As they drove home, Hayes practically sitting in his lap, all Levi could hear was something his father used to say—Love is hard, love is blind, in the end, she’s always mine—whenever speaking of the road he took to marrying their mom. He couldn’t help thinking of the way he and Hayes had been pushed together. He’d tugged and pulled as much as he could, and in the end, she was his. There wasn’t a thing on earth he wouldn’t do for the woman in his arms.

“Levi?” Her whisper was a caress against his neck.

“Yeah, sugar.” His own words were savage. He was fighting the urge to claim her right there.

“Did you mean it?” She may have been trying to hide the uncertainty, but it was recognizable to him all the same.

The “it” being his claim that when he took her, she would belong to him.

“I did.” Chancing a look down at her, he saw the slight grin. “Why?”

“It feels surreal, I guess.”

“What does?” He looked from her to the road and back again waiting on an answer.

She was quiet for so long, he didn’t think she’d answer. “I know I’m young, and I shouldn’t be so worried about the future, but when I was in that hospital waiting to find out my fate, it was all I could think about.” He remained silent as she spoke. “I realized I would never get my shot at the Olympics. I fought that fact for so long, but deep inside, I knew it was true. Whenever the nurse would come in to clean my bandages or when they would tell me I had to go for another surgery, all I could think about was who would want me? A scared girl with broken dreams. Damaged beyond belief. I was reduced to nothing.”

“You’re not nothing,” he growled.

Sitting up, she looked at him and smiled. “I know that now. Then, not so much, and it was hard to look past the ugliness.” Tears hovered in her eyes as she continued. “Then you came along, tackling me to the ground. I was so damn mad at you. The impact was brutal on my hip. Then you spoke and made it so much worse.” He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I looked for you again after that. I had always hoped to run into you, but you never showed.”

“Hayes.”

She simply smiled at him. “I figured I’d scared you off with my attitude. Then that weirdo showed up. I don’t know what his plan was, but after I plotted my escape and nearly ran you down, my foolish heart sang like a canary. Then you spoke again.” She casually laughed while he felt like a tool for insulting her so much. He knew it wasn’t her intent. “When I saw you at the fight, I didn’t know what to think. I was shocked; amazed at your power. It was hypnotizing.”

“That so?”

“Yeah. When you saw me, and your reaction as you dragged me out… I’ve never felt so alive as I do when I’m in your arms, Levi.” Her soft admission had his chest puffing out with pride. “Then Dustin ruined everything.” The snarl that left his mouth at another man’s name crossing her lips was involuntary. She grinned. “I wasn’t going to keep it a secret or anything. It would have been hard to hide, but your rejection hurt worse than the accident. It stung like a thousand wasp bites.”

“I was shocked as fuck,” he admitted. “What I feel for you, Hayes, it’s anything but innocent. This need driving through my veins to devour you consumes me in a way I’ve never known before. It’s new for me, too.”

“What changed your mind?” Her words were husky, and he was glad to have finally pulled into the driveway of his small bungalow.

Unbuckling her, he pulled her into his lap as he answered. “The way you touched me. The tentative graze against my chest, the heat in your eyes as you made me come. You have this innocent aura that surrounds you, and it’s fucking addictive as hell. I don’t know if there was any one thing that drew me to you, I just knew that going without seeing you for days was brutal. I missed the passion buried deep in your eyes; the emotions it created. This connection we have is not dissipating, and I was a fool for pushing you away, Hayes. A real fucking idiot.”

“Yeah?” she whispered, uncertainty shining brightly in her gaze.

“Give me a chance, baby, and I’ll show you the world. Make me your choice, and I’ll worship you for as long as you let me.”

* * *

Levi’s words rang through her veins like a symphony. They were perfect. His gaze as he held hers was spellbinding. Magical. The stars were aligning for them, and Hayes felt a buzz in the air.

Electrifying, magnetizing. Almost as though they were being dared to defy the universe after throwing them together time and again. She’d never been one to believe in love and happy endings. In fact, she’d have laughed in anyone’s face who had told her differently. Except with Levi, she felt like an entirely new woman. They clicked in a way she hadn’t even know was possible. His sincerity as he spoke of his true feelings, as he described just what she did to his body and mind. She felt those same things soul deep. She understood beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was her choice and would be forever.

“I’ll always choose you, Levi.”

His happiness radiating back at her was so intense, nearly blinding, that a tear escaped her eye. His joy immediately turned to concern upon seeing it.

“What’s this?” A finger swiped the tear away.

“Happiness, Levi. That is what my happiness is.”

Leaning his forehead to hers, his whispered words washed over her. “Yeah, it is.”

Finally exiting his car, Levi pulled her along behind him as they entered his house. Sports memorabilia lined every wall. Everything from trophies for school sports sitting on shelves to signed posters framed and hanging on the walls. Pictures of him and his brothers or parents were dotted on random surfaces as they walked throughout the rooms.

“Holy Batman,” she mumbled as they walked past the living room overrun by a massive television. Larger than she’d ever seen.

“She’s a beauty, ain’t she?” He beamed.

Tilting her head, Hayes asked, “She?” trying to hide her laughter.

“It’s what I call all my beautiful things.”

“If you say so.”

His smirk was her only answer as he continued pulling her up the stairs. Nerves began to rattle her bones as she realized what she’d asked of him. Her intent had been to get to know each other better, then all the drama at the fight fueled both of their emotions, and their libidos had taken over. She wasn’t even sure she was ready for this step in their relationship. Levi was a grown man and likely knew what he wanted and when he wanted it. She had no clue. The only thing she was knowledgeable about with her body was how to keep it in shape, to push past her boundaries.

“Levi.” Her word was hushed.

He spun around so fast that she didn’t have time to stop herself from knocking into his sculpted chest. No words were spoken as one of his hands went to her hip, and the other cupped her jaw in a firm hold. His gaze was pure heat as he slowly lowered his head to take her lips in a kiss. It wasn’t an ordinary melding of mouths, though, it was a meeting of soulmates. The thought was ludicrous, but that was all she could think of as their tongues dueled. Everything with Levi felt so right. The way he held her against his body; she fit like a glove. As if to prove her point, he pulled her hips flush with his, and her entire form was encased by him. He surrounded her completely. The strength that vibrated from his body was overwhelming to her senses. He controlled her every move and breath as his mouth owned hers.

“Hayes,” he chanted against her lips as one knee pressed between her thighs to rub tantalizingly against her sex. The small amounts of pressure he applied tormented her body in the most beautiful way. Kissing along her jaw, his hands let her go only long enough to wrap around her back. Pushing his way up under her shirt as he massaged her skin. “I want you, sugar.” He groaned when she shivered from his ministrations.

“I’m scared,” she confessed.

He sucked the skin of her neck into his mouth. She was sure to have a mark in the morning as one of his hands reached out from under her shirt to pull on her hair, forcing her neck back at an awkward angle.

“When you’re ready, you’ll beg me, just,” he nipped her neck, “like,” a tug of her hair, “this.” His thigh pressed firmly against her clit, making her moan without inhibition.

Picking Hayes up, Levi carried her to his room. His hands and mouth still roaming freely along her body as they crashed onto the bed.

Moans the only sound in the room.

Their passion the only scent surrounding them.

“Come for me, Hayes.” His words were the master of her body as he removed her shirt, unclipping her bra and tossing the articles both to the floor. The rest of her clothes soon followed. She was self-conscious as he sat back, fully clothed, staring at her body. If not for the coveted power of his stare, she might have tried to cover up. There was no censure, no disgust to behold. Just longing and lust. All of it for her. “The things I want to do to you.”

His words were deep, more of a growl than a voice. The muscles in his arms vibrated from the force with which he had to keep from dominating her.

“Levi?”

His gaze slowly slid up her body to connect with her eyes. This was a man hanging on by a thread, and Hayes knew in that instant she wanted to give him everything of herself she could.

She wanted to be his.

“Touch me,” her words were barely above a whisper, “please.”

* * *

She didn’t comprehend what she was asking of him. Levi was barely containing himself. The need consuming him for her was a force he was having trouble holding off.

“If I start this with you, Hayes, I won’t be able to stop.” He warned her, loosely gripping his shirt.

Her gaze travelled the length of his body as every inch of muscle was exposed. “I don’t want you to,” she murmured, reaching up to touch his chest and gently running a finger over a new bruise from his fight.

Her words were the only permission he needed as he stood from the bed to rid himself of his shorts. His heart was pounding as she continued to watch his every move, looking hypnotized as he crawled over top of her.

“Hayes,” he said softly, needing her to understand his choice. “Sugar, look at me.” His voice lowered an octave at the command. “You and me, we’re forever. There won’t ever be anyone else. You understand?” She nodded. “I’m not using a condom. I will never use a condom. Ain’t nothing ever getting between us.”

Her gaze cleared slightly at his words. “I’m on the pill.”

Her light voice the only permission he needed.

His iron grip on her knees became tender as he pulled them apart, making room to root himself inside of her. The scars running along one side of her body didn’t deter him from his desire; they only made him want her more. They represented her strength and resilience in the face of life’s obstacles. She was a fighter, a survivor.

After he was done showing Hayes how much she was a part of him, she would be his in every way known to man. “You’re so damn beautiful.” Levi’s words were whispered with all the devotion he felt for her.

“Your eyes,” she murmured, tracing them, “they glow with your passion.” As her hand slid down to his chest, he was helpless but to watch and listen. “I feel everything with you, Levi. I see it all.” Her hand continued to slide down to where he held himself away from her. Away from pounding her through the floor and straight into the sweetest hell in history. “We’re it.” He was a goner when her hand softly wrapped around his aching cock.

“Hands up, legs wide, sugar. You’re mine.” It was the only warning Levi gave her as he lined himself up to her dripping pussy. Her pleasure soaked him as he slowly pushed into her tightness.

“God-motherfucking-dammit all to hell,” he groaned as he reached her innocence. “You were saving yourself for me, weren’t you?” His hands gripped her waist so tightly, he knew there would be bruises on her pale flesh, but he couldn’t do a fucking thing to help it.

His body was prepared to fly apart at the knowledge that she was pure and all fucking his. Her thighs spread wider for him as her hands flexed on his biceps. “I’m all yours, Levi.”

Every primal urge he had overtook his body at her words. Gone was any gentleness he should have had, and in its place, was a beast feeding on her cries for mercy. Her screams of pain fueled his drive to make her moan with desire.

At her first whimper, his blood pumped so forcefully in his ears that he could hardly hear beyond his breathing. Holy fucking hell did he feel, though. With his eyes closed, he summoned all his other senses, opening to her every moan and cry. She soaked his cock as he pumped in and out of her without grace, and her glorious walls sucked at his dick, leaving him practically immovable. Her thighs gripped tight to his hips as her nails scratched down his back.

“Levi, oh, Levi,” she repeatedly purred in his ear.

“You’re perfection, Hayes.” He was finally able to praise her. “Your tight little pussy fits me like a damn glove. You were made for me, baby.” He sucked on the pulse in her neck, biting lightly as she came in his arms.

The full-body shivers wracking her frame and her cries of ecstasy invoked his own release as his toes dug into the mattress, pushing his cock as far inside of her as he could so they melded into one single form.

“You’re mine, sweetheart,” he murmured one more time before they both relaxed into sleep. Peace following him for once.