Chapter 7 - Levi
I'm inside her. Inside Maya Sutton, in my kitchen, on the stainless steel prep counter where we've been making food for two weeks.
This is so irresponsible. If people knew about this, if the health inspector walked in right now, if Jenny forgot something and came back, if anyone found out I fucked my employee in the restaurant kitchen, we'd be ruined.
The business would tank. People would never come back.
Everything I've worked for would be destroyed.
And yet, looking down at Maya's face as I thrust into her pussy, I know with absolute certainty that I'd trade it all for a future with her. Every reservation. Every positive review. Every dollar in the bank.
The realization should terrify me. Instead, it fuels me, drives me to move faster, harder, to claim her so thoroughly she'll never forget this moment.
I grip her hips and pick up my pace, fucking her ruthlessly now, chasing something I can't quite name.
The counter trembles beneath us with each thrust, metal rattling slightly, but neither of us cares.
We're both too far gone, too lost in the sensation of skin on skin, of her body taking mine so perfectly.
Sweat runs down the curve of her breasts, pooling in the valley between them, and I want to lick it off. Want to taste the salt of her skin, want to mark every inch of her as mine.
My own chest is slick with sweat, muscles straining as I drive into her again and again. This isn't gentle or romantic. This is primal, desperate, two people who've been denying themselves for too long finally letting go.
"Look at me," I command, my voice rough.
Her eyes flutter open, half-lidded and unfocused, her lips parted and glistening. She looks absolutely wrecked, thoroughly fucked, and it's the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen.
"Levi," she gasps, her hands scrabbling for purchase on my shoulders. "Don't stop, please don't stop—"
"Never," I growl, angling my hips to hit deeper. "Could never stop. You feel too fucking good."
The scents from dinner service still linger in the air: roasted garlic and thyme, caramelized onions, the rich smell of reduced wine. It mixes with the musk of sex, creating something surreal and perfect and utterly unforgettable.
This moment… Maya spread out on my prep counter, her body taking mine, the kitchen we've worked in together bearing witness, I know I'll remember it for the rest of my life.
But I want more. Need more. I slow my thrusts, pulling almost all the way out before sliding back in at a slower pace.
"Why—" Maya's eyes snap fully open, confused and frustrated. "Why are you stopping?"
Instead of answering, I pull out completely and grab her hand, helping her down from the counter. Her legs are shaky, but she steadies herself against me.
I turn her around so she's facing away from me, her palms flat on the cold steel surface.
"Levi?" Her voice is breathless, uncertain.
I gather her long hair in one hand, moving it over her shoulder so her neck and back are exposed. Then I lean down and press my lips to the curve where her neck meets her shoulder, kissing and sucking at the sensitive skin there.
She moans, and I feel her warm breath brush against my face as she turns her head slightly toward me.
"I want to take you like this," I murmur against her skin, my free hand sliding down her spine. "Want to watch your beautiful ass while I fuck you. That okay?"
"Yes," she breathes. "God, yes."
I use my free hand to guide my cock back to her entrance, and when I push inside this time, the angle is completely different. Deeper. Tighter. So fucking perfect I have to pause for a second or risk coming immediately.
"Fuck, Maya," I groan, picking up my pace again. "You're so perfect. Do you have any idea how perfect you are?"
She can't seem to form words anymore, just makes these gorgeous little sounds with each thrust—half gasps, half moans, completely unfiltered.
I release her hair and grip her hips with both hands, using the leverage to pull her back onto my cock as I drive forward. The sound of skin slapping against skin fills the kitchen, and I never want it to stop.
She's so wet I can feel it coating my cock, can feel her arousal dripping down her thighs. The knowledge that I did this to her, that I made her this desperate and needy, sends a surge of possessive pride through me.
"Touch yourself," I tell her, one hand sliding around to her stomach. "I want to feel you come on my cock."
"I can't. I'm trying to hold myself up—"
"I've got you." I wrap my arm around her waist, supporting her weight. "I've got you, sweetheart. Touch yourself."
I feel her hand move between her legs, feel the moment her fingers find her clit because she clenches around me.
"That's it," I encourage, adjusting my angle slightly to hit that spot inside her that made her scream earlier. "Make yourself feel good. Let me feel you come apart."
She works her clit in tight circles, her inner walls fluttering around my cock, and I know she's close. I can feel it building, can sense the tension coiling tighter and tighter in her body.
I fuck her harder, chasing her release, determined to make her come before I do. My own orgasm is building at the base of my spine, pressure mounting with each thrust, but I hold back through sheer force of will.
"Levi, I'm… Oh God, I'm so close—"
"Come for me," I demand, angling my hips to hit deeper. "Want to feel you squeeze my cock. Want to feel you fall apart."
Her fingers move faster on her clit, and I feel the exact moment she tips over the edge.
She comes with a cry that echoes off the kitchen walls, her pussy clamping down on my cock like a vice, and the sensation is so intense I can barely breathe. Her whole body trembles, her knees giving out, but I hold her up easily, my arm tight around her waist as I fuck her through it.
"That's it, that's my girl," I groan, my own control starting to slip. "So fucking beautiful when you come."
Her orgasm seems to go on forever, wave after wave of contractions milking my cock, and I can't hold back anymore. My rhythm falters, becomes erratic, and then I'm coming too, buried deep inside her as my release pulses out in hot spurts.
"Maya," I groan her name like a prayer, my hips jerking with each pulse. "Fuck, Maya—"
I empty myself completely, filling her with everything I have, marking her from the inside in the most primal way possible. The pleasure is so intense it's almost painful, radiating out from my core to every nerve ending.
We stay like that for a long moment, both of us trembling and gasping for breath, my cock still buried inside her, my arm the only thing keeping her upright.
Finally, when I can move again, I press a kiss to her shoulder blade and slowly pull out. We both make a sound at the loss, and I watch as my come starts to drip down her inner thigh.
The sight does something to me, something possessive and caveman and completely inappropriate. I help her turn around, and she immediately sags against me, her face pressed to my chest. I wrap my arms around her, holding her close, feeling her heartbeat gradually slow to match mine.
"You okay?" I ask softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
She nods against my chest. "More than okay. That was..." She trails off with a breathless laugh. "I don't think I have words."
"Good words or bad words?"
She pulls back enough to look up at me, and there's something soft and open in her expression. "The best words. Words that don't exist yet because nothing has ever felt that good."
I can’t believe this happened. We're naked in the kitchen.
We just had sex, incredible, mind-blowing sex, on the prep counter and against it.
We need to clean up. We need to talk about what this means, about what happens next, about how we navigate this relationship that just went from zero to a hundred in the span of a few hours.
But right now, with Maya warm and soft in my arms, her body still trembling slightly from her orgasm, I can't bring myself to care about any of that.
"We should probably clean this place up," Maya says eventually, though she makes no move to leave my embrace. "Pretty sure the health inspector would have thoughts about what just happened."
I laugh, surprising myself. "Pretty sure the health inspector would shut us down immediately."
"Worth it though." She grins up at me, mischievous and beautiful. "Totally worth it."
"Agreed." I steal another kiss. "But we should probably get dressed and sanitize every surface we touched."
"So... the entire kitchen?"
"The entire kitchen."
We reluctantly separate, gathering our scattered clothes. I watch Maya pull her bra and shirt back on, already mourning the loss of seeing her naked. She catches me staring and blushes, which is adorable considering what we just did.
Once we're both dressed, though her hair is a mess and my beard probably smells like her pussy, we set about cleaning. We work in silence, sanitizing the counter, the floor, anywhere we might have left evidence of our activities.
It should be awkward. Instead, it feels natural, like we're just doing closing duties after service. Except instead of cooking, we just had the best sex of my life.
"Levi?" Maya's voice breaks the silence as she wipes down the counter for the third time.
"Yeah?"
"What happens now?" She's not looking at me, focused on a nonexistent spot on the steel. "I mean, with us. Do we... are we..."
I cross to her and gently take the sanitizing cloth from her hands, setting it aside. Then I tilt her chin up so she has to meet my eyes.
"I meant what I said earlier. I want more than a professional relationship with you." I take a breath. "I want to take you on dates. I want to know everything about you. I want to see where this goes."
"But I still work for you."
"You do. And we need to be smart about this.
" I'm still working through the logistics myself, but I know what matters.
"We keep it professional in the kitchen during service.
No one needs to know yet, not until we're sure this is something that's going to last. And your job is yours regardless of what happens between us personally. You've earned your place here."
She searches my face for a long moment. "You really mean that?"
"Every word." I brush my thumb across her cheek. "I'm not going to lie. This is complicated. People might have opinions when they find out. But I've spent too many years playing it safe, not taking risks. And you, Maya Sutton, are a risk I'm willing to take."
Her smile is bright enough to light up the entire kitchen. "I'm willing to take that risk too."
"Good." I kiss her once more. "Now let's finish cleaning up so I can take you home. And tomorrow, after service, I'm taking you to dinner. A real date."
"In Blackwater Falls? Everyone will see us."
"I know a secret spot."
She chuckles and goes back to cleaning, and I watch her move around my kitchen. Our kitchen now, maybe, and it feels right. Complicated, potentially messy, and definitely against every rule about workplace relationships, but right.
And for the first time in weeks, the anxiety that's been gnawing at me eases.
Juniper's is going to be fine. More than fine.
And so am I.