by Joss Wood
Pop into a perfumery in Paris, a spice market in Delhi, a boutique on Rodeo Drive.
But she’d always come home to Levi...
Tanna yanked herself out of the daydream, distraught over how real it felt, how natural. In the daydream, she wasn’t nineteen, she was the age she was now.
But it wasn’t possible and it certainly wasn’t real...
Her imagination, sparked by her visit to Murphy’s, was just working overtime, playing tricks on her.
So why did it feel more—she searched for the word—normal than her current London-based life?
Ridiculous!
She needed to pull herself together, to remind herself what was important. Working at Murphy’s had been her dream, her destiny, but everything changed when she put Addy behind the wheel of her car and handed her a death sentence. By giving Addy the keys, Tanna set in motion a train of events that not only led to Addy’s death, but also Isla’s lifetime of mourning and Tanna walking away from everything she thought she deserved.
And Levi had been collateral damage.
Boston wasn’t her city and this wasn’t her life anymore. She’d taken a step out of time, that was all. She could only do what she could today, here and now, and that meant clearing her debt to Levi and sorting out her PTSD so she could return to London and her job.
That was real life. This wasn’t.
Standing up, Tanna placed her glass of wine on the side table and gave Levi a tight smile. “I’m turning in.”
“You’re upset.” Levi frowned at her, obviously confused. “It couldn’t be anything I said because you hardly gave me a chance to speak.”
Tanna nodded, taking his point. “It’s me, not you, Brogan. Just as always.”
Tanna walked out of the room and ran up the stairs, desperately trying to outrun the past.
Six
They made it to the end of the third day by gritting their teeth and trying, really hard, to be polite. But on Wednesday afternoon, Tanna left Levi’s house mid-afternoon, telling him she’d be back shortly, but it was two hours before he heard her footsteps on his wooden floor. Two hours, ten minutes and fifty-three seconds.
Not that he was counting.
Sitting in his father’s old wingback, his leg propped up on an ottoman, his heart kicked up a beat when he saw her standing in the doorway, holding a shopping bag in her right hand.
“Where have you been?” he demanded.
Tanna raised her eyebrows at his tone and it took all he had not to apologize.
She was here to help him and they had a deal. She was paying off a debt. This was about a little light revenge.
But that didn’t mean he had to act like a jerk.
“Sorry.” Levi ran his hand over his face before moving his eyes back to her lovely face. “What’s in the bag, Tanna?” he asked her, feeling infinitely weary.
“Give me ten minutes and I’ll show you.”
Before he could question her further, she disappeared into the house and Levi wished he could follow her out the door but moving quickly wasn’t a skill he currently possessed. He swallowed down a surge of panic at being confined and, very deliberately, breathed deeply.
Suck it up, cupcake.
“Levi?”
Levi lifted his head at Tanna’s call. “Yeah?” he responded, raising his voice.
“Come here.”
Levi hobbled to the doorway, walked down the long hall and caught his breath outside the half-closed door to the small bathroom at the end. He pushed the door open with the tip of his crutch and was rewarded with an amazing view of Tanna bent over the bath, her perfect ass in the air.
Levi’s cargo shorts tightened as his cock told him, in the only way it knew, how much it appreciated the view. Levi wanted to grip those slim legs, explore the soft skin of her inner thighs, see if his hands could encircle her tiny waist. He wanted to twist her long hair around his hands, plunder her mouth.
He wanted Tanna more than he wanted the use of his leg back, and since he was comprehensively frustrated at his lack of mobility, that was saying something.
“The reason I am here?”
Tanna sat back on her heels, pushed a silky curl the color of midnight off her cheek and turned her head to look at him. She gestured to the bathtub. “I thought you might want a shower.”
He’d freakin’ kill for a shower but that wasn’t going to happen since he couldn’t get his cast wet.
“I’m an accident waiting to happen, Tanna,” Levi brusquely told her, hating, as always, to admit weakness.
“That was when you didn’t have me.” Tanna gracefully climbed to her feet and when she stepped away, he saw two stools in the bathtub and a handheld shower attachment. For the first time in days, possibly since his accident, his mouth turned up in a genuine smile. This could work.
Except...
“I can’t get my cast wet. And plastic bags don’t work.”
Tanna picked up a long plastic sleeve and a roll of duct tape. “This is a cast cover and—” she held up the roll of tape “—this is waterproof tape. I guarantee the cast will stay dry. Strip off and I’ll help you into the bath.”
Yeah, no. Because, while he was a guy who had a lot of control—a man who prided himself on it—this was Tanna, the girl he’d never had and always wanted. The woman who haunted his dreams. And if he stripped down, she’d see how much she affected him and that wasn’t acceptable.
“Problem?” Tanna asked him.
“I’ll shower but I’ll keep my shorts on.”
Tanna rolled her eyes. “I have seen naked men before, Brogan. I’m pretty sure you have the same bits they have.”
A red mist danced across Levi’s eyes at the thought of Tanna being naked with another man, her hands on his body, her mouth on someone else’s... No, can’t go there.
Not ever going there.
Tanna placed her hands on her hips and her gaze ping-ponged between him and the tub. “So, are you going to do this or not?”
Hell yes, he was going to shower. And he’d deal with the embarrassment factor when it came up. And it would come up. Levi hobbled into the bathroom and wished they were in his newly renovated master bathroom upstairs. In that ample space, he could have put some distance between himself and Tanna; they’d have room to breathe. But this bathroom was minuscule, and he could smell her perfume, feel her heat, see her pulse beating in the cord of her neck.
So, she wasn’t as unaffected by him as she liked to pretend. Good to know.
Levi placed his crutches between the commode and the basin and pulled his T-shirt up his chest, catching the appreciation on Tanna’s face as she looked at his body. He worked hard to stay in shape and seeing her desire made all those long gym sessions worth it.
Keeping his hands off his onetime fiancée while he got naked was going to be damn difficult.
“Let’s get this plastic cover on,” Tanna said, her voice sounding brisk.
Before he could protest, Tanna dropped to her haunches and started to slide the cover over his toes and up his shin. Her hands moved up and under his shorts and he silently implored her to go a little higher, to cover his balls, to stroke his...
Get a grip, Brogan.
“Hold the plastic in place, please,” Tanna said, her voice husky. She had to be aware of the effect she was having on him, his cock was a steel rod tenting his pants. He didn’t reply, mostly because his brain didn’t have enough blood to power his mouth.
“I’m going to tape it down.” Tanna looked up at him, her green eyes large and compelling. This was how she’d look if she was actually going down on him.
Holy crap.
“Do you want me to shave your leg?”
Okay, what? “Why?” He croaked the one-word question.
“It’s going to hurt when we take the tape off unless I shave yo
ur hair.”
Not happening. Not in this lifetime. “I have a busted patella. I can handle a little hair pulling.”
Tanna’s mouth twitched. “So says every man who thinks he can endure a wax. Okay, your call.”
Tanna taped the plastic to his thigh and rested on her heels, pushing her hair back with her wrist. “Sit down on the edge of the tub and let’s get your shorts off.”
Not wanting to shock her, Levi reached for a washcloth before sitting down. He flipped the button of his shorts open, undid the zip and pushed the washcloth under the fabric, hoping it would keep him moderately decent.
Tanna arched her eyebrows. “Don’t bother on my account.”
His hand stilled, and their eyes clashed, and Levi saw the passion in those green depths. And curiosity.
To hell with it. He pulled the washcloth out, tossed it away and met her gaze with defiance. “I was trying to be polite.”
“You’ve never been polite in your life,” Tanna scoffed. “And you have a beautiful body. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it.”
“I’m not ashamed of my body,” Levi retorted, annoyed.
“And you shouldn’t be,” Tanna told him, sounding patronizing.
Annoyed by her cool tone, Levi gripped her chin with his fingers. “I have a hard-on from hell. I was covering it up.”
Tanna’s tongue flicked out to touch her top lip. “I noticed,” she replied, her voice husky.
“It wants what it never had.”
“I figured that out too.”
He couldn’t help it; he needed to taste her. He needed to know whether her mouth was as warm as he remembered from their first kiss, whether she could still make his head swim.
Levi curled his fingers into the band of her jeans and tugged her to stand between his legs. He rested his forehead between her breasts, trying to calm his breathing. This was a bad idea. Once they went down this slippery slope, they wouldn’t be able to stop the ride. Kissing her, fully clothed, was one thing. His being half-naked was a lot more dangerous.
“I want you, Tanna,” he growled, resisting the urge to pull one of those nipples pushing against the fabric of her shirt.
Tanna didn’t reply but her hand stroked the side of his neck, pushed into his hair.
“I don’t want to want you. I’m over you,” Levi informed her, wondering whether he was trying to convince her or himself.
Levi lifted his head and his eyes clashed with hers, deep blue smacking into her green. Tanna nodded. “Got it. But...just one taste,” Tanna murmured, bending down to brush her lips across his. But instead of taking it deeper, Tanna made a gentle exploration of his mouth and Levi relished the getting-to-know-you-again kiss.
It was simple and sexy and...yeah, sweet.
Then Tanna slipped her tongue past his teeth to tangle with his and Levi waited for the bathroom to catch alight, for the walls to blow apart. Fireworks danced across his skin as they fought for dominance of the kiss, both taking and demanding and giving and feeding...
Levi banded his arm around her butt. This was all that was important; feasting on Tanna was all he needed. As long as she was kissing him, he could forget everything else.
Levi heard her mutter his name against his lips and thought he’d never liked the way it sounded until now. He wanted to hear it as he stripped her down, his lips on her breast, on her stomach, tasting the sweet honey between her thighs.
He needed her to yell his name as she shattered on his tongue and again when he pushed inside her...
“Okay, this can’t happen.”
It took Levi a few moments to make sense of the words, to realize her hands on his shoulders were trying to put some space between them. He licked his lips and looked at her, disconcerted. Why was she stopping?
Tanna pushed her hair back as his hands dropped from her body. She took a step back, then another, and he could hear her ragged breathing in the small room.
Or was that his breathing? Who knew?
“You need to shower, and I know you are in pain.”
Well, yeah. But they could still have some fun.
“Wrong time, wrong place.”
Her suggestion was sensible, but he didn’t want to be freakin’ sensible. He wanted to be naked, with Tanna wrapped around him.
Levi placed his hands on her hips and drew circles on her hip bones. “Bend down so I can kiss you again.”
Tanna slapped his hands away. “Brogan! Concentrate!”
The moment, it seemed, had passed. Dammit.
“Right, let’s concentrate on getting you into the tub,” Tanna said, sounding remarkably brisk and nurse-like. And, because he was a guy, the image of Tanna dressed in a tiny, revealing nurse outfit—displaying a deep cleavage, wearing fishnet stockings and red heels—flashed on his retinas. Levi groaned and tipped his head back to look at the ceiling.
Since he wasn’t about to get lucky, he’d take a shower.
Levi, with Tanna’s help, got his pants off and they both ignored his erection. Well, as much as they could ignore a hard-as-hell, wanting-to-play cock.
Levi swung his legs over the side of the tub and settled himself on the stool. Tanna helped lift his injured leg onto the other stool and quickly and efficiently placed soap, a loofah and shampoo in easy reach. She tossed the washcloth and it landed on his crotch, which wasn’t, he was sure, a mistake.
Tanna flipped open the taps and hot water hit his shoulders as she gave him the handheld showerhead.
Levi directed the hot water at his face, at his neck. God, it felt amazing. But not nearly as good as kissing Tanna had.
“Call me when you are done,” Tanna said, walking toward the door.
Levi opened his eyes and called her back. When she turned, he saw confusion in her eyes and, beneath it, still-bubbling desire.
“Thank you for doing this. For thinking of this. I was so tired of washing up in the basin.”
Tanna handed him a soft smile, flipping his heart inside out. She nodded before walking through the door and closing it behind her.
Levi dropped the showerhead and looked down at his still hard erection. He could, easily, take care of the problem, but he didn’t want to do it solo.
He wanted female hands, a feminine mouth, a gentle touch.
He only wanted Tanna...
Dammit.
* * *
Tanna heard Levi’s crutches hitting the wooden floor and shook her head. She’d left clean underwear, shorts and a T-shirt on the bathroom cabinet earlier but she’d expected him to call for her to help him out of the tub.
But the man was too damn stubborn to ask for help.
Levi shuffled into the kitchen and Tanna cast an eye over his body, appreciating his wide, muscled chest, the light body hair narrowing into a thin line bisecting a muscled stomach and disappearing beneath the band of his shorts. He held the black T-shirt in his hands and his leg still sported the plastic cast cover.
He was battered and a little dented but, God, he was gorgeous. Masculine, sexy, big and bold. Tanna felt warm as she recalled his big hands on her butt, his tongue in her mouth, demanding more, wanting everything.
Levi wouldn’t be a gentle lover—oh, he’d never hurt her, but he’d demand everything from her. He’d wring every drop of pleasure from her. In his arms, she knew, she might find herself, sexually.
And, she was pretty sure, he’d be the one to finally—finally—give her the orgasm she’d never experienced from a man’s touch.
But sleeping with Levi was a bad idea. A terrible idea. Because if it was as good as his kisses suggested it would be, it would make leaving him, leaving Boston, hard. She had a career to salvage, people to save, her PTSD symptoms to conquer. She had a bigger debt to repay than the one she owed Levi.
She couldn’t afford to be distracted by the still-gorgeous Levi Brogan.
> She would not be distracted...
Tanna pushed her hair off her shoulders and reminded herself Levi didn’t want anything from her...
Nothing but sex.
Strangely, and very irrationally considering her need to leave Boston, the thought made her sad.
Levi stopped at the chair next to the big, well-used kitchen table. Gorgeous skin, dotted with freckles and covering bulging, rippling muscles—Tanna swallowed, looking for the smallest hint of moisture in her mouth.
Nope, nothing.
Tanna looked at the dish towel in her hands and remembered a time when it had felt natural to step up to him, to place her mouth on his.
Levi cleared his throat and Tanna jumped, embarrassment coloring her face. Refusing to meet his eyes, she knew he’d be wearing a know-it-all smirk. She looked down at the floor, and when she raised her head again, Levi was dressed.
“Feel free to take it off again if you like,” Levi suggested, gesturing to his shirt.
Annoyed by his smirk, by his complete faith that she was crazy attracted to him—she was but he didn’t need to rub it in her face!—Tanna felt the need to do something to remind him who he was messing with...
She wasn’t nineteen anymore and desperately eager to please...
Without giving Levi any warning, Tanna caught the corner of the piece of tape on his thigh and yanked it super hard. Levi yelped as the tape separated hair from his skin and he immediately gripped his leg, stopping her from pulling the rest of the tape away.
“What the hell are you doing?” Levi demanded, his eyes glistening.
She couldn’t help teasing him. “I thought you said you could handle a little waxing.”
“I was wrong. So, so wrong,” Levi told her, his hands not moving from his leg.
Tanna laughed. “Stop being a baby. Millions of women, me included, do this on a regular basis.”
“There are these things called razors,” Levi grumbled.
“I offered, remember?” Tanna peeled his fingers away from the plaster cast. “The only way to get this off is to go hard and go fast. I’m going to count to three and then rip it away, okay?”