. ‘It hasn’t. It may only be a few weeks to you but I have had feelings for you much, much longer than that. I’ve loved you for a couple of years now.’
‘What?’ She gaped at him. So much for walking it back.
‘I can’t... deal with this now. I have a game in five hours. A game we have to win. I can’t... process this. How am I supposed to think about the game when I’m processing this?’ she demanded.
‘You’re right.’ He strode over to her and took her by the arms, ignoring the overwhelming urge he had to tug her into him—she’d probably kick him in the shin.
And Darcy had a big kick.
‘You can’t, don’t try. Forget about what I said.’
‘Right.’ She gave a laugh that bordered on hysterical. ‘Easy.’ She wrenched out of his grasp. ‘If I screw up on the field today and we lose, I will never forgive you for dumping this on me.’ Then she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.
Shit. Damn. Bugger. That went well.
Not.
A sinking feeling in Levi’s stomach forced him down onto the bed, his head in his hands. That had not been the way he’d pictured the I love you to go down.
He understood Darcy was scared. He’d dumped something on her she hadn’t been ready to hear at a very inconvenient time in her life. And she’d been burned by a guy before who’d tried to derail her sporting career. But she had to know he wasn’t like Tony.
Surely?
Although he had just whammied her before an important game. Christ... is that what she was thinking? That this was Tony all over again?
God—what a mess. And what a fucking idiot he’d been.
***
Darcy sat in the locker room, barely taking in the hubbub around her as everyone psyched themselves up for the do-or-die game. All the games would be do and die from now on but they had to win this one to progress. And they were up against tough opposition in the Sydney Sirens.
But all she could think about was Levi and his very untimely I love you. Which is exactly what she’d told him would happen. Exactly what she’d feared a few weeks ago when they’d kicked this thing off—that thoughts of him would override everything if she let it.
And here she was, facing down the biggest game of her life, and what was she thinking about?
Levi.
He loved her. Levi Phillips loved her. Had loved her for two years. Jesus... That wormed right into her heart and glowed like a beacon even though everything else in her body felt cold and shut down.
How had she not known that? Tony had known. Had warned her but she’d dismissed it.
‘Hey.’ Genevieve threw herself down beside Darcy. ‘You okay? You seem distracted.’
Darcy snorted. Yeah. That’s because she was. Damn Levi to hell!
Genevieve’s shoulder nudged hers. ‘Wanna talk about it?’
‘Nope.’ Darcy shook her head emphatically. But Levi’s words—I love you, Darcy Clarke—were like a permanent irritant under her skin and she was afraid if she didn’t talk about it, she’d take it out on the field wi
th her. ‘Yes.’
‘Okay.’ Genevieve laughed. ‘Shoot.’
Darcy didn’t know where to bloody start. ‘You found Ally not long after we first started training, right?’
‘Yep.’
‘It was kinda whirlwind, wasn’t it?’
‘Yep.’ Genevieve smiled a goofy smile.
‘Wasn’t that scary?’
‘Nah. When you know, you know. You just gotta be open to it is all.’
‘Weren’t you worried starting a new relationship would... I don’t know... mess with your focus?’
‘God no, Dancer.’ She shook her head, clearly not conflicted one little bit. ‘I’ve found the absolute opposite to be true. I just don’t function properly without her. I’m stronger with her. We’re stronger together. I play my best footy knowing she’s up there in the stands and that her heart is beating for me.’
Darcy’s nose prickled painfully, as if hot needles were being shoved down her tear ducts. That was just about the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard. A surge of emotion swelled in her throat and Darcy found it hard to breathe.
‘But... isn’t that distracting?’
‘No.’ Genevieve laughed. ‘Nothing distracts me when my world is in balance.’
‘So you don’t feel like you have to choose? Between Ally and the Banshees?’
‘Oh Darcy.’ Genevieve gave her a hug. ‘Why does it have to be one or the other?’ She smiled. ‘We’re chicks. We multi-task.’
‘Okay.’ Tony bashed the nearest locker to break through the noise. ‘Gather around.’
***
Darcy ran onto the field, her head swimming with snatches of this morning’s conversation with Levi and her talk just now with Genevieve. The crowd went wild as the Banshees appeared and Darcy did her best to focus on the roar and the cheering. On their colours all over the grounds and the huge Banshee signs being flashed everywhere.
The atmosphere was electric. This is what they’d been waiting for—a home game—and it was as crazy as they’d hoped. She needed to focus on that. The crowd. Channel their energy, their excitement. Their absolute belief in the Banshees. Not try to find Levi—who insisted on buying general admission tickets because he liked being part of the crowd—amongst twenty thousand faces.
