We drove in long, comfortable silence, holding hands over the center console.

When we arrived home, we went about getting ready for bed. Lev undressed all the way down to his boxers, no longer afraid of dashing my mild sensibilities, and I dressed in my ‘hideous’ yellow pajamas. Lev locked the bedroom door, pulled out the sofa, climbed in, and turned off his lamp. My lamp followed suit as I climbed into the ginormous king bed.

I lay there a long while, unable to get comfortable or find sleep.

It took a long, stern, mental pep-talk, but I made my decision.

Sliding out of bed, I shuffled over to the sofa bed, climbed onto the mattress, and wasn’t a little bit surprised that Lev had predicted my move, lifting the sheets to let me under. He spooned me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me back into his warm, strong body.

His scent was warm and manly. He was toasty, and his hard body cocooned mine. It calmed me. Comfort hit me immediately and I yawned.

I felt Lev’s lips press lightly at the base of my neck. “Goodnight, Mina.”

“Night, sweetie.” My eyes turned heavy, and soon, I was lost to slumber.

We slept that way until dawn.

The next morning, as I walked out of the bathroom dressed in my black yoga pants and white off-the-shoulder tee, I was brought to a stop by Lev sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting for me.

Brushing out my wet hair, I smiled softly at the sight of him in his sweats, tee, and hoodie. “Morning.”

A frown at his brow, he stood and came forward, a small turquoise box in his hand. He strode forth, a decisive gleam in his eyes, and when he stopped an inch in front of me, I knew what was coming next.

Lev leaned in low, close, and breathing in his warm, manly scent, I closed my eyes, awaiting the kiss I had been waiting for my entire life.

I stood on my tiptoes, my face turned up, ready to receive it.

This kiss would be the kiss I judged all others by. I felt it deep in my bones. This kiss would be groundbreaking. This kiss would push me over the edge and would finally fall for Lev Leokov.

This kiss…

Never happened.

His hands worked swiftly, fastening something behind my neck.

I looked down.

A silver anchor on a long, delicate silver chain sat just above the valley of my breasts. The disappointment from my non-kiss faded, but only marginally.

“It’s not my birthday,” I told him.

Turns out, I didn’t need a groundbreaking kiss to fall in love with Lev Leokov. I knew this, because what he said then settled the matter. “This is for all the birthdays you missed out on.” He reached out to brush the anchor pendant, his finger sweeping across the top of my breast accidentally. “For the birthdays that were never acknowledged when they should have been.”

My eyes began to sting.

Ugh! Not again.

I was turning into a blubbering mess. I didn’t want to cry, but the moment was more than I ever expected in this lifetime, and Lev’s sincere delivery hoisted me over the edge.

The man had no idea how dreamy he was, and proved it when he drew me close, wrapping me up and speaking softly, “Please don’t cry, Mina. I’m sorry. I’m not good with words.”

I laughed through my tears at the absurdity of his statement. Cupping his cheeks, I pulled his face down, pressing a soft lingering kiss to his mouth. Pulling back, I noticed his slack look of shock, but chose to ignore it. I fingered the pendant and beamed, “I love it, Lev. Thank you. I’ll never take it off.”

Later that night, after another night at the club with only a handful of loyal patrons, Lev and I left a little after two a.m.

I noticed a theme happening.

During the car ride home, we held hands over the center console, and once home, we undressed and went to our separate beds. We turned off our lamps and settled in.

Fifteen minutes passed, and sleep had not found me.

I bit the inside of my lip before I called into the darkness, “Lev?”

His immediate grunt of response told me he hadn’t yet fallen asleep.

I went for it, the whole hog. “You know, there’s plenty of room in this bed for the both of us.”

A long silence followed, and I wanted to slap my forehead.

I pushed too hard.

Just as I opened my mouth to blurt out an awkward goodnight, I heard the sheets rustle. I saw the outline of him approach the bed. He came around to the left side and slid under the covers. My relief evident, I scooched toward him before tucking myself into his side, my head at his chest and my arm resting on his abdomen.

“This okay?” I asked, knowing full well it was perfect.

His strong arm came around me and he sighed, “Perfect.”

I smiled into Lev’s bare chest, breathing in the warm scent of him, and fell asleep hoping I would find myself smiling my way to sleep more often.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mina

Finding a moment alone wasn’t hard to do between the hours of ten and twelve. Those were the hours Lev disappeared to workout. He always left at ten and he was always back by twelve, if not twelve on the dot. I did not know what he did during his workout. I do know, whatever the activity, he came back dripping with sweat.

I made myself clear on more than one occasion that I found Lev attractive. He was, by far, the most handsome man I had ever seen. With his golden eyes, harsh angles of his face, dark hair worn styled, and his tall, built frame, I found myself wondering what it would be like to be bare under that body, naked and sweating from a different type of workout.

Whenever Lev came home, his sweatpants and tee damp and sticking to him, my tongue would swell and I’d barely contain my panting.

Lev was sexy, plain and simple.

With our changed sleeping arrangement now becoming a permanent thing, it didn’t escape my notice that I woke with a long, thick erection pressed up against my butt, or thigh, or wherever it happened to be pressed in the mornings.

We both played it cool, not bringing attention to it, but we both knew it was there. It was obvious, painfully so.

This morning went a little different, however. Having barely woken with that hard cock pressed into the crack of my ass for the third day in a row, I acted unconsciously in my sleepy state, arching my back and letting out a sigh of ecstasy as the solid length rubbed me in a most delicious way.

For a moment there, I thought Lev was a dream.

I was (obviously) wrong.

My body, acting of it’s own accord, ground back into him one more wonderful time, and Lev let out a soft growl of approval. The hidden cleft between my legs pulsed gently, and suddenly I was hot all over. A want spread through me, and before I knew it, that want had increased to a desperate need.

I needed more. I was desperate for contact. I wanted that hard cock inside me, filling me, stretching me.

That was the moment Lev gently extracted himself, and a second later, I heard the bathroom door close behind him. The shower started, and that was when I woke fully, realizing what had just happened.

My neck itched with heat and my face flamed.

I had dry-humped Lev in my sleep.

That wasn’t very polite, Mina.

I thought about apologizing, but knew that would be as awkward as the situation itself. So I did the next best thing, the thing Lev and I did well.

Feigning sleep, I pretended it never happened, breathing as heavily and evenly as possible as Lev exited the bathroom.

The shuffle of clothing sounded, the bedroom door was unlocked, and I found myself alone in a bed built for two.

I turned to lay on my back and sighed. My hand glanced my breast over my pajamas, slid down over my stomach, and my fingers slipped under the elastic of my panties to where I needed them most. Closing my eyes, I thought about Lev’s long fingers, his full lips, and his taut butt as I brought myself to release. But it was hollow.