Bright Midnight

I pull away, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, then make my way back up her body, pulling the pillow off of her face. Her dark hair spills around her and she’s breathing hard, smiling, eyes blinking up at me, shining. “Wow,” she says.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” I tell her, grinning at her like an idiot.

She lets out a small laugh, gazing up at me. “I’m sad I missed out on that all those years ago.”

“Don’t be sad. I would have been rubbish back then,” I admit.

She tilts her head and studies me. “I don’t know. You probably would have gotten extra points for effort.”

“That I would have.”

She licks her lips and runs her hands down my back, digging her nails into my ass and pulling my erection against her. “Can’t let this go to waste.”

“Never,” I tell her, bracketing her between my elbows. “But I know that alarm is going to go off any minute.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” she says, another coy look.

Fuck.

She’s right.

I push myself inside of her, so hot, slick, tight, and then it only takes a couple of hard thrusts before I know I’m close to coming. I don’t miss any opportunities though. I reach down and rub quick circles along her clit until she’s coming again.

“Shay,” I cry out, my orgasm sneaking up on me and the world goes tumbling, my lungs breathless, my body shuddering with release. I swear under my breath in Norwegian, lowering myself against her, trying to catch my breath, just as my alarm goes off.

I laugh, resting my forehead against Shay’s for a moment, staring blissfully into her eyes before I reach over and hit snooze.

“Time to get up,” she says to me, reaching out and running her finger over the bridge of my nose.

I playfully pretend to bite it and she giggles, taking her hand away. God, I could just spend the rest of my days in bed with her, hanging onto moments like this one, where everything fades into the background and it’s just us, together again, but better this time.

“I don’t want you to be late,” she says, staring up at me with adoring eyes, a look that jumpstarts my heart.

“Me? Don’t you mean we?” I tease her. “Or was your pretending to be a farmgirl just a ruse to get in my pants?”

Her eyes go round for a second before she bursts out laughing. Forever the sweetest sound.

“Oh, that’s rich, Anders,” she chortles.

“Hey, I wouldn’t blame you,” I say, knowing she can see the twinkle in my eye. “I’ve got the goods.”

“What you’ve got are cows that need to be milked. And please, don’t turn what I said into something sexual.”

Now I’m laughing. “You’re the one who likes to make it weird.” Then I feel a strange pulse of fear run through me, the idea of laying myself on the line. I clear my throat and she frowns, noting the serious expression on my face. “Listen, Shay…what we talked about the other day. About me showing you the country…I’d still like to do that.”

She studies me, brows coming together. “Like…traveling with me? But the farm…”

“Don’t worry. Kolbjorn will take over. I’ll talk to him and Per today, it will be fine. We can take a week off.”

“And the fishing?”

“Still have time before I have to go out to sea.”

“Will a week be enough?”

I give a melancholy smile, brushing her bangs off her face. “No. It won’t be enough. I want all the time with you possible. I want to wrap myself in every single second of you.”

She swallows, pressing her lips together for a moment while my fingers brush over her soft skin. “What happens when you go out to sea? You’ll be gone for how long?”

I shake my head. “It depends. But I don’t expect you to wait around. And I don’t think we need to talk about it either. Let’s just…take each day as it comes. Starting with today. I’ll help out Per this morning, call up Kolbjorn, he’ll come help out. Won’t be a problem.”

She observes me for a moment, worrying her lip between her teeth, and I’m holding my breath, praying she’ll say yes. I need to take her away from her, to give us both space to be together, be ourselves. I know I’m different when I’m not at the farm, and I want to give her all of my attention. Plus, I want her to fall in love with the country even more, in the vain hope that she won’t ever want to leave.

“Okay,” she says, smiling. “Let’s do it. Let’s take a road trip.”

I grin at her and kiss her forehead, the tip of her nose, her lips, just as my alarm goes off again.

I groan and pull myself away from her, knowing I need to get going. I sit on the edge of the bed and grab her hand, giving it a squeeze. “You sleep in. Take a shower. Then get yourself packed and ready. We’ll go before noon.”