s*x IN A GLASS HOUSE

THE DEVIL WRAPPED IN ITALIAN FABRIC

AUGUST

Levi slate left me standing there, Hard.

He acted like he hadn’t just dropped the most insane, yet f*****g hot confession of my life.

I thought nothing would top the charts with night shade, but Levi is onto something.

Goodness me. I pressed my back against the wall, slowly falling down to the floor.

He made s*x poetic. And f**k, he tasted like mint and coffee, he smelled so f*****g good. Good enough to make me hard again.

The door clicked shut behind him.

Quiet. Final.

I pressed my hand against my hard on, thinking about jerking off to his taste still in my mouth, and the fiery sensation from the kiss that caused my lips to tingle.

He left just like that. Like he’d decided he was done, and that was supposed to be enough for me.

Fuck no.

With Levi, a kiss was nothing. He moved like a greamreaper, but one that was capable of f*****g like a god.

I sat there for a full minute, staring at the space he’d occupied, trying to remember how to breathe. My chest felt too tight, like he’d reached inside my ribcage and rearranged everything before walking away without looking back.

“Coward,” I muttered to the empty room.

The plan was to tease and wring a reaction out of him, not to get kissed and left here, with a hard on.

The promises he made replayed in my head, causing my c**k to throb. Pulsing so much that it hurt.

It wasn't helping.

I pressed both hands over my face and dragged them down slowly. My heart was still pounding, my skin felt too hot. I needed a cold shower.

Every nerve in my body was alive, like Levi had somewhat pressed a live wire into my body.

God, I hated him for it.

“How could he?” I muttered under my breath, biting my fingers.

I was supposed to have the upper hand here, not him.

I wasn't supposed to feel this way. Even if Levi and I f**k, it's just going to be a one-night stand.

I hated how calm he’d looked when he walked out. How composed. Like he didn't just threaten to rearrange my Guts and make me see stars, Like I wasn’t still in shock, from the way he’d grabbed me, the way he’d stared at me, the way his voice was reduced so low, it made me feel butterflies.

He had the temerity — the nerve — to say such thing like that and then…disappear like he hadn’t just rearranged my entire thoughts?

He had implanted himself so deep into my head, I'm sure I'll think about him for the whole week.

“Fantastic,” I whispered to no one.

I got up, walking across the living room because standing still felt difficult now.

Every time I closed my eyes,I saw his face mere inch apart from mine. His jaw locked. His eyes darting. His breath hitting my mouth like he wanted to devour me, break me in the worst and best ways, but restraining himself.

Levi Slate had a thing for creating torture and making it look like discipline.

I laughed once, harsh, humorless.

“f*****g bastard,” I mocked under my breath. “Who does he think he is?”

He walked away on purpose.

Computed and Accurate.

Like he wished for me to feel just like this — yearning, restless, completely wrecked.

And to make things worse?

It was f*****g working.

I flopped onto the bed, then immediately got up again because my body was f*****g indecisive. I ran my hands through my hair and let out a sound that could merely be explained as a furious groan.

“He feels he could just—” I halted, because even speaking it out made my stomach flip.

Slate was strong, restrained, and Dangerous in a way that didn’t need volume or threats.

And for some crazy caricature of a reason, he had decided to ercise that power on me.I walked toward the hallway before catching myself.

No.

I was not going after him.

I was not going to give him the fulfillment.

He’d walked away like I was the issue.

Like I was the one crossing lines.

I knew I was, but still.

But he played pretend, leaving me hanging, like he wasn’t the one who basically admitted his thoughts about me in a manner that made my bones feel electric.

I pressed my palm against the cool wall, exhaling slowly.

If he yearned for control s badly, if he wanted distance as he claimed, Fine.

Two could play this game.

I could act like I didn’t care.

I could pretend his voice wasn’t still reverberating in my skull.

I could feign like I wasn’t replaying every moment of that almost-moment until it hurt.

I grabbed a glass of water, chugging it down my throat to divert my attention.

My hands trembled — hardly, but enough. I stared at them, unbelieving.

“Get it together,” I muttered under my breath.

But how was I supposed to get it together when Levi had looked at me like that? His eyes filled with lust.

When he’d basically confessed that he wanted to tear me apart and then acted like it was nothing? The last person who made me feel these butterflies was dead.

I took a gulp of water, but it wasn’t enough to cool anything in me.

This was crazy.

Risky.

Absurd.

But… I desired more.

I put the glass down gently, because if I didn’t, I might’ve smashed it.

I wasn’t used to being rejected.

I wasn’t used to being told “not now.”

Particularly not when someone clearly wanted me and was simply too stubborn to do anything about it.

Levi didn’t leave because he didn’t want me.

He left because there was more this than him and I.

I felt it in my spirit, but I just didn't want to think about it.

desiring me scared him, but there was more.

And that thought I heard something from him. A whisper, but I caught it.

A name I hadn't heard for the longest. “Gus.”

I shrugged it off. Maybe my imagination was running wild again.

I strode back to my room, every step fueled by anger, irritation, adrenaline and something dangerous, yet close to satisfaction.

Let him run.

Let him assume he had control.

Because Levi Slate didn’t step away from me.

He walked away from himself.

And one thing was for sure:

I would break him before he would.

I slammed my bedroom door and leaned against it, a slow, wicked smile moving slowly onto my face.

“First round,” I whispered.

Because this?

This wasn’t over.

Not even close.