“On a scale of one to ten, how much do you love your underwear?” Levi asked, impatient to remove the last barrier between them.
“What a silly question.” Piper gave him a vague, hazy frown. “Why would I love a pair of underwear?”
“Can’t think of a reason in the world.”
Wrapping his hands around the fragile lace, Levi tore the piece of fabric in two.
“I would have happily taken them off.” Piper’s laugh turned into a moan as Levi touched the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. He moved higher, finding her center, and she melted.
“What were you saying?” Levi asked.
“I have no idea.”
Cocooning Piper in his embrace, Levi rolled toward the edge of the bed.
“Careful,” she warned with a laugh. “Another inch and, splat. We’ll hit the floor. Brazilian Cherry hardwood is not forgiving to the body.”
Levi stretched toward the chair, his fingertips grasping the very edge of his jacket. Once firmly in his grasp, he rooted through the inside pocket.
“Gotcha,” he declared. He waved a single foil packet through the air.
“What in the world?” Piper's eyes widened. “Is that a…”
“Condom.” Levi’s face glowed in triumph.
“Why would you carry a condom in the suit you wore for the after-game press conference?” Piper’s gaze narrowed. “Did you expect to get lucky with one of the reporters?”
“I keep a few in the glove compartment of my car,” Levi said as he expertly rolled the necessary layer of protection down the length of his erection. “I grabbed the box before we entered your building.”
“Such a good guy.” Piper rewarded Levi with a passionate kiss. “I have some in the drawer by the bed.”
“A man should always be prepared.”
“Just an FYI. In case the need arises at a future date,” she said with a shrug. “The prepared thing goes for women, too, by the way.”
“Do you want to fight over who wins the merit badge?” Levi asked. “Or should we stop talking and make love?”
“What have we been doing up until now?”
“Foreplay fun and games.” Levi flipped Piper onto her back. “Now, we’re getting serious.”
Piper met Levi’s kiss halfway. Her fingers bit into his shoulders as she pressed her body to his. She gave as well as she took, a woman who could be strong and gentle at the same time.
“Don’t wait,” Piper gasped.
“Are you ready for me?” he demanded, getting his answer when she grabbed his hips, urging him forward.
Levi groaned, thrilled that she was ready, that she wanted him. That the intensity of Piper’s desire matched his own.
Kissing her again, Levi entered Piper’s body. His breath caught in his throat as the feeling of rightness flowed through him.
“Piper?” Levi captured her face between his hands. “Look at me.”
Green eyes met brown and she blinked as the sexual haze lifted.
“Levi,” she sighed.
“I love you,” he said, laying his heart, his soul, bare.
Piper smiled, so bright, and the emerald of her eyes glowed.
“I love you,” she whispered. “More than you’ll ever know.”
In one precious moment, Levi’s world expanded into infinity, then, in a heartbeat, narrowed to nothing but Piper. Now mattered. Here, with her. Any problems they might face, they’d conquer together, fighting side by side.
Love. Trust. Forever. Levi knew Piper. She would never settle for less. And that was fine with him. He felt the same.
“Higher?” Levi asked as he grasped Piper’s hands. “More?”
“Yes,” she said, her head falling back, a fine sheen of sweat covering her body. “More. More.”
They rode the wave, twisting, turning. The peak came for Piper and Levi followed. They didn’t crash, they floated, down, down. Together.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
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PIPER TOOK A bite of fluffy pancake covered in just the right amount of melty butter and warm maple syrup. She sighed. The perfect morning breakfast to top off the perfect night of sex.
No, she corrected herself. A night of love.
Corny, over the top, but true. Piper laughed. So, what if she and Levi were a cliché? All lovey-dovey, holding hands under the table as they sipped their coffee and gazed into each other’s eyes. The brilliant glow of new love would fade a bit in time. Not too much, she hoped. But a little dimming was inevitable.
Until then, Piper planned to bask—she’d earned the right.
“Mm.” She smacked her lips. “Bacon.”
“Ah, my little carnivore,” Levi said with an indulgent smile. “For you, heaven would be a well-stocked butcher’s shop.”
“But I need a rounded diet,” Piper told him with a straight face. “Next door to the butcher, please include a candy store and bakery.”
“Why don’t you weigh a ton?” he asked, shaking his head as he filled his mouth with a spoonful of multi-grain oatmeal.
“Pure thoughts keep the pounds off.” With a wink, Piper shrugged. “And Pilates. Thin is great, but even I need to exercise now and then. I refuse to go around with a saggy butt.”
“I’d still love you,” Levi assured her. “Sags and all.”
“Would you?” Piper beamed, her esteem for Levi rising to new levels. “Should I stop working out?”
“Should I?” Levi asked with a pointed look. “Would you want me as much if I developed a beer belly and jowls?”
“Probably.” Piper chuckled. “But, just to be safe, let’s keep fit for now. We’ll wait and go to pot in our sunset days.”
“Hell, no,” Levi exclaimed. “When I’m ninety, I plan to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. With you by my side.”
“I’m exhausted already.”
Piper groused because she didn’t want Levi to think he’d gone to bed with one woman and awoke beside someone else. Nor did she want him to get any ideas about upping her level of activity. She was fine with her life as a semi-couch potato who occasionally ate healthily.
Yet, for all Piper’s grumbling and groaning, she liked Levi’s vision of the future. Not the hiking up famous mountains part. But the part where they were together long, long into the future.
“You’re older than I am,” Levi said.
“Way to ruin the moment,” Piper muttered. Sneering, she savagely ripped off a piece