Levi couldn’t sleep. Not a big surprise considering everything that had happened this evening. He tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the shadows flitting across the ceiling, his mind jam-packed with so many thoughts it was difficult to process them all. But there was at least one thing he didn’t have to worry about any longer, and that was knowing Sarah was safe—in his house and sleeping in one of the spare bedrooms down the hall. Thank God.
He’d been so damned relieved she hadn’t argued with him when he’d ordered her to pack up her belongings, all of them, because she wouldn’t be returning. Then again, she’d been in a traumatized state, moving around the room as if she were operating on autopilot. All of her clothes and personal items had fit into a regular-sized backpack, a thought that pained him. And when she’d gone into the bathroom and seen the lid off the toilet, she’d spiraled into total panic—and he’d had no clue why.
Her breathing had escalated, her body shook, and huge tears welled in her eyes as she murmured, “No, no, no,” over and over again, until he finally grabbed her arms and demanded to know what was wrong.
With a huge, defeated sob, she’d told him she’d had a little over three hundred dollars she’d kept in a Ziploc bag in the tank for safe-keeping. It was all the cash she had to her name, gone now, most likely in the hands of some junkie who was wise to that particular trick. He’d taken her into his arms and promised everything would be okay, and even now, he swore it would be . . . if she’d just let him help her.
But now that the crisis was over, Levi couldn’t help but analyze Sarah’s situation. He tried to take all he knew about her dire circumstances and put them all together like pieces of a puzzle to form a complete story. All those scenarios didn’t make for a pretty picture: the minimal way she’d lived, the job she worked, the type of food she’d bought, her meager belongings, and even how she’d hidden all her cash because she didn’t have a bank account—they were a perfect setup for someone to pick up and disappear at a moment’s notice. If he was a gambling man, he’d bet everything he owned that she was running from someone or something.
He’d considered pressing her for answers once he’d gotten her home, but her anxiety level was so high, her mood so agitated, he’d made her take a warm shower, then drink a glass of wine, before putting her in the guest bed down the hall from his.
And when she’d looked up at him with blue eyes that were so sad and lost and whispered, “I’m so sorry,” for something that wasn’t even her fault, he’d felt his heart twist hard and sharp in his chest. He’d slid into bed beside her, taken her into his arms, and held her tight. Returning to his own room hadn’t been easy.
Now that he was calmer and more rational, he realized that forcing her to explain her situation, all of it, would be the quickest way to push her away. If he’d learned anything about Sarah, it was that she had a lot of pride and didn’t like to rely on anyone for anything. Once she woke up and realized she was at his mercy with nowhere to go, she’d be defensive and wary. He needed to back off, not push harder.
It went against every one of his instincts as both a man and a cop to back down, but that same intuition told him to tread slowly and carefully or she’d run from him, too. The best he could do was to keep her safe and protected, without any demands, and hopefully she’d come around and trust him with the real truth.
The sound of soft footsteps padding down the hall pulled him from his thoughts. He glanced toward his open bedroom door just as Sarah’s slender figure appeared in the frame.
Concerned, he moved off the bed and went to her. “Hey,” he said softly, taking her hand in his. “Is everything okay?”
Moonlight streamed through the uncovered window, lighting the delicate angles of her face, and the anguish in her eyes sliced right through him, sharp as a knife.
“Yes . . . no.” Her voice was small, her expression uncertain as she shifted anxiously on her bare feet before saying more. “I don’t want to be by myself tonight. Can I sleep in here with you?”
Refusing her didn’t even cross his mind. In fact, he’d sleep better knowing she was right beside him, where he could keep an eye on her and see for himself at any given moment that she was resting peacefully.
“Of course you can stay with me,” he said, and with her hand still clasped in his, he led her to the other side of the bed.
He pulled back the covers, watching as she crawled onto the mattress wearing a threadbare tank top and equally old and worn sleep shorts. Clearly, her pajamas had seen better days, and the thin material did little to conceal her small, firm breasts and the too slender curve of her hips and ass.
Having her in his bed tonight wasn’t about sex, but that didn’t stop his dick from sitting up and taking notice of her tight nipples and those smooth legs he’d love to feel wrapped around his waist as he plowed deep inside of her.
He swallowed back a groan before it could slip from his throat and beat back the provocative thoughts that would only lead to a hard-on and a restless night’s sleep. Once she was settled beneath the comforter, he walked around to his side of the bed and rolled to his side. Their heads were on separate pillows, but they were facing one another, less than a foot of space between them.
“I really am sorry, Levi,” she said quietly, though he could still hear the wealth of regret in her voice. “I keep causing you a lot of trouble.”
“How so?”
She tucked her hands beneath her cheek, her brows pinched in a frown. “The robbery at the store and you getting shot, for one thing,” she reminded him.
“Awww, that was nothing more than a little bruise,” he said, grinning playfully in an attempt to lighten the conversation.
She didn’t smile as he’d hoped. “And you having to bring me back to your place so I have somewhere to stay for the night.”
“Not just for the night, Sarah,” he said as he reached out and caressed his thumb tenderly along her jaw. “For as long as you need.”
“It won’t be long,” she insisted in a raspy voice that was steeped in emotion. “I swear it won’t be.”
“I don’t care if it is,” he said, realizing how true that was—how quickly he’d come to care about her. And how much he wanted her, and more than just physically. “There’s no time limit on my offer.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, as if he’d just given her a precious gift.
He watched tears of gratitude shimmer in her eyes, and she swallowed hard. He suspected she wasn’t used to someone giving anything without demanding something in return. Or just kindness in general. As a kid of a known drug addict and crack whore, he hadn’t had a whole lot of kindness in his young life, either, but as an adult, at least he was surrounded by good, decent people he could count on if he needed anything at all.
Sarah didn’t seem to have that luxury.
He wanted to be that person for her, the one who protected her and chased away her demons, real or imagined. He wanted to be the man she could turn to. And right now, he understood what he could offer—comfort and a sense of security in the midst of her unstable life.
He gently grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. “Come here and let me hold you.”
With a soft, inarticulate sound, she moved quickly and scrambled across the short distance between them. Clinging to him like a lifeline, she buried her face against his naked chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, the warmth of his body absorbing the chill from hers.
“God, I’m such a mess,” she said, and he felt her wet tears on his skin. “My life is such a mess.”
He ran his free hand through her hair and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “You’re not a mess, Sarah.”
She laughed harshly against his neck, as if he had no idea what her life was like, and it irked him that he didn’t. Not really.
“All that money gone . . . and now I have to start saving all over again.”
She sounded so defeated, but her comment gave him an opening to gently prod for deeper answers, and he went with it. “Saving for what, sweetheart?”
“To leave.” Her arms tightened around his waist, as if to contradict the words she’d just spoken by holding on to him. “I need to leave.”
“Why do you need to leave?” he asked calmly, when he really wanted to demand, what are you running from?
She shook her head. “Because I do.”
Levi didn’t get any of the answers he sought, but eventually she relaxed against him, falling asleep in his arms. He stayed up much longer, hoping like hell that he’d be able to figure out a way to change her mind about leaving Chicago.
About leaving him.
* * *
Sarah gradually woke up early the following morning, momentarily confused as to why she was cuddled up to a warm male body in a bed that was soft and comfortable—unlike the stiff, hard, and foul-smelling mattress she’d been sleeping on for the past month and a half. She gradually opened her eyes, and it took her a few moments to wrap her mind around her surroundings, and when she did, the horrible memories of last night came flooding back in an overwhelming wave of despair.
Yet here she was, safe and protected in Levi’s home, snuggled against him with her head resting on his chest. Her ear was pressed against his heart, and the sound of each steady beat calmed and lulled her. It was the first time in forever that she truly felt secure and relaxed, instead of waking up and being cautious and guarded about everything from the moment her eyes popped open.
But as grateful as she was for Levi’s comfort last night, and his offer to stay with him for as long as she needed, she didn’t want to be a burden or a responsibility to him. Clearly, he was a man who was used to living alone and on his own. She just needed a few days, a week at the most, to get some money together again and figure out a plan. Then she’d be on her way. Every day that she stayed in Chicago was another day for Dylan to find her.
Her stomach clenched at the knowledge, because she knew with certainty that he’d take her right back to Sacrosanct regardless of her protests, even if it meant he did so against her will. And once she was locked behind those steel gates again, there was no doubt in her mind that there wouldn’t be another chance to escape the cult-like community. Not when she was already facing punishment for being a deserter.
But right now, in this quiet, peaceful moment, she didn’t want to think about anything except Levi and how much she wanted him. Especially after the way he’d seduced her in the kitchen with his arousing kisses and a toe-curling orgasm, she mused with a smile that chased away those darker thoughts of Dylan. She wanted to return the favor and make Levi feel good, too. And if it led to more . . . she wouldn’t complain. He’d already warned her about his erotic preferences, and there wasn’t anything about Levi that scared her—certainly not his need to be in control or his penchant for hot, dirty, rough sex.
She had a leg draped over one of his thighs and an arm secured around his waist. Closing her eyes, she placed her hand on his bare chest and slowly skimmed her palm down his torso, careful to stay away from the bruise on his lower left-hand side.
His breathing pattern immediately changed, growing deeper, heavier, as if he was waking up and realizing that he was being seduced this time around. She used her fingers to trace the indentations along his muscular abs and glided them even lower, until she reached the waistband of the cotton gym shorts he’d worn to bed.
Beneath her ear, his heart rate increased, and her own pulse thrummed through her veins as she slid her fingers beneath that elastic band. Her fingertips immediately brushed across the thick, taut head of a substantial erection, but before she could stroke his length, Levi released a feral growl and grasped her wrist. He pulled her hand from his shorts, and in the next moment, he had her flat on her back with his body half on top of hers so she was pinned beneath him.
He anchored her one arm above her head as he stared down at her, his green eyes bright, hot, and very, very lucid. “You’re heading into dangerous territory,” he warned huskily.
“I know,” she whispered. She wanted to forget everything else in her life at the moment so she could give herself over to passion and just feel.
His jaw clenched, and she knew he was contemplating the situation, possibly over thinking it, and she didn’t want to give him the chance to refuse her again.
“I want you, Levi.” She licked her bottom lip anxiously. “Please.”
He swore beneath his breath, but to her relief, he didn’t reject her as she feared. Instead, he abruptly moved and straddled her thighs, trapping her beneath his weight. She looked up at him, so devastatingly gorgeous and sexy with a body made for sin. He exuded pure male confidence and had the physical power to back it up. He made her weak with wanting and damp with desire.
He braced his hands on either side of her head, his gaze direct and intense as it met hers. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing it my way. Do you understand?”
His way was all about being in charge and her surrendering to his control. He’d made that irrefutably clear last night, so there was no misunderstanding his intent now. Anticipation made her breathless, and excitement caused her nipples to tighten into aching points beneath the scratchy material of her tank top. The lust that flared in his gaze told her that he’d noticed both.
“Yes, I understand,” she said, nodding eagerly.
A slow, sinful smile curved his mouth as he pushed up the hem of her tank top, then pulled it up and over her head and off. He sat up, tossing the piece of clothing to the floor while his gaze seemingly devoured her small but firm breasts. While he was momentarily distracted, it gave her a quick opportunity to glance down his body, to the long, thick column of flesh pushing insistently against his cotton shorts. The thought of so much cock stretching her and filling her beyond anything she’d experienced so far made her shiver. And when she finally dragged her gaze back up to his, there was no mistaking the knowing and slightly arrogant smirk on his lips.
“Put both of your hands above your head and keep them there,” he ordered, and waited for her to comply.
She lifted her arms and placed them on the pillow above her head, palms up and open. The prone position stretched her upper body, making her feel surprisingly sensual and brazen in a way she’d never been before. Still sitting astride her hips, he splayed his hands on her flat stomach and slowly glided them up her torso, causing a soft sigh of pleasure to escape her lips. When he reached her breasts, he squeezed them together and swept his thumbs over her tight, sensitive nipples before lightly pinching and rolling them between his fingers.
She gasped and arched her back, shocked by how the slight jolt of pain had the ability to deliver a flood of heat and moisture between her legs. Shocked, too, by how much it turned her on when he plucked at the hard, nerve-laced peaks once again.
With her breasts still filling his hands, he pushed them up as he lowered his head and flicked his tongue across a stiff nipple before pulling it hard and deep into his mouth. She made a soft mewling sound as he sucked on her, as his tongue swirled and his teeth scraped across the now tender flesh until she was aroused beyond belief. She pressed her hips upward, undulating against the muscled thighs still straddling her lower body, desperate to ease the building, throbbing need expanding inside her.
In his own sweet time, his mouth gradually moved down her quivering stomach, leaving a hot, damp trail of kisses in his wake. When he reached the waistband of her sleep shorts and panties, he quickly stripped them all the way off, then knelt between her legs. His hands smoothed their way up the insides of her thighs, pushing them wide open and baring all of her to his heated, lust-filled gaze.
“Do you remember what I told you last night?” he murmured, watching as he pushed his thumbs through the plump folds of her weeping sex—from her clit all the way down to her core, then back up again.
She was slick from arousal, swollen, aching, and with each swipe of his fingers along her slit, she was quickly losing the ability to concentrate on anything other than the way he touched her. “Which part?” she panted, unable to recall anything specific when he had her so restless and needy.
He bent his head and gently bit the inside of her thigh, making her gasp and arch her back again. “The part where I said that I want to lick this sweet pussy and eat you and taste you on my tongue as you come.”
His words alone made her shudder. She could only imagine how her body would respond when he followed through on his promise. “Oh, God, yes. I remember.”
“That’s exactly what’s going to happen, sweetheart,” he said as he settled himself more comfortably between her spread limbs.
He arranged one leg, then the other, over his broad shoulders, then blew a hot stream of air across her wet folds. She bit her bottom lip and moaned, her entire body trembling in anticipation.
He slid his big, warm hands up to her hips, gripping them tightly with his fingers, securing her with his hold. “If just my breath on your pussy makes you quiver, can you imagine what my tongue will do?”
She didn’t want to imagine, she wanted to feel it. “Show me,” she whispered wantonly.
He immediately placed his hot, open mouth on her sex, devouring her until she squirmed and moaned—and belatedly realized that she wasn’t prepared for the impact of this man’s oral skills. Or her wild, shameless response to something so decadent. It took every ounce of restraint for her to keep her hands above her head and not reach down to grip his hair with her fingers. As much as she wanted to lower her arms, she didn’t want to risk disappointing him. No, she wanted to prove that she could give him that control he needed.
With single-minded purpose, he licked through her folds, sucked on her clit, and feasted relentlessly on her swollen flesh, intensifying the liquid heat simmering deep in her core. As his mouth moved on her flesh and his tongue did the most wicked things to her pussy, the morning stubble on his jaw scraped and burned the tender skin on the insides of the thighs framing his face, adding to her sensory overload.
Then his fingers joined in, two of them pushing impossibly deep inside her slick body, then picking up an in-and-out rhythm that matched each breath-stealing stroke of his tongue across that sweet, sensitive spot between her legs. He battered her with sensations, overwhelmed her with the promise of ecstasy. She gasped, and without the use of her hands, she arched her back, trying to press herself closer to that magical mouth—her hips undulating, grinding, as he made her nearly delirious with the need to come.
Another hard, deep thrust of his fingers coupled with the suctioning swirl of his tongue on her clit had her combusting with the force of her orgasm. She cried out his name, thrashing beneath his hold on her hips as the most sublime bliss she’d ever experienced consumed every part of her.
Before she had a chance to come down from that orgasmic high, and even as tiny, climactic aftershocks rippled through her body, Levi quickly moved to a kneeling position between her legs, keeping them spread. Through hooded eyes, she watched as he shoved his cotton shorts down his thighs, releasing his thick, huge erection. For a brief second, she thought he was going to push inside of her, but instead he dragged his fingers through her soaked pussy, coating them with her slick juices. Then he wrapped his lubricated palm tight around his straining dick and stroked the length through his fist.
He pressed his thumb against her still-throbbing clit, rubbing and stimulating that bundle of nerves back to life. She gasped, stunned by the renewed need pulsing low in her belly and the tingling sensation gathering and converging where he was massaging her. Where his gaze was focused on her exposed sex while he pleasured himself at the same time.
She’d never been a part of something so hot and captivating, had never watched a man as he jacked himself off. But she watched Levi now, utterly fascinated by the bold, sexual act. His jaw was clenched, his expression dark and savage as his own desires drove him toward release. His chest heaved, and the muscles along his stomach flexed and bunched as he pumped his engorged shaft through his clenched fist. Each time his cock passed through his grip, the plump head swelled and pre-cum leaked from the tip.
His breathing grew choppy, and he increased the pressure and friction against her clit, pushing her closer to the edge of another soul-baring climax, as well. “Come again,” he demanded gruffly as he stroked his shaft through his fist, harder, faster.
Shockingly, her body responded to his command, and she moaned and shuddered as another orgasm surged through her. Even as she was swept up in her own glorious climax, she refused to close her eyes, needing to see Levi succumb to his release.
She met his gaze. The wild intensity glowing in the depths of his eyes was possessive and dominating as he flattened his free hand near her hip and leaned more fully over her, bracing himself for his own orgasm. Another firm pull on his cock and his entire body tensed. She caught the look of pleasure bordering on pain that flashed across his face before he threw his head back, shuddered, and growled hoarsely as he came so hard the initial burst of milky fluid shot all the way up to her breasts and eventually spilled onto her stomach, too.
“Jesus . . . fuck,” he said on a ragged exhale as he sat back on his heels and tried to catch his breath. When he finally recovered, he took in the mess he’d made all over her, a slow, unmistakable smirk curving the corners of his mouth. His gaze was equally arrogant.
“I’m not gonna lie,” he drawled as he slid the tips of his fingers through the sticky substance on her belly, smearing it across her skin. “Seeing my come all over your naked body is hot as fuck.” Those same fingers glided through the slippery trail of male essence all the way up to her breasts, where he coated a tight nipple with more of his scent, as if putting his mark on her.
Unable to speak, she merely sighed with pleasure.
“Who knew you were such a dirty girl?” He sounded pleased at the realization.
Before Levi, Sarah never would have guessed that she had a naughty streak in her, but he’d proved her wrong. She’d had sex before, but she’d never been this intimate with a man. Or so uninhibited. “It’s all your fault,” she teased softly.
He grinned unrepentantly. “I’ll gladly take the blame for corrupting you.”
He moved off the bed, and without an ounce of modesty, he stripped his shorts the rest of the way off, so that he was as naked as she was. He held his hand out to her, and she let him help her to stand, too.
“Come on, dirty girl,” he said as he led the way to the adjoining bathroom. “Let’s go take a shower and clean you up.”
It was an offer she wasn’t about to refuse.
