Chapter 23

I rolled to the side, a discomfort within me, and bumped into something.

No, not something. Someone.

My lips tugged into a smile as I glanced with sleepy eyes at Levi sleeping peacefully beside me. A warmth spread through my chest, pushing the discomfort away.

Turned to me, one arm tucked under his head, and the other stretched toward me, his hand on my shoulder, he looked nothing like a demon.

But who cared if he did? He was hot as hell as demon and he was mine.

The warmth became hotter with that thought.

Despite how we had started, how things went between us, Levi was mine.

And I was his.

He had made it clear that he didn’t want this bond to end and neither did I.

We had chosen to stay together, to be each other’s mates, even if in the beginning it had been fake.

I would accept Farrah’s way of thinking and believe it had never been fake. No. Since its beginning, this bond was meant to be. That it had been fate working all along, putting us in each other’s path and tying us in unexpected ways.

I liked that.

Right now, lying beside this man who had stolen my heart, I believed that.

Together, we could face whatever problems came our way.

I reached for him, but the heat within me became even stronger.

Dear light, we had done a lot not even … how long had it been? I reached for my phone on the nightstand—it was four in the morning. Yeah, it had been several hours already. Maybe I could really be horny already.

I knew that if I pressed myself on him, if I jumped on him, he wouldn’t stop me.

Emboldened, I scootched closer to him, rose to my elbows, swung my leg up, pushed him back so he was lying on his back, and straddled him.

Levi stirred as I placed my hands on his naked torso and leaned down to run my tongue on his neck.

A sound like a growl started in his throat, putting a smile on my lips.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he mumbled, his voice full of sleep. But as he said that his hands ran up my naked legs and my hips, showing me he was definitely awake.

“It seems I can’t get enough of you.” I bit the tip of his ear. “I might have to eat you up.”

He chuckled, his body shaking with it. “I wouldn’t mind that.” One second, he was laughing, the next, he fisted my hair right at the base of my neck, pulled my mouth to his, and devoured me with a deep, hard kiss.

He rolled his hips, and I had proof that he definitely was fully awake.

I moaned into his mouth and he groaned. He broke the kiss and tugged at the shirt I had put on as my pajamas. “This. Off.”

Smiling, I straightened and grabbed the hem of the shirt.

A sudden tightening closed around my chest and I paused. What the hell?

Levi rose on his elbows. “Sweetheart, everything okay?”

I tilted my head and waited, but the odd sensation loosened.

Shaking my head, I leaned into Levi and brushed my lips on his. “Yes. Everything is more than okay.”

He kissed me back but lifted an eyebrow. “The shirt?”

“Right.” I snorted and sat up again. I palmed the shirt’s hem and started pulling it up when a swirl of pain bloomed in my chest. I gasped and let go of the shirt.

“Sweetheart?” Levi sat up fast and clasped my shoulders. “What is it?”

“I don’t know.” My voice broke as it was suddenly hard to breathe. The swirl increased in intensity and I gritted my teeth, swallowing a cry. “Something is wrong.”

“I can tell. What’s happening? Talk to me.”

I stared at him as the pain increased and I bit down on my lips to keep from screaming and waking up the entire house. My head spun and my vision blurred, the world becoming a giant roller coaster.

Levi pushed me to the side and stood from the bed. “I’m calling Lacey.”

“No,” I rasped. I inhaled deeply, fighting whatever this shit was.

He paused. “Give me one reason not to?”

I shook my head, but that only made me dizzier. “I don’t?—”

Then the pain exploded within me, my breath caught, my vision went black.

And my heart stopped.

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