Chapter 23
Levi
It started soft—lips brushing, tentative, like we were both testing the air between us—but the second her mouth opened under mine, everything caught fire.
Her lips were warm, plush, sweet. I groaned low in my throat the moment her tongue touched mine, and the sound seemed to unravel her.
Her hands slid up my chest, fingers curling into my shirt with sudden need, pulling me closer until our bodies pressed tightly together.
I felt every soft curve of her against me—the press of her breasts, the dip of her waist, the way she arched instinctively into the contact.
I angled my head, deepening the kiss, taking her mouth with slow, hungry strokes of my tongue that made her whimper softly into me.
My hand slid from her cheek to the back of her neck, fingers threading into her hair, cradling her skull as I tilted her face exactly where I wanted it.
She rose on her toes to meet me, pressing tighter against my chest, and I felt the hard peaks of her nipples drag against me through her sweatshirt with every shallow breath she took.
My other hand found her waist, then slid lower, cupping the curve of her hip through her jeans, fingers splaying wide to pull her flush against me. She gasped into my mouth at the contact, and I swallowed the sound, kissing her harder, tongues sliding wet and deep and unapologetic.
She tasted like everything I’d denied myself for years, and I couldn’t get enough.
I sucked gently on her bottom lip, then bit down just enough to make her moan, the vibration traveling straight through me.
Her fingers dug into my shoulders, then slid up into my hair, tugging lightly, urging me closer, deeper.
I obliged, devouring her mouth like I’d been starving for it, one hand slipping under the hem of her sweatshirt to find bare skin—warm, smooth, trembling slightly under my palm as I stroked up the elegant line of her spine.
When we finally broke apart, gasping, her forehead pressed to mine, her lips were swollen, dark, and glistening, her pupils blown wide. She looked wrecked in the best way—cheeks flushed, breath ragged, eyes locked on my mouth like she was already thinking about doing it again.
I brushed my thumb across her lower lip, slow and reverent, feeling her shiver at the touch.
“Hi,” I said, voice rough as gravel.
She laughed softly. “Hi.”
I kissed her again, slower this time but no less hungry—long, languid pulls that made her melt against me.
My hand stayed under her sweatshirt, palm flat against the small of her back, fingers splayed wide, holding her exactly where I wanted her.
She arched into the touch with a soft moan, pressing her breasts harder against my chest, and I felt her smile against my mouth.
I kissed along her jaw, down the sensitive line of her throat, tasting the faint salt of her skin, and feeling the rapid flutter of her pulse under my lips.
She tilted her head back, offering more, and I took it—open-mouthed kisses, gentle scrapes of teeth, slow licks that made her fingers tighten in my hair and her breath hitch in sharp, needy little sounds.
“Levi,” she breathed, my name sounding like a plea and a promise all at once.
I lifted my head just enough to look at her—hair thoroughly mussed, lips bruised from kissing, eyes dark and heavy-lidded with want. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and she was looking at me like I was the only thing she wanted in the world.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I said, low and rough, the words torn out of me.
Her breath hitched.
Her hands slid to cradle my face, thumbs brushing my cheekbones, holding me like I was something precious. She studied me for a long moment and then pulled me back down.
This kiss was slower, deeper, molten. My tongue stroked hers in lazy, thorough glides while my hand slid higher under her sweatshirt, thumb brushing the soft underside of her breast. She arched into it with a soft moan, pressing herself harder against me, and I felt the heat of her through our clothes, the way her body trembled with every slow, deliberate press.
I kissed the corner of her mouth. Her cheek. The soft spot below her ear. She shivered, tilting her head to give me better access, and I sucked gently at the skin there, feeling her pulse race under my tongue.
She turned her face toward mine and kissed me once more, a beginning disguised as surrender, and I held her there in the warm middle of her small trailer with the river moving steadily outside and the Christmas lights blinking through the window.
The quiet settled around us.
She drew back just slightly and looked up at me, and I saw her working up to something. The small crease between her brows. The breath she took before she said things that cost her.
“Will you stay?” she said. “I don’t want you to go back over there tonight.”
I held her gaze.
“Of course,” I said. And for the first time in longer than I could remember, I wasn’t waiting for something to go wrong. I had everything I wanted. She was right here.
I pulled back just enough to rest my forehead against hers again, both of us breathing hard, the air between us thick and warm. My hand stayed under her sweatshirt, palm flat against her bare back, feeling the rapid rise and fall of her ribs.
“Becca,” I said, voice low and rough. “Tell me what you want. Right now. No guessing. Just say it.”
Her eyes searched mine, soft and unguarded, the last of her careful walls gone. She swallowed, lips still parted.
“I want you,” she whispered. “All of you. Tonight. Here. With me.” Her fingers traced the line of my jaw, trembling just a little. “I want to feel you. I want to know what this is like when it’s us. Just us.”
My chest tightened at the honesty in her voice. I kissed her again, slow and deep, letting her feel the answer before I spoke it. When I pulled back, I kept my hand on her face, thumb stroking her cheek.
“Then we go slow,” I told her. “We stop anytime you need to. You say the word, and we stop. Okay?”
She nodded, eyes shining. “Okay. But I don’t want to stop.”
I kissed her forehead, then her temple, then the corner of her mouth with soft, reverent touches that made her sigh. “Bedroom?”
She nodded again, small and sure.
I scooped her up without thinking—arms under her thighs, her legs wrapping around my waist instinctively.
She laughed softly against my neck, surprised and delighted, arms looping around my shoulders as I carried her the short distance down the narrow hall.
The trailer felt smaller, warmer, like the whole world had shrunk to the space between our bodies.
I set her down gently on the edge of the bed. She didn’t let go right away—kept her hands on my shoulders, looking up at me like she was memorizing my face. I knelt between her knees, hands resting lightly on her thighs.
“Still good?” I asked.
“Better than good,” she said, voice soft. She reached for the hem of her sweatshirt, paused, then pulled it over her head in one smooth motion. Underneath, she wore a simple black bra, nothing fancy, simple and pretty—and the sight of her skin in the low lamplight made my breath catch.
She watched my face, a small, shy smile curving her lips. “Your turn.”
I stood long enough to shrug off my shirt, let it fall to the floor. Her eyes traced my chest, my stomach, the faint scars from old falls and older fights. She reached out, fingertips brushing the line of my ribs, then flattening her palm over my heart.
“You’re shaking,” she whispered.
“So are you,” I said, covering her hand with mine. “We’re allowed to be nervous. This is everything.”
She tugged me down until I was kneeling again, then leaned in to kiss me—slow, open-mouthed, her hands exploring my shoulders, my back, learning me the way I wanted to learn her. I unhooked her bra with careful fingers and let it slide down her arms. When I pulled back to look, her breath hitched.
“Beautiful,” I murmured, voice rough with awe. I cupped her breasts gently, thumbs brushing over her nipples until they tightened under my touch. She arched into my hands with a soft moan, head tipping back.
I kissed her throat, her collarbone, then lower—slow, open kisses across the soft swell of her breast until I took one nipple into my mouth.
She gasped, fingers threading into my hair, holding me there while I licked and sucked gently, learning what made her breath catch, what made her hips shift restlessly.
“Levi…” My name came out like a sigh, like relief.
I moved to the other side, giving it the same slow attention, while my hands slid down to the waistband of her jeans. I looked up, waiting.
“Yes,” she said immediately. “Please.”
I unbuttoned, unzipped, and helped her shimmy out of them along with her underwear. She lay back on the bed, hair fanned across the pillow, skin flushed and glowing in the lamplight. I stood for a second just looking—heart hammering—then kicked off my own jeans and boxers.
Her gaze dropped, darkened. She reached for me.
I caught her hand, kissed the palm. “Condom,” I said. “In my wallet. Give me one second.”
She nodded, biting her lip, eyes never leaving me as I fished it out of my discarded jeans, tore the packet, rolled it on with hands that weren’t quite steady.
When I came back to the bed, she opened her arms and pulled me down on top of her. I settled between her thighs, careful not to crush her, bracing on my forearms so I could see her face.
“Still okay?” I asked again.
She nodded, hands sliding up my back. “More than okay. I want you inside me. Please, I need you.”
I kissed her, deep and slow, while I reached between us, guiding myself to her entrance. I pressed in just the tip, paused when she tensed, waited until her hips lifted in invitation.
“Easy,” I whispered against her mouth. “I’ve got you.”
I pushed in slowly, inch by careful inch, feeling her stretch around me, hot and tight and perfect. She gasped, nails digging into my shoulders, while she wrapped her legs around my hips, urging me deeper. When I was fully seated, we both stilled, breathing hard, foreheads pressed together.
“God,” she breathed. “You feel…”
“So do you,” I managed. “You’re perfect. Beautiful. Everything I’ve ever wanted...”
I started to move—slow, shallow thrusts at first, letting her adjust, watching her face for every flicker of sensation.
Her eyes fluttered closed, lips parted on soft, broken sounds.
I kissed her again, swallowing those sounds, moving a little deeper, a little faster when her hips began to roll up to meet mine.
“Like that?” I asked, voice wrecked.
“Yes—God, yes. Don’t stop.”
I didn’t. I found a rhythm—steady and deep, rolling my hips so I ground against her clit with every thrust. She moaned louder, hands roaming my back, my ass, pulling me closer, harder. I slid one hand between us, thumb finding her clit, circling gently while I kept the same slow, deliberate pace.
Her breath hitched, body tightening around me. “Levi—I’m close.”
“Come for me,” I murmured against her ear. “Let me feel you. I want to feel you come around me.”
That did it. She arched hard, a sharp cry tearing from her throat as she clenched down, pulsing around me in waves. I kept moving through it, drawing it out until she was trembling, gasping, clinging to me like I was the only solid thing left.
When the aftershocks eased, I kissed her softly, still buried deep. “You okay?”
She laughed. “More than okay. Your turn.”
I groaned, forehead dropping to her shoulder. “You sure?”
She tightened around me deliberately, making me curse under my breath. “Very sure.”
I started moving again—deeper now, harder, chasing my own release while she held me, whispered my name like a prayer, kissed my neck, my jaw, my mouth. The heat built fast, coiling low in my spine.
“Becca—”
“Come inside me,” she whispered. “Please. I want to feel it.”
That broke me. I thrust deep one last time, buried to the hilt, and came with a low, guttural groan, pulsing inside her while she held me tight, legs locked around my hips, nails scoring lightly down my back.
We stayed like that—sweaty, tangled, breathing hard—until my arms started to shake. She curled into me immediately, head tucked under my chin, one leg thrown over mine.
I kissed the top of her head. “You’re like a dream come true,” I murmured. “I can’t believe this is real.”
She smiled against my skin. “So are you.”
We didn’t say anything else for a long time—just held each other in the quiet dark, listening to the river outside, feeling the steady beat of each other’s hearts.