10. Levi
LEVI
I t’s cute . . . the fear in her eyes.
She backs up against the wall, jumping when she hits the chair in the corner.
She shivers, trying to come up with a reason as to why she’s in my room, and, even in the dim glow of the bedside lamp, I can see that she’s gone pale.
“Looking for something?” I step into the room, and I swear she jumps with every thud of my boots on the ground.
“I-I-I . . .” she stammers, her eyes darting for any possible exit she can find.
There isn’t one. There’s no way out for her. Not unless I allow it, and now that I’ve got her cornered, I’m feeling anything but generous.
She’s going to regret the moment I caught her sneaking around.
“You know it’s rude to go through people’s things.”
“I was just looking for something,” she lies. “I thought I lost an earring.”
“Is that so?” I taunt, rounding the post of the bed.
She backs into the corner, as far away from me as she can get, and secretly, I’m fucking begging for her to give me a reason to hunt her.
I’ve never cared much to play with my food before I eat it, but prissy little Ava Ryan . . . that’s a different story.
For the past year, my thoughts have been plagued with what I’d like to do with her. How badly I want to hear her scream for me. How I want to hear her moan my name and beg me for more.
After this afternoon, I’m strung tight and barely restraining myself from throwing her onto the bed and showing her how good it feels to give in to me. I wasn’t lying when I told her she needed to get laid.
I just left out the part where I would cut the dick off any man who tried.
“You see, little ghost . . . I think that’s a lie.”
She swallows nervously. Poor thing is even shaking as if I’d hurt her.
She’s not wrong. I do plan on hurting her. I just plan on making it feel like fucking heaven when I do.
She shakes her head, tongue darting out to lick her soft pink lips.
“N-no. I thought I lost it when I was dusting.”
“Really?”
I step closer. She realizes she has nowhere left to run.
“You see, the funny thing about that, sweetheart?” I stop right in front of her. She flinches when I raise my hand, brushing the soft chocolate hair back from her face and leaning close. Fuck she smells like heaven. “You don’t wear earrings.”
She freezes for a moment before cold, harsh clarity washes over her, and her eyes widen to big pale-green saucers. I chuckle darkly under my breath, and just when I’m about to press against her, she darts.
She doesn’t make it far before I catch her around the waist, dragging her down to the bed. Her stomach hits the mattress, and a gust of air pushes out of both of us when I fall over her. I keep most of my weight on my knees and hands, using one to wrap around her throat from behind.
Dragging her head back, I press my lips against her ear, a mix of lust and anger at her snooping washing over me.
“I’m sorry,” she rushes, clawing at the comforter beneath her.
“Not so fast, little ghost. Let’s talk about this. Why were you snooping through my room?”
“I already told you I wasn’t,” she growls, her throat bobbing under my hand.
“And I don’t believe you. What’s the matter? Didn’t get enough in the closet the other day?”
“Fuck you,” she seethes, and I can’t help but laugh wickedly.
If only she fucking knew . . .
“I prefer my girls with a little more passion in them.”
“And I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on the fucking planet.”
I drag my hand around to her hair, fisting it over her shoulder.
I trail my lips down the smooth skin of her neck, and she shivers at my touch, wiggling underneath me.
I flip her over and push myself between her thighs, pinning her to the mattress, and my cock brushes against her center. I grit my teeth at the friction.
Fucking hell, she feels so fucking good.
“Come on, Ava,” I murmur low in her ear. At the same time, I roll my hips into her, and she lets out a quiet gasp when the hard notch in my jeans brushes against the leggings covering her pussy. “I know you’ve thought about me.”
“A momentary lapse in judgement.”
“Is that so?”
That earns me a snort. I roll my hips into hers again, and she fights to roll me off of her. Fortunately, I’m a whole head taller and at least a hundred pounds heavier than her tiny stature.
With her underneath me, I get a better feel of her body than what she normally allows me to see. Soft curves. Round ass. Fuck, I could devour her.
“Just let me go, Levi,” she growls, fisting the sheets in her delicate fingers.
“I don’t think so, baby girl.” She shivers at the nickname, and I smirk deviously. “You’re going to tell me why you’re snooping through my room.”
“I’m trying to find your personality,” she grits, and I actually chuckle, nipping the side of her neck where it leads to her shoulder. She yelps, and I soothe the sting with my tongue, groaning at the taste of her.
Like fucking cotton candy.
“I love the fight in you when you’re cornered,” I breathe in her ear. I tighten my fist in her hair, dragging her head to the side so I can see those pretty green eyes.
“What do you want?” she whispers, her lashes fluttering. I can almost see her heartbeat racing, her breathing as ragged as mine.
“I want a lot of things from you, sweetheart. Starting with what you were looking for.”
She wiggles underneath me, struggling against my hold in her hair.
I’m finding the longer she’s underneath me, the less I give a shit about what she was looking for and the more I want to stick my fingers in her leggings and see if she’s wet for me.
“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out you’re hiding something, Ava? You think I didn’t realize you were watching me? Waiting for me to leave?” I press a kiss to the tip of her nose, and she shivers underneath me, a soft whimper slipping through her teeth.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she growls, fighting my hold once more.
“No? You really made it so easy.” I nip the side of her neck, drinking her in.
“You played right into my hand. All I had to do was close the door and wait down the hall. I’ll give you props; you waited longer than I thought you would.
I almost gave up, but you, Ava, you don’t disappoint.
You marched right in and went through my drawers without so much as a care.
What is it? Some kind of fetish? Need money? ”
“Fuck you,” she growls through the tears in her eyes. “And fuck your money. I don’t want it.”
“Then what is it, Ava. I’ve got a lot of steam to blow off, and you feel really fucking good right now, grinding against my cock.
“I’m not doing anything,” she lies. I look down the length of our bodies to where she’s arching against me. I roll my hips into her again, and her lashes flutter, her cheeks turning a pretty shade of scarlet.
“No?” I taunt, doing it again and hissing through my teeth. “Fuck, Ava . . . feel that?”
“You’re insane,” she grits.
“You want me to stop?”
I can smell the fear rolling off her, but I can feel her lust when she pushes back against me.
“Why are you such an asshole?” she grits.
“Why are you such a brat?” I counter. “You never answered my question, Ava. Do you want me to stop?”
“Fuck you.”
“If you insist,” I purr in her ear.
I keep up with her pace, letting her rock against me. Allowing her to take what she wants. When a soft whimper leaves her lips, I bite back a curse, leaning my forehead against hers.
This is fucking madness.
“Last chance, Ava,” I rasp, gripping her hip to still her movements. “Or do you want me to fuck you until you’re willing to tell me every secret buried in that pretty little head?”
When she doesn’t respond, I stand, grip her hips, and tug her down the bed. I’m about to climb back between her legs when she stops me in a breathless rush.
“Wait, wait, wait . . .”
I roll my neck, my control in fucking pieces from the little brat underneath me.
“What? Have something you want to confess?”
She pauses, soft green eyes staring up at me in the moonlight, and for a moment, I lose my train of thought.
Fuck, she’s pretty . . .
That’s when she chooses to strike, her sneaker connecting with my dick. I stumble back, allowing her to scramble off the bed, and curse under my breath.
“Fuck!”
Pain shoots through me and up into my stomach, but it’s momentary when the thrill of her hurriedly backing toward the door catches up to me.
Oh, little ghost, you have no idea what you’ve just signed up for.
“If you can catch me, you can fuck me.”
And then she runs.
I chuckle low and sinister.
“Game on, baby girl.”
I give her a momentary head start, listening to the sound of the door closing downstairs before I start after her.
Exhilaration courses through me. This is exactly the kind of excitement I’ve been searching for. This high I only feel when I’m with her. Only now, following her out of the house and toward the woods, it’s amplified.
My cock is rock-fucking-hard, pressing against the zipper in my jeans. Anticipation teems through me, my hands nearly vibrating. It’s dark and with no light, I know she doesn’t have a single chance in outrunning me. I know these woods like the back of my hand.
She was mine the moment those pretty little words left her tongue.
The forest is loud around me as I step through the trees, filled with the sounds of animals scurrying off. Owls in the trees. Leaves crunch under my boots with each step, and I drink in the scent of her lingering in the air.
Fuck . . . this is going to be goddamned glorious.
I pause just inside the tree line and listen, waiting.
To my left, a twig snaps, and I chuckle under my breath, stalking in that direction until I see her ducking under low-hanging branches and stumbling in the dark up ahead.
Watching her, I keep back, letting her think she’s getting away, when really, it was never even a possibility.
The moment I found her sneaking around my room, something in me snapped.
Ava Ryan is mine .
The closer I get, the harder my blood pumps, and the more she looks like prey.
I’ve been denying the urge to claim her for months, and now, she’s offered herself up to me on a silver platter, and I’m practically fucking salivating, knowing I’ll soon own her.
I could fuck anyone in the world. Nothing would compare to watching my prissy little housekeeper turn into a slut for me and only me.
The ultimate fucking prize.
She must sense my presence lingering in the darkness behind her, because when she reaches a clearing, she whips around, scanning the trees for me. I stay back, out of her line of sight and watch, a feral grin tugging at my lips.
“Little ghost . . .” I call out from the darkness, watching her turn around in a circle, searching for me. She can’t see me, and her eyes gloss over me as she searches the trees, her breathing ragged.
I stalk through the forest as quietly as possible. I’m strung tight, the adrenaline pumping through me pounding in my veins. My cock is begging to take her up on her little offer, but I’m enjoying this far too much to let it end so soon.
“Fuck off, Levi.”
A wide grin spreads across my face.
Fuck, she’s going to be fun to break
“You done running?”
She huffs angrily, scanning the trees, while she tries to catch her breath.
“You haven’t caught me yet,” she snaps back.
I can’t help but chuckle.
She’s already caught, and she doesn’t even know it yet.
Her head snaps to where I’m standing just out of sight, and she darts in the opposite direction. I listen to her crash through the trees before I stroll along behind her, whistling through my teeth.
She’s fast, but I’m faster. It doesn’t take much to keep up with her. The more we play this game, the harder my cock gets, and her words continuously ring out in my mind.
If you can catch me, you can fuck me.
Oh, baby girl. You should know better than to tempt a hunter like that.
I take off after her, running now. It’s really too easy. Her legs are shorter than mine, and I’m used to pushing myself. I have the stamina to run through these woods until daylight, but I know she’ll tire out before then.
I stay back just enough to scare her and have her turning around every few feet to look for me.
Unfortunately, she doesn’t see the log until she’s clambering over it and crashing face-first into the dirt.
I fall back, hiding in the shadows while she sputters on her hands and knees.
“Giving up so soon, little ghost? I thought you were better than that.”
“Fuck you,” she growls, out of breath. It’s cute. Her anger. It’ll make catching her all the sweeter.
“Soon. But first, I’m going to let you wear yourself out a bit.”
She surges to her feet, rushing into the brush, and I smile with pride.
That’s my fucking girl.
I knew the moment I laid eyes on her, there was more to the timid girl than she’d let on. She just needed someone to bring it out of her.
“Run, run, little ghost. There are monsters in these woods that would love to eat you for a midnight snack.”
“You’re sadistic,” she calls back at me from up ahead.
“I prefer creative .”
I’m not even running. Just stalking after her. It’s nothing to keep her in my line of sight.
I can practically smell the fear rolling off her as she runs as hard as she can. She didn’t expect me to catch her, and certainly not once she ran into the trees.
I don’t bother staying quiet. I want her to know I’m right behind her. I want her fear and panic and all those other delicious things that make her fight that much sweeter.
After all . . . she invited this chase. Not me.
For a split second, I lose sight of her through the darkest part of the forest, and when the sounds of her footfalls through the fallen leaves stop, so do I.
I hang back, listening for her rough breathing, but she’s silent.
A smile spreads across my face.
She thinks she can hide from me.
“Tired, baby girl?”
As expected, I hear her quiet gasp, just past the few trees blocking my view of her. I sneak through the trees, avoiding the brush until I’m only a few feet away.
She looks around, hugging her arms tight around herself and shivering in the cool October air. She won’t be cold for long. Soon, I’ll have her burning up underneath my fingertips.
For a moment, I just look at her. My gaze rakes over her from head to toe. In the moonlight, I can see the way her chest rises and falls rapidly. The way she presses herself back against a tree.
I almost chuckle. Poor thing wore herself out.
It’s about damned time. I’ve finally got her right where I want her.
Now it’s time to claim my prize.