Page 59 of Harvest Moon

I leaned back, my lips swollen and tingling, to see the little red mark of my teeth against his skin, already fading as his blood rushed elsewhere.

His come was slick and white on his belly and on my hand. I breathed in deep, sure I’d never get enough of the scent of him.

And that was nothing to the taste when I cleaned up my hand. I bent to lick his belly too, tasting the shape of his body as much as his bitter, salty seed.

While I could, I nuzzled his skin, but when Alexis reached for me, I crawled up his body and collapsed in his arms, happy to pull him close and stay tangled up together there.

“You okay?” I asked.

He smiled sleepily. “Mmhmm.”

“You happy?”

Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at me, so contented it was like everything was snapping right into place.

“Mmhmm.”

He squeezed me around the middle, tight, and for a while, we just lay there, breathing hard while our bodies caught up with our tenderized minds.

After a while, I pushed up on my arm. “Can you stay for dinner?”

He stared at me with a little frown puckering his brows. “You want me to?”

Hell, I’d be happy if he stayed stuck to my side forever, even though I knew he had his own life and concerns to look after. But there was something in that frown that worried me. No way I could let Alexis think I didn’t want him around, or that I wasn’t willing to let the world know I was his.

“Yeah, Lex, I’d love if you stayed. If you want to, of course.” I smiled down at him, and though he was looking up at me kind of shocked, when I kissed the corner of his mouth, he started to grin back at me.

“Yeah, okay. Sure. If you don’t think it’d be a problem for Mrs. Hill.”

I laughed. “She’d be more offended to learn I’d had a guest I hadn’t invited inside. She’ll be happy to set out an extra plate. We’ll go in, in a minute.”

I wasn’t ready to let go of Alexis yet. I needed his skin on mine, and would’ve happily drowned in the way his racing pulse warmed all the thin, delicate stretches of his skin, filling the whole loft with the smell of him.

When I nuzzled against his neck, he giggled and squirmed like I’d tickled him. That gave me space to slide my arm under his arched back and pull him close to me. I’d curl around him, tangle my every limb with his, and maybe we’d just skip dinner.

With him in my arms, I had everything I needed.

“I’m sorry I was such a dolt, Lex,” I whispered into his neck.

His fingers combed through my hair, but he didn’t push me away. Turned out, as much as I wanted Alexis close to me, he wanted the same.

“Don’t talk about yourself like that,” he said seriously.

I remembered that tone from back in school. People would assume I wasn’t all that smart because of how I talked, or how I didn’t like to talk much at all.

It’d always bothered him more than it’d bothered me. Or maybe having someone there to get upset on my behalf had taken the edge off.

Thing was, he’d always been there for me, looking after me. And if the last couple months had proven anything, I needed him every bit as much as I wanted him to need me.

I’d never meant to make Lexis’s life harder, but he was more than capable of taking care of himself. If I could just manage to keep myself standing on my own two feet, maybe I could work out a way to have him without putting my troubles on his shoulders.

33

Alexis

Ridge wanted me. Wanted to be with me.

Ridge... loved me.

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