Levi gripped her wrist with one hand, cupped her cheek with the other, angling her head up.
“You’re driving me fucking crazy, Jilly. Slow down.” He kissed her, soft and light and so sensually she felt herself melting against him. His lips trailed down to her earlobe. “Slow down, honey. I’m not going anywhere. If you’re mine, I’m yours. I want to memorize every single second.”
She inhaled sharply, part of her wondering how she’d lived her whole life without knowing this degree of want.
Letting her fingers trail back up, she played with the little hairs at the nape of his neck, kissed him in a way she hoped would convey how much he mattered, how much she would treasure this. No matter what happened next.
Twenty-six
Levi couldn’t stop kissing Jillian long enough to actually pull in a full breath, and he didn’t care. He’d hyperventilate if that’s what it took to keep kissing her. All he could see, feel, and think was wrapped up in touching her, getting as close to her as humanly possible. He was drowning in her and didn’t want to be saved. What made it all the more amazing was neither did she. With hurried hands and near-desperate kisses, she made it clear she didn’t need air if the option was that or them.
Her fingernails scratched across the back of his neck, sending a full-body shudder through his system. His hands went back to her jean-covered thighs, squeezed even as they moved to her ass, to lift her off the counter. He needed more space to explore every inch of her, to savor and devour her, to cherish her and show her how much she meant to him.
“Bedroom,” he ground out, unable to say much more as her lips moved along his neck, up to his ear, and her teeth closed around the lobe. “Jillian.”
He felt wild, nearly outside of himself. He’d never felt this way; so completely consumed.
“Far corner, front of the cabin.”
His long strides ate up the space between where they were and where he wanted them to be in seconds. He didn’t need the light. Whisper-thin beams from the moon flickered through the slats in the blinds. When his knees hit the edge of a mattress, he fell forward, his arms under her to cradle the landing.
She gave a small “oof” followed by a laugh and his heart strained so hard in his chest, he thought she might be able to feel it against hers. He lifted his upper body, or attempted to, but she laughed and held on to his neck tighter, trying to keep him exactly where he was.
“One second. I want to feel your skin against mine,” he whispered. “Want” was a mild, entirely too-tame word for the storm of emotion raging inside of him.
She dropped her hands to her sides, stared at him through lowered lids, a sweet, sexy smile curving her lips.
With her legs still locked around him, he couldn’t move far, so he slid his hands to her thighs, down her calves, unhooking her ankles from behind him, smoothing his fingers back up, watching her face. The gentletick, tick, tickof a clock on the nightstand was the only sound other than the slide of the linens and their breathing.
His eyes grew accustomed to the dark but he didn’t need to see Jilly toseeher. He could close his eyes and picture her with startling accuracy, like he’d memorized every angle and curve of her face. The way her top lip was a touch thinner than the full bottom one. The way her nose turned up the tiniest bit at the end.
What he felt for her was so much deeper than he’d ever felt for anyone. Had he held back in the other brief relationships he’d had? He didn’t think so. Until this moment, until Jillian, he hadn’t known he had all of this need, all of thislove,inside of him to give. Levi moved his hands, up, up over her hips, beneathher sweater, his fingers grazing bare, warm skin. She sucked in a breath as he moved the fabric away, pushed it farther up, her lip slipping between her teeth for a second.
“I never really lost all the baby weight,” she said.
Levi met her gaze in the darkness and hoped like hell she could see the honesty in his, the lust and longing he felt in every cell of his body.
“You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever met.”
He tugged the shirt up, smiling when she adjusted, lifted, so he could pull it over her head. He tossed it in the direction of the floor then returned his gaze to the woman in front of him. The woman he’d wanted for half of his life.
When she fell back to the bed in just a plain white bra, everything in his body coiled at the sight. He was startlingly aware of every muscle, every breath, every pump of his heart. She was perfect. Her hands went to her stomach.
“Mine came with rolls instead of ridges like yours,” she said.
Levi laughed because she was funny and he couldn’t help it. But at the same time, he took her hands, held them away from her body, stared down at the softly rounded belly she tried to hide. Pushing her hands to the side, he lowered himself to his knees so he could feather her silky-soft skin with kisses.
She relaxed under his touch, against his mouth as his tongue dipped into her belly button. His name left her lips in a breathless whisper. He levered up, rising over her so he could look her in the eyes. Resting on his side along the length of her body, he kept his hand on her stomach and spoke from his heart.
“You’re stunning, Jillian. Everything about you, from your smile to your stomach. Your skin, your eyes, the curve of your waist, your hair.” He let his lips move over her jaw, and his hand traced up, along her side, over her breast, up to her shoulder and downher arm until their fingers were linked. The seconds, the frantic pace, slowed, tugging them both under as his mouth trailed light kisses along her collarbone, over the swell of each breast. She shifted beneath him, her breath deepening. He smiled against her skin, felt victorious when her other hand roamed restlessly, trying to touch him wherever she could. Eventually, those fingers sifted through his hair. He continued kissing every inch of skin he’d exposed, taking his time, moving down, lingering along the way, moving from one side of her stomach to the other so she could realize how special she was. How perfect. For him.
“Levi,” she whispered in the dark, making his blood heat and his heart soar.
Slowly, intentionally, he popped the button on her jeans, lowered the zipper, the sound all but echoing in the quiet. He continued moving down, letting his feet touch the floor so he could stand up and remove the rest of her clothing. He held her gaze, making sure she was on board with every single second of this. Hooking his fingers in the waistband of her jeans, he waited for her nod.
“Stop stalling,” she said.
He hadn’t expected to laugh while undressing her, but everything about Jilly was surprisingly and delightfully new. Levi tugged and pulled her jeans down her long legs, revealing them inch by gloriously beautiful inch. He tossed them on the floor, unable to hide the wonder he felt just from looking at her.
