Ancient Guardians: The Uninvited (31 page)

Everything disappeared around Reece as she fully indulged herself in Levi’s sensual kiss. It was quite some time before she slowly withdrew from his soft lips and smiled at him. She ran her fingers across Levi’s forehead and smiled up into his sapphire eyes, “So what’s for lunch?”

Levi grinned, and before she could do anything, he hoisted her up onto the boat platform.

He quickly boarded from behind her. “There has been a meal prepared that I believe you will enjoy. He grabbed a towel that had been warming in the sun and wrapped it around her. After a hug and a kiss to her cheek, Levi guided her over to a table where they were to eat their lunch and lounge in the rays of the warm sun.

“Give me a moment, and I will return with our food.” he said as he walked toward the cabin of the boat.

Throughout the course of their meal, they spent their time appreciating that their painful separation was over. Levi never once addressed her behavior toward him in Pemdas, and Reece was grateful. It was all in the past, and they were happy to move forward.

When another large boat pulled into their location, Levi decided they would move on. He mentioned that there was an additional island with caves along the shore that Reece might enjoy exploring. Reece happily agreed, eager to explore more locations in the fascinating Aegean Sea.

Levi walked up to the helm and prepared the vessel to leave. Reece watched absorbedly as Levi focused on the control panel of the boat, pulling anchor and starting the engines. When he engaged the boat to idle slowly out of the cove, Reece decided to join him. She stepped up onto the platform where he stood and softly rubbed along his arm. “Can I drive?”

Levi smiled admiringly, and guided her to stand in front of him. “I don’t see why not.”

He kissed her shoulder as she gripped the boat’s wheel tightly. Even though Levi was standing behind her, it was quite intimidating to be the one that was controlling such an enormous vessel. Levi softly caressed her right hand, and gently took it off the wheel. He placed her hand onto the twin throttle levers. He kissed the side of her neck, “Relax,” he said in a low voice.

With his strong hand on hers, he slowly pushed the throttle levers down further, gradually giving the boat more power. As the yacht gained speed, the bow leveled out, and sent them cruising smoothly over the choppy, white capped waves of the ocean. Reece relaxed some, as the boat effortlessly dominated the waves as if they weren’t even there. It was euphoric, driving the colossal boat, feeling the wind rushing through her hair and gliding across the aquamarine waters of the sea.

When Levi wasn’t distracting her by tenderly running his hands along her sides, or across her abdomen, he would place a hand over hers on the wheel to help navigate the boat. Normally she would become weak with desire from what he was doing to her, but right now, all he was doing was making her nervous with the distraction.

“Levi, I’m going to crash this boat if you keep doing that!” she said as he kissed her shoulder.

Levi’s fingertips traced along her side. “You are doing perfectly fine, my love,” he said in a soft voice.

Reece shook her head after Levi brought his lips to her neck. “Levi, stop! You’re going to get us killed.” She clenched the wheel tighter. “I should’ve put my cover-up back on.”

“You’re probably right,” Levi said as he ran his hand down the center of her back, “although, I’m particularly grateful that you did not.”

“I’m sure you are.” She said with a laugh.

They continued traveling for a while across the open sea before Levi pointed out a rock formation he wanted her to guide the yacht toward. As soon as they were in the private cove, Levi went through the necessary actions to set anchor. They spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the caves, and enjoying their day alone together. Reece was speechless as they explored the caverns and she saw the pools of clear water in them.

After a beautiful day together exploring the ocean, caves, and renewing their love for one another, they decided to go back to the villa before dark. When they arrived, they went to their separate rooms to freshen up and prepare for dinner.

O
nce Levi was ready for dinner, he stepped out onto the terrace and waited patiently for Reece to finish preparing herself for their evening together. It would seem that his assumptions were correct that Reece being forced to live in Pemdas had something to do with her previous angry outbursts. When they returned to Pemdas he planned to do whatever was necessary to ensure that she still had her freedom, even though she needed to live in his land for her protection.

He folded his arms and smiled at the lit water of the aquamarine pool as he recalled how unsure he was of Reece before Harrison stepped in. He owed his cousin a debt of gratitude for everything he had done to help bring Reece back to him.

“Um, Levi?” Reece called out hesitantly.

Levi turned, and was instantaneously spellbound by her beauty as she stood in her doorway wearing a vibrant red dress. The silky dress outlined her flawless figure, and brought out the liveliness of her light-blue eyes. After a few moments of admiring her, he restrained himself from laughter when he noticed the troubled expression on her face. She held both hands behind her back, and her lips were twisted into a particular frown that Levi couldn’t discern. He walked back into the villa. “What is it you need, love?” he asked with a grin.

She sighed. “As much as I love that smile of yours, right now I’m not really in a position to fully appreciate it.” She tilted her head to the side. “I’m gonna need your help.”

She looked up at him, forcing Levi to laugh at the many expressions of helplessness crossing over her face. “What’s wrong?” he asked, struggling to keep his composure.

She eyed him warily. “I need you to cut my hair.”

Levi stared at her incredulously. “What are you talking about?”

Reece slowly turned around and Levi immediately brought a fist to his mouth, restraining himself from laughing aloud. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “How did you manage this?”

“That’s a really good question, and I’m still trying to figure it out.” she said in annoyance.

Levi examined the back of her dress, and was baffled that she had caught her hair in her zipper, given that it only came up to the middle of her back.

He gently guided her back into her room. “We are not cutting your hair, love. I will find a way to fix this,” he said, as he knelt down on one knee and began to study how he would carefully remove her tangled hair.

“Is it really bad?” she asked nervously.

Levi softly chuckled. “It’s not going to be easy, but I believe I can fix this. I am still trying to figure out how you managed this,” he said, as he slowly began to try and maneuver her hair out of the zipper. “Don’t tell me that after only a few of months of having Jasmeen—”

“Levi! Stop! Trust me, I already thought about that myself.” She shook her head. “OW!”

Levi bit his bottom lip, struggling not to laugh. “You need to hold still.”

“This is so embarrassing!” she said in an annoyed voice.

He stood up and unknotted the straps of her dress at the back of her neck to allow him more slack so that he could work with the zipper without pulling her hair. “Allow me to make something perfectly clear to you,” he said, as he placed the untied straps into her hands. “You should never be embarrassed of anything while in my presence.” He kissed her shoulder. “Now, hold still so I can fix this without causing you pain.”

He knelt down and started to work on freeing her hair.

“Well, embarrassed or not, this is ridiculous.”

“Reece, it’s fine; but out of curiosity, how did this happen?” he said, finding the situation amusing.

Reece sighed. “I think it was a mixture of thinking about our day out together, and rushing to get ready to leave tonight. I leaned my head back as I was zipping the dress up, and now you’re dealing with the result of that.”

“Actually, I believe I’m working on the result of your attempting to fix this situation on your own.” He laughed again. “It probably would have been easier if you’d called me when you first got into this situation.”

“You’re not making this any easier on me, Levi!” she grumbled.

Finally, the majority of her hair that was caught and tangled was removed. He was able to unzip the zipper slowly and free the last of her captive hair. “Got it!” he said triumphantly.

Reece gathered her hair with her hand and brought it over one shoulder. “Thank goodness. Thank you,” she said, as she waited for him to zip up her dress for her.

Levi barely heard her as his eyes were drawn to the newly exposed skin of her lower back. Her body was so enticing, and he couldn’t resist the desire to place his lips on the small of her back. Carefully and affectionately, he brought his lips to her soft skin and kissed her indulgently. He kissed up the center of her back leisurely, while he zipped up her dress.

Reece’s breathing had picked up, yet she said nothing. Levi rose up and took the two straps out of her paralyzed hands. “I must say,” he said, as he pursued her exposed shoulder delicately with his lips, “I am quite taken with your choice of dress this evening.” Reece moaned and he grinned, knowing very well what he was doing to her.

Once he finished tying her straps, he kissed the top of her head. He let his lips linger there while he absorbed the sweet aroma of her silky-soft hair. He gently placed his hands over each of her shoulders, “I am also grateful we didn’t need to go to the extreme of cutting your hair, either.” He felt her body shudder as he slowly traced her collarbones with his fingers, and gathered her blond tresses into his hands, bringing her hair to fall freely down her back.

When he turned her to face him, her eyes were glazed as they stared up into his. Then her expression changed to that of her feigning reproach with him, and Levi laughed in response.

“If you keep kissing me like that,” her eyes stared intently at his mouth before she brought her stern gaze up to meet his playful one, “you’ll be lucky if we make it to dinner tonight.”

“Oh, is that so?” He ran the back of his fingers up the center of her chest and along her neck. The V-shaped pattern of the deep-red halter dress perfectly displayed and complemented the glowing tone of her healthy skin. “Abandoning our dinner plans sounds like an excellent idea to me.”

Reece’s eyes narrowed at him as she playfully batted his hand away. “If we weren’t sharing the villa with your cousin, I would happily agree with you.” She glanced over at her bed, and then back at him. “We really need to go!”

“As you wish, my love,” Levi answered as Reece brushed quickly past him and out of the room.

When they were in the car, Reece placed her hand in his. He raised her hand to his lips, inhaling deeply of the intoxicating aroma of her skin. “I haven’t had the opportunity to tell you how stunning you look this evening.” He smiled at the hint of red that touched her cheeks.

As he exited the parking structure, he looked over at her. “So, my love…” he brought the back of her hand to his lips again. After a small kiss, he looked over at her and smiled wryly. “Do I need to find a place where they serve hamburgers tonight?”

Reece laughed and squeezed his hand. “What am I going to do with you? I really don’t care where we eat, but I’m sure Harrison already has our destination for dinner laid out for us.”

“He has, and I believe you will enjoy it.”

“I’m sure I will. I have enjoyed all of his little romantic ideas so far. Who would’ve ever thought that Harrison had a romantic bone in his body,” Reece teased.

“I don’t know about romantic, but he certainly knows how to charm the ladies,” Levi said with a laugh.

He pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant; after parking, he exited the vehicle quickly in order to open Reece’s door for her. When they entered the elegant dining hall, the hostess led them to a table in the middle of the room. Levi glanced around, looking for a more isolated area for them to dine. “Excuse me, but if it is not too much of a burden, I would prefer being seated in a more isolated area.” he said politely.

The young woman’s face tinted red as she turned and locked eyes with Levi. “Oh!” She swallowed hard, “Absolutely, sir. I’m sorry, I was—” she stammered.

“It’s not a problem,” Levi smoothly cut her off with a kind smile.

He felt Reece laugh softly at his side as the woman struggled to maintain her composure. She turned to face the candlelit room, which was filled with patrons. When she looked back she avoided eye contact with Levi. “There is a secluded table in the front, if you’d like. Or I can have the—”

“A table in the front will be fine, thank you.”

As soon as they approached the table, Levi pulled Reece’s chair out for her. As Levi sat in his seat, the hostess handed Reece and Levi their menus. Levi requested their finest wine, and brought his attention to the menu before him as the waitress left.

“So,” Reece narrowed her eyes at him. “It appears that the Pemdai are not the only people star-struck by you.” She laughed. She stared intently into his eyes. “I can’t say that I blame her, though; those sapphire-blue eyes of yours got the best of me, too,” she said, as she placed her napkin in her lap. “Why do we have to sit in a secluded part of the room, anyway?”