Page 66 of Leviathan's Song
“I can’t forget about them. They’re why we’re having this conversation right now.” His chest and shoulders were heaving, and now I could see all of it. Long, sinewy lines of color snaking up his shoulder and over the mounds of his muscles, delicate golden skin dancing over flexing abs. I had the strangest urge to lick it.
“I know it’s early by most people’s standards, but I already want you to marry me,” I whispered. “I want every part of you, and I don’t care what the bureaucrats think.”
“… What?”
I let my thoughts drift back to sinking in the pond, to the things I’d found most important at my end. “I nearly died, Levi—and I would have, if you hadn’t worked so hard to save me—but of all the thoughts and regrets that crossed my mind while I was drowning, the one that pained me the most was that I’d never get to experience what it would be like to spend my life with you.”
Levi’s breathing stilled, and his mouth dropped open slightly, but I pushed on, needing him to understand how I felt.
“I find myself caring less about what society thinks regarding appropriate timelines, and more about what you and I want. Ifyouwant to wait and find some other way through the council’s…desires, then I’m fine with that, and we’ll do it together. But I don’t want to make choices about our relationship based on spiting this council or appeasing social expectations.”
“What exactly are you saying?” His voice was husky, and I had to close my eyes and concentrate because his lure was so potent it stole my breath away. I framed my thoughts carefully before I spoke.
“I’m saying that I would give you that commitment of binding myself to you, marrying you, and it would be real. Not a paper marriage. A real one. You already have my heart.”
Chapter 25
Levi sat frozenfor a moment underneath me, too stunned to respond. His heart hammered forcefully in his chest beneath my hands, and his mouth was parted just slightly, like it was ready for the torrent in his mind if the words could just break free. I leaned forward to take his mouth with mine—big, soft, open-mouth kisses that tasted of him and his decadent lips.
This seemed to jar him out of his stupor, and he clutched me against him as if I might flee. He broke the kiss, and his eyes dropped to my chest, taking in the sheer lace and ruffled fabric again as his breathing accelerated. One hand dropped to grip my hip, and he used it to drag me down against his erection as he flexed up against me again. I gasped for breath and rolled my hips, trying to encourage him as he leaned forward to brush his lips along the exposed skin of my upper breast.
“How did I get so lucky?” he breathed out quietly as he leaned back to look at me again.
“How didIget so lucky?” I repeated, giving in to my desire and leaning down to nip gently at his chest. He made that little choking sound again and tangled a hand in my hair, and I was already trying to unbutton his pants. He helped me slide back slightly so he could push them down and off.
Then he froze.
His whole body stiffened as he rested his forehead against my collarbone, and I thought I might scream as he panted for breath beneath me. “I don’t have any rings.”
What?
He raised his head to look at me when I didn’t respond and must have seen that I was incapable of comprehension right now. “For a wedding. If we’re gonna do this… I don’t… I don’t even have a ring yet.” He swallowed thickly.
It took me several blinks to follow that train of thought. “I don’t need a ring, Levi. I’d rather make my own anyway.” This seemed to surprise him for a beat, though I couldn’t imagine why. I made rings nearly every day, and I only had so much body real-estate—I couldn’t waste space with non-functioning jewelry.
“Really? Does that mean you’ll make me one too?”
“Yes.” I tried to kiss him again, but he dodged away with a grin and a sparkle in his eye.
“Do I get a boost on it? What kind of boost can I get?” His excitement was adorable, but not what I wanted right now.
“Stop talking.”
His response to my petulant demand was delighted laughter, and he indulged me with a kiss that started sweet and quickly became a desperate, wanting thing with a life of its own. I needed him more than I needed air. I loved him so much.
His mouth slanted against mine again and again, and when he dragged me more firmly against his hips, he gave a low curse as he realized I wasn’t wearing underwear. My grin was uncontainable.
Levi’s grip tightened on my hip. “Have you healed? You’re not still tender?”
I had no idea what he was asking... or what year it was.
“From our first time,” he clarified quietly.
Was I?“I’m fine.”Probably... Right?I didn’t care right then. I bit his neck, then kissed the mark, eliciting a groan.
“Should I get a—?” He moved like he was going to slide out from under me, and I gripped him tighter. “The condoms are in your bag,” he said, laughing.
“Go,” I whispered. “I’m not ready for babies,” I joked.
