Page 189 of Ex Somnis

She shrugs. “I have issues too.”

I give her a dark look. “Don’t tell me your legs are paralyzed.”

“No.” She lets out a small, embarrassed laugh, the first crack of nerves I’ve seen from her all night. Her cheeks blush the prettiest pink. “I have trouble with getting wet. And coming. I’ve had a pretty good track record lately, but normally, it’s not easy for me. My body doesn’t cooperate the way it’s supposed to.”

I scoff. “I know the feeling.”

Everything she’s said genuinely doesn’t move anything in me except toward her.

Huh.

“But there’s lube for that. And delayed gratification is a perfectly respectable kink.”

She scoffs right back at me. “See?”

“What?”

“This, we, us.” She kisses me again, and I kiss her back automatically, our mouths moving together perfectly in sync. “We work,” she says, breathless as she pulls away. “Even in real life. So, how about we try? If it’s not good for you, we stop. We always have the dreams. But God, I really would love to try.”

“You think it could not be good for me?” I catch her face between my hands, forcing her to actually look at me. “Lenny, you could do absolutely anything to me right now, and I would like it. Having you in my lap… real, warm, and here.” I drag my nose along her cheek, breathing her in.

Lemon. Always lemon.

This is not a dream, a projection, or my subconscious filling in the blanks.

Her.

Fuck.

I trail my mouth down her jaw, sucking gently on her pulse point until she shivers. Then higher to the spot below her ear. I pull her earlobe between my lips, then let my tongue flick against it.

She makes a small sound, half laugh, half something softer. “Ridge…”

I kiss my way back to her mouth, licking along the seam of her lips before plunging my tongue inside again. She moans into the kiss, hips rolling against me as if she can’t help herself.

Shit. I have no idea if I could even please her in waking life.

Not with my cock, but maybe…

“Pros and cons of dating me are, ironically, both my mouth,” I murmur, brushing my lips over hers again. “I talk too much. I say the wrong things. But right now I really want to use it on you.”

I reach behind me, pull the pillow out, and throw it across the room, giving me the space I need.

“I can’t throw you around like I can in dreams. But I can politely ask you to sit on my face.”

I lay flat on the bed, and her eyes widen, then darken. “Jesus, Ridge.”

“Please. I need a win.”

“That’s coercion.”

“Coercing you into an orgasm? Yeah, that’s criminal.”

She doesn’t move, and I’m suddenly concerned. “Hey, if you really don’t want to…”

“Oh, I want to, but I’m not a feather, Ridge.”

“If there is one thing I want to be pinned down by, it’s your pussy.”