by Ali Parker
I wasn’t a party girl. And he had made me incredibly uneasy at the afterparty after his show. I had no intention of ever finding myself in a situation like that again, and if we couldn’t see eye to eye on this matter, there was no sense in me staying here for the rest of the month.
I’d hate to leave on bad terms like that.
I liked Levi. A lot. I enjoyed his company and his humor and his wit. He made me feel very seen, which was surprising. Leading up to my month with him, I’d assumed he wouldn’t have the time of day for me because he could be surrounded by the world’s most beautiful women at the drop of a hat if he wanted to.
But I didn’t get the impression that was what he wanted.
I got the impression he wanted real human connection. He was desperate for it.
And human connection meant having someone in your corner to call you on your shit and demand better from you.
If that was my role here this month, then so be it.
“I think I have a problem with recreational drug use,” Levi said slowly. “I think I like to have a good time. And I think the crowds I’m exposed to and the expectation of me aligns with that.”
He spoke like the polar opposite of what I might have expected from a heavy drug user. He was articulate and distanced when talking about his substance abuse problems. Maybe that distance he put between himself and the issue was half the problem. Maybe it hadn’t dawned on him that this really was dangerous and had the potential to turn bad very quickly.
“I also think you like to have a good time,” I said.
He relaxed a bit. A small smile tugged at his lips. “Yes. Exactly.”
“But I also think you use it as a crutch to drown out the things in your life that are pulling you down. And that’s where the danger lies.”
He sighed. “Can we talk about something else?”
“I don’t want to talk about something else. I want to talk about you. And your brother. And us.”
“What about us?”
I licked my lips. “I don’t want to hang around here and watch you poison yourself because you’re unhappy.”
He blinked.
That might have been a bit too bold, I thought as my cheeks began to burn.
Then Levi chuckled.
His chuckle morphed into a genuine laugh, and I stared incredulously at him as he bowed his head and shook it back and forth. “Piper. You’re a real gem, you know that?”
“Erm…” What was I supposed to say to that? Was this genuine humorous laughter, or was this the kind of laugh the villain in the movie had right before shit hit the fan and they killed a major character?
Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sorry.”
“Why were you laughing?”
“Nobody has been that honest with me before. It caught me off guard.”
“And that was funny?”
“Not necessarily.”
“And yet you laughed.”
“I did,” he said, the remnants of a smile still lingering on his lips. “You impress me, Piper.”
Unsure of how to respond, I picked up my wine and took a sip. “Does this mean you might be willing to hear your brother out the next time he tries to talk to you about this?”
“Perhaps.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
Levi chuckled and held up a hand. “Yes. Yes, of course, I will. I’m just pulling your leg. Now come on. Let’s stop spoiling a perfect evening with talk like this. I have a meal to serve you.”
Levi snapped his fingers.
The door we’d come through some fifteen minutes prior swung open, and a man in a white chef’s jacket emerged. He carried a silver tray topped with silver dome lids covering plates. He wore a confident smile and walked purposefully to our table, where he set the tray down, lifted the covered plates, and put one in front of each of us.
“Bon appétit,” the chef said, a twinkle playing in his brown eyes as he reached out and pulled the lids off the plates, revealing a beautifully plated simple Caprese salad appetizer. The presentation and flourish of the chef’s wrist seemed a little overdone in my opinion, but he clearly took pride in his work, and he asked if we needed anything before he departed, promising to return in twenty minutes with our main course.
Levi popped a slice of tomato drizzled in balsamic in his mouth, followed by a piece of bocconcini cheese and fresh basil. He closed his eyes as he chewed.
I traced the lines of his jaw with my eyes while he wasn’t looking.
He was dangerously handsome. I’d thought so since the first time I saw him. But now that I knew him a little better, I could see traces of things he was probably working hard to hide, like the dark circles under his eyes and the paleness to his complexion.
His eyes fluttered open and landed on me. “Are you going to try some? It’s delicious.”
I dug into the salad. The flavors were fresh and sweet and danced along my tongue. “It is delicious,” I agreed.
We enjoyed our appetizers. By the time I finished my salad, I’d also made my way through my first glass of wine. Levi, however, had hardly touched his. Nearly half the glass still sat upon the table, and I wondered if he was doing it on purpose, like he was planting a flag in the sand declaring that he was capable of resisting the temptation of the drink.
The chef returned exactly when he said he would, cleared our plates, and served us our main course. Pink salmon filets rested atop a bed of risotto decorated in fine herbs and thin slices of lemon. The flavors were fresh and summery, like the Caprese salad, and everything complemented other ingredients, resulting in a flavor explosion in my mouth. The asparagus served on the side was just as delightful and perfectly cooked.
Levi and I both made short work of the meal.
When the chef returned, he was delighted to find our plates empty. He clasped his hands together and looked back and forth between us. “You enjoyed?”
I nodded as I dabbed at my lips with my white cloth napkin. “It was wonderful. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, miss,” he said, cheeks rosy from working down in the kitchen—or from the compliment. Maybe both. “Can I interest either of you in a dessert?”
I shook my head and patted my belly. “I’m stuffed. Thank you.”
Levi declined the offer too. “Thank you for everything, Luis. You can go.”
The chef, Luis, gave Levi a curt informal bow before shuffling off the roof and disappearing inside.
With a content sigh, I pushed up to my feet and walked toward the edge of the patio to look out at the ocean stretching out far below.
Levi joined me and draped his forearms on the railing. “I hope you had a good evening.”
“I did.”
He stared out at the deep purple sky. “I also hope I made up for the other night.”
I smiled. “You did.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “Definitely. This was really nice.”
“I’m sensing a ‘but’ in there.”
He was intuitive. I pinched my bottom lip between my teeth. “I can’t stop worrying just because we’ve had this conversation. Words are easy. Action is hard.”
Levi turned toward me and rested a finger under my chin to lift my face toward his. “Be careful, Piper. A guy like me might start to think you genuinely care about him if you start saying things like that.”
I swallowed. “Is that a bad thing to think?”
Levi ran his thumb along my jaw. His eyes moved to my lips. “Depends.”
“On what?” I breathed.
I could smell his cologne. Soft and citrus and fresh, like the first rain after a hot summer that chased away the oils on the pavement and the dryness in the air.
Levi met my stare. “On whether or not you actually mean it.”
CHAPTER 13
LEVI
In that perfectly still moment on the roof gazing into Piper’s eyes, I was suddenly aware of several things at once.
For one, she had the most incredible eyes
I’d ever seen. Deep and brown and full of love and wisdom and other things that could only have been described as magic.
Secondly, this was as close to perfection as I’d ever come. Sure, I’d stared into the eyes of beautiful women before, and I’d known in the quiet space before we shed our clothes and our humanity that things were about to get wild, but it didn’t compare to the feeling I had now. The feeling that wild was a gross understatement and Piper and I were about to share something neither of us were likely to ever forget.
And third, I was a damn fool.
I was a fool for thinking I’d be able to fuck her and let her go.
A fool for thinking this was more than what it actually was: an arranged dating event where my girl got to court eleven other men.
And I was certainly a fool for letting her get this close to me. For opening up to her. For trusting her.
But despite knowing those things, I couldn’t stop myself from caressing her cheek, gazing longingly into her eyes, and giving in.
She closed her eyes moments before my lips grazed hers. I studied her thick long lashes before pressing the softest kiss to her full lips. The tender moment was short-lived. Piper took a deep breath and draped an arm over my shoulders to hold herself against me. I wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close, feeling the press of her breasts crushed against my chest and the heat of her skin against mine.
Yes.
This was better than the alcohol and the cocaine. It was better than my sold-out rock shows.
I’d barely started, and I already knew she was going to be my next addiction.
Piper hooked a leg around mine.
I ran my hands up her back and plunged my fingers into her hair. She moaned softly into my mouth when I tightened my hands into fists and pulled her head back, forcing her to yield to me. She did so without any resistance.
I nipped at her lips, and she whimpered and writhed in my grasp like a wild animal. Her breathing turned to panting as her cheeks turned bright pink, and soon, she was clawing at my shirt, working furiously to take it off.
I wrapped my fingers around her wrists and held her in place. “Slow down, baby.”
She gazed up at me with slightly parted lips and lust-filled eyes. When she finally found her words, her voice trembled. “Touch me.”
The smile that crept across my lips reflected in her pupils, and I released her to put a hand on her hip and steer her around so that her back was to the ocean and the railing. I pushed her back a step until the small of her back rested against the railing, and then I moved my hand from her hip over her thigh to rest between her legs.
The black leggings she had on were thin, smooth, and like they were hardly there at all. She let out a soft sound, something between a sigh and a moan, and I rubbed my fingers in slow circles, daring her to make a mess of her panties.
She bit her bottom lip and held my stare.
Did she have any idea how sexy she was?
I doubted it. She carried herself with the effortless air of a woman who knew she was attractive but didn’t let it hold sway over her actions or decisions. Piper was a woman with purpose. With resolve. With determination and several other things that had nothing to do with how beautiful she was. Her looks were an added benefit—one she seemed to overlook.
Piper gathered the front of my shirt in her hands and held herself to me as I continued to roll my fingers between her thighs, and then she seemed to lose her patience because she gave me a sexy little smirk before rolling her hips in slow circles, rocking herself against my touch.
She made me dizzy with need.
Piper was a drug I’d never tasted before, and I needed more of it. All of it.
Now.
I shrugged out of my shirt. Piper licked her lips as her gaze wandered all over me. She traced the tattoo on my left shoulder, a moody piece with a scroll depicting old music lyrics that had long since begun to fade. The tattoo worked all the way down my arm to my wrist, where Piper’s fingers lingered. She took my wrist, lifted my hand away from the warmth between her thighs, and then guided my fingers under the thin fabric of her leggings.
All the while, she smiled up at me like a coy little minx fully aware of the good fucking in her very near future.
I ran my hand down the length of her tummy under her leggings. Her skin was smooth, soft, and warm, and when I hit her panties, I worked my way under those, too. Piper looked down and let out a short little gasp when I touched her. The sound made my cock ache. Her eyes closed, and she leaned back to grip the railing behind her as I rolled two fingers over her clit.
She was wet.
Very wet.
I wondered how tight she was. I wondered what it would feel like to plunge deep inside her and feel her walls hugging my cock. I wondered what sort of sounds she made when she came. I crushed my lips against hers.
We were about to find out.
Piper surprised me by pulling her gray shirt off over her head. She was in a hurry, it seemed, and I was past the point of trying to slow this thing down. Our desire was calling the shots now, and I was glad to see we were on the same page.
Piper’s bra was bright pink. It had a silver clasp in the middle, right between her breasts, that winked at me as if in a dare: take it off. Take it off. Take it off.
I did.
I pinched the clasp and flicked my wrist, and it sprang open. Piper’s breasts would have sprung out, but they were perky and firm and hardly needed the support of a bra. It was my turn to moan approvingly.
With one hand still buried in her panties, I caressed her breasts with my free hand. I flicked my thumb over her nipples while I plunged my tongue into her mouth and tasted her, wine and something sweet. She snaked her fingers through my hair and continued to slowly roll her hips, pressing my fingers deeper toward her slippery wet pussy.
Unable to resist the call any longer, I slid a finger inside her.
Her eyes fluttered open, and her fingers coiled in my hair.
I pulled my lips from hers and rained kisses and nibbles down the side of her neck and across her shoulder. She hooked a leg around mine to hold herself up as I fucked her nice and slowly with my finger.
I was right. She was tight as hell. She would need some serious warming up before she was ready for me.
So, I quickened my pace and pressed upward toward her G-spot. Piper shook and let out a cry that she muffled by burying her mouth in the groove of my shoulder.
The sound rolled down my back in a series of sex-crazed chills. I eased another finger inside her.
Piper writhed and whimpered and stammered, but I didn’t relent. I fucked her slowly at first, then deeper, then harder and faster, and she descended into breathless euphoria, letting go of herself and giving it all over to me.
I pressed my cheek to hers so my lips were beside her ear. “Come for me, baby.”
Her legs shook.
And then she came in response to my words. I silenced her cries with my mouth over hers, and when she was done, I pulled my hand from her leggings and broke our kiss to strip them down her thighs.
Her panties matched her bra. I pulled those down too.
Piper stood naked before me, tall and proud with her shoulders back, and her eyes flicked to my pants. “Your turn,” she cooed.
I wasted little time and hurried to undo my jeans. I stumbled out of them, using the railing to brace myself. Then I pulled my boxers down.
Piper arched one of her already dramatic eyebrows and clicked her tongue. “And here I was thinking your ego was overcompensating for a small prize.” She stepped toward me, her eyes dancing with heat and need, and took my cock in one hand. She searched my eyes as she stroked me. “What a nice surprise.”
This girl was going to ruin me.
“Turn around,” I told her.
She batted her lashes at me. “I want to return the favor.”
If she put those pretty lips of hers around my cock, I’d lose it. I needed to maintain control. “No. Turn around
.”
Her cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink, but she did as I said and turned around. She rested her forearms on the railing and leaned forward without me having to tell her what to do. As she struck her pose, arching her back, going to the tips of her toes, and spreading her legs for me, I crouched down and rummaged through my jean pockets in search of a condom.
Once I found it, I tore the wrapper open, rolled it on, and stepped up behind her.
The view from back here was unreal.
Piper looked back over her shoulder at me as I admired the curve of her spine, the muscles in her upper back, and the dimples above her ass. I pressed my thumb and forefinger to those two dimples, and she lifted her ass in response.
Her pussy was plump and pink and ready for me. Wetness clung to the inside of her thighs from her climax, and I ran my cock along her opening, teasing her. She watched me intently, and a sigh came out of her when I pushed deep inside.
Miraculously, she took all of me.
She couldn’t, however, continue to look over her shoulder at me as I started to fuck her. She bowed her head and pressed her forehead to the railing.
But that wouldn’t do.
I gathered her hair in one fist and pulled her back up, forcing a dramatic curve of her back. She shifted on the tips of her toes as I plunged in and out of her, and soon, she was crying out with pleasure.
I fucked her harder.
Fresh wetness bloomed around my cock. I could hear how fucking wet she was. Her desperate little moans and the way her fingers clung to the railing pushed me over the edge. I gave in to the gathering of need and pressure and drove deep inside her as I came.
She cried out, and the sound turned into soft laughter as I leaned over her and placed kisses across her shoulders. I released her hair, and she let it fall over one shoulder as she gazed back at me. She lifted one hand to stroke my cheek and guide my lips to hers for a sweet, breathless kiss.
Yeah.
I was a fool indeed.