Chapter 2

The club is a whirlwind of hazy music and blurry lights, and I can't concentrate on any of it except the man whose arm is around my waist as he drags us off the dance floor and into the bathroom.

I've had one single cocktail that was more fruit juice than it was alcohol, so I'm entirely sober, but dammit I'm drunk off Levi's kisses. I'm dizzy and floaty with lust and relief as Levi's big, strong hands grip my thighs when I part them. My hands cling to the edge of the counter, every raspy, desire-soaked word he groans sending me spinning into sparkly bliss.

I can't keep track of all the emotions and thoughts circling in my mind, especially not when Levi's kissing me like he's not just hungry but starving. God, how long have I been thinking about this? Longer than is socially acceptable, that's for sure. I can't help but think back to when Levi turned up at my door, just two days after Edward had left me and called off the wedding.

Levi didn't try to cheer me up or tell me things were all okay, like other well-meaning friends had done. Because the truth was things weren't okay then. Now I'm almost grateful for Edward destroying our life together because marrying him would've been a huge mistake. If I married him, I'd have never known how intoxicating his brother's touch feels.

From that night, when Levi sat with me all night long helping me clean up the mess his brother had left, Levi proved that he truly cared about me. He showed me, over a tub of ice cream and a floor covered in torn-up wedding magazines, that I was worth taking care of.

The truth is undeniable. Levi Anderson has had a piece of my broken, bruised heart from the start.

And I can't pretend that all the things I feel for him can be summed up in the word friendship any longer.

I never dared to believe he felt the same, not until now. The idea that he wouldn't want me because of what happened with his brother plagues me. But with one hand tangled in my hair and the other cupping my aching pussy over my panties, Levi makes my doubts go silent.

I gasp and shiver when two of his fingers slide underneath the gusset of my underwear, sliding through my wet folds. My eyes fly open when he presses slowly inside me, pleasure shooting through my blood.

"L-Levi," I moan, my hands abandoning the counter to grip his shoulders.

"So wet, so hot," he groans, kissing my collarbone and crooking his fingers inside me, coaxing another wave of bliss out of me. "I need to feel you around my cock, baby."

I swear I've never wanted anything more. But… "I've never…" I breathe the words in a whisper.

Levi looks down at me with adoration shining in his deep green eyes. "I know, Lace," he says softly. "There's no pressure. I won't deny I don't want you more than air or that the thought of being the only one to have you isn't the hottest fucking thing I've ever imagined, but your virginity is yours to give. I won't take it if you're not ready."

I swoon at his words. The tender, loving tone he has, backed with a slight rough growl from his lust, is the best thing I've ever heard. He's misunderstood me, though. It's not that I don't want to have sex with him, I want that so badly I don't even care that we're doing this in a random club bathroom. It's that all the fights his brother and I had over sex, or the lack of it, have left me…ashamed.

I don't even have to explain. Levi can read me like a book.

"I'm not my brother, Lace," he reminds me, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. His fingers are still buried inside me, building a tight coil of desperation low in my stomach. "He's a fucking prick who didn't appreciate how incredible you are. He never deserved you, baby."

Levi's words wash over me, soothing and cleansing. I want him all the more for it. "You're nothing like him," I agree, using my grip on his shoulders to tug him closer so I can kiss his jaw. "I want it to be you, Levi. I want this, I want you, I want us. I've wanted it for a long time now."

My admission hangs between us for a second before it's crushed between our bodies. Levi devours me, kissing the breath out of me, his fingers turning me into a shaking, writhing mess beneath him.

But I want more than just his hand. I want all of him.

My fingers are clumsy and shaky from the haze of pleasure Levi has created around me, but I manage to yank his jeans open in three attempts. Hurriedly, I tug his boxers down, freeing his cock.

I break our kiss to glance down between us and circle my hand around the long, hard length of him. Levi inhales sharply at the touch, his head falling to my shoulder. It sends a thrill through me, knowing he's just as affected by this as I am. I want to make him fall apart for me, just as much as I want to fall apart for him.

I might not have much experience with this, but even I know Levi's bigger than average. Half of me is worried there's no way that'll fit inside me, but the other half is excited as hell to try.

"Fuck, Lace, you don't know what you do to me," Levi grinds out through clenched teeth, his voice deliciously gravelly with need.

I wiggle closer, pressing our bodies together. The head of his cock swipes against my sensitive flesh, a promise of more, and I can't stop the sound that comes out of me. I've never needed anything more than I do right now.

I drop my gaze to watch Levi line his cock to my entrance, holding my breath, fire racing through me at the sight.

Just as he slips the first inch inside me, someone knocks on the door.

We freeze, both of our heads snapping to the side to look at the way the door rattles on its hinges as someone pounds their fist against it.

"Hurry up!" a voice yells from the other side, and my eyes go wide with shock.

I turn back to Levi, disappointment flooding me as I think this is over. But Levi's eyes darken and he holds my gaze, a secretive smirk tugging on his lips.

"Wait your turn!" he shouts back to the person on the other side, who stops knocking in response. Levi's hands hold my waist, the air between us electric. "You heard them," he murmurs, easing further into me. "We better hurry."

"Oh God!" I gasp, absolutely on board with this plan but unable to form a proper sentence as Levi fills me. It's nothing like I've ever felt, the way my body stretches around him, the hard heat of him, the rush of pure bliss that fizzes through me when he hits a place inside me that has me seeing stars. There's a small amount of pressure, a tinge of discomfort, at taking him for the first time, my body trying to adjust to the new sensation, but it's overridden by the overwhelming desire. "Yes!"

"Look at you," Levi groans, and I do, looking down to find I've taken him completely. The sight is filthy, erotic as hell. "Taking me so fucking well. I knew you would. You're mine, Lace. All. Fucking. Mine." With the last three words, he retreats from my body, making me claw at him to try and get him to stay. But he just smirks and thrusts back in, knocking all the air from my lungs.

"Oh," I whine, going limp against him.

"That's it, baby," he murmurs as I rest against his chest, his arms wrapped around me. "Hold on to me and let me make you feel good. Beautiful girl."

We might be having sex for the first time in a club bathroom while people on the other side of the door complain about us taking too long, but it feels so intimate. Like nothing exists but Levi and me. He consumes my senses, his heartbeat and words filling my ears, the scent of his cologne and the taste of his kisses, the way we look tangled up together.

I didn't know it could feel this good.

"So…so…goo—Levi!" I babble out, shouting his voice in a broken cry when one of his hands slips between our bodies and finds my clit. The added level of sensation sends me barreling closer to an orgasm. I'd be embarrassed by how close I am to falling apart already if I had the brain cells left to feel anything but pleasure.

Levi drops his other hand to the counter for purchase, fucking me harder. I cling to him to avoid being moved back with the force of our thrusts, holding myself close to him. My body moves on automatic, trying to grind against him, but mostly I can't do anything but spread my thighs and take whatever he has to give me. I'm completely under his control and ecstatic about the fact.

"Your pussy's as perfect as the rest of you," Levi tells me, and I shiver at the way the dirty praise washes over me.

"Levi, I…I think…" I try and fail to speak coherently as that tight coil of heat bursts inside me.

"That's it, baby, come for me," Levi encourages as I do just that, muffling my screams of pleasure against his chest and drowning in wave after wave of bliss. "Fuck, just like that. You're gonna make me come, strangling my cock like that."

That breaks through the wall of pleasure slamming into me. "Yes, yes, please," I beg, suddenly needing to feel him come, to feel him give in to this like I am. "Come inside me, Levi. I need it."

I don't know where the words come from, only that I mean them wholeheartedly. I may have been a virgin until five minutes ago, but that doesn't mean I haven't dreamt about this for months.

"Fuck!" Levi barks out the word, then he's clutching me close, shuddering. I feel his cock jerk inside me, then a hot flood of come as his orgasm takes him. I gasp, reveling in the sensation, my head tipping back so I can kiss and lick the tanned skin of his throat, needing to taste him.

For a minute, we're both panting, shaking messes. Then another rude knock interrupts us, and this time, we have to pull away.

Levi slips out of me, and my face flames as wetness coats my thighs. He smiles at me in a way that makes my heart thunder in my chest, then cleans us up as best as he can with a paper towel and water.

"You okay, baby?" he asks softly and helps me stand. I smooth down my skirt, but one glance in the small mirror above the sink reveals that there's no way to hide the flush in my cheeks or the pleasure-induced shine in my eyes. I find that I don't want to hide it, anyway.

"More than okay," I answer honestly, leaning into him as he winds an arm around my waist.

Levi shields me from the people waiting outside the bathroom when we finally stumble out, though I catch the way he glares daggers at a man who mumbles about us taking too long in there.

My knees are shaky, and I lean on Levi as we make our way back to the bar where our friends have crowded in a group.

"Oh, there you—OH SHIT!" Kade, the birthday boy of our group, shouts, his jaw dropping as he takes in our ruffled appearances. Kade is a huge guy, as tall as Levi is at over six foot, with a bushy beard but in reality is a giant softy.

In contrast, Levi with his undeniable good looks—messy brown hair, deep green eyes, bulging muscles from all the physical work he does—is the real grump of the group. To everyone but me, that is.

I swear I nearly burst into flames when the whole group erupts with cheers, jeers, and questions. There's no hiding what Levi and I have been up to, not when he's holding me close. My hair's a mess from his hands and my lips are still tingly and swollen from his kisses. Levi shoves Jack away when he tries to hug him in congratulations, and I can't help the laugh that bubbles out of me despite the embarrassment.

"Shut the fuck up," Levi tells the others, shaking his head. They're used to his gruffness, though, and just smile at us.

"We're just happy you two have finally fucked," Aaron, another of our friends, pipes up. "We placed bets on how long it would take. You lasted a whole month longer than I thought."

I gape at him, blinking. Was the tension between Levi and me really that obvious? Clearly, I hadn't done as good a job at hiding my pining as I thought.

"Pay up, guys!" Kade announces, holding his hand out while Jack groans, fishes out a ten-dollar note, and hands it over. Kade turns to us, grinning widely. "Thanks for the birthday present, man."

"Oh my God," I mumble, burying my face in Levi's chest to avoid any more of this nonsense.

Beneath the burning embarrassment and ridiculousness of our friends' bets, there's a bottomless pool of happiness. Levi's arms are around me, and I don't have to try and pretend I'm not head over heels for this man anymore. The relief is almost as satisfying as the literal satisfaction still melting my muscles.

For the first time in a very long time, I'm genuinely, truly, utterly happy. And I owe that to the man I'm pressed up against like he's my salvation.

I peek up through my lashes to find Levi looking down at me with devotion in his gaze, and vow right then and there that I'm going to find a way to prove to him how much he means to me.

No more hiding.