He deposited me on the bed gently, peppering kisses up my chin to my lips. “Keep your eyes closed,” he instructed.
I wouldn’t have been able to see anything anyway, but I did as he said. Behind my lids, I found an infinite blackness, and it swallowed me whole as Levi began to undress me. I tried to help, but he batted my hands away.
“Let me,” he said.
“Whatever you say.”
“Yes,” he murmured, breathing against my collarbone. “Whatever I say.”
My toes curled with the promise of pleasure. I wanted him so bad, to feel him moving inside of me again.
The air was chilly on my bare skin, and I reached for Levi, finding him hovering above me. He lowered his face to mine and moved his lips over my cheek.
“Do you trust me?” he whispered.
I barely heard him over the blustering outside.
“Yes,” I answered without thinking. I meant it, even though he’d done little to earn my trust. Maybe my faith would waver in the light of day, but tonight he held my fate in his hands, and I was along for the ride.
“Stay there.” Levi pecked my cheek, and his weight lifted from the bed.
I blinked into the shadowy room but couldn’t distinguish his form from any of the other shadows. His footsteps retreated into the suite and faded. The storm raged outside.
A couple of minutes later, Levi returned. He walked around the side of the bed, stroking a finger up the inside of my arm. When his fingers reached my hand, he held it and pulled it up behind my head.
“Your other hand too.” His voice was rich like honey, dripping with confidence. I was powerless to disobey. I lifted my other hand and Levi wrapped something silky around my wrists, securing them together. A tie? He fixed them to the headboard and gave a tug before moving away from the bed again.
Anticipation made my skin tingle and prick. My core throbbed with desire, and I squeezed my thighs together. I searched for Levi but still couldn’t see a damn thing.
“You’re keeping those eyes closed, aren’t you?” he asked from somewhere in the shadows.
“Yes.” I snapped my eyes shut.
His laugh floated over to me, gliding across my skin like a feather.
“Levi...”
“Yes?”
“Please.”
I felt the bed dip somewhere near the bottom. A finger grazed the inside of my ankle, and I jerked in surprise. Levi’s hands closed around my calves and eased my legs apart. Air hit my sex, and I moaned at the sensation, so on edge that I thought I might shatter with the slightest touch.
Levi’s lips began to carve a fiery path up my leg, starting at my ankle and moving steadily to the top of my thigh. His naked chest brushed my other leg, and I rubbed it against him, trying to find the juncture of his legs with my foot.
A strong hand closed around my thigh and forced my leg to the bed.
“Stop that,” he growled. “Can’t you stay still for two minutes?”
“I want to touch you.”
Levi bit the top of my leg. “Too bad,” he said. “You’re tied up, and I’m in charge.”
My legs liquefied against the mattress. I could think of nothing sexier than the dark promise of his words and longed to give into them. Give into him.
“Good girl,” Levi murmured, continuing his journey down my other leg. By the time he reached my ankle, I was quaking with need. I whimpered and tossed my head as he dragged the pads of his fingers toward my sex and groaned in frustration when he stopped just before reaching it. Levi’s airy laugh tickled my rib cage.
“This is why I don’t like you,” I muttered.
“This is why you don’t like me?”
Levi’s mouth closed on my nipple, and he sucked. His hard thigh wedged between mine and ground on the sensitive bundle of nerves between my legs, and I cried out at the sudden onslaught of pleasure.
“No, sweetheart,” he said, his breath chilling my wet nipple. “This is why you do like me.” He dug his thigh up, and my eyes rolled to the back of my head. “This is why you’re going to have dirty thoughts about me for months to come.” He squeezed my breast in one palm and brushed his lips against my other nipple. “This is why you’re going to cum harder than you ever have before for me tonight.” He bit down on my bud and my back arched.
I was losing it. Levi was going to drive me mad with lust, and there was nothing I could do about it. He controlled me, owned me, and only he could satisfy the throbbing need between my legs. He was right; I would be thinking dirty things about him for months. Hell, maybe even for years. Nobody had ever made me feel like this, made me want like this, and I didn’t think they ever would.
Levi began an agonizingly slow exploration of my body, licking and sucking my breasts, my hips, my stomach, until I started unconsciously pulling at my restraints to get to him.
Finally, his stubble scraped down my ribs, over my naval, and kept going.
“Stop teasing me,” I begged, knowing that if he didn’t touch my pussy soon, I was going to die.
“I’m tempted to tease you a little more just for that,” he said, kissing the top of my mound. “But fuck, sweetheart, I can’t wait another second to taste you.”
Levi’s tongue speared between my folds. I screamed. He tossed my legs over his shoulders and pulled my sex tight against his face, swirling his tongue around my clit and sucking on my tender flesh. The wet heat of his mouth overwhelmed me. I bucked against his mouth, riding his face toward the orgasm that had been bubbling in me with every brush of his lips. He moaned, vibrating my sensitive nub. I couldn’t tell whether I was panting or cursing or a bit of both.
His cheeks scraped my inner thighs, a delicious contrast to the softness of his tongue. He sucked my clit and licked it with the flat of his tongue, alternating strokes to keep me on edge without letting me fall over. I whimpered and struggled, but Levi was in complete control, holding me down by my hips.
Just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, Levi shoved two fingers inside of me, and I broke into a thousand glittering pieces. My body convulsed. Pure ecstasy spread through every nerve ending in wave after wave, bringing me to a shuddering climax that turned me inside out. I cried out Levi’s name over and over again. He didn’t pull away from my pussy until the last wave skittered over me, and then kissed me hard and deep so that I tasted myself on his tongue.
“Fuck,” I breathed. “Holy fuck.”
Levi sucked my bottom lip into his mouth and grazed it with his teeth. “You taste amazing, Frankie. I could feast on you all day.”
“I don’t think I could take it,” I said. “That was...wow. Probably the most amazing orgasm I’ve ever had.”
“Good. Ready for my cock?”
A hot tingle worked down into my core. “God, yes.”
Levi sat up and grabbed my hips, twisting me onto my front. He rustled with something on the bed and then pushed a pillow under my hips. My face fell against the mattress, hair forming a curtain over it. I felt so exposed, even in the darkness, but not in a bad way. It was sexy.
I heard the rip of a condom packet. A couple of seconds later, Levi leaned over me, pulling back my hair and fluttering his lips over my neck. His hard length probed my folds, and Levi grunted as he found my entrance and worked inside.
I moaned. The angle made the feeling of him stretching me more intense, and I wiggled to get used to it. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to how perfectly full I felt when he was inside of me.
“You’re so tight, Frankie,” he growled, pulling my hips up to meet his. “This pussy was made for me.”
I couldn’t argue with that. The evidence didn’t lie.
Levi bottomed out and pulled back to slam in again, and with each thrust my swollen nipples rubbed against the blanket and sparked with pleasure. I was helpless beneath Levi as he had his way with me, unable even to look back at him. It was wildly erotic, and I felt like we were other people. We fucked like lovers who’d known each other for years, not two people
who were only barely getting along after a few months.
Levi’s powerful thrusts shook the bed. His cock hit the perfect spot inside of me, and my moans grew louder.
His lips pressed into the back of my neck and his thrusts became more frantic. He worked up to a dizzying pace, grunting and groaning quietly against my throat. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard. Levi reached below me and squeezed my breasts, giving me one final command.
“Cum, sweetheart. Cum for me.”
I did, and he followed soon after. The pleasure sucked us down together, and together we fell, pressed so tightly against one another that our bodies seemed to fuse from the heat. I was blind, deaf, my only sense that of the nerves pulsating under my skin.
I was in heaven.
Chapter 19
Levi
I smelled vanilla before any of my other senses kicked in, before I even registered where I was. It was quiet. Still. And then, a bubbling snore that vibrated my ribs.
I cracked open an eye and looked down. Frankie’s dark head was nestled just under my chin, her hand resting above my heart. The sheet was half thrown off, revealing her gorgeous, tanned back down to the shapely apple top of her ass. I pulled the sheet up, figuring she was probably cold. She nuzzled in a little closer. And snored again.
One of the reasons I never invited the women I slept with to stay the night was because I couldn’t stand the sound of snoring. My father was a snorer, so much so that he used to shake the house before my mom made him see a specialist. I liked the quiet. The last thing I wanted to hear when I was trying to sleep was another person’s labored breathing.
Somehow, Frankie’s little snores didn’t bother me. In fact, they were kind of cute. I cocked my head to the side so I could see her face, and as the next snore rattled my chest, I smiled. Long black lashes fanned her cheeks, her bee-stung lips open just a fraction. She was utterly at peace.
I looked over at the light pooled on the floor by the window, which showcased a stunning blue sky with only a single white fluffy cloud in view. For the first time in days, it wasn’t snowing.
I knew I should get up and check the road conditions, but I wasn’t ready to. Not yet. I wanted to enjoy this last minute in bed with Frankie because everything was going to change the second I left it. We would never work in real life, and besides, I wasn’t looking for a relationship. What had happened this weekend was a pleasant surprise, but it was over now. The thought made me a little sad. I pushed past it and began the slow work of getting out of bed without waking Frankie.
She mumbled something and rolled over on her side once she no longer had my chest to rest on, but didn’t open her eyes. I left her in the master bedroom and walked over to mine to put on some clothes. Then I grabbed my phone and crept to the front door, slipping out into the hallway and heading toward the cafe.
I looked up the road conditions on my phone on the way. Still closed, but crews were clearing the snow and were expected to finish within the hour. We’d be home this afternoon.
I reached the cafe and noticed heaps of blankets spread in front of the fireplace. I went closer to inspect and realized they were people, guests and staff alike. Apparently, last night’s blackout entertainment had ended with a slumber party. It made me smile.
On Friday, the thought of this weekend had filled me with dread. I never thought that I’d look back when it was all over and wish I had just a little more time. It wasn’t like me to get so sentimental.
I ordered two coffees from the counter and sat at a table to call my brother. Garrick answered immediately.
“Hey! Great news!” he said.
“The roads are open soon?”
“Oh, you already knew.”
I laughed. “Yeah. Believe it or not, I don’t source all my news from you.”
“You must be excited,” he replied. “Only a few hours and you’ll be home.”
I leaned back in my chair and looked out the window, scouring the few clouds for signs of snow. “As long as the weather holds.”
“How did it go?” Garrick asked.
I paused, trying to think of a satisfactorily vague answer.
“It was fine,” I said. “I’ll be glad to get home.”
“Call me when you’re back in the city, and I’ll come over for a drink.”
“Sure thing.”
I ended the call and picked up my coffees to take back to the room. Frankie was still sleeping when I got there, and I knocked on the door as I entered the bedroom to rouse her.
She sat bolt upright, eyes wild and searching. They landed on me, then the coffee in my hand, and she broke out into a smile.
“Gimme,” she said.
I handed her a cup, and she sat up against the pillows, inhaling the aroma with closed eyes. Even with her hair in complete disarray, Frankie looked beautiful. I nearly told her so but refrained at the last second. I didn’t want to complicate things more than they already were. Right now there was a clear line between what we did at night and who we were during the day—no need for me to blur it.
“How’d you sleep?” I asked instead.
“Like a log in a coma.” She took a sip of her coffee but whimpered when it was too hot. The sound brought me back to last night, her crying out into the shadows as I feasted on her pussy. My cock twitched, and I adjusted my stance.
“The roads will be clear soon,” I said, trying to turn my thoughts from last night’s mind-blowing sex.
“Oh, cool.”
Was that disappointment in Frankie’s voice?
I walked back to the door. “I’m going to start getting my stuff together. You should probably do the same.”
“Will do.”
We spent the morning packing, showering, and getting ready to leave without speaking to one another. On my part, it was because I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t sure whether to address the fact that we’d fucked or not, and I decided in the end that if Frankie wanted to talk about it, she would.
She did, in the end. It was halfway through the drive home, on a long stretch of highway bordered on either side by tall bluffs of snow. She turned down the radio, and when I shot her a questioning look, I could see that the elephant in the room was finally getting its due.
“I think we can both agree that we would have never slept together if we weren’t snowed in like that,” Frankie said. “It was nice and everything, but I just want to clarify that it was a one-time thing. Well, a two-time thing. But you know what I mean?”
“Got it.”
“In fact, I think it would be better if we just forgot all about it. Leave it up in the mountains.”
I held my face impassively, even though a frown flickered under my skin. I agreed that boredom and opportunity had brought us together, and going our separate ways was for the best. But to forget? Impossible. The fact that she would even suggest such a thing irritated me.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about, sweetheart,” I said. “I decided a long time ago that I’m happier on my own.” I stared hard at the road ahead. “Besides, you’re not my type.”
My icy words hung in the air and I immediately regretted them. Of course Frankie was my type. She was effortlessly sexy. Even when I couldn’t stand her as a person, I found her curves irresistible. But I’d said it, and I wouldn’t apologize now. She was just going to go back to hating me anyway, so why did it matter?
The rest of the car ride was quiet. Neither of us turned the radio back up or spoke a word to the other until I dropped Frankie off in front of her apartment building.
“Thanks for the ride,” she muttered, slamming the car door.
I watched her stomp all the way up the path to her front door.
Chapter 20
Frankie
“Cozy!” I squealed happily, burrowing further into the blankets on my couch.
The soundtrack of the black and white movie on TV was reaching a crescendo, meaning I’d made it back from the kitchen just in time. I wrestled the cap off the wine and
poured a glass, placing it on the table next to me. What was the point of going to put it back in the fridge? I was probably going to drink the whole thing anyway.
I was officially set for the evening. I had a pizza in the freezer, another bottle of wine in the fridge, and at least three channels of nonstop cheesy Christmas movies. It wasn’t the Christmas I wanted, but it would do. At least by the end of it I’d be shit faced.
I lifted the glass to my mouth for my first sip when my door buzzed, startling me. My hand jerked, and wine sloshed over the side and into my lap.
“Damnit!” I jumped to my feet and brushed the liquid off of me, glaring at my buzzer.
Who the hell could that be? The only reasonable answer was that it was a Christmas murderer, out for the blood of lonely losers like me spending Christmas alone. Obviously, I shouldn’t answer.
The buzzer trilled again. I sighed and set my glass down, walking over to pick up the handset.
“Hello?”
“Merry Christmas!” came a cheery female voice. “Are you going to let me in?”
I frowned. “Val?”
“Who else would it be, silly?”
I decided not to tell her about my Christmas murderer theory and buzzed her in. I stashed my wine bottle back in the fridge, made sure I hadn’t left any bras or underwear lying around, then opened the door just as Val came out from the elevator.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Adopting you! Pack an overnight bag.” She pushed past me into the apartment. “Do you have any Christmas sweaters?”
“Adopting me?” I followed her inside and closed the door, folding my arms over my chest. “What do you mean?”
Val tossed my blankets over the arm of the couch and sank down. “You’re coming home with me for the night,” she explained. “Well, not my home. I’m spending Christmas with the Wheelers because my parents are in Barbados on vacation. I told Gerhart and Molly that you were all alone today and they insisted on having you over. Isn’t that amazing?”
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