He took pity on her graceless attempt to seduce him and shook his head. “Not tonight.” He tenderly tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear, a touch of regret glimmering in his gaze. “But make no mistake, there isn’t anything I want more than to strip you naked and spread you out on my bed, then drive so deep inside of your body that there’s nothing else you can do but take every single inch of me.”
His words inflamed her all over again and confused her. “If that’s what we both want, then why not?” Because the truth was, there most likely wasn’t going to be another night with Levi. She’d agreed to one date for a reason—it kept things between them simple and uncomplicated when it was time for her to go. Except the way her heart tightened at the thought of leaving this man behind, she feared she was already falling for him.
“Ahhh, Sarah,” he said on a soft sigh as he traced a finger along her jaw. “You have such a sweet innocence about you, and I’m not sure you’re ready for me.”
She blinked up at him. How could he say that after the way she’d just responded to him? Her body was primed and ready and oh-so-willing, and it wasn’t as though she was a virgin, for crying out loud, and she made that clear. “I’m not innocent when it comes to sex.”
He arched a dark blonde brow at her that was filled with a quiet challenge. “You are when it comes to my kind of sex.”
“Which is?”
“Let’s just say . . . that issue I have about being in control? It extends to what happens in the bedroom and what I want to do to you while we’re in there.”
She licked her bottom lip as her imagination went into overdrive, the erotic visions filling her mind so hot and exciting that she had to suppress a shiver. “I’m okay with that.”
“Are you absolutely sure? Because I’m not a gentle lover.” His lips twisted with an almost perverse smile as he gripped her hips again and pulled her forward so that the ridge of his erection reminded her how much he had to give—clearly more than the average man.
“Are you okay with being restrained to my bed while I have access to every part of your naked body to do whatever I want? And just to be clear, I want you on your hands and knees so I can grab and smack your ass while I pound into you, so goddamn hard and deep it’ll shove you up the mattress a few feet and you’ll forget your own name. I want you on your back, your legs spread indecently wide, with my mouth and tongue and fingers fucking you before I take you with my cock. And when you think you can’t take any more, I’m going to want to do it all over again.”
Oh. My. God. With every descriptive detail he shared, she felt her eyes growing wide—in shock and, Lord help her, with anticipation of experiencing that darker part of Levi that made him the complex man he was. She understood that now.
He lifted his hand and dragged the pad of his thumb along her lower lip before pressing it inside until she tasted his warm, salty skin. “And this sweet, soft, innocent mouth of yours? I want to do dirty, filthy things to it. I want to see it swallow every bit of my cock as I push my way to the back of your throat. I want to feel it suck me dry as I come.”
A soft whimpering sound bubbled its way out of her, and she had to resist the urge to drop to her knees and let him do those hot, indecent things. When had she become so shameless? Even as the thought crossed through her mind, she knew that Levi was the reason. No other man had ever made her feel so uninhibited.
His perceptive gaze swept across her features, and a sexy, knowing smile curved his mouth. “You’re breathing hard, your face is flushed, and your nipples are nice and tight against your dress, so your body clearly likes the idea of giving me everything I want and need.” He drew a shuddering breath, letting her know he wanted those things, too. “But not tonight,” he said, disappointing her when he remained firm on that decision. “We’re not going there until I know for sure that you’re ready mentally and being with me won’t freak you out.”
“Have you freaked out other women?” she asked, not because she was afraid, but she was definitely curious.
His chuckle was low and spontaneous. “No, but then I’ve always chosen my sexual partners very carefully. You, Sarah Robins, are the exception.”
With that revelation hanging in the air, he stepped away from her and pushed the tips of his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I’ve given you more than enough to think about tonight, so how about I take you home and we revisit this discussion on our second date?”
She opened her mouth to respond to that, but he quickly cut her off before she could speak.
“Before you remind me that you aren’t going to be around for long, for the time that you are here in Chicago, can you keep an open mind about . . . us?” He met her gaze, his intention serious and persuasive.
He was so damn tempting, and he certainly wasn’t asking for forever. Hell, he’d just given her a very explicit rundown of exactly what his interest in her was. He was offering a temporary affair—albeit a scorching-hot one with him implicitly in control—and before she could change her mind, she replied with an encouraging but not fully committed, “Maybe.”
He laughed, humor deepening his tone. “Not quite a yes and not quite a no. But it’s definitely an answer I can work with.”
Chapter Six
Still standing in the kitchen, Levi scrubbed a hand along his jaw, watching Sarah as she walked down the hallway that led to the bathroom. Her absence gave him a couple of minutes to process everything that had happened in the past few hours. Not just the kissing and orgasm that had nearly sent him over the edge with the need to feel those rippling contractions around his cock, but their deep, intimate conversations at dinner, the sharing that had given him greater insight into her painfully rough life, and mostly, how his feelings for Sarah Robins were escalating at a shockingly rapid rate.
The thought should have panicked him. He didn’t let women past those barriers protecting his heart, but he’d already run the gamut of emotions with her. He’d gone from flirtatious interest to concerned and caring to wanting to protect her from anything and everything in life that could harm her. With any other woman, he’d be quick to cut ties at the tiniest shift in his feelings, but there was something delicate and vulnerable about Sarah that made him want to pull her closer, not push her away.
Maybe it was the similarities in their pasts, the way they’d both grown up without parents to nurture and guide them. At least he’d had Clay as a role model and someone who’d busted his ass to make sure the three of them weren’t separated by social services, but Sarah . . . To think that she’d lost loving parents to a house fire, then had been abandoned by another family she believed wanted her, broke his heart . . . and made him want to be the one to mend it all at the same time.
He’d known her for nearly six weeks, and what had started as friendly and flirtatious stop-ins at the Circle K had evolved into him wanting more. Sexually, yeah, he wanted to corrupt that innocence and make her his own private dirty girl, which he knew without a doubt she had hidden inside her. She hadn’t flinched or stared at him in horror when he’d laid all his predilections on the table, and she accepted his need for control. In fact, he’d seen the distinct fascination in her gaze, and fuck, tamping down the urge not to drag her off to his bedroom and follow
through with every salacious thing he’d suggested to her had been damned near impossible.
But this went beyond simple attraction. She was the first woman to stir something deep inside of him when he honestly thought that part of him was damaged beyond repair. He was undeniably drawn to that sweet innocence he’d spoken of, that sensitive nature of hers that told him she was less jaded about people and their motives than him—despite what she’d been through. While he tended to choose women he deemed safe and easy to walk away from, the mere thought of Sarah walking away from him made his stomach twist with something way too possessive.
When she’d casually mentioned her plan to leave town when he’d picked her up earlier, he’d had to deliberately steel his expression so she couldn’t see the panic flashing through him at the notion of losing her before he’d ever had her. Then he’d gone and pushed her for a second date when he knew she was trying to keep things between them from becoming too entwined.
He exhaled a harsh breath and leaned his hip against the counter, silently berating himself for being a selfish asshole—because if he really had a shred of decency in him, he’d cut Sarah loose instead of pursuing her any further, and not just because she wanted to leave. He’d never been able to give any woman more than sex, so what made him think he had the ability to give Sarah what she needed emotionally?