9. Levi
CHAPTER 9
LEVI
She owned me, body, mind, and soul. Watching her come undone had bound me to her and I hadn’t even been inside her. That was about to change, though. As she stared up at me, a smile on her lips and her eyes glazed and unfocused, I shed my jeans and boxers and rolled a condom over my throbbing cock.
“You still okay with this?” I asked. Taking her with my mouth was one thing, but once I sank deep down inside her, she’d be mine.
Nodding, she reached for me and pulled me down for a kiss. “Do whatever you want with me. I’m all yours.”
“Fuck, Brooklyn. You were made for me.” She was wet and ready. As our lips touched, I lined my cock up at her entrance and slid the first inch inside. The walls of her pussy squeezed around me as I pushed deeper. We’d barely even started, but I could already tell I’d never be able to get enough of this woman.
“More.” Her nails dug into my shoulders.
“I’ve got you, sweet girl.” I moved, slowly at first, easing in and out until I was seated completely inside her. She was already soaked, but I wasn’t going to let myself go until she came on my cock. I tugged her sweater over her head, then pulled my own shirt off, needing to feel her skin-to-skin.
Her bra was next. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her tits, or even better, my mouth. Goosebumps pebbled her skin as the cold air rushed over her. I had to pull back for a second and take in the sight of her.
My woman was perfection in the flesh. The need to run my lips over every gorgeous inch of her rallied, but that would have to wait until later when I bundled her up and carried her inside. I held myself up on an elbow and kissed my way down her neck and between her breasts. She arched into me.
My hips rolled, and I set a slow and easy rhythm. Then I closed my lips around one of her nipples, swirling my tongue around the hard bud.
“Levi…” My name came out half whisper, half moan. Just the sound of her voice, all throaty and sexy, made me want her even more.
I switched my attention to her other breast, wishing I could spend the rest of my life like this… buried inside her, feasting on her skin. Fuck… I was too damn close, but so was she.
Her hips thrust harder, taking me deeper. I slipped my hand between us and found her clit. Her walls spasmed around me as she let go. I followed, pumping into her until I came so hard my entire body strained with my release. Fucking hell. She’d just totally ruined me for anyone else.
I knew it would be good between us, but my mind couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. I rolled onto my back, taking her with me, and we laid like that long enough for my pulse to return to normal. When I finally felt like I could move again, I tied off the condom and started to get up.
“Can’t we stay like this for just a little bit longer?” Brooklyn asked.
“Whatever you want, sweet girl.” I pulled her closer, her head resting on my chest as we stared up at the sky. “I can tell you what I wished for now.”
“Are you sure?” Her legs tangled with mine underneath the covers. It was only a matter of time before she’d get too cold and we’d have to pack everything up and move inside, but I wanted to hold onto the magic we’d made as long as possible.
“Yeah. I wished for this.” I wasn’t a guy who shared his feelings easily or often. But she made me want things I’d never allowed myself to dream about.
“Freezing your ass off on your deck?” she teased.
My lips split into a wide grin. “If it means getting my hands on you, then hell yeah.”
“Is that all this is to you? A chance to get your hands on me?” Her tone teased, but there was a seriousness underneath.
I wanted to reassure her, but I’d never committed to a woman for anything longer than twenty-four hours. “Honestly, I’m not sure what this is yet, but for the first time in my life, I can see a future with someone. With you.”
She lifted her head, and we locked eyes. “I can see it too.”
“Do you mean it?”
“I do.” She shifted her gaze to the stars above. “It seems too soon after everything that’s happened with Kyle, but I want this.”
I hated hearing his name even cross her lips, but being with her meant accepting everything about her. Even though I’d never be able to forgive myself for not seeing what my brother had been doing to her over the years, I wanted her to be able to be honest with me.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.” She turned toward me and burrowed under the covers until the blanket covered up everything but her eyes. “He only hit me once or twice and not until the end. I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses for him, but I also don’t want you to think it was a regular thing.”
“Once is too many times, sweet girl. I wish I’d been there for you.” I couldn’t change the past, but I could make sure he’d never touch her again.
She shook her head. “You’re here now, and that’s all that matters. I’d rather look forward to the future than spend time dwelling on the past.”
“I’ve got something you can look forward to.” I leaned over and nudged my nose into her hair. Everything about her drove me wild. “It’s in my bedroom. Want to come take a look?”
Her arms snaked around my neck as my lips found hers. “With an invitation like that, how could a girl refuse?”
Neither one of us got much sleep that night. After we moved inside, I took Brooklyn to bed and didn’t let her leave until it was time for both of us to get up and get to work. She had that event at the garden center this afternoon, and I needed make major progress on that job at the bank building and beg my boss to put me back on the clock when it wrapped up. Not even knowing my dreams of running my own business had been shot to hell could ruin my good mood. Not now that I had Brooklyn.
I dropped her off at Lily’s and after a heated make out session in my truck, she headed inside. Watching her go, I waited for a sense of panic to set in. Instead of feeling tied down, my heart fucking soared. We belonged together. Every part of me believed that. I couldn’t imagine feeling suffocated by her. She made me want to be better, to do better, to take care of her for the rest of our lives.
Damn, life sure could be fucked up.
My good mood didn’t last very long. As I pulled up outside the jobsite where I’d been working off and on for the past couple of weeks, the boss met me at my truck with a frown on his face and his hands curled into fists.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I got out of the truck wondering what the hell had caused his bad mood.
“You thought you could cut corners with me? Save a few bucks and put my entire business at risk?” A thick vein near his temple pulsed. He was pissed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Glancing over his shoulder, I didn’t see an issue. No telling what had gotten his boxers in a twist. “Can you give me a little more information?”
He stalked into the empty building with me right on his heels. “The scaffolding didn’t hold. Two guys fell three stories this morning. You’re lucky they’re still alive.”
“The scaffolding? I put that together myself.” We reached the inside of the old bank building, and I looked up. Instead of the scaffolding I’d installed the other day reaching all the way up the front wall, pieces of metal and wood covered the floor. “What happened?”
“You tell me.” He thrust his finger into the center of my chest. “Maybe you were in a hurry. Maybe you wanted to kill this job from the start so you could run me out of business. I’m telling you though, you’re through.”
“I checked it myself.” Too stunned to fully process his threats, I crouched down to look at what was left of the scaffolding. One of the bolts had been sheared off like it wasn’t strong enough to take the weight. I picked it up and held it out in my palm. “These aren’t the right bolts for this set up.”
“No shit.” He grabbed a stack of papers from a work bench nearby. “But who signed off on this? That’s your signature on the dotted line.”
“Somebody set me up.” That had to be what happened. “You know me. I try to keep expenses down, but I’d never cut corners when it comes to a safety issue.”
He hung his head, his anger dissipating. “I really want to believe you, but I’m not taking the fall for this. I’ve already fielded half a dozen calls this morning, one of them from a local reporter who wanted to know what the hell happened. Now I’m probably going to lose this job to that big outfit that’s putting in the new grocery store down the street.”
Kyle. I didn’t want to consider that my own brother could have had a hand in this, but that was the only reasonable explanation.
“I’m sorry. Seems like someone’s got it out for me, and I think I know who’s to blame.” I hated seeing the look in his eyes, like I’d totally let him down. “I’ll fix this.”
His jaw clenched tight, but his eyes softened. “I hope you do, Levi. Because if you don’t figure out who’s behind this, you’re going to have to take the fall and that means you’ll never be able to take another job in Mustang Mountain.”
I left him standing there, the sheared bolt in hand. Anger boiled up inside me, looking for a way out. I was sure I’d pissed off my fair share of people in the past, but there was only one man who’d benefit from taking me down. And I was ready to hand him his ass which was exactly what he deserved.