The Bachelor's Perfect Proposal (Bliss Series Book 2) (8 page)

I
was exhausted
. My stubbornness against sitting and waiting and letting the storm pass had brought me back to where I wanted to be...twenty-two grueling hours later.

When I arrived at Levi’s penthouse, the place was quiet. Too quiet. And there was a chill in the air. I paused by the door to disarm the alarm on the screen and swiped at it with my forefinger, ordering the Smart House to draw the curtains open and let the natural light in. Following that, I tapped on buttons to start a soothing music and ignite the fireplace.

Peace. Comfort. Home. And everything smelled like Levi.

Too exhausted to even charge my phone, I plopped my sore butt on the sofa, placed my head on top of my folded arms, tucked my legs in and drifted off to sleep.

Soon enough, Levi would be home. Soon enough, I would be back in his arms.

I
was cradled
in a soft cocoon, a warmth that smelled of nature and the rain. I wished the storm would go away. A steady tattoo swayed me back to sleep. Far too often, the rain would pelt my windows, but this was calming, steady and soothing. Like a beat of one’s heart.

That was when I challenged myself to open my heavy eyelids. “It’s you.”

He might have sensed me stir, might not have heard me. Levi glanced down, and the twinkle in his eye was a revelation of what he wasn’t saying out loud. His breath wasn’t labored as he walked up the stairs to the second floor of the penthouse, with my legs slung over one of his arms. I reached my hands up and intertwined my fingers behind his neck. I ruffled the ends of his thick, wet hair.

“Where have you been?” I snuggled against his chest, feeling the coolness of his soaked shirt, waiting for his reply.

“I went for a run.”

“It’s raining,” I guessed, burrowing my nose on his chest. Levi and rain. How intoxicating.

“Yes, I got caught in it.”

We made it to his bedroom. It was distinctly Levi. Male. Powerful with tiny hints of sweetness and charm. Dangerous in all aspects, particularly for a weak heart like mine.

He laid me on top of the bed. My body arched against the silken sheets as I reached for him. “Don’t go. Stay. I missed you.” A pout hinted on my lips. He kissed it away.

“I missed you too, more than you could ever know. But I have to change out of my wet clothes and shower.”

“Take me.” With a slight pull of my hand, his head bowed back to me, and Levi let me know just how much he did miss me. His kiss was deep, urgent, and desperate, almost telling me I’d been gone far too long.

“Bath sound good?”

“It sounds perfect.” My man was great at many things, one of which was throwing me deliriously fantastic baths. He picked me up again and padded to the en suite bathroom.

From my vantage point atop the marble vanity, I watched as Levi uncorked bottles and poured liquids into the hot water. I admired how his muscles stretched and flexed under his wet white t-shirt. His running shorts grabbed onto his buttocks too, and when he bent over to test the water, I delighted in my view.

“Bath’s ready.” Levi kissed the edge of my right collarbone, peeking out from under my champagne-colored blouse. He thumbed the pearls against the skin of my neck. “Can we leave these on?”

I smiled, shyly, blushed and nodded. Levi took that as a cue to undress me, one button at a time, one stocking at a time. A zip undone. A clasp unsnapped. Each moment created a mounting desire, a fire in my belly. Every movement was punctuated with a kiss, a caress. A touch. A shiver. A spark.

He guided me to the tub, large enough to fit us both. It faced an expansive window, which opened up to the glorious view of the Golden Gate Bridge at dusk after the rain. He added the melodic voice of a man and his guitar to the sound system. With the light lowered, Levi lit several candles in the room. The water with its concoction of essential oils, bath salts and bubbles was something the doctor ordered, after a long trip home. I dipped my feet in one at a time, letting my body adjust to the temperature.

Once I was covered in bubbles, Levi stepped back, admiration and desire in his eyes, and peeled off his clothes. Taking his time, he delighted in the little gasps that made their way out of my mouth. He kissed my forehead, letting his lips linger before I moved forward and made room for him behind me.

I leaned my head against him, and lifted our hands together from the bubbles and the water, and intertwined our fingers. “Why didn’t you run indoors? Didn’t you check the weather before you left?”

He sighed. The warmth of his breath tickled my skin. “I can’t trust the weather reports these days. Can’t even trust the skies.”

“Hmmm...” His lips made their way behind my ear, nibbling at the sensitive spot, and stroking the skin underneath my pearl necklace. My eyes rolled to the back of my head. This man could make my toes curl with the simplest of touches.

How could I have thought that our relationship was in danger before I left?

“I’m happy you’re back. I was going crazy without you. That’s why I went for a run outside. To get some fresh air, make me think better.”

“Did it work?”

Levi massaged the ache on my shoulders, created by hours of lugging my bags and pulling on my suitcase, and sleeping on pillows that hadn’t belonged to me, and hadn’t smelled of his scent.

“All I know is that the rain isn’t too bad. It is somewhat an omen of good things to come.”

“And Mother Nature isn’t quite a bitch,” I added.

“Yes, that too.” He chuckled at a joke I had a feeling I wasn’t privy to, but I didn’t mind. We could laugh about it later. “What kind of good things are you expecting?”

I ran my hands on his legs, lightly scraping my nails on his warm skin, earning a small growl of appreciation from Levi. He reciprocated by ghosting his fingers over my shoulders, down my chest, until his hands disappeared beyond the bubbles.

“For instance, it rained the first time I met you,” he spoke against the side of my cheek. I turned my head to meet his lips.

“Did it?” I managed to mutter against his mouth.

“Yes.”

“Remind me again?” I asked, but my heart wasn’t completely in it. I could only think of what he was doing to me with his hands and lips, and how my body responded.

“Later,” Levi said, as he helped me turn around to face him, my legs astride his. Lifting the pearls off my neck with his thumb, he found the pulse on my neck and licked it, and my head lolled back to give him more access.

In a tone that made me lose all my inhibitions, Levi whispered, “I promise.”

I
trailed
my fingers over the contours of her right hip and waist, watching goose bumps rise, scattering like minuscule nodules of fire. A fire that set my own desires aflame. Veronica hummed against my neck, and my arousal heightened.

Two weeks without her had been far too long and lonely. Now that she was back in my arms, I had no intentions of letting her go again. Ever.

She stretched against me.

“You’re teasing me,” I growled in her ear, pressing her body to mine as I let my fingers grasp her bottom.

A knowing smile was her reply. Her hands stroked my chest, one going up and the other going down. My back was pushed into the sheets as Veronica lifted herself up and straddled my lap, circling her hips against me. The sateen sheets fell off and left her exposed.

Hands roved from her stomach to her chest. Hands that looked peculiar, yet, familiar. Hands that didn’t belong to me.

From the threshold of a bedroom fashioned to look like a scene in a tropical resort, I watched, appalled and horrified at the sight of a man who was making Veronica moan in pleasure.

“Veronica?” My voice faltered.

She tilted her head and looked over her shoulder, the springs of the mattress creaking beneath her as her body bounced. “I couldn’t help it, Levi. I was lonely.”

The man sat up, grabbing her hair, making her arch her body to him. I couldn’t see his face as it disappeared between her breasts, but his mockery was clear as the blue skies. “You should have married her when you had the chance.”

The color red exploded in my mind. I lunged forward, with my sight blurred, my hands fisted, and my heart shattered.

I woke gasping for air, my hands balled up the sheets underneath me. Blinking my eyes to see clearer, I realized I was back in my own bedroom, shaking and soaked in my own sweat. I looked to my side and saw Veronica curled on her side of the bed.
Breathe
, I told myself. It was just a horrid dream.

In that moment, I wanted to reach out to Veronica and hold her in my arms. But something was suffocating me. Remnants of the anger I had felt in dream state spilled into my reality. I needed to get a grip before I touched her. I rolled off the bed and dressed for another outdoor run.

* * *

“
Y
ou haven’t told
me how your trip went.”

She picked up another piece of chocolate-drizzled crepe off her plate and lifted it to her mouth. “I was busy,” she said, shrugging one shoulder, when she finished chewing, and offered me another piece.

“Did you like the Maldives?” I stared right into her eyes, twinkling with her smile, as I wrapped my lips around the fork. Yes, I could, beyond any doubt, spend the rest of my life with this goddess.

Veronica hummed, then nodded. A drop of whipped cream fell on top of one of her breasts. As helpful as I ever was, I licked her clean.

“Sweet.” The word was meant, not for the cream, but the taste of her skin. “Would you like to go back someday?”

“I’m going back in November for the actual event.”

“Oh?” I hadn’t thought of that. “With me?” I asked, my voice low and serious.

She smiled and nodded, licking off cream from the fork. “I would love that. Maybe I’d be able to actually enjoy the sun and the beach.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that.” I gave her bottom a little squeeze.

Veronica laid her head on my chest. “I missed you so much. It was so hard to be away from you.”

Brushing off her hair to the side, I kissed her forehead and asked, “Why don’t we go away this weekend?”

“To Maldives?”

“Or somewhere closer.” Somewhere where tropical storms, or any storms of any kind, could not hamper my plans. “We can go to Napa. Finally see the vineyard?”

She hummed, circling her finger over the tip of my clavicle. “There’s work...”

I didn’t let her finish. “You can work from there. The house has Wi-Fi.”

“I know that. But...” She pushed up to face me, cradling my head in her hands. “I’ve just returned. I have to meet with clients.”

“Conference call. Skype. FaceTime.” Something had to work. She had to agree.

“And I have to go back to my apartment.”

“I watered all your plants. Your orchid has three blooms.”

Veronica leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips. “Okay. Let’s leave today.”

I chuckled. “We can’t today. You promised Sandrine you won’t miss tonight’s dinner since you didn’t make the last one.”

“Right. I should tell Chase that I’m leaving again. She is
not
going to like me.”

Threading my fingers through her hair, I brought her forehead closer to press on mine. “How can anyone not like you? You’re perfect in every way.

“You’re just saying that because I’m naked on top of you.”

“Yes, you are.” Inhaling deeply, I basked in the sweet aroma of her skin. “We have time before dinner.”

* * *

M
anaging
to arrive on time by the skin of our teeth, Veronica dashed up the steps of Jake and Sandrine’s Pacific Heights home, with me lagging behind.

“Relax. They won’t start without us. And I’m not too keen on trying out anything Jake has prepared,” I told her as she waited for me by the door.

“I don’t like being late. You know that.”

A lock of rich brown hair sprang from her braid, which cascaded over her right shoulder. Her enticing, flawless, smooth-as-silk shoulder. I found myself leaning down and pressing my lips to it. “It was your fault, you know. If you hadn’t seduced me...”

“It was so not my fault. And behave.” She playfully patted the side of my face before pressing the doorbell.

My lips moved up to the crook of her neck. “Why should I?”

Her breathing became irregular. “Sandrine said...they have other...guests,” Veronica said between pants.

“It’s just Nati.”

“Natalie’s in town?” She pulled away from me so quickly that I almost fell forward.

“Yeah. And her boyfriend. What’s his name?”

“Diego?”

“That one. Have you met him before? Nice bloke. Friendly.”

Veronica sucked in her bottom lip. Had I missed something? Perhaps Veronica was uncomfortable around Natalie, given my past with her. I was about to put her mind at ease on the matter when the door in front of us opened.