Chapter 17

 

 Elle

 

“It’s ending.”

That was me talking to Levi as I walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom where he was lying on his back in the bed with the blanket slung low across his abdomen.

Two more shows and I was on my way home. 

I could not wait. 

I arrived in Las Vegas earlier this afternoon and came to the realization that my mini-tour was coming to a close.

When our flight landed, Levi, Pierce, Dom, and I got our rental vehicles and checked into our hotel.  After, the four of us went out on the Las Vegas Strip.  I’m not sure if they were all about it or not, but they didn’t complain when I asked if they’d mind.  Certainly, I didn’t believe they felt the same way that I did, which was that it would have been a crime to be in Las Vegas and not walked the Strip. 

We saw the fountains at the Bellagio, rode on the High Roller, and walked through several hotels, some for the décor and others for the casinos.  The guys didn’t gamble, but I figured if I was in Vegas I had to do it.  Needless to say, I didn’t win. 

Throughout the afternoon, I spoke about wanting to ride on one of the elevators at the Luxor because I had heard about them.  I came to find out they didn’t actually call them elevators and, somehow, Levi managed to get me a ride on one.  It wasn’t nearly as much fun as I had hoped it would be.

We grabbed a late dinner at Burger Bar in Mandalay Place.  I don’t know what it was about this tour, but the best meals we had were always when we were eating burgers.

With all of the excitement throughout the day, it didn’t leave much time for me to think about the tour ending.  Now that Levi and I were back in our hotel suite, getting ready for bed, it was hitting me full-force.

“What is?” Levi asked as he pulled back the blankets so I could climb into the bed next to him.

“The tour.  Only two more shows before we head home for the final performance at Lou’s,” I answered, melancholy in my tone.

“You’re going to miss it,” he stated, matter-of-fact, pulling me against his body, my front to his.

“Not the air travel,” I began.  “I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t like being bound by timelines and travel schedules associated with flying, but I’ll miss the performing.  I’ll miss meeting my fans in different parts of the country.  I’m afraid I’ll forget what it feels like to get on stage and see people, who aren’t from my hometown, coming to watch me perform.”

I paused a minute, letting that reality sink in, before I continued. 

“Most of all, I’ll miss not being able to see the sights of all the beautiful places we got to see on our road trips throughout the tour.  I’ll miss having that time alone with you in the car driving from one state to the next and making impromptu stops along the way to see what beauty some quaint little town holds.  That was, by far, my favorite part of this tour.”

Levi’s arms tightened around me as he said, “You can always plan another tour.”

“I know, but I’m not sure I want to do another one.  This was exhausting.  It felt rushed.  I didn’t have time to relax and enjoy the places I went to the way I would have liked.”

“Do you have a record label?”

I jerked my head back and looked up at him. “What?”

“A record label.  Do you have one?”

“No.”

“So, then who is telling you that you need to tour like this where you give yourself very little down time?  You are your own boss, Elle.  You can make up the rules.  If you want to tour for the reasons that made you happy this time around, then plan it so you can enjoy those things a little more.  You don’t have to answer to anyone about it.  If you’d prefer not to fly, make sure there is enough time for you to get from one location to the next without needing to rush.”

I took in his words.  It was true.  I was my own boss and could set the touring schedule as I saw fit.  Why drive myself crazy having to jump from one location to the next?  I knew if I kept up with something like that on a regular basis, I’d end up getting to a point where music would no longer bring me the same joy it has for so many years.

“You’re a smart man, Mr. Cunningham,” I teased.

Levi rolled me to my back and settled over me, framing my face in his hands.  “You didn’t think I was just all looks, did you?” he joked back.

I shook my head and retorted, “There’s only one small problem with your plan.”

“Which is?”

“You.”

“What about me?”

“It won’t be the same without you…” I trailed off as I looked away from him.

I felt Levi’s fingertips press into the sides of my head.  “Look at me, sunshine.”

I looked at him.

“I’d never let you go alone,” he whispered softly.  “If this continues between us the way it’s going now, you’ll never go on a tour without me.”

My lips parted as I struggled to find words. 

Levi saved me from my silence.

“The time I’ve spent with you over the last week has meant a lot to me, Elle.  Watching you perform in sold-out shows across several states fills me with such a sense of pride.  I see you on stage, doing what you love, and all I can do is think how lucky I am that you’re mine.  More than that, though, just like you I’ve loved the time alone with you.  On the road.  In bed at night. All the moments that I get to have learning more about you.  Whether it’s discovering that you really do own every flavor of lip balm ever invented or just how spontaneous and laid-back you are, I’ve fallen deep in love with all of it.  All of you.  I love how you love life and what blows my mind about it is that it’s the opposite of what I thought I’d ever want or need in mine.”

I was now having an even more difficult time trying to speak because he said so much sweet stuff.  As he held my eyes, I eventually squeaked out, “How so?”

“You know what I do for a living.  It requires a level of preciseness and strategy.  I’m constantly planning what’s next, especially when I’m on a case.  When I’m with you, I find that I don’t care to do that.  It doesn’t matter what’s happening next because I know it’s going to be fucking magnificent regardless.”

“Levi,” I whispered.

“No joke, sunshine.  I’ve been working non-stop for years now, not ever taking time to stop and really enjoy life.  I wasn’t unhappy, not by any means, but I also never felt this good.  My days were packed from morning to night, sometimes longer.  And yet, they never felt as full as they do now that I’m with you.”

I felt all warm inside at his beautiful words.  My eyes got sexy. 

Levi watched as it happened.

“Kiss me, love,” I begged.  “Kiss me so good.”

“You want to give me my honey?” he asked.

My eyes, so heated, told him everything he wanted to know.

“Yeah,” he began, his voice deep and husky.  “It’s all liquid and it’s going to be so fuckin’ good.”

He brought his mouth to within inches of mine.

He inhaled.

“Berries,” he stated.

“Mixed,” I added.

A sexy grin spread across his face before he took my mouth and tasted mixed berries on my lips. 

My thighs were pressed against his sides and my hands were at his shoulders as we kissed.  After everything he had just said to me, I couldn’t help the moan that escaped from the back of my throat. 

Things rapidly went from slow and languid to quick and energetic.  I used my feet and slid them under the waistband of his boxer briefs before I pushed them down his legs.  After using his hands to slide my nightie up around my waist, Levi slid two fingers through my sex and groaned, “Slick as honey.”

He pulled his fingers from me and stuck them in his mouth, while simultaneously pushing himself inside me.  My hips lifted from the bed to meet his as he filled me.

“Oh, Levi,” I moaned again.

We moved like that for a bit, our pace steady, but it wasn’t long before Levi was rolling to his back and taking me with him.  I rode him hard, my body moving effortlessly over his.  He gave me time to do my thing, going at my own speed, which was close to matching his when he had been on top.  Levi held on to my thighs as I continued to ride him, until suddenly his fingers dug in deeper and he said, “Stop.”

I froze on top of him and was about to ask what was wrong when one of his hands slid around to my ass and he explained, “Want you to ride me, Elle, but I want to see this ass bouncing as you do it.”

Reverse cowgirl. 

Ok.

I lifted off him and turned my body around so I was looking away from him. After settling my legs on either side of him, I put one hand to his thigh, lifted myself, and positioned him at my entrance.  As I lowered myself down onto him, I slid my hands down and cupped his balls in my hand. 

“Fuck.”

I smiled to myself.  I loved making him like this.

Putting both hands to his legs, I leaned forward and began to lift and lower myself on his shaft.  This position put him at just the right angle and I was mere minutes into it when I felt myself getting close. 

“I want your eyes, sunshine.  When you get there, you’ve got to give me that sweetness.”

I kept moving.

“It feels so good,” I whimpered, knowing this was going to hit hard and fast.

“Give me your eyes and take it, El.”

I wasn’t sure how I managed it, but somehow, I glanced back over my shoulder as I continued to move and gave Levi my eyes.  The second my eyes connected with his, it happened.  Pure pleasure shot through my entire body, my muscles quaking with the effects of my orgasm.  I couldn’t begin to describe the sounds that came from me.

I kept my eyes on Levi and watched as he found his release.  One hand gripped my ass as the other dug into my calf.

My movements began to slow until, finally, I stopped.  I had no energy left and fell forward as my arms could no longer hold me up.

“Oh, that was incredible,” I gushed.

Levi’s body vibrated with laughter while his hand gently stroked along the skin on my ass cheek. 

“You’re quite the cowgirl.  I should have known from that first day I saw you in those boots at my place.”

“What can I say?  You’ve got the world’s best saddle.”

“Feel free to go for a ride any time you’d like.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”  My voice was a mix of lazy and sated.

Levi gave me a minute to catch my breath and come to my senses before he moved, pulled himself from my body, and helped me up.

“I’m going to go clean up and then I want to fall asleep in your arms.”

He squeezed my shoulder and softly stated, “Ok, hurry up.”

After I cleaned up, I was crawled back into the bed and over Levi.  As soon as I reached the opposite side of him, he hooked an arm around my waist, hauled me up against his body, and kissed me.  When he pulled away, he stared intently at my eyes before whispering, “I love you so much, sunshine.”

“I love you more,” I replied.

His hold around me tightened and he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.  A few minutes later, when I was nearly asleep, I heard him whisper, “Not possible.”

Warmth spread through my body.

Just before I fell asleep, those two words were repeating over and over in my head and I knew in that moment that I hadn’t ever felt so content before in my entire life.

The next day, Levi and I slept in.  We had a lazy morning, filled with some slow love-making, followed by breakfast in the form of room service.  Levi asked me how I wanted to spend the day.

“At the pool, doing nothing but sunbathing,” I answered.

He stared at me.

“Is that ok?”

“Yeah, Elle, it’s ok.  You just surprised me with that.  I thought you’d be taking me all over the city today.”

“I like to keep you on your toes,” I teased.  “Besides, I have a show tonight and tomorrow night.  Yesterday was enough Vegas excitement for me; I want to just spend the next two days relaxing.”

He mumbled under his breath, “All of it.”

“What?”  

Levi shook his head and answered, “Nothing, sweetness.  I’ll let the guys know they are off the hook today.  You and I can spend the day at the pool before your show tonight.”

I gave him a big, bright smile and said, “Thanks, love.”

Several hours later, my body was glistening under the hot, desert sun.  It was late afternoon and I had successfully spent nearly my entire day soaking up the sun’s rays.  I did take a dip or two in the pool to cool off throughout, just to keep from overheating.  The day couldn’t have been more perfect.

I was in the lounge chair, decked out in my yellow bikini, a pair of shades, and a hat when I saw Dom and Pierce walking our way.  They both were wearing a pair of board shorts and nothing else. 

Holy crap.

They were both in phenomenal shape.  They were both one hundred percent solid muscle, but where Pierce was lean and trim, Dom was jacked.  Sure, I had seen lots of fit people throughout the day at the pool and, of course, I had Levi beside me all day long, but there was something different about Dom and Pierce. 

They weren’t like everyone else at the pool.

They carried themselves differently. 

They were like Levi.       

They exuded confidence. 

It was like they knew not only what their bodies looked like, but also what they were capable of.  The people they passed on their walk toward us couldn’t take their eyes off them.  Those people were mostly women.  The few guys that noticed them were mostly feeling intimidated.  I couldn’t say I blamed either group. 

“Elle?” I heard Levi growl from beside me.

“Yeah?” I asked, nonchalantly, not taking my eyes off the sight in front of me.

“You can stop drooling any time now.”

I turned to look at Levi and exclaimed, “I am not drooling!”

“I’m sitting right next to you, El, and I can see behind your shades.  You haven’t blinked once in the last two minutes.  Not to mention, your mouth opened the minute you saw them and it still hasn’t closed.”

I snapped my lips together and narrowed my eyes at him.  Of course, he couldn’t see that I was doing that since I was wearing sunglasses, but it made me feel better.

Dom and Pierce made their approach, so I didn’t continue the conversation with Levi any further.

“You’ve been out here all day?” Pierce asked, clearly shocked.

“Yeah,” I responded.  “That’s the whole point of making it a lazy day of sunbathing.”

He shook his head in disbelief.

“Where were you guys all day?” Levi chimed in.

“Shooting range,” Dom started.  “We spent a couple hours there after we checked out the venue for tonight, grabbed some lunch, came back and got a workout in, but this fuckin’ heat is ridiculous.  Figured we’d take advantage of the pool.  I’ll take the snow any day of the week over this shit.”

“The shooting range?” I repeated in a questioning tone.

They nodded at me.

“You mean, shooting guns?”

They nodded again, only this time they laughed, too.

My head jerked to Levi and I asked excitedly, “Oh, please, can we do that tomorrow?”

“I thought you wanted to relax and sunbathe?”

I waved my hand in the air and affirmed, “Yeah, but we did that all day today.  And I said that before I knew that a shooting range was an option.”

“Have you ever shot a gun?”

I shook my head.

He just stared at me. 

I pulled down my shades, gave him sexy, bedroom eyes, and begged, “Please?”

“Fuck,” Levi hissed under his breath.

“Boss, I do not envy you.  Pierce, bro, make sure I never end up in a position where a woman looks at me like that and I just cave,” Dom joked.

I bit the inside of my cheek trying not to laugh.  The eyes worked.

Levi stood from the lounge chair next to mine and held his hand out to me.  “Ready to go up to our room and get ready for your show tonight?”

He was removing me from this situation.  I was ready to go up, but I wasn’t going to just leave.

“Not yet,” I began, digging through my bag at the foot of my chair.  I pulled out my phone, opened a social media app, and looked to the three men in front of me.  “We need to go live now.”

“Now?” Levi asked.

I sighed and stood up.  “Levi, love, it would be incredibly selfish of me to not go live right now.”

“Selfish?” Pierce questioned.

“Seriously?  I can’t deny the ladies the perfection that stands before me.  So, put your happy faces on, boys, and get ready to say hello.”

I switched the setting to ‘live’ on my phone and pressed the button to start recording.  Within a few seconds, I had several hundred followers tuning in and the number was steadily increasing.  I spoke to them. 

“Hey everyone.  As many of you already know from posts I made yesterday, I am here in Vegas.  Today, I have spent my entire day lounging poolside.  I am about to head up to my room to start getting ready for my show tonight, but knowing how many of you feel about my security team I couldn’t possibly keep this from you.”

I flipped the camera around and Levi, Pierce, and Dom came into view on the screen.  None of them looked happy. 

Comments poured in; I could barely keep up reading them. 

I glanced back up at the guys and, noting they were still not amused, I flipped the camera back to front-facing.  When my face took up the screen I explained, “I’m sorry they aren’t looking very happy.  I think the heat has gotten to them.”

My eyes peeked over the top of the phone at them.  I could see that it was not, in fact, the heat that was bothering them.  I didn’t want them irritated with me, so I knew I needed to smooth things over.  I turned my back to them and scooted closer so they were now on the screen standing behind me.

Pierce was first.  I thought back to the time in the hotel room where I received the voicemail message from my stalker.  Pierce was so calm and took control of the situation, immediately reassuring me that everything was ok.  He also single-handedly took down that guy in the parking lot back in Tucson while getting a read on a partial plate for the getaway car. 

“This is Pierce.  He might be all kinds of good-looking on the outside, but that’s not all there is to him.  He is very smart and anticipates things before they happen.  This guy has a huge heart and I’m incredibly lucky he’s been there on at least two occasions to help me in situations where I might have otherwise fallen apart.  Out of the goodness of his heart, he chose to stay on this tour with me to make sure I remain safe, even though he was scheduled to return home after the LA show.”   

Dom was next.

“This is Dom.  Yes, he’s huge and built like a Mack truck.  Anyone would be crazy not to feel safe around him.  And yes, ladies, I know…the beautiful smile and the dimples.  I get it.  But again, just like Pierce, he’s so much more than what he looks like.  He’s funny and knows how to have a great time.  I’m told that when it comes to the work he does, he’s a badass, crazy motherfucker.  I don’t exactly know what that means in his line of work, but it makes me feel safe.  Dom is a ‘life-of-the-party’ kind of guy, but he also knows when to be serious.  When we get back to Wyoming, he is going to be giving me lessons in self-defense.”

I moved to Levi and tilted my head up to look at him.  I beamed a smile up at him.  He looked down at my smiling face and his softened.

“This is Levi, a real, live superhero.  He’s my boyfriend and, not taking anything away from Dom and Pierce, he’s the hottest of the bunch.  What you see on the outside pales in comparison to the person he is on the inside.  He is the owner of a well-respected, highly-sought security firm and is smart, talented, and very protective.  Beyond that, he’s incredibly loving and sweet.  He makes me feel like I’m the most beautiful woman in the world and I’m proud to admit that I never thought I could ever feel as happy as I do when I’m with him.  He’s changed my life and he loves me like I never thought possible.”

I paused a moment and glanced back up at him.  The corners of his eyes had crinkled with adoration.  When I turned to look at Dom and Pierce, I was happy to see that they were no longer moody. 

Mission accomplished. 

“So, there you have it.  Now you know there is more to these guys than them just being a bunch of gorgeous bodies and pretty faces.  Levi is spoken for, but I hope whoever ends up with Dom or Pierce will consider themselves extremely fortunate to have found such a great guy.  I’ve got to get going now, but I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  If you’re in Vegas, I’ll see you at my show tonight.  Later, loves.”

I ended the live session and turned around to face the guys.  They were all smiling at me.  I smiled back.

“Ready, sunshine?”

I nodded.

With that, Dom and Pierce stayed behind and used the pool to get a reprieve from the desert sun.  I’m convinced a few women were more than happy about this fact. 

Levi escorted me up to our suite where he insisted on showing me what my words to my fans meant to him.