Page 74 of Code of Heart
And the blissful freefall they took together, lost and utterly undone.
Levi
Levi was still reeling as he pulled himself together for the second time that afternoon, trying to look presentable after what could only be described as the most sinfully delicious delay of his life.
He hadn’t been prepared for how utterly insatiable his wife was…nor how little self-control he seemed to possess around her. Every plan, every ounce of logic, scattered the second she touched him.
Yes, they were clearlyin lust…and that wasn’t a bad thing. It proved they had chemistry, that undeniable pull between them. But it also left Levi feeling a thread of unease. He experienced enough to know that no relationship could survive on passion alone. Lust burned like a double-ended candle—and burned out fast if there wasn’t something real beneath it.
And yet…they had barely known each other for forty-eight hours. It was absurd to worry about how fast things were moving when their entire marriage had begun in a rush. Jumping in headfirst was the whole point of this arrangement.
Still, as he adjusted his shirt and glanced at himself in the mirror, Levi made a silent vow:
This won’t be driven by desire. I’m going to do this right. I’m going to learn every single thing about the woman I married.
The drive to Grace and Isaac’s home passed in a companionable silence. Levi held Aurelia’s hand the entire way, his thumb brushing over her skin absentmindedly. She seemed lost in thought, her expression unreadable as she stared out the window.
Levi used the quiet to map out his next steps.
Real dates. Real conversations. Real time together,he decided.
He would take her out the way he would have if they had met under normal circumstances—late-night dinners, museum strolls, lazy Sunday coffee runs. Anything and everything to discover who she truly was beyond the bedroom.
It also meant something far more challenging: he would have to restructure his life. Starting with his unforgiving work schedule.
The thought of the disaster waiting for him in his inbox tomorrow morning made his stomach tighten. The issue from his wedding day still loomed over his head like a dark cloud, and he had purposefully ignored it all weekend. He never ignored work. Come morning, the full weight of it would hit him like a freight train.
But staring at Aurelia now, her fingers loosely entwined with his, her lips pressed together in that soft contemplative pout…Levi knew there were more important things to fight for.
I’m going to woo the pants off my wife…literally and figuratively, he thought with a half-smile as he pulled into the driveway of Grace and Isaac’s home.
Time to deal with the shenanigans. And this time, he wasn’t walking in alone.
CHAPTER 35
Aurelia
“We’re the last ones to arrive,” Levi noted as he pulled into the long driveway, parking next to Owen’s car.
Aurelia unbuckled her seatbelt, cheeks blazing as shedefinitelyremembered why they were the last ones there. She tried not to meet Levi’s eyes, knowing full well that self-satisfied smirk was spreading across his face. Willing her nerves into submission, she grabbed the rice pudding and her purse before following him to the door.
What she didn’t expect was for Levi to simply walk in without knocking.
The gesture spoke volumes about the comfort and trust between him and his friends. It struck her, a little painfully, that even after all these years, she never had that kind of easy familiarity with Selene, let alone anyone else.
Before she could dwell on it, voices drifted in from somewhere beyond the foyer.
“Grace, I forbid you from ever making flan again,” came an indignant, unmistakable voice. Owen.
“Don’t listen to him. Just because he’s being a baby doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t appreciate it,” responded a second voice—deeper, calm. Isaac, she assumed.
“I’mnotbeing a baby! I’m rational. Flan is an abomination and shouldn’t be classified as dessert—or even as food.”
Aurelia glanced at Levi, who had stopped dead in his tracks, pinching the bridge of his nose with a weary shake of his head.
She cast an inquisitive glance, silently asking:Seriously?
He sighed.I warned you, that sigh seemed to say, before motioning for her to keep walking.
