Page 55 of Tall, Dark, & Ginger

A soft laugh is his response as he nibbles my skin. “No. I couldn’t keep my hands off of you.”

Memories of last night flood back—groping kisses in the shower, jerking each other off with soapy hands, and falling into his bed, exhausted and spent. I don’t remember anything after that. Did I fall asleep right away?

“You’re so warm,” he murmurs, reaching around to squeeze my swelling cock. “Tell me to stop and I will.”

“Not a chance.”

“Mmm,” Ridley purrs, sucking my earlobe between his teeth for a second. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I woke up at all.”

“Same. I’ve only been up for about ten minutes. Maybe you’re the cure for insomnia.”

His words make my brain stutter. Is that possible? After years of struggling, all I need is Ridley? I shake the thought away. No way am I indulging in dangerous fantasies like that. It had to be the supreme level of exhaustion finally taking over.

“Wouldn’t that be something?” he continues, forcing me to consider it. “You’re kind of special, rabbit.”

Squeezing my eyes closed, I poke around in my brain for the reason I need. I know Ridley isn’t a love bomber. He doesn’t just say shit, and frankly, he has no reason to. He already has what hewants from me, so that means he actually wanted to say that to me. He believes it.

I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing, jerking with surprise when Ridley’s phone vibrates loudly on his nightstand.

He groans, releasing me and twisting to pick it up. He sets it down without looking at it, but then it buzzes again and he grunts. “The house better be on fire.”

I turn over and watch him read the text, curious as a slow smile spreads across his lips. “Our presence, specifically yours, is being requested.”

“What do you mean?”

“Indy messaged asking if I know where you are. I guess Bane and Jerryn tried to make a soufflé for brunch and… well, look for yourself.”

He hands me the phone so I can look at the picture of exploded soufflé batter all over the oven. “Yikes.”

“They’re working on the second batch using the same recipe, so maybe an intervention’s needed if you’re not too tired.”

I hand the phone back, my gaze moving down Ridley’s etched and inked body to where the bedding barely covers his cock.

“Soufflé is tempting, but so are you.”

He grins. “I’m here all day, rabbit. Why don’t we pick up where we left off after brunch?”

“I could eat.”

“Mm, so could I, but regular food would be a good idea too.”

I find myself laughing as my chest fills with a new lightness I’m not at all used to. Is this how people feel after a solid night of sleep?

“Let’s do this. Tell Indy to stall them; I’m on my way. Meet you down there?”

Ridley nods. “Right behind you.”

I force myself out of bed, scooping my shorts off the floor and tossing them on before creeping from Ridley’s bedroom acrossthe hall to mine. I brush my teeth, run water through my hair, then find a clean t-shirt to toss on. When I exit my bedroom, Ridley is coming out of his at the same time. He smiles, glancing at the stairs with an inquisitive look on his face.

Here goes, I guess. We’ll walk down together and everyone will know, or at least assume, but I think I’m okay with that. More than half the people in this house are coupled up. So what if me and Ridley have a thing going. Right? Right.

He briefly squeezes the back of my neck as we walk down the stairs, but he releases me at the bottom to continue our walk to the kitchen. When we walk in, no one stares or gives us weird looks. We’re greeted as we usually are, except Bane looks relieved.

“Not sure where we went wrong, Chef.”

“Let me see your recipe.”

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