Page 73 of Beneath the Light of the Moon
This must be what Levi meant when he said he’d have to bend some rules…
A tired sigh whispered past his lips. It seemed the instructions hadn’t been clear enough for his dimwitted employee. If he wanted something done right, he’d have to do it himself. Let these escapades only serve as a distraction for Anika, but when she met Mikko again, he’d be demanding her compliance.
With clenched teeth, he resorted to watching every little touch and interaction and laugh Anika and Levi shared. He should’ve gone home; he should’ve seen if Rebecca had any updates on Anika and her seemingly hidden past that would shed some light on a murder thatshouldbe front and center in Mikko’s head, but instead…
His feet were rooted to the soil as if he was another one of Anika’s plants—another one of her playthings she controlled. It was sickening and fascinating. When he was the one that always had to make the calls, have the hard conversations, and discipline people, it felt nice to let someone else do it for a while.
A devious thought crossed his mind.
If Anikawasthe one behind Ivan’s murder, she had skills and talent he could use for himself—the company. It was a weak excuse to his brain, but maybe he could convince her and others of it. That way he could really keep an eye on her.
Among other things…
Movement out of the corner of his eye pulled him back to the present.
Levi had Anika pressed into his side, his arm slung across the back of her couch, fingertips intertwining with loose tendrils of her ebony hair. His wine glass sat abandoned on her coffee table. Levi tucked a stray piece of hair behind her face. The motion had Mikko’s shoulders tensing, the exposed slope of her nose and edge of her jaw all places he wanted to explore himself.
With tongue and teeth, sucking and nipping—
Stop. Stop. Stop.
He shouldn’t be having these thoughts—these longings afflicting his mind all hours of the day. But that was what happened when he let himself go, when the curiosity he was so fond of morphed into unchecked obsession.
And with his status in the city of Portland, who was there to stop him?
What had originally begun as a quest for protection and vengeance had turned intothis.He’d been sucked into her orbit, strung along while he watched everyone else engage with her the way he wanted to.
Hewanted to get to know her.
Heyearned to touch her hair like Levi had, wrapping the strands around his fist.
Helonged to know more about the mind she kept sheltered behind honeyed eyes and a soft, knowing smile.
But instead, he washere,swallowed up in the surrounding darkness.
He’d told himself this would be enough—seeing her from afar, collecting pieces of her to use for examination and motive—but he was realizing that wasn’t true. He needed to be closer, his stomach in knots as he loitered outside her house.
“And that’s how mistakes are made, son. When emotionsguide you, you’ll always be led astray.”Mikko shook his head, trying desperately to clear his father’s incessant voice echoing there. His father was dead. He wasn’t like Alek.
With a fist pressed into the wood siding of her house, Mikko watched as Levi took her empty wine glass and set it on a coffee table next to his. A lilting laugh from Anika had his eyes zeroing in on her, cataloging what could’ve elicited that reaction from her so he could do it himself. Levi’s lips were pressed against her neck, the soft kisses tickling her sensitive skin.
Despite the envy flowing through his veins, Mikko’s cock hardened with the promise of seeing her get off. The sheer curtains were pushed aside letting just anyone look in, so he wasn’t really in the wrong. Was he?
Alek always made sure to know his enemy before swooping in for the kill. Those skills had damn near been bred into Mikko, so he would use them to his advantage now. Being a voyeur never hurt anyone…right?
Suddenly, he remembered the words she’d texted him a couple nights ago:that’s exactly something a cuck would say.
Guess she was right about that.
Her tanned skin glowed in the lamplight, making his mouth water as he palmed his erection through his pants.
Curse this carnal hunger.
The thin panes of glass did little to disguise the sounds of Anika’s breathless gasps and Levi’s hums of satisfaction as their playful moment turned more intense. The soft sweep of Anika’s hair falling out of its bun at Levi’s deft hands and the sight of his mouth on hers happened right before he pushed her back onto her couch. The slope of Levi’s back was strong while he held himself over Anika. Her dark hair was splayed out around her face. The contours and shadows from the nearby lamps accentuated her figure, and her ragged breathsmade Mikko’s own chest ache. Levi was kissing his way up Anika’s stomach, taking his time, her back arching into his mouth.
Blood rushed in Mikko’s ears, the outside world fading away until it was the three of them. This was wrong. Irrational. Everything about this was unreasonable, but logic did nothing to quell whatever was simmering inside his rib cage. And behind his pant’s zipper.
Levi knelt between her bent legs, her leggings revealing the soft curve of her thigh. Fingertips brushed against heated skin and Mikko could only observe as Levi caressed her, evoking sounds of approval.
