Chapter 14 - Parker

Lev strode down the hallway toward his room, but I was frozen in place. I'd just got done saving one of his men; I was presently covered in his blood, and Lev sees fit to announce that we're getting married—tomorrow. What the absolute fuck?!

My pulse ticked up another notch, and I clenched my hands. No, no way. He wasn't getting away with acting like that after I'd saved his friend's life. Why couldn't he just admit I'd done him a favor? Hell, I was practically a damn saint for not running when I had the chance and actually saving one of the people who was actively helping to keep me his prisoner.

Speeding down the hallway after him, I shouted again at Lev.

"Why are you acting like this?" I slipped in behind him as Lev opened the door to his bedroom. "You really can't just say thanks?"

I could see the tension in Lev's shoulders as he walked to the closet, peeling off his stained shirt and tossing it in a hamper. "Parker, if you know what's—"

"Well, obviously I don't, do I? I came and helped. That clearly wasn't what was good for me. I want my thank you."

Lev spun around, crossing the room to me in a flash. His eyes were wide with a swirl of expressions, not the least of which was anger. I backed up instinctively, landing against the poster of the bed. It bit into my spine, but Lev quickly closed the distance, pinning me there.

I got an eyeful of the tattoos that I'd noticed before, the ones hidden behind his shirt most of the time. A large, stylized grim reaper spread across his chest and dipped down his stomach. It was massive, still as beautiful as the rest, and depicted in pristine black and gray.

Damn.

As muscular as I'd expected, the flat plain of Lev's stomach was ribbed with stark abdominals. He was incredibly fit, and the menacing black hole where the reaper's face should be managed to stare into me all the same, making me shiver.

Lev's eyes raked over me, sweeping down to the tight fit of the stupid skirt I was wearing. "You want your thank you, hmm? What about your gratitude for this?"

Lev took the loose collar of my shirt and yanked at it. The fabric fluffed up as he pulled and dropped it against my chest, likely revealing the bra underneath. Heat and tension and basic fucking insanity flared behind my ribcage, and I did something really, really stupid.

Pulling the hem of my blouse from where I'd tucked it into my skirt, I whipped the thing over my head, the white marred with red splotches now, and tossed it in Lev's face.

"You can have your fancy clothes. I didn't ask for them. I didn't ask for any of this. And I still played doctor for your men."

I did everything to fight against the shiver that tickled up my back as the cooler air of the room hit my skin. As it was, I couldn't do anything to stop the goosebumps that rippled over me. Worse, a terrible heat filled my cheeks as I sat in the realization that I was practically topless in front of Lev—again. The slim bra didn"t do much to conceal my body, even if it was better than my crossed arms, and Lev's eyes dropped immediately to my chest.

"You're playing a dangerous game, little one."

His voice was low, barely a whisper, and the tremble in my limbs grew. When Lev's dark eyes hit mine again, his stare was lidded, coming for me as he tilted his head back—studying me.

"I'm…" I had to suck in a deep breath, my response starting too weak. "I'm not afraid of you."

Lev smirked, a tiny chuckle escaping him. "Yes. You are. And you should be, too."

"Tell me what happened. Why were your men hurt?" I swallowed as he leaned forward, just enough so that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my skin. "Just tell me."

Narrowing his eyes, Lev released a single, hard laugh through his nose, his jaw tightening. "Who do you think?"

His presence pressed down on me, and my stare fell to the floor. I followed the dark lines and swirls of the wood beneath my feet before sighing.

"My father."

"Bingo." Lev's dry sarcasm was obvious, and I met his stare again.

I shook my head. "I'm not him. I didn't do this."

"Maybe not directly." Lev's eyes roamed over me again before returning to my face. "Besides, I've learned well enough that nothing in this life comes for free. You didn't help out of the goodness of your heart. You want out. You're not getting that."

With a slight scoff of my own, I glared at him. "Of course, I want out. But I'm not dumb. I know you're not just going to free me because I helped a guy. Besides, you seem pretty damn cynical for someone who's currently the head of his own crew of thugs. You're living on quite the bankroll, aren't you? Bet you can have whatever you want."

I didn't know why I insisted on pushing back so much. I knew it was dangerous and wouldn't help my case in the slightest. But there was something about the way he challenged my ideas about the world, about how my stomach knotted up with butterflies whenever he was close, that made me want to talk back to him—to push his buttons, press my luck, to see what he'd really do.

I was clearly more of a masochist than I'd ever realized because I was basically signing my own death certificate.

He smirked, his arm going to the bedpost above my head so he could lean against it. "How do you think I got here, sweetheart? I learned damn fast to keep people at arm"s length, never trust a word they say. You get burned when you do that, and I don"t want to make the same mistakes again."

My heart was trying to beat out of my chest, and I had even less room to think, to breathe, with Lev practically caging me against the post.

"Mistakes?"

He seemed to study me, debating what he wanted to say. But then, a flicker of softness touched his ochre stare.

"Loyalty means a lot in this business. It means a lot to me personally." When I cocked a brow, he sighed. "Let's just say that I used to have more family working alongside me, and now I'm intimately familiar with what burying a brother in the dirt is like."

I gasped quietly, my mouth falling open as I gawked at him. Had he really killed his brother? Or, at the very least, helped to ensure he was dead? Because…because the guy had clearly betrayed him. Holy shit.

"Oh, don't worry." Lev could clearly read my reaction. "You wouldn't have liked him. He was much more fond of kidnapping than I am, and he got himself a shot in the back when he tried to walk out after murdering our mother."

My stomach seized up as my eyes flared wider.

I didn't think it could get worse, but obviously, I was very wrong. Lev's brother had killed his mother? Enjoyed kidnapping? Yeah, he sounded like a real piece of work in the worst possible way. As I digested what Lev had said, I looked up into his eyes. Behind that usual bravado and distance, there was something I could recognize now, something that I'd seen in my own expression—pain.

"I'm sorry. That's…words can't describe how terrible that is."

Without thinking, I reached up, touching his cheek with my hand.

"I can't understand, but I can empathize. What I've learned about my father is something I wish I was still ignorant about." My voice cracked as the open wound that was my mother's death ached all the harder. "I guess we've both lost the women who raised us."

"Yeah. I'll admit you're handling it pretty well, little one." He smiled at me, and the honesty behind it floored me.

"Thanks," I smirked back at him, rolling my eyes ever so slightly. "Life is a piece of shit sometimes, huh? Well…"

Shit, was I really going to say this? But I felt more connected to Lev right now. I understood so much more about him with that reveal, and hell, the truth was I liked him.

I liked how he stood up for me. I liked how he actually seemed to give a damn about what happened to me. Closed off or not, Lev was doing a lot for my safety that he wouldn't have if he didn't feel at least a little of the same.

So, fuck it, right?

"You're not horrible, Lev. You've seen it. Lived it. And you survived. I admire that strength of yours."

My thumb stroked over his cheek, and for a moment, his eyes softened. He let the words in. But then, as soon as it was here, it was gone.

Lev pulled back, tension coiling his body tight, and it was like he'd slammed the door shut between us—decidedly not addressing that comment. "I'm showering."

He walked to the door, locking it. When he crossed to the closet again, he stripped off his pants, leaving him in his briefs. I couldn't stop my mouth from falling open again, damn near salivating over the sculpted curves of his muscles.

I could see Lev's shoulders as he turned and paid more attention this time. His shoulders were broad, sculpted, and decorated with yet more tattoos. This time, it was the words "death is the constant" written in fancy script. They made my chest pinch, but the desperate need to see him so near naked was only increasing.

My body heated, an ache setting up shop between my legs, and before I could think better of it, that hungry part of me demanded I say something.

"I still haven't gotten my thank you."

Stopping in the space between the bedroom and the bathroom, Lev spun around. His eyes devoured me, running from my lips to my chest, down to the floor, and then back up. I trembled under that glare, unable to stop myself from roaming my eyes across his body as well and noting the impressive bulge barely restrained by his briefs.

Crossing the room in confident strides, Lev pinned me up against the bedpost again, and a tiny yelp slipped from me as he grabbed my chin.

"Is that what you want, little one? A thank you?" He lowered his mouth over my ear, his breath tickling the bare skin of my neck. "Or is it something else?"

"I…" But my voice died as his lips hovered over me, goosebumps skittering into life.

His hand moved from my chin to take my neck, his thumb finding the center point and pushing down just enough to make my throat constrict. Lev's nose dragged up, the scruff of his beard scratching lightly until his mouth was at the shell of my ear again.

"What would I find, hmm?" His free hand came to the hem of my skirt, his fingers curling under the fabric and bunching it up. "What's going on under this fucking skirt, sweetness?"

My heart hammered against my ribs, and I shook beneath Lev's hands despite how hard I was trying to keep myself still. I had no idea what had gotten into me, but it was far too late to stop it. A part of me lit up at that, a dark, terrible part that I never gave voice to, but now it was roaring forward, calling all the shots.

"You won't do it. You keep stopping yourself." I met Lev's hard glare when he flicked his eyes to me, cocking a brow. The lick of pain in my back as he pressed me to the post increased.

Oh my God, what are you doing?

Fisting more of the skirt, Lev pulled the fabric up, up, until it was bunched around my hips. I was losing my damn mind, the burn in my cheeks spreading everywhere as I let myself process how close his fingers were to my bare pussy. Just a few inches and Lev would find out exactly how much I was thinking about him.

Fuuuck. Don't stop, Lev, please. Jesus, it is such a good thing I'm on birth control—just in case, you know.

But then he did something I didn't expect.

"Such a little brat. I should leave you here, all worked up." His foot slid between mine, kicking my legs farther apart, exposing me. "You're playing with fire."

Something inside me surged, and I leaned closer, my lips so close to his. "So burn me."

Lev crashed his mouth against mine, and I moaned beneath his lips. He moved fast, exploring me with his tongue as his hand crawled its way between my legs. He cupped my sex, a growl rumbling out of his chest before he broke the kiss to whisper.

"This belongs to me."

Caressing my neck and chest with his lips, Lev's finger slid up, ready to sink into my slit.

"Just as wet as I thought."

Embarrassment flared, my cheeks flamed, and I whimpered as he smoothed the pad of his finger across my seam, just beginning to push inside. My mind spun, completely losing track of everything else around me, and then his thick digit pressed in.

"Lev," I called out. "I'm…"

Oh, God. This is so embarrassing…but I have to say something.

"I'm a virgin."