Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
PIPER
Levi walks toward me, his eyes fixed solely on me, even though several pairs of female eyes are on him. And the women here tonight all look like fashion models.
I try to calm my nerves, try to tell myself I’m just stopping by to hang out for a little while before I’ll head to Alexis’ place. But… my God, does the man look good. Deliciously good.
He’s wearing full black again, but it’s how he wears it.
He always manages to spark that element of mystery that makes it impossible for you to reason with yourself.
He also has a more rugged look tonight. He’s allowed his beard to grow a little fuller and his hair is messy in that sexy just-got-out-of-bed way that should be illegal.
Levi Vale is making resisting him so much harder than it already is.
The closer he gets, the louder my pulse grows. The bass is doing one thing on the floor and my heart is doing something faster on top of it.
He reaches me and looks me up and down before leaning in to plant a kiss on my forehead.
“Butterfly.” His voice is a low rumble against the music.
“Mr. Wicked.” I grin.
He chuckles. “Is that what you call me?”
“I didn’t know your name, and it stuck.”
“Same here.” He looks me over again. “Butterfly. How long do I have you for?”
“Roughly two hours.”
“Perfect. Two hours is plenty of time to do what I have planned for you.”
“And what do you have planned for me?”
“Come. Dance with me.” He’s already reaching for my hand.
“Dance?”
“Yes. Let’s start with that.”
He takes my hand, and my fingers slide into his. The moment they touch, something familiar but no less dangerous sparks.
Levi turns and guides me through the crowd. Bodies part for us without thought, and people are staring.
As the club owner, he’s probably well known, but we’ve been the talk of the city today.
I knew we’d be in the papers after that very public kiss last night, but it was madness. That picture of us was everywhere it could be.
Alexis lost her mind when she saw it and started talking about how perfect we looked together and how we’d make beautiful babies. It was as if she forgot Levi and I are in a fake relationship.
We reach the center of the dance floor, where the music is louder, heavier, alive.
The beat drops, and he pulls me in close.
I know he can dance because of last night, but that was slow, formal dancing where you sway to the music and enjoy the melody. This is a night club with sexy music. The dancing here is just a step away from mating.
My breath catches as my body collides with his and he grips my waist, anchoring me to him.
The heat of him goes through my dress straight to my skin.
The lights wash red across his jaw and turn his eyes into something I shouldn’t look at for too long.
Around us, bodies are pressed close, sweating, laughing, lost in the music, and I feel hidden by all of it.
Like the whole club is permission to be free.
“Dance the way you did that first night.” His lips brush my ear, the words barely audible over the music.
His hand tightens just slightly, guiding me into the rhythm, and… I let him.
At first, we move together in a tentative sway, but then the music sinks in and we’re dancing.
My hips move with the rhythm, closer to his. His grip adjusts, sliding just enough to keep me exactly where he wants me.
His gaze roams over my face, and the look in his eyes sends heat curling through my stomach.
“You’re holding back,” he mutters, voice rougher now.
“I’m not.” We both know it’s a lie.
A corner of his mouth lifts. “Then I want everything.”
The challenge lands between us, electric and fiery.
Something in me snaps and I step in closer, closing the last inch of space between us. My hands slide up his chest, feeling the solid line of him beneath my palms as I move against him properly now, without hesitation, without distance.
His reaction is immediate. His skin feels taut and his fingers press deeper into my hips.
We move together, in sync in a way that feels far too natural and intimate. We don’t look that much different from the other couples on the floor who look like they need a room.
My hair brushes his jaw as I turn when he twirls me around, then he guides me back into him, my back to his chest this time.
“Good girl.” He’s back in my ear. “You needed this.”
I tilt my head slightly, just enough to glance at him over my shoulder. “Maybe.”
His fingers flex at my waist. “Careful, Butterfly. I may think you like me.”
He knows I do. Or we wouldn’t be here.
I turn back to face him, my pulse racing, the music crashing around us in a wild beat.
When the song shifts, becoming slower, we continue dancing, our bodies close and eyes locked, like neither of us is ready to break whatever this is yet.
We’re out there for more than an hour, enjoying the music and each other.
When things come to a natural pause, Levi leads me off the floor and we go up to a private lounge with a similar décor to the rooftop terrace. I got nervous when we stepped in the elevator, thinking he was going to take me back to the roof.
This is a different setting, but I’m not sure it’s safer for the raging attraction between us.
There’s a sofa area at the corner of the room and a bar. Drinks have already been left out for us in a decanter. The music is muffled up here, just the low thump of the bass coming through the floor.
“Sit. I’ll go get us drinks.” Levi motions to the sofa.
I sit and rest my hands in my lap, watching him pour wine for us.
He returns with two full glasses and the bottle.
“Thanks.” I take mine from him.
He sets the bottle down and sits opposite me in the other chair. He sips on his drink watching me drink mine.
“What’s this wine?” I’m tasting dark berries with floral notes and an earthy but smooth taste.
“Chateau Margaux. From Bordeaux. I just had a new supply come in.”
I smile. “Aunt Bess would be so jealous. I think at this point, I’ve tasted better wine than her.”
He grins back at me. “She sounds great. How about I send her a couple of the ones you think she’ll like? Then she won’t miss out.”
I laugh. “I couldn’t ask you to do that. I’m aware how expensive this wine is.”
“Don’t think about the expense. Think about the experience. Would your aunt like it?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll have a collection couriered to her.”
“You’re too good to me. Thanks, she’s gonna love it. She’s camping at the moment. She’ll be back next week.”
“I’ll sort it out.”
Aunt Bess is going to lose her mind. Then she’ll have questions I’m not sure I’ll be able to answer. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
I sip my wine, very aware of how he’s still watching me.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I told you. Alexis and I are spending the day looking at office spaces.”
“For the whole day?”
“Yes. Pretty much. It’s going to take up most of the day. Then I have a meeting with a logo and web design company.”
“Sounds like you have it all figured out.”
“I’m getting there. I thought I could build the website myself, but when I got started, I quickly realized it wouldn’t look anything like what I want.
” I laugh as I remember what I came up with earlier.
It was terrible. “I want the best. I’ve waited so long to do this, I want to make sure everything looks… perfect.”
“It will.”
“Thanks again for getting me my first client.” I’m still over the moon about Ellie Mae.
“There’ll be more.”
“I hope so.” A moment of silence drifts between us, and all we do is look at each other. “I have to dash soon. Alexis is coming to pick me up.”
“I’m aware. So, I’m thinking of all the ways I can keep you here with me.”
I grin, feeling the heat of a blush spreading across my cheeks. “You’re always like this, aren’t you? You just say what you think.”
“Yes.” He sets his glass down and sits forward.
“What are you thinking now?”
“You’re not ready for that.”
A rush of heat courses through me, and suddenly, I’ve never been more eager to know something. “Try me.”
“It might be best if I show you.”
Raw desire sears through me as I take in the lust in his eyes.
Holding my gaze, he rises and walks over to me. I don’t take my eyes off him, either, and I don’t listen to the part of my brain sending off warning bells.
He sits beside me, close enough that the heat of him wraps around me. One hand slides along the back of the sofa behind me as he studies my face, his attention dropping briefly to my mouth.
Slowly—like he’s giving me every chance to stop this—he leans in.
I don’t move away. I stay exactly where I am, my pulse stumbling as his breath brushes mine and the space between us disappears.
He cups my jaw, his thumb brushing my cheek as though he can’t help touching me. Then his mouth meets mine, softly at first, almost cautious. The second I melt into him, he deepens the kiss and heat unfurls between us as if someone struck a match and tossed it in a vat of gasoline.
My head spins and my body awakens, responding to him as if I need him to take my next breath.
I press my hand against his chest, curling my fingers into the front of his shirt.
The taste of wine lingers between us, rich and warm, but it’s the sound he makes low in his throat when I kiss him back harder that sends my pulse spiraling completely out of control.
“Fuck, don’t you dare stop me,” he groans in between kisses.
“I won’t.”
He pulls me onto his lap and his hands roam down my body. And just like that, he manages to make me lose myself in his touch and the possession in his kiss.
His hand roams across my breasts and stomach and down to the hem of my dress.
He lifts it, pulling my dress up my thighs, then his fingers stroke my panties and glide over my clit. The press of his fingers makes me lose control, then the sweet sensation of pleasure grips me, leaving me breathless. I hook my arms around his neck, bringing our bodies closer.
His touch and his kiss become more possessive. His cock presses against my ass as he kisses down my neck, showing me just how badly he wants me.
Damn it. I want him, too.
I have all these warnings and reservations, but right now, they feel like nothing.
And Levi Vale knows exactly what to do to me to put me under his spell.
His lips travel down to my breast, and he pushes the top of my dress down my body. It has a built-in bra, so within seconds, my breasts are exposed and his hands and his lips are on them.
Sucking and squeezing, his thumbs rolling over my nipples. “Fuck, I missed these,” he groans, curling his tongue around my left nipple.
A streak of hot fire pulses right down to my core. His mouth closes over my right nipple as he pushes his finger right into my pussy.
Pleasure races through my body, up and down. He pumps and sucks harder, and my body soaks up all the sensations.
I come, right there on his fingers, a vicious orgasm tearing through me.
My head tips back in a moan, the release scorching my insides.
Levi pulls his finger out and licks it, lapping at my arousal coating it. Then he finds my lips again and he kisses me in that devouring way that pushes us further over the line.
He shuffles me so that I’m straddling him, feeling the thickness of his erection pressing into me.
And then I hear my phone ringing.
The distinct bells from my ringtone alert me that it’s Alexis.
She’s here. To pick me up.
The ringing is loud enough to pull Levi and me apart and break the sexual haze that sends us back to that forbidden space.
I meet his gaze, and the look in his eyes freezes me. The question in his eyes is unmistakable.
It’s asking me to stay.
Stay and finish this. Stay and be with him.
It’s different from the wild lust I saw last week.
Tonight, there’s something else in his expression. Something softer. More dangerous for me.
It says I’m not just a woman he wants to sleep with.
He half listens to the phone ringing in my purse while watching me. Waiting.
We both know if I answer and tell Alexis I’m staying with him tonight, she’ll understand.
I don’t have to leave.
I could stay with him.
And that’s exactly what scares me.
Because this stopped feeling simple somewhere along the way.
The awareness crashes into me all at once, dragging my fears back with it.
What if I let myself fall for him?
Levi Vale has already made me feel more in a week than most men have in my entire life.
If this goes wrong, the hurt won’t be small. It’ll ruin me.
Worse, I’ll have done it to myself. Fallen for a man I barely know because he looks at me like I’m already his.
The phone stops ringing and the silence snaps through me.
I’m suddenly aware of everything—the thud of my own heart, the wetness between my thighs, the weight of him underneath me, still hard, still waiting. Somewhere out there, Alexis is waiting in her car. And I’m up here on Levi Vale’s lap, half-undressed.
The instant I pull my dress up and cover my breasts, the look in his eyes changes. It hardens, but beneath it, I swear I catch something worse. Something that looks a little too much like hurt.
“I… have to go,” I stutter.
“Yeah,” he says quietly. “Sure.”
I climb off him, straighten my dress, and grab my purse.
He stands, too, adjusting his clothes.
I stop and face him.
It hurts looking at him now and seeing the change.
“Thanks for tonight,” I say, because I should. “See you next week.”
“Yeah.”
With that, I walk away.
I leave him standing there before he can see how badly I want to stay.
But the look in his eyes follows me long after I’m gone.
So does the regret.