15. Aimee
Aimee
I don’t bother closing Levi’s bedroom door behind me as I walk in. There’s no point when I feel him following so closely.
He could just be following to explain Reina’s tantrum, but I couldn’t care less. What she says or what he did with her doesn’t affect me like she probably wishes it would. That wasn’t even why I walked away.
But the tattoo.
I saw it when we first came face-to-face at the bottom of the staircase, but I was too distracted by Levi himself to process it. Now that I’ve had some time to clear my head, I’m seeing it in a new light, and I need answers.
“I’m sorry,” Levi says behind me. “She’s—”
“I don’t care about Reina.” I mean it as I spin around to face Levi, who is closing the door behind him. “Why did you get that tattoo? ”
He rests his back against the door, watching me pace throughout his room. “You know why.”
“No.” I shake my head, stopping in place. “I know what it means to me, and what I told you about it when we were teenagers. But I don’t know what it means to you. Why you put it on your body. On that finger.”
His ring finger.
Levi doesn’t do anything without careful consideration, which means the placement isn’t an accident.
Before he shipped out, he got three tattoos, and I knew the meaning of every one, from the design to the reason he chose the spot to put it. His collection has grown significantly over the years, but I doubt that changed. Levi picked that tattoo on purpose. He put it on that finger on purpose.
Even after I disappeared.
Levi’s face remains neutral. “You left, but I still meant what I said that day.”
“I didn’t leave.”
“I know that now.” He lifts off the door. “Poor choice of words.”
With every step toward me, his body moves with lethal efficiency.
His thick shoulders fill out his T-shirt. I’ve tried not to watch him from the corner of my eye all night, but it’s no use. Levi is the one habit I could never kick. And with this constant tension lately, I’d be lying to myself if I said I don’t want to release some of it .
The sight of him makes my knees unsteady. His voice sets my heart off-kilter. And this close, I can’t think straight.
“Nothing is infinite. You said that, remember?” He tips my chin up and stares into my eyes like there’s still something in them worth looking at.
“I didn’t fully understand until you were gone because I never thought I’d actually lose you.
But then I did. That moment ended. When those versions of us were gone, I understood. ”
Versions of us I wish we could get back in this moment. Versions of us who made promises on innocent tongues. Before we learned everything wasn’t in our control.
“Nothing is infinite,” he repeats, his expression softening. “Do you remember what I said to you after that?”
“You said, except us .”
“Exactly.”
“We aren’t those kids, Levi. I’m not that girl anymore.”
“You’re right.” He brushes his thumb over my chin. “You’re so much more.”
I try to shake my head, but his grip tightens, stopping me.
“You want to know why I got the tattoo, Aimee? Because after you disappeared, everything changed. Through war and blood and life. I saw the beginning and end of a hundred different things, but all that I cared about was that you were gone. And even if I understood why you might have left while I was enlisted, I couldn’t get you out of my head .
Out of my heart. You were right, everything ends.
Everything is temporary. Except my feelings for you.
Nothing is infinite except us . I meant that. And it got me through.”
Tears sting my eyes as I fight to blink them away.
“Even if you leave me again—which you will because I already see it in your beautiful fucking face—I’ll remember this too. This second chance to set things right and to remind you that no matter how far you run, you’ll always be with me.”
“I don’t have anything good in me left, Levi. I don’t have anything left to give.” I wet my lips, tasting the tear I didn’t realize had fallen.
“I know you hate when I tell you you’re wrong, but that’s just not true. There’s so much good in you. Beauty in your heart and fire in your soul. No one can take that, regardless of what you think. And if you don’t believe me, that’s fine. I’ll believe it for both of us.”
“Stubborn asshole.” I choke out a sad laugh.
“Firecracker.” He steps closer.
Leather and blackberry and broken childhood promises. Except now those teenage fantasies are within reach. A man who had my heart even when I told him he didn’t. A man I refused to even kiss because I knew it would be the end of me for anyone else. A man I’m so damn tired of resisting.
“Well, if we’re baring our souls…” I bite the corner of my lip and reach for the hem of my tank top, peeling it up.
With my other hand, I tug my jeans down just enough to show the only ink that decorates my entire body. While every other mark on my skin represents pain and scars, this coin-sized patch of ink is the only piece of myself that reminds me of the good.
Levi’s dark eyes turn hungry when he takes in the hourglass tattoo low on my hip. It’s more delicate than his. The soft, curved lines swoop and swirl, unlike the sharp edges of his design.
“I know I said I was going to get it to remember to appreciate moments before they pass. But in the end, I got it for you.”
When Levi’s eyes meet mine, the enforcer slips away. He’s just a man I met at a better time in my life. A man who understood me without us needing to have anything in common.
If there’s such a thing as soulmates, that’s what Levi is to me. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised the universe found a way to put us back together.
Levi steps closer, and my senses are flooded with the scent of leather. The promise of hope. With a man I think about at the darkest times because he’s always been my safe space.
“Reagan said she and Legacy are sleeping at the clubhouse tonight.” I swallow hard, shifting closer. “Where does that leave you?”
After all, Levi has been sleeping in their room since they are usually in the neighborhood.
“I don’t know, Aimee. Where does that leave me?”
The tension is so thick I’m going to snap. A razor-sharp line sits between us. I can barely breathe without tasting the whiskey and blackberries .
I could find somewhere else to sleep for the night and give Levi his room back. But I doubt he’d let me. And if I kicked him out of here, I’m sure he would be a gentleman and find somewhere else to go.
My gaze drops to the hourglass on his finger.
A truth in a sea of lies we’ve been telling ourselves.
One I’m tired of resisting, at least for tonight.
Which is why I find myself lifting my hands and brushing them over his cut.
Feeling the weight of the leather under my fingers.
That impenetrable wall that’s always existed between us.
All it takes is my stare meeting his. The slightest lift of my toes. And Levi’s lips crash to mine.
His tattooed fingers curl into my hair, and he pulls me closer. Our bodies are flush.
Him, all hard planes of muscle.
Me, barely holding on.
His calloused palms skate down my arms, along my back, until he’s brushing his hands under my thighs and lifting me up.
But he doesn’t aim for the bed as I wrap my body around him. He spins, slamming my back against the wall. A picture frame rattles, but he doesn’t break the kiss, claiming me deeper.
How did I spend so long resisting this?
Our tongues dance like they’ve found where they belong. His lips steal the air from my lungs, and I offer my breath like my life on an altar.
Levi drives his hips against me, and I’m clawing. At his cut, his neck, the stubble on his jaw. I’ve never needed to feel someone’s touch like I need his .
Not feel—consume.
I was right. There’s no coming back from Levi Colson.
He kisses a path down my jaw, along my throat. I’m drowning, gasping for air as my head hits the wall behind me.
“Fuck, Aimee.” He nips at my collarbone. “You make me a very desperate man.”
“How desperate?” I roll my hips against his, and he presses against me harder.
His cock firmly grinds between my legs as my eyes roll back. And I haven’t even felt him in the flesh yet.
“Careful.” Levi bites my lower lip, looking me straight in the eyes when I roll my center against him again. “I’ve needed you for most of my life. You keep doing that, and I might show you just how much that is.”
I hum as he kisses my jaw. “So you’re saying don’t do this ?”
Sliding my hand down, I shove it between where we meet and grab his cock through his jeans.
Levi is even larger than I could have imagined. He’s going to be a lot to handle.
“My firecracker.” He grabs my wrist, shoving it over my head and pinning it to the wall. “Always something sassy coming out of this beautiful mouth. It’s going to get you in trouble.”
He leans in, flattening his tongue on my neck, licking up it.
Holy hell, I’m going to lose my mind for this man.
“Oh yeah?” I roll my hips again. “Are you going to make me behave, Levi? ”
He growls, setting me on my feet and spinning me to face the wall. “You want to run that mouth, Aimee? Fine. Let’s hear you beg.”
I’ve always known Levi likes control, but I never considered how that would play out in this scenario. Not until he flattens my palms against the wall and whispers in my ear, “These stay here.”
Then he’s dropping to his knees behind me, stripping me of my jeans. And just when I’m about to look back to see what he’s doing, he pulls my hips back, and his mouth dives in to feast.
He buries his tongue inside me, and I shudder. My hands slide down the wall as I bend farther, accept him deeper. Levi’s strong hand grips one leg, lifting it so he has better access, and I’m balancing on one leg.
But he holds me there. Holds me up with his strength while he kisses me between the legs, and I’m on the verge of coming apart. Until my knee buckles and his hands are all that keep me from falling to the floor.
I’m about to soar over that cliff of release when he pulls back, and I thump my forehead against the wall. “Asshole.”
He chuckles, standing up and spinning me to face him.
Levi’s rough fingers find my jaw as he holds me against the wall. “That doesn’t sound like begging.”
My eyes narrow, but he doesn’t move. And I’m tempted to shove him off me and tell him I’ll get myself off if he’s going to be a dick about it, but his hand slips down, sliding between my legs and making me lose all good sense.
“Levi.” I moan as he drives a finger in .
“Yes, firecracker?” He kisses my lower lip, slowly trailing the path along my jaw until he’s biting the flesh beneath my ear.
“Please, Levi.”
“Please, what?” He nips at me again.
When he drives another finger in, I grab his forearms, my nails digging in.
“Please fuck me.”
“See,” he whispers in my ear, slipping his fingers out so he can undo his belt, “I knew there was still a good girl in there.”
I open my mouth to argue. But he sweeps me up in his arms. He wraps my legs around his hips, and then he’s driving in. The scream that rips from my lungs unfastens my chest. It pulls me apart.
While Levi holds me together.
His dark eyes bore into mine, refusing to let me go as he inches out, only to plunge deeper.
I cling to him, and he fucks me like I’m not some broken, fragile thing. But like he sees my strength and knows I want him to test himself against it. To break for me like I’m breaking for him.
To take me completely.
My heels dig into the backs of his thighs as he fucks me slow and hard.
Building me back up to that precipice. The pleasure is so overwhelming it’s nearly unbearable.
I’m grasping for the back of his neck, pulling his mouth to mine.
Riding him midair as much as he’s fucking me.
Until we’ve moved just far enough off the wall that his hands are on my thighs, lifting and lowering me on his cock .
Those thick arms of his work with every movement.
I can’t help gripping the tattooed muscle just to feel him flex as he pounds deeper.
As he strikes me where I have no choice but to untangle.
And as I tighten around him, his own release starts to shatter.
His neck flexes. His fingers dig into my flesh.
Levi slams me against the wall, and we come in a fit of screams and need. Until I’m a dripping mess. Sweat beading on my neck. Cum dripping.
I can only imagine the state of my eyeliner.
But when Levi presses his forehead to mine, catching his breath, he doesn’t point out any of those things. He looks into my eyes, mess and all, and he sees me.
“Beautiful.” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “You’re perfect, Aimee.”
Those words.
This moment.
For a split second, I forget that I’m no longer lovable.