She looked up, her eyes inviting. She was hungry, all right, but not for food. “I could eat.” She paused. “You.”
The perpetual hard-on he’d been experiencing hit critical level. Levi chuckled softly under his breath, then bent and kissed her lips. “I’m definitely on the menu.”
“Then I plan to get full.”
NATALIE WAITED for Levi to drop anchor, then threaded her fingers through his and tugged him toward the small bedroom. Talking about him leaving had only emphasized the fact that she had very little time left to spend with Levi. And she’d be damned if she’d waste that time with if-onlys and what-might-have-beens. She knew the score going into this very brief relationship and, rather than dwell on what she couldn’t change, she planned to take advantage of every second they had left.
Beginning now.
Her fantasy lover—the bona fide love of her life—was standing right here in front of her, ready to do her bidding, ready to make her dreams come true, ready to rock her world.
And she looked forward to the quake.
This morning she’d been so desperate, in such a hurry to get him beneath her skin that she hadn’t been able to give much thought to anything else. Frankly, she’d just needed to take the edge off.
And while this morning’s frantic sex session in Winnie’s storeroom—she was still finding the occasional grain of sugar on her body—had done just that, it had also done something more.
It had whetted her appetite.
She hadn’t been kidding when she said she wanted to eat him. She did. She wanted to taste the hot, hard length of him. She wanted to feel that silky skin against her tongue. She wanted to suck him up like an ice-cream cone on the Fourth of July, then set him off like a Roman candle.
Natalie shrugged out of her shirt, then shucked her pants. “You’re going to need to get naked for this.”
Levi’s hungry gaze slid from one end of her body to the other in a slow leisurely process that set her blood on fire and made her nipples bud. He instantly stripped, then lay down on the bed and linked his hands casually behind his head. “Done.”
Natalie deliberately popped the front closure on her bra and let it fall open, then casually shrugged out of it. Next, she slowly shimmied out of her panties—although there hadn’t been much to them—and kicked them aside.
A stuttering breath echoed out of his lungs. “Wow.”
Pleased, she set one knee against the bed, then trailed her hand slowly up over his thigh. His penis jumped, almost as if it were trying to land in her hand. She feasted her eyes on him, on the part of him that was so very different from her. He was hard and hot and the slippery skin glided effortlessly against her palm as she explored him.
His breath hissed through his clenched teeth. “Natalie,” he said warningly.
She bent and touched her tongue to the very tip.
He swore.
“Yes?” she asked.
“You’re doing this on purpose.”
She took the whole of him in her mouth and sucked long and hard. “I thought that was the whole point.”
“I’m going to get you back for this,” he promised, his voice cracking. “I am so going to get you back. You’re not the only one who’s hungry.”
She quirked a brow at him. “Who says we have to dine alone?”
His head popped off the pillow, his eyes widened, and then a long, slow smile designed to set her panties—had she been wearing any—on fire slid over his beautiful lips. “You’re right. We don’t.”
Before she knew what was happening, Levi took hold of her legs and dragged her into position. His fingers parted her curls and a second later, his hot tongue was fastened over the heart of her sex, licking and sucking.
Pleasure bolted through her and she transferred her joy to him, cupping his balls, sucking the whole of him into her mouth once more. She nibbled, she licked. She wrapped her hand around his dick and chased it with her lips, up and down the long shaft. Meanwhile he continued his own frenzied assault, tenting his tongue over her engorged clit and rubbing hard against her. He hooked a finger deep inside her wet channel, finding the sensitive patch of skin she’d only ever read about.
Natalie sucked him harder, could feel the climax building in his balls as they shrunk up and hardened.
“Natalie, you’d better stop,” he said, his voice strangled.
“Only if you will,” she challenged.
Levi snagged a condom—one of many he’d put on the small nightstand—and tore into the package with his teeth before fishing it out.
Natalie took it from him. “Let me,” she said, carefully rolling the protection into place. “And for the record, I’m on the pill and I’ve got a clean bill of health.”
Levi flipped her over and nudged her folds, bumping the top of her sex. Her eyes rolled back in her head. “For the record, I don’t need to be on the pill, and I also have a clean bill of health.” He flashed his teeth in a smile. “But I was prepared.”
Natalie chuckled, then the laugh died a swift death as he suddenly pushed into her. Veins stood out on his neck and his entire body quivered atop her. He’s so beautiful, Natalie thought as her body welcomed him inside. She drew her legs back and wrapped them around his waist, rocking against him. He was absolutely amazing. From an artist’s viewpoint, utterly flawless. A beautiful creation of muscle and bone, and those eyes…They had the ability to look right into her soul.
“Damn,” he muttered.
He withdrew almost to the tip, then pushed back in.
“I know.”
Levi bent and nuzzled her neck, then licked a path between her breasts and over one sensitive aching peak. She felt that sensation all the way to the heart of her sex, as though an invisible thread connected the two. She tightened around him, holding him in, and ran her hands along his back, then around and up and over his chest. She loved the way he felt, Natalie thought, as her greedy palms devoured him. Soft yet hard, unapologetically male. He was certainly no metrosexual. She’d bet her life that he’d never had a manicure and wouldn’t know a male moisturizer if it bit him on the ass.
He was a man. Every wonderfully proportioned divine inch of him.
Levi paused, looking adorably uncertain. “Do I want to know what you’re thinking?”
She grinned up at him and flexed her hips, rocking forward. “I think you’re hot.”
He pushed again. “Good. I like it when you think I’m hot.”
“And I was thinking that I’m glad that you’re not a metrosexual—”
“A what?”
“—and that you’ve never had a manicure and that you don’t moisturize before bed.”
Levi peered down at her. “You know what I’m thinking?”
“No.”
“I’m thinking that if you’re thinking that much, I must not be doing this right.” He banded his arm around her waist, hiked her leg higher and angled deep. “Time to rectify.”
And he did.
Oh, sweet heaven help me, Natalie thought as he pounded into her. Hot, long, relentless strokes, deeper and deeper. She wrapped her legs tighter around him and met him thrust for thrust, though it was hard to keep up.
In and out, in and out, he pushed her higher and higher until she could feel the burn of climax hovering in her womb, just a bit out of reach, but growing closer with every powerful thrust.
“Levi, I—” She couldn’t finish, couldn’t form another word, but he seemed to know what she needed because at that precise moment he reached down between their joined bodies and thumbed her clit.
She came.
The orgasm washed through her like a giant pulsating wave, lifting her up, pulling her under, drowning her in pleasure. Just when she’d reached the surface and was content to float along the languid river of release, Levi suddenly flipped her over onto her belly, dragged her hips up against him, and pushed into her from behind.
Unbelievably, pleasure bolted through her. He plowed into her, over and over, his balls slap
ping against her aching flesh. It was a good thing he was holding her up, Natalie thought, because there was no way in hell she could support her own weight. Her entire body felt boneless, and another tingle of unexpected release quickened deep inside of her.
It was almost as if he knew it, too, as though he had some sort of psychic connection to her sex, because he angled up and pushed harder, reaching for that place that would set her off once more.
Harder, deeper and deeper still…
Her breath came in short little puffs and her vision blackened around the edges. She didn’t believe it was possible to die from pleasure, but was seriously beginning to wonder if that was what was happening to her. Her heart was pounding so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. Her heavy, sensitive breasts bounced back and forth on her chest, absorbing the force of his thrusts.
“Come for me again, Nat,” he said, licking a path up the middle of her back. He nipped at her shoulder, sending her over the edge of release again. She spasmed around him, and another contraction of almost unbearable sensation eddied through her.
Her climax triggered his own. She felt him stiffen behind her, and he angled deep, seating himself as deeply into her as he could. Warmth pooled in the end of the condom, setting off another little pulse of release.
A moment later, he snagged a tissue from the table and disposed of the protection, then cuddled her close. She could hear the waves lapping against the side of the boat, and saw that the first twinkle of stars had appeared. A half moon glowed overhead, and for that instant, everything was completely, totally right with her world.
Because she was in love with Levi McPherson.
11
Dear Levi,
Sometimes when I can’t sleep, I pretend that you can’t either, and that you’re awake in your bed, thinking of me, too. I pretend that you love me and want me as much as I want you…
“THIS IS excellent,” Natalie said, slicing off another bite of her steak.
“It’s kind of hard to ruin a good piece of meat,” Levi said, trying not to let her appreciation go to his head. It had been a while since he’d cooked for a woman, but he still knew how to work a grill. He’d picked up a couple of steaks in town as well as some fresh ears of corn and had tossed both on the fire. The German potato salad he’d asked his mother to fix for him and the dessert that Winnie had thrown in completed the meal.
Or their second one, anyway.
Sex had a way of making him hungry, and the great sex he’d just had made him absolutely ravenous. His gaze slid over Natalie, who’d shrugged into one of his shirts. The army-green T-shirt hit her mid-thigh as she sat cross-legged in the chair, her long red hair sliding in a tangled mass over her right shoulder.
Gorgeous, Levi thought, and his throat went strangely tight. He didn’t know when he’d ever felt so strongly about a woman, when he’d ever felt more alive and connected and at ease with one. Natalie had a way of doing that. He could enjoy dinner with her, walk along the beach with her—hell, just watch her breathe—and knew he’d never tire of her. He knew that she’d always feel like a comfortable old pair of shoes, easy to slip into. His lips curved. Not that she would appreciate the analogy, but he’d never been a whiz with pretty words. He just knew he cared about her. Cared about her more than he was willing to admit. More than self-preservation would let him consider.
She glanced around the bay. In the distance lights twinkled along the shore. “How long have you had this boat?”
“I got it when I graduated from jump school,” Levi told her. “It was a present to myself.”
She lifted her wineglass in his direction and a smile curved her ripe kiss-swollen lips. “Excellent choice,” she murmured. She let go a sigh. “It’s been years since I’ve been on the water.”
Levi leaned back in his chair and stared thoughtfully into his wineglass. “I love it,” he said. “I always have. There’s something about getting out on the water and knowing that I’m a tiny speck on such a vast expanse. That if I set my sails in the right direction, I can go to any place in the world.”
She chewed her bottom lip, staring at him as though she didn’t know what to make of him. “Hidden depths,” she said. “That was a very interesting insight.”
Levi chuckled, suddenly embarrassed. “I don’t know about that. I just like sailing. I love the scent of the ocean and the snap of the sails. Harnessing the wind.” He leaned forward. “Have you ever really thought about those early explorers? The courage it must have taken to set sail for parts unknown?”
Her eyes twinkled. “As a matter of fact, I have,” she confided. “Of course, if it had all been left up to me, then we’d still be laboring under the assumption that the world was flat.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have had the courage. But you would, wouldn’t you?” She nodded and rested her chin in her hand. “You would have made one helluva explorer.”
“I don’t know about that,” Levi said, laughing. “But I’d like to think I would have tried. That I would have been interested.”
“Is that why the military suits you so well, you think? Because of all the travel? Of going to parts unknown?”
He nodded thoughtfully. He’d never really considered that aspect of it before, but he supposed that was part of the lure. That and defending and protecting his country. He had a healthy respect for the men who’d essentially risked treason to found this country. They were men of courage, of character. He liked to believe that he was contributing to their cause, that he was playing a small part in their plan.
“I suppose,” he finally admitted. “I love seeing new places and learning new customs. I’ve stood at the base of the Pyramids of Giza, walked part of the Great Wall of China. I’ve breathed highland air in Scotland and swum along the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.” He smiled at her. “And I’m not done yet. There’s so much more of this world that I want to see, Natalie.” He paused and watched her glass stall at her lips. “You’d love it, too.”
She nodded, but a sadness tinged her gaze. “I would,” she agreed. “But when I was done with all that, I’d want to come home to Bethel Bay. I want to make a difference, too, Levi,” she said. “I’m just doing it at a local level. And I suspect that’s never going to be enough for you.”
She was right, he knew, and yet hearing her say it was much harder than he’d anticipated. “Where does that leave us, then?” He asked the question lightly, as if her answer didn’t really matter.
But it did.
She shrugged sadly, and he watched her swallow before a weak smile finally managed to curl her lips. “It leaves us with tonight and tomorrow and tomorrow night…and our letters.”
His gaze slammed into hers and held. “That’s not enough.”
“Unfortunately it has to be, doesn’t it?”
“My tour is up in two months,” he said.
“And then you’ll just get reassigned to some other part of the world, won’t you? I mean, that’s been the norm, right?”
“It has,” he admitted.
Natalie reached across the table and took his hand. “I knew this when we started, Levi. In fact, having any part of you at all is more than I ever expected.”
“Then your expectations were too low.”
“Maybe so, but I didn’t know you were interested in me. You always hid it so well.”
A droll smile caught his lips. “Hi, pot. Meet kettle.”
She chuckled, and that wonderfully feminine sound wrapped around his middle and squeezed. “I know,” she said. “But you have to understand. I never in a million years dreamed that I’d get to be with you at all. Do I wish we had time for more? Yes. Am I expecting anything more than what we have right now?” She shook her head. “No. And I can be okay with that. I have to be. Because you’re not coming back here and I’m not leaving. I can’t. My father is here, my business is here.” She shrugged. “It is what it is…and I’m loving every minute of it.”
He grimly suspected he was loving her, Levi thought, stunned tha
t this had somehow happened. He’d known that he’d always been drawn to her, intrigued by her. But in love? In love?
Unfortunately, he knew she was right. This was a problem that had no answer. She was too invested in Bethel Bay and he was too invested in his career. He could no more change than she could, and he’d be damned before he’d ask her. Things would probably be fine for a little while, but eventually she’d begin to hate him for taking her away from home. Were he to make the same sacrifice for her, no doubt that same logic would hold true.
It was a no-win situation.
He’d known that going in, had even made sure she understood the rules before they started, and yet here he was trying to figure out a way around the policy.
Evidently deciding that a subject change was in order, Natalie let go a sigh, and a smile that wasn’t altogether true slid over her lips. “So now that you’ve painted over the Sabrina, what are you going to christen your boat?”
Levi laughed. “I have no idea. I’m just glad I’ve gotten rid of her old moniker.”
“What was she before you dubbed her the Sabrina?”
“The Bitch.”
Natalie’s eyes widened and she almost spewed her wine. “I’m sorry?”
He chuckled, glad that she’d found a way to lighten the moment. They only had a little time left and he’d be damned if he’d ruin it by being maudlin. “I’m joking.” He thought back, trying to remember. “You know, I think it was something simple, like the Zephyr.”
Her nose crinkled. “You can’t have a boat named the Zephyr,” Natalie said. “It doesn’t suit you. It’s too Anne of Green Gables.”
Levi shrugged and refilled her empty glass. “Hey, I’m open to suggestions.”
She brightened. “Really?”
He nodded.
She chewed the inside of her cheek and gazed at him with a thoughtful expression. “How about the Badass?”
He guffawed. “The Badass? I’m flattered, but I don’t think so.”
She sat back in her chair, seemingly deflated. “I think it has a certain ring to it.”
Uniformly Hot! Volume 1 from Harlequin: Letters from HomeBreaking the RulesComing Up for Air Page 11
