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  It hits the sand with a definitive thud.

  “Point,” she announces proudly.

  Calen grabs the ball and tosses it to her. “Your serve.”

  She nonchalantly tosses it to me. I deliver an underhand serve, and Calen effortlessly bumps it back. Adrianna hits the returned ball a little harder hoping to take Levi off guard, but he smoothly bounces it to our side of the net. We volley back and forth until Adrianna sees her opening. She spikes the ball down just over their side of the net.

  “Damn it!” Calen grunts. “Again with just the tip!”

  “That’s what she said,” Adrianna and I childishly taunt in unison.

  Levi chuckles loudly receiving a glower from his best friend.

  Adrianna and I switch places allowing her to serve. Her overhand is harsh yet it doesn’t stop Levi from diving to deliver it back. It’s returned and Calen tries to pull Adrianna’s infamous move. Unfortunately for him, it’s my turn to eat sand to save the ball, which ultimately flies up to the perfect height for her to execute another spike.

  “Point,” I announce as she helps me onto my feet. Teasingly, I say, “Thought you two were good at this game?”

  Levi shakes his head though he maintains a joyful expression.

  Adrianna adds to the fire. “Kinda hope she makes you do something awful like a slam poetry session done by high schoolers.”

  I would never do that, but the look on their faces right now is priceless.

  Her suggestion causes Calen to huff, “No fucking way I’m doing that, Levi. You better step your shit up.”

  “Step your shit up!” Levi laughs at the same time the ball lands in my possession. “You’re not exactly running the best defense.”

  I make a tisking sound while backing up into the serving position. “Not good to fight with your teammate.”

  “Just serve,” my blonde haired dream boat demands.

  With a small shrug, I deliver another underhand. Levi sends it soaring straight towards me, obviously hoping it’ll fly past my reach, but still on this side of the boundary line. Foiling his plan causes me to dive again except this time I land on something hard in the process. The sharp scream that escapes me sends the three of them darting my direction.

  Motherfucker!

  I roll over and grumble at the agonizing ache in my knees.

  His face is the first one hovering over me. “What’s wrong, Kadence?” The panic increases as his gaze soaks in my body. “What do you need? What can I do?”

  Seeing his concern causes my body to relax. “I’ll be okay….I…landed on something.”

  “Sticks,” Adrianna comments, kicking the remaining sand off of them. “Fucking sticks.”

  He slightly cringes. “My fam was over last weekend. My nieces and nephew were building sandcastles. They use the sticks to build a fence to ‘protect’ it from the ocean while they’re gone.”

  Levi’s touch grazes my knee igniting a shudder that erases the pain.

  Would it be wrong to fake the severity of my injury so he’ll caress me again? Shit…. It really has been far too long since I’ve had a boyfriend if a knee touch is threatening to make me wet. No! No you cannot put enjoys his touch in the pro section for Levi!

  “Let’s get you back to the house and cleaned up.” There’s no room for disagreement or my insistence of us continuing the game. He helps me onto my feet, hooks his arm protectively around my waist, and announces, “We’ll be back.”

  Adrianna happily hums, “Take your time Terminator….”

  Levi leads us inside to a small guest bath right off the living room I didn’t realize was there. He helps me up onto the long white marble counter across from the glass shower before he starts rifling around in the cabinets below me. I take the opportunity to admire the white, sleek beach themed décor that matches the rest of his home.

  He wasn’t kidding about the whole lives in water thing.

  When he pops back up, he places the bottle of rubbing alcohol on the counter beside me along with cotton balls and two different boxes of Band-Aids. He gives my scraped up knees a skeptical stare. “I don’t think you need surgery, but you’re definitely going to need a boo-boo fixer.”

  The phrasing sparks my laughter.

  “Question is, who do you want doing the job? Batman or Rainbow Dash?”

  I helplessly giggle. “You’re really letting your true colors hang out today.”

  Levi laughs in return, reaching for the cotton balls. “I’m a very complex individual.”

  “Obviously.”

  He wets the object. “This is my nieces and nephew’s doing. These are here for the scrapes and falls that hugs can’t fix.”

  His kind tone kicks my smile up a notch. “How many do you have?”

  “Three. All from my brother Brian. Two girls. One boy. Five. Three. And one.”

  “Take it the nieces are into My Little Pony?”

  “That’s actually all my nephew, Malachi. He really likes brightly colored things.”

  The cold liquid making contact sends a chill through my system. “How many siblings do you have all together?”

  “Four. Two brothers. Two sisters.”

  “Are you the oldest?”

  He tosses the used cotton ball in the trash. “What gave it away? My doctor skills?”

  We lightly chuckle together at the cute comment.

  “They’re on par with your MacGyver ones.”

  His actions momentarily pause. “Not sure if you’re complimenting or criticizing.”

  “Sad you have to contemplate that.”

  He lets go of another chuckle under his breath. “My brother Brian is two years younger than me. Harper a year younger than him. Jordanna two years behind her and the baby, who is legally fresh to the drinking scene at twenty one, is Sebastian.”

  “Wow. Big family.”

  “Yeah, but I love it.” He dangles the boxes at me. After I indicate one of each, he adds, “I want my own someday just as big if not bigger.” Once the objects are stuck on he meets my eyes again. “What about you? Any siblings?”

  “An only child, though as close as me and the girls are, that’s almost a lie. We were always in and out of each other’s houses, tagging along on one another’s family vacations, fighting like we all came out of the same womb.”

  Levi’s smile brightens. “You mentioned starting a family on your five year voyage-”

  “Plan.”

  “What are the details on size? Big or small?”

  “Whatever fits me and my husband.”

  To my surprise his expression softens.

  Hm…I never expected him to want a family and definitely not a large one. I also didn’t expect him to recall much of our conversation from last night. Yet again. He does the unexpected. Yet again…he makes me wanna ditch the list of reasons for us to keep our distance and drag him closer.

  My voice takes a meek volume. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  “How can you want a big family if you’ll always be filming?”

  The question crinkles his brow.

  “I mean, isn’t that…unrealistic? Or at the very least unfair to your future wife? Do the math. You’ll be out roaming the world, making out with A list actress after actress while she’s home trying not to pull her hair out with a dozen kids needing every portion of her attention. You’ll be enjoying sunsets in Switzerland and she’ll be praying for the sun to set so maybe she can get some sleep. You’ll be eating the world’s best Mahi Mahi and all she’ll be hearing while she’s trying to eat is ‘mommy mommy’. How can you just expect someone to deal with all of that? Even if you get her a nanny, which your ass better for that amount of children, you don’t think she might get a little insecure over the idea of you feeling up models turned actresses while she can barely squeeze into her favorite jeans?”

  What? No! I wasn’t speaking as if I was picturing me as his wife. It was merely an easy, mindless example. I’m sure I’ve probably read
it in a book somewhere….It wasn’t my imagination inserting myself into the role.

  Levi cages me in by placing his hands firmly on the counter on each side of me. “The woman I marry will always know she is the only one in the world I want whether or not we’re in the same house or the same country.”

  My heart skips a beat.

  “Her size won’t matter because obviously, I fell in love with more than just her body….” His eyes lick the inches of my skin he can see. “And lastly, she won’t be raising them alone. The trick to working and having a family is learning to prioritize. Learning when to compromise. Learning when it’s time to completely surrender and put the other people in your life first. If that means packing everyone up and bringing them with me to New Zealand or Australia, it’s what I’ll do. If it means taking on one project a year instead of four then so be it. If it means quitting and returning to life at Spike’s, then I’ll call my dad and beg for a job. Any job to support them. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  His reply has me barely able to breathe.

  My volume is just above a whisper, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

  He leans his face closer to mine, voice dropping to the same level. “You have no idea how much I love hearing you say that.”

  Our parted lips collide allowing our tongues to tenderly touch. I wind my arms around his neck like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Like they don’t belong wrapped around anyone else. The action elicits a possessive groan from Levi who expresses his excitement by increasing the speed of our kiss. Our tongues spin around each other in eager circles, calling our bodies to gravitate closer with every push.

  Abruptly, he pulls back, eyes filled with conflicting emotions. “We should stop.”

  Am I doing this wrong or is he being a giant fucking tease? I thought women were supposed to be the teasers….

  “Why?”

  Levi’s fingers float to my hips. “Because I don’t want you to get the impression you’re like every other woman that’s entered my life. I really like you, Kadence, and the last thing I need is you believing you’re gonna end up being just another body to keep my bed warm.”

  The words steal a small swoon.

  See. Problem with actors. Is he being honest or is that a well-rehearsed line he’s delivered more than once in his dating career?

  “How often do you bring your dates here for lunch?”

  “Never.”

  “How often do you make them lunch?”

  “Never.”

  I tug myself closer to him. “And how often do you bandage their scraped knees with Band-Aids reserved for the most important people in your life?”

  His lightly chuckles. “Also never….”

  My tongue steals a swipe of his top lip and his fingers dig into my sides. “Then kiss me again.”

  Levi pounces my lips once more, this time holding nothing back. His tongue overpowers mine. Dominates. Demands I hand over the deed to my mouth without deliberation. I melt into his touch, submitting to each stroke like an executive order. He groans his approval yet continues his feverish presses until my body begins to wobble from being overwhelmed. All of a sudden the grip on my hip trails itself slowly downward towards my open thighs. Just when I’m about to put the brakes on the situation the tip of his finger grazes my bikini bottom covered clit.

  The impact of my surprised moan momentarily parts us.

  Holy shit I need more of that….

  Unlike before he’s not cautious about continuing. He holds my eyes hostage and repeats the previous action applying a little more pressure.

  The ache between my legs grows excruciatingly painful as does the one in my lungs from panting. I slightly rock into his teasing; hoping he’ll take the initiative to give me what it is we both know I desperately need.

  Hey, it’s rude of you to ask me the last time I let someone else get me off.

  “You have to tell me what you want, Kady.” His tone is firm. “I’m not gonna fuck up my only shot with you by going too fast….”

  His consideration and determination to prove he can be more than just a huge man whore is highly appreciated, but he picked a shitty time to want to make those points.

  “You’re gonna fuck it up by not going fast enough,” I rasp.

  He growls and increases the movement against the sensitive nub. “This what you want?”

  There’s a quiver in my voice. “More.”

  Levi groans, relinquishes his touch, and yanks me to the edge of the counter. He hooks his fingers into the sides of my bottoms and peals them down my thighs with a wildness thrumming through his glare. Only mere seconds after the article has been banished to the floor is his thick finger drowning in wet heat.

  I arch forward, anchoring my fingers into his blonde locks at the same time I moan, “Oh my God.”

  He groans louder this time, lips brushing my earlobe. “I wanna hear that sound again.”

  Fuck, I wanna make it again…

  His finger slides itself completely out and the emptiness I immediately feel is shocking in more than one way. I prepare to gripe about him stopping, again, when my pussy is suddenly being split open by two fingers as opposed to the previous one. Feeling the muscles stretch to accommodate the size has me shaking on the edge of a climax. Levi waits until they’re good and soaked before beginning a slow, hard thrusting.

  My face falls to the crook of his neck, which prompts him to whisper, “That fast enough, babe?”

  A moan on the border of a scream springs from my throat and blazes his skin.

  He growls at the contact provoking me to scrape my teeth along his collarbone. “Fuck….”

  I nip harshly at the area, and it falters his movements.

  Loving the newfound power I have over him, I start a cycle of sucking and biting that mirrors the pressure and speed of his brutal pumping. The two of us fight for control though I’m willing to bet I’m much more anxious to concede than he is. With one hand nestled between my legs and the other planted firmly on the small of my back, Levi dictates the depth of every push. His entire body rocks into mine with such force I have to dig my teeth deeper into his neck to prevent begging him to bang me against the countertop with his cock instead of his fingers.

  The sounds of our heady moans and my wet pussy creating an erotic harmony sever the string I was holding on by. “Coming!”

  My muscles fiercely clamp around his fingers determined to keep them there permanently. He stills the overworked digits and viciously grumbles his enjoyment in a slew of profanities. I repeatedly buck. Tighten my hold on his blonde strands. Scream against his skin until I’m convinced it’s going to blister from my scorching breath. By the time I’ve finally finished coming it feels like I’ve somehow managed to migrate right back to the edge again.

  How the hell is he making me this horny?

  Levi’s voice is hoarse, yet sweet. “Wanna go again?”

  The underused muscles twitch around the visitors who seem to still be enjoying their current location.

  “I-”

  Heavy knocking saves me from saying the wrong thing.

  Pretty sure I was about to make a big mistake. Pretty sure I was about to throw away every logical decision about where we go from here.

  “Everything okay?” Calen’s voice nervously questions from the other side.

  “Cock block,” Adrianna’s huffs in return.

  Oh shit! How did I completely forget we weren’t alone?

  “Just a sec,” Levi replies, removing his fingers.

  Our eyes finally make contact again and I can’t help but notice the way his seem brighter than ever.

  He uses his other hand to tuck a few strands behind my ear. “Stay for dinner too?”

  Hearing him treat me once again like I’m more than a pair of great legs and a decent face has me smiling wide. “Maybe….”

  The mirth in my tone sparks his own grin. “You’re gonna make me work for it, aren’t you?”

  “Every step of t
he way.”

  Levi snatches up my bottoms and slowly slides them back over my legs. When I slide down to finish putting them back in place, he seals our bodies together and states, “Like I said. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  And for some unknown reason I absolutely believe him.

  Chapter 4

  Levi

  You know sharks really aren’t that awful towards people unless they’re provoked. Trust me. Once you put all the ‘Sharknado’ bullshit aside and Jaws moments you grew up fearing, and look at the creatures with a more objective viewpoint, you learn they’re almost majestic. In fact, there are many ocean creatures that are fun to be around. The only ones I have a huge problem with are jellyfish. I’ve been stung by those bastards more than once. The range of reaction I have always varies, which is why I’ve been lectured repeatedly about the importance of wearing wet suits rather than just swim trunks. What can I say? I prefer the way the water feels on my skin with no barrier.