Zoe’s pussy was so warm and tight, it felt like a pair of velvet-lined gloves, wrapped around his fingers as he worked to move them in and out. The idea of what it was going to feel like wrapped around his cock almost made his head explode, and he sucked harder and moved his fingers faster. Zoe moved her hips in time with the thrust of his fingers. She was trying to say his name and maybe whisper words of encouragement, but it was all unintelligible, and when he moved his chin up and pressed it into her while his tongue continued the assault on her clit, he looked at her face. She had her head lifted up off the bed and she was watching him. He couldn’t remember ever seeing such a sexy look of lust on a woman’s face before and he suddenly wanted to see what she looked like when she came. He sat up on his knees without taking his fingers out of her and she dropped her thighs down onto his shoulders. He used his free hand to reach up and take hold of one of her breasts and while he didn’t miss a beat, fucking her with his fingers and pressing his knuckles into her each time, he massaged and caressed her breast and tweaked, rolled, and pinched her nipples. He didn’t take his eyes off her face and she kept hers locked into his. He could almost see the fire burning behind them, a spark of the same flame that was threatening to incinerate his own insides at the moment. He watched her as her breaths grew more ragged and her eyes began to roll back into her head. His cock hurt, ached to be touched…but first he had to see her come.

When the moment came, it was well worth the wait. Zoe had let her head fall back into the bed. Her body was arched so that her back and her hips were up off the bed. She was rocking into Levi’s hand hard and he saw the change in her the second that the orgasm rocked her world. Every muscle in her body went visibly taut. Her fingers, which had found their way to his shoulders, dug into his skin. Her mouth fell open and her eyes closed and a sound of pure, raw pleasure escaped from her throat. He felt the warmth and wetness soak his fingers and hand, and then her body collapsed down to the comforter underneath her and began to shake. Levi thought that of all the sexy things he’d ever witnessed, that orgasm had to be the most erotic. It would fuel his masturbatory fantasies for the rest of his life, even if she never let him touch her again.

Levi’s own breaths were coming in deep ragged gasps at that point. He was usually so in control when he made love to a woman, but in this case, he felt like his body was calling all the shots and his brain was only along for the ride…to store the memories of this moment. He stood up and easily moved her limp body back on the bed before stripping off his shorts and climbing up on top of her. He hesitated above her lips for a second before letting his own drag slowly across them. Another sexy whimper fell from hers, and he pushed his hips forward, letting the head of his cock enter her. They both groaned at that small invasion, and Levi closed his eyes and savored every sizzling nerve in his body as he slowly advanced himself inside of her, but once he had filled her up, and her tight walls were squeezing him, he lost it completely. He heard himself make a primal sound as his mouth traveled to the hollow of her neck and he began to kiss her there while he moved, gaining force and speed with every thrust. Zoe’s legs came up and wrapped around his back and her hands went to his shoulders, slowly massaging the muscles as she let them run down over his biceps to his forearms. When her hands reached his, Levi grabbed them, entwined their fingers, and pinned her to the mattress. He pulled his body up over hers and held her there, looking down into her eyes and watching the expressions on her face as he drilled into her. There was a raging inferno burning between them and his almost overwhelming desire to taste her skin warred with the need to stay inside of her, to stay in control. The pleasure he was feeling was almost more than his body could stand. He wanted it to last forever, but he knew if he stayed inside of her much longer, that wouldn’t be the case. It took every ounce of self-control to keep from seeking that release he so badly wanted. He pulled back, and he felt his cock swell and twitch as if it was staging a protest of its own. With real effort, he pulled out of her, savoring the savage little cry that came from Zoe’s lips as he did.

Levi kept his hold on her hands and he kept their bodies molded together as he leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. Then he let his lips move down to hers and pressing into them with his he whispered her name. Zoe moaned and her tongue came out and traced the lines of his lips. Levi held steady for a few seconds and let her taste him…let her taste herself on him…and then he began to do what he’d been dreaming about. He began to taste and explore every inch of skin on her beautiful body. He kissed and licked and sucked and nibbled while Zoe thrashed around on the bed making sexy noises. When he’d kissed every inch of the front of her body, he rolled her over and did the same to the back, stopping to let his tongue once again press in between her legs, tasting how sweet she was once more before reaching underneath her and pressing up on her belly. Zoe responded instantly, raising her hips up off the bed so that he could enter her from behind. He slid in easier this time, but those tight walls still put enough pressure on his cock to make him want to spontaneously combust. He grabbed onto her hips and began to pump in and out of her while she moved in time with his thrusts. Levi let one hand reach underneath her and his fingers landed on her clit. Zoe cried out his name as he pinched it between them and she began to buck into him harder. It only took seconds for her to reach her peak once again, this time screaming out his name as she came. That was when he lost it…when he heard her scream. Everything he’d been holding back for the past two months boiled to the surface and like a volcanic eruption, he released it all. He heard himself practically scream as the almost unbearably intense feelings assaulted him and he rocked into her repeatedly until he finally had to concede that he was done. His body didn’t have even a fragment of energy left, and he collapsed down on top of her first before realizing he was going to suffocate her and rolling to the side.

Zoe cuddled up into him, almost in a fetal position, and placed a soft kiss on his chest. Levi could almost feel his subconscious fighting off the questions he knew he was going to have in the morning, keeping them at bay while he simply enjoyed this moment with her. He rolled onto his back and pulled her into the crook of his arm and held her there. She felt so good. He felt so good. He wasn’t about to deal with the negative thoughts that he knew his brain wanted to throw at him tonight. He closed his eyes and instead called the fresh memories up of what it had felt like to be inside of her, and he fell asleep with a renewed passion for life and a smile on his lips.

* * *

Levi woke up with the light from the window streaming into the room. He stretched and smiled and opened his eyes…Zoe was gone. He sat up, getting a head rush as he did, and looked around the room. “That was no fucking dream!” he said out loud as he threw the covers back. He didn’t dream being with her the night before. It was real…so where the fuck was she?

He pulled on his pajama pants and stopped to look in the bathroom before leaving the bedroom and going down the hall. The apartment was dead quiet and he knew before he got to the living room that he wasn’t going to find her there. What he did find was a note on the table with his name on it. He sat down on the couch and picked it up. His hands were shaking before he folded it open and read:

I’m sorry for taking off like this, but I thought it was best. I wasn’t going to be able to look at your gorgeous face and get the words out that I needed to say. Last night was…so fucking incredible. I will never forget it and I know in my heart and soul that no man will ever be able to live up to you. You made me feel like I was the most beautiful, desired creature on earth and I thank you for that. You accomplished what no one has ever been able to…you made me believe that I was worthy of someone like you. When I feel asleep in your strong arms everything was right in the world. It was only hours later when I woke up in the dark and you brushed your lips across the side of my face that I realized my mistake. Before you went back to sleep, you whispered her name in my ear. I’m not Krissy, Levi. We both might believe that somehow that night she passed a part of her soul into me, the part that loved you beyond reason. But despite that, I’m still me. You can’t replace her with me. I can’t be her. We made a mistake, but I have to be honest and admit that it was a mistake I don’t regret. I’ll hold onto the memories of what you felt like and how you felt me for the rest of my life. But now it’s time for me to get on with that, and you to get on with yours. Go to Massachusetts and start over. Once day Krissy will just be a beautiful memory that lives in your mind and your heart and you’ll be able to fully give yourself to another woman. But right now, that beautiful memory is too fresh and it wouldn’t be fair to either one of us to continue pretending like you’re ready to move on.

I hope you won’t find it too presumptuous of me, but I’m still worried about Charlie and I hope that you’ll still try and find a place for him. I’ll find him today and send him to see you. Thank you for that; Krissy was right when she told Susie that you’re a good man. You’re one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet personally and if I never get to see or talk to you again, I will cherish every moment I knew you. Take care of yourself please, Levi.

Levi read the note, three or four times. At first he was angry and he wanted to call her and deny everything she said. He’d only said Krissy’s name out of habit, or maybe he was dreaming…he knew that Zoe wasn’t her. The second time he read it he tried to put himself in Zoe’s place and imagine what it would feel like to reach that incredible peak they’d reached together the night before…and then hear someone else’s name in her ear. The third time he read it, he knew she was right. He’d made a terrible mistake. He hadn’t been ready and instead of being the man that Zoe needed him to be and waiting until he was, he gave in to his desires. He hurt her, and that had been the very last thing he’d wanted to do. He set the note down on the table and picked up his phone. The first call he placed was to Dax. He told him that he wanted to come to Massachusetts and he wanted to be a prospect for the Skulls. Dax had laughed when he said “prospect.” “You come to Massachusetts and there will be a patch waiting for you,” he’d told him.

His second call was to his mother. He felt tears sting his eyes as he told her he’d decided to go. He knew she wouldn’t let him see her cry, but he could hear it in her voice. She told him that she’d miss him and that she’d expect him to visit often…and then of course, she told him that she supported and respected his choice. Before he hung up, he’d agreed to dinner with her and his Pops that night.

The third call was to Cheney to ask for another meeting. This time he asked that the entire executive board be in on it. If he was going to leave the club, especially after what they had recently done for him, he needed to do it like a man. He had to face them all and take whatever they dished out to him in return. Before he pissed them all off, he’d ask about Charlie. It was the least he could do for Zoe after what he’d done to her.

Lastly, he called Frank Bennett. When the older man picked up, Levi said, “I just wanted to call and tell you that I’ve decided to move out of state and take a new job. I’m struggling with starting over and I think it’ll be easier if I get a whole, new, fresh start.”

“Oh, well, I’ll be sorry to see you go. I’m sure Zoe will be too. Does she know?”

Levi sighed. “She knows it’s something that I’m seriously considering. I was hoping that you could do me a favor. I care a great deal for your granddaughter, but it’s obviously going to take me some more time to finish grieving the loss of my girlfriend. It wouldn’t be fair to keep Zoe dangling while I do that. But just in case I lose touch with her, will you keep me posted…just let me know how she’s doing and if she’s okay?”

There was a long hesitation and Levi braced himself for the old man to tell him to fuck off. When he finally spoke, he said, “I haven’t ever thought that anyone Zoe was with was good for her. She’s always been like her mother and she tends to choose men that are going to want to control and abuse her. When I found out that you were in a motorcycle club, I assumed you were more of the same. It was seeing the changes in my granddaughter that convinced me otherwise. I’ve seen her go through this sobriety thing more times than I want to count, but this time was different from the beginning and I equated that with her knowing you.”

“I’d like to take the credit, Frank, but I can’t. Zoe’s sobriety is all her. She found the strength inside herself to do it and even though the odds have been stacked against her from the beginning…seeing the accident and getting shot and all the changes she’s had to make in her life…any one of those things could have driven her right back into it. But she was determined not to fall this time and I believe with everything inside of me that she’s going to succeed this time. It has nothing to do with me, however. If I stayed here I would only be adding more stress to her life. Please just let me know if she ever needs anything. I’ll be here in a heartbeat if she does, I promise you that.”

“Okay, Levi. You take care of yourself, and I’ll work on giving my granddaughter more credit. I’m not sure that she and I will ever get back to the relationship we had before the drugs poisoned us both, but I’m at a point in my life where I’m finally willing to try.”

Levi hoped that he meant it. He could tell how much Zoe wanted his approval, how badly she needed it. She deserved his respect and his admiration, and someday Levi hoped Frank Bennett could realize the same thing that he himself had to learn. Zoe might be a part of Krissy and in Frank’s mind she might be a part of his daughter, the daughter that perpetually broke his heart. But she wasn’t either of them. She was her own woman, her own person, and she deserved so much more than two men in her life who couldn’t see that.