Chapter Fifteen #3
When she steps out into the rain, it’s no longer a drizzle, but pouring.
I can barely hear the girls’ laughter as it floats through the air over the sound of the raindrops that fall all around us, splashing up off the trees and porch steps.
She doesn’t see me right away, so I watch from the shadows as she waves goodbye to the girls with one hand and holds her heels in the other.
When the car is no longer in sight, I expect her to make a run for the house, surprised she hasn’t already, but instead she turns her face up to the night sky.
I walk to the porch post that meets the stairs and lean on it, watching while she twirls around and around, bathed in moonlight and rain as the sky opens up like it’s all for her.
Slowing to a stop, her mouth opens with the widest, most carefree smile I’ve ever seen, and I’m momentarily stunned by this woman’s ethereal beauty.
As though she can feel my gaze, she tilts her head back down, and her eyes find mine. She giggles, a sound that sounds so right but also so foreign to my ears.
She lifts her face once more to the stars, closes her eyes, and smiles. “You’re staring.”
I look down, wondering how many times she’ll catch me doing that. “What are you doing?” I ask, amused.
“Rory says she loves the rain, that it has the power to wash everything away.” She spins one more time before walking toward the house.
As she reaches the stairs below me, I back away, narrowing my eyes at her quizzically. A wet tendril of hair clings to her face, water drips slowly down her neck across her collarbone, and disappears as it travels down her chest. She’s soaked through her dress, but she doesn’t seem to care.
“I don’t think it does, but it’s nice to pretend,” she says earnestly, her eyes seeming to go distant before returning.
I can smell the tequila from where I stand, and as she looks back at me, something sinful flashes in her eyes. Before she schools her expression, she drops her heels, climbs onto the porch rail, and begins to walk across it like a balance beam, causing my pulse to skyrocket.
“What the hell are you doing? You’re going to crack your head open.” I rush toward her, my arms reaching out on instinct.
“I don’t think I will,” she sing-songs. “I don’t think you’d let that happen.” Her gaze slides over me, blue eyes gleaming with mischief.
“Get down, Tris,” I growl out through gritted teeth.
She huffs while dramatically rolling her eyes as she continues to treat the rail of the porch like her own personal balance beam and ignores me completely.
I swear this woman will do anything to drive me crazy.
I brace myself with her every step, imagining every possible way that this can end badly until my jaw is clenched so tightly that it starts to hurt.
“Tris,” I warn, as angry as the rain that continues to pour down.
She shakes her head, completes her walk along the rail, and pivots back toward me.
“Do I make you angry, Levi? Is that really why you’ve been out here all night?
” Her darkened gaze travels over my shoulder to my empty whiskey glass beside the chair and back to me.
“Did you find any answers swimming in that whiskey? Or did you spend your night imagining all the things you won’t let yourself do to me in this little dress?
” she purrs. Biting down on her lip, her brow rises, challenging me to contradict her.
My lungs suddenly feel too small in my chest as I try to control my breathing, but in control is the last thing this woman makes me feel.
“Get. Down.”
“You’re no fun. Maybe I should go back to the Boozy Bear and hang out with Fred,” she taunts, then laughs when she sees my expression sour. “Wow, I really do make you angry.”
She laughs harder when my eyes narrow, but stops when she loses her footing and slips forward.
“Shit,” I gasp, not thinking, only reacting. My arms reach out and snatch her from the air, unable to let her fall.
Heat flashes in her eyes that are locked on mine, mixed with awe as her body slides slowly down mine until her toes touch the ground and her arms come down, wrapping around my neck.
Water seeps from her dress and through my clothes, highlighting further every place her body rests against mine, instigating a desire in me that I’m unable to resist. My hand rests on her back, my fingers itching to squeeze, so I do.
I press her body harder into mine, a low grunt escaping from my chest when she presses back.
“I told you you’d fall.”
“I knew you’d catch me,” she whispers, her eyes dipping, lingering before they return, now darkened with unmistakable interest.
My mind swirls with whiskey as I try to determine right and wrong.
I’m locked in place, unable to make a move.
This close together, I know she must feel what she’s doing to me, but when she tilts her head up and inches her lips toward mine, I release her so unexpectedly that she stumbles back.
Her brows furrow together as she gets her footing, and I back away, turning toward my door.
“You coward,” she rasps.
My hand freezes on the doorknob, and I turn back to face her. “Excuse me?”
“You’re a coward fighting so hard against the truth,” she replies, breath coming fast as her chest rises and falls with every angry breath. “I know you want me, Levi. It’s pretty obvious now, don’t you think?” Her eyes drag down the front of my body where the evidence of her accusation rests.
This damn smart-ass attitude of hers, I swear. She holds her ground, standing before me like a woman who knows exactly what her endgame is, while I’ve never been more confused. Thunder sounds in the distance, but it’s no match for the storm that’s raging inside of me.
I run my hand through my hair, getting worked up and angrier the longer we stay in this silent push and pull, both refusing to back down.
“A coward?” I huff. “Tell me then, Tris. What is it that you want?”
A wicked grin crosses her face, making my pulse race. “Come see for yourself,” she says, sliding her foot and parting her legs slightly as an invitation.
“Fuck it,” I growl before closing the gap between us.
“Is this what you want?” I press my body into hers until she’s pinned between me and the porch beam.
My hand comes up over her chest and neck until my fingers are wrapped around her throat. I look into her eyes for any sense of hesitation or fear, but they only seem to ignite further, so I add pressure, holding her in place.
Leaning forward, my lips graze her ear as my other hand travels down the length of her curves until it reaches the edge of her dress and soft skin. “Were you thinking about me tonight and all the ways I can make you come?”
She arches her back in a silent invitation as my fingers slide further past the material and trail between her legs.
As my fingers trace over her center in slow, tantalizing strokes, her breathing hitches under my control and becomes more and more uneven with every pass.
“Answer me,” I command, tightening my grip slightly around her neck as I pinch the most sensitive part of her.
“Yes,” she moans, her knees almost buckling from the shock of nerves as I release her clit. Satisfaction courses through my veins as her body responds to me effortlessly. Slowly she begins to rock her hips against my hand, relieving some of the pressure building between her legs.
“Was driving me crazy part of your plan when you decided not to wear underwear?” My thumb leaves her neck and pulls down on her bottom lip while my other hand continues its torture.
“Anyone’s hands could have found this naked pussy tonight.
” I slap my hand on her clit, eliciting another moan from her.
“Not anyone’s, Levi,” she says between panting breaths. “Only yours.”
At her confession, I delve my fingers into her pussy, and her hips pick up speed.
“Fuck, Tris,” I grunt, unable to think straight with the way she looks as she rides my hand.
I rub my thumb across her clit between every thrust of my fingers.
She’s so wet for me that she coats my hand.
I listen to every moan that leaves her lips and watch as waves of pleasure rock through her.
My own need presses almost painfully against my pants, but watching her come undone like this for me is worth every second.
“Let me hear that dirty mouth make those pretty sounds for me.” I increase the pressure, listening to her body and what she needs.
Moan after moan escapes her lips until her face transforms as she reaches her climax. Her nails dig into my shoulders as wave after wave of pure ecstasy wrack her body. Her head falls back as she attempts to catch her breath.
Slowly, I slide my fingers out of her and feel her body shudder in their absence.
The evidence of her orgasm glistens on my fingers as I bring them to her mouth.
Without needing to be told what to do, she opens her lips with a sated and lustful grin and wraps them around my fingers.
She swirls her tongue around them and sucks them clean before slowly dragging them out.
She looks up at me through dark, wet lashes and slowly drops to her knees. “My turn to play.”
There’s no time to protest before she unzips my jeans and takes me into her mouth.
She watches me through her lashes, and I groan as her tongue wraps around the head of my cock before taking the whole shaft in one agonizing stroke.
When I reach the back of her throat, she groans, sending me into a frenzy.
“Fuck, Tris. You’re so good. Is this what you want? You want me to fuck your pretty face?”
She responds by bobbing her head faster and letting her tongue explore. When I’ve all but lost my senses, I grip the back of her head, threading my fingers in her rain-soaked hair, taking control of the rhythm.
Everything I’ve felt for months comes to the surface, all the anger, the need, the frustration, the desire, the torment I’ve put myself through, and with it, my cock drives faster, harder into her mouth until I’m no longer worried about anything but my pleasure.
Her muffled moans turn into gags as I pound harder into her, gripping the back of her head tighter until my balls tighten and I find my release at the back of her throat.
All at once, the moment catches up and crashes down on me. I look down in time to see Tris pull back, gasping for air. Her mascara now runs down her face, and her hair is a mess.
What have I done?
Iback away, concealing my shame and retreating into my house without another word.
I’ve ruined everything. I turn the shower on, getting in before it has time to warm up, and slam my palm against the wall.
I wanted her, but not like that. I could blame the whiskey, but I gave up control willingly, and she paid the price.
Instead of taking things slow and exploring whatever it is between us, I’ve taken it and, in one selfish act, completely destroyed any hope for a future.
She deserved to be treasured, cherished.
Instead, I poured all my brokenness into her and used her as a balm for wounds that were never hers to heal.
When I step out of the shower, I can hardly stand my reflection in the mirror. I thought I knew what it felt like to hate myself before, but there’s a rock now sitting at the bottom of my stomach, and this is a new layer of shame that I’m not sure I deserve to crawl out from under.
What. Have. I. Done.