Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
PIPER
Waves roll against the shoreline of Cooper’s Beach, mixing with the soft music drifting from the white marquee tents set up along the sand.
One thing I can say about Arthur Lockwood is that the man has good taste. He also knows how to throw a good party. Today’s event is more laidback, set right on the beach.
Servers weave through clusters of wealthy guests carrying champagne and tiny silver trays of hors d’oeuvres while photographers linger near the entrance, pretending they’re here for the charity event and not the gossip surrounding half the people attending.
People like me.
I arrived ten minutes ago and am walking on thin ice.
Levi and I have been the talk of the city again. But this time, the paparazzi really did a number on us. Letting things slip that weren’t supposed to.
I’m meeting Levi here. He returns from his trip to Japan today.
Like the week before, it’s been a week since I saw him. The biggest differences between that time and now are that I’ve been living in his house. And we slept together.
Apart from the text he sent me earlier today checking in about tonight, I haven’t spoken to him.
“Oh my God.” Ellie Mae rushes up to me and grips my arm so dramatically she nearly spills her drink. “Miss Piper Andrews, you and your sweetheart are officially the talk of the Hamptons.”
I laugh off key. “Please don’t remind me. I’ve been trying to escape.”
She laughs brightly, entirely unbothered. “Honey, it’s already everywhere. There is no escape.” Unfortunately, she’s right.
“I think it’s amazing you and Levi have moved in together.”
There. That’s the latest in the ongoing soap opera known as my life.
The whole of New York thinks Levi and I have moved in together. The news broke a few days ago, and thanks to Marlene and the library, Aunt Bess and the rest of my family know, too.
Everywhere I’ve looked, there have been headlines and blurry paparazzi photos plastered across entertainment pages and gossip accounts online.
I found pictures of Levi and me walking through the harbor together getting coffee. Of boxes being carried into his house by the movers and of me entering and leaving said house.
Apparently, there have been photographers outside the house at several points and even following me around. I didn’t notice a damn thing.
I’m horrified and deeply embarrassed.
“Why didn’t you guys tell us you were moving in?” Ellie Mae chortles.
“It was just so… sudden,” I say, trying to sound casual.
Ellie Mae waves a dismissive hand. “Oh, sweetheart, it’s exciting news.”
Easy for her to say. But at least she looks delighted by all of this.
“You two are beautiful together,” she gushes. “Arthur and I were saying it all through dinner the other night.”
I laugh nervously because what exactly am I supposed to say?
The problem is… I don’t even fully know what Levi and I are.
Being with him was like nothing else. It shifted us into something more.
But I can’t walk around with my head in the clouds just because we had a night of amazing sex.
A warm breeze lifts my hair, and Ellie Mae loops her arm through mine.
“I just love seeing young people in love,” she says dreamily.
My heart trips over itself.
Love.
God.
I force a smile anyway. I can’t correct her or anyone else. That horse has run straight through the gates and no one can catch it.
The only ally I have in this is Alexis.
Ellie Mae suddenly squeals again beside me. “Oh! Look, sugar.” She grabs my arm tighter. “Speak of the devil.”
I turn toward the entrance to the beach.
Levi is walking in.
He already looked like the perfect specimen of mankind, but bless my soul, today he looks even better. Sinfully better. And my body gets the memo before my mind can stop it.
The afternoon sun catches on his white linen shirt. The sleeves are rolled up lazily on his forearms while the top buttons sit undone exposing tanned skin.
We’re too far away for me to properly see it, but I already know one of his tattoos is peeking through.
Cream slacks hug his narrow hips perfectly, and somehow, he manages to look like he’s posing for a Hugo Boss advert even though he’s dressed for the beach.
The ocean wind pushes through his dark hair as he walks toward the party. Guests turn as he passes. Women stare openly. Men straighten.
It’s the typical Levi Vale effect.
His eyes find mine, and the effect of him watching me completely knocks the breath from my lungs.
God.
I’m suddenly hot and have difficulty breathing.
“Look at you blushing.” Ellie Mae beams.
I glance back at her, feeling the heat creep into my cheeks. “Oh, I think it’s just the heat.”
“Of course. That’s a good excuse.” She giggles.
I smile back nervously and return my gaze to Levi.
As he gets closer, his eyes darken in a way that immediately sends heat curling low in my stomach.
Ellie Mae lets out another giggle. “Oh, that man is gone for you,” she whispers dramatically, then nudges me lightly with the biggest grin on her face. “Go on, sugar. Go get your man.”
“I’ll… see you later.”
She nods, smiling fondly.
I leave her and set off toward Levi.
We meet in the middle, and he makes a show of looking me up and down in that habitual way of his that makes me feel like I’m some kind of queen.
“Hello, there, Butterfly.”
Did his voice always sound this sexy?
“Hi.”
He steps closer and slips an arm around me, pulling me closer. “Babe, you alright? You look beautiful, but you’re doing that thing with your lips.”
I touch my lips. “What thing with my lips?”
He squints, gazing at my mouth, then shakes his head. “It’s a… thing. Not a tremble exactly. You do it when you’re nervous.”
I sigh, relieved it’s not something else. “Oh, well. There’s a lot to be nervous about.”
He nods with understanding, but there’s a spark of mischief in his eyes. “Of course, I totally get it. I heard we were living together. Did you know that?”
At first, I just look at him, wondering if he really said that.
But of course, he did. It’s him all over.
And suddenly, a laugh falls from my lips. And I can’t stop laughing.
He laughs, too.
“You are too much, mister.”
“Oh, I think I’m just the right amount for you.” He nods, looking proud of himself. Then he pulls me in for a kiss.
Usually when we’re at these events, we wait for the right moment, the right audience, the right reporters. But today, he’s just kissing me.
Cameras go off in the background and people around us cheer, but it’s like they don’t exist.
Levi pulls away with a smile. “You taste like you missed me.”
I touch his jaw, feeling the scruff of his beard. “I did miss you.”
“Good, because I missed you, too.” He winks, then sweeps me up into his arms effortlessly.
I laugh. “What are you doing?”
“We’re going home.”
My eyes widen. “What? But we just got here. And we’re supposed to be here for the event.”
“We came, and now we’re leaving. The cameras don’t get to see what I’m going to do to you next.”
I continue staring wide-eyed, definitely blushing now. “Oh… okay.”
Another flash of mischief dances in his eyes and he grins, turning around with me.
I loop my arms around his neck, and he carries me back the way he came. People look on in fascination as we go by, smiles on their faces.
I have the feeling that in the background, Ellie Mae is smiling, too, even though it’s clear we’re leaving. I don’t even think Arthur would mind.
We reach Levi’s car. It’s the black Bugatti he used the first night I met him. All other times we’ve been in a car, we’ve had a driver.
We jump in and drive away, and my God, something in me leaps at the excitement.
We get back in less than an hour.
The moment he parks in the garage, he reaches for me.
The kiss Levi gives me now is more scandalous and definitely not for the cameras.
It’s an erotic feasting of our tongues. Then he kisses down my neck and manages to get me topless in the next breath. I know in that moment, we won’t make it inside the house.
The confirmation comes moments later when my shorts and panties go flying through the window. I tear at his clothes, too, managing to get his shirt off. The moment I’m done, he shoves his seat back so he can put me on his lap to straddle him.
“Fuck, I missed you so damn much,” he groans.
“I missed you, too.” I did. Damn it, I was counting down the days. I tried to tell myself I wasn’t every time I checked the calendar or my phone for messages. But the truth was, I missed him, and I worried about how we’d be when he returned.
As I can see, I had nothing to worry about.
Levi pulls me back to his lips, stealing my senses with another ravishing kiss, then he slides his pants down and pushes his cock against my entrance. I quiver at the feel of it. He moves again, thrusting into me this time, and we groan together.
I’m so wet and ready for him, my body welcomes him. Welcomes him home.
My pussy spasms from the delicious contact, and Levi pushes harder in response. “God. You feel like you want to be fucked. You need me, Butterfly?”
“Yes,” I moan, grasping on to his shoulders as he starts to move inside me.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to bury myself balls deep in your pretty pussy.”
He pushes deeper. Sparks of fire flare beneath my skin, igniting every nerve in my body.
“Ride me, Butterfly.”
At his command, I move my hips, riding his cock. I bounce up and down his length, momentarily taking control.
The pleasure on his face is priceless.
I can’t believe that I can make a man like him look like that for me.
He gives me those few moments to own him before reclaiming control. Then he grabs my hips and pounds into me.
I come instantly, crying out.
Levi fucks me harder in response. Every thrust of his cock sends thrills through me and wave upon wave of pleasure.
I’m utterly lost in the delirious sensation.
My mind drifts on the sea of pleasure, wanting nothing more than to stay there forever. Stay just like this, wrapped in the arms of pleasure and the man.
He retains his maddening rhythm, fucking me senseless in his car, and I don’t stop coming.
Eons seem to pass with us like this before I feel that he’s close to coming, too.
He speeds up again, and I hold my breath, bracing for another orgasm.
It comes at the same time he groans deep into his own finish.
My mind is wrecked.
And so is my body.
Levi rests his forehead against mine, our breath mingling for a few heartbeats while we calm.
Then he kisses me again, and I realize there is no calming down for us.
The kiss feels like one of his dares, practically screaming, I’m just getting started with you.
I kiss him back with the same recklessness. Accepting the dare.
* * *
The morning sun spills softly across the bedroom, greeting me as I stir from a blissful sleep.
For a few disorienting seconds, I just lie there staring at the ceiling, letting the haze of sleep and last night settle around me.
I’m in Levi’s room. This is where we ended up, the final resting place of our wild lovemaking.
I roll onto my side and realize Levi isn’t beside me.
The other side of the bed is empty, the sheets cool where he must’ve gotten up a while ago.
This is what it was like when he left for Japan. It’s Thursday. He could have gone to work.
I glance at the clock. It’s nine, so yeah, he could definitely have left already.
I push myself upright slowly, wincing slightly at the delicious ache lingering through my body from everything we did last night.
God.
Heat creeps into my cheeks instantly as I remember it all.
We had sex all night and only went to bed in the early hours of the morning.
I glance to my left and notice the balcony doors stand partially open. The sheer linen curtains shift lazily in the morning breeze drifting in from outside. Beyond them, I can just make out a silhouette.
My heart skips. It’s him.
Levi’s still here.
A burst of excitement fills me, and I slip out of bed. I grab one of his shirts from the laundry basket and pull it on to cover myself. It swallows me whole, but I love the warm cedar scent of his cologne wrapping around me.
I pad barefoot across the room and step through the curtains.
The cool, salt-kissed ocean breeze hits me immediately, refreshing against overheated skin.
I find Levi standing shirtless on the patio with a mug of coffee in his hands, gazing out to the wonderous sea.
He glances over his shoulder at me, and the second his eyes land on me, his expression softens, but that cunning spark still lingers in his eyes.
“Butterfly,” he husks.
“Mr. Wicked.”
He places the coffee down on the table behind him and extends his hand toward me, beckoning me to go to him.
I do, and we fall into a kiss that holds more delicious promises.
When he pulls away, he closes his eyes briefly and a low rumble hums in his chest. It’s the sound you’d make when you’ve just tasted something delicious.
Slowly, his eyes open with a bright blue spark that takes me in. “We have to talk, you and I.”
“About the fact that people think we’re living together? Yes, I totally agree. What are we going to do?”
“Nothing. It’s true. We are living together.”
I bite back a smile. “Levi, stop playing with me. They think I moved in. Aunt Bess thinks I moved in with you.”
“And was she happy?”
“Of course, she was.”
He takes my hand and taps my knuckles. “God, then how could you think of breaking your poor aunt’s heart? Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
“Oh my God, you are… just too crazy.” I laugh. “Levi—”
He stops me with a kiss and cups my face when he inches away.
“Butterfly, we’re living together. End of story. We can figure out whatever that means another time. That’s not what we have to talk about now. There are more important things.”
“Like what?” I mutter, as if I don’t have a million things on my mind.
“This thing between us,”—he gestures from him to me and lingers on his shirt draping from my body—“it’s going to keep happening. I’m not going to stop.”
He keeps his gaze on me, his expression suddenly turning serious.
“No?”
“No.”
“What does that mean?”
“This is us for the rest of the time.”
“The rest of time?”
“We have three weeks left. Spend it being mine. My real girlfriend. Not fake.”
I press my lips and hold my breath, my heart warming at his words.
“Don’t you dare tell me otherwise,” he adds.
“I’m not.”
He runs his thumb across my cheek.
“I don’t think I could say no to you. Especially when I feel the same.” God, I didn’t know how much saying something like that would mean to me until the words left my lips.
He seems to know.
With a gentle smile, he presses two fingers to his lips, then places them on mine.
He hasn’t done that in a while, not since we started doing more than kissing.
Then he leans closer and kisses me again for real.
But this kiss says so much more.
It speaks of forever.