Final Score (Madison Howlers #5)

by Camellia Tate

  We could learn to be friends and lovers. We could start right now. I ran my fingers through his hair, pulling his mouth back to mine.

  Lev’s hands slid under the sweater and straight under the top I had under it. His palms were warm as they brushed over my stomach. “I want to take it off,” he said, pulling back only long enough to act on his words. Both the sweater and the top came off in one quick swoop.

  I saw the way Lev’s eyes darkened like I was the best thing he had ever seen. “You’re fucking stunning,” he informed me before kissing down my neck and to my breasts. His tongue teased over the soft skin. Seeking out my nipple, Lev’s mouth brushed over it through the material of my bra.

  I shuddered. The heat that pooled in the pit of my stomach was overwhelming. I had never felt anything like it. Reaching for Lev, I pulled him against me as I lined our bodies up in exactly the way I wanted. I ran my hands over his broad, smooth back. I remembered sparks that had flashed between us when we’d danced together. Now, I wanted to kindle them into a fire.

  I hitched my legs around Lev’s hips, ignoring the layers of fabric still between us. I wanted to feel him everywhere. “Lev,” I whispered. “Ah! You feel so good.” I pushed my chest up, eager for his hands to slide behind me and unfasten the clasp of my bra. “Take more off,” I urged, not caring whether he thought I meant my clothes or his.

  He laughed at that. I could hardly bring myself to care. Instead, I gave a dramatic pout that did nothing but amuse him more. “First you,” he informed me, his fingers undoing my bra and sliding it off. Lev replaced the material with his kisses, hot against my skin.

  While his tongue teased over my nipples, making me moan softly, Lev’s hands slid lower. He found the button holding my jeans shut. His fingers were very good at getting both it and the zipper open! He pulled back, sliding my jeans down as far as he could before my shoes got in the way.

  “So many layers,” he complained.

  I laughed. “Well, I did have to come from outside,” I pointed out. “You’re lucky I wasn’t wearing a coat!” I loved that we could laugh. Even in the swirl of emotions that I felt for Lev, our friendship threaded through it like an anchor. I couldn’t imagine what this would be like with anyone but him.

  After I helped to kick my shoes off, Lev lay me back against the couch. His hands were so gentle, cradling me like he was afraid I was going to break. Together, we tugged my jeans the rest of the way off, leaving me in nothing but my panties. I pulled him against me, my breasts brushing against his chest. I slid my hands over the rippling muscles of his abs.

  Luckily for me, Lev wasn’t wearing jeans. Just soft, elasticated sweatpants. I pushed my hand under the waistband, cupping the hard length of Lev’s erection through his boxers.

  “Fuck,” he groaned. That sound went straight through me. I wanted to hear more of those, to learn this whole new side of Lev. I knew him as a friend so well. Now I had the opportunity to learn him as a lover. My hand urged more noises from him. Lev crashed his lips down against mine.

  The kiss was heated, our tongues meeting in a dance so perfect that our samba skills could only longingly hope for anything so in sync. My other hand settled against Lev’s back, nails scratching over the skin. The mix of pleasure and pain made his hips buck forward, his hardness thrusting against my hand.

  Lev pushed back, but only enough to get his sweats and boxers off. It left me plenty of time to take in just how truly amazing he looked naked.

  My need grew ever more demanding, a hunger gnawing at me that I could hardly wait to satisfy. I sat up, pushing Lev back against the couch. I couldn’t have moved his incredible bulk of muscle if he hadn’t let me. That just excited me even more. He did let me. He trusted me. Lev wanted this as much as I did. I straddled his hips, running my fingers over his chest and learning every line of muscle.

  Even knowing we would do this again - many, many times - I wanted to be able to recall exactly how Lev had felt the first time that I touched him. His eyes were wide and dark, watching me like he’d never seen me before. I knew the feeling. Seeing Lev like this, aching and hungry for me, was a totally new experience.

  I ran my hand lower, curling my fingers around his bare length. I squeezed and stroked, wanting to learn what he liked. I wanted to see what noises he would make for me as I touched him.

  And Lev certainly didn’t disappoint. I watched the way his throat moved when his breath caught. I could feel the muscles in his stomach contract. Knowing that it was because of me, for me, was so thrilling. In turn, Lev’s hands traveled over my back and down to my ass. It was so reminiscent of the first time we’d kissed. Except now we were both nearly naked.

  Nearly naked and knowing that we wanted this.

  Lev’s other hand slid up to my back. He tilted his head so I’d lean in and kiss him. His tongue slid inside my mouth, meeting mine. It was a hot kiss, made ever so much hotter by how good my body felt against his.

  When we broke apart, it was so Lev could kiss down my neck, teeth grazing over my jawbone lightly. The need in me was about to boil over if I didn’t do something about it. Luckily, there was plenty to do.

  Lifting up, I hooked my thumbs under the waistband of my panties. Lev’s gaze fixed on me, so hungry that it took my breath away. Slowly, I dragged the material down and lifted my legs out of it, leaving me completely exposed. Lev drank in the sight. I’d never felt so stunning, so desirable. My whole body ached with the intensity of the feeling.

  Grinning, I dropped back down to run my tongue over the muscles of Lev’s chest. I lapped up the salty taste of him, circling his nipples until he was too distracted to do anything but moan my name.

  Fumbling on the floor for my jeans, I found them, pulling the condom I’d brought with me out of my pocket. “I came prepared,” I teased. I wanted to feel Lev inside me. I didn’t think I could wait another moment.

  He laughed. It pleased me that even now, even at the very verge of desire, Lev could still laugh at my jokes. It took me seconds to get the condom out of its package and onto Lev. We were finally ready. My fingers wrapped around Lev’s hardness, leading it between my legs.

  I saw the way his breath hitched, first in anticipation and then in pleasure. I wanted to watch that, wanted to see every expression that flickered across his face. But the pleasure I felt, the fullness and heat, were too much to just watch Lev. I wanted to move, wanted to ride him and bring us both that much closer to becoming overwhelmed by each other.

  Lev’s hand on my ass helped me lift myself. He groaned as I moved away, like he could hardly bear even the minutest separation between us. Slowly, I lowered myself back down. Taking Lev into my body like this felt indescribably right. I circled my hips, feeling his hardness rub against me in ways that lit me up from the inside.

  His face was so handsome. I could see the adoration in his eyes. I could feel it in the way he touched me, gentle and yet with so much passion. I splayed my hand across his chest, using it to balance me as I rose and sank. We settled into a rhythm, pleasure building with every movement. I could feel it spreading through me, taking over.

  “Lev!” I cried out, rocking harder and faster.

  His thrusts didn’t stop. Lev pulled me into another kiss. Our tongues danced as our bodies moved together faster, my breasts pressed tightly against Lev’s muscled chest. He swallowed up the string of moans that fell from my lips. I felt how quickly my pleasure was building. With every thrust, it rolled through me like waves coming into shore.

  Lev’s hand against my ass tightened, squeezing it to angle me in closer. It was a mix of sheer need I felt from him and his solid strength that finally tipped me over. I pulled back from the kiss so I could catch my breath as pleasure overtook me.

  My whole body trembled as I gave in to the overwhelming surge of my orgasm. Lev’s strong hands steadied me, holding me as I writhed. With a sigh of ecstasy, I came to rest against his chest. Our pace slowed, a more gentle rhythm rocking our bodies. I pressed kisses against the angle
of Lev’s jaw.

  I could see the pleasure on his face. My heart felt impossibly full knowing that I was the cause. He bucked up, his hard length filling me over and over again until all I could do was moan. “Please,” I begged. I wanted to feel him climax inside me. I wanted to watch his face as he lost himself in total pleasure.

  That one word seemed to be enough. Lev’s hands drew me closer as his hips bucked up. I rocked against him once, twice. His face contorted, a grunt leaving his lips so deep that I could feel it in my bones. Riding him through it, I moaned softly, enjoying how great he felt.

  Finally, Lev’s body relaxed against mine. He breathed harshly into my shoulder. It was followed by a light kiss that made me smile before Lev lifted me up and off him. He laid me down on the couch and, after a moment of sorting himself out, joined me.

  Lev’s hand brushed my side. Despite lying naked on his couch, I felt so protected and at home. He nuzzled his nose against my chin. “I love you,” he told me so easily. “And I’m sorry I was afraid to tell you.”

  My heart skipped several beats, emotion racing through me so swiftly that it was impossible to feel all of it at once. “I’m so glad,” I breathed. My mind darted back to Lev’s performance on the ice. That gesture he had intended for me and me alone. I wrapped my arm around him. “I love you, too, Lev. What you did for me today, it was beyond anything I could have dreamed of.”

  I wanted to stay here forever, with Lev’s solid body warm against my own. I’d hated being distant from him, keeping away because I’d believed that he didn’t want me. “I want to still be your best friend,” I told him honestly. I had always wanted that, even when I’d thought it wasn’t what was good for either of us.

  “Yeah, I want that, too,” Lev said with a nod. “I...” he paused, a small frown appearing on his forehead. I brought my hand up to brush soft fingers over those frown lines. Lev gave me a smile for that. “I don’t ever not want to be friends with you, Masha. That was what scared me so much. If we did this, could we really be friends?”

  His hands stroked over my side and Lev shook his head. “And then you didn’t want to be my friend anyway. That hurt so much. I don’t want to lose you.”

  Leaning in, I pressed a kiss against his lips. “I wanted to be your friend.” My heart ached for Lev, for how sad he must have been when he’d thought I didn’t want that. I had thought I’d made it clear. Obviously, he hadn’t understood me.

  “I just knew that I couldn’t be your friend and want you at the same time, not when you didn’t want me back. It hurt too much.” But now Lev did want me back! My heart broke open with emotion. It was a restorative rush, filling all the places that had hollowed out when I’d thought we’d never have this.

  I paused, running my hand over Lev’s chest. I took hold of his fingers, guiding them to the sticker that shielded my soulmark. “I think you might be my soulmate, Lev,” I told him openly. I knew it mattered less to him than it did to me - but I wanted him to know the truth. “But even if you’re not, I love you. I want to be with you. Always.”

  Lev smiled softly at that. His hand brushed a strand of hair out of my face. “I’ve always wanted you back,” he corrected. “And I think you’re my soulmate, too, Masha,” he added, making my heart soar. It didn’t matter. That was amazing, too. Even if we weren’t, I would want this, would want Lev and his friendship, and the prospect of what our relationship could be.

  “I flew my parents in to meet you,” he told me. My eyes must’ve widened in surprise. “Don’t worry, they’re not here. I told them they have to stay in a hotel tonight,” he laughed.

  I giggled, hiding my face against his chest. “So thoughtful,” I teased, my cheeks flaming as I blushed at the thought of what his parents might have seen. We hadn’t even made it to the bedroom!

  But I wanted to meet them. It meant so much to me that Lev had brought them all the way from Russia. I wanted to meet his mama, who I’d heard so much about, and his dad who took him fishing.

  “You think they’ll like me?” I asked. Thank goodness I’d been practicing my Russian! It was important to me to show them that I could communicate with Lev in his mother tongue.

  “They will love you,” Lev told me, so easily that I struggled to not believe him. If he could be so sure, then I wanted to be sure, too. “I told mama how Anya’s been teaching you to cook Russian food. Now she wants to teach you some, too,” he added with a chuckle.

  “Maybe,” he added, “She might even teach you how to make some honey cake.” We’d talked about that before, about how complex it was. I was more than happy to try. I’d love to get to know Lev’s mama over food.

  I nodded, pressing my body against Lev’s so that we touched everywhere. I had never felt such bone-deep satisfaction. I knew it was because Lev was everything I needed. Not just a lover, not just a friend, but both. A partner for life.

  I couldn’t wait to see what it was like to explore that relationship with him, make him even more a part of my life than he had been before.

  All that could wait until tomorrow. Tonight, nobody existed in the world but me and Lev.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The next day, mama texted me early in the morning. She was keen on meeting Maria and honestly, so was I. Like I had said to Maria, I had absolutely no doubt that my parents would adore her. Mama already liked Maria, just from what I’d said about her.

  After I checked that Maria was happy to meet them, my parents headed over. Just as I had expected, mama was thrilled. She praised Maria’s Russian - which, I had to be fair, had improved a lot over the past few months - and excitedly told her that she’d been the one to advise me to do something about my feelings.

  I rolled my eyes at that. At the same time, there was a permanent smile plastered across my face.

  Maria was my friend again.

  But she wasn’t just my friend.

  “You’re a pretty great girlfriend, Masha,” I teased when my mama left us briefly so she could go make some tea. Papa was already off napping. I could hardly blame him, the time difference always affected him worse than it did mama. “I think mama’s about three questions away from asking when I will propose.”

  Maria’s face flushed with pleasure. Seeing her so happy made my whole body feel light. I had done the right thing in making sure I kept Maria in my life. We made each other happy. We always had. But now there was something so much sweeter in knowing that Maria loved me.

  “We only started dating yesterday, I think we’re a long time away from a proposal,” she replied. I liked that it was something she saw in our future. I agreed that now was not the right time. I wanted it to be something that we worked towards.

  Maria’s fingers stroked through my hair, brushing it away from my face so she could meet my eyes as she grinned. “You make a pretty great boyfriend, too,” she assured me. “Not that I ever doubted you would.”

  “It’s only day one,” I pointed out. It was something that worried me. In the past, I hadn’t always been a good boyfriend. But being a boyfriend to Kira had seemed very different from how I felt about being a boyfriend to Maria. With Maria, it didn’t feel like a challenge. More like an adventure I wanted to go on with her.

  Leaning in, I pressed a kiss against Maria’s cheek. “I’m glad you wanted to meet my parents. It means a lot to me.” That, too, didn’t seem surprising. Maria cared about me, I knew that. And she cared about things I cared about, like my family.

  “Of course I wanted to meet them,” Maria replied. “They raised you, made you who you are. I should thank them.” While she was teasing, there was a truth behind her words. She felt grateful to my parents for bringing me up into a man that she could love. The thought sent a warmth through my chest, making me pull Maria in closer.

  She cuddled against my shoulder, one hand resting on my stomach. “Don’t you want to meet my mom?” she asked. “You’ve already met Emily and Tanya. They think you’re great. Mom will too.”

  “Yeah, of course I do,
” I nodded energetically. Maria didn’t talk about her mom as much as I did about mine, but I still felt like I knew her a bit. I was curious to meet her, especially because I knew both Maria and Emily pretty well by now.

  Stroking a hand over Maria’s leg I gave a soft hum. “How do you think she’ll react? I know you said she wants you to meet your soulmate.” And Maria had. At least, I felt like I was her soulmate and she was mine. We fit together so perfectly that it was hard to imagine having that with someone else. Not that I cared to try.

  Maria’s smile was so warm that it made me feel as though something inside me was melting. “She’ll be delighted,” she promised me. “She might tease you a little bit that she’s disappointed that she wasn’t the one who introduced us. But she won’t really mean it.” She sounded so sure that I didn’t doubt her, even for a moment. “All she’s ever wanted is for me and Emily to be happy. And I am,” Maria assured me with a kiss.

  “What do you want to do when your dad wakes up?” she asked me. “Is there anything in Madison they haven’t seen that we could take them to?”

  The thought of another adventure with Maria was enough to make me beam at her. I loved how eager she was to get out and do things. It encouraged me to explore Madison more, something I hadn’t done until Maria had come into my life.

  “Maybe we can take them somewhere new for food?” I suggested. Maria had a point. My parents had been to Madison often enough that they’d seen all the touristy things already. But they had not tried all of Madison’s best restaurants.

  I was about to ask Maria if she had any requests when my phone beeped. With a quick apology, I pulled my hand away from Maria to get my cell from my pocket. Kira’s name flashed up and I frowned.

  “It’s Kira,” I said, feeling guilt low in my stomach. I shouldn’t have wanted to open the message. I was with Maria now; that meant I couldn’t see Kira again. I would have to explain that to her, but not today. Today was a happy day. I didn’t want to think about upsetting anyone, including Kira.