by Kenna Knight
“But somebody’s stealing from you, don’t you think they’ll figure out another way? Like credit card theft or something?”
“We can deal with that when it comes, but no more police. I don’t want my employees being pitted against each other. Its just money, you guys are more important to me than that.”
“I can’t believe you’d do that for us? I mean yeah, actually I can believe it. You’re Graham Blackwell… super sweet, supportive, loving, caring, creative genius, and overall perfect male specimen.”
“Ooo girl, you know how to sweet-talk a man, don’t you?” I drape my arm around her shoulders, and we start to walk back to the front desk. “Don’t stop there, keep those compliments coming, honey. You know, this boss can never get enough compliments.”
“Is everything going to be okay with you and Levi?”
“Don’t worry about Levi and me.”
“Graham, I don’t want to be responsible for messing things up with you two, especially since I just got done telling him not to screw things up.”
“You’re not responsible for any of this, don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I want you to take the rest of the day off and go home. The salon’s already closed, and I haven’t even been home yet. We may as well have a day off… things will be better tomorrow.”
“Thanks. You’ll be here in the morning?”
“Yep, I have a lot of work to do before I take off next week.”
Melody moans. “What am I supposed to do about my shoot? I’m all green and puffy and nauseated. Nobody’s going to want to take pictures of this,” she says gesturing to her body.
“Do you feel up to flying?”
“Not really, but I asked my doctor after you mentioned it the other day, and he said it would be fine at this stage.”
“I think if you can get through the flight and take some medicine for nausea, you’ll be fine. You don’t look like you’ve gained a pound, and you’re not breaking out or anything. The green-around-the-gills look will go away with the nausea. You need the money if you’re going to keep that little bun in the oven, and you won’t be able to accept any jobs pretty soon when you start to show.”
“You’re right.”
“Of course, I am. And I’ll be there, too, so you’ll have moral support.”
We stop at the reception desk, and she hugs me again. “You’re the best.”
“Yeah, yeah, go home, rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She releases me and grabs her bag off the counter, slings it over her shoulder, and pushes through the front doors.
I should find out how much money was stolen from the safe. I should catch up on some paperwork in my office. I should call and tell Gloria I’m home and she doesn’t need to check on the dogs anymore. I should call the police department and tell them to forget about the case. I should do a lot of things including call Levi and figure out what the hell just happened in here today, but I don’t. Instead, I lock up and go home, play with Klondike and Sherman in the backyard, take a swim, and crawl into bed to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
When I wake up, it’s dark. I slept a lot longer than I had intended, and my stomach is growling loud enough to make Klondike look up from where he is curled up on the end of the bed. I turn my head to the side and look out the window into the darkness with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that has nothing to do with my hunger.
I should have called Levi. In my heart, I know he was trying to help, but if there is anything in the world I won’t tolerate, is someone bullying the people I care about, even if it was my boyfriend.
I drag myself from the bed and go into the kitchen with Sherman and Klondike yawning and stretching behind me. “You wanna go outside, guys?” I ask them while I dig through a drawer for a take-out menu. I don’t have enough energy to cook tonight.
The dogs jump up and down with excitement until I open the back door. They take off into the dark causing the motion detector lights to snap on. Back in the kitchen, I order Chinese and return to the bedroom to pull on some shorts over my boxers.
I stop in front of the full-length mirror and look at myself. My hair is disheveled, and I have a thick five o’clock shadow going on. In the dim light, my skin looks black from the near-solid tattooing covering me from my neck down, and my posture is slouched. I sigh and stand up straight running my fingers through my hair.
I miss Levi. It’s only been hours since he walked out of the salon today. We have been seeing each other for less than two weeks, but dammit, if there isn’t an ache in my chest when I think about him now.
When he left today, it sounded final, but something I learned in my many hours of therapy at rehab is that you can’t end a friendship or a relationship with a fight. Even if it is over, and I hope to God it’s not, we need to cool off and talk about what happened. I’ll give him some time, but I like him, maybe love him, too much to let him walk away that easy.
The dogs come racing back inside, and I go to close the door. In the living room, I switch on the television and curl up on the couch with my boys to watch Netflix and wait for my food.
I roll my phone around and around in my hand. I don’t want to wait. I want to call him right now and demand he meet me somewhere for a drink so we can sort this thing out. “You don’t think he hates me, do you, boy?” I say scratching Klondike behind the ears when he plops his head in my lap. He whines as if to say yeah, maybe.
My mind wanders to the past two days we spent together in Seattle—the nights in each other’s arms, the talks we had, the mind-blowing sex, the shower, room service, and the sightseeing. Levi is the first man I’ve ever felt like this with. I had started to think love was a myth, a word from the dictionary that nobody knows the definition of, so they throw it around haphazardly using it to describe every relationship they have.
I never claimed to love anyone before because I always felt like there was something missing. My boyfriends were just friends with benefits. Levi has that missing thing that none of the others had, and I know better than to throw it away over a stupid argument.
The doorbell rings snapping me from my thoughts. Klondike barks and takes off to the front door while Sherman hardly looks up from his end of the couch. Poor guy’s getting old, he isn’t even interested in take-out anymore.
I switch on the light outside and open the door expecting to find a delivery person standing there with my food. But I don’t, what I find is much better.
He has his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and his head bowed until I say his name. “Levi?” When he looks up at me with eyes red-rimmed and an expression of pure pain on his face, I push open the screen door and pull him into a hug.
Instantly, his arms are squeezing around me, holding on like he’s falling, and I’m his only hope of survival. I rub his back up and down and kiss the side of his head. “Hey, are you okay?”
He shakes his head, and I keep rubbing his back trying to comfort him. I don’t have on a shirt, and I can feel dampness on my chest, he’s crying. Shit, is this about today or has something worse happened? I’m hesitant to ask because I’m not sure I want to know, so instead, I guide him inside with my arm around his shoulder into the living room.
We sit together on the couch, and Klondike hustles around at our feet sensing that something is wrong. “It’s okay, boy, go lay down,” I say, and he looks up at me unsure if he should listen or not. I wave my hand toward another couch, and he hops up and lies down with one eye always on Levi.
I grab some tissues from the box on the coffee table and wipe his tears. “Tell me what’s wrong, baby, you’re worrying me.”
He blinks a few times and looks at me surprised. “I’m sorry. About earlier today with Melody, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I was just so angry that someone is taking advantage of someone I love. All I could think about was catching this person. Melody sounded like she knew who it could be, and the detective in me started pushing and pushing and…” He stops, and his vo
ice cracks with emotion.
“Shush, it’s okay, wait… did you just say I’m someone you love?” I’m pretty sure he did, but I want to make sure my ears aren’t playing tricks on me.
We are next to each other perched on the edge of the couch. Levi has his elbows on his knees clasping his hands in front of him. He isn’t looking at me, and for a second, I think maybe I was wrong. Maybe he didn’t mention love.
I reach out to touch his knee, and he looks at my hand before lifting his gaze to me. “Graham, I love you. I know it’s crazy after only a couple of weeks and a handful of dates, but I’ve never felt like this before with anyone, not even Neil, especially not Neil. I get it if you don’t feel the same way, but I want you to know where I’m coming from. If you don’t feel the same way, just…”
I lean over and take his face in my hands and smash my mouth down on his to show him I feel the same way. I shift on the couch and straddle his waist without breaking the kiss. He falls back against the couch and slides his hands into my shorts cupping my ass. I grind my hardening cock against his, and a moan escapes his lips feeding the frenzy happening between us.
“I want you so bad, Levi,” I say between kisses. Then I move to kiss a trail down his neck, but I don’t make it far because he is wearing more clothes than I am. “Lift your arms,” I order, and he does without a moment’s hesitation. I strip him of his gray Henley and toss it on the couch next to us. “I wanted to call you.” I kiss the dip in his throat. “But I figured you needed time to cool off.” I bite his shoulder, and he gasps. “I love you, too. I can’t stand being away from you. I can’t stand to see you upset. I want you to stay and never leave.”
I slide down his body until I’m kneeling in front of him kissing his chest and sculpted abs all the way to the waistband of his jeans. I unbutton and unzip them holding his eyes all the while. His hands are at his sides gripping the cushions of the couch in expectation of what’s going to happen next. “Up,” I say. He lifts his hips so I can peel his jeans from his body taking his briefs with them. His impressive, thick cock springs free making my mouth water. I may have thought I was hungry for food before, but now I know it was this all along.
I’m addicted to his tender touch, his masculine eucalyptus scent, the little noises he makes when I take him into my mouth and swirl my tongue around the end of his cock. I love the balance of vulnerability and authority he has, and the way he makes me feel safe and needed at the same time.
I take him into my mouth, and his hips come off the couch pushing him all the way to the back of my throat. I cup his balls and work his cock in and out of my mouth sucking and swirling and stroking him until his whole body stiffens. “Graham I, I can’t…”
He comes hard fisting his hands in my hair holding my head still while he squirts his hot come down my throat. We are in the throes of ecstasy, him twitching and pulsing in my mouth, and me swallowing my reward for a blowjob well done when the doorbell rings.
Klondike is off the couch racing to the front door before I even remember that I ordered food. I let him slip out of my mouth and find him looking toward the front door. “I ordered dinner,” I say leaning up to kiss his belly button. “By the way, you were delicious.” I stand up and adjust myself in my shorts. I’m hard as stone, and the poor delivery person is going to get a show.
Levi sees my problem and stands up to pull on his jeans. “How much is it?”
“It’s already paid for.”
“I’ll grab it then, I don’t want anyone seeing all of that,” he says waving his finger up and down in the direction of my crotch.
“Thanks.”
“No, thank you. That was amazing, and not what I expected. I hope you know that. I just wanted to come over and apologize and tell you how I feel about you.” The doorbell rings again. “Hold that thought.”
I watch him walk away with his jeans slung low on his hips and no shirt. The muscles in his back stretch and roll with every step making my cock twitch. I’m not hungry anymore, not for food anyway. I want to take Levi to my bed and sink my cock into him deep until he screams my name over and over.
I’ve never had him in my bed before. It seems crazy that I can have such intense feelings for him, and we have only known each other for two weeks. Going to Milan is going to be miserable. Usually, I enjoy taking a break from doing hair to model, but right now, all I want to do is spend every second of my free time with Levi.
I wander outside to the patio, and for the first time in years, I have the urge to smoke a cigarette. The only time I smoked in my life was when I was on drugs. That was a miserable time in my life, so I can’t put it together why I would want a cigarette right now when things are going well.
“You hungry? It looks like you ordered enough to feed an army here,” he says from the patio doors holding up two bags filled to the top.
“I order a lot and eat off of it for a few days.”
“Ah, I see. Well, where do you want me to put it?”
I smile a wicked smile and wait for him to look at me. He rolls his eyes and chuckles. “The food, Graham, where do you want me to put the food?”
“In the fridge.”
“You’re not going to eat? It’s best when it’s hot.”
“I’m best when I’m hot, too, and I’m hot as hell for you. Put it in the fridge and come to bed with me.”
“Oh, well, okay then.” He smiles and heads toward the kitchen while I go to my bedroom. I drop my shorts and briefs at the door and turn off all the lights. I can still see my way around the room from the light of the pool in the backyard. I open the drawer of my bedside table and scoop everything that is lying on top of the table into it. Then I dig in the top drawer of my dresser for a candle and lighter. When the room is flooded with flickering candlelight, I straighten out the sheets I spent the afternoon sleeping in.
Levi enters as I’m slipping into bed. I pat the mattress next to me, and he removes his jeans again and crawls in next to me.
“My turn to take care of you,” he says running his hand up my thigh and taking hold of my cock. “Oh no, I’ll get taken care of but not that way. I want to look you in the eyes when I fuck you and watch you come.”
“You won’t hear any complaints from me.”
“Good to know. Hang on, I have to find a condom. I haven’t had sex in my bed in forever. I don’t keep things readily accessible.” I shove the sheet off with my legs and get out of bed to go into the bathroom.
“You don’t bring guys home with you to… you know?” he calls after me.
“Fuck? No. If I’m into somebody, we hook up at his house or a hotel or something.” I rummage around in a drawer in my vanity until I come up with a lone condom and some lube.
“You sure you want to do this then? We can go back out on the couch if you want.” I can hear it in his voice that he’s teasing. He doesn’t understand why I don’t like to have random sex in my bed. Now that he brought it up, I realize I’m not sure I even know why. I return to bed lying on my side facing Levi and propping my head up in my hand.
“No, I like you here with me in my bed. It feels right. I think it’s because my mom always taught us kids that our bed was a safe place, and I feel safe with you.”
“You do? Safe how?”
“You’re real, you’re not superficial. You came into my life to help me, you’ve never asked me for anything, never expected anything from me. In fact, you came to the barbeque when Gloria invited you thinking I was in a relationship with her.”
“I came to the barbeque because Nicky forced me to. She said I needed to make friends. And I also thought it would be a good opportunity to talk to your employees. As it turned out, I never asked one of them anything about the case. I liked them too much, and I had a good time.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t come with an agenda concerning me. What we have is organic, not forced, it feels meant to be, ya know?” I flop back against the pillow. “I don’t know, maybe I’m not making sense.”
“N
o, I get it I think. It was born of innocence.”
“Exactly, yes, that’s the perfect way to describe it. I’m a very trusting person, and I like to think the best of everyone. I’ve been taken advantage of by people who want a piece of me for whatever reason, and it’s taught me to protect my heart.”
“You don’t have to explain that to me.”
“I know, I’m sorry. What you went through is much worse than anything my flakey ex-boyfriends put me through. That’s why I don’t think you will hurt me, not intentionally anyway.”
“I won’t hurt you intentionally or otherwise. I promise.”
I lean in to kiss him, and he rolls me on top of him, right where I want to be. He reaches up to brush a curl off of my forehead. My hair is getting longish, the photographer for the shoot in Milan requested it, and it seems Levi likes it.
“You have no idea, do you?” he says almost in a whisper.
“What?” I kiss his lips softly and pull away to wait for him to answer.
“How perfect you are.”
I roll my eyes. “I think you may be a little biased.”
“No, I mean, yes I am biased, but I haven’t met a person yet who doesn’t think you hung the moon.”
“I want people to be happy, and if I can help them, I do. It’s no big deal.”
“It is to us.”
“I’m glad. Now, let me get busy making you happy,” I say pushing my cock against his.
“Are you going to let that dragon tear me up?”
“Oh yeah, baby, you ready to feel the heat?”
He nods, and my dragon and I go to work bringing about great happiness and pleasure for hours until we fall asleep in each other’s arms in my bed where I am blissfully safe and loved.
Chapter Seventeen
Levi
When I open my eyes, I’m lying on my stomach hugging a pillow, and I have no idea where I am, but only for a few seconds. I blink away the sleep and find two big brown eyes staring at me from the edge of the bed. Sherman the German has his head propped on the mattress so close I can feel his warm breath on my face.
