My hands gripped the back of the couch, my fingers digging into the cushioned fabric. Levi untangled his fingers from my hair, his palm sliding down my spine in a path of burning heat. I arched under his touch, frantic for more.

The hot, velvety skin of his shaft brushed against my bottom before he slid his hand between my thighs, nudging my legs apart with his knee as his fingers delved into my folds. I was soaked with need for him.

I barely recognized myself as I cried out, moaning his name. Suddenly, Levi muttered something else before stepping back swiftly. I started to straighten, glancing over my shoulder. “Where…”

“Condom,” he bit it out gruffly. “I just have to run upstairs.”

I shook my head sharply. “No need. I’m on the pill.”

He stared at me, his eyes boring into mine. I suddenly felt vulnerable.

“I don’t know what I was thinking. I mean...” I started to say.

He shook his head sharply, his hands curling around my hips again.

I’d been on the pill for years. It was more a convenience thing than anything. Despite that, I’d never had sex without a condom. Not even the fateful time I lost my virginity. Although the guy had been a jerk about it after the fact, he had used a condom.

I stared at Levi over my shoulder. His hand on my hip was a hot brand, searing us together. I didn’t want him to run upstairs and grab a condom. I didn’t want anything that would make me stop and think. I shook my head again, nudging my hips back against him.

“I need you,” I said roughly.

I broke free from his gaze. It was too intense, the moment too intimate.

“Okay,” he said softly. “Are you…”

I cut him off, anticipating he was about to ask if I was okay with this. “I wouldn’t have said anything if I wasn’t.”

I didn’t want to think, I wanted to lose myself in sensation. He stepped closer, the head of his cock sliding through my folds. He was hard and thick, despite having come in my mouth only moments ago. I felt a wash of relief, knowing perhaps he was as needy for me as I was for him. He teased me, coating his cock with my juices as he dragged it back and forth.

On another low moan, pleading for him to give me what I needed, he finally did. He sank inside, slow and sure, stretching and filling me. Seating himself deeply, he held still for a beat, his hands cupping my hips. I arched back, pressing against him. His palm slid up my spine, his touch a blaze of heat, sending sparks flying into the fire already burning inside.

I was aflame inside and out, spiraling out of control, and I didn’t care. My need for him was like a storm inside, pushing me into a frenzy. His hand laced into my hair as he started to stroke into me, drawing out fully and sinking in again and again. The pull and slide inside my channel had me dancing on the edge. He murmured hot, dirty words.

“Lucy, you make me crazy. You’re so fucking hot.”

When I groaned on the heels of a rough drive into me, he muttered, “Your pussy feels so fucking good, so tight.”

All the while, I gasped, moaned and cried his name with every thrust. This wasn’t a gentle claiming, it was rough and hard—exactly what I needed. This was the only way to slake my endless need for him.

On the heels of a deep surge, I felt him start to tighten. He eased his grip on my hip, reaching his hand around and swirling his fingers over my clit.

My climax crashed over me, the pleasure hitting me like sparks on metal, scattering through me everywhere. I was nearly limp from it, barely hearing his guttural cry as the heat of his release filled me.

I stood there, my hands gripping the back of the couch with my head bowed as I caught my breath. Levi slowly straightened, his hands holding me steady at the hips. My heart drummed out a wild beat, and it wasn’t simply from the exertion. I suddenly wanted to cry, not from sadness, but from the depth of emotion coursing through me.

I didn’t know what to do with any of it. So I simply tried to catch my breath, having no sense of how much time was passing. I didn’t realize I was getting cold until he spoke.

“You’re cold,” Levi said, his hands sliding over my skin, his touch warm and comforting. I lifted my head, glancing over my shoulder and hoping the dim lighting masked the tears pressing at the backs of my eyes.

“I guess so.”

He drew back, yet before I had a chance to miss the feel of him filling me, he was lifting me in his arms and carrying me upstairs. He almost stumbled on the stairs.

I giggled, feeling emotional and giddy. “That’s what you get for trying to walk up the stairs with your jeans halfway on.”

I felt his smile against my hair. “So true,” he said as he cleared the top step and quickly walked into the bathroom.

Within a few seconds, steam was filling the bathroom, and he was tugging me into the shower after pausing to help me remove my brace. Hot water pounded down over us. It was a few moments before I absorbed the fact that this was now the second time I’d showered with him. I’d never showered with anyone else before.

Me, the queen of one night stands, once a year at best. If that. I’d never let myself share the intimacy of a shower. I looked over as he leaned his head under the water to rinse the shampoo out, water and soap bubbles running down over his body.

It shouldn’t even be legal for him to look the way he did. My mouth went dry just looking at him now, and it had only been moments since my channel had been quaking around his cock. I should be satiated, but then I was starting to doubt I ever could be when it came to Levi.

His skin was bronzed, his body hardened, yet not in the polished way of a man who worked out. Rather, his fitness was pure, raw masculinity. He worked a dangerous job, a job that demanded rugged strength and toughness. With his eyes closed as the water poured over him, I looked my fill, my greedy eyes coasting over his muscled chest, down along his hips to his strong legs. Even in rest, there wasn’t an inch of him that wasn’t hard. A grin curled the corner of my mouth when I corrected myself. At this particular moment, his cock wasn’t hard…although it usually was around me.

I’d never thought much about the power I could have over a man. Yet, with Levi, I felt powerful and vulnerable at once.

His eyes opened as he lifted his head, catching my gaze through the water and steam. In a flash, his hand curled around mine, and he reeled me up against him, dipping his head and catching my lips in a kiss. My heart thudded hard in my chest. I couldn’t control any of this, and I didn’t know how.

I scrambled for purchase inside and then stopped bothering. I let myself tumble into the feel of his hard muscled body against mine, the hot water and steam cocooning us in our own little world. I could kiss him for days and days and days.

When he drew back, brushing my wet, tangled hair back off my forehead, I caught his eyes. “You’re really good at that.”

He grinned, one of those delectable, belly flipping grins of his. “Good at what?”

“Kissing.”

“I don’t think it’s me. I think it’s us.”

The moment felt suddenly heavy. I wanted to scoot away, yet I couldn’t. Because no matter how much that scared me, the need to be close to him overrode every other instinct. With his eyes locked on mine, without a word spoken, it was as if he sensed the anxiety starting to bloom inside of me.

With a slight smile, he lightened the moment. “Well, you’re warm now.”

I was not a giggler, but Levi made me giggle. A lot more than I wanted to admit. With a giggle, I looked up at him through the steam. “I am.”

He turned the water off, stepped out and handed me the towel.

By some miracle, he’d remembered to remind me to remove my brace before we showered. I didn’t want to sleep with it on and said as much. He opened his mouth as if to argue and then snapped it shut.

“Since you didn’t tell me what to do, I’ll wear it. I can’t wait to see the doctor next week.”

Next thing I knew, he was bundling us into bed. His bed was soft, the cotton sheets cool against my skin. I didn’t even bother not to burrow against him. Sleeping with him was like having my own personal heater. I was trying to settle in without my brace bumping him when his voice came above my head.

“I don’t even notice it. Once I’m in bed, all I do is sleep when I’m with you. Well except for sex,” he offered.

I could feel his smile against my hair. I giggled and let my hand fall against his chest. I fell asleep easily, feeling warm and protected in his embrace.