The Rogue (Hideaway Springs #3)

17. Tessa

17

L evi leaves my shopping bags by the den when we walk into the house.

I hear Jackson’s favorite cartoon playing in the other room as Chase comes around from the living room and into the hall. “ I’ll only be an hour, tops .”

“I said two,” Levi argues as he passes his brother with a grunt to check on his son.

Chase eyes the bags on the floor and a small grin forms on his pretty face. With a perked brow, he puts his arm around my shoulder as we walk toward the kitchen. “Could this mean you’re staying past your term?”

I glance at Levi. “No. But did your brother enjoy playing with dolls when he was younger? Cause he sure enjoyed dressin' me today.”

He flicks off the television, and I follow his gaze to a sleepy little boy on the couch.

“You picked out her clothes ?” Chase teases.

“Well, she wasn’t doing it,” Levi says defensively. “Besides, it wasn’t hard.”

“Oh, this is gold for Pepper.” He clasps his hands and moves backward toward the patio. “Alright, I’m heading home to my wife. She sent dinner. It’s on the counter. The kid ate. I don’t do the bath thing—that’s all you. Goodnight.”

Levi walks him out and I move to Jackson in the living room, feeling guilty for abandoning him tonight.

I swipe his hair from his face, wondering how many times he must have felt second. Second to Levi’s work. Second to the slew of nannies this man has had that were clearly more interested in their boss.

That kind of misplaced attention could do a number on a child. But hell, does he have a bright spirit.

It’s no wonder at all. Jackson’s surrounded by love. It’s natural for him to give it and expect it in return.

I sit beside him, blowing softly against his sweaty forehead. I don’t know if I’m in a position to undress him, but he’s definitely overdressed for sleep.

I pull the throw blanket off him and stand to set it aside, finding Levi watching me —his hands in his pockets.

He’s not scowling this time.

He’s…thoughtful.

I let Levi take over, carrying Jackson upstairs while I set the table for us. Pepper had sent back some fancy eggplant dish I can tell was from a recipe book but clearly missing or replaced ingredients.

Levi returns, finding me lightly spooning and tasting the lopsided dish. “Oh good, I’ll wait a few minutes to see if you drop dead before trying some.”

I laugh. “It’s not that bad and I’m going to tell her you said that. Here.” I take a forkful of the warmed meal. “Try.”

He grunts, making a face before opening for me, and I shove the eggplant in his mouth. “Mmm. Not… terrible.”

I nod, moving back to the stove. “I’m going to add some garlic salt. Oh no… fresh garlic. Sauteed. ”

He steps behind me, watching me as I toss pieces of garlic into the hot oiled pan. “Where’d you learn to cook?”

“Bessie.”

“How do you know Bessie?”

I stiffen but continue to stir. “She was my boss at the diner I worked at.”

“In Summer Hill?”

I frown, pausing mid-stir.

“Something wrong?”

I spin, locking our eyes. “How do you know where I live?”

There’s a beat before he answers. “Area code.”

“Oh, right.” I blink, turning back to the stove. “I um…think this is good to go.” I shut off the burner and move about the kitchen like I’ve got a house full of guests.

Levi’s the picture of calm as he pours the wine. It’s almost maddening until he grips my waist, spinning me to face him. “I’m sorry.”

My head shakes. “You didn’t do anything. I’m just tired, on edge, I guess.”

“I respect your privacy. I’ve asked my last question. For now, okay?” His tone is so gentle, it’s almost foreign.

I nod. “Okay.”

His easy grin settles me somehow.

He pulls a stool out for me before settling himself on the one beside me.

Throughout dinner, we play the game of accidental knee brushing, touching, leaning, and laughing.

Levi clears our plates and empty wine glasses.

I wait for him at the bottom of the stairs as he locks all the doors and does a final sweep of the floor. He keeps low lights on in nearly every room. Almost the same way I had it the night he left me to go to the Inn .

I don’t like dark places. He’s learned this about me. He’s accepted it without judgment.

He steps in front of me. His voice soft. “Ready?”

I glance up and nod. Feeling uneasy and ashamed. I’ve let my fears, insecurities and trauma affect this whole house. Because of me, he’s been waking earlier. Because of me, he’s changed his nightly routine. Because of me, his son isn’t having the best summer I could give him.

He lifts my chin. “Did I forget something?”

“I’m sorry about the last few days with Jackson. I’m going to take him out tomorrow. And every day. It was selfish of me to keep him home.”

“It wasn’t selfish. It was cautious. It’s a normal reaction.” He steps closer, cupping my face and lifting it to his. “Tessa, I want you to come to me. With anything you need. A night off. A problem with Jackson. A problem with you. If there's something on your mind or if you need anything at all. Just ask.”

I search his eyes. “Anything?”

“Anything.”

“Can I sleep in the den?”

He lowers his hands and steps back. “Baby, we've been over this. You can't live in the den. There's no privacy. There’s no doo—”

His words cut off but I have my answer. It’s a stupid request and I shouldn’t have asked again. I nod and drop my head.

“Alright,” he rasps.

I look up. “Really?”

He nods, but there’s hesitation. Concern.

“I promise, you never have to worry about him walking in on me half naked. Or even naked. I’ll be super careful about that.”

He looks into my eyes like he’s not hearing me. “What happened to you?” he asks, already breaking his own promise .

Pools hit my eyes, and I draw back, hitting the wall. “I don’t like confined spaces. Jesus, Cowboy, paranoid much?”

The irony.

He catches my wrist before I can turn away and the touch makes it even harder to resist him. To not press myself into his warm, safe, chest. To not yearn for that husky voice telling me all the ways he’d wreck me if I broke my walls.

“I don't like lies, Tess, but I'll let you lie all you want if it keeps you from walking away right now.”

Like that .

“You could make an ice queen melt with that mouth.”

“Are you an ice queen?”

I laugh with a snort. “Pepper's the ice queen. I'm a bowl of mashed potatoes.”

He doesn’t find the humor as he threads his fingers with mine. “I like potatoes.”

I smirk and he uses the opening to pull me close. “I like you,” he clarifies before sweeping his tongue over my lips, parting them.

I wrap my arms around him, opening, whimpering as our tongues meet again. His body is strong, powerful, gentle and secure; I want it to consume me.

I moan when his hands slide up my short shorts, calloused fingers gripping my flesh. “Levi. God, yes.”

His hips roll forward and I feel how much he wants it too. I'm ready for him to carry me upstairs, shut the door and keep me wrapped up in his arms. I want him to fuck me in ways I’ve denied wanting him to for the last three years.

I—

Feel cold .

Levi tears his lips from mine and pulls back, raking his fingers through his hair.

“Shit.”

I’m breathless and afraid of the inevitable answer this hot, brooding cowboy is going to give me when I ask. “What’s wrong?”

I hold my breath. Waiting for the we can’t…this is wrong…I shouldn’t have led you on …

He shakes his head, then closes the gap between us again, holding my face like he can’t not touch me. “I’m sorry,” he grits out. “It’s been a while since…I've done this.”

“Oh.” My eyes stretch. Was Lilly the last woman he’d been with? How long ago was that?

Reading my expression, he sweeps a thumb over my cheek, a grin playing on his lips. “That’s not what I meant, beautiful.”

“Okay...”

“You’re not just…I want to do this right. Cook for you. Maybe a little whiskey, candles.”

I nearly melt into a puddle.

But that’s not my image. That’s not who I am. I’ve melted for a man before and it got me a bullet above my ass.

I grip his shoulders and twist us so that he’s against the wall and press myself into him. “Indie. Look, I’m sold on the whole gentleman thing, okay? I don’t need wining and dining.”

I lift onto my toes to kiss him but he flips me back over. “I’m not selling anything, baby. But I am a gentleman, and you’re getting dinner tomorrow.”

I bite the corner of my lip, and he tugs on it with his teeth. “Quit it.”

His eyes are dark and jaw set. He’s so intense. So bossy. And this small space beneath the stairwell is so intimate my core heats.

“You didn’t let me finish.” He pins me with those eyes. “Dinner tomorrow. Dessert tonight.”

His lips crash over mine, and I moan into his mouth. His large hands hook the back of my thighs and lift me as I wrap my arms and legs around him. Our kiss is desperate, passionate, like we’re famished for each other.

Like we haven’t kissed before.

Or never will again.

The thought makes me moan harder into his mouth, and he shushes me before carrying me up the stairs.

Silently, I accept that this might be a one-time thing, but God, I hope it’s enough. Because just his arms around me is something I think I’m already addicted to.

I nip against that hard jaw and the side of his neck.

“What did I tell you about being indecent in the halls, Whiskey?” he teases before drifting me into his bedroom. It’s big. Airy with large windows and a balcony overlooking his ranch.

He sets me on my feet, leaving me lightheaded and watches me for a moment. It’s tender and attentive. He leans in for a soft kiss. “You trust me, Tess?”

The question throws me off but the answer is easy. “I do, Indie.”

His arm secures my waist as he grips the edge of the door. “Okay if I close this?”

Warmth spreads through me and I grin. “Yeah. It’s okay.”

Levi closes the door and moves his fingers over the lock.

Panic rushes through my veins. “Leave it unlocked,” I call before I can think.

His hand shoots up and he steps back. For a brief second, he almost seems mad at himself for even considering it. “Of course.”

Way to go, Tess .

I tense and turn away. “Sorry, you’re right. There’s a child—and I’m—”

He catches my hand. “That kid could sleep through an earthquake. He hasn’t come into my room in the middle of the night since he was five. We’ll leave it unlocked.”

“Please don’t ask,” I whisper.

His eyes are dead serious when he responds. “I won’t.”

I nod again, staring at the door as if to reassure myself I’m okay. I pull my shirt over my head, leaving my white lace bra on display. “Put your hands on me again,” I practically beg.

Levi sheds his shirt like a lifeguard on duty and lifts me. His body is warm against mine, and I cling to the skin-to-skin contact as if he’s Superman holding me fifty feet above the ground, and I’m deathly afraid of heights. He carries me to the massive bed in the center of the room and sets me over it.

I tug on his belt, desperate to set the erection I felt all the way up here free.

He catches my wrists and I look up at him with a breathy laugh. “Sorry. It’s been over three years for me, so if I’m too eager or a little resistant, you know why.”

“Three…years,” he repeats, like that number means something to him. I hold my breath before he finally nods. “We’ll go as fast or slow as you want. You set the pace.”

With my bottom lip between my teeth again, I smile up at him and lean back on my elbows.

“How do you want me, Tess?”

I sit up, flashing him a flirty smile. “My choice?”

“Tonight, it’s yours. Tomorrow it’s mine.”

A shiver of excitement runs down my spine, along with an ease of knowing I’ll have him again .

“I want you all night.” Of this, I’m sure. The next thing takes a little courage as I undo his buckle slower this time and the button of my white shorts. “I want you to fuck me with your tongue. Then finish me with your cock. I want it slow, and I want it hard. No shortcuts.”

“Fuck. That was going to be mine.”

I giggle as he hooks his fingers into my shorts and slides them down my legs. “You’re so goddamn beautiful. You’re bringing me to my knees already, baby.”

Levi’s mouth is on my throat and he works his way down my body with soft kisses and tiny nibbles. I’m so high off this brooding man, I’m floating in space.

He lowers the cup of my bra and hisses. I gasp when he tugs on a hardened nipple with his lips.

My panties will be soaked through before he even gets below my belly button.

He must feel my impatience. “Regretting asking me to go slow, Rogue?”

“Gravely.”

He chuckles and slides his hands under my ass. “These are sexy. You been wearin’ these around my house?”

I writhe. “Off, Indie. Take them off.”

He stands. “If you say so.” He steps out of his pants, and I scan him from the bed. Heavens, he’s fucking perfect. A flawlessly carved mountain of a man.

And tonight…and apparently tomorrow, he’s mine.

Levi’s on his knees on the floor. I moan as hands as rugged as the man they belong to slide my panties down my legs. “Fuck, sweetness. You’re soaked. ”

I let him pull me closer, sliding my knees apart. I’m desperate for his mouth. For the penetration of his tongue. I lift off the bed to feel him… to watch him.

When his tongue sweeps through my slit, I cry out. He moans as he pulls on my clit, sucking slow, then fast. It’s warm and rough at the same time. The scruff of his beard will leave my skin raw and I welcome it.

“Christ, Indie.” I bend my knees and arch my back, my fingers sliding into his hair.

“Fuck, Levi. Yes. Oh my god.”

He pulls back with a breath. “Ride me, baby. Ride me like I’m your cowboy.”

I hesitate, and he responds by teasing me with his lips barely grazing my flesh.

I lift off the bed, spreading wider for him, moving my hips, and riding his mouth hard as he pumps his tongue into me.

I’m so close. But I’ve never come this way before. This is the part where it trickles away. It’s why I asked him to finish me with his cock.

“Now. Levi. Fuck me now.”

But he doesn’t stop. He’s devouring me. I’m delirious. My breath catches, and I’m on the edge as he pulls my orgasm out of me. It’s impossible and yet—

“Oh, oh god.” Stars, I see stars. My thighs tremble. Every muscle below my belly tightens and my mouth drops silent for a second before I pull the pillow over my face and scream, jerking against him as he licks me clean.

A rumble of a laugh comes from Levi as he rises off the floor and lifts the pillow from my face.

I’m breathing hard, watching his gorgeous chest rise and fall as he grins down at me .

I swipe the pillow with what little strength I have right now and whack him with it. “What happened to my choice…”

He presses his lips to mine. “I went rogue.”

I drop the pillow to my side with an impossible grin as he moves over me. “You alright?”

“I could have woken the livestock." I glance at the door. "…or worse.”

He drags me over the pillow, hovering that strong, masculine body over me. “Seems fair.” His heated gaze sweeps my face. “You didn’t exactly come with a warning yourself.”

I reach up to kiss him deeply, desperate to have his body pressed against mine again. My fingers work his briefs down.

And holy hell. His erection is rock-hard, long, and thick. I lick my lips.

“Like what you see?” He teases and it’s so playful, I love this side to him. It’s what I imagine he must have been before things like responsibilities and an ex-wife fucked with him.

I lift my eyes to his. “I’m getting you a new mug.”

He bursts out a laugh and kisses my neck. “What’s it gonna say, Whiskey?” he asks as he unstraps my bra.

My response is caught in my throat when I watch him devour me with those deep blue eyes. “God, you’re perfect, Tess.”

I bite my lip.

As long as I don’t turn around, everything will be fine.

“I’ll surprise you,” I finally answer, dazed by his fingers tracing down my side.

“Love how responsive you are. Can’t wait to be inside you.”

I’m so ready for him to fill me to the brim, it’s not even funny.

Foil tears and he slips on a condom that seems to sheath all of him somehow.

This is all so intoxicating. The last time I had sex—too long ago—lasted minutes and was in the backseat of my ex’s car .

It wasn’t my first time, but I don’t think anyone’s completely broken me into taking all of what Levi is preparing to give me.

He lowers himself to me, his words gruff but gentle. “I’ve already been inside you. You can take all of me, Whiskey Eyes. I promise.”

I relax at how in tune he is with me. I open my eyes, meeting his with a smirk. “You’re nailin’ this gentleman thing, Cowboy.”

“Good. Because I’m not about to fuck you like one.”

He jerks my hips and sinks down.

I gasp, taking him in. The sensation arousing me so intensely. He doesn’t ease. He thrusts . He treats me like a woman. Not a girl.

And I own it.

I breathe evenly, my body relaxing as I inhale him inch by inch.

“You’re taking me so good, Tessa.”

“Deeper, Indie. Fuck me like the town troublemaker deserves.”

Heat flashes in his eyes and a guttural sound erupts from his throat as he pounds into me. “Fuck, Whiskey.”

I’ve only ever had it rough. I never liked it. But I’m reveling in this. In him. In being his tonight. Being fucked senseless by this grumpy, broody man.

My fingers wrap around his ass, and I rock against him, feeling full but needing more.

We’re in heaven. He’s a freaking god and I’m his goddess. Every muscle in my body tightens. Every burning need quenched.

“So fucking perfect, baby.” He repeats the endearment that should melt my heart.

But all it does is remind me how little he knows me because I am anything but.

“Levi,” I whimper, my insides burning to explode.

“That’s it, baby. Come with me.”

My thighs shake as he pulls out almost all the way, thrusting back in .

I rise off the bed as another orgasm hits me hard. Levi crushes my mouth with his, muffling his rough groan and my cry as he jerks himself empty inside me.

“Holy fuck,” I whisper on a gasp.

His big hands cradle my head that’s still lifted off the pillow. “Took the words right out of my mouth, baby.” Hazy blue eyes search mine. “You good?”

“You said we’re doing this again?” I ask, still seeing stars.

“Fuck yeah.”

I smile in his arms. “Then, yeah. I’m good.”