Wrong for Me Page 22

  She lifted a hand and touched his mouth. “You. I want you.”

  “Then fucking take me.” He held her gaze, letting her see the intensity of his desire. “I need you.”

  For a long second she didn’t move, staring at him. Then she let out a breath, her attention dropping down to his chest, and lifted her hands to touch him. Her fingers were cool, trailing over his pecs and down, brushing his nipples, causing him to inhale sharply as sensation flickered like electricity through him. She leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his throat, and he couldn’t stop the shudder that shook him. God, the feel of it . . . so soft. So hot.

  She began to kiss him, his neck, his collarbone, down further, her tongue on his skin, licking. Around his nipples and down, her hands sliding over his abs, her hips moving against his. Jesus Christ, she felt amazing.

  “I always imagined what it would be like to touch you,” she whispered against his skin. “How you’d feel. How you’d taste. Hot . . . hard . . .” She stroked his stomach over and over, lovingly following the lines of his abs as if he were a work of art, making his muscles tense in reaction. “You’re better than I imagined, Levi. So much better.”

  Again he felt that strange tightness in his chest. The way she was touching him, her hands shaking. The way she was looking at him, as if she were so desperately hungry, as if she’d die if she didn’t get a taste....

  Finally.

  He couldn’t speak as her hands trailed lower, to the button of his pants, then one hand tracing the length of his cock through the material while the other tugged down the zipper. Jesus, she was going to kill him.

  She pushed open the fabric, her fingers sliding into his boxers, circling his cock, drawing him out.

  Holy shit, he was so hard. He wasn’t going to be able to hold on long.

  Rachel shifted back, bending her head, her hair an inky spill over his chest and stomach. But he reached for it, twining his fingers in the silky mass of it and holding on. “Wait.” His voice was so hoarse it didn’t sound like his.

  “What?” She looked up at him, her brows drawn together. “Do you not want—”

  “No, fuck, I want this.” She hadn’t ever gone down on him, and he’d noticed she’d been actively avoiding it. He hadn’t insisted, though, deciding to address it when they’d spent more time together. He thought he knew the reason now. “Did you do this for him? Is that why you didn’t want to do it with me?”

  Her dark eyes flickered. “Yes.”

  Levi twisted his fingers tighter in her hair. “I don’t want this to be bad for you.”

  Something fierce entered her gaze. “It won’t be. Because it’s not him I’m thinking about.”

  He almost smiled, because this was the Rachel he remembered. Determined and passionate. A fighter. “You better not be,” he said, answering her ferocity with his own. “Because there’s only going to be one cock in your mouth, and that’s mine. Understand?”

  The look she gave him burned him all the way through, and then she was shifting back and bending her head again, an explosion of heat engulfing him as she wrapped her mouth around his dick, taking him in deep.

  A groan escaped, helplessly drawn from him, the pleasure indescribable. He looked down, pushing her hair out of the way so he could see, the visual so fucking erotic he nearly came right there and then. Her lifting her mouth from him, gripping him in one hand so she could circle the head of his cock with her pink tongue. Then her full, red lips opening and taking him between them, swallowing him whole.

  He growled, gathering her hair into one fist and winding it around his wrist, pulling on it. “Harder. Faster.”

  Her flushed cheeks hollowed as she obeyed him, increasing suction, her movements more rapid, her hand squeezing him tighter.

  Jesus Christ, he was so close, already shaking like a teenage boy getting his first blow job. Pleasure coiled and twisted, an animal inside him demanding to be freed.

  Rachel’s free hand stroked him, over his stomach and up, trailing over his skin, leaving a forest fire blazing in its wake. While her mouth worked magic on his cock, the heat of it driving him insane.

  Too much; it was too fucking much.

  The orgasm exploded like a lightning bolt chasing the length of his spine, tearing a ragged groan from his throat, his hips pushing up into her mouth as he pulled hard on her hair. And for long minutes he couldn’t speak, could hardly breathe through the intensity of the pleasure, closing his eyes and free-falling in the darkness.

  Then he felt Rachel shift slightly, her mouth brushing over his stomach, her fingers tracing lazy circles on his skin. “You’re amazing.” Her voice was husky. “Everything about you.”

  When she said it like that, after giving him the best damn blow job he’d ever had, he felt amazing too.

  Levi opened his eyes to find her curled in his lap, continuing to stroke his abdomen and chest as if she couldn’t keep her hands off him. He was holding a fistful of her hair, and he didn’t much feel like letting it go. Didn’t feel like letting go of her, period.

  “Was that okay?” There was a hint of uncertainty in her tone. “I mean, it’s been a long time and—”

  He tugged her head back before she could finish, leaning down to give her his answer in the form of a hard, deep kiss, tasting himself in her mouth, mixed with her own sweet flavor. “That was more than okay,” he murmured against her lips. “That’s the best fucking thing that’s happened to me all day.”

  “You’re easy to please.”

  “I’m a simple man.” He pulled back, staring down into her dark eyes. “Two minutes, then I’m inside you.”

  A slow smile curved her mouth, rare and sweet, making that tight, impossible feeling in his chest intensify. Then her hand on his stomach moved lower, her fingers running down the length of his cock, sending electric jolts through him. “I don’t think you’ll need two minutes.”

  No, he damn well wouldn’t. Not with her touching him like that.

  He reached into his back pocket, taking out his wallet and extracting the condom he kept in it. Then, discarding the wallet, he held tight to the condom packet as Rachel circled her fingers around his dick, stroking him, squeezing him, leaning forward to trail kisses all over his chest.

  The carbon paper outline of the sun was long gone from his skin, rubbed away first by her tears and then her mouth, but he didn’t care. There would be plenty of time for that later. First pleasure, then the pain.

  She straddled him, tugged aside her panties, rubbing her sweet little pussy all over his cock, her eyes glazed, her cheeks flushed as she touched him. She looked almost drunk on him, on the pleasure that was being generated between them.

  His breathing was getting ragged as her hips flexed and she ground herself against his rapidly hardening dick, her fingernails scratching lightly at his chest. And he liked that, oh yeah, he liked that a lot. Her hunger, her need.

  “You want me, Sunshine?” He stared into her eyes. “You want me inside you?”

  She shivered. “God, yes.” Her voice was husky. “Now, Levi.”

  Yeah, fuck, he couldn’t wait.

  He ripped open the condom packet and took it out, sheathing himself. Then he reached for her, gripping her hips and lifting her up, settling her back down onto him, both of them gasping as the slick heat of her pussy closed around him.

  For a second they both were still, staring at each other, the connection between them alive and electric with pleasure and something else, something deeper.

  Because in this moment nothing mattered. Not their past and all the mistakes they’d made. Not all the anger and the pain. Not even all the missed opportunities and wasted time.

  All that mattered was that right now, they were both here. They were together. They were one. The way it always should have been.

  Levi slid his arms around her, gathering her close, cradling her. Then he began to move, deep and slow, and she was all tight flesh and molten heat and soft, panting breaths. Her eyes were wide and
black as the night outside.

  He let himself fall into them and lost himself.

  Chapter 15

  Zee leaned against the body of the Firebird and folded his arms, watching silently as Levi finished fiddling with the car’s engine.

  Goddammit. Clearly his friend had something he wanted to talk about. And no prizes for guessing what that was.

  Levi straightened, slamming down the hood of the car. “What?”

  They were in the garage, Zee having finished up some work he was doing on his Trans Am. Gideon wasn’t there, which was probably a blessing. Levi wasn’t looking forward to having to broach the topic of his investment project with Gideon. And Levi was going to have to do that at some point—at least before construction started.

  You’ll have to do it sooner than that. If you don’t, Gideon’ll be even more pissed because you didn’t tell him earlier.

  Yeah, Gideon would be. Not that he wouldn’t be pissed about the whole situation anyway. He was notoriously protective of Royal, and Levi suspected Gideon would have the same attitude toward Levi’s plans that Rachel did. And speaking of, that was another issue Levi was going to have to work out.

  Since the night in her tattoo studio a couple of days ago, things had been so much better between them. The tension had eased, and, though they hadn’t talked again of anything major—certainly not his plans for Royal—they’d gotten back a little of their old relationship. And whenever there was any awkwardness, there was always sex. That, at least, they didn’t have any problems with.

  Zee’s expression was neutral. “What’s up with you and Rach?”

  “You know what’s up with me and Rach.”

  “She was afraid of you. At least it looked that way to me.”

  Yes, and now Levi knew why. It wasn’t for the reasons that Zee thought either. “We’ve sorted that out. Not that it’s any of your fucking business.”

  Zee only shrugged. “Just looking out for her, man.”

  “Yeah, okay. But I’m back, and I’m looking out for her now.”

  “Okay, sure.” The narrow expression on his face didn’t change.

  Fucking wonderful. “What?”

  “You’ve got something else going on, haven’t you?”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “You, walking around Royal a few days ago with a couple of suits.”

  “That’s none of your fucking business either.”

  Zee shifted against the car, his gray eyes piercing. “Since when did you become such as asshole? The Levi I knew wasn’t this much of a prick.”

  An uncomfortable feeling turned over in Levi’s gut. He scowled, biting down on the instinctive angry comeback. Rachel had been helping him relearn a few things, such as not treating all direct opposition as an attack, but overcoming the habit of eight years was difficult.

  “Yeah, well . . . I’m sorry.” The words came out stilted. “I picked up some bad habits inside, okay?”

  Zee’s expression relaxed. “I get that. But we’re your friends, okay? You’ve known us a long time. You don’t need to treat us like strangers and ones you don’t particularly like.”

  Levi turned his gaze to the paintwork of the Firebird, examining it. “You’ve all had years together that I didn’t have, Zee. So my long time isn’t quite as long as yours.” Levi hadn’t realized until that moment how much he’d resented that too. That his friends had shared experiences together, ones that he’d missed out on.

  Jesus, he’d missed out on so much. Sometimes he just couldn’t think about it, otherwise it made him want to smash something.

  That’s not Rachel’s fault, is it?

  No, of course it wasn’t. He’d already told her that, right?

  Zee let out a breath. “Sure. That’s hard, man. But there’s always gonna be stuff you missed out on. You can’t keep holding that against us. Or against Rachel.”

  Intellectually that made perfect sense, but something inside Levi didn’t like it. That something wanted to keep hold of his anger at the unjustness of the whole thing.

  Because then you won’t actually have to feel your own responsibility.

  Bullshit. He’d admitted it. He knew what he’d done.

  “I’m not,” he said, rubbing at a spot of rough paint. “Rachel and I are fine.”

  Behind him the door to the garage slammed.

  Zee turned his head. “Hey, Gideon.”

  Levi cursed silently. He hadn’t been actively avoiding Gideon; he just hadn’t been actively trying to find him either. Levi only needed a few more days, until after the function Novak had organized for the following week. When there were a few more investors on board, so Levi would know definitively it was all going to happen and he could convince Gideon. Because no matter what Levi told himself, he wanted the other man on his side.

  “Can you give us a moment, Zee?” Gideon’s deep voice came from behind him.

  Zee glanced at Levi, then back to Gideon. “Uh, sure.” He eased away from the Trans Am, flashing Levi another look. “Remember, man. Doesn’t matter how long you’ve been away. You’re still a Royal, okay?”

  Levi stared at him, slightly taken aback by his friend’s vehemence. Seemed as if Levi wasn’t the only one who’d changed in the last decade. Zee had too. He’d always been reserved, quiet, and intense, yet there was an ease about him now. Though perhaps that wasn’t the years. Perhaps that was Tamara.

  Zee headed toward the door, pausing to say something to Gideon that Levi didn’t catch before continuing on and out of the garage.

  As the door clanged shut behind Zee, Gideon stared at Levi for a second. Then he came over to where Levi stood beside the Firebird.

  The expression on the older man’s face was impossible to read. But there was something in Gideon’s eyes that Levi didn’t like one bit. He thought it was maybe anger, though Gideon never let slip anything he didn’t absolutely want anyone to know about.

  Christ, had he heard about Levi’s plans? If so, how the hell had that happened? Levi had told no one.

  Levi straightened. “You after an interrogation too?”

  Gideon said nothing for a moment, his gaze impenetrable. Then he said, “Saw you a few days ago, walking around Royal with a couple of suits.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “What’s that all about?”

  There was no reason to feel defensive. No reason at all. No reason Levi shouldn’t tell Gideon what was happening either. Gideon wasn’t Levi’s father. Levi didn’t need his approval.

  Jesus, you sound like a child.

  Irritated with himself, Levi leaned back against the body of the Firebird, pushing his hands into his pockets. “I bought a couple of buildings here while I was inside. Investment purposes and possible development. I have a guy who’s going to be getting some financing for me, and I was showing him around, along with another guy who’s interested in providing the finance.”

  Gideon’s expression didn’t change. “Who?” The question was almost barked out, a harsh sound.

  “Jason Ryan from Ryan Investments. And—”

  “Oliver Novak,” Gideon finished for him, his voice hard.

  Levi frowned. “Yeah, that’s right. How do you know?

  “I asked around.”

  “You know Novak?”

  “I know of him. He’s an asshole.”

  “Of course he’s an asshole. Those guys always are.”

  But there was something sharp in Gideon’s tar-black eyes. A glimpse of a man you wouldn’t want to cross. “I don’t like the word ‘development,’ Levi. I don’t like it at all. Especially in connection with Oliver Novak.”

  In spite of himself, in spite of everything he had told himself he didn’t give a shit about, in spite of everything he’d been trying to learn, Levi felt defensive anger twist in his gut. “Why? What the fuck is your problem with it?”

  “Do I really need to tell you?”

  “Yeah, actually, you really do.”

  Gideon remained absolutely still
, his gaze like a laser. But instead of explaining, he asked, “What are you planning?”

  Levi had nothing to hide. Nothing to be ashamed of. What he was planning was for Royal’s benefit, to make it a better place. “I want to get some decent apartments happening. Nice enough to attract people away from downtown, bring some more money here. Maybe some more cafés, some bars. A big-box store or two. Nothing major.” It didn’t escape his notice that as he spoke, Gideon’s expression changed. Becoming harder, more set. Colder.

  Levi met his gaze head on. “You got a problem with my wanting to make this neighborhood a better place?” Might as well come right out and say it.

  “Money doesn’t automatically make this neighborhood a better place. Especially when you’re using Oliver Novak to do it.”

  Levi’s anger twisted tighter. “Why? What’s the issue with Novak?”

  “He’s just a rich prick with lots of money who doesn’t give a shit about this neighborhood or anyone else.”

  “And how would you know?”

  Gideon’s expression looked as if it had been carved from stone. “I just do.”

  Great. Well, if Gideon was going to be a cagey bastard, that was too bad. “Okay, that’s fine for you. But as far as I’m concerned, Novak’s ready to put his money where his mouth is, and that’s all that matters to me.”

  The hard glitter in Gideon’s eyes was a warning. “Don’t do this, Levi. Developing apartments for other rich pricks isn’t the way to make Royal a better place. Talk to Rachel, she’s got some great ideas that—”

  “I know what Rachel wants,” he interrupted, angry and unable to fully fathom why. “And maybe I’ll incorporate something like that. But at the moment, developing those buildings, creating places people want to live in, with a safe environment for their kids, is more important than a fucking art gallery.”

  Gideon’s gaze narrowed. “Why? How do you know what’s important to the people here?’

  Levi found his hands had bunched into fists in the pockets of his jeans. What kind of dumb fucking question was that? “You remember who you’re talking to, right? I’m from here, Gideon. I know what’s important because—”