Page 28 of Shaded Amethysts
The first rays of sunshine were slashing across the floor when we began to stir. The sheets were tangled around us, and I was sprawled across the huge man and his bed as if I owned both.
When his breath hitched, I knew he was awake, so I pressed my lips to his chest.
“Good morning, gorgeous,” he murmured in a lazy drawl.
“Morning,” I said, lightly rubbing my hand down the side of his delectably firm, naked body.
His morning wood twitched to get my attention, but I ignored it for the moment.
Gage trailed his hand down my back before cupping my bare ass cheek and teasing me, “Some of those naughty words you yelled last night shocked my delicate, little ears.”
“There’s nothing on your body that is delicate or little.” I grazed my palm over his manhood before wrapping my fingers around him to enunciate my words.
His proud harumph moved his barrel of a chest, which was serving as my pillow.
I was pondering climbing up to straddle him when he said, “You know… I told you my secrets last night, but I don’t recall you reciprocating.”
“I don’t really have any secrets,” I tried.
“You must have something private you can share,” he said.
I searched my brain for an interesting secret, but came up empty. The silence lingered and put the pressure on, so I finally said, “I’m super allergic to poison ivy. I can practically break out in an itchy rash just from looking at it. In fact, let’s stop talking about it.”
At my exaggerated shiver, Gage’s chest rumbled with laughter. “That’s not really a secret. It’s more of a quirk or medical condition. Try again.”
“I truly don’t have any deep, dark secrets,” I told him, but my voice was just a hair too high.
“I’m not buying that. Spill,” he demanded.
I let out a frustrated huff before saying, “Okay, but you really can’t tell anyone. I would lose my status as a true Mainer.”
“Oh, this one sounds juicy.” His voice was practically dripping with enthusiasm as he waited for me to tell him my secret.
I mumbled the words into his chest, so they came out sounding like ‘I-dn-lk-l-str.’
“What was that?” Gage asked me, not letting me off the hook easily.
I tilted my head so my words weren’t muffled when I repeated, “I don’t like lobster.”
“What?!?” Gage half-shouted as if this was the most outlandish thing he had ever heard.
His shocked tone made me giggle just before I said, “You heard me.”
“I think I heard you, but I can’t quite believe my ears. Weren’t you born and raised here? I thought lobst-ah was a staple of every Maine-ah’s diet.”
His exaggerated Downeast accent made me laugh before I answered, “Not this Maine-ah’s.”
“How have you managed to keep that a secret all of this time?” he asked, sounding truly curious.
“We really don’t eat lobster as often as people assume, but when I get into a situation where lobster is being served, I either grab something else, or choke it down.”
“Choke it down!?!” Gage spluttered. “You’d better keep me close to you at all times, so I don’t tell anyone about this shocking news.”
“That can be arranged,” I murmured just before I climbed atop him and showed him exactly how close I intended to keep him.
25
Avery
