Sun-Kissed (Love In All Seasons Book 1)

by Frankie Love

  "Would you like to try some of my crepes?"

  I lift my eyebrows. Shake my head. "Hard pass," I tell her.

  Just then, I see her, walking down the sidewalk, long hair blowing in the desert wind. I stand and call out her name, and she looks up, her eyes widening as she realizes it's me.

  "Levi?"

  I wave at her to come inside the restaurant and she smiles, nodding. A minute later the waitress is leading my girl to the table and I wrap my arms around her, squeezing her tight, making her squeal. Damn, her voice is the best sound to start my day.

  "That was a friendly hello," she says, laughing as she pulls out a chair at the table.

  "Good. Because I have every intention of getting even more friendly with you, Lucy."

  "Is that so?" she asks as the waitress walks over and offers her a cup of coffee. She shakes her head.

  "Not a coffee drinker?"

  "Not a breakfast crasher."

  "I want you to stay. Have you eaten? You look hungry."

  She shakes her head, laughing. "I haven't eaten. Was gonna grab a bagel. I was only coming down to the strip because I forgot to grab my tips last night. Was a little.... distracted."

  "Oh yeah?" I pull out the slot machine ticket. "You forgot this too."

  She blows air out of her cheeks, looking so sweet when she does.

  "I can't take it, Levi."

  "How about this, you stay and have breakfast with me and if you can manage to keep your hands off me, it's your reward."

  She twists her lips. "Why do I feel like this is a trap?"

  I laugh. "It's not. It's just, I like you, Lucy. A lot. And I want to keep you around."

  "Even after what I told you last night? About... my rules?"

  At this, I grin.

  "Why is there a cocky look on your face, mister mountain man?"

  "Because I just wonder about those rules, considering when you were with me last night you broke one. I'm betting you'll break one again."

  "Not the big one," she says, her voice softer now. "I mean it. I really, really want to be a virgin on my wedding night. It's always been important to me."

  "I love that."

  "You do?" Her big blue eyes meet mine.

  "I do. I like that you know what you want. I'm not implying women are doing things wrong if they aren't doing things like you, but I respect it, Lucy. Your values."

  "What about you, do you have values I should know about? Things that really matter to you?"

  I lean back in my chair, considering the question as a waitress comes over and takes her order. I smile, liking that Lucy is staying put for a little while at least.

  "I have some values. My brother matters to me a lot. He's the only family I got; our parents died when we were teenagers, so we kinda got through some shit together."

  "I lost my parents young too. When I was four. My grandparents raised me on their farm,” she tells me.

  "They still alive?"

  Lucy's face falls. "Granny is in an assisted living home now. It's not looking good and the place isn't very... well, it's not home."

  "I'm sorry, Lucy," I say, reaching out for her hand, and our fingers brush together, sending a current through me, and from her shiver, I am sure she feels it too.

  "I wish we could have kept Granddad's farm, that she could have stayed there, but she needs more help and we had to sell so we could afford the place she's at now." Lucy's eyes are looking past me, holding on to a memory. "The farm was out in the foothills of the Las Vegas desert. Granddad raised cattle and Granny and I took care of the other animals, looked over the garden. Canned fruit every summer and worked on a quilt together every winter."

  "Sounds pretty perfect."

  "It was." Lucy nods, thanking the waitress who brings her a lemon-glazed crepe, coated in powdered sugar, strawberries on the side. "It's been a few years since I spent my evenings on that big front porch watching the sunset with my grandparents. And now, that life is gone. Granddad passed away and now Granny is living in a facility that is not at all cozy or familiar. And here I am, rooming with three other cocktail waitresses, trying to make ends meet in a city that is everything I'm not."

  "Why work at the Millennium?"

  "I can't exactly afford to move Granny, and it pays so well. Maybe one day... after she..." Lucy blinks rapidly, wiping her eyes with the corner of her cloth napkin. "When Granny is in a better place, I will think about leaving Vegas, but not now."

  "What would you do?" I ask, genuinely curious about this woman who carries herself with so much grace and beauty it makes my heart fucking ache.

  She smiles, picking up her fork. "I want a piece of land, like the farm. Not the animals, necessarily, but the quiet. The slow pace. A family to raise and a husband to love. I want a life that reminds me to look up, look around. A life that reminds me that I'm not in it alone."

  I swallow. "It's crazy to hear you talk like that."

  "Why's that?" she asks, before taking a bite.

  I scratch my neck. "It's, uh, well, I have a lot of what you're saying. The land. The cabin. The quiet. But I always saw it as a way to hide. To disappear."

  "Why would you want to do that?" Lucy asks.

  I shrug, lifting my cup of coffee to my mouth. "Life has been hard, losing my parents, helping get my brother through college. Dealing with extended family who tried to tear my brother and me apart over money, inheritances. Bullshit. I had enough and so when Luke finished school, I just got the hell out."

  "Don't you get lonely?"

  "I guess I never thought about it like that. I've always seen the choice to move to the woods as my way to kind of stick it to the man, walk away from the daily grind."

  "Yeah but, if you're just some lonely recluse in the mountains, who wins exactly?"

  I press my fist to my mouth, thinking about that. "I guess I never met anyone who would make me think I'd been doing things wrong."

  A smile plays on Lucy's lips. "And now you've met your match, is that what you're saying?"

  "Maybe." I reach for her hand again, but she pulls back. I narrow my eyes, but she smiles.

  "I'm trying to win that ticket. No touching, remember."

  "Too late,” I tell her, and it dawns on her that we reached across the table earlier, the rush of fire that spread through us when our fingertips touched.

  "Gah, I thought I had you," she laughs.

  "We could play another game,” I tell her.

  "And what's that?"

  "Truth or dare."

  She lifts her eyebrows. "I wouldn't have to break a rule?"

  I shake my head. "I'm a man of my word."

  "In that case, Levi. Truth or dare?"

  I grin. "Dare."

  Chapter Six

  Lucy

  All I want to do is kiss him. Staring at Levi, from across the table, all I can think about is his mouth on mine.

  I'm eating my crepes and swallowing lemon curd and licking my lips, salivating over his face. And while this French breakfast is delicious, it does nothing to satisfy my real craving. The one that had me up for hours last night.

  I tossed and turned in bed all night, my fingers slipping under the waistband of my panties, sliding inside myself, pressing against my clit. I rubbed myself raw, using my fingers to get off as I imagined Levi pressing himself inside of me.

  Filling me up.

  Completely. In ways my fingers could never, ever do.

  It has been the constant thought on my mind. Last night, when I wrapped my legs around his waist, when I felt his hard cock grinding against my ass, my mind basically exploded. Before our kiss, I had no idea what it would mean to be taken by man.

  I'm practically drooling now. And it is totally inappropriate. We just opened up about our pasts in ways I wasn't expecting. I'm amazed to learn that, in so many ways, Levi is the man of my dreams.

  He is funny and a little bit arrogant, handsome as all get out, and sweet. So understanding. He listened to me talk about Granddad, about the fa
rmhouse and he leaned in, his pine green eyes meeting mine, taking in every word I had to say.

  I've lived in Vegas, working at the Millennium, for three years straight, and never once have I opened up to my roommates this way. With them, I feel out of place, like I'm living in a different world than they are.

  They wear high heels and slinky thongs and push-up bras as if they were born wearing those things. For me, it's all uncharted territory. I've always felt like an outsider, but then I sit here at this restaurant with Levi, a man I only just met, and I feel like I fit.

  I feel like I am home for the first time in so, so long.

  "Dare," he repeats.

  And I blink, grounding myself in reality. I just agreed to play Truth or Dare with a man who has made me lose hours of sleep. I don't know if this is a terrible idea or the best idea ever. All I know is that I don't want this morning to end. I have a long night ahead of me at work, and right now I don't want to think about a paycheck or uniform or making customers happy.

  Right now, I want to be happy.

  "I dare you to order a mimosa," I say, grinning.

  "That's gotta be the least manly drink in the world," he says with a straight face.

  "Exactly the point." I laugh, I get the waitress and tell her that Levi would like to make an order.

  "I'd like one mimosa," he says, his face turning beet red and his eyes cast down to his plate.

  "Make that two," I add.

  When she brings them back a few minutes later, we lift our delicate flutes, clinking the rims as I make a toast.

  "To a ManMosa," I say, laughing as I watch him drink from his champagne flute. This mountain man looks so completely out of sorts, it's adorable. I pull out my phone and take a photo, wanting to document this moment.

  He finishes it in one fell swoop and I congratulate him. "Well played, sir."

  He wipes his mouth with his napkin. "Honestly this is pretty good."

  "You can't go wrong with champagne." I show him the picture and he asks me to send it to him. We exchange numbers and I message him our first photo, a flutter rolling through my belly as I hit send. "Now it's your turn."

  "Oh, I know whose turn it is," he says smugly. "Lucy, truth or dare?"

  "Truth."

  "All right, I figured as much." He leans in, his voice discreet, "If you could have sex anywhere, for your first time, where would it be?"

  I twist my lips, but I know the answer. I have thought about it plenty. "I... I think...on my knees? I know it's not exactly a classic, but I just think it would feel really good..."

  Levi cracks up, slamming his hand on the table. "Dang girl, I meant like, what location. As in, the Millennium penthouse suite. Or on top of a mountain. In a pool. But, hell, I like where this is headed," he laughs. "It's pretty damn hot."

  I just feel my cheeks burning bright red. I cover my face with my hands, regaining my composure. "I am literally so mortified right now," I tell him, lifting my eyes and grabbing hold of the mimosa, tipping it back and finishing it off.

  "Don't be embarrassed," he tells me sincerely. "I love your honesty, and I like that you're planning these things out. I'm a missionary position man myself. I like to be over my woman, pressing my mouth to her tits as I suck them hard."

  We're both leaning in now, and his hot breath is on my neck, our noses practically touching. I'm salivating at his words. Picturing him on top of me. "I like to look into my girl's eyes as I take her, her legs wrapping around my waist as I fill her up. I like to watch her as she pants, as she begs. I like to watch as she comes."

  "And then what," I ask my breath catching in my throat. "What next?"

  "Then I come too. Hard. In her tight little pussy, I come until she's filled up nice and good."

  I pull away, sinking back in my chair. Refusing to let myself faint over his sensational description. "Levi, truth or dare."

  He smiles, and I know he loves getting me all riled up. "Dare. Always dare."

  "Okay, then I dare you to ask someone for a condom."

  He laughs. "That's cruel, you know that, right?"

  I nodded as he pulls out his wallet and pays the bill with cash. Then he stands, takes my hands, and drags me outside.

  "I could ask that man?" Levi points to a man pushing a stroller filled with a toddler, a pregnant woman at his side.

  "It might sound rude."

  "I'm guessing me asking that question of anyone is gonna come across as a little... intense. I mean, it's ten a.m. and there is a drug store across the street."

  I groan. "Okay, you're right. I don't want anyone to get offended. How about I dare you to do something else..."

  "What?" he asks, his hands on my hips, looking down at me. "I see an idea in your eyes."

  "Okay I was just... maybe I could dare you to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower with me? We are right outside of Paris Paris."

  "All right, we can do that." He smiles and my heart pounds in my chest. He makes me feel so safe and important and good inside. "Dare accepted."

  A few minutes later we're in the elevator going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but instead of looking out at the view, my eyes are glued to Levi's. I don't know what it is about him, but he has shaken me up, in a way that can only be positive.

  "Okay, I did the dare," he says. "We're at the top. Now it's your turn. Truth or dare, Lucy?"

  This time, though, I don't want to play it safe. I want to take a chance. I don't want my life to be as it has always been. I want it to be more.

  I don't have to wait until the worst happens with Granny before I start living my life. I don't know why I told myself that for so long, but I did. I can live my life right now. Right here.

  And standing here now, at the top of the Eiffel Tower, with a man who makes me feel both beautiful and brave, it's clear. When I'm with Levi, I am living my life. Fully.

  "Dare," I tell him, my choice surprising him. "I choose dare."

  He smiles down at me, melting me and making me swoon and believe in love at first kiss in a way I've never thought was real.

  "Damn, woman," he growls in my ear. "I was hoping you'd say that."

  And then he kisses me.

  Chapter Seven

  Levi

  I kiss her, relishing the warmth of her body against mine, and realizing this is exactly what I've been missing for so damn long.

  Not just a woman. This woman.

  She parts her lips and my tongue finds hers and I kiss her like we have forever together.

  And at this moment, as crazy as it sounds, I feel like I do. With her soft supple body in my arms, her chin tilted up, and her eyes closed, I run my hands over her back, taking it in. This gentle woman in this jaded city. She doesn't belong here. She belongs with me.

  "God, I love kissing you," I tell her, as her hands run over my back, my muscles tightening as she touches me. I ache for more of her. All of her. "I want you," I whisper in her ear, my breath hot, and her body so damn needy. I feel it in the way she leans against me, not pulling back. She gives in.

  "I want you too, I want you so badly."

  I look into her eyes, not wanting to push her somewhere she's not ready to go. "You mean it?"

  "I do, but..." She bites her bottom lip. I brush a loose strand of hair from her eyes, not wanting her to feel bad.

  "Don't you dare change who you are for me,” I tell her. "For anyone. You held out long enough, there's no need to give up your ideals now."

  She looks at me so tenderly I see her heart aching. "Why are you so good to me? Why are you such a good, honest man?"

  "I haven't always been. But when I'm with you, I want to be the man you need."

  "Oh, Levi," she whispers, wrapping her arms around my neck and blinking back tears. She finds my lips all over again.

  She runs her hands over my chest and when our eyes meet I know my girl needs more. Now. No one's here with us, it's still early morning as far as Vegas is concerned. The city really comes alive at tonight. Right now, it’s just her and
me at the top of the Eiffel Tower,

  "Touch me, please," she asks.

  "Baby, are you sure?"

  She nods and then pops open the top buttons of her sweater, so those perfect tits are on display.

  "God, woman, you look amazing," I groan, my cock growing hard at the sight of her full tits.

  "You like them?" she asks, taking my hands and pressing them to her breasts. Her bra cups are lacy and sheer and her hard nipples poke through.

  "I love them," I say.

  She runs her hand under my flannel shirt, her fingers teasing at the waistband of my boxers. I pull in a sharp breath, knowing what I want, but not sure it's the time or place.

  "I would do anything to have you," I tell her.

  She gasps, as my fingers run lower down her belly, past her skirt. I pull her to me and pull up the hem of her skirt, my hand sliding over her creamy thighs, running my hands over her panties.

  She presses herself against me, her cotton panties so nice and damp. I know she is aching the same way I am.

  "Levi," she says, her words hushed. I have a hand around her waist and my other hand is under her skirt, and I don't want to push her further than she wants to go. Right now, she might be ready for me to stop.

  But then her legs part, I know she wants me to touch her. Feel her. Open her up like a daylily. Innocent and pure and ripe for the picking.

  "Please," she murmurs. "Please, make me come."

  I look around, wishing this was a little bit more private. Making a quick decision, I pull her into the elevator.

  She looks at me with alarm. "You don't want to touch me?" The look of worry in her eyes makes me smile. The elevator begins to descend and then I pressed the emergency button, stalling us out in between two floors.

  She smiles in relief.

  Oh, but this sweet thing has no idea what I plan on doing next.

  I hitch up her skirt and pull aside the thin fabric covering her cunt. My fingers run over her slick entrance, pleased to find that her tight little pussy is the exact thing I was hoping for.

  "When I touch myself," she tells me, "I always imagine..." She shakes her head, the tops of her cheeks turning pink.