CHAPTER ONE
I’m not sure what I expected. I’d been to bars, but not the kind of bars with pool tables and smoke haze and men on the prowl for a one-night stand. The bars I’d been to specialized in cocktail hours and old men in business suits. The Full Moon wasn’t refined or elegant or quiet.
It was everything I was not. Exactly where I needed to be tonight.
“What’ll you have?” the bartender asked. He was staring at Candy’s breasts, but she didn’t seem to mind, just flashed him a sexier version of her friendly smile. Had she slept with him before?
It was Renee who answered. “Pitcher of strawberry margaritas, Dave.”
“Make that two,” Candy tacked on.
Dave the Bartender nodded at her cleavage. “I’ll send ’em right over.”
I followed my friends through the crowd toward a table Sarah had snagged while we ordered. The three women obviously had a routine. I’d known they were close, and the fact that they’d extended their little circle to include me from the first day we met in Nursing 101 class had touched me in ways they couldn’t possibly understand. They were normal girls with normal lives and normal homes. I wasn’t, but if they’d noticed, they didn’t mention it. No flicker of recognition at my name, no questions about where I lived or why I never went out when they invited me. Just basic friendship, no strings attached.
They had no idea how rare that was.
“So, Abby, see anything interesting?”
Too much, actually. Heat flushed my cheeks. “Um…”
Sarah giggled. “Wait till she’s got at least one margarita in her, Renee. Then ask.” She bumped my shoulder with hers. “The selection always looks better the later it gets.”
The selection already looked pretty good to me. Most of the men were our age—early twenties—and not a suit and tie to be found. Jeans and half-buttoned shirts and messily styled hair were the go-to. A tattooed forearm or the wink of an earring wasn’t rare. Beers in hand, the men joshed each other while prowling the room, hungry gazes assessing each woman they came to. One by one they’d peel off with their choice, either to the dance floor or a table or the front door.
What was it like to be the women they chose? In the circles my family required me to frequent, the barrier of my father’s name and status kept men away from me. Here, there were no barriers except my friends and my own insecurities. The idea that I could choose to ignore both and do whatever I wanted quickened my breath. Either I was excited or about to hyperventilate; I wasn’t certain which.
I refused to let the terror win anymore.
The margaritas arrived and we each poured ourselves one. The fruity yet tart liquid set my tongue alight like a sparkler on the Fourth of July, a pleasure I hadn’t experienced before. I savored it as I listened to the girls’ giggling commentary about each man who walked by. It wasn’t long before the room went hazy with something other than smoke and I found myself joining in the conversation without reservation.
I was pouring my second margarita when my phone vibrated in my back pocket. Two shorts, one long: my father. A healthy gulp helped bolster my confidence before I pulled the cell out for a look.
I shouldn’t respond, shouldn’t care, but I clicked on the message anyway, just to see. Maybe he’d changed his mind. Maybe he was worried about me. Maybe he wanted to apologize, tell me he loved me for once in twenty-one years.
Where the hell are you?
Or maybe not. I returned the phone to my pocket.
Sarah leaned close, her voice low. “Everything okay?”
Renee and Candy were focused on the table of men to their right. I gave Sarah a wry smile. “My dad.” I took another drink. “It’ll blow over, I’m sure.”
Sarah laid her hand over mine on the table and squeezed. The gesture mesmerized me. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched me because they cared. How sad was that?
My phone buzzed again. I ignored it.
“Holy shit.”
Sarah’s hand left mine to grasp her drink. She took a gulp, her gaze trained somewhere over Candy’s head. I followed it.
Holy shit is right.
The man was tall, dark, and dangerous with a capital D. I’d never seen anyone like him, anyone who made my insides clench just looking at him. Thick dark hair, long on top and shaved close on the sides, highlighted perfect ears and a jaw chiseled from granite. His eyes seemed too light for that hair and his olive skin, shining like spotlights beneath dark brows, almost too intense to bear. And those lips. God. They hinted at sensual pleasures I could only guess at.
He prowled across the room, a lean, muscular panther intent on prey—every woman’s fantasy, including mine.
And he was headed straight for us.
My gaze dropped to my drink. The tables around us held either men or couples, so I wasn’t mistaken about his focus. Which girl was he interested in? Sarah with her sweet smile? Or maybe Candy, with her unabashed sensuality?
An empty glass stared back at me. I reached for the pitcher.
“Hello, ladies.”
My hand froze on the handle as the words quivered through my body. Look up! Look at him! But I couldn’t; I could only sit there like a dumbass holding the pitcher in my shaking grip and praying I didn’t make a fool of myself.
No fear, remember?
No fear. I tightened my grip, lifted. So far, so good. Somehow I managed to pour a fresh drink without spilling, replace the pitcher on the table. Despite the sick pounding of my heart in my throat, I made myself glance up.
Gray eyes locked with mine.
Lord, he’s beautiful.
I expected him to look away, to focus on one of the other women. He didn’t. He stared—at me. Until the urge to squirm crawled up my spine and my cheeks burst into flames.
“Hello.”
Was that my voice, all breathy and…suggestive? It must’ve been; the other girls were staring, silent, their round eyes just as awed as I’m sure mine were. I looked back to the man looming over our table.
He reached a hand out to me. “I’m Levi.”
My fingers settled into his grip like they had been created to fit him. “Abby.”
My voice cracked. I cleared my throat.
“Hi, Abby.” He didn’t let go of my hand, didn’t glance around. Just held me captive with those intense eyes. “Would you dance with me?”
Me?
I barely managed not to say it aloud. Instead I looked to Sarah, who was frantically nodding. “Uh, okay. Sure.”
Could I be any more awkward if I tried? Where was the vaunted hostess who demurely handled every crisis that arose?
Maybe she’d died along with the dream that someday, somehow, my father would see me as his daughter and not his pawn.
Levi tugged on my hand, urging me to my feet. My body responded to his command automatically, breaking through the nerves that had held me frozen. I didn’t want to be frozen, not anymore. And I didn’t want to miss this, not a minute of it.
CHAPTER TWO
He kept ahold of me, merely lifting our joined hands over Candy’s and Renee’s heads. Was he afraid to let go, afraid I might run away? But no, a man like this wouldn’t feel fear. Could he sense my own? Was my palm clammy? God, please don’t let me make the biggest fool of myself ever.
An actual smile tugged at my lips.
“What?” he asked.
Had he been watching me that closely then? “Just…” I clamped my lips shut over the words. No one needed access to my insecurities but me. “Thank you for asking me to dance.”
Surprise softened his smile. “My pleasure.”
The music changed as we reached the dance floor, from the latest pop single to a slow, sultry song. Levi raised his arm and twirled me beneath it. On the second spin his body blocked mine, plastering me against the hard muscles beneath his black shirt and jeans. Hard and hot—his body seared mine, as if I’d carry the impression of him on my skin for the rest of my life. And maybe I would. I certainly wanted to. Everything feminine in me flared to painful life, urging me to rub against him like a cat, roll myself in his scent, his heat. The rough, tanned skin of his throat was right in front of me, a delicious sprinkle of dark stubble guiding my eyes down to the collar of his button-down where a hint of a tattoo peeked out. This man was nothing like any other I’d known—hard-edged, powerful. Dangerous. And yet his arms surrounding my body made me feel utterly safe.
He ducked his head beside mine and inhaled, taking in my scent. Like an animal.
Don’t faint, Abby. Just don’t.
I didn’t, but I did tighten my grip. My heeled boots brought me high enough that my head settled in the hollow vee beside his collarbone. I did my own inhaling. At my shiver, a hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Levi’s mouth. That smile fascinated me, made me want to forget the whole world and just focus right there, right now, shutting out everything but this moment. No worries, no pain, no but this is only… Just Levi and now. Just this song. Just—
“So…is this your first time here?”
I jerked my head up so fast I almost clipped his chin. “How did you know that?”
Amusement lightened his gray eyes to silver. “Because I’ve never seen you here before.”
So he was a regular. “I don’t get out much.”
God, had I really said that? Before I could cover my awkwardness—with what, I didn’t know—Levi threw his head back and laughed. I couldn’t tell which caused more goose bumps, the throaty, rich sound of his amusement or the strong lines of his neck, begging me to explore them with tongue and teeth and lips and…
Levi’s amusement darkened quickly, turning into something that left me breathless, especially when that stare settled on my mouth. “I find that a little hard to believe.”
The heat in my cheeks returned. “I’m glad I decided to venture out tonight, at least,” I finally said.
Levi’s grip tightened the slightest bit as he turned me. One thigh slid between mine, and there was no mistaking the feel of his arousal against my belly. “I’m glad you did too.”
The phone in my back pocket vibrated. My father again. I ignored the buzz against my butt cheek and burrowed deeper into the male presence surrounding me.
Levi didn’t chatter—another way he was different from the men I normally met. Polite conversation was a given among the rich and socially entitled. I’d learned the art to survive, not because I enjoyed it. Here, now, without the distraction of desperately searching for the right clever thing to say, I basked in Levi’s heat, the fluid way his body moved, the exciting brush of his chest against my aching nipples and his hard erection against my belly, leaving very little doubt that he was enjoying having me in his arms. I lapped up every moment, let it fill the emptiness that had opened like a black hole inside me earlier tonight.
My buzzing phone refused to respect my need, however. I didn’t have to be in the room with him to know my father was becoming livid—the constant vibrations against my ass told me that well enough. This was one instance where an aide wouldn’t be texting me. Dad wouldn’t want anyone to know his only child had run off rather than put in an appearance at the dinner where he planned to announce his gubernatorial candidacy. Not that Derrick Roslyn’s political ambitions had spooked me into running off.
No, it had been the announcement of my arranged marriage that did that.
Levi’s fingers skimmed down my side to grasp my hip, fingers so close to the curves that craved his touch. “Shouldn’t you answer that before someone blows a gasket?”
“What?”
I glanced up, meeting the same understanding amusement as before. Not cruel or taunting, as I’d so often encountered. Just genuine enjoyment of the moment. “Your phone.” He lowered his head until his mouth brushed my ear. “I don’t mind vibrators, but that’s not exactly what I had in mind.”
I flushed so hot even the tips of my ears burned; surely Levi could feel it against his lips. A stutter fumbled my words before I managed to push something intelligible out. “He’ll give up soon.”
“He?”
“My father.”
Levi drew back enough to look at me. “Family can be a bitch.”
Or bastard. Since my mother had died when I was a toddler, my father was all the family I had.
Vibrations lit up my pocket. Levi chuckled this time, his cool fingers gripping my chin. “Why don’t you go see what the problem is?”
“Because I don’t care.”
“And I don’t want your attention divided—I’d rather have you all to myself.” Heat licked at me as his hungry gaze settled once more on my mouth. “Trust me; I’ll be here when you get back.”
Why would a guy this hot be waiting for a girl like me? The questions beat at my brain, demanding an answer, but I’d never screw up the courage to say the words aloud, so I slipped reluctantly from his arms instead. Rather than returning to the table, I walked down the hall to the ladies’ room and hurried inside. The stalls were empty, so I pulled my phone from my pocket and scrolled through my contacts until I came to my father’s number, not bothering to check the texts. Personal experience had taught me that he wouldn’t stop until he heard my voice.
“What do you think you’re doing, Abigail?”
“Hello to you too, Dad.”
Pride filled me at the lack of fear in my voice—until the fury in my father’s growl made me tremble.
The sound of people talking that filtered through the phone became muffled; Dad moving to a more secluded area. “I’ve had enough of your goddamn games, Abigail. I’m sending a car for you; it’ll be outside in ten minutes, and I want you inside it in ten and a half. You will come to this dinner, and you will be by my side when I make my announcement—or you will regret it. Is that clear?”
“That’s going to be difficult since I’m not at home.”
“I know exactly where you are. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“How—” But I was no idiot either. Or maybe I am, because…cell phone. I pulled the device away from my ear to stare at it, dazed, my father’s rants and demands registering vaguely, like flies my mind batted away without conscious thought. Only the tone flowed over me, a trick I’d learned as a young girl—or more of a survival strategy, really. The only way to endure the hours of lectures and discipline that had filled my childhood.
“Get your ass outside right this minute and wait for Charlie to arrive. I won’t have you shaming this family.”
That registered. Or rather, slapped me awake. I was bringing shame to our family? Me? My father expected me to marry for his convenience, for the good of his political career, but I was the shameful one? I squeezed down on the cell, the sound of plastic creaking in protest satisfying something inside me that ached to burst free. Too bad I wasn’t strong enough to pulverize the damn thing.
And yet, a large part of me believed him. Always had. After all, if I wasn’t shameful, he would love me, right?
No. Wrong. You’re not going to let that bastard poison you anymore, Abby.
I wasn’t the Hulk, able to crush a cell phone with a single twitch of my fingers, but I was strong enough to drop it into the trash can full of wet paper towels and walk out of the bathroom without looking back. In the hall, the sight of Levi leaning against the wall, obviously waiting, hands stuffed into his pockets, brought me to an abrupt stop. My mouth went dry. I’d spent my life trying to please a man, and look where that had gotten me.
I was already bringing shame to the Roslyn name; maybe I should embrace the role instead of letting my father’s words cut me to pieces.
I moved closer. One side of Levi’s mouth tilted up, and he wrapped those big hands around my hips the minute I came within reach. A gravelly rumble escaped him, sinking beneath my skin and sending shivers to the deepest part of my being. Heavy-lidded eyes devoured me, shouting a desire I found hard to believe, but it was there nonetheless. Hunger. Pleasure. That look sent a surge of desperation so strong through me that I couldn’t speak if I’d wanted to.
It’s now or never, Abby.
I didn’t stop or slow. I moved into his space until my body was pressed firmly against his, lifted my chin, and met the lips that lowered to mine.
CHAPTER THREE
His fingers bit into my hips, holding me tight, bruising with the force of his desire—and I reveled in it. I’d gladly bear bruises if it proved that, for once, someone wanted me, Abby Roslyn, not the daughter of politician and wealthy businessman Derrick Roslyn. Levi’s grip, the way he opened his mouth and let me in, the urgent push of his erection against my stomach said this was about hunger, not status. I needed that, wanted it with a desperation that probably made me pathetic, but so what? My entire life probably seemed pathetic to most people.
It was time to leave that old Abby behind. And what better way to do it than with an act that would also give me pleasure?
I retreated just enough to meet Levi’s eyes. They burned with the same intensity as his touch, reassuring me, fanning the flames that already consumed me. I swallowed hard. “Would you…”
His fingers speared into my hair, tangling in the thick length, his palm big enough to cup my head. That touch steadied me, secured me. I couldn’t fall with someone that strong holding me. “Would I what, Abby?”
“Would you like to go someplace more…private?”
Silence. I dug my teeth into my bottom lip, that “not a complete fool” prayer echoing in my mind for the umpteenth time. Maybe he expected a quick screw in the bathroom? But I didn’t want quick. If I was going to do this, I wanted it to last.
Levi stroked a rough finger over my mouth, forcing me to let go of my lip. “Are you sure that’s what you want? You don’t really know me.”
I know I want you. I know you want me. I know I don’t want to be locked in a cage with no way out. “I know enough.”
This time he kissed me, forcing me harder against him until my curves melded into the nooks and crannies of his powerful body. I could feel the demand, the hunger in his tight muscles as he bent me to his will. Wise or not, my body softened against him, surrendering control, yielding to the ferocious roar of desire, both from without and within.
When the kiss ended, I could only hang there, a broken reed in his hands, desperate for Levi to put me back together.
“Let’s go.”
My laugh trembled as much as I did. “I’m supposed to walk after that?”
Levi grinned. “Don’t worry. I can carry you if necessary.”
I eyed the broad stretch of his shoulders. “I bet you can.”
We’d just reached the end of the hall when I caught a glimpse of the front doors, situated to our left. One side opened, and in walked Charlie, my dad’s chauffeur. My ride was here.
I jerked Levi to a quick stop. “Maybe we could go out the back?”
His dark brows knotted up. “Your friends will wonder what happened to you, won’t they?”
My heart thumped in my throat as Charlie surveyed the crowd, frowning. He was just as capable as Levi of hauling me out of here, willing or not. He’d never had to do more than threaten before. “I’ll text them.”
Suspicion tinted his gray eyes. He scanned the bar, his hand tightening around mine. Whether he noticed Charlie or not, the tension in him rose, and he turned back to the hall, his arm coming around me. Without a word, without question, he protected me in a way my father never had. Stranger or not, he’d just given me something I’d never had before, and the fear of the unknown, of leaving this building with a man I’d met a mere hour ago, with the intent of making myself as vulnerable as a woman could get with him, disappeared.
I was going to defy my father, and I was going to have sex with the hottest, most intriguing man I’d ever met. And nothing was going to stop me.
Levi’s car waited across the street, low and black and gleaming in the streetlight’s faint glow. The barest glimpse of a limo parked in the no-parking zone in front of the bar entrance had me ducking my head, a low sigh of relief leaving me as I settled into the passenger seat of Levi’s vehicle. The door closed with a solid click, and then he was rounding the back to take his place behind the wheel. The growl of the engine rumbled through me, beneath me, vibrating things already sensitive to sensation. I fought the urge to squirm in my seat, barely managing to stay still despite years of practice at controlling myself in public, never moving the wrong way or saying the wrong thing. I couldn’t control the need to reach out, though, and lay my hand on Levi’s thigh, absorbing his heat and strength through the denim, feeling the play of his heavy muscles beneath my touch. What would they feel like when he was pushing inside me?
My fingers clenched against him.
Levi shifted the car into the next gear, then settled his hand over mine, threaded his fingers between mine. I focused there as he navigated through the dark city streets, trusting him to take us where we needed to go. I’d never had a hook-up before. What did I know about places to have sex? But Levi knew; in too few minutes he pulled the car into a crowded hotel parking lot.
Levi parked. I couldn’t decide where to look—at those looming glass doors leading to the lobby, the man taking up so much space next to me that I could barely breathe, the dark street that offered anonymous escape. I deliberately turned away from that last option. I didn’t want escape, no matter how nervous I was. And yet…
“Hey.”
Levi cupped my chin, tilting my head until his gaze trapped mine. “Okay?”
“Yeah.” Hopefully the darkness hid the shakiness of my smile. “It’s just…umm…”
A glint of amusement lit his eyes. My cheeks heated. “Not used to the walk of shame?”
“Something like that.”
“Don’t worry.” He stroked my flushed skin, his gaze following the movement as if fascinated. “I’ll take care of you.”
The deep timbre of his voice shivered through me, his words wrapping me in silken threads as unbreakable as the thickest, strongest rope. “I know. I trust you.”
Did I? Maybe the words were automatic, what you were supposed to say when you were planning to sleep with the man you said them to. Tomorrow they wouldn’t matter, but I didn’t want to think about tomorrow, so I reached for the door latch.
“Wait, let me.” He was out of the car and around to my side before I could draw a full breath.
Inside, the clerk barely glanced up while he assigned us a room, sparing me the embarrassment of having to meet his eyes. Levi guided me to the elevator with a hand at my back. His heat both steadied me and made something deep in my core clench with excitement. I stepped through the sliding doors and turned at the back of the elevator, but he stopped just inside, reached for the button to our floor, and pushed, all without taking his heavy-lidded gaze from my face.
How could a glance make me feel so vulnerable? I wanted to cross my arms over my chest and squeeze down, protect myself—from what, I didn’t know, because I also wanted to spread my arms wide and let Levi crawl inside me.
“Abby.”
Two syllables. So little, just my name, but that was all it took for my nipples to throb and a warm melting to suffuse my most feminine parts. And then he surged toward me, his big body pinning me to the back of the elevator, his mouth hard and demanding on mine.
The ding of our arrival barely registered through the roaring in my ears.
I chased his lips as they left mine. Levi was all electric heat and searing pleasure, and I wanted more, as much as I could get. Everything he had to give. I wouldn’t deny myself anything, not tonight. I didn’t hesitate as he gripped my hand tight and dragged me from the elevator. I caught a desperate glance at the key card, the door numbers, and then we were at the end of the hall, last door on the right. He fumbled the entry, a fact that told me he was just as anxious as I was. We’d started stripping each other before the door clicked shut.
“Abby, Jesus.” He frowned down at the lace corselet I wore under my silk shirt. The lingerie made me feel pretty, but Levi was focused on the intricate lacing holding the front together.
I laughed. “It zips.”
“Well turn around, for fuck’s sake.”
Another laugh as I obeyed. Cool air rushed over my skin when the sides of the corselet opened over my spine. Goose bumps rose. I held the front against me for a moment, struggling with that last little shred of timidity, and then I dropped the cloth. Levi swore as he stepped close, his heat covering my back.
“Look up.”
I did—and wow. The wall I faced wasn’t a wall at all, but a mirror. I zeroed in on Levi immediately. His hungry eyes devoured the sight of my bare breasts as he crowded closer. My hands came up automatically to rest on the cool surface; my nipples slid against the mirror, tingled at the chill until Levi cupped them from behind.
My head fell back. “Levi!”
The scruff on his chin abraded the sensitive skin of my neck. He bit down lightly, forcing me to acquiesce as he fondled my breasts, pinching the tips, rolling them, pulling. Cries escaped me, the begging and screaming and squirming out of my control as he pleasured me, pleased himself. And that made it all the hotter, the fact that I couldn’t escape, could only accept what he chose to give me, his shadowed gaze taking it all in as the mirror reflected back my torment and titillation.
If this was what foreplay was like with him, how the hell would I survive sex?
When his fingers left them, my nipples were hot enough that the cool surface of the mirror felt like ice, but I wasn’t shivering from cold. No, it was pleasure that shook me as I watched him watch me, felt the trace of his hands down my stomach, my hips, around to the clasp of my skirt. He bared my body while I examined his behind me, the sight of gleaming olive skin decorated with a wash of vibrant tattoos turning me on almost as much as his touch. The ink began just below his collarbone, a sea of blacks and blues and reds that highlighted the masculine hills and valleys of his torso and shoulders. My fingers itched to trace every line, although maybe I’d use my tongue. Or maybe both.
Levi was beautiful in a brutal way, and the darkness of his gray eyes in the midst of his passion gave him a deadly edge that only added to his appeal. I wanted him inside me, wanted him to take me now, immediately. The damp heat between my legs said I was ready even if I had no actual experience with the physical act—preliminary contractions rocked my pelvis just from his look as my skirt drifted down my legs, leaving my lace garter belt and thigh highs bare to his view. What he zeroed in on, though, was the sight of my soft auburn curls framed by the delicate lace and garters. An animal growl escaped him, rumbling along my spine.
I don’t mind vibrators, but that’s not exactly what I had in mind.
I slammed the door shut on the reminder of my father’s demands and moaned my dismay as Levi stepped back. “No. What—”
One thick arm wrapped around my belly, the other beneath my knees, and then I was in the air. Levi carried me across to the bed, proving he hadn’t lied earlier. He dropped me onto the mattress with a little grunt, tugged my boots off and tossed them one at a time over his shoulder, then dropped his hands to his belt buckle. “I can’t wait, Abby.”
“I don’t want you to.”
* * *