We headed east for so long that I lost track of time and finally gave in to the guilty pleasure of Levi’s presence and heat against my body. Eventually, he slowed to a stop at a mesa with a breathtaking view of a valley below. I got off the bike and took off my helmet, my mouth widening in surprise at the beauty of it.
“Ooohh,” I breathed. “Levi, it’s amazing.”
He grinned at me. “I thought you might like it.” He headed for a large table-top rock on the edge of the mesa, and I followed and lowered myself down next to him.
We sat for a few minutes in silence, just enjoying the magnificent view and the stillness of it all. There was just enough of a breeze to make it comfortable, and I closed my eyes and told myself to remember that if I hadn’t left the Ranch, I never would have seen this.
Levi’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “You feeling a little better now?”
“Yes. Much. Thank you,” I replied, opening my eyes to look at him. His expression was warmer than it usually was, and it stirred something inside me that made me look away toward the valley. “I’m sorry I got upset at the courthouse. Sometimes I feel like maybe I’m not strong enough to make it in the outside world,” I confessed to him. “It’s just so overwhelming sometimes. Like all this paperwork I don’t have, and I have no idea how to get it. It’s like everything is telling me I don’t belong.”
He nodded. “I remember. When I left the WFZ, I realized I didn’t know how to do a fucking thing in the real world.” He glanced at me apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to swear.”
“It’s okay,” I reassured him. “Honestly, I think over the years, I’ve started to realize that words are just words. I’ve learned from experience that people can say the nicest words you’ve ever heard, but poison can still be dripping from them.”
He chuckled. “You’re not kidding.” We sat companionably for a few moments, lost in our own thoughts, until Levi finally turned to me with a long, penetrating look. “You know, what you told me about why you decided to escape? The final straw that made you decide,” he said slowly. “Did you ever hear anything at the Ranch about why I left?”
“No,” I replied. “Like I said before, you’re shunned. Hardly anyone ever talked about you, and then only in whispers. And don’t forget, I was just a little girl when it all happened. Even if they were talking about it at the time, it wasn’t to me.”
Levi reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette. Lighting it, he blew out a long plume of smoke and sighed heavily. “I had a little sister. Faith. From the sounds of it, she wasn’t much older than the stepdaughter you mentioned having. The one who’s about to be married. My father married Faith off to one of the elders when she was fourteen, and she got pregnant pretty soon after that.
“When she was pretty far along — at least seven months, I’d say — she showed up at our house one night. She was crying, and her face was all bloodied and bruised. Turned out, he had beaten her up, because she was afraid to have sex with him that late into the pregnancy.” I turned to see Levi’s face contorted in suppressed rage. “Instead of helping her — instead of fucking doing something — my father sent her back to him.” He looked at me with murder in his eyes. “Her husband beat her again a few weeks later for the same reason. She lost the baby and bled to death because he didn’t call anybody to help her.”
“Levi!” I whispered in horror. “My God.”
His face was grim as he continued, determined to finish the story. “I went after Faith’s husband with a two by four. Broke a couple of bones in his face before I was through. And when my father found out, he beat the shit out of me for doing it. So I left.”
I sat, paralyzed, watching the muscles in Levi’s jaw work as he fought to control himself. His anger was so raw, so close to the surface, I realized it had probably taken him years to push all of it down out of sight. No wonder he hated the idea of anyone knowing about his past. And when I arrived at the clubhouse that day, I had brought everything back. I was a reminder of everything he had tried to put behind him, just by being here.
Suddenly I hated myself for what I’d done. I’d been so selfish to just assume that it would be easy enough for Levi to take me in, that the only thing I would be asking of him was some lodging and maybe some direction. I never realized that I could be opening up old wounds that had barely healed. “Levi… I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe my coming here has brought all this back to you.” I looked at him as my eyes pricked with regretful tears. “I wish I’d never tried to find you. I was so selfish, and cowardly. I should never have forced you to help me.”
“Cherish,” he frowned. His eyes met mine, and where they had been stormy, now they softened. “Don’t. Don’t do that.” He reached up, and with a softness that astonished me, brushed a tear carefully from my cheek with his thumb. I drew in my breath, his touch electric against my skin.
“I’m glad you came,” he murmured. “I’m glad that knowing there was someone out there who might help you got you to leave. And, don’t say you’re a coward.” He looked at me fiercely. “It took you far more courage to leave than it took me. I’m a man. Even as hard as it was for me to leave everything I knew and go out into the world, it was nothing compared to the risk you took in coming here. Jesus, you could have been…” Abruptly, he stopped.
“What?” I asked him.
Then, before I knew what was happening, his mouth came down on mine. Everything I thought I understood about what it was like to be kissed flew away under his touch. His mouth and tongue were warm and insistent, his lips so soft, that as his mouth teased mine open it felt like I was turning to melting lava. Dizzily, I felt his arms go around me, pulling me to him, and without thinking, my lips and tongue began to answer his. One hand moved up from my lower back, twining in my hair, and his kiss deepened as he held me to him.
Levi pulled away a little, his dark eyes penetrating mine. I was gasping for breath, my lips parted. I was afraid to beg him, but desperate for him to kiss me again.
“Tell me if you want me to stop,” he demanded, his voice low and urgent.
“I don’t want you to stop,” I whispered.
With an almost animal growl, his mouth found mine again. His kiss grew deeper, more demanding, and I opened to him. The hot throb between my legs, which I had felt so often lately when thinking of him, began deep inside me and grew almost painful. I was desperate for something I barely understood, but I instinctively knew that Levi could take me there. His mouth left mine and slowly began to trace a trail down my neck. I had no idea that a simple touch could feel like that.
A loud moan escaped my lips, and my eyes flew open with embarrassment. My body must have tensed, because Levi chuckled deep in his throat. “Don’t be embarrassed, Cherish,” he murmured against my skin. “That’s the hottest damn sound I’ve ever heard.”
He continued to brush his lips down my neck, his tongue flicking against the soft spot at the base of my throat. My nipples tightened in response, and I arched my back, suddenly knowing that what I wanted was to have his mouth there. As if Levi had read my mind, I felt one of his hands reach to the bottom of my shirt and gently begin to push it up over my stomach. My breath caught in my throat and I resisted the urge to stop him, knowing that it was only my upbringing that made me feel that I should. The fact was, every cell in my body was crying out for him, and I knew that whatever happened, the only thing I wanted was for him to keep touching me and not stop.
His hand gently caressed the sensitive skin on my stomach, before sliding back to the clasp of my bra. Crazily, I almost laughed, and sent a silent thanks to Seton for making me go underwear shopping. I shivered as I felt the fabric loosen, my breasts heavy and fully, waiting for his touch. Levi gently lowered me onto my back on the flat rock, and I held my breath and shut my eyes in anticipation, then gasped as I felt his lips find my right nipple.
Again, I felt my back arch, this time knowing it was because my body was asking him for more. I moaned again, strai
ning toward him, as his tongue began to lick and lap at the hard nub. The ache between my legs grew, and throbbed; I felt stretched tight as a rubber band. My muscles were taut, and tense, straining toward something I needed so badly that everything else had fallen away. His lips left one nipple, and then grazed my skin before finding the other. The pleasure was agony, and I was almost crying with it. He held me like that, teasing first one bud and then the other, until I was whispering, “Please!” over and over, without even knowing what exactly I was begging him for.
One hand gently began to touch the skin on my inner thigh, light as a feather, and I felt it slide slowly toward the place in me that felt like the center of all my need. His touch was light, so light that I could barely stand it, and then he had slipped under my shorts, under my panties and found my core. I could feel that I was wet, soaking even, and as he touched me, I was coating his fingers with my desire. Softly, he began to stroke me there, my wetness making his finger slick against my skin. I cried out, my legs spreading wide in spite of myself. I knew exactly where the core of all this desire was, then, I could feel it, and suddenly I could feel exactly where I wanted him to touch me, more than anything on the earth. My hips thrust toward his hand impatiently, and he chuckled in appreciation. “Cherish, you have no idea how beautiful you are.”
He teased me a bit, drawing back as I strained forward, clearly enjoying my frustration. Finally, when I thought I would go crazy from the agony, he leaned up and kissed me deeply, and at last swirled around the slick center of my desperate torment. Before I knew what was happening, I exploded.
The world and everything in it felt like it had shattered into a billion pieces. I could hear myself calling Levi’s name, but I had no sense of myself doing it. It was as though he had torn his name from my throat, drawn everything in me inside out with this white-hot heat. I felt myself rock and shudder, and then his arms were around me, holding me as I continued to quiver and shake. When finally I slowed, barely able to catch my breath, I opened my eyes to find Levi staring at me, his eyes as dark as I’d ever seen them.
“That was fucking gorgeous,” he murmured. “Excuse my French.”
I laughed softly as his lips dipped to mine for a gentle kiss. I was so exhausted I could barely return it.
We stayed like that, talking quietly together, until the sun began its slow descent toward the horizon. It was strange; I couldn’t member ever feeling more content, or more protected, safe in the arms of this dangerous bad boy biker with his tough shell of tattoos. He had given me a glimpse of the softer side of him, a door into his past that he took great care to keep tightly closed off from others.
I didn’t have any idea what the future held. Most of it scared the life out of me. To be honest, what had just happened between Levi and me scared the life out of me, in a way. But right then, right there, I was happy being in the arms of this dark, dangerous man. And, I decided, I needed to be thankful for that moment of uncomplicated bliss, no matter what happened, or where I found myself tomorrow.
12
Levi
The day after I took Cherish to the mesa and made love to her, I hardly knew what the fuck to do with myself.
Feeling her respond under me as I kissed her, pushing away the fabric of her shorts and finding her so wet and ready for me… Seeing her face as she came with utter abandon… Jesus, the only word I could find for what it made me feel was joy. She was so beautiful, and she trusted me so completely as I touched her in ways I was sure she’d never been touched before. No, it was obvious that all of this was new to her. It made me both angry that no man had ever cared enough about her pleasure to pay attention to her like that, and bursting with pride and something else I couldn’t even name that I had been the one to wake her body for the first time.
For once, it didn’t matter at all that I’d been dying to possess her, to find my own release, to feel her hot pussy throb around my cock as I came. I was rock hard the whole time, and I knew I was in for a world class case of blue balls, but I didn’t care. Right then, what mattered was Cherish, and I wanted everything to be about her.
After I had driven her back to the clubhouse and kissed her goodnight outside the door of the apartment, I drove back to my place in a kind of drunken stupor. It was almost like I didn’t recognize myself. I couldn’t ever remember feeling even remotely like this about another woman. The fact that it was someone so inexperienced and innocent about the world was even more confusing. Not that Cherish was a cold fish; far from it. I could tell just by the way her body responded, by the sensual moans that escaped from deep in her throat, that she was a highly sexual woman. It was only a matter of time before she learned how to give as good as she got. And I wanted to be the man who was there for it. For once, the idea of going slow, of taking my time with a woman, seemed more appealing than just getting my rocks off and moving on to the next thing. I got back to my place, went straight to the bathroom, and jumped into the hottest shower I could stand, stroking myself to a shuddering release at the memory of Cherish coming under my hand.
The following day, I was having a hell of a time thinking about anything but her. I found myself eagerly anticipating seeing her as my bike ate up the road between my place and the clubhouse. I felt like a goddamn schoolboy, and I didn’t know whether to be disgusted with myself or just run with it. When I got there, Cherish was already up and about and in the kitchen, making a large breakfast of bacon and eggs that must have been for some of the brothers. Her hair was tied up in a loose pony. She was wearing a green sundress that I hadn’t seen before, and it showed off her legs and made me want to slip my hands under it and have my way with her.
“Hello, gorgeous,” I said into her ear as I slipped my arms around her from behind.
Cherish leaned back against me and looked up. Her eyes were shining. “Hey, you,” she answered.
I turned her around gently and gave her a deep kiss as I drew her to me. She pressed eagerly against me, whimpering softly.
“No kissing the cook when she’s makin’ my breakfast,” Trig growled loudly from the doorway. I looked up to see him mock-frowning at me with a curious glint in his eye. “Don’t come between me and my food, Wolff.”
“I wouldn’t think of it,” I said easily. “There enough for me, Sunshine?” I asked the beautiful girl in my arms.
“There’s enough for everybody who wants some.” Her smile was just for me, and it made my heart leap in my chest.
“Well, ain’t this a picture of domestic bliss,” Moose, our Enforcer, announced, as he brushed past Trig and headed for a seat at the kitchen table. “Coffee ready?”
“There’s a full pot, just waiting for you,” Cherish told him as she turned back to the skillet she was stirring. My arms were still around her, and Moose eyed me curiously for a moment, then grunted and grabbed a mug out of the cupboard.
“What’s on your agenda for today?” I asked her as I watched her flip the bacon.
“I have to call the county courthouse in Arizona to find out about whether I’m legally married, and then call the licensing bureau to find out whether I need to make an appointment to take my driving test. After that, I’m going into town to stop by Hammie’s and give my new boss an update on how getting my official documents is going. Depending on what they say when I call the courthouse, I may go make an appointment to talk to a divorce lawyer.”
I marveled at how calmly she said the last bit. So much was new to her, and she had to be terrified at the prospect of initiating proceedings against Isaiah Whitehead, but she wasn’t letting any stress she felt show. I squeezed her tight and murmured into her ear, “Whatever you need me to do for you, you let me know.”
“Thank you, Levi. Actually,” she blushed, “I guess you could ask your friend to make me that fake school ID card.”
I grinned. “Done.” I’d call my man Lefty right after breakfast. “How are you getting into town?”
“Walking,” she shrugged.
“That’s over three mil
es,” I told her.
“I know,” she grinned. “I walked it the first day, when I came from there to here, remember? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna break.”
“There’s no sidewalk for most of it. You shouldn’t be walking along that road.”
“Well, that’s why I need to get my license. And eventually a car,” she said mildly. “Don’t worry about it, Levi. I’ll be completely fine. I actually like walking. It’ll be good to get some exercise.”
I grumbled a response and made a note to take her in myself, later. For now, the club had church in a few minutes.
The men were in a more jovial mood than usual as Grey banged the gavel, which I attributed to the effects of Cherish’s delicious breakfast. Apart from the usual business, the main topic of discussion was some vandalism that had occurred to some of the equipment and vehicles outside our garage. As the discussion progressed, the mood worsened, and tension became palpable.
“Anything on the security cams?” Repo asked.
“Too dark,” Grey commented. “Saw a few figures, but nothing much to identify them. All we know is there were three of them, and looks like they showed up around 3:18 in the morning. They were gone within ten minutes.”
“Goddamnit,” raged Winger. “I am fucking sick of sitting around and doing nothing about this Cannibals problem. We’re acting like a bunch of fucking pussies. I say we go over there and knock enough skulls together to make them think more than twice about coming back here again.”
“We still don’t know for sure who it is,” Cal pointed out. “Shit, the vandalism could have been high school kids, for all we know.”
STONE KINGS MOTORCYCLE CLUB: The Complete Collection Page 27
