by A. K. Evans
“I’m so sorry, E. This is terrifying,” Leah murmured as she took my hand in hers.
“Why is someone doing this to me?” I cried.
“We might not ever know that, babe. What I do know is that Levi will find out who is doing it and he’ll keep you safe,” Emme answered.
“I’m really starting to worry,” I squeaked out.
Zane walked over and pulled me into his arms. His voice was low when he said, “I see the way my brother looks at you, darling. He’s not going to let anything harm you. You’ve got to believe that he’ll do whatever it takes to figure out who’s doing this. Once he does, trust me when I say that he’ll put a stop to it.”
I was too upset to talk, so I simply nodded.
“Elle,” Wes called softly.
My eyes went to him. Helplessness was written all over his face. Seeing him like that sent me over the edge. My body began shaking again. Zane held on to me until Wes moved to where we were standing. He put me in Wes’ arms where I cried my eyes out. Wes held on tight, offering me the comfort and security I needed for a long while. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and I couldn’t settle.
It didn’t matter, though, because Wes refused to let me go. His hold only changed when we heard a knock at the door. His arms tightened as my body went solid.
“It’s me,” Levi yelled.
Wes relaxed.
I was still tense.
I turned my head toward the door, my cheek pressed to Wes’ chest, and looked to Levi as he gave us what he knew.
“I found Lou and talked to him about what’s going on. From what we managed to find out, the flowers were delivered downstairs to the restaurant earlier this evening. One of the waitresses was going to bring them up then, but it got busy and she got sidetracked. By the time she got a free second, Elle was already on stage. The flowers were delivered by the floral company. I don’t know yet how the order was placed, but I intend to find out. Trent’s my IT guy, so I’ll have him look at the details of the order if he can. With any luck, it was placed online and we’ll be able to track an IP address.”
“I want to get out of here,” I pleaded.
“Sure. I just have one question,” Levi responded. “Do you know anyone with the initials B.B.?”
I thought about it for a minute, but couldn’t recall anyone with those initials.
“I can’t think of anyone. Wes? Leah? Any ideas?”
They both shook their heads.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I gasped. “I didn’t introduce you. Levi, this is my best friend since my first year of college, Leah Price. Leah, this is Levi, aka the guy that’s risking his life right now to protect mine.”
“Please tell me you’re going to catch this guy,” Leah begged. “When Elle told me what was going on, I didn’t realize just how bad it was. Now I know how serious this whole situation is and I’m petrified for her.”
“I’m going to find him; there’s not a doubt in my mind.”
“Is there anything we can do to help, Levi?” Emme asked.
Before Levi could even respond, Zane answered, “You aren’t getting involved, sweetheart. I know you love Elle; we all do, but you are not putting yourself in danger. Levi and his team will take care of her. You, of all people, know that’s the truth.”
She nodded and Levi offered, “There is one thing you can do.”
Zane looked like he was about ready to murder his brother when Levi quickly explained, “Be there for Elle when she needs you. Call her regularly to check in on her. She’s staying with me, but I’m working on this case until I figure out what I need to figure out. That means I’m out of the house a lot. You’re all welcome to visit with her at my place. I’m ok with her being at Wes and Charley’s house or Zane and Emme’s house considering I know what security is at both spots. So, to help me, when you can please try to make yourself available to Elle and be a good friend to her. In doing that, I can work on this knowing she’s not alone all the time.”
“We can do that,” Charley assured him.
“I want updates, Levi. Regularly,” Wes demanded.
Levi gave him a chin lift in acknowledgement before he brought his gaze to mine, “Ready, sunshine?”
I dipped my chin in agreement, grabbed my purse, and walked to him.
“I talked to Lou and told him I’m taking you out the back door. If this person is still here, I don’t want them watching you. Before I went back to your dressing room, I took your guitar and put it out in the truck.”
“Ok. Thank you,” I answered.
He put his hand to the small of my back and ushered me out of the room. We made our way down the hall toward the backroom offices, where Lou was waiting with anguish in his face.
“Elle, my darlin’, this news shreds me. I don’t know how anyone could want to see harm come to you. You stay safe and don’t go anywhere alone until Levi and his guys find out who’s doing this.”
I nodded to him, having found it very hard to talk about what was happening.
“Promise me, darlin’,” he demanded.
“I promise, Lou.”
Lou’s eyes went to Levi and he shared, “This girl is like a daughter to me. You keep her safe.”
“I fully intend to.”
Satisfied with Levi’s determination, Lou stepped aside and allowed Levi and me to pass. We made our way outside, where he helped me into his truck before rounding it and getting in on the driver’s side. He pulled out of Lou’s lot and got on the road back to his place. It wasn’t until Levi’s hand reached over and wrapped around mine, giving it a gentle squeeze, that I finally felt some comfort and safety. Only then did I start to settle.
Chapter 5
Elle
I was staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Levi and I had just returned from Lou’s and I immediately climbed the stairs, walked into the bedroom to grab a nightie, and came into the bathroom.
Levi and I hadn’t spoken most of the ride home.
I was lost in thought regarding the situation surrounding my stalker and needed time to get my thoughts together.
After stripping out of my clothes, I threw my hair up into a messy bun on the top of my head, and hopped in the shower.
I had a feeling that Levi was feeling the same way. His mood had shifted from the time we were in Lou’s to the time we ended up in his truck.
Now, I was standing in front of the mirror. I had just gotten out of the shower and threw on my baby blue, lace-trimmed, satin nightie. If I was being honest, I was terrified. I knew Levi’s home was secure and that I’d be safe here, but I couldn’t help feeling scared. More than anything I wanted him to hold me.
I took a deep breath, gathered up the clothes I wore earlier, and walked back to the guest bedroom. After putting the clothing in my laundry bag, I climbed into the bed. My head dropped to the pillow, but I never went under the blankets. Not even a minute later, the tears leaked from my eyes.
I was dumbfounded.
I couldn’t understand why someone was doing this. What was the obsession about? Was it an obsession? Why me?
Most of all, I was afraid.
There was a knock on the bedroom door before Levi opened it and stepped inside. He took one look at me and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Elle…” he trailed off as he brought his hand up to cup the side of my face.
I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, but the tears continued to fall.
Levi’s hand moved from my cheek to my shoulder, where he gave me a gentle squeeze. “Talk to me, El.”
I tried to take a few calming breaths, but it didn’t work.
He shifted his body and settled himself in the bed next to me, his front to mine. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me into him.
“Why would someone do this to me?” I cried.
“I don’t know. Not yet, anyway. I will find out, though, Elle. At least now I have something else to work with.”
I pulled my face
from his chest and looked up at him. Then I whispered, “I’m scared, Levi.”
He looked down at me and with a soft voice he tried to reassure me, “I promise you; I’m going to do everything I can to make sure nothing hurts you.”
Another tear fell from my eye.
Levi brought his hand that was wrapped around my upper back to the back of my head and pulled me tighter against his body. He held me like that a long time.
“Levi?” I eventually called.
“Yeah?”
“Will you stay with me just until I fall asleep?”
“No.”
My body tensed and went cold. I hadn’t expected that from him at all.
“I told you earlier today that things were changing tonight, Elle. So, no, I’m not going to stay with you just until you fall asleep. I’m going to pick you up and carry you into my room, where I’m going to put you in my bed and hold you not just until you fall asleep, but for the rest of the night.”
“Levi…” I whispered my relief.
“Are you ok with that?” he asked.
I nodded in his chest.
At that, Levi shifted in the bed so that he was sitting again. He pulled me into his lap and, with one hand under my legs and the other at my back, he stood and carried me into his bedroom. Somehow, Levi managed to pull the blankets back before he settled me in the bed. Then, he took to stripping out of his clothing.
While Levi did that, I pulled my nightie down making sure I wasn’t exposing myself. I always wore pretty nighties to bed with nothing else underneath. Perhaps I should have thrown something on considering I was now in Levi’s bed, but I hadn’t originally intended on ending up here once everything went down at Lou’s.
I didn’t spend much time fussing with my sleepwear because Levi, as I said, was stripping. His shirt was now off and he was currently stepping out of his jeans.
Holy. Smokes.
The man certainly knew how to make a girl forget all her troubles.
I had already seen his upper body yesterday, but now he was standing before me in just a pair of boxer briefs. It felt wrong to stare, but I couldn’t help myself. Besides, it’s not like I hadn’t already told him that he was hot. He had to expect if he was going to strip to essentially nothing that I was going to look.
As soon as he got everything except for the boxer briefs removed, Levi climbed in the bed and pulled the blankets up to about our waistlines. He turned off the light on the bedside table and scooted his body closer to mine. Levi pressed a kiss to the top of my head and urged, “Try to relax and get some sleep, sunshine.”
Then, he draped his arm over my waist and continued, “Good night, Elle.”
I already felt the warmth emanating off his body, but I wanted to touch him. I shifted closer to him so that our legs were touching, pressed my hand to his chest, and echoed the same sentiment, “Good night, Levi.”
*****
Light was just barely filtering in through the wall of windows behind the seating area that was to the right of Levi’s bed.
It was very early in the morning.
My back was to Levi and his arm was curled around my waist. It felt good. There was only one small problem.
I needed to pee.
I figured I could make quick work of it and not wake Levi if I lifted his arm while I slid out from underneath it. So, I wrapped my hand around his wrist, or as much of it as I could get my hand around. I took in a deep breath and lifted. Just as I was about to shift my body out of the bed, Levi’s arm clamped back down around my waist.
His voice filtered into my ears. “Where are you trying to sneak off to?”
“The bathroom. I have to pee,” I answered.
Levi lifted his arm from me and instructed lazily, “Use mine.”
I scooted to the side of the bed opposite of him and made a beeline for the bathroom. I did my business and quickly washed my hands.
Levi kept his house cool, which I preferred, but I also didn’t like feeling cold. This meant, the minute I finished in the bathroom I rushed back to the bed. Levi watched me as I climbed in the bed. Then, he pulled me across the bed so that I was against his body, my front to his front.
“Feeling better this morning?” he asked gently.
“Yeah,” I answered quietly. “Thank you for letting me stay in here with you. It helped to ease my mind.”
His hand squeezed my hip. “Happy to hear it, but would have preferred the reason you were in my bed had nothing to do with what happened last night and more to do with what happened before we went to Lou’s.”
“Sorry,” I responded. “I didn’t mean to ruin the night you had planned.”
“It’s not your fault, Elle. What happened at Lou’s last night meant that you needed something else from me. I was happy to give you what I thought you needed and I am pleased to hear that it helped you relax.”
I brought my face closer to his chest, where my hand was resting, and continued to look at him.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I would say that I’m a bit disappointed your plans were ruined.”
“Is that right?” he teased with a smirk on his face. His hand was now wrapped around the back of my leg just above my knee.
I looked away and moved my face closer to his chest because the feel of his hand on my leg was slightly overwhelming that I found it difficult to speak.
“Look at me.”
I pulled my head back to look up at him.
“I don’t want you to be disappointed with me,” he started. “Can I make it up to you?”
Heat spread through my body as I gave him a coy smile.
“Normally I’d say that you went above and beyond last night, but in this case, I won’t turn you down if you decide you want to make it up to me.”
Levi’s fingers pressed into the skin on my leg as he brought his head down to meet mine. Seconds later, his mouth was on me. His lips were moving across my lips. His tongue came out to tease me, looking for a way inside my mouth. I opened for him.
While we kissed, Levi’s hand slid up the side of my thigh. It continued its journey up my leg to the hem of my nightie. He didn’t stop there. Instead of remaining on top of the nightie or making a blatant attempt to go under it, Levi moved his hand in a way that allowed him to push the nightie further up my thigh.
I didn’t mind.
In fact, I didn’t mind so much that I moaned against his mouth.
Levi’s hand had made it just above my hip when he went solid. He pulled his mouth from mine and looked down at me.
He had an assessing look on his face.
Given his silence and body language, I was beginning to feel a bit anxious.
“Levi?” I croaked.
“Elle, where are your panties?” he questioned.
Oops.
“I don’t have any on,” I shared, as though he was unaware of this fact.
“I own a P.I. firm, so you have to imagine I’ve figured that much out by now. I’m curious as to why you don’t have any on.”
I bit my lip.
His eyes dropped to my mouth.
When they came back to my eyes, I explained, “I wear a nightie to sleep. That’s it.”
“You’re telling me that you slept next to me in my bed last night and you had nothing under this?”
I nodded.
“And the night before? Outside the bathroom with the yellow one…there was nothing underneath that?”
I shook my head.
“Let me get this straight. You went into the guest bedroom two nights ago and touched yourself and all you were wearing was that yellow nightie?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Jesus Christ. Thank fuck I didn’t figure this out last night. I struggled to keep my shit together a good portion of the night just feeling the warmth and softness of your body against mine. Had I known you had nothing underneath, I’m not sure I would have been successful.”
“This isn’t a deal breaker, is it?”
&
nbsp; “Fuck no.”
“Then, um, would you mind if we went back to what we were doing before you made this discovery?”
Levi rolled me to my back and settled his body over mine. His face disappeared in my neck, where I felt his mouth against me.
My legs were wrapped around his waist and, as he trailed kisses along the skin of my neck, I squeezed my thighs. The ache between my legs grew stronger and I needed to find a release. Levi’s hands traveled to my waist and began pushing the satin fabric up my body. Seconds later, he pulled it over my head.
Levi wasted no time. His hands went to my breasts and his mouth went over one of my nipples. As he licked, sucked, and nibbled, I put my feet to the mattress and used them to roll my hips. While I sought the friction against my core and he lavished my breasts with attention, I moaned.
“Levi.”
My voice was throaty.
His mouth came back up to mine. With his lips just barely touching mine, he pleaded, “Tell me what you want, sunshine.”
“You. I want you inside me,” I rasped.
He smiled against my lips.
“Please,” I begged.
Levi pushed up off me onto his knees and leaned over to the nightstand. While he grabbed a condom and opened it, I sat up and brought my hands to the waistband of his boxer briefs. I pushed them down his legs and he shifted so I could get them past his knees and off his legs. Before he had the chance to sheath himself, I brought my hand to his erection. I looked up at him through hooded eyes and wrapped my mouth around the tip of him.
He groaned as he watched me, the condom in one hand while the other came to the side of my head and clutched my hair.
I took more of him in my mouth.
My eyes remained focused on Levi’s.
“Damn, Elle,” he bit out as I ran my tongue along his shaft and teased the tip before I sucked him back into my mouth.
He allowed me to work him a little longer and then pulled himself from my mouth. He rolled the condom on, brought his mouth down to mine, and guided me to my back again. Once my head hit the pillow, he trailed kisses along my jaw, down my neck, and to my breasts.