THIRTY-SEVEN #2
He flips me over. Somehow it’s both gentle and temptingly rough at the same time.
Lifting my hips until I am on my knees, I spare him a brief glance over my shoulder, catching his thrilled gaze. His commanding hands caress the curves of my ass before a sharp slap echoes through the room.
“What’s yours, then, my Cece?” he asks, sliding down my panties in one swift motion.
I take my bra off just as quickly.
He doesn’t wait for an answer because I feel the heat of his breath against my wetness as he buries his face between my thighs, devouring me.
His tongue is relentless, each stroke rough and coaxing. My body twitches under the intensity, the tenderness from my previous climax still weakening my muscles.
“C’mon, baby,” he rasps between breaths, not breaking from savoring the juices trickling down my thigh. “Tell me your word.”
“I…” My voice breaks on a moan loud enough to shake the damn windows. Feeling the merciless focus he has on my swollen clit.
“Fuck… baby, you think about that while I do my job, alright?” he murmurs, pushing me further into the mattress with one hand.
He stiffens his tongue at my entrance, his fingers working magic on my clit. I didn’t even know it was possible to come again so quickly after the previous one. Yet here I am, another orgasm rolling through me unchecked.
My knees buckle from under me, legs spreading wider like an invitation I wasn’t even planning. It only urges him to claim me further, sending me spiraling into another dizzying bliss, my body slacking with raw pleasure, and his name breaking from my lips helplessly.
“My name can’t be your safe word, baby,” he says, his voice strained like he’s speaking through clenched teeth.
I wonder why—
Before I can delude myself of any semblance of control, I feel his cock sliding against my pussy.
“C’mon, give me the word, sweetheart.”
I can’t think…
God, I need him inside me.
“P-Purple?” I stammer out.
“Purple it is,” he says, chuckling darkly.
With a grunt, he thrusts into me, filling me completely.
“Levi!” I cry out, a perfect blend of pain and pleasure taking over me.
He sets a punishing pace, forcing me into the mattress. Rendering me utterly raptured and irreversibly claimed.
My hands stay limp above my head, occasionally clutching at the sheets. Yet I meet his every move, each thrust deeper and more devastating than the last.
“Fuck, baby, take it,” he growls. “God, Cece!”
His hand wraps around my stomach, pulling me up, closer against him. His hold is firm but still impossibly gentle. He bites down on my shoulder, ravaging me from behind, his fingers brutal on my nub.
A third wave of my release is burning blindingly fast. And I find myself helpless in its path.
“Come for me, baby, please,” he whispers raggedly into my ear, his breath hot. “Just one more…”
I nod frantically, deliriously mute except for the inhumane sounds escaping me.
My orgasm hits me like a blow this time. My whole body surrenders to it, the intensity leaving me thoroughly boneless, completely at his mercy.
He continues to thrust hard, chasing his own release. Until his groans become louder and his rhythm becomes frenzied. Dropping me back on the bed, he goes limp over me, kissing me gently on my neck.
We’re a sweaty, panting mess at the end of it, collapsing onto the mattress. But I don’t give a damn.
“What the—” I breathe out. “What the hell just happened?”
He quickly wraps his arms around me, drawing me closer. I can hear the smile in his breathless voice. “That was us learning something new about each other.”
I huff out a startled laugh, my body still trembling from the aftershocks. Then I turned to look at him, eyes soft.
He’s still winded but refusing to let go of me. Holding me tighter against him, our sweat-mingled bodies still tingling from the intensity we just shared.
My lips find his ear, brushing just beneath it as I press a soft kiss there.
“Levi,” I murmur, my heart pounding so hard it feels lodged somewhere in my throat. Right beside the words that no longer seem quite as daunting as they once did.
He leans back slightly, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. “Yeah, baby?”
Say it, Cece.
“I…” I swallow hard, forcing my throat to work.
“Mmm?”
“I love you, Levi,” I whisper brokenly, despite the steadiness of my resolve.
He goes completely still. Every muscle in his body locks around me. “What?” His voice cracks so sharply that it steals something from my chest.
Before I can repeat those precious words, his warmth disappears momentarily. Just enough for him to pull back and stare at me.
His hands are still gripping my waist.
His eyes are still locked on mine.
But now that I can actually see him, I see the raw hope mixed with disbelief. The desperate, terrified part of him that had apparently been waiting for this moment longer than I realized.
God.
His eyes are shining.
“Levi—”
“No, wait,” he whispers, breath shuddering, eye wide. “You don’t have to say it again. I heard you, baby. I heard you.” His voice breaks halfway through the sentence.
Suddenly my own heart aches. Because I know exactly what he’s doing. He’s protecting the moment. Protecting me from feeling pressured.
This man.
A watery laugh escapes me as I shake my head. “Levi, I love you.”
As weak as my laugh was, it dies the moment I see his jaw quivering. His eyes close briefly, and his entire face crumples. “I love you too,” he whimpers.
A rough sniff follows. Then another. He swipes the heel of his palm beneath his eyes so quickly that I almost miss it.
“You know,” he says, laughing shakily, “I had this whole speech prepared for when you finally said it again.”
I blink, and his laugh grows stronger when he sees the sheer emotion on my face. The relief in his voice is so enormous that it breaks my heart in two.
“I was going to be cool about it, you know? Not… sobbing like this.”
I snort through my own tears.
His grin widens.
“I love you,” I say it again, just for the hell of it. Because something has shaken loose inside me.
He laughs harder. The tears he refuses to shed lose the battle anyway. But his smile never leaves his face. Neither does mine.
“Christ,” he mutters, his forehead drops against mine. “I love you too, Cece. All of you.”
My chest tightens as he collapses next to me again, pulling me in tighter.
And then he’s kissing me desperately. Everywhere. Every inch of my face is showered with his love disguised as kisses.
My forehead.
My temple.
My cheek.
My jaw.
Every kiss carries relief.
His mouth finally finds mine, and I melt into him immediately, instinctively. Into the safety this man has painstakingly built for us.
When we eventually separate, Levi rests his forehead against mine and simply smiles. Because somehow we’ve started relying more on actions anyway.
And that smile of his is something I never want to disappear.
He is someone I never want to be cast away from. I won’t even let any damn version of myself get in the way of that.
Because Levi Astor is the wings to my anchor.