Chapter 19
Chapter nineteen
Everly
The reverence in his voice stole the air from my lungs. We kept our foreheads pressed together in the silence that followed. I didn’t know what to say, yet I knew exactly what I wanted. Needed.
It went against every dating rule I had and crossed into the ethical gray.
Who was I kidding? We were firmly in the red, at least until I spoke with my bosses on Monday.
The consequences should have given me pause.
Instead, I lowered my hand to his chest. His heart raced beneath my palm.
“Show me,” I said when I finally found the words.
His lips crashed to mine in a scorching kiss, and I realized it was the first time he’d taken my mouth since the falls. He rolled me onto my back before yanking his shirt over his head in one swift tug.
I was surprised that only his arms were tattooed.
I’d expected to find new pieces hidden beneath his clothes, like mine was.
Even without ink, his torso was a work of art.
I ran my hands down his sculpted chest to his abs.
Muscles like his came from more than three-times-a-week lifting and cardio.
The police station had its own gym where officers sparred together, and Levi clearly took advantage.
His body was a tool of his job, a fact made exceptionally clear when my fingers paused at a raised circular scar.
It was older, the color so light pink it was almost white.
He placed his hand on mine, causing me to look up. “Later,” he said, his voice tight.
I nodded and moved my hand lower, running my fingers along the cut V leading to the waistband of his pants.
He closed his eyes as I explored the hard ridge beneath the fabric before helping me lower the last layers of clothing between us.
His cock sprang free, thick and long, and I ached for him to fill me.
“Condom,” I said.
He reached into the nightstand beside the bed and grabbed one. As he rolled it on, the ache in my core intensified. I’d never wanted anyone as much as I wanted him.
He hovered above me and waited. “You’re sure? I need to hear you say it.”
“Yes,” I answered, and moaned it again when he dragged his cock through my wetness.
“Fuck,” he breathed against my neck as he entered me. He sank in one delicious inch at time, my body stretching almost to the point of pain. When I’d taken all of him, he lifted onto his forearms, his eyes locked on mine as he began to move.
I hadn’t expected the first time with him to be so intimate, and I found myself fighting tears as he looked down at me.
The affection in his eyes should have scared me to death.
Instead, our gazes locked as we moved together, the pleasure coiling inside me with each thrust. He lowered his hand between us, stroking my clit at a pace that had another orgasm building faster than I thought possible.
“Let go,” he said. A wave of intense pleasure rolled through my body as I came, and the sound I made would have embarrassed me if it hadn’t snapped something in Levi.
Whatever gentleness he’d shown before was gone as he slammed into me, each thrust more powerful than the last. Instead of receding, the waves of pleasure continued, one right after the other, the intensity stealing the air from my lungs.
By the time Levi finished with a groan, the edges of my vision had darkened.
He rolled me on top of him, both of us fighting to catch a breath as my body slowly stopped spasming around him.
I’m not sure how long we lay together before he shifted me beside him and pulled away.
I missed how his cock filled me, even as I sank boneless into the mattress.
He climbed out of the bed, and my eyes drifted closed.
I woke a while later when the mattress dipped.
“Hi,” he said as I opened my eyes. He pressed a warm washcloth between my thighs, soothing the slight ache there. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
He’d wrecked my body in the best way possible, and the concern in his voice made all the emotions of earlier rush back. “You didn’t,” I said, hoping to erase the worry lines between his eyes.
He tossed the washcloth onto the floor and climbed into bed, pulling me close. “I didn’t mean to be that rough,” he said, running his hand down my back. “I lost it there for a second.”
So had I. I’d heard of people blacking out from pleasure. I didn’t think it’d ever happen to me, and I wasn’t about to tell Levi it had. He looked worried enough. I smiled and traced the stubble on his jaw. “If I tell you that was the best sex of my life, will you stop worrying?”
The tiny lines on his forehead melted, and a sexy smirk tugged at his lips. “Only if you mean it.”
“Hands down the best,” I said, brushing my lips against his.
“It’s nice to finally agree with you on something,” he said, the light in his green eyes making him look playful.
Playing with Levi sounded like a lot of fun, but I was slightly concerned another round might actually render me unconscious. I’d already be feeling him every time I moved. Plus, there was a question I really wanted him to answer.
“Is this what I think it is?” I asked, running my hand over the circular scar on his torso. I hoped it wasn’t, but the injury matched ones I’d seen in photographs of bullet wounds.
He nodded. “I have a matching one on my back.”
“Can I see?” I asked. I didn’t need more proof that he’d been hurt. I needed a moment to pull myself together.
He turned away from me. I ran my hand across a second scar, and my eyes stung.
Hearing him talk about his job, I knew he carried several mental scars.
I hadn’t expected a bullet wound on top.
Though his job was dangerous, statistically speaking, an overwhelming majority of officers never fired their weapons in the line of duty. Thankfully, even fewer were shot.
He rolled over to face me again as I continued to rub my thumb over the raised skin on his back.
“I’m fine,” he said. “It was a long time ago.”
“Did you fire your weapon?” I asked, not daring to ask what I really wanted to know. Had he ever had to take a life? I couldn’t imagine living with something so dark.
He nodded. “Same incident. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt. Happened just before I made detective. The other candidates joked that I’d gotten shot to snag the promotion.”
“Is that a thing?”
He laughed, the kind that sent a rumble through his entire chest. I liked it. “Definitely not. You hear a lot of dark comedy in police stations. Trauma response.”
“Maddie’s the same,” I said. “Sometimes I can’t believe what comes out of her mouth now. I know it’s her way of adjusting to the things she’s seen at the hospital. It still shocks me.”
“Did Theo give you this?” he asked, tracing along the tattoo on my ribcage. “It’s incredible.”
“It took a lot of convincing. He had no problem designing it, but he didn’t want to do the work himself.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“I had to be topless, and he’s known me since I was in kindergarten. I eventually talked him into it after Maddie agreed to hold my boobs the entire time. Plus, I knew he’d be fine once he started working.”
Levi fought a smile that lightened the green in his eyes even more. “He’s fantastic at what he does. It’s one reason I regret arresting him. I’ve heard he’s the best at inking over scars. I’ve wanted to cover mine for a while.”
“So why haven’t you booked a session?” I asked, a daring tone in my voice. I knew why. With anyone but Theo, who didn’t have a vengeful bone in his body, it’d be a recipe for a terrible ink job.
“I arrested him, and he broke up with Poppy in the middle of your office because he didn’t want to bring her down with him. The man almost lost the love of his life because I followed the strictest protocol.”
I gaped at him. Peace Falls was a small town, but Levi wasn’t as enmeshed in the community as I was. “How’d you know all that?”
“Wyatt’s a talker. So’s Joyce. Once I realized who Poppy was at Church, I started putting together pieces of the stories they’ve told me over the past year.”
“For what it’s worth,” I said, taking his hand.
“That arrest and the fallout after ended up being a good thing. Theo’s the reason I became a lawyer, though as hard as I tried, he wouldn’t let me help him until then.
We’ve been working on his post-conviction petition ever since, and we finally go to court in March. ”
“You’re amazing,” he said, brushing his lips across my forehead. “Many people wouldn’t have been able to forgive Theo, let alone help him.”
I’d heard it before. No one in my family ever blamed Theo for the accident.
Instead, we’d all considered his conviction and incarceration another tragedy.
My parents had both begged Judge Lenbock for leniency.
Though he agreed, he’d had to abide by the state’s minimum mandatory sentence.
I understood the purpose was to discourage underage drinking.
It was still hard to reconcile Theo’s punishment with the facts.
He hadn’t been drunk. The accident happened because a deer darted into the road.
My brother died because he’d unbuckled his seatbelt at the worse possible moment.
It was a tragedy made more tragic by the system.
“I believe in second chances. My tattoo is meaningful on its own,” I said, running my fingers along Levi’s scar, “but having Theo ink it took the piece to another level. Scars like yours are context. Further reason for taking the strictest course. It’d be pretty amazing if Theo was the one to cover them. ”
“You make a very compelling argument, counselor,” he said, placing a gentle kiss on my mouth.
“I thought I wasn’t Counselor Hendricks today,” I said after he’d pulled away.
He swallowed hard. “What about Monday?” he asked, his voice tight.
“We both have very awkward conversations with our bosses,” I said.
The smile that lit his face made him look ten years younger. “So, the date went well?”
I glanced down at our naked bodies. “Clearly.”
The energy shifted between us. Screw it. I’d just have to remind myself to breathe so I didn’t pass out. As Levi leaned down to kiss me, a high pitch squeal echoed through the house.
He huffed out a laugh and rested his forehead on mine. “That one sounded desperate. I should probably let her out. Do you want to wait here or come downstairs with me?”
“I’ve never fought another girl for a man,” I said, forcing a playful note into my voice despite the nerves suddenly swirling my stomach. That second headbutt hurt more than I wanted to admit. Sherly terrified me.
“Why would you?” he asked, a flicker of heat in his gaze. “Any man who doesn’t see how amazing you are isn’t worth your time.”
I smiled at him. “If she can take him, she can have him,” I said.
“Damn straight. I promise, Sherly has nothing on you. She’s just being protective.”
Understatement of the year. As if to reiterate the point, another squeal erupted downstairs.
“I’m a little worried your pig might try to kill me,” I said, putting to words the fear that had grown with every desperate squeal.
“I promise I’ll never let anything hurt you,” he said, his tone suddenly serious.
I hoped he included himself in that statement because I had a feeling Levi could end up with the power to shatter me.