He had never been this hard before. He had seen models’ naked bodies, and actresses’, women the world deemed truly beautiful, but they couldn’t hold a candle to Shelly. No one could compare to her and as she lifted her top off over her head and slowly removed her bra, his mouth watered.
All those delicious soft curves. All that warm skin. All that love just for him.
He kicked off his boots and shoved down his jeans, his clothes suddenly feeling suffocating.
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she crawled closer to him, rubbing her palm across his bulge.
“I like that I do this to you.” Her voice was breathy and sexy and full of arousal and he found himself shaking with need.
He tumbled her back on the bed, taking another kiss, licking inside her mouth. He was feeling frenzied, too out of control to think. He just knew he wanted to touch her all over, every inch of her, and when he was finished start all over again.
Shelly took his hand and placed it on her breast, prompting him to squeeze while she rubbed herself against his cock.
“We’ve got to slow down,” he panted.
“Why? I want this.”
“I know, but this is your first time and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t, Levi. I know you’ll make me feel good.”
He nodded. He would and if he didn’t, he would die trying. He left her for a moment to retrieve a condom from his jeans.
“Hold this.” He gave it to her. “I want to taste you again.” He kissed her belly button, dipping his tongue inside and causing her to let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and moan.
Goddamn it.
He loved that sound. He wasn’t sure he would be able to get enough of it. He wasn’t sure that he was ever going to get enough of her.
He scraped his teeth across her belly. She gasped a little, wiggled at the sensation. He loved teasing her, loved taking his time with her.
He hadn’t even been inside her and yet he knew this was the best sex of his life. To be with a woman he truly felt comfortable with. He didn’t have to worry about her expectations, or if she was trying to gain something from him, or if he had to worry about her betraying his trust.
Shelly didn’t care that he was famous or that he had money. She wanted him for him. She wanted the best for him.
And he wanted the same for her. He wanted to make her happy, and as his lips traveled along her inner thigh he realized that he would do anything to achieve that.
He opened her and took one long lick inside. She was incredibly wet, and she tasted sweet. He groaned just thinking what she would feel like around him.
He sucked her nub into his mouth and she spasmed. He knew she was close to coming and he wanted to get her all the way there with just his mouth, but she grabbed his hair and yanked.
“Put it on.” She pushed the condom at him. “No more waiting. I want you now.”
He did what she asked, his hands shaking a little bit. He was too aroused, but more than that he was a little nervous. He felt like this was his first time, too.
He had to make it good for her, make it memorable, make sex a beautiful thing.
He settled between her legs and she wrapped them around him. He looked down at her for a moment, her eyes full of anticipation. She didn’t seem nervous or unsure. This felt right to him, like he was meant to be here. He was stupid for waiting for so long.
He gave her a long slow kiss and pushed her hair away from her face. “Are you sure you want to do this with me?”
“I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else.” She flashed him a quick smile. “Besides, I think we’re at the point of no return. If you leave me now, I might have to kill you.”
“Shells …” He grinned back, but then he kissed her, because his lips didn’t feel right unless they were pressed against hers.
He pushed inside of her slowly. It was a tight fit and he didn’t want to hurt her.
There was no barrier impeding his way. She wasn’t a young girl. She was just a woman who had waited and he was grateful for that.
“Am I hurting you, Shelly?”
“God, no. I want more.” She wiggled her hips beneath him.
He started with slow, firm strokes. He had to go slow, to prolong this, to deny the instinct to go wild and pump inside her until they were both delirious and covered in sweat. Their sex had the potential for that. The way she moved with him, and moaned, and bit down on his shoulder when he went deep.
But this was their first time and he was already too aroused. Too close to the edge.
“Don’t go slow, Levi.” She moaned, seeming to know his thoughts. He sped up his pace, a little harder, a little faster. She dug her nails into his back and that little bit of pain spiked his pleasure tenfold.
He was going to explode. He pulled out of her and rubbed his head against her clit until she was trembling and crying out. But he didn’t want to miss the feel of her squeezing around him as she came so he pushed himself back in, pumping inside of her uncontrollably until he was shaking and yelling out her name.
He collapsed on top of her and her warm soft arms wrapped around him, her fingers twinning in his hair.
He felt more than good in that moment.
Right.
Safe.
Happy.
Exhausted.
Perfect.
There were so many words and not one that could encompass everything.
He rolled them over to their sides so he wasn’t crushing her and kissed her all over her face.
“How are you feeling, Shells?”
She looked up at him with those wide green eyes. “I can’t say. There aren’t enough words.”
“I know,” he said as he kissed her. “I know.”
Chapter 15
Dear Levi,
My father is very pleased with you today. When I mentioned to you that I had hurt my back lifting those boxes of books, I never thought you would send a state-of-the-art massaging recliner. My father is currently sitting in it with a look of bliss on his face. He said to thank you. I do believe he has stolen my chair.
Shelly woke the next morning to Levi sprinkling kisses along her throat. She sighed. It was a hell of a way to start the day. She rolled into his warmth and snuggled there. She was sad that the sun was shining through her window, because she didn’t want the night to be over.
She had made love with her best friend. She was in love with her best friend. She had always known that on some level, but waking up this morning she felt it so strongly she couldn’t deny it anymore.
But there was nothing she could do about it, because Levi wasn’t permanent here. He wouldn’t be in her life like this forever. Loving him was terminal. She would never stop, never get over it. And she was okay with that. As long as she didn’t lose her head, as long as she kept that fact to herself.
She couldn’t let him know how deeply she felt for him. She knew him too well; he wouldn’t want to hurt her. He valued their friendship and she knew he didn’t want to mess things up between them.
So she was going to have to resign herself to have as much of him as she could while he was here and try to move on when he was gone. She deserved affection and sex and happiness, and she would have to find it with another man.
Even if she didn’t love him as much as the man who was kissing her right then.
“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you look in the morning?”
“No, but a lady loves a compliment.”
He kissed behind her ear and then down the side of her neck, stopping at her shoulder where he rested his lips. “I don’t want to get out of this bed. But I have some business to attend to. You want to come with me?”
“Just because I had some very good sex with you last night doesn’t mean I want to spend the day with you.”
He left out a little laugh, his smile making him even more gorgeous. It wasn’t fair for one man to be so beautiful. “You have plans?”
“I ha
ve plans. With Judy. Starting with buying her breakfast for ditching her in the bar last night.”
“She’ll understand. How long do you think before the whole town is talking about what happened last night?”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure it made the paper.”
He smiled at her. “It was worth it.” He kissed her lips. “I would do it all again.”
He got out of bed and began to pick up his clothes, which were all over the room. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Off that hard lean body that looked like it should be the subject of sculptures.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked as he put on his clothes. There was a slight grin curling his lips.
“I like what I see. You got a problem with that?”
“No. I’m just feeling a little objectified right now.”
“Why? I haven’t asked you to bend over or twirl for me yet.”
He laughed then. A big hearty laugh, that caused him to throw his head back and his shoulders to shake. “This is why it’s hard to leave you.” He crawled back on the bed and kissed her softly.
He lifted his lips for a moment, before he pressed them to hers again. It was a deeper kiss this time, slower. His tongue swept in and his lips worked expertly across hers.
She wrapped her arms around him and held him to her still-nude body, not wanting the kiss to end.
She didn’t want to let him go. Not just now. She wanted to keep him here forever, but she knew that wasn’t in the cards.
“I need you again,” he said when he lifted his lips.
“I thought you had to go.”
He removed his shirt. “Being here with you is more important.”
An hour later Levi was gone as Shelly was on her way to Judy’s house to begin her day of baking for the reading party they had planned.
She wasn’t sure what she was going to tell Judy, how she was going to explain last night, but all those thoughts flew out of her head when Judy’s front door opened and she saw Ace coming out wearing the same clothes he’d had on the night before.
He paused as she stepped out of the car. “Um … Ah … Good morning.”
“Good morning, Ace.” She tilted her head and grinned at him. “How was your evening?”
He shook his head and groaned. “It was … Judy.”
He walked away from her then, pulling out of the driveway fast.
Judy appeared in the doorway, wrapped in a bathrobe, her hair in tumbled waves.
“Good morning, Judy!”
“Shove it, Shelly.” She stepped aside and let her in. “This is all your fault.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. What happened to you last night?” She plopped down on her couch. “Levi looked like an angry junkyard dog. It was damn sexy.”
“It was.” She sat down next to Judy. “I was mad as hell when it happened but I have to admit that it’s nice knowing there’s a man who’s willing to maim for me.”
“So what happened after you left?”
“He stayed with me …” She sighed, not sure she knew how to put what had happened into proper words. “Didn’t leave until a few minutes ago.”
“You slept with him?”
“I kind of had to.”
Judy raised one her perfectly arched brows. “You had to?”
“He kisses me and I feel like I’m falling. He touches me and I want to jump out of my body. And when he looks at me my heart races.” She grabbed a pillow and put it over her face. “I sound like such an immature dork!”
Judy pulled the pillow away from her face. “No, honey. You sound like you’re in love.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“I think the fact the Levi is in love with you is way more obvious.”
“What?” Judy’s statement startled her. “Levi is not in love with me.”
“Yes, he is. You should see the way he looks at you, Shelly. Men don’t look at their friends like that. And I know most men will sleep with anything that moves, but Levi wouldn’t have sex with you if it didn’t mean something.”
Shelly shook her head, her heart suddenly racing. “No, we’re just friends. And he’s comfortable with me. He does love me, but like a best friend does,” she said in a rush. “That’s what you were probably seeing.”
“I’ve been around the block a few times, honey. I know a man in love when I see one. And you are no longer just friends. You can’t be if you’re in love with him.”
*
“What do you think he wants this time?” Levi asked Colt as they drove over to Grace’s house later that morning.
“I’m not sure. The last time he asked us to come over he sprang a kid on us. This time it could be twins,” Colt responded in his dry voice.
Levi laughed, not expecting his brother to make a joke. “It wasn’t sprung on you. You already knew,” he pointed out.
“I just knew Duke suspected. I was with Lolly when he came to confront her about it.”
“Of course Lolly knew about it.” Levi shook his damn head. “That woman seems to know everything that’s happening around this town before it happens.”
“She set him up. This whole trip home was to get Duke to see his son.”
Levi glanced at his brother. “You think she’s only setting him up?”
“No, you too. She would like for you to be with Shelly.”
Levi knew that. He just didn’t know what to do with that information.
“Heard you tried to choke a guy for touching her last night.”
“You got put in jail because someone called Zanna a slut. Do you really want to go there with me?”
“I don’t. That woman drives me insane. I don’t know whether to shake her or …”
“Yeah, man. I know how you feel.”
“Don’t hurt Shelly,” Colt said surprising him. “She’s one of the best things that has come out of this shitty place. She sends me a birthday present every year.”
“She does?”
“It’s usually something she’s bakes. One year I got a make-your-own-hot-sauce kit. This year it was set of crazy mugs. You know that deep-sea sand art thing in my office? She sent it when we opened up the new King’s Customs offices. I thought it was weird for a while, but she sends Duke a present, too. You know that blanket that’s on his couch? Shelly sent that when he got out of prison.”
“She never said a word to me about it.”
“I don’t think she thinks it’s anything worth mentioning. Shelly has always been sweet like that. We tried to keep how bad off we were from you, because we knew on the inside we were just as good as everyone else. But we looked like the trash everyone said we were. We had to glue our shoes back together, our clothes didn’t fit, and when Lolly took us in we looked like grubby street urchins.”
“I never felt that way.”
“Why should you? Why should you have any of that doubt inside you? You had the best shot at being normal. We didn’t want you going around as fucked up as we were.”
“But you were kids, too.”
“We had to grow up too fast. It didn’t make sense for you to.” Colt looked out the window. “I don’t keep anything from you, Levi. You’re a grown man. You’ve done good for yourself. If I don’t tell you something now it’s because I don’t think you would give a shit. I know I don’t give a shit about half the stuff you tell me.”
Levi grinned. He knew another thing that would change when this month was over: He wasn’t going to go back to just seeing his brothers when it was necessary. He was going to spend more time with them because they all needed to.
“Now, as for Duke,” Colt went on, “he’s a bigger pain in the ass. Much more unreasonable than I am.”
“Oh, I think you two are about tied in that area.”
“He didn’t see you come into manhood,” Colt said seriously. “He was in prison when you did and he hates that. He did so much stuff to protect you as a kid, so he’s probably always going to be an overbearin
g jackass for the rest of your life. Lucky for you he has a kid now. Maybe he’ll back off you.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say so many words in a row before,” Levi said as they pulled into Grace’s driveway.
Colt shook his head, but there was a little smile in his eyes. “You’re such an asshole.”
Levi shut off his car and saw that big changes had been made since he’d been here last. It was like a new place. The house had been painted, the porch replaced, and now there was a big outbuilding in the back that Levi knew Duke was going to use as a work space. Duke walked out of the house then with Ryder. Father and son looking nearly identical. They were even dressed similarly.
If Levi didn’t know better, he would never think that the pair had only known each other a short time. He and Colt stepped out of his Jeep and walked over to them.
“Hey,” Ryder said to both of them. “My dad—I mean Duke—says he wants to show me something.”
“Your dad is good about springing surprises on people,” Levi said, looking at Duke. “Colt and I made a bet. He thinks old Duke here is going to spring another thirteen-year-old on us. I think he’s bought you a pony.”
“You and Colt are both jackasses.” Duke walked to the large metal building behind the house and pulled the door up to reveal an old El Camino. “This is yours, boy,” he said to his son.
“What’s mine?” Ryder blinked at him.
“The car.”
Ryder walked around the back of it and then got on his hands and knees and looked under it.
“What are you doing?” Duke frowned at his son.
“I’m looking to see if there is a Lamborghini under here.”
“A goddamn Lamborghini. You’ll drive one of those over my dead body.”
“If there’s one sure way to piss off your father, it’s to tell him you like a foreign car,” Levi said.
Colt nodded. “He stopped talking to me for three weeks after I bought my first German car. I think he would rather you knock over a liquor store than come home with something made in Italy.”
Ryder gave a mischievous smile. “I know. But for real, what is this for?”
“We’re going to restore it. You know how you like building those little model cars? Well, I got you a big one. A ’67 El Camino. I wish I’d had a ’67 El Camino for a first car.”
Heart of a Bad Boy (Bad Boys of Destiny #3) Page 18
