by Deborah Camp
She fell back in the seat and stared blindly out the side window. “You just couldn’t leave it alone.”
“Why the hell should I?” His voice rang with anger. “He knew what he was doing, bringing up my mother like that. You think I’m going to sit there and let him play me?”
“I don’t blame you for stopping him, but—.”
“Blame me? Blame me?” He pounded the steering wheel once with the heel of his hand, causing her to flinch.
She gave him the side-eye, letting him see her displeasure at him shouting at her. “But you should have just deflected after that. You didn’t have to take his bait, hook, line, and sinker, for goodness sake. He did it to get a rise out of you and you allowed him to succeed.”
“Thank you for that correction, dear. I’ll consider it when I’m bored to distraction.”
“You do that, asshole.” She turned her face away from him again. After a long minute, she said, “I didn’t know your mother’s name was Joan.”
He gripped the wheel tighter at the mention of his mother’s name.
“Joan what? What was her maiden name? Just out of curiosity.”
“Braydon. B-R-A-Y-D-O-N.”
“I don’t think I’ve even seen it in print. You’ve never said it, either.”
“I didn’t call her by her first or maiden name.”
She released a heavy sigh. “Will you quit being such an ass? You know my mother’s first name.”
“That’s because I’ve met her.”
She nodded, giving him that. “I wonder how Chason knew you’d blow your top if he mentioned her.”
“Because he’s made it his business to know everything he can about me. I’ve told you, he has a hard-on for everything I have, everything I’ve achieved.”
“But why? I don’t get it.”
“Envy. I’m respected and he’s not.”
She made a face at that. “That’s not true, Levi. He’s earned respect. He’s one of the most sought-after psychics. He’s been on as many television shows as you. More, probably, since he has celebrities booking appointments with him. Didn’t he have a TV special a couple of months ago where he did readings for several TV and movie actors?”
“Who knows? More to the point, who gives a shit?” Levi steered off the main street and into the residential road that wound among the treehouse lodges. He parked in the space at the base of their tree and killed the motor. “You seem to have been following his career.” He was out of the car before she could respond to that.
He walked briskly around the car to her side, opened the door, and held out his hand to her. She let him assist her out of the low-slung auto, then before he could let her go and move away, she gripped his upper arms and stood on tiptoe to press a swift kiss on his parted lips. Starlight danced in his eyes as he regarded her, almost warily.
“Even when you’re being a shithead, I still love you – a little.” She rubbed her thumb over his lower lip to remove a small smear of her lipstick.
“How very comforting, Mrs. Wolfe,” he said, his tone was dry, but the corners of his mouth inched up. He led the way up the wooden ramp, several short flights of stairs, and across the welcome mat into their treehouse accommodations.
Trudy headed for the bathroom where she did her business and brushed her teeth, all the while letting the incident replay in her mind.
“What happened to you at the séance?” Levi asked, speaking to her from the living room area. “Did you see something or someone?”
“Oh, right. I saw Ethel. She appeared behind Alan and Rhema. Remember when Rhema made that comment about feeling spirits in the room?”
“Yes.”
“Ethel had placed her hands on Rhema’s shoulders.” She left the bathroom. Levi had shed his coat and tie and yanked his shirt from his waistband. “She talked to me, but you know how Ethel is. Most of what she says is a riddle.”
He unbuttoned his shirt, and opened the refrigerator. “Hey, they have a quart of milk in here! Want some?”
She smiled at his obvious delight. “No, thanks. If you’re interested, look in that blue and gold tote bag by the bed for a box of animal crackers.” She laughed when he swung around to her, his eyes almost as big as his grin. It was good to see him in a lighter mood. “Am I a good, little wifey or what?”
“Baby.” He set the quart of milk and a glass on the small, round table and set his mouth on hers for a lingering kiss. “You’re the best.” He fetched the box of cookies and joined her at the table. “What did Ethel have to say this time?”
“Oh, something about evil being present and that she had confidence that I could destroy it.”
“Evil? She said evil?”
“Uh, no. She said wicked. Something wicked was lurking around and would do bad things again if I didn’t stop it.”
One dark brow lifted as he dunked an elephant into the glass of milk. “Something wicked this way comes, huh? Like that’s not usually the case.”
She shrugged. “That’s what I mean. Most of the time Ethel’s comments are pointless.”
“I seem to recall that she helped save your lovely neck a couple of times. Her comments do pan out.”
“Why doesn’t she just tell me stuff I need to know instead of talking in riddles?”
“She’s a guide, not your boss.”
“Oh, right. You’re the bossy one.” She winked at him when his gaze bounced to her, letting him know she was teasing. Sort of. He could be the bossiest man on the planet when he was in one of his moods.
He popped a giraffe into his mouth and took a gulp or two of the milk. “You like it when I boss you.”
“Only in the bedroom,” she amended.
A suggestive grin tipped up one corner of his mouth, so she changed the subject to extract his mind from tangled sheets.
“Something besides Chason got under your skin tonight, too. Care to share?”
His grin slipped away and he selected a lion from the box. “My spirit guide showed up, too.”
“What’s with our guides lately? Are they working together now?”
He grinned. “They have teamed up a couple of times, haven’t they? Gregory wasn’t with Ethel tonight, though. I think he knew that Chason was preparing to do the bit about my mother and he was there to—.”
“Warn you,” Trudy supplied.
“Comfort me,” Levi corrected. “He knew I’d be pissed all to hell. But there was something else.”
Trudy waited, noticing the tightening of the skin at the corners of his eyes and the bob of his Adam’s apple.
“I think my mother was there with him. Or near him. I felt her presence. I think they were letting me know that what Bolt was about to do was a hoax, that I shouldn’t believe it for one second. I didn’t understand until Bolt launched into his pathetic, one-act play.”
Trudy covered one of his hands with hers. “She was protecting you.” When he eased his hand out from under hers, she gave him a worried look. “You don’t think so?”
“No. She was protecting herself. Didn’t want Bolt bringing up all the uglies in front of the other people.” He finished the milk and closed up the box of cookies. “And even so, if protection was her objective, she’s too late.”
His relationship with his mother was confusing. She couldn’t fault him for being unsure of his mother’s love. After all, she’d allowed his father to send him off to horrible camps for wayward children when he was in first grade and he didn’t return home until he was a teenager and his mother was dying of cancer. She had asked his forgiveness and he’d given it to her, but Trudy knew that he hadn’t really forgiven her for her abandonment and that she chose to obey his father instead of doing what was right for her only child. His memories of his mother were few and fleeting. Mostly, he recalled her death. He had sat at her bedside and watched her drift away. After her funeral, he’d left home for good.
“Gregory didn’t say anything to you? He didn’t acknowledge her?”
“No. He was just t
here. There with that feeling he brings . . .” A soft smile flitted across his face. “Calming. Peaceful. Like I feel when I start freefalling into my personal hell and you reach out and catch me. Hold me.”
“Levi,” she said his name with all the love she felt for him and grasped his hand again.
He stood, pulling her up with him. He cupped her backside in his big hands as his mouth moved against hers, tenderly, ardently, sending warmth flowing through her. Still kissing, they walked in the direction of the bed. He tugged at her blouse. “Off,” he growled against her mouth. “Take this off. Now.”
Her gaze snapped to his in surprise at his swift turn from gentle to bossy. He was probably still smarting over Chason Bolt’s antics. Even his favorite childhood snack of milk and cookies couldn’t completely douse that fire. And Levi was a jealous man when it came to her. She was learning how to combat it by reaffirming her commitment to him in the only way he seemed to recognize – sex. Hot, give-him-everything-she-had sex.
Working the buttons free, she shrugged out of the blouse. Levi unclasped her sheer bra, let it fall to the floor, and released a long sigh of contentment as his gaze swept across her torso. He sat on the bed and fastened his lips around one of her puckered nipples. A bolt of desire shot from there to between her legs. Her knees trembled so violently that Trudy placed a hand on his shoulder for balance. She kicked off her shoes and shimmied out of her pants and lacy panties.
“You are mine,” he said against the curve of her breast and his hand slipped between her legs, between her moist folds. “And this. This is mine.” He gaze locked on hers, challenging her, then begging her when she didn’t immediately respond. Two of his fingers pushed inside her.
She shoved at his shoulders, trying to get him to lie down, but he resisted. His hands tightened on her waist, holding her in place. His fingers rocked inside her.
“Mine,” he repeated.
“Actually, it’s mine,” she teased him. “But you’re the only man I allow to touch me there.”
His dark blue gaze didn’t waver and he didn’t smile as she’d hoped. Instead, he added a third finger and watched her reaction. Her eyes drifted shut as his fingers circled, rubbing against her sensitized flesh. She arched her spine and flung back her head as fiery sensations burst, scattering like embers.
“Why do you do this?” she asked in between gasps of delight.
“Do what?” He curled his fingers, touching the bundle of nerves that made her tremble and her thoughts split into pieces.
She drew in a head-clearing breath and met his gaze. “Want to dominate me after another man shows the least bit of interest. This is about Chason. Not about me. Not about us.”
His stroking stilled. A scowl pinched the corners of his mouth. “I wasn’t thinking of that bastard.”
She smirked at the canard. “Who do you think you’re talking to, Wolfe? We’ve been at this place before, you and I. It’s getting to be standard operating procedure.”
He removed his hand from between her legs so swiftly that she gasped and clutched his shoulders.
“If you don’t want me, just say it.” He started to rise off the bed, but she tightened her grip, keeping him in place.
“Don’t,” she whispered, shaking her head in censure. She wanted to add act like a spoiled brat, but she kept that to herself. Instead, she slid her hand inside his open shirt to the furry warmth of his chest. Her palm sailed over his flat nipple and she paused there, then pinched it between her thumb and forefinger to give it a quick twist. He winced, jerked, and narrowed one eye at her. “I want you, Leviticus. I always want you.” Immediately, his brows lifted and sparkles danced in his eyes. Pushing the shirt off his shoulders, she flung it aside so that she could run both hands over his chest and along his defined abs. “Every muscle, every hair, every part of you.”
The slow curve of his mouth told her that she was getting what she wanted out of him and urged her to continue.
She unbuckled his belt and unfastened and unzipped his fly. Smoothing a hand down his flat stomach and lower, her fingers brushed over the bulge in his black jockeys. She chuckled to herself when it flexed uncontrollably. When she curled her fingers around him, he tipped back his head a little and his eyelids drooped in satisfaction.
“I want this part of you, especially, but I also want your heart and your full attention.”
“You’ve got them,” he said in that raspy voice that brushed over her senses like rough velvet.
She stepped back enough so that he could stand. “Your turn to get naked. I’m waiting.”
He shed the rest of his clothes, never taking his lambent gaze from her face. Sitting on the bed again, he wrapped an arm around her waist and twisted sideways, pulling her with him onto sweetly scented sheets. He kissed her pouting nipples, his lips plucking at them and his teeth grazing over them until she was writhing, partly in pleasure, partly in pain.
“I am possessive,” he said, his breath hot between her breasts. “That’s just how I am when it comes to you. When I think of any other man trying to get your attention away from me, I’m nearly blinded with panic.”
“Silly man,” she said, combing her fingers through the soft waves of his hair. “I see no man but you, Levi. You’re the fulfillment of my dreams.”
“My heart knows that . . . but my head . . . well, you know how fucked up my head is.” He clamped his hands on her knees and parted her legs. A devilish grin overtook him before he bent to her. His tongue was vigorous, almost rough, against her sensitive nub. She gathered handfuls of his hair to try to guide him, to telegraph her needs to him.
Murmuring something she couldn’t decipher, he shook his head, denying her, and sucked so hard on her that she bucked up, muscles clenching and her head swimming with tumultuous feelings that were too incendiary and carnal to be held too long. A string of curse words fell from his glistening lips when he lifted his head and gripped her hips. His bright gaze focused on the joining of their bodies as he pushed into her. The swift invasion stole her breath and made her eyes water. She gripped his forearms, flinging back her head, her mouth opening as she gasped. The delicious burn of him seared her core.
“Levi. Oh my god.” Staring up at him, she was momentarily transfixed by the raw passion stamped on his features. His eyes, those changing, telling eyes of his, were deep cobalt, darkly shadowed by his thick lashes and lowered brows. He gritted his teeth and grunted each time he plunged back into her, his pace quickening. The bed rattled and squeaked with the rapid movement, and she inched up the mattress with each hard thrust until the top of her head bumped against the decorative ironwork. Perspiration slicked her skin and her fingers slid on his bulging biceps as she tried to hang on.
He pounded into her, obsessive, barbarically possessive, his eyes narrowing as he focused on his hard, thick member sliding in and out of her.
“Levi, my head. . . the bed . . . hold up.” She let go of him to touch the crown of her head and was relieved when he actually blinked and paid attention to what she was trying to convey.
“Jesus.” He snaked his arms beneath her, his cock still buried inside her, and lifted her to sit on his thighs, straddling him. Cupping her butt cheeks, he bounced her up and down his hard length, angling her how he wanted, rubbing the super sensitive spots inside her that made her shiver and explode. “Yes, yes, fucking yes, Tru. Come all over me, baby. Drench me.”
Trudy draped her arms around his neck as her climax wiped her mind clean while sending her muscles into convulsions of ecstasy. She kissed and sucked on the side of his neck, her tender lips seeking the quick pulse there, the flat of her tongue relishing his salty, spicy flavor. She set the edge of her teeth against the pulsating vein and a growl of submission rumbled in his throat. He let her sit flat against his thighs, burying himself in her as deeply as he could go. Small muscles inside her fluttered around his hot, turgid cock. He shifted, trying to inch even further inside her, spreading her, filling her.
“This is where
I belong,” he whispered, his hands moving up her back to her shoulders and then to cradle her head. He framed her face in his long-fingered hands. “Where I believe I’ve always belonged.” He ground against her, stirring her passion again.
Sweet, piercing feelings arrowed through her. Trudy pressed his hands against her face, wanting desperately to give him what he needed. Not just release, but total surrender to the love she felt for him and that swam in his ocean-blue eyes. “I was born for you, Levi. This is the truest thing in my life.”
A shudder wracked his body as his eyelids drifted down until his ebony lashes dusted his cheeks. His member jerked inside her and she felt the heat of his release. Veins stood in bas relief in the strong column of his neck as he rode out the final moments of his climax. When his lids lifted, his eyes were blue- black. If the lamps hadn’t been lit, she would not have been able to tell his pupils from his irises. Slowly, gently, he let her lie flat onto the bed again as he slipped out of her on a sigh. He stretched out beside her, his head supported in one hand while the other settled possessively on her ribcage.
“You’re beautiful after you’ve been fucked, Mrs. Wolfe.”
She smiled lazily at him. “Only after? Not before?”
“Always beautiful, but especially after I’ve left a little something of myself deep inside you.”
“After you’ve staked your claim? Planted your seed?” She shook her head. “Sometimes you’re such a caveman.” She grinned as an image popped into her brain. “This time you were even whacking me on my noggin! Not with a club, but the headboard.”
“Oooh, sorry, sweet baby.” He kissed her forehead and nuzzled her neck. “I got carried away, didn’t I?”
“Yes. You usually do.” She rolled onto her side, pressing her body against the muscled length of his. A breeze from the window they’d cracked open earlier drifted over them, cooling the perspiration on her skin. “But I don’t mind as long as you don’t get too rambunctious. Sometimes I think you’re trying to pound your way up into my mouth.”
He grinned. “Sometimes, I probably am. I do love your sexy mouth. Before we hooked up, I used to tell myself that I wouldn’t rest until I could kiss that mouth, suck on that upper lip, and taste you on my tongue.” He kissed her again, his tongue sliding over hers in a silken caress.