Chapter 5

 

Elle

 

I was staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Levi and I had just returned from Lou’s and I immediately climbed the stairs, walked into the bedroom to grab a nightie, and came into the bathroom. 

Levi and I hadn’t spoken most of the ride home.

I was lost in thought regarding the situation surrounding my stalker and needed time to get my thoughts together.

After stripping out of my clothes, I threw my hair up into a messy bun on the top of my head, and hopped in the shower.

I had a feeling that Levi was feeling the same way.  His mood had shifted from the time we were in Lou’s to the time we ended up in his truck.

Now, I was standing in front of the mirror.  I had just gotten out of the shower and threw on my baby blue, lace-trimmed, satin nightie.  If I was being honest, I was terrified.  I knew Levi’s home was secure and that I’d be safe here, but I couldn’t help feeling scared.  More than anything I wanted him to hold me.

I took a deep breath, gathered up the clothes I wore earlier, and walked back to the guest bedroom.  After putting the clothing in my laundry bag, I climbed into the bed.  My head dropped to the pillow, but I never went under the blankets.  Not even a minute later, the tears leaked from my eyes.

I was dumbfounded.

I couldn’t understand why someone was doing this.  What was the obsession about?  Was it an obsession?  Why me?

Most of all, I was afraid.

There was a knock on the bedroom door before Levi opened it and stepped inside.  He took one look at me and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Elle…” he trailed off as he brought his hand up to cup the side of my face.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, but the tears continued to fall.

Levi’s hand moved from my cheek to my shoulder, where he gave me a gentle squeeze.  “Talk to me, El.”

I tried to take a few calming breaths, but it didn’t work. 

He shifted his body and settled himself in the bed next to me, his front to mine.  His arms wrapped around me and pulled me into him.

“Why would someone do this to me?” I cried.

“I don’t know.  Not yet, anyway.  I will find out, though, Elle.  At least now I have something else to work with.”

I pulled my face from his chest and looked up at him.  Then I whispered, “I’m scared, Levi.”

He looked down at me and with a soft voice he tried to reassure me, “I promise you; I’m going to do everything I can to make sure nothing hurts you.”

Another tear fell from my eye.

Levi brought his hand that was wrapped around my upper back to the back of my head and pulled me tighter against his body.  He held me like that a long time. 

“Levi?” I eventually called.

“Yeah?”

“Will you stay with me just until I fall asleep?”

“No.”

My body tensed and went cold.  I hadn’t expected that from him at all.

“I told you earlier today that things were changing tonight, Elle.  So, no, I’m not going to stay with you just until you fall asleep.  I’m going to pick you up and carry you into my room, where I’m going to put you in my bed and hold you not just until you fall asleep, but for the rest of the night.”

“Levi…” I whispered my relief.

“Are you ok with that?” he asked.

I nodded in his chest.

At that, Levi shifted in the bed so that he was sitting again.  He pulled me into his lap and, with one hand under my legs and the other at my back, he stood and carried me into his bedroom.  Somehow, Levi managed to pull the blankets back before he settled me in the bed.  Then, he took to stripping out of his clothing.

While Levi did that, I pulled my nightie down making sure I wasn’t exposing myself.  I always wore pretty nighties to bed with nothing else underneath.  Perhaps I should have thrown something on considering I was now in Levi’s bed, but I hadn’t originally intended on ending up here once everything went down at Lou’s.

I didn’t spend much time fussing with my sleepwear because Levi, as I said, was stripping.  His shirt was now off and he was currently stepping out of his jeans. 

Holy. Smokes.

The man certainly knew how to make a girl forget all her troubles. 

I had already seen his upper body yesterday, but now he was standing before me in just a pair of boxer briefs.  It felt wrong to stare, but I couldn’t help myself.  Besides, it’s not like I hadn’t already told him that he was hot.  He had to expect if he was going to strip to essentially nothing that I was going to look.

As soon as he got everything except for the boxer briefs removed, Levi climbed in the bed and pulled the blankets up to about our waistlines.  He turned off the light on the bedside table and scooted his body closer to mine.  Levi pressed a kiss to the top of my head and urged, “Try to relax and get some sleep, sunshine.”

Then, he draped his arm over my waist and continued, “Good night, Elle.”

I already felt the warmth emanating off his body, but I wanted to touch him.  I shifted closer to him so that our legs were touching, pressed my hand to his chest, and echoed the same sentiment, “Good night, Levi.”

 

*****

 

Light was just barely filtering in through the wall of windows behind the seating area that was to the right of Levi’s bed. 

It was very early in the morning.

My back was to Levi and his arm was curled around my waist.  It felt good.  There was only one small problem.

I needed to pee.

I figured I could make quick work of it and not wake Levi if I lifted his arm while I slid out from underneath it.  So, I wrapped my hand around his wrist, or as much of it as I could get my hand around.  I took in a deep breath and lifted.  Just as I was about to shift my body out of the bed, Levi’s arm clamped back down around my waist. 

His voice filtered into my ears.  “Where are you trying to sneak off to?”

“The bathroom.  I have to pee,” I answered.

Levi lifted his arm from me and instructed lazily, “Use mine.”

I scooted to the side of the bed opposite of him and made a beeline for the bathroom.  I did my business and quickly washed my hands.

Levi kept his house cool, which I preferred, but I also didn’t like feeling cold.  This meant, the minute I finished in the bathroom I rushed back to the bed.  Levi watched me as I climbed in the bed.  Then, he pulled me across the bed so that I was against his body, my front to his front.

“Feeling better this morning?” he asked gently.

“Yeah,” I answered quietly.  “Thank you for letting me stay in here with you.  It helped to ease my mind.”

His hand squeezed my hip.  “Happy to hear it, but would have preferred the reason you were in my bed had nothing to do with what happened last night and more to do with what happened before we went to Lou’s.”

“Sorry,” I responded.  “I didn’t mean to ruin the night you had planned.”

“It’s not your fault, Elle.  What happened at Lou’s last night meant that you needed something else from me.  I was happy to give you what I thought you needed and I am pleased to hear that it helped you relax.”

I brought my face closer to his chest, where my hand was resting, and continued to look at him.  

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I would say that I’m a bit disappointed your plans were ruined.”

“Is that right?” he teased with a smirk on his face.  His hand was now wrapped around the back of my leg just above my knee. 

I looked away and moved my face closer to his chest because the feel of his hand on my leg was slightly overwhelming that I found it difficult to speak.

“Look at me.”

I pulled my head back to look up at him.

“I don’t want you to be disappointed with me,” he started.  “Can I make it up to you?”

Heat spread through my body as I gave him a coy smile. 

“Normally I’d say that you went above and beyond last night, but in this case, I won’t turn you down if you decide you want to make it up to me.”

Levi’s fingers pressed into the skin on my leg as he brought his head down to meet mine.  Seconds later, his mouth was on me.  His lips were moving across my lips.  His tongue came out to tease me, looking for a way inside my mouth.  I opened for him.

While we kissed, Levi’s hand slid up the side of my thigh.  It continued its journey up my leg to the hem of my nightie.  He didn’t stop there.  Instead of remaining on top of the nightie or making a blatant attempt to go under it, Levi moved his hand in a way that allowed him to push the nightie further up my thigh.

I didn’t mind.

In fact, I didn’t mind so much that I moaned against his mouth.

Levi’s hand had made it just above my hip when he went solid.  He pulled his mouth from mine and looked down at me.

He had an assessing look on his face.

Given his silence and body language, I was beginning to feel a bit anxious.

“Levi?” I croaked.

“Elle, where are your panties?” he questioned.

Oops.

“I don’t have any on,” I shared, as though he was unaware of this fact.

“I own a P.I. firm, so you have to imagine I’ve figured that much out by now.  I’m curious as to why you don’t have any on.”

I bit my lip. 

His eyes dropped to my mouth.

When they came back to my eyes, I explained, “I wear a nightie to sleep.  That’s it.”

“You’re telling me that you slept next to me in my bed last night and you had nothing under this?”

I nodded.

“And the night before?  Outside the bathroom with the yellow one…there was nothing underneath that?”

I shook my head.

“Let me get this straight.  You went into the guest bedroom two nights ago and touched yourself and all you were wearing was that yellow nightie?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Jesus Christ.  Thank fuck I didn’t figure this out last night.  I struggled to keep my shit together a good portion of the night just feeling the warmth and softness of your body against mine.  Had I known you had nothing underneath, I’m not sure I would have been successful.”

“This isn’t a deal breaker, is it?”

“Fuck no.”

“Then, um, would you mind if we went back to what we were doing before you made this discovery?”

Levi rolled me to my back and settled his body over mine.  His face disappeared in my neck, where I felt his mouth against me.

My legs were wrapped around his waist and, as he trailed kisses along the skin of my neck, I squeezed my thighs.  The ache between my legs grew stronger and I needed to find a release.  Levi’s hands traveled to my waist and began pushing the satin fabric up my body.  Seconds later, he pulled it over my head.

Levi wasted no time.  His hands went to my breasts and his mouth went over one of my nipples.  As he licked, sucked, and nibbled, I put my feet to the mattress and used them to roll my hips.  While I sought the friction against my core and he lavished my breasts with attention, I moaned.

“Levi.”

My voice was throaty. 

His mouth came back up to mine.  With his lips just barely touching mine, he pleaded, “Tell me what you want, sunshine.”

“You.  I want you inside me,” I rasped.

He smiled against my lips.

“Please,” I begged.

Levi pushed up off me onto his knees and leaned over to the nightstand.  While he grabbed a condom and opened it, I sat up and brought my hands to the waistband of his boxer briefs.  I pushed them down his legs and he shifted so I could get them past his knees and off his legs.  Before he had the chance to sheath himself, I brought my hand to his erection.  I looked up at him through hooded eyes and wrapped my mouth around the tip of him.

He groaned as he watched me, the condom in one hand while the other came to the side of my head and clutched my hair.

I took more of him in my mouth.

My eyes remained focused on Levi’s. 

“Damn, Elle,” he bit out as I ran my tongue along his shaft and teased the tip before I sucked him back into my mouth.

He allowed me to work him a little longer and then pulled himself from my mouth.  He rolled the condom on, brought his mouth down to mine, and guided me to my back again.  Once my head hit the pillow, he trailed kisses along my jaw, down my neck, and to my breasts.

Levi pulled his head back and watched as his fingers went straight to the spot between my legs.

“Dripping.”

One finger slid inside me.  Levi almost completely withdrew the finger and added a second one before he pushed back inside.  He continued his torturously slow assault on me, building me up.

“Fuck me, Levi.  Please.”

My voice was filled with desperation, need, and lust.

That was it; he didn’t make me wait.  Within seconds, Levi filled me to the root of his cock.  My hips were in his hands as he drove into my body.

Pure bliss.

“Oh,” I moaned.

Levi gave it to me.  It wasn’t slow, but it wasn’t fast.  It was steady.  More than that, it was gratifying.

Sexy. 

All Levi.

“Such sweetness,” he whispered.

He had already built me up using his hand and now as he continued to deliver exquisite movements with his hips, I knew it was coming.  I struggled to fight against the mounting pleasure.

Levi knew I was close.  He dropped my hips and brought his hands up to frame my face.  I wrapped my legs around his waist.  My fingers were holding on tight to his arms, and with each thrust into me, my grip on him tightened.

“Liquid honey,” Levi rasped.

I couldn’t begin to decipher the meaning behind what he said because my body was on the verge of something extraordinary.  With each stroke, he took me higher.  I closed my eyes, bracing for it.

“Eyes, Elle.”

I couldn’t open them.

“Give me your eyes,” he demanded.

“I can’t,” I panted.

He stopped moving.

My eyes shot open and I whimpered.

“I want your eyes, sunshine.”

I nodded my understanding. 

Satisfied, Levi began moving again.  It took seconds to get me back to where I was and, this time, he didn’t stop.

“Oh, Levi.  I’m gonna come,” I managed to get out through my ragged breathing.

He increased his pace and I shattered, exploding around him.

His eyes never left mine.

Levi worked me through my orgasm and just as I started to come down, he found his.  He called out my name just before he brought his mouth to mine.  I kissed him and swallowed his groans while his thrusts began to slow until, eventually, they stopped.

He collapsed on top of me briefly before rolling to his back and taking me with him.  Our bodies covered with a sheen of sweat, we took the next several minutes to catch our breath.

“I hope you’re no longer disappointed with me,” Levi teased.

“That’s not possible, my hero.”

His body vibrated with laughter underneath me.

“I’m a hero now?”

“You’re my hero,” I answered honestly.

His arms tightened around me.

I gave him a moment to absorb what I said before I continued, “I don’t just mean here in the bed, Levi.  What you’re doing for me by keeping me safe, I could never repay you.  We need to talk about that, by the way.”

“Sunshine, look at me.”

I lifted my head from his chest to look at him.

“Is my dick inside you right now?”

I blinked and jerked my head back.

“Yeah.”

“Right.  I thought it’d be self-explanatory, especially now, but I guess not.  First, don’t ever talk to me about paying me anything to keep you safe while I’m still inside you.  Second, don’t talk to me about paying me anything to keep you safe…ever.”

“Levi,” I got out before he cut me off and started moving. 

“Need to get this condom off,” he explained as he slid out of me and shifted me over in the bed.

He walked to the bathroom to dispose of the condom and left me there wondering what his deal was.  Of course, I did this while I admired his flawless backside.  By the time he strolled back into the bedroom a minute later, I had pulled the sheet up to my underarms.  Levi climbed into the bed and settled on his side, facing me.  He propped his head up in his hand and looked down at me.

“We’ve got to talk about this,” I insisted.

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Is this case going to require some of your time, effort, and resources?” I pressed.

He nodded.

“That stuff doesn’t come free, Levi.”

“It does for you,” he said, softly.

I pulled my brows together and asked, “Why?”

“Elle, a couple months ago my brother’s girlfriend was being targeted by her ex.  I didn’t charge her nor Zane a dime for doing what we needed to do to make sure they stayed safe.”

“Zane’s your brother, though.  He’s family.”

“Yeah, and do you really think I’m going to let the woman who’s sharing my bed pay me to keep her safe?”

I rolled my eyes.

“I haven’t even been sharing your bed for a full twenty-four hours yet.”

“Are you going to be in my bed again tonight?”

“Yes.”

“There you have it.  And, just to say, now having had a taste of what you in my bed is like, I can tell you it’s something I would have loved to have had since the day I met you.”

“It was your choice to not be with me.”

“And it would seem that I changed my mind yesterday.  Given that, and the fact that you seem to be on the same page with me as far as the two of us goes, I’m going to settle this whole payment thing now.  I’m not accepting payment from you, Elle.  Even if you get to a place where you don’t want to be in my bed anymore, I’m still not accepting payment.  If you decide you’re not ok with this and want to fire me and my firm as your security and private investigations team, I’m not going to accept that.  You can hire someone else, but I’ll still be covering you until I know that there is no longer anyone threatening you.  Bottom line, sunshine, I’m not going to not do this for you.”

“Why?” I asked quietly.

“Because I’m not ok with the possibility of never hearing this voice or seeing these fucking eyes again, particularly when they become liquid honey.  To add to that, I liked the peaches yesterday, but I saw what you had in that bag in your car the day you came to my office.  I’m very much looking forward to tasting all the flavors on your lips.”

Liquid honey. 

He liked my eyes.

He also didn’t mind that I was obsessed with lip balm. 

My belly flipped and my insides grew warm. 

I turned myself toward him and pressed a kiss to the middle of his chest. 

“Ok, superhero.  You win.”