by Deborah Camp
“Where are we going?”
“Back to our seats.” He gestured toward the hall. “The concert will resume in a minute or two.”
“And you want to hear the rest of it?”
“Don’t you?” He lowered his dark brows. “I thought you were enjoying it.”
“Yes, but I would much rather enjoy you now. At home. Alone.” She traced the veins in the back of his hand with her fingertip.
He did a slow blink. “Really?”
“What you just did back there to Sissy?” She rose up to bite his earlobe and release her warm breath against his neck. “That turned me on. Big time.”
His grin was slow and deliciously salacious. “Then, by all means, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Chapter 14
She knew that he planned to relieve her of her clothes the minute the apartment door closed behind them, so she moved quickly away and whirled to face him. He took a step toward her, but stopped when she shook her head.
“No,” she told him. “We’re taking this slow, mister. My way.” She removed her long coat and dropped it and her evening bag onto the couch. Advancing on him, she gave him a push so that he leaned back against the wall. His eyes glinted and his teeth flashed when he grinned at her.
“Bossy, aren’t we?”
She started with his tie, pulling the end and allowing it to unfurl. Then she released small, black buttons to expose his black undershirt. “You wore this because it’s a bit cold outside tonight,” she mused, gripping the sides of it and untucking it. She ran her hands up under to feel the warmth of his stomach and the furry hair across his chest. “Let’s get rid of the jacket.” She shoved it off his shoulders, caught it by the collar, and sent it sailing behind her to the long couch. That got a chuckle from him. “Then the tie and shirt.” He helped her dispense with those items and toss them in the general direction of the couch. They didn’t make it, but landed on the floor. “Arms up,” she said, and proceeded to rid him of the undershirt. “Much better.” She tossed the offending garment over her shoulder.
“Now is it my turn?” he asked, his hands spanning her waist.
“No.” Ignoring his huff of displeasure, she leaned forward and took one of his flat nipples into her mouth. He sucked in a breath and held it while she teased the nub, sucked hard, and then let it go. “I don’t imagine your nipples are as sensitive as mine. When you do that to me, hot jolts of pleasure shoot straight down between my legs. Where do you feel it when I do this?” She suckled on the other one and scraped it with her teeth.
“Ahhh, Christ,” he said, moaning and laughing softly. “I feel it in my cock, baby. Every feeling of pleasure ends up there.”
She lifted her eyes to his. “What you said tonight to her? Thank you.”
All the amusement drained from his expression. “Don’t thank me. She had no right to speak to you like that.”
“She always speaks to me like that.”
His mouth formed a straight, imposing line and his lips barely moved when he spoke again. “If I’d known that, I would have told her to fuck off way before tonight.”
“She’s wrong about you. So very, very wrong.” She pressed an open-mouthed kiss on his chest and her tongue dampened the hair there. “You’re wonderful with Stuart and he looks up to you. So do I. You’re my champion. My gorgeous, glorious man,” she whispered against his skin, then peppered his chest with kisses. She slid her hands down his sides and then around to his belt buckle. “Are you ready to come out and play?”
“Always.” The word was little more than a rumble.
Smiling at him, she unfastened his trousers and shoved them down his muscled legs. She helped him kick off his shoes and step out of the rest of his clothing until he stood before her, all tanned, taut skin and rippling sinew. She grasped his bobbing erection and sank to her knees before him, the skirt of her gown pooling like starlight around her. He shook his head.
“Tru, you’re killing me.” He grunted with abject pleasure when her mouth closed around the tip. He shivered when she took him in as far as she could without choking. “Ohhh, fuck me. That feels incredible.” His hips bucked reflexively, making her cough. “Sorry. Sorry.” He stroked her hair, dislodging the ornamental comb so that it fell onto the floor. “Oh, hell. Sorry again.”
“Shhh,” she hushed him, then sucked him into her mouth as deeply as she could, her tongue stroking and massaging.
“You keep doing that, though, and I’m coming in your mouth, sweetheart.”
She kept it up, enjoying the taste of him and how his body quivered as her lips caressed him and her tongue swirled around his stiffening, swelling member. When she sensed the muscles in his legs and stomach tightening, she let his cock slip from her mouth, but gave it a couple of more pumps with her hand as she looked up at the portrait of pure pleasure painted on his handsome face. His head was tipped back, his mouth had gone slack, and his lashes dusted his cheeks. His chest rose and fell with his choppy breathing.
Gripping his forearms, she rose. He cupped her elbows, steadying her as she kicked off her high heels. She turned, silently asking him to unzip her gown, which he did.
“My turn now?” he asked as he slid the material off her shoulders to expose her black silk and satin bra.
“No.” She smiled at him over her shoulder as the garment fell all the way off. She didn’t leave it there, though. It was far too lovely, not to mention costly! Picking it up, she draped it over the back of the couch before unfastening her bra to let it join the gown. Her nipples pebbled, not so much from the air touching them as from the scorching attention given to them by Levi’s smoldering eyes.
“You are so beautiful, Trudy. I wish you could see yourself as I see you.”
Her smile became wistful. “So do I. I’m getting there.” She removed her final bits of clothing, exposing everything to him. “I do feel beautiful when you look at me,” she assured him. “Beautiful and desired.”
“Oh, hell yes.”
He reached for her, taking her hand in his and pulling her toward him. His mouth met hers in a hungry, soul-stirring kiss, followed by another and another. She tore her mouth from his, flinging her head back and loving the slide of his mouth down her throat and the lick of his tongue on her skin.
“I’m your everything,” she whispered, recalling his declaration.
“Yes,” he hissed against the curve of her breast.
She escaped his embrace and scampered to the bedroom with him on her heels. Before she made it to the bed, his arms lassoed her around her waist and hauled her back against him. He nuzzled her neck and nipped at her shoulder. His big hands cupped her breasts and his thumbs teased her nipples until they were red and plump. She rubbed her rump against him as longing spiraled through her. He spun her around to face him and took her head between his hands. He kissed the corners of her mouth before settling his lips on the heart of hers. His tongue traced the shape of her upper lip and then dipped into her mouth, met her tongue, and thrust suggestively against it. She wasn’t fully aware that he’d walked her back to the bed until she fell backward onto it. His hot body covered hers as he caught her hands and brought them up on either side of her head to hold them there. His eyes were that dark, passionate blue that made her insides quake with longing.
She parted her legs farther and he settled between them, his erection nudging her entrance for a moment before sliding in. She arched up, driving him home.
“Levi,” she sighed; his name a benediction on her lips. “My Levi.” She wrapped her legs around him and hooked her heels, shoving up to meet his thrust, her need to be shaken to the core by him overwhelming her. “Take me there, Levi. Please, please.”
He lifted himself on locked arms and rocked his hips as he pushed into her harder and faster. Beads of perspiration dotted his brow and slid down his temples. He let go of her hands and sat back on his haunches. Grasping her hips, he hauled her toward him, spearing her again with his erection so that she cried out his name
as sweet oblivion found her. When she was able to comprehend again, she was lying on her side and he was lying behind her. He gripped her thigh and lifted her leg, then drove into her, the angle so intensely satisfying that it brought tears to her eyes and a mewling sound from her throat.
He kissed the curve of her ear and then bit down on her lobe. “You sexy witch,” he rasped in her ear. “So wet. So hot. I don’t know what I was doing before you, but it sure as hell wasn’t this. This is fucking magic. You’re magic.”
His words and the sliding friction of him brought her to orgasm again. She gasped, cried out, and her whole body seemed to spasm. Her insides clutched desperately at him. He stilled for a few moments and then bucked against her, hard and insistent. She felt the hot gush of him as he emptied deep inside her. He kissed her nape tenderly and nuzzled her hair as his arms came around her to flatten her back against his front.
“I love you so much, Tru,” he murmured. “My life began with your caress. Your kiss.”
She sucked in a breath, touched by his words. Gripping his hands, she brought them up to her lips and kissed his knuckles. “I love you more.”
He bit her shoulder. “No. I love you more.”
She grinned. “Nope. Sorry. That’s impossible.”
“It’s not because it’s a known fact that I love you more than you love me,” he insisted, his voice brimming with amusement. “You can ask anyone.”
She twisted enough to see his grin. “Let’s not quarrel about it.”
He arched a brow. “Okay.”
Facing him, she stared into his eyes for long moments before whispering, “More.” When his tickling fingers landed on her ribs, she squealed and tried to escape, but was caught up in his arms and quickly tamed by his kiss.
“The most,” he whispered against her lips.
She let him win that one.
Sunday afternoon Levi, Trudy, and Stuart drove to Peachtree Heights East to check on the progress on the house. The landscaping was nearly completed. Inside was a different story. Painters, electricians, and plumbers were in practically every room, but they all said they were almost finished with their work. In another week, the house would be ready to move into, they assured her.
They left the hammering and paint smells for the more peaceful environs of Duck Pond Park. Levi bought a bucket of chicken and they sat on a park bench and munched happily while watching the antics of children and ducks. Trudy admired the houses surrounding the large park, but agreed with Levi that their place was more private and they had visiting ducks on the pond at the back of their property.
After they’d finished lunch, Stuart took some leftover biscuits and went to feed the ducks, promising to stay where they could see him.
“Do you want me to go with you to the police station tomorrow?” Levi asked as he wiped his hands on his handkerchief.
“Not unless you want to. I think it will be uneventful.” Detective Myers had asked that they bring Stuart to the station to look at some mug shots. “He might be able to recognize the man’s voice, but he says that he wasn’t able to see his face.”
Levi nodded and offered her his handkerchief, which she took to vanquish the last of the oil and chicken breading from her fingers. “I was hoping they would have tracked down Lincoln by now.”
“Me, too. I guess he’s lying low or he might have even left the Atlanta area.” She sighed. “They can’t arrest him.”
“Right, but they can bring him in for questioning. Put some pressure on him.” He smiled, then laughed when a Muscovy duck squawked and ran at Stuart. The boy threw the rest of a biscuit at the feathered marauder, which was exactly what the duck wanted. It speared the bread and waddled toward the pond. Stuart brushed his hands together and trudged back to them. “That one bullied you.”
Stuart kicked at a stone. “He’s mean. The others are nice.”
“There’s one in every crowd . . . or flock,” Levi noted.
“Yeah. Like Barry Holden.”
“Who’s he?” Trudy asked.
“A bully.” Stuart picked up the stone and tossed it toward the expansive pond. “I hate him.”
“What’s he done to you?” Trudy reached out to snag his sweater sleeve and make him look at her. “Does he bother you? Make fun of you?”
“Yeah, but not just me. Nearly everyone.” He sat down in front of them and picked at tufts of brown grass and leaves. “I told Lacy about how I know when the phone’s gonna ring and stuff like that and she told Barry. Now he calls me Screwy Stewie.”
Trudy shared a long look with Levi and she didn’t miss the flash of discomfort that marred his brow. She knew he was reliving times in his life when he’d been ridiculed and taunted. All three of them had that common, unfortunate bond.
“Stuart, I wish I could tell you to go ahead and share your psychic experiences with your classmates.” She shrugged. “But I can’t. Children are often very cruel to each other. What they don’t understand or what they view as different, they lash out at because . . . well, it scares them a little. Actually, adults do the same thing.”
“They certainly do,” Levi agreed stretching out his long legs and crossing them at the ankles. “Stuart, my boy, it’s best to keep a lid on your psychic abilities. Kids won’t understand what you can do or how you can do it. You won’t be able to explain it to them because you don’t know either.” He chuckled. “So, keep it to yourself, except for relatives and your very best friends. Notice that I said ‘very best’ friends. You’ll be lucky to have three or four of those in your whole life.”
“Everybody knows what you do,” Stuart said, scowling at him and squinting against the setting sun. “You’re even on television.”
“But I’m all grown up and I can handle bullies.”
Trudy eyed him, thinking he certainly could! She’d seen him cut people down to size with a withering glare.
“When you’re young, sometimes you feel that it’s better to be like everyone else,” Trudy said. “If you’re different, then other kids point it out, right?”
Stuart pursed his lips and glanced up at the sky before essaying a slow nod. “I suppose so. Kids that stand out get teased. Tyler Watson has ears that stick out and he gets called Dumbo all the time. And Amy Francis has buck teeth and someone put a picture of Bugs Bunny on her locker.”
“Good lord.” Aggravated by his examples, Trudy began gathering up the remains of their meal, stuffing it all into the red and white paper bucket it had come in. “It’s just like what I was saying. Kids are cruel. I hope you don’t join in with them and call people names like that, Stuart. Because it’s hurtful and you shouldn’t hurt your classmates on purpose. Or anyone, for that matter.” Her gaze snapped to Levi when she heard his low chuckle. “It’s not funny!”
“No, but you are. Look at you, all pissed off and ready to rumble.”
“I’m not.” She retreated from her stance. “Well, yes. It brings back bad memories, you know?”
“I know.” He stroked his fingertips down her cheek in a tender gesture.
“I don’t call them names,” Stuart assured them, then leaned forward, his attention captured by an iridescent shelled beetle crawling in the leaf litter. He let the insect tap its wire-thin front legs on his thumb before it must have decided to stick with the dirt and leaves. It backed up and then went on its way, avoiding Stuart. “This thing is cool,” Stuart enthused. “Look! It’s got green and blue and gold all mixed up in it.”
Trudy didn’t find it cool, so she picked up their trash and took it to the nearest refuse barrel. When she came back, Levi was squatting near Stuart and they were both examining the beetle. “Boys? Leave the bug alone and let’s go.”
Stuart sat on his rump and looked up at her. “If you adopt me, would I still call you Trudy?” He squinted at Levi. “And you Levi?”
His question caught her flatfooted. She opened her mouth, but looked at Levi to answer the boy. What would he call them? They’d be his parents, but he’d had parents, so wha
t did that make them?
“What did you call your folks?” Levi asked, still squatting beside Stuart.
“Mommy and Daddy.”
Levi nodded and glanced up at Trudy. “When the adoption goes through, we’ll be family, so it would be odd if you called us by our first names. Right?” he asked Stuart, and got a nod of agreement. “Okay, so what would you be comfortable with, Stu? Mother and Father? Mom and Pop?”
Stuart’s face lit up. “Mom and Pop!”
Trudy giggled, charmed by his choice. She looked to Levi for his opinion.
“Mom and Pop.” Levi rubbed his chin in contemplation for a few moments. “That works for me. How about you, Tru?”
“I like it.”
“Good.” Levi ruffled Stuart’s dark hair. “It’s good to get that out of the way. Thanks, buddy.” He stood, towering above the boy even when Stuart got to his feet.
“Maybe I’ll call you that every so often,” Stuart said, not looking at them, but focused on wiping leaves off his jeans. “Before the adoption. To get used to it.”
Levi snuck a look at Trudy and a grin raced across his lips. “Good idea. And I’ll call you Sonny Boy. To get used to it.”
Stuart looked at him, at first to object to that silly name, but then he saw the grin on Levi’s face. “No way!”
Laughing, Levi wrapped an arm around Stuart’s middle and lifted him off his feet. The boy’s giggles were infectious as Levi spun him around a couple of times. “Way! And you’re just full of good ideas today aren’t you, sport?”
Trudy stared, open-mouthed and overjoyed, at the unexpectedness of Levi Wolfe grabbing up Stuart in a playful, teasing moment of unfettered fun. Stuart kicked, his giggles dying as Levi set him down again. They shared a grin and Levi poked Stuart’s shoulder with his fist. Stuart balled up his fist and whacked Levi’s thigh. Retaliating, Levi leaned down and put Stuart in a headlock, getting another string of giggles from him before Levi let him go.