Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 14608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 73(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 49(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 73(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 49(@300wpm)
“We’re just happy you two have finally fucked,” Aaron, another of our friends, pipes up. “We placed bets on how long it would take. You lasted a whole month longer than I thought.”
I gape at him, blinking. Was the tension between Levi and me really that obvious? Clearly, I hadn’t done as good a job at hiding my pining as I thought.
“Pay up, guys!” Kade announces, holding his hand out while Jack groans, fishes out a ten-dollar note, and hands it over. Kade turns to us, grinning widely. “Thanks for the birthday present, man.”
“Oh my God,” I mumble, burying my face in Levi’s chest to avoid any more of this nonsense.
Beneath the burning embarrassment and ridiculousness of our friends’ bets, there’s a bottomless pool of happiness. Levi’s arms are around me, and I don’t have to try and pretend I’m not head over heels for this man anymore. The relief is almost as satisfying as the literal satisfaction still melting my muscles.
For the first time in a very long time, I’m genuinely, truly, utterly happy. And I owe that to the man I’m pressed up against like he’s my salvation.
I peek up through my lashes to find Levi looking down at me with devotion in his gaze, and vow right then and there that I’m going to find a way to prove to him how much he means to me.
No more hiding.
3
LEVI
“Come on, baby, let’s get out of here,” I whisper to Lacey.
My friends finally stop teasing the hell out of us and swapping money based on who won the bets they’ve apparently been running. Those assholes are lucky I love them, and I protect the people I care about. So instead of punching them in the face or telling them to fuck right off like I’d do to anyone else making comments about Lacey’s sex life, I just half-heartedly tell them to shut up and roll my eyes.
Lacey nods against me, still a little unsteady on her feet. It fills me with total satisfaction and a deep sense of possessiveness to know that I’ve fucked her so good she can’t walk straight. At the reminder, my cock jerks, hungry for her again despite the fact she just made me come so hard I saw stars minutes ago. I want Lacey more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my fucking life. Like a damn caveman staking his claim, I want to keep her tied to my bed for days, making sure she and everyone else knows who she belongs to.
Shit, that sounds like a great fucking plan.
We don’t linger at the club any longer, saying a quick goodbye before we leave and jump in the nearest taxi. My place isn’t far, but walking will take too long and I refuse to fuck her in an alley. Nobody gets to see my girl blissed out with pleasure but me.
“We’re going to yours?” she asks when I give the driver my address.
I take her hand in mine, needing to touch her. “I didn’t think you’d want to go back to yours,” I say, and she nods in agreement. Lacey’s still living in the apartment she shared with my dickhead brother because he fucking abandoned her with six months left on the lease.
“I’ve been looking at new places but everywhere’s so darn expensive,” she says with a sigh. “I’d have to get a roommate but I don’t know anyone looking for a place and I don’t want to live with a stranger. But I also…” She pauses, biting her lip and her gaze dropping to her lap. “I hate living alone.”
The pain in her voice makes me want to hunt my brother down and rip his heart out with my bare hands. Instead, I just tuck Lacey closer to me. “You’ll never be alone again, Lace,” I promise her softly, using my free hand to cup her face and direct her gaze back to me so she can see how much I mean it. “You’re mine now, baby. I’m keeping you.”
That pretty pink returns to her cheeks, and she leans into me, nodding in acceptance.
“I think I’ll like that,” she admits quietly with a smile.
The second the taxi stops outside my place, I grab her and bundle her out straight into my arms. She squeals as I carry her up the stairs and inside, pausing only to lock the door behind me, and take her straight to the bedroom.
As much as I want to throw her onto my bed and fuck her until neither of us can see straight, it’s late and I want to take care of her properly.
“Go shower, baby,” I tell her and set her on her feet. I nod to the adjoining door to the bathroom. “I’ll grab you something to get changed into.”
She follows my instructions so well it makes me even more hungry for her. It takes all my self-control not to follow her into the shower and make her even dirtier, but the logical part of my brain knows that she’s experienced a lot tonight. I want to be good to her in every way, and giving her some space to shower and process everything is included in that.