Duty Bound

by Samantha Chase

  “Levi!” she cried out, and I knew I was a goner. No sooner had my name crossed her lips than I was right there, kneeling between her legs with my arousal throbbing at the first contact with her wet flesh. Her beautiful blue eyes opened and looked at me. “Please.”

  I buried myself inside of her. The clasp of her body was perfect, and we fit together in a way that had us both sighing. Normally, at this point in the game, I’d be focused on getting my own release, but then Harper’s eyes met mine and she smiled. Shit. All I could think was that I wanted this to never end. I wanted to keep her beneath me, panting and begging…and smiling.

  With each thrust, she met me.

  With every stroke, she made a throaty sound. Almost a purr.

  I had to close my eyes because the sight of her was going to make me come very soon, and I didn’t want that. I wasn’t ready for this to end.

  She reached out a hand and cupped it around my neck to bring me down for a searing kiss. Her tongue tangled with mine and mimicked what our bodies were doing.

  “Let go, Levi,” she whispered urgently. “I need you. Harder.”

  Shit. If I did what she asked, we’d be done in the blink of an eye. I needed her to come again—just once more—and I swore to myself that then I’d be satisfied. I adjusted my position so I could support myself on one arm and reached between our bodies. I ran a finger down to where we were joined before settling over her clit. “Come for me, Harper,” I demanded, my voice ragged even to my own ears. “Come for me now.”

  “I can’t,” she said as her head thrashed from side to side.

  “Now, Harper. One more time for me.” At any other time, she would have argued, and I realized I was coming to like that about her. Part of me, even now, wanted her to argue, just so I could tease and pleasure her more.

  I moved my finger once, twice, and then she was soaring again. It was all too much—her cries, the clenching of her so tightly around me—and I just about lost my mind. I pounded into her with such ferocity that I had to hold an edge back so I wouldn’t hurt her, and yet I just wanted more. To be deeper. To be so firmly embedded in her mind and body that she’d never forget this night.

  She called out my name one more time as I finally let myself go. I can’t remember ever coming so hard or for so long. Afterwards, I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.

  I collapsed on top of Harper simply because my arms gave out. Instead of asking me to move, she wrapped herself more tightly around me—her ankles locked behind my back, her arms around my shoulders.

  It felt almost as incredible as what we’d just done. Even more intimate. I kissed her temple as I struggled to get my breathing to slow down.

  “I’m crushing you,” I murmured and did my best to disentangle us. I rolled over and tucked Harper in beside me. She let out another one of those soft purrs that I was really beginning to love and snuggled in closer.

  “I didn’t mind,” she said quietly.

  This was a first. Since coming home, since Gavin’s funeral, the silence between us was comfortable. I knew I couldn’t speak for Harper, but the more comfortable my body got, the more my conscience started to beat me up.

  There was never any doubt in my mind that this was going to happen. Harper had attracted me since the funeral. I fought against it and knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, for either of us, and yet it was inevitable.

  The real problem was the timing. Gavin was dead. Harper was threatened. And I’d been walking around in an aroused state ever since that first kiss.

  “Levi?” she said softly.

  I looked down at her face. Her beautiful face was already making my heart rate kick up again.

  The normally confident woman wasn’t the one looking at me. Instead, she looked almost uncertain. “Are you okay?”

  That made me frown. “Yeah, why?”

  “You’re quiet. And you’re frowning. I can’t imagine frowning after sex is a good thing.”

  I couldn’t tell her the real reason I was frowning or what was going on in my head. But I could see that she needed some reassurance. “I’m good,” I said and gave her a small smile. “How about you?”

  She blushed. She actually blushed, and it was as sexy as she’d been just moments ago, when she was writhing beneath me. “I’m good, too.”

  “That’s good. Really…good.” Shit. Why couldn’t I speak like a normal person? Right now, I sounded like a complete idiot. True, it could be that I’d just had my mind blown by the most powerful orgasm of my life, but really, I should have been able to pull together a normal sentence.

  The silence returned again, and this time it wasn’t quite so comfortable. I couldn’t think of a damn thing to say, and it wasn’t until Harper started to stir beside me that I realized she was trying to get up. “Where are you going?”

  She didn’t meet my gaze. “I, um, figured I’d get dressed.”

  “Why?”

  Now she looked at me. “Because that’s what you do.”

  “Who?” What the hell was she talking about? I could still feel the sheen of sweat on my body from all of the exertion, and she was getting ready to leave?

  Harper rolled her eyes. “What do you mean, who? People. No one stays in bed forever. You…have sex.” She gestured to the messy bed. “And then you get dressed and go.”

  Maybe someone who didn’t know Harper like I did wouldn’t have heard the slight tremor in her voice. But I did. I reached out and tugged her back down beside me and hugged her close. She didn’t resist, but I could feel a stiffness in her body that wasn’t there moments before.

  In that instant, I wanted to find every man she’d ever slept with who had jumped up and left her after they were done with her and kill them.

  “Levi?” The uncertainty and the tremble were hard to miss this time.

  “You’re not leaving.” Normally that tone of voice was enough to get her riled up, but this time it seemed to soothe her instead. She finally relaxed against me. I placed another kiss on top of her head, and just to make sure that she understood what I was saying, I added, “I don’t want you to go.”

  “I’m glad,” she said with a sigh. “I just thought that…”

  “What?”

  She shrugged. “It’s just been my experience that guys don’t normally want to, you know, linger or cuddle after sex.”

  The way she said “sex” felt wrong. Who the hell had she been sleeping with? Where was she finding these assholes? “Well, I can’t say that I’ve ever been one for cuddling.” I made the word sound faintly repulsive. “But I can say that I am all for the lingering.” I shifted so that I could see her face. Her eyes were still a little uncertain. “Maybe I’m not done with you yet.”

  “Oh, really?” She gave me a teasing smile.

  “Yeah, really.” There was no teasing in my tone. I wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.

  Her expression changed from one of sass to confusion. “I thought…I mean, I didn’t think…”

  “What, Harper? What did you think?” When her eyes looked away I reached out and put my finger under her chin and gently forced her to meet my eyes. “Tell me.”

  “I didn’t think you’d…want me again.”

  Anger raged inside of me again at the faceless men who were clearly so blind and selfish that they hadn’t realized what they’d had in their arms. I took one of her hands in mine and guided it down over my erection. “What do you think?” At first she looked shocked, but then she smiled again. And began to gently stroke me.

  It would have been easy to just roll her beneath me and have her again. We’d both enjoy it. But I wanted to understand her. I needed to know why it was that she was doubting herself. I couldn’t even say why it was so important in that moment, but it was. I never had to say a word. She read the question in my eyes.

  “I’ve never been with a guy who really wanted a second round.” I knew that admission cost her a lot.

  “Then they were crazy.”

  She made a face at me. “I
don’t think so. It’s me.” There was vulnerability in her voice. “I scare guys away.”

  “Harper—”

  “I’m not all soft and feminine like most women. I’m too independent, and that freaks guys out. I know I can come across as intimidating, but no one has ever wanted to see if there was more to me than that.” She looked up at me. “There is more to me than that. Why doesn’t anyone get that?”

  I did. I wanted to know everything about her. What made her tick? What made her laugh? What made her cry? “Like I said, Harper, they were crazy. Those guys weren’t worth your time.”

  “If it was one or two guys, I might agree. But almost every man I’ve dated—not that there have been masses of them, but still—has only wanted one go-around.”

  “You mean these guys broke up with you after sleeping with you?” The fury was building. I was ready to jump up out of the bed and start taking names.

  “No, no, no,” she assured me as she placed her hand on my chest to calm me down. “I mean that, while we were seeing each other, our sex lives were just…”

  “Ah.” Now I understood. No heat. No passion. “Seems to me like that was their problem. Not yours.”

  “How can you say that? If I had been more feminine, more in touch with my softer side, then maybe…”

  “Maybe nothing. As the man who just had you and is about to have you again, I can tell you that there is nothing wrong with you.” Now I did pin her beneath me. “You are incredibly soft,” I said as I lowered my head and nuzzled at her breast. “And beautifully feminine.” I rubbed my erection against the juncture of her thighs and watched as she sighed with pleasure. “And if no one else appreciated that, then all the better for me.”

  She was about to speak, but I cut her off with a kiss.

  We were done talking.

  ***

  Two days later, I was waiting on Sebastian.

  I didn’t mind waiting. I actually could use the time to get my head on straight. Harper and I had been sharing a lot of private time together, and between that and the physical aspect of working construction, I was exhausted. I was used to going without a lot of sleep, but it was starting to catch up with me.

  I told Harper that I was meeting up with Sebastian tonight and that I wouldn’t be seeing her. I just didn’t tell her why I was seeing him.

  “You look like shit, man,” Sebastian said, as he slid into the booth opposite me.

  “Thanks, I’m fine. And you look pretty, too.”

  Sebastian gave me a smile that was almost blinding. He could have been part of the Osmond family with that damn thing. He came from money, and a fortune had clearly been spent on his teeth. “I know.”

  A waitress came over, took our drink orders, and was gone before I even could register what she looked like.

  “Seriously, Levi, you look like hell. What’s going on?”

  “Lack of sleep.”

  He arched a brow at me. “Really? Anyone I know?”

  “Shut up.” I leaned back and ran my hands through my hair because I didn’t know how to ask what I needed to ask.

  Sebastian continued to study me until after our drinks came and then took a sip of his beer before leaning forward on the table and meeting my gaze head on. “It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the two hour drive to get here, but if I had to venture a guess, I’d say this isn’t a social call.”

  Time to cut to the chase. “It’s not. I need your help.”

  “With?”

  I huffed with irritation. Not with Sebastian, but with me. I filled him in on all that had been going on with Harper, choosing to leave out the new-found sexual aspect to our relationship. “The local police are too damn slow, and I don’t have the kind of time to give this the attention that it needs.”

  Sebastian’s expression was blank as he listened. “And this involves me, how? I certainly don’t have the time to come here and help out.”

  “I know that. It’s just that you have…access to things that we mere mortals don’t.”

  “You know I hate when you pull that card, right?”

  I shrugged. “Believe me, I didn’t want to involve anybody else in this situation. But I figured you’d know the name of a good PI who could help with this. Maybe someone who owes you or your family a favor. I don’t have the kind of money that you do, but—”

  He held up a hand to stop me. “Don’t give me that bullshit, Levi. If you need help, then I’m there. I don’t give a damn about the cost. That has nothing to do with it. We’re friends and that’s why I’m willing to help. I don’t need or want your money. Gavin was my friend too, and that means I’m concerned for his sister’s safety as well.”

  I nodded and felt a little ashamed that I even brought up the money aspect. I only did it because I didn’t want Seb to feel like I was trying to take advantage of him. He’d had enough of that in his life, and I didn’t want to be one of those people. “I appreciate that, man. I really do.” I took a sip of my own drink. “I’m just hitting one brick wall after another. If I didn’t have to go to work every damn day at a job I hate, I’d be able to do a lot of the leg work myself. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.”

  He nodded. “Or the night, apparently.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  A knowing smirk crossed Sebastian’s face. “I think that your lack of sleep is only partially caused by your…concern for Harper. The rest? That’s all on you and her.”

  There was no condescension to his words, and it made me relax. “It just happened,” I admitted, dropping my head. “I really tried to fight it. It was just…”

  “You don’t owe me an explanation. You’re a grown man and Harper’s a grown woman. From what I observed at the bar the other night, you guys definitely had a thing going on.” He shifted in his seat. “Just make sure that you remember who she is and that you’re with her for the right reasons. Gavin may not be here anymore, but that doesn’t mean that it’s okay for you to be using her need for protection as an excuse to be sleeping with her.”

  “Shit. Do you think I’m that much of an asshole?”

  He shook his head. “No. I think you’re one of the most honorable guys I know. But I think this is a tricky situation and that lines can easily get blurred. Just keep your head on straight.”

  It was easier said than done.

  “So can you help me?” I finally asked. “Do you know anyone who can give this a little attention?”

  Sebastian pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his contacts. Before I knew it, he was talking to someone. And soon he looked at me and nodded.

  It was the first time in a long while that I felt a glimmer of hope.

  Unfortunately, that was the easy request.

  “There’s just one more thing,” I said, suddenly feeling ridiculously uncomfortable. Seb merely cocked a brow at me and waited. “She’s got it in her head to go to DC this weekend. Some sort of fundraiser event.”

  “So? She’s a reporter. Maybe she’s just covering the news.”

  Now it was my turn to cock a brow. “Have you been paying attention at all? Trust me. Harper is not going to Washington for a business trip.”

  “How can you be so sure? Maybe there’s a story –”

  “Oh, there’s a story. Only she’s the one who’s creating it.”

  Sebastian leaned back in the booth and threw up his hands in frustration. “I’m already in for the damn penny. Might as well give me the pound.”

  “I want to make sure that she doesn’t get in to the event.”

  “And you think I can do that?”

  I shook my head. “Not personally. But I think you know somebody who can.”

  “You’re pushing your luck right now, Levi. You know that, right?”

  “Do you think that I want to be doing this? Do you think I feel good about this? Five minutes ago you were telling me that I’m an honorable guy. And now? Now, I feel like I’m fucking lying to everyone.”

  “All right, a
ll right. No need to be so dramatic.” He reached for his drink. “Get me the name and date of the event, and let’s be done with it.”

  “You’re pissed, aren’t you?”

  He shook his head. “Not at you,” he said with just a hint of annoyance. “It’s the whole damn situation. I thought that once we came home…shit would be different.”

  I couldn’t agree more. “Me too.” I finished the rest of my drink and then looked over at him. He was one of my best friends, and I was asking him for the same kind of favors that so many others had, and I hated myself for it. “I just want you to know, if there were any other way to do this, I would have.”

  “I know.” We sat in silence until it was uncomfortable. As if waking from a trance, Sebastian slammed his hands on the table and leaned toward me. “Well, since you’ve dragged me into your sorry situation, I’d say it’s only fair that you pay for the food.”

  There was that damn Donny Osmond smile again. It was hard to not return it. “Deal.”

  Nine

  Harper

  “What are you doing?” Levi asked, rolling over to face in my direction. He’d just woken up and was stretched out on his bed with the sheet barely covering his lower half.

  “Just checking on some stuff.” I quickly finished writing an email and hit send before I glanced up to smile at him.

  He was definitely a sight to smile at. His bare chest was incredible, with rippling muscles and smooth planes leading down to the rumpled sheet. His hair was sticking up on end, and he desperately needed to shave.

  “What do you need to be checking on at five-thirty in the morning?”

  “I just thought of something and wanted to get it done while it was on my mind.” I’d actually just thought of someone else I wanted to talk to while I was in DC this weekend, so I’d hauled myself out of bed to write my friend a quick email to see if she could arrange it.

  I hadn’t yet told Levi about the trip to DC. I knew he wasn’t going to be happy about it, and I didn’t want to deal with an argument, especially since things were going so well between us.

  I experienced a stab of guilt at the thought of keeping the trip from him, though.