LEVI
FIFTEEN
This wasn’t even remotely the plan.
Only after securing her to me in every way was I planning on breaking the Hunter ploy and admitting what I’ve been trying to for years—that I’m in love with her and always have been. That, without the mask, it’s always been me.
But this kiss? This was driven by rage and the eviscerating need to protect her, to lock her up and ensure no one even fucking breathes near her. She’ll have me to look after her, defend her, pleasure her. Her days will begin with me beside her and end with me buried inside her.
Her pain rips me up; there’s nothing I can do in this moment to help. She must heal, because her pain is my pain. When she aches, my soul echoes the sensation.
I give her a moment to accept the change in our friendship, that there will be no going back from this. After another beat of our hearts, she sighs into my mouth, and her hands tentatively come to rest on my upper arms, body melting into mine.
I kiss her harder, deeper, as her mouth opens beneath mine. I fist her hair in the same way I did last night; if she were to focus, she’d realize me and Hunter are the same. Her fingers curl into my shirt as I walk us backwards, crashing against the door. A whimper rips from her throat.
“Levi…” She meets my eyes, a question darkening them into a stormy blue.
“I know. We’ve been wasting a lot of time.”
“How long?”
“Since the minute I met you, even before fucking up. Why do you think I cared so much about finding those marks on you? Why I was determined to be your friend, refused to let you get away? Why any guy who showed you interest was threatened away? Why I spent ensured my lawyers put your father away?”
“Years… You never said anything.”
“And ruin something so damn perfect?” I shake my head once, hard, the thought inconceivable. “I’ve been working up to this for a long time. My world revolves around you, darling. You’re my everything.”
More questions flit through her expression, her lips parting to ask, but I plaster a finger against them. “Don’t say anything. Let me find your father, and then we’ll talk.”
Unable to help myself, I kiss her forehead. Then, I reach by her to open the door and nudge her through it, shutting the door in her face.
Without another word, I get to work.