Page 58 of Adrift

“So you left,” I whisper in awe, shaking my head. “Good for you. I’m so fucking proud of you. That… that takes guts.”

Kieran’s smile grows a little bit sad. “Is it the brave choice, though? Or am I just avoiding anything that hurts by putting space between me and it?”

“Trees need a lot of space. You’ll see when we plant the new ones,” I murmur, running my hand down his back gently. “They look ridiculous when they’re saplings, with so much space between them. But that’s because they need room to grow into the biggest, best versions of themselves.”

Kieran sways into me, suddenly clinging tightly to me, and I hold him and hold him until the breath rushes out of his body.

“Take me to bed,” he whispers against my chest. “Please.”

And I scoop him right off his feet, kicking the door closed as his towel slips free, and so does mine, and neither of us care one bit.

We won’t need those where we’re going.

We’re bursting with tender, sweet, frantic energy that neither of us really fully understands… but if it comes from Kieran, or the way his body and soul meet mine, I’m not afraid of it.

The way he takes me into his mouth, the unspeakable things he does with his tongue and lips… time just disappears. As every second consumes me, and the heat of Kieran surrounds me and somehow fills a space I didn’t know was missing anything…

Everything disappears.

Even when I’m crying out and arching off the bed and losing myself to the fuzzy, hazy blackness, nothing seems to matter except Kieran’s smug grin when I finally open my eyes again.

“Not bad, huh?” Kieran whispers, but I can see it again in his face—the sunshine he uses as a shield. Like he thinks that he’ll get away with sucking my cock to keep himself at arm’s length.

But I want to be right there with him, supporting all the most tender branches as he sends out the delicate, soft new growth he needs so badly.

He really doesn’t understand the way I’m going to worship at his feet.

“You were worth waiting for,” I whisper hoarsely. Then I grab him and pull him to the edge of the bed, sliding right off it to kneel between his legs and gaze right up at him.

There. The truth is awake again, outshining the sunshine Kieran wants so badly to wrap it up and hide it in. Instead, I’m getting another look at that sudden, silent, intense ache—the one I finally know a little more about now.

Or maybe it’s something else. I don’t know.

Maybe he’s not aware of how easy he is to read. When that pain is filling him up, it’s written all over his face. But by now, I also know how to bring him back to this moment where it’s just the two of us and everything we’re building.

I can only pray that if call him back to me enough times, if I wait patiently and hold him firmly, he’ll trust me enough to finally let the rain fall.

I dip my head, run my tongue across his velvety, warm, firm length. He whimpers and flops onto the bed, cursing thickly and complaining about how long it took to get me on my knees while I smile with relief.

There. That’s the man I know and love.

It’s time to reward Kieran for what he’s done to help me get everything I’ve ever dreamed of. And, in turn, I hope he can feel my promise to him: I’ll do the same whenever he needs it.

I can’t think of a better foundation to start our future together.

Chapter

Twenty-One

GAGE

With the lastof the cider on the island, I can finally relax.

Nothing can go wrong now.

I mean, I guess I shouldn’t tempt fate. The barrel could roll right out of the golf cart trailer and smash open. But the road is pretty flat between the loading ramp and the orchard.

If we had to go down Holy Fudge Hill, we wouldn’t even be trying this.

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