Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88889 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88889 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Levi grips hold of my hips and tugs me down onto his lap.
A myriad of expressions flashes over his attractive features. After what feels like long minutes, a determined expression settles in his hazel eyes.
“The last thing I want to do is hurt you,” he whispers.
“I know.”
Please, Levi. We’re meant to be.
“I only want to make life easier for you. I want you to be happy, Kelcie.”
My eyes mist up, and my chin begins to tremble from all the intense emotions I’m experiencing. “I’ve been happy every moment I’ve gotten to spend with you.” I suck in a quivering breath. “I was dead until you came along.”
I wish he would see that he is the only reason I’ve started living again.
Levi lifts his hand and brushes some hair away from my face while looking at me with something that can only be described as wonder.
His fingers trail over my temple and cheek until his thumb tugs at my bottom lip. My breathing instantly speeds up, and my heart skips a beat.
His gaze turns downright predatory, and I’m glad I’m sitting on his lap because I swear, I go weak in the knees.
I feel how Levi tenses. “Once we cross the line, there’s no going back.”
I cup the sharp line of his jaw and shake my head. “We’ve already crossed the line, Levi.” Thinking he might need to hear it, I say, “I want all of you. Every single broken piece. The good. The bad. There’s nothing you could do to make me feel any different.”
His eyes flick away from me, worry flashing over his face.
“Hey,” I whisper. He brings his gaze back to me, and I smile. “Stop overthinking things.”
When Levi remains silent, I give him the time he needs, and it pays off because the determined expression that’s super hot returns to his face.
I lean in a little closer until I’m able to press a soft kiss to his lips. His week-old beard is scratchy on my skin, causing tingles to spread out over my body.
I pull back an inch or so, and when Levi follows, his mouth nipping at mine, once . . . twice, I let out a needy moan, desperate for more.
A sexy grin forms on his face, and I realize he’s teasing me. I playfully slap his shoulder and move to get off his lap, but his hand shoots up, and he grips me by my throat.
My brain completely misfires at how dang hot the move is, then his mouth takes mine in an urgent kiss that has me seeing fireworks.
The level of heat between us becomes damn near combustible, and I feel his manhood harden beneath me.
I’m overcome with satisfaction that I’m the only one who brings out this side in him.
Somehow, the kiss is both gentle and demanding, his tongue and lips alternating between different pressures that have me melting into his embrace. I move one hand to the back of his head, my fingers finding the short strands, while my other palm greedily explores the hard planes of his chest.
His stubble keeps scraping against my sensitive skin in the most delicious way, and I’m a second away from begging him to strip me naked when he wisely slows the kiss down until we’re both keeping still, our rushed breaths warming the air between us.
“Holy crap,” I whisper. “For a man who hates touching and kissing, you sure are good at it.”
A deep chuckle rumbles from his chest as he pulls me into a hug. I press my face into the crook of his neck and hold him as if he might up and vanish at any time.
I’ve learned the hard lesson to appreciate every single moment you have with a person because you never know when it will be your last.
Please, God. Don’t ever take this man from me. I won’t survive it.
By the time I lift my head and slip off Levi’s lap, our food is cold, and Lick needs a toilet break.
“I’ll warm our plates while you let Lick out,” I say, getting to work.
My steps feel light, and there’s an excited buzz all over my body. My stomach keeps fluttering as if a kaleidoscope of butterflies has taken up permanent residence inside me.
Mom pats my cheek. “One day you’ll meet someone who’ll make you feel differently.”
I shake my head. “Nope. I have zero desire to date.”
“You might change your mind a few years from now.”
The memory flashes through my mind, and I stop what I’m doing, suddenly realizing Mom was right.
I wish you were here, Mom. I wish I could tell you I’ve fallen in love with the most perfect man.
Grief ripples through me like a wave spilling onto the shore before it withdraws back into the darkness, where all my trauma is locked in the deepest corner of my heart.