“I’m sorry, Levi.” The screen went dark.
Levi squared his shoulders. “Let’s finish this so we can get the fuck out of here. The quicker you get rid of that gun, the better.”
While Levi used Dominic’s discarded jacket to wipe down the table and the box it held, Dominic grabbed his shoulder holster and slipped it back on. Then he turned in a slow circle, scanning the room and considering what else they’d touched. Levi had pulled back the sheet covering West, but the Seven of Spades would get rid of that with the body—
Levi suddenly froze, half-bent over the table, his forehead creasing.
“What?” Dominic asked, alert to any incoming threat.
Levi’s wide eyes met his. “That’s the only time the Seven of Spades has called me by my first name.”
With a mission to focus on and concrete goals to accomplish, both Dominic and Levi had the ability to compartmentalize their emotions and concentrate only on the task at hand. After removing any trace of their fingerprints from the house, they got back in the car and returned to Las Vegas, where Dominic offloaded the gun at a pawnshop nowhere near Henderson. In the meantime, Levi called the Andersons to ensure Adriana really was safe at home.
It wasn’t until they were sitting in the car in the pawnshop parking lot, with all their i’s dotted and their t’s crossed, that the atmosphere thickened with building tension. Dominic didn’t know what to say, or what he was supposed to do next. Should he ask Levi to drop him off at home? Did they just go on like none of this had ever happened?
Levi was in the driver’s seat, his hands on the wheel even though the keys weren’t in the ignition. His breathing was labored as he gazed at nothing through the windshield.
“You committed murder,” he said.
“You’re not gonna arrest me, are you?”
Levi’s head snapped toward him. “It’s not funny!” he said, his incredulous tone laced with a strong undercurrent of hurt. “For God’s sake, Dominic, how can you joke—”
“I know it’s not funny.” Dominic sighed, the crushing exhaustion of the past twenty-four hours catching up with him all at once. “I did what had to be done.”
“It didn’t—”
“There were civilian lives at stake. If that house had blown up, it could have taken innocent people with it. If we’d done nothing, the house would have exploded and West would have died anyway, slowly and painfully of internal bleeding. Maybe if the Seven of Spades had given us more than three minutes, we could have found another way, but that wasn’t the situation. West’s death was inevitable and prevented a much greater tragedy. Within the parameters we were given, there was only one acceptable option to minimize casualties. You couldn’t make that decision without it tearing you apart. I could. It’s that simple.”
Levi shook his head. “You once told me that the day taking a human life becomes something you can just shrug off is the day you find a new line of work.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing? Shrugging it off?” Dominic barked out a humorless laugh. “Never. I hate that I had to kill him. I wish there had been any other way. But sometimes the only right choice in a terrible situation still sucks ass. Accepting that reality doesn’t mean trivializing what I did.”
Levi’s hands slid off the wheel into his lap, and he was quiet for a moment as he studied them. “I don’t understand that.”
“I know, because you’d feel differently in my position. I also know why you were so terrified by the idea of killing West. But it would have been even worse if the Seven of Spades had killed everyone, so I took action.”
Dominic reached out, giving Levi plenty of time to indicate that his touch was unwelcome. When Levi remained still, Dominic took his hand.
“You’re a cop, Levi. I was a soldier. It’s not the same. What happened today will weigh on me, but I can live with it. What I wouldn’t have been able to live with is watching you destroy yourself.”
Levi didn’t respond.
“Do you feel differently about me now?” Dominic asked, the possibility chilling him to the bone.
“Did you feel differently about me after you watched me mutilate Acosta?” Levi said wryly.
“No.”
“I love you.” Levi met Dominic’s eyes. “I don’t know if there’s anything you could do that would change that, but killing someone to save innocent lives and protect me definitely isn’t it.”
Dominic brushed his free hand along Levi’s jaw, then cupped his cheek. Levi leaned into the touch.
“You know the circumstances wouldn’t matter to a court of law,” Levi said. “What you did was technically murder. If the Seven of Spades lied about not wanting you to go down for it . . . Dominic, they could have been recording everything that happened in that room. We have to be ready in case they turn you in.”
“Ready how?”
“Pack a bag. I’ll withdraw as much cash as I can and get my hands on a car that won’t lead back to either of us. I’d say we should go on a ‘vacation’ that’s conveniently located in a country with no extradition policy, but I’m under investigation, and of course there’s Rebel to think about—”
Dominic squeezed Levi’s hand to stop him from spinning out. “What do you mean, ‘we’? If I go on the run for murder, you’re gonna come with me?”
He’d said it jokingly, but Levi gave him a puzzled look and said, “Of course,” like Dominic was the dumbest person alive.
Dominic’s breath stuttered in his chest. He studied Levi’s face for any hint of exaggeration, but found only the frank sincerity that was Levi’s hallmark. Levi wasn’t given to empty romantic gestures; he’d never say something so serious unless it was the unvarnished truth.
Lunging across the gearshift, Dominic yanked Levi into a ferocious kiss. Levi yelped, then melted into it, his hands sliding up Dominic’s arms and neck to tangle in his hair. Though the angle was awkward, they kissed until they had to break apart to gasp for air. Dominic’s lips were sore, his face tingling where Levi’s stubble had scraped against his own.
Even after they parted, Dominic kept Levi close, cradling his jaw. “I think the Seven of Spades is already worried that they’ve pushed you too far; they wouldn’t risk alienating you further. We just need to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. And we can never tell anyone about what happened today. Not ever.”
Levi rested his hand atop Dominic’s, nodded, and leaned forward to touch their foreheads together. They both closed their eyes.
They were linked forever now, connected by dangerous secrets they could never share with another human being. But instead of driving them apart, those secrets had only bonded them more profoundly. They had seen each other at their darkest, and their love hadn’t just survived—it was stronger than before. Unconditional. Unbreakable.
“Let’s go home,” said Dominic.
Levi and Dominic had never been the kind of couple who touched each other while they were sleeping. They would cuddle after sex, or when they first lay down, but they always moved to their individual sides of the bed when it was time to sleep.
Today, however, after they tumbled naked and exhausted into Dominic’s bed, Dominic spooned up behind Levi and held him like he never planned on letting go. Levi nestled into the embrace, savoring the warmth of Dominic’s skin against his own, the weight of Dominic’s massive arm slung across his waist, the palm of Dominic’s hand pressed to his heart.
They passed out like that and slept for a solid ten hours.
Levi had vague memories of getting up at some point to use the bathroom, but when he woke for good, he and Dominic were in the same position. Dominic was lavishing Levi’s neck with kisses, rocking his hips to gently rub his erection against Levi’s ass.
Levi stretched under the covers, working out the kinks in his back, then guided Dominic’s hand between his legs with a pleased sigh. Groaning into Levi’s ear, Dominic began to tug and stroke his cock while Levi pushed back against the promising hardness sliding along the curve of his c
heeks.
His breathing quickened as Dominic coaxed him to full attention in record time. Each press of Dominic’s lips to his nape sent shivers down his spine; the sensation of that thick cock so close to where he wanted it was a wicked tease.
The heat building beneath their blanket cocoon soon became intolerable. Levi turned around, shoved Dominic onto his back, and climbed astride his hips. The covers pooled around their waists.
Rebel, who Dominic had retrieved from Carlos and Jasmine’s upon returning to his apartment, huffed in displeasure when their movement disturbed her own slumber. She shot them a dirty look before jumping off the bed and padding out of the room.
Levi settled his erection against Dominic’s and leaned down to kiss him. They frotted lazily, trading deep, languorous kisses as their hands glided over each other’s skin. Levi let out a hearty moan when Dominic’s thumbs crept between their bodies to caress the sensitive points of his hip bones.
Although they’d never stopped having sex while they were broken up, this felt like they were relearning each other. Levi grasped for every inch of Dominic he could reach, reacquainting himself with the flex of granite muscles, the rasp of Dominic’s chest hair, the puckered scar of the gunshot wound beneath Dominic’s right shoulder. No other man had ever aroused Levi this much; no one else’s touch had ever riled him up this way.
They’d also never been great at maintaining a slow pace. It wasn’t long before they were thrusting roughly against each other, their cocks sticky with sweat and pre-come, panting into each other’s mouths because they could no longer concentrate on the kiss. Levi swept his tongue along Dominic’s lower lip, loving the greedy way Dominic was kneading his ass, and then sank his teeth into the tender skin at the junction of Dominic’s throat and shoulder.
Dominic arched against him with a shouted curse, his fingers digging into Levi’s flesh. Levi sucked harder on the bite, wanting to leave a mark, wanting to prove that Dominic was his—
Growling, Dominic flipped them over, crushing Levi to the bed with his bulk. He drove his erection harder against Levi’s, pressing urgent, sloppy kisses to Levi’s face and jaw.
They could come like this, and it would be glorious—but it wasn’t what Levi wanted. “Lube,” he gasped. “Hurry.”
Dominic tore himself away only long enough to grab the bottle from the nightstand. There was nothing slow or careful about the plunge of his fingers as he worked Levi open, but Levi needed that, craved the sensation of being prepped a little too fast. He reached down and slid one of his own fingers into his hole alongside Dominic’s, grunting at the burn of a stretch that was just on the right side of painful.
Dominic chuckled against Levi’s skin. “I know you think you’re helping, but you’re getting in the way.”
“I’m not trying to help. I just want to feel full.”
“Fuck.” Dominic thrust his fingers more aggressively for a few dizzying moments before he withdrew them and pushed Levi’s hand aside. “I’ll give you something better.”
Levi drew his legs to his chest in anxious anticipation. Dominic rose onto his knees, propped Levi’s ass on his thighs, and lined his bare cock up with Levi’s hole.
His bare—
Oh no.
“Wait!” Levi snapped his hips up and away at an angle, rolling onto his side and bringing his legs between himself and Dominic, the same way he’d defend against an assault from this position.
“What’s wrong?” Dominic’s face was flushed, his hair mussed from Levi pulling it earlier. “Do you— Would you rather wait until we’re sure things will work out this time? Because I get it, I know I’ve let you down before—”
“That’s not it. It’s just . . .” Levi would give anything not to say this, but he had no choice. “We have to use a condom.”
Dominic frowned. “Why? I haven’t been with anyone else.”
Levi pressed his lips together.
“Oh.” Dominic rocked back to sit on his heels. “Oh.”
After all of Dominic’s gambling and lying, Levi’s uncontrolled rage, the violence and blood and straight-up murder, it was going to be Levi’s stupid fucking one-night stand that ruined them for good.
“I’m sorry,” was all Levi could think to say.
“Who was it?” Dominic asked. “It couldn’t have been Barclay. He’s been in Europe since the last time you and I slept together.”
“God, no, of course it wasn’t Stanton.” Levi sat upright against the headboard. “I’d never do that to you or him. It was Jay Sawyer.”
Dominic’s mouth fell open. “Sawyer? You hate that guy!”
“That night, I hated you and myself more.”
Realization dawning in his eyes, Dominic said, “Saturday. The night of Carlos’s bachelor party.”
“Yes.”
“Christ, no wonder Sawyer acted so weird when I called him the next day to find out where you were,” Dominic muttered.
Levi winced and shifted onto his knees so he and Dominic were at a more equivalent height. “I’m so sorry. I was really messed up, and I thought there was no more hope for us, and I just wanted something to take me out of my head. It was stupid.”
“You don’t have to apologize. It’s not like you cheated; we weren’t together. You had every right to sleep with someone else.”
“I know. I still wish I hadn’t done it.”
Dominic inched forward on his knees and raised his hands to Levi’s face. “What bothers me most is that you were in such a bad place that you had a one-off with someone you can’t stand. That’s not like you at all.”
“I wanted it to be you,” Levi murmured. “It was the only thing I thought about afterward.”
Dominic kissed him, slow and sweet. Levi exhaled a shaky sigh when their lips parted.
“Do you still want to . . .” Levi couldn’t finish the question, unsure if he meant have sex or the much more loaded get back together.
“I do if you do.”
Levi glanced down at Dominic’s deflated cock and then arched an eyebrow. Smiling, Dominic pulled Levi’s hand to the limp flesh, which began to perk up the second Levi stroked it.
Since Levi had lost his erection as well, they spent a few minutes kissing and jerking each other off, striving to recapture the mood of a few minutes earlier. Although it didn’t take long until they were both raring to go again, the vibe was different; Dominic was too quiet, his movements restrained, his careful touch nothing like his usual demanding grasp.
After Dominic put on a condom, he urged Levi onto his back again, but Levi shook his head and rolled onto his side instead. “This way,” he said. “Like we were before.”
Dominic spooned him from behind, and Levi lifted his top leg to provide easier access. But between the too-hasty prep and the additional tension that had overtaken Levi after his confession, Dominic could only get the head of his cock inside before Levi’s body clamped down and refused further entry.
Dominic eased that inch in and out, teasing Levi’s hole, which usually did the trick within a minute or so. This time, though, no matter how deeply Levi breathed or how deliberately he bore down, his ass remained closed for business.
“Levi,” Dominic said, “unless you really want just the tip, you have to relax.”
He couldn’t. He thought they’d blown past the thing with Sawyer way too fast, that it was hovering over their heads like an anvil that could crush them at any moment, and he hated that they had to use a condom when he knew how much Dominic preferred to fuck him bareback. Hell, he vastly preferred that himself.
“Why aren’t you more upset?” he said without thinking.
Dominic stilled with the head of his cock nestled inside Levi’s ass. “What?”
Levi twisted to look back at Dominic; the motion drove him a bit further onto Dominic’s cock and made them both grunt. “I told you I had sex with someone else, and you just . . . accepted it.”
“What do you want me to do?” Dominic pulled out, then popped the tip back
in. “Yell at you?”
“That’s not what I meant. It wouldn’t be fair for you to be angry with me. But I can tell you’re holding something back. If you’re jealous, or upset, or disappointed, you don’t have to hide that. I’d feel the same way in your position.”
Dominic was quiet for a moment, continuing his minute thrusting. “I’m not going to be that guy. You hate men like that.”
“Like what?”
“Meathead Neanderthals who get all territorial and possessive over their partners. I’m not like that.”
Astonished, Levi released his leg to rest his hand on Dominic’s cheek. “I could never think that about you. There’s a big difference between being a domineering psycho and feeling hurt that someone you love had sex with another person.” When Dominic’s brow remained furrowed, Levi added, “How are we going to rebuild our relationship if you can’t be honest with me about something this important?”
“Fine,” Dominic said through gritted teeth. “You want the truth? Knowing you had sex with Sawyer is driving me fucking insane. Thinking about his hands on you makes me sick.”
Dominic rolled his hips, managing to sink his cock a little deeper. Levi gasped and turned back to face front, grabbing his knee and pulling it to his ribs.
“I don’t want anyone else to see you like this, to touch you this way.” Dominic’s voice, already a gravelly rumble, was pitched even lower than normal. “Imagining his cock inside you . . .”
Levi shivered. Dominic was so far removed from the kind of asshole who’d jealously dictate Levi’s behavior and violently fend off interlopers that the idea was laughable. So maybe letting this play out wouldn’t do any harm—in fact, it might do them both some good.
“Sawyer’s cock wasn’t big enough,” he said.
Dominic groaned, his hips jerking. “No?”
“Not after you.”
“Is that so?” Dominic’s rough, teasing tone set butterflies fluttering in Levi’s stomach. “Look at yourself. You can’t even take it.”
Levi wet his lips. “I can if you make me.”
One-Eyed Royals Page 28
