My lips had gone dry, so I ran my tongue along them before tilting my head up and nodding.
Levi smiled. His hand at my cheek slid to my neck, and he pulled me to him, planting his lips over mine. Even though I knew it was about to happen, the feel of his soft mouth and strong grip made me gasp. Levi’s hold on my neck tightened and then…all hell broke loose. Our tongues collided, and the taste of him overwhelmed me, making me absolutely desperate. One minute I was on my back and the next I was rolling us and pushing him down, my body on top of his. We groped and pulled, sucked and bit. Neither one of us seemed to be able to get close enough or kiss hard enough. Levi groaned, and the vibration from it shot straight down between my legs. I felt so needy that I wasn’t even sure I remembered to breathe—the moment felt more important than oxygen. Consumed by the kiss, I’d almost forgotten where I was—in a tent, ten feet away from my son and his friends—but then reality broke through.
A damn cell phone started to ring.
Our kiss broke, and we let go, falling onto our backs and panting.
On the third ring, Levi reached between us and grabbed the offending phone. He looked at it and grumbled, “It’s yours.”
It had to be after midnight. Who the hell would be calling this late?
Squinting, I checked the name on the screen, and my eyes briefly closed. I reopened them with a frown and looked at Levi. “It’s Tanner. I guess he finally remembered his son’s birthday…”
***
The following morning, I drove a few of the kids home. Alex wanted to stay with one of them for a few hours, so I came back alone, planning to pick him up later in the afternoon.
Last night, I’d never gone back out to the tent after Tanner’s phone call. Instead, I’d gone straight to my room where I tossed and turned, thinking about kissing Levi and ruminating over something Tanner had mentioned in passing.
Levi was still in the kitchen, cleaning up the remnants of the boys’ pancake breakfast, when I got back from dropping Alex off. This was our first time alone since our kiss. Well, alone aside from Fern probably lurking somewhere in the house.
Levi wiped down the counter without saying anything for a while. The tension in the air was thick.
Then he finally spoke as he continued to move the towel across the counter. “What did Tanner have to say last night?”
It had been odd talking to my ex even briefly after I’d just come off of that amazing kiss in the tent. I’d been guilt-ridden. The phone call had been bad timing, to say the least.
“He didn’t have much to say to me, which was good because I couldn’t bear to talk to him for any length of time after what had happened between us.”
Levi suddenly stopped wiping the counter and nodded. His shoulders rose and fell.
“But before I woke Alex up to give him the phone, Tanner mentioned that he’d seen a photo of you and a woman after the fire. He had no clue it was me.”
Levi sighed. “I know. When we last spoke on the phone, he mentioned it.”
“It spooked me a little, Levi. If he’d recognized me, he might have put two and two together. And after what happened last night…”
He took a few steps toward me. “You feelin’ guilty about it?”
“Aren’t you?” I asked, his sudden nearness putting me on edge.
“Yeah, I felt guilty. But not enough to take it back.” His stare burned into mine. “I’d do it all over again.”
My chest heaved. “I don’t think we should do it again.”
He searched my eyes, inching a little closer. “Is that what you really want?”
“This has nothing to do with what I want and everything to do with what I don’t want. I don’t want to mess up your relationship with your brother.”
“What relationship?” he muttered angrily before throwing the towel aside. He let out a long breath. “I know what you’re saying, alright? And I respect it. In fact, you’re right. I have no business wanting you like this. Tanner did you wrong, but he’s still my brother. So maybe it makes me a terrible fucking person for what I did last night. I might even hate myself a little. But I still don’t fucking regret it. I just don’t.” He placed his big, strong hand around my cheek. “You told me what you don’t want, but you didn’t answer my question.” He rubbed his thumb against my skin. “What do you want, Presley? And don’t say it doesn’t matter. Because it does matter. What you want matters. Your happiness fucking matters.”
I closed my eyes and let those words sink in. “I want you,” I whispered. My eyes fluttered open. I meant that with every inch of my soul.
His pupils dilated as he stared into my eyes, but he said nothing.
“I don’t know what’s happening, Levi. All I can say is, I feel alive again. I’m invigorated whenever I’m with you. This all feels dangerous—but at the same time, you make me feel safe. I could’ve never predicted that you would be the first man to make me feel this way in a very long time.” I exhaled. “I had many preconceived notions about you. But you’re not the heartless player I imagined. You’re caring and protective. I just…love being around you. I love the time we spend together with Alex, too. And I’m as scared about you leaving as I am of something more happening between us.”
Levi pulled me into a tight embrace. I could feel his heart thundering against my own. What he said next floored me.
“My life over the past few years—it’s been lonely. Even when I came home to visit, it didn’t feel the same here. Until this time. When I’m around you, I feel a sense of home again. And it’s not because of this house or Beaufort. It’s you—your passion, your spirit—which I know is damn ironic, considering how much we butted heads in the beginning.” He pulled back to look at me. “I respect you. I respect you as a mother, and most of all, I respect you as a woman. But I’m also deeply attracted to you in a way I haven’t felt with anyone else. I don’t think I can just pretend like these feelings aren’t there. But I will do what you ask of me. If you want me to try to forget about it…I will. I won’t pressure you. I know what’s at stake.”
Maybe it was the mother in me, but my inclination was always to do whatever it took to prevent the people I cared about from getting hurt.
“I think we have to at least try to control this,” I told him. “Before we know it, you’ll be gone again. That’s the reality, no matter how strong these feelings are right now.”
He said nothing as we stood there, staring into each other’s eyes. Despite what I’d just said, the energy in the room felt like it was about to combust. It felt like we were about to combust.
I moved to walk past him, and the moment I met his gaze again, he stopped me, gripping my arm and pulling me close. He kissed me so hard that it felt like my lips were slowly burning. I savored his tongue, immediately recognizing the taste from our kiss last night. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. And somehow, I knew there was no going back now.
Levi lifted me up as I wrapped my legs around his massive frame. Immediately I felt the heat of his erection pressing against me as he carried me out of the room as if I weighed nothing. I certainly felt weightless in his strong arms.