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“How does that feel?” Levi asked after Ben had almost fallen back asleep.

“Better,” Ben admitted.

Levi pressed a soft kiss on his thigh. It was so intimate that Ben couldn’t stop himself from reaching up and stroking Levi’s silky hair. Levi startled, then leaned into the touch.

“If only you’d given in earlier,” Levi said, sounding almost shy. “But hey, since I helped you out, maybe you could help me.”

Ben snorted and pinched Levi’s chin, annoyingly amused by Levi’s games. “With what?”

“Teach me how to fight.”

CHAPTER 14

Levi pressed his cheek into the living room window with a pained laugh.

“Look,” he said, wheezing from the intense press of Ben against his back. “It’s still snowing. Think the new guys are okay out there?”

Ben tightened his grip on Levi’s arms, which he had twisted behind Levi’s back. “If they need to leave their posts, they’ll radio in. Concentrate.”

“I’m concentrating,” Levi insisted. He was concentrating, just not on escaping Ben’s hold. He was much more focused on Ben’s hard cock pressing against his ass. Ben had been hard ever since he started teaching Levi to get out of holds, and Levi couldn’t get him to do anything about it. Not yet, anyway. The day was young. Every other time they had done this, Levi had turned it into sex at some point.

He struggled in vain against Ben’s hold and sighed dramatically. “Oh no, you’re just so strong. Guess you can have your way with me, and I can’t do anything about it.”

“Quit it,” Ben said, but he couldn’t keep the amusement out of his voice. “What do you do next?”

Levi thought back to the moves Ben had shown him. He stomped half-heartedly on Ben’s sneakers. “There. Can we fuck now?”

“Keep going.”

Levi mimed a gentle headbutt, bumping the back of his head into Ben’s nose. He didn’t want a repeat of the night they met, with Ben’s nose gushing so much blood that Levi couldn’t enjoy how hot his savior was without gagging. Plus, Ben was injured enough as it was. The gunshot wound was healing well, apparently. Not that Levi could tell from the glimpses he got between bandage changes. It looked like a stitched-up gunshot wound to him. But it wasn’t infected, which was good.

Ben backed up to give Levi room to move his head properly. “Do it for real.”

“I don’t want to break your nose again!”

“I’ll turn my head,” Ben promised. “Do it. Headbutt me.”

Levi twisted to give him a cautious look. True to his word, Ben had angled his head so Levi couldn’t smack him in the nose. Levi turned back, steeling himself. Then he reared back, slamming the back of his head into Ben’s cheek.

Ben stumbled back, laughing as he let Levi go. “That’s it! Perfect.”

Levi spun, preening under the praise. “What did I tell you? I’m a natural. Can we stop now?”

“All this fuss about learning how to defend yourself, and you want to stop?” Ben stepped closer until his broad chest touched Levi’s. They were both breathing hard, but even with the fireplace crackling, only Levi was covered in sweat. Levi wanted to get it all over Ben.

Ben leaned down. Levi tried to kiss him, but Ben took his chin.

“Get out of one more hold,” Ben said, his hot breath washing over Levi’s lips, “and I’ll give you a reward.”

It was almost as good as a kiss. Levi pressed against him, grinding his hard cock into Ben’s through their pants. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

Ben’s eyes darkened. He pushed Levi to the ground and flipped him onto his stomach, then climbed on top of him. He pushed his good knee into Levi’s back and held Levi’s arms behind him like he’d been doing against the window.

Levi giggled into the floorboards. “Oh, noooo! I’m trapped!”

“Take this seriously,” Ben said. He gave Levi’s arms a reassuring squeeze. “What do you do here?”

Levi lay still, considering. “Don’t let anyone get me like this in the first place?”