by Jessie Cooke
“Yes. I’m obsessed with sleeping.”
“Why? Is it because you can dream about Krissy?”
He opened his brown eyes and looked at her face. “It was,” he said. “At first. But now…I hardly ever dream about Krissy anymore. When I do, she’s telling me that I need to move on. I dream…about you, Zoe, almost every night.”
“You do?” He nodded. Zoe almost admitted that she dreamt about him too…but something held her back. Instead she said, “Tell me about them.”
He moved his eyes from her face and looked at the wall. “I don’t know if I can. They’re kind of…well, I’m not sure you’ll be okay with it. I promise you, though, I try to control them. I just can’t. They’re getting more realistic too…it’s like you’re really there.”
“I won’t be upset. Tell me, it’s okay.”
Levi sat up and Zoe immediately missed the warmth of his head in her lap and the feel of his silky hair in her fingers. He turned so he was on his knees and he looked at her face again. Zoe saw something in his eyes that made her core begin to smolder. He was looking at her like she was pretty, maybe not as pretty as Krissy, but he clearly saw something in her.
“I’m confused,” he said. “I’ve had…erotic dreams before, but never like this. These dreams started before I ever even met you. They started before I ever even saw your face.”
Zoe sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “Levi,” she said, softly. “I’ve been having the same dreams. Ever since that night…the night I found Krissy. I wonder…” She paused. Was he going to think she was crazy? Did it even matter…wasn’t this just another crazy dream?
“You wonder, what?”
“Please don’t think I’m crazy…but that night, when I touched her, I felt something stir inside of me. It was like I was being filled with something warm. That feeling only lasted for a few seconds, but I’ve felt like a different person ever since.”
“You think Krissy wants us to be together?”
“Will you think I’m crazy if I say yes?”
He sighed again. “If I do, I’ll have to think the same about myself. There have just been too many signs…too many coincidences.”
“But why me? I mean…I have nothing to offer you.”
He hooked his fingers underneath her chin and tipped her face up to his. “You’re beautiful, Zoe. You’ve overcome so much. You’re too hard on yourself.”
“You have no idea, Levi…the things I’ve done. When I was using…I’d do anything for a fix, and I mean anything.”
“We can’t change what’s already happened to us. All we can do is move on from here.”
“So what’s the next step?”
He grinned. “I’d like to be a gentleman and say we take it slowly, and get to know each other better…but my body is saying other things.”
Zoe smiled up at him. “Well, since this is probably another dream anyways, let’s go with what your body is saying.”
Levi laughed and then his big hands were suddenly on the hem of her shirt. He looked at her again and when she didn’t object, he kept going. She raised her arms and let him pull it off over her head and then he reached back and unhooked her bra. She was embarrassed about how thin she was. Even though she’d put on a few pounds staying with her nana and papa, she still worried that her body looked like a little boy’s. The way Levi was looking at her, though, allayed most of her worries.
“You’re really beautiful, Zoe.” She felt herself blush and Levi smiled. “You’re not used to compliments, are you?”
“Not really.” That was an understatement. Her mother was usually too wasted to notice her when she was growing up and at school she was always the little girl with the stringy hair and shabby clothes.
“You should get used to it,” he said. “Do me a favor?” She would have done anything for him at that moment. She nodded. “Lie all the way down and put your arms up over your head.” Zoe scooted down so that she could lie with her head on the pillow and her arms stretched over her head. “Damn, you look hot,” he said, as his hands went to the waistband of her pants. He unbuttoned and unzipped them and she lifted her hips slightly to help him pull them off of her. She was wearing a lacy thong and, sadly enough, that’s how she knew for sure she was dreaming. She didn’t own anything like that, she never had. But, dream or not, she was not about to put the brakes on what was about to happen. Levi was moving slowly; each movement he made was a deliberate one. He pulled off that thong slowly and held it up on his fingers and looked at it, before dropping it to the floor. Then he scooted up off the bed and slowly began to remove his own clothes. When he pulled his shirt off over his head, her eyes went to the tattoo on his neck, the one that said “Krissy.” For a second she thought about telling him they needed to stop, but that same warm feeling that she had the night Krissy touched her when she was dying suddenly flooded her veins. She took it as a sign…but then again, she would have taken anything as a sign right then. She wanted the beautiful man standing naked beside the bed and she knew that she had to have him. She knew from recent experience that it would probably be well worth the guilt she’d feel later. She changed that to definitely when Levi leaned over her and their lips met. Her heart was pounding so hard that she was afraid that it might jump right out of her chest. His lips were so soft, but his kiss wasn’t. His tongue explored her mouth like it was on a mission and his teeth grazed her lips every now and again. Zoe kissed him back, giving just as wildly as she was getting. She wanted to touch him, but she left her hands up where he’d told her to leave them. She arched her back so that their chests touched, and just that simple contact caused her entire body to convulse. By the time Levi pulled out of the kiss, she was practically in a lust-induced haze, and that’s why she was startled at first when she felt him using his face to gently nudge her thighs apart. She opened her eyes and looked down at him. He was breathing her in…like he was committing her to memory. She smiled and closed her eyes again. This was far from the first time she’d dreamt about Levi making love to her…but this was the first time she’d had the dream where they had really known each other. Maybe it wasn’t a dream. Maybe it was real. Maybe Nana was right and he really could see something in her to like…She knew one thing for sure, if this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up.
27
Levi, Grant, and Billy Ray finished helping the prospects load the last of the Freon in the vans. They’d gotten to Knoxville at three in the afternoon, planning on pulling off the robbery in broad daylight since the shop was out in the middle of nowhere. It turned out that Cheney or Jackie D hadn’t done their research. There was a barbershop connected to the mechanic’s shop and they had to wait until after six when it closed. By the time they got into the shop, took out the Freon, and loaded it up, it was after nine. It was two a.m. before they got back to Memphis and after three a.m. before Levi’s exhausted body dropped into his bed. He expected to fall right into a dreamless sleep…but he was wrong.
He closed his eyes and when he opened them, Zoe was there, holding him. It wasn’t Krissy, it was Zoe, and for a second that took him by surprise. They started talking about the connection they were both feeling and Zoe even said what he’d been thinking…What if Krissy wanted them to be together? Levi never had any experience with the supernatural. He didn’t know if he believed in things like that or not. He’d never really thought about it…until now. In his dream, Zoe told him she felt “something” the night she touched Krissy. Levi had always been sure that Krissy was his soul mate, but what if when the body died…the soul lived on? Was it possible that her soul went into Zoe and that was why he was suddenly obsessed with this woman he barely knew?
Levi heard himself telling Zoe that they couldn’t go back. It was like an out-of-body experience, sort of. He could see them together. He watched himself undress her and he could see that she was uncomfortable, maybe embarrassed by her body. He told her she was beautiful, and he meant it. She wasn’t his usual type, physically…but there was somet
hing in her that drew him in like a magnet and he found himself unable to resist the pull. He was naked and so was she and he was breathing in the sweet, sexy smell of her arousal. In that moment it was just Zoe and him, and for the first time since Krissy died, he was able to put those memories away…if only for a few short minutes.
He smiled up at her and she smiled back as he reached for one of the pillows and slid it underneath her hips. Placing his hands on the insides of her soft, warm thighs, he pushed them open further, letting his thumbs brush against her glistening pussy. She gasped when he touched her and let out a little cry as he slid his thumbs along her slit until he reached her hard clit. He loved hearing a woman moan…he loved to make a woman scream. He wanted to hear Zoe scream out his name. He moved his hands so that he could use his thumbs to pull open her lips and then he leaned in and slowly licked her from top to bottom and back up again. Zoe forgot about leaving her hands above her head. They were in his hair, tugging at it and pressing his face deeper into her pussy as she moaned out his name. The sounds she was making and the way she was squirming underneath him spurred him on and he delved into her pussy like a starving man, licking and sucking wildly. He opened her up wide and let his tongue delve up inside of her as deeply as it would go, and then he rubbed her clit with one of his thumbs while he moved his tongue around inside of her in circles that were making her buck her hips up and down off the bed. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his head, using the muscles in her legs and butt to drive his face in ever deeper. Levi’s cock was rock-hard by that time, pressing into the sheets and aching for her to touch it, but not yet. He wanted to make her come first. He moved his face up and sucked her clit into his mouth just as he slipped two fingers into her opening. She began to thrash around on the bed, pulling at his hair so hard that he thought she might pull it all out before he was finished. She was so wet and she tasted so sweet that Levi was enjoying what he was doing to her as much as she seemed to be enjoying it. His pulsing cock was almost painful by the time he felt her body stiffen up and he finally got to hear her scream. He had to use every fiber of his being to force himself not to orgasm with her. Her body was pulsing. He could feel it, almost like he was feeling her heart beat. She came over and over again, in wave after wave, on his fingers, his lips, and his tongue, screaming out his name each time. It was so fucking hot.
Levi didn’t wait for Zoe to even catch her breath before he reached for the condom he’d laid on the nightstand and covered his blood-engorged cock. She tried to reach for it, but he had to pull back. He was too turned on; if she touched it, he’d never make it inside of that soaking-wet pussy…and he needed to be there. “I’m gonna fuck you, Zoe.”
She nodded frantically, breathlessly making sounds that were supposed to be words, but were completely incoherent. Levi positioned himself on top of her, between her legs and taking his fat, swollen cock in his hand, he slid it along her slit, letting it rub hard against her clit. He watched as she pushed her head back into the pillow and her eyes rolled back in her head, and just as her hips came up off the bed, he plunged into her…all the way, striking bottom on the first stroke. Zoe reached up and grabbed his shoulders, digging her fingernails into him and bucking her hips up and down like a wild pony…and Levi was enjoying the hell out of the ride.
He pressed into her so hard each time he entered her that their pelvic bones smashed together, his balls slapped against her ass, and the skin right above his hard cock rubbed hard against her engorged clit, each time he pushed his cock up into her. He leaned down and put his lips over hers. He could feel her gasping for breath, but she wasn’t pulling back. Instead, she was sucking and biting at his lips while she panted and gasped for air. He felt her shove her tongue into his mouth and begin to lick his tongue and then it came out and licked his lips. The idea of her tasting herself on him pushed him over an edge he was already dangerously close to. A flash of white passed before his eyes and every nerve in his body came alive as he came. Her tunnel constricted, clamping tightly down around him as he came…it was electric…exciting…and so. Fucking. Good. Besides Krissy, he’d never been with a woman that turned him on as much and he found himself wondering when he could be with her again, even as he came.
Levi woke up, sweating and tangled in the sheets. He lay there staring at the ceiling, his heart racing and his breaths ragged, thinking about the dream he’d just had. They always seemed so real, but that one seemed even more so than most. What was so significant about it was that it was the very first one…the first time…he’d made love to Zoe in one of his dreams when Krissy hadn’t been there either before, during, or after. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He still loved Krissy and he still missed her every minute of every day…so why couldn’t he stop thinking about Zoe?
Frustrated once again, he got out of bed and headed for the shower. He was supposed to be back at the clubhouse to meet with Cheney again at noon and he wanted to go to Nashville first and talk to Zack. He would go see Zoe after his meeting with Cheney. Maybe by then the heat from that dream would wear off. God forbid she or her grandparents were able to see any residual lust in his eyes.
After he was dressed, he texted Zack. His friend texted back right away and said he’d be glad to meet with him. They arranged to meet at a coffee shop a few miles from the Invader clubhouse, just because Levi wanted to make sure no one overheard their conversation. Cheney wasn’t exactly one of their favorite people, but until he had a plan, he didn’t want to take any chances.
Zack was already at a table outside the coffee shop when Levi drove up. He stood up and shook Levi’s hand and then pulled him in for a quick hug. “How are you?”
They both sat down and Levi said, “I’m doing okay.”
Zack smiled and motioned the waitress over. “Darlin’, can I have another shot of espresso and bring my friend whatever he wants, please,” he said to the young, college-aged redhead.
“Just a regular coffee,” Levi told her. Once she was gone Zack said:
“You look like shit.”
Levi chuckled. “Thanks, man.”
“Are you sleeping?” That question brought back memories of the dream, and the others he had every time he closed his eyes.
“Sort of,” he said. “My dreams are crazy. But I’m really doing okay. I just need a favor.”
“Name it.” Levi knew Zack still felt indebted to him for saving his and Nicole’s lives that night by killing Spider. He didn’t want to take advantage of that, but Zack was the only person that could help him get what he needed.
“I need to talk to Hannah Carter.”
Zack raised an eyebrow, finished what was in his espresso cup, and said, “Do you mind if I ask why?”
Before Levi could answer him, the waitress brought their coffee. Once again he waited for her to leave and then he said, “I think Krissy and my father were murdered and that would mean her father was too…I guess. I just need answers.”
“I’m not sure you’ll get any from Hannah,” Zack said. “As a matter of fact, short of a miracle, I’m sure you won’t.”
“What do you mean? I’m not accusing her or her father of anything…I think this was Cheney. I think my father’s brake lines were cut and he couldn’t stop in time to avoid the accident.”
“Wow, I always knew Cheney was a son of a bitch, but to have one of your own lieutenants killed like that…” He shook his head. “And with the girl on the bike too. Fuck.”
Levi nodded. “Yeah, son of a bitch is putting it mildly, if he had anything to do with this.”
“What made you think of coming to me? I mean, how did you know Hannah had any association with the club?”
“I went to talk to her a couple days ago. I got the address from the accident report. There was a guy on the front porch and he basically told me to get lost. He was wearing an Invaders kutte. I think he said his name was Jim. His kutte just had initials stitched on it.”
“That was Grease Monkey. We just call him GM…sounds li
ke ‘Jim’ when he says it. I don’t imagine he was very welcoming. Hannah and GM have been friends since they were kids. He thinks of her as family and he’s really protective of her.”
“Do you think he’d let me talk to her if you asked?”
“He didn’t tell you why you couldn’t talk to her, I guess?”
“No, not really. He just said that she didn’t have anything to say about the accident and he wouldn’t even let me leave my name and number for her.”
“It wouldn’t matter,” Zack said. “Hannah had an aneurysm in her head and it burst. She’s been pretty much a vegetable for the past two years.”
28
“Fuck,” Levi said, more to himself than Zack. “That sucks. How old is she?”
“I think she was like twenty-five when it happened. She was living out-of-state somewhere, going to school. The old man brought her home and hired nurses to take care of her around the clock when the hospital said there was nothing else they could do for her.”
“Was he an Invader?”
Zack shook his head. “No, he wasn’t affiliated. He customized bikes for a living. He worked out of Johnson’s place in Memphis quite a bit. GM rallied the club to help him out financially a few times with her medical bills, so that’s how we know them.”
“He worked for Spider Johnson’s dad?”
“Not really for him. He had his own business but Johnson rented him space in his shop when he needed access to some of the more expensive tools and things he didn’t have.”
The wheels in Levi’s head were spinning so quickly that he could hardly keep up with them. Too many coincidences. “Shit,” he said out loud. “I was thinking this was Cheney, but what if it wasn’t? What if it was someone else that wanted revenge?”
Zack furrowed his brow. “Johnson? As far as I know, that guy didn’t even like his son.”