I shouldn't have. But I did it anyway. I followed his instructions. My body was still hot from my fingers, my mind sluggish from the pleasure I'd given myself. I hated that obeying him turned me on. I hated that I wanted it. But if it got me to Levi, it was worth it.
When I knocked on Sam's door, it didn't take him a second to open it. He was leaning in the doorway, his shirt half unbuttoned, a triumphant smile on his lips. "Hey." I stepped inside, and before I could even gasp, he was pushing me against the wall, his hands everywhere - rough, assertive. His fingers slid over my hips, gripping my ass tightly. "Did you do what I told you?" His voice was a dark murmur in my ear. His knee pushed between my thighs, forcing me apart. I felt it through the fabric of his jeans - hard, needy, right where he wanted me. And damn it, it made my insides vibrate.
Then his hand on my neck, his other between my legs. I gasped, my forehead pressed against the cool wall. His grip was tight, his body hot against my back. He pulled me away from the wall and turned me toward him. Our lips met in a brutal kiss, teeth, tongue, hunger. His hands pushed my straps down, exposing my skin, his fingers found my breasts, kneading, pulling hard on my nipples. I moaned into his mouth as he pulled me with him until my knees hit the bed as he leaned back and looked at me with a smug smile. "Sit."
I pushed my underwear aside and climbed on top of him, slowly lowering myself as I felt him stretch me, filling me completely. My fingernails dug into his shoulders. A throaty, satisfied sound from him. His hands slid under my dress, ripping off my panties without giving me a choice. I gasped, but he only held me tighter, pressing me against him, making me feel exactly what was going to happen. "I want you to move," he ordered. It wasn't a request. It was a command.
And I obeyed. Slowly at first. Feeling. Savoring. He thrust his hips up, hitting the exact spot that almost made me tremble. A curse escaped my lips. "Faster," he murmured, his hands cupping my breasts, his thumbs stroking my hard nipples. "You know why you're here." Yes. I knew so I rode him harder, faster, letting his dominance, his obsession, consume me. His fingers dug into my skin, and his teeth found my neck, sucking, biting. When he came, he grabbed my hair, pulled my head back, and let out a harsh, "Fuck, Claire," before pulling me against his chest. We stayed like that for a few seconds. Then he pushed me off, stood up, and calmly buttoned his pants. "Get dressed. We're leaving."
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Sam kept his word. He drove me in his black car to a mansion on the outskirts of town, a swanky estate that looked like a place where sins were committed and never spoken of again. Music vibrated in the air, soft lights casting golden shadows across the polished parquet floor. Men in expensive suits, women in dresses that hid nothing. I looked around, searching. And then there he was. Levi Reid.
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Levi was the definition of effortless charm. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a face that could be both arrogant and gentle. He moved with a fluid elegance as if he had perfected every gesture. It was unfair. People like him weren't supposed to be nice. But he was. "So, Claire MacRae." His voice had that relaxed quality as if he rarely stressed. "I've seen you before." Of course, he had. I was damn famous. My followers would be falling over themselves if they knew I was here, with him, in his inner circle.
"Tarot livestreams." I took a sip of my drink, the ice cubes clinking. "I tell people how shitty their lives are, and they pay me for it." He chuckled. "So you're good at it?" I leaned forward a little, running my fingers slowly down the stem of my glass.
"Outstanding." His eyes twinkled with amusement.
"Then you'll have to read my cards on day." I didn't want to put anything on him except my hand on his neck, and his lips on my skin. He spoke to me as if I were just another person. A normal conversation, no power play, no chase. Sam hadn't given me a second thought before using me, but Levi...
He didn't do anything. He didn't flirt crudely, he didn't touch me, he didn't look at me hungrily. I would have found it almost charming if it hadn't frustrated me so damn much. "Maybe." I let the word hang in the air, a bait he didn't even notice. We continued to talk. About trivial things. Movies, music, travel. He asked about me and I answered. I asked about him, and he told me. Everything was so... harmonious. So natural. And it drove me crazy.
Every fiber of my being was screaming for more, for that excitement, for that closeness that I wanted from him. But it wasn't coming. And I began to feel restless. His reticence annoyed me and unsettled me, and at the same time, there was a part of me that longed for this challenge.
I couldn't believe it, I, the woman who knew how to break hearts and get what she wanted, was here, without influence, without control. "You're an interesting woman, Claire," he said after a while, his light blue eyes piercing as if he could see right through me. "I'd like to know more about you." He had no idea how much those simple words bothered me. How much they annoyed me. Why couldn't he just surrender? Why couldn't he see that I was all he needed? I wanted to show him that he could fall in love with me, that he had to fall in love with me right away.
"I'm a woman who's easy to understand," I replied, my voice slightly sarcastic, but also challenging. "You just have to accept it." He studied me for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I'm sure you're fascinating, Claire. But you don't have to push me." His words were like a sting.
Did he think I would push him? I was used to people falling at my feet, interested in me.
That they didn't want what I wanted was just... not right. I was brilliant. I knew how to get people where I wanted them. And Levi was the perfect man to win over. But his easy way was driving me crazy. I wanted him to look at me and feel something. I wanted him to want me, right here, right now. To be as obsessed as Sam. To take me without thinking, without questioning. The more he stayed away, the more I wanted him. It was like a terrible game.
"You're quite unusual," he finally said when we sat down again and resumed our conversation. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but you're different from the others, Claire." He almost made it hard for me to believe in myself. And yet there was this tension between us, this unspoken attraction that I couldn't deny. He knew it. And worst of all, he wore it calmly and confidently, as if aware of his power.
The longer we talked, the more I sensed this quiet challenge in him. He wasn't giving me the control I wanted, but he was playing the game his way- calmly, deliberately, and almost too calmly, as if trying to lure me into a trap I couldn't see. "What is it you really want, Claire?" he asked me with a slight, almost imperceptible smile. It was the question that summed everything up.
And I knew he knew. I wanted to make him fall in love with me. I wanted to win him over. But more than that... I wanted to break his guard. And somehow I knew that the very thing he was arousing in me would attract him to me as well.
I leaned forward slightly, tugging at the glass I was holding to keep my hands busy. "I want... what I want," I finally said, my voice low and almost threatening.
"And what is that?" I held his gaze. "You'll find out, Levi." He didn't answer right away. Instead, he grinned a quiet, almost smug grin. Levi was not a man who jumped into things. He was a man who waited. Who wanted to see a spark before he lit the fire? And I wasn't that spark. Not yet. I dug my nails into the palm of my hand and smiled.
I guess I'll have to practice patience...
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I'd spent the entire evening captivating Levi - or at least trying to. But instead of being swept away by my presence like any other man, he remained calm, polite, reserved. He was interested, yes. But not in the way I wanted him to be. Not in the way I was used to. And then Ella appeared.
"Claire!" a familiar voice cut through the muted hum of the party, bright and light. I turned and there she was - perfectly styled, her smile open and genuine. Ella? What rock had she suddenly crawled out from under?! And next to her, Levi. My Levi.
"I didn't know you were here, too!" she continued, pulling me into a quick hug. Her eyes flashed with excitement. "This is such a coincidence!" No, it wasn't. The universe just hated me right now. I forced a smile. "Yeah, what a surprise." Levi looked from me to Ella and raised an eyebrow. "You guys know each other?" Ella laughed. "We've been friends like forever. I met Claire when I wanted to use tarot to illuminate my future. She's the best!" Levi looked at me with a new expression, a mixture of amusement and interest. "Future, huh? So you're some kind of witch." I shrugged.
"Depends on who you ask." Ella linked arms with me. "Actually, it's funny you two met today." She grinned conspiratorially. "Now that I see you two together, I realize you'd be perfect together." My stomach lurched. What's going to happen now? Levi didn't flinch. "Oh?" "Yes! Claire is smart, quick-witted, and beautiful, and you're..." She waved her hand in his direction. "Well, you." I waited for his reaction.
A comment, a smile, some sign that this thought turned him on. But he just chuckled slightly. "That's a nice compliment, Ella." Was that it? Ella wasn't put off. "I mean it! You're both aloof in a cool way, that's fine!" I wanted to choke the air out of her. "Claire, what do you think?" she asked as if I wasn't already trying to win Levi over.
I took a long sip from my champagne glass, my smile remaining hard on the surface. "I'd say stay out of my love life." Ella laughed, thinking I was joking. Levi looked at me and there was that damned amused twinkle in his eyes again, like he was playing a game that only he knew the rules to. I didn't know if I wanted to kiss him or hit him.
Ella poked Levi playfully in the side. "I mean, hello? You're my cousin - I know you well enough to know what you need." My grip on my glass tightened. My gaze flickered between them. Cousin? That was actually unexpected...
Ella was still in her element. She was chatting, laughing, and giving me meaningful looks while she gushed about me to Levi like I was some damn jewel he just had to pick up. "Honestly, Levi, Claire is amazing. Funny, smart, creative-and her Tarot livestreams are legendary! Have you seen how many followers she has?"
I took a sip and hid my face behind the glass, almost embarrassed. "Ella..." I pulled out her name warningly, but she just waved me off. "No, seriously! She's fascinating. And there's a lot more to her than meets the eye. I mean, sure, she's beautiful - but there's so much more to her." I should have been flattered. I really should have been. But while she was praising me like a damn auction item, my eyes were on Levi, looking for a reaction. A spark of interest, an appreciative smile. Something. But there was nothing. He listened, polite as always, a small, almost indulgent smile on his lips.
But he said nothing. No "Yes, she's really special," no, "I noticed that too." Just silence. And it ate me up inside. I wasn't used to being overlooked. Not used to someone not wanting me. Ella kept talking, completely aimless, while my pulse pounded in my ears. I could have stopped her. I could have interrupted her and changed the subject. But part of me wanted to know. Wanted to hear if Levi was going to say something else. But when he finally spoke, it wasn't what I expected.
"I wouldn't even look at love readings like that. I just don't have time for that romantic nonsense right now," he said calmly as if it were the most natural thing in the world. My heart skipped a beat. Ella frowned. "Oh, come on. That's just an excuse." "It's not." Levi took a sip of his drink and sat back. "I'm always on the go, I hardly have any time for myself. It would be unfair to lie to anyone." I felt as if someone had stepped on my chest. He didn't mean it personally.
Of course not.
But damn it, it felt personal.
I forced a relaxed smile as if I didn't care, as if his answer didn't hit me like a blow. "Very honorable of you." He looked at me, his gaze calm, searching. "I'm just being honest. When it comes down to it, you don't need it." "Sure." I raised my glass in his direction as if to toast his honesty. I took a deep drink, hoping the alcohol would put out the burning in my chest. I smiled. Calmly, relaxed. As if I didn't care. But inside I was seething. No time for romance. What a miserable cliché.
Levi Reid, the man who was always charming, approachable, and flirtatious in public, was seriously trying to tell me he didn't have time for a relationship. Ridiculous. If he didn't want me, the least he could do was admit it. But instead, he resorted to this tired crap. I looked at him. His perfectly chiseled face, his effortlessly cool hair, his dark eyes no longer interested in me but focused on his drink again. Fine.
Play it that way, Levi. He could tell me whatever he wanted. He could ignore me, smile on my face, and pretend he didn't care. But I knew better. I'd seen his interest. The brief moment in his gaze, the split second when his mask slipped. He was perfect. For me. And I'd always gotten what I wanted. It was just a matter of time.