Page 57 of The Hermit on the Hill

"Oh, yeah," she said with a moan. "We're having sex in the…," she trailed off.

We separated long enough to get undressed, and she was back on my lap, me deep inside her, in a matter of seconds. She felt so fucking good. I couldn't remember how I'd survived so long without being inside her.

A stick was poking me in the ass and there was a rock digging into my left hamstring, but I didn't give a fuck. All I cared about were Jenna's breathy moans and the glazed look in her eyes as she moved. "You are so fucking sexy," I said. "I love the way you fall apart in my arms."

"So good," she said, lost in sensation.

Watching her come made me lose it. She felt so fucking good and looked so damn beautiful, and the fact that I'd given her that pleasure just pushed me right over the edge.

I pulled her tight against me as the orgasm rang through my body, breathing in the scent of her and loving the warmth of her in my arms. We stayed like that until my lids got heavy and Jenna went limp against me.

"Tired, baby?"

"All I want to do now is take a nap," she said in a sleepy voice. "Are we close to our next hunting spot?"

We'd found the source of the big bang in the front hall after our shower that morning. It still creeped me out that my ghostly grandmother possibly watched us have sex. If she'd heard Jenna's question about the ginseng, then she definitely heard us having sex.

The bang had been caused by the front door swinging open and the table in the front entryway hitting the floor. The vase on top of the table had also ended up on the floor, amazingly not broken, and the flowers were strewn all over the front hallway. Somehow, the Oxeye daisies had ended up in a pile right in the doorway and our working theory was that we'd find the ginseng near an area where wild daisies grew.

I'd walked all sixty acres I owned, the same land my grandmother had walked all her life, though she'd only ever owned five acres of it, and I didn't remember any particular spot with a lot of daisies. So thanks, but no thanks, Nana.

We'd been wandering for about an hour, checking out all the spots I thought were most likely to have the white flowers we were looking for.

"It's about a half mile on," I said. "It's land I don't own, but it belongs to one of my great uncles. If it's not there, we're going to have to figure out a more organized way to search the land."

She sighed. "We should probably get moving then."

"You got anywhere to be today?"

She looked at me, and I noticed the dark spots under her eyes. I'd kept her up too late and gotten her up too early. I needed to remember she was growing a human and required more sleep than I did.

"Not that I can remember," she said. "I left my phone at the house."

I lifted her off my lap, groaning as my cock slid from her, and dressed.

She pulled her clothes on like she was moving through molasses.

I found a spot where I could sit with my back against the trunk of a tree and patted my lap. "Sit with me and have your nap. I've got snacks, too, if you're hungry."

She pressed a hand to her belly. "I'm always hungry, but don't you want to find the next clue?"

"I've been looking for months. I'd still be trying to figure out the impotency charm without your help. We have plenty of time for a nap."

She drooped as though she'd been holding herself up by sheer force of will and sat next to me. She laid her head on my chest and sighed with what sounded like relief.

"Baby," I said, frustrated. "When are you going to believe you don't have to pretend with me? If you're tired, tell me you're tired. Let me take care of you."

"I'll try."

"Want something to eat before you sleep?"

She didn't answer and, when I looked down, her eyes were closed. I wrapped an arm around her and rested my hand on her hip, my heart so tight it hurt.

How the hell had this woman come to mean so much to me in such a short time? How had it happened so quickly that holding her in my arms while she slept, the heat of summer nearly suffocating me, had become the only place in the world I wanted to be?

I breathed deep and enjoyed the weight of her against me as I breathed in the rich, loamy scents of the forest. As we sat there, so still and silent, the squirrels and birds got brave and started up their rustling and chattering and singing.

Peace. I'd been searching for some missing thing for so long, some way to avenge my family and make up for all we'd lost, but none of that seemed to matter as I held this woman and enjoyed a summer day on the mountain my grandmother had loved.

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