And Cole had been away from him all these years, instead of staying by his side, providing comfort and support.
With this new pregnancy... what were the chances of their baby being born alive? Every time Levi looked at his belly... did he remember those gravestones?
Cole had so much to make up for.
When they parked in front of the mansion, Cole took Levi’s hand, leading him toward the house. “We’re going to take a bath,” Cole said.
“But you have other things to do, don’t you?” Levi looked uncertain, tired.
“Bath first. This is more important.”
He led Levi up the front steps, then set Levi’s bag of alphabet blocks down on the side table. Brought Levi into their bedroom, where it smelled like maplewood and jasmine and musk, instead of musty drapes like the rest of the house.
Cole shut the door.
Levi gulped. “Cole...?”
Cole cupped Levi’s face, pulling him into a deep, slow kiss. It was a kiss that wanted nothing from Levi, a kiss that only attempted to comfort.
“You’re brave,” Cole whispered against his mouth, running his fingers through Levi’s hair. “You’re important.”
The tension in Levi’s body eased; he whimpered, parting his lips for Cole.
Cole stroked Levi’s jaw, rubbing his shoulders and his arms, pressing him lightly against the bedroom door. Then he began to tug on Levi’s clothes—first his belt, then his pants. Levi gasped, his hips rolling up.
Part of Cole wanted to pleasure him. But he also wanted to hold Levi, and make sure Levi knew he was cherished.
“Bath,” Cole murmured. “We’re doing this together.”
Levi blushed, a pretty shade of pink fanning across his cheeks. He attempted to help, but Cole nudged his fingers away.
“I’m doing this,” Cole said. “I just want you to relax. And I want you to know that you’re worthy.”
Levi’s eyes grew wide. Then his throat worked, like he couldn’t believe what Cole was saying. Cole kissed his lips. Freed Levi of his shirt, his pants and his socks. And now Levi was naked, all smooth, pale skin.
Cole had sneaked glances at him on and off. Cole had held him in his sleep. But touching him like this, when he was bared to Cole... It was a different sort of intimacy.
“Why are you doing this?” Levi whispered, allowing Cole to lead him to the bathroom.
“Because I want you to know I care. Because I want you to realize that your worth doesn’t just depend on how many babies you can produce.” Cole paused at the tub, meeting his eyes.
Levi smiled wryly. “I don’t have to be worth much.”
“You’re worth everything,” Cole growled. Then he peeled off his own shirt, and Levi’s eyes widened; his tongue darted across his lips, damp and pink.
“This—This is how you show me?” Levi croaked, his eyes raking down Cole’s chest. He was interested. And despite Cole doing this only to comfort... a thread of desire coiled through his insides, and pulled tight.
“We’re taking a bath,” Cole said, turning the water on. “Just—Just that.”
“Oh.” Levi’s gaze wandered down when Cole loosened his own belt, kicking his pants off.
It just so happened that the part of Cole Levi was most interested in right now, was the part that would fit perfectly inside Levi’s body.
“My eyes are up here,” Cole murmured.
Levi flushed, looking up. “Sorry.”
But Cole was guilty of staring, too. He bent to adjust the water temperature, glimpsing the way Levi’s cock filled out, its tip still hooded by his foreskin. Levi squirmed, casually sliding his hand over his cock to hide it.
That was okay. Cole’s plans didn’t involve touching Levi’s cock.
When the water was hot enough, he stepped in first, reaching out for Levi. Levi hesitantly put one foot into the tub, then the other. And Cole shut the frosted glass door, closing them into the small, humid space.
“So... a bath,” Levi whispered over the spray of the water.
“More like a shower first,” Cole said, smiling crookedly. “If you want to split hairs.”
Levi shook his head, his lips twitching into a smile. Then he leaned into Cole’s chest, his arms coming up to wrap around Cole’s waist. “This is nice.”
Cole held him. The water warmed the dirt on Levi’s skin, wetting it and washing it away. Cole smelled the earth on his omega, and jasmine, and that telling scent of his pregnancy. He took the soap from its dish, lathered his hands, and massaged Levi’s back, smooth, slow strokes that kneaded into Levi’s muscles.
Levi moaned, relaxing against him. Cole swallowed. He imagined Levi moaning because he wanted something else, something between Cole’s legs, and forced the thought out of his mind. Couldn’t help getting hard, though.
Slowly, he rubbed Levi’s shoulders and arms, washing between Levi’s fingers. He massaged Levi’s neck, too, following the grooves of his ears, then along his jaw, wiping the dried tear tracks off Levi’s cheeks.
Then he stroked down Levi’s sides, the small of Levi’s back, and skimmed over his ass, crouching to do his thighs.
“You forgot—” Levi looked down, and a soft, choked sound fell from his lips.
“I forgot what?” Cole murmured, kneading down Levi’s thighs, finishing one leg first, then the other.
Levi licked his lips and looked away, but it was clear that he’d seen Cole’s cock pointing up at him. “Um, nothing.”
Cole tugged on his own cock, just to relieve some of the pressure there. He wasn’t going to put it inside Levi. He wasn’t.
But once the thought entered his mind, it dug its claws in, reminding Cole how good it had felt to fuck Levi that first night, when they’d visited the mansion.
Cole leaned in, pressing a kiss to Levi’s soapy hip. “You were brave today.”
Levi cracked a smile. “I was just me.”
“And you’re admirable.”
“What, for miscarrying?”
“For keeping on in the face of adversity.” Cole met his eyes, smiling. “That’s something I don’t see every day.”
Levi shrugged uncomfortably. “It’s not like I’m purposefully searching out adversity.”
“But you’re keeping a level head with this pregnancy.” Cole kissed Levi’s abdomen, where their baby was.
Levi flushed. “I try not to think about it.”
“Still brave to me.”
“You’re a firefighter, Cole,” Levi said flatly. “You see bravery all around you, all the time.”
“That just means I recognize it more easily.”
Levi blushed. “I hate when you get the last word,” he muttered, but they both knew he didn’t mean it at all.
Cole washed between Levi’s toes, kneading Levi’s feet to relax the muscles there. Then he washed Levi’s fingers and stood, grabbing the shampoo to do Levi’s hair.
Levi reached for the bottle; Cole held it out of his reach. “But what about you?” Levi protested.
“I’ll get it.”
“But... I want to return the favor.” Levi’s cheeks grew dark. “At least, with the soap.”
And maybe his reasons weren’t entirely chaste. The pressure in Cole’s cock increased; he pressed the soap into Levi’s hand and growled, “Have it your way.”
Levi’s eyes lit up. With the shower spray pattering on them, Levi brushed his lathered hands across Cole’s chest, smoothing his fingers over Cole’s pecs, then his abs. His lips parted; his eyelids fluttered half-shut. He soaped up Cole’s arms and his sides, and faltered at his hips, where Cole’s cock jutted up, seeking his omega.
“Wash it,” Cole commanded.
Levi’s pupils blew wide; he lathered his hands, then reached down, wrapping his fingers around Cole’s cock. Pleasure whispered through Cole’s nerves; Cole groaned, fighting the urge to rut into his hands.
And Levi moaned, his fingers sliding languorously along Cole’s length, up and down, squeezing around his balls. Lik
e he couldn’t get enough of it. Cole’s throat grew dry.
But Levi didn’t stop there. He rubbed his thumb around Cole’s tip, nudging at that sensitive spot right beneath his head. Then he played with Cole’s piss slit, sending another jolt down Cole’s body, and cupped Cole’s balls in his hands. There was an intent, hungry look in his eyes, hopeful and anticipating.
Cole stopped breathing. Just watched, trying not to pin Levi against the wall, trying not to push up against him, feeding his own cock into Levi’s mouth, or his hole.
Gods, he wanted this omega. Ever since that first night, he’d wanted to claim Levi as his own.
The shower washed the suds off his cock. Levi sank to his knees, licking up Cole’s cock, his tongue damp and soft, his mouth closing snug around Cole’s tip.
Cole jerked, pleasure thrumming through his cock. This wasn’t what he’d planned. “Levi,” he growled, sliding his fingers into Levi’s hair, pulling out of his mouth. “We were having a bath.”
Levi looked up at him, his body slender and inviting, his lips red and parted. “We can have a bath after.”
And he wrapped his fingers around Cole’s cock, taking Cole back into his mouth. Cole had all but forgotten what it felt like to have Levi suck him off, but the moment Levi hollowed his cheeks, pleasure hissed through Cole’s nerves, and the bath fell to the lowest priority in his mind.
Levi took Cole as deep as he could, his lips tightening around Cole’s cock, his tongue stroking up one side, then the other. Cole couldn’t breathe. Being inside Levi felt like bliss.
“Up,” Cole said hoarsely. “On your feet.”
Levi must’ve heard the change in his tone, because he stood readily, his eyes dark, hungry.
Cole spun him around to face the wall. He took the soap back from Levi, covered one hand in suds. And pushed his fingers between Levi’s asscheeks, so Levi gasped, jerking against him.
“I haven’t forgotten this,” Cole rumbled, sliding his fingers between those silky cheeks. “Was just holding it off.”
“W-were you?” Levi lifted his ass for Cole.
And this was familiar, the push and pull of their relationship. Levi offering himself, Cole taking all that Levi gave, and pleasuring him with it.
He touched the pucker of Levi’s hole, circling his fingers around it. Levi whimpered. Cole leaned in, tracing his tongue along the shell of Levi’s ear. Then he anchored Levi’s hips against himself, and pushed both fingers into his omega. Levi’s body opened around him, hot and so fucking tight.
Levi cried out, scrabbling against the tiled wall, his breath shuddering out of him. Cole pushed in deep, finding that one spot in Levi’s body. He pressed down on it, something in his chest roaring when Levi jerked, his entire body squeezing around Cole’s fingers.
“Mine,” Cole growled, grinding his cock against the curve of Levi’s ass. “Gonna open you up for me.”
Levi moaned, rocking against him. “Please.”
Over and over, Cole thrust his fingers into Levi. He slowed down when Levi trembled, allowing Levi to calm down. Then he fucked back inside, grinding right against his prostate, so Levi gasped and shuddered, incoherent sounds falling from his lips.
Cole swallowed, his throat dry. He wanted to pin Levi down, have his way with his omega, hear Levi cry out against his lips. But Levi’s skin slipped against his own; he didn’t have enough traction with the suds still on their skin.
He turned Levi back to face him. Caught Levi’s face and drew him into a searing kiss, one that made Levi arch, his nails biting into Cole’s sides, his moan rumbling into Cole’s mouth.
Somehow, Cole washed most of the suds off their bodies. He shut off the shower. Pulled the shower door open, and scooped Levi into his arms.
Levi panted, tracing his thumb against Cole’s lower lip. So Cole took it into his mouth and sucked, and Levi’s cock jerked against his belly, his tip pushing out past his foreskin. Gods, Cole wanted to taste him. Wanted to have Levi writhe and moan.
Dripping from the shower, Cole strode back into the bedroom. He threw Levi lightly onto the bed, where Levi scrambled toward the pillows, his chest glistening.
And Levi opened his legs, his cock dusky with hunger, his eyes begging Cole to follow up on his promise.
Hell, yeah, Cole wasn’t about to let him down.
He prowled across the bed after Levi, bits of suds still clinging to his skin. Levi pulled his knees up to his chest, completely exposing his hole. Cole throbbed.
For a moment, he paused at Levi’s ass, sliding a couple fingers up along that cleft, nudging at his sensitive entrance. Levi relaxed—an invitation. And Cole let his touch linger, just teasing Levi there.
“Want something here?” he whispered.
“You,” Levi answered hoarsely.
“What part of me?” Cole licked his lips, and Levi whimpered.
“I don’t know. All of it!”
Cole leaned in, catching Levi’s ankle. He kissed a slow, sucking trail from Levi’s knee down his inner thigh, biting him lightly. Then he paused at the apex of Levi’s legs, pinned his creamy thighs open, and licked Levi’s cock, just as Levi had licked his.
Levi panted, his heavy cock nudging against Cole’s lips, smearing precome across his skin. Cole licked it all off, rolling that salty fluid across his tongue. Levi’s desire—it was all here, in his leaking cock, in his heaving chest, and his dark eyes fixed on Cole, filled with anticipation.
“Hard for me?” Cole rumbled, closing his fist around Levi’s cock.
Levi shoved into his hand, his cock slippery and stiff. So fucking sexy.
“All for you,” Levi rasped, winding his fingers into Cole’s hair. Then he shoved Cole’s head between his legs, and Cole grew so hard he couldn’t think.
There was having your way with your omega, and then there was letting your omega have his way with you.
Cole nuzzled at Levi’s tight balls, kissing over them. “What do you want?”
Levi pulled Cole up higher, so his cock ground against Cole’s lips. “Suck me,” Levi panted.
Cole kissed Levi’s cock, too. It was flushed, so hard that its tip had pushed past its foreskin, a clear bead of precome at its tip. Cole took Levi’s head into his mouth, lapping off that drop of precome. Levi moaned, trembling against him.
But Cole didn’t relent—he sucked lightly on Levi, until all Levi said was a litany of please. Then Cole pulled away, kissing down the ridge of Levi’s cock, nuzzling his balls.
Levi whined, bucking his hips. So Cole returned to his cock. Took that straining length into his mouth, licking around it, before sucking it deep. Levi’s chest heaved; Cole could imagine his pleasure. Levi was close, so close that his balls were heavy with come. When Cole took part of Levi’s sac into his mouth, Levi choked on his breath, precome squirting from his tip.
There were two paths he could take here—he could let Levi have his release, or he could withhold it from Levi.
Cole pushed a finger into Levi’s hole, savoring the heat of his body, the way Levi tightened around him when Cole sucked on his sac. Then he pushed another finger into his omega, stretching him open inside. Levi jerked, throwing his head back.
“Cole,” he begged. “Cole, please—”
Instead of fucking him, Cole cupped Levi’s ass, and released his sac. Kissed further down, to Levi’s slick entrance. Levi made a soft, surprised noise. Cole withdrew his fingers, giving his hole a deep, slow kiss. Levi cried out, squeezing around his tongue. He tasted like soap, and Cole knew this was lewd.
He fucked Levi with his tongue anyway, until Levi sobbed with pleasure, growing slick and musky.
He would feel so tight around Cole’s cock. And maybe... Cole liked the thought of giving Levi a baby, even if Levi was pregnant. His cock ached. Cole pumped it, dragging his tongue flat against Levi’s hole. “Want my cock?”
“Fuck, yes,” Levi growled, his fingers clenching tight in Cole’s hair, almost painfully. “Inside. Get inside.”
Cole surged up, fitting his body against Levi’s, kissing up Levi’s chest to his throat. Then he met Levi’s mouth in a full-on kiss, his cock grinding up against Levi’s ass, his balls pulling tight, eager for his release.
Levi pulled him close, wrapping his legs around Cole’s waist. And Cole pushed into him, watching the way Levi’s eyes flew open, his head tipping back as he opened around Cole’s cock, his body sweet and tight, begging Cole for his come.
Cole panted, pressing their foreheads together. He gazed into the hazel depths of Levi’s eyes, and read hunger and need. Then he thrust in deep, and Levi arched against him, his breath rushing hot against Cole’s lips.
“More,” Levi whispered, his nails dragging down Cole’s sides, his mouth hot against Cole’s skin. “Make me yours.”
That triggered something primal in Cole, something that he’d hidden away. He wrapped his arms around Levi, anchored Levi against himself, and fucked in hard, Levi’s body squeezing him tight, his own strokes growing more feverish with each time Levi cried out.
Through the jumble of thoughts in his head, Cole tried to aim for that one spot inside Levi. Levi’s cries grew higher, until Cole reached down and stroked his cock, and Levi was clenching around him, his cock throbbing, his come spurting pearly across his chest.
His pleasure hauled Cole over the edge. Cole groaned, thrusting deep. Pleasure crashed through him like a deluge, and he released his seed into his omega, pulsing, his balls squeezing every last drop into Levi.
Mine. Cole braced himself so he didn’t collapse onto his omega. Instead, he rolled onto his back, pulling Levi on top of him. Levi panted, his eyes half-lidded, his expression so very satisfied.
It made Cole proud, that he’d given this to Levi.
Before it was too late, he asked, “Do you want my knot?”
He thought Levi would say no again. But Levi nodded, pressing his hips down against Cole, insistent. He wanted it. Cole groaned, his knot swelling inside his omega, locking them together. Levi moaned.
It felt good, having Levi back in his arms. Cole sank back into the pillows, pulling Levi close. Then Levi lay his cheek against Cole’s shoulder, relaxed, and Cole’s heart skipped.
The Pretense: A Men of Meadowfall book Page 9
