Chapter 27

Cricket

Two glorious, beautiful, happy days pass before we remember that we forgot the coin.

"I didn't take it. I gave it to you."

"I set it on the bedside table at Roslyn's," says Julian.

"When we went back for our things, I saw it there and left it for you to pack."

"And I left it for you to pack."

We stare at each other. Julian cracks first, and then we're both laughing like hyena pups.

We talk at once.

"Does it matter?"

"Should we warn them?"

And we shake our heads at once too. "No, let Roslyn have an adventure. Or Flora or Hatty, maybe. Whoever finds it."

"Agreed."

That settled, we get back to the matter at hand, or, erm, hands as it were. His on my naked ass and mine on his generously oiled cock, as nature intended.

We're on the floor in our living room, on a thick green rug, because we couldn't make it from the kitchen all the way to the bedroom seven steps away. Even seven steps are too far when we're in the mood. Which is often.

Very often.

Parts of me might be a little raw, but I can't bring myself to care. We have the privacy of walls surrounding us, a roof to keep us sheltered, a home where we can be comfortable. And we have been making the absolute most of it.

As I'm hopeful we shall continue to do for many years to come.

I push him flat onto his back and straddle his thighs, bringing our cocks together. He adds his hand around mine, and we find a good rhythm.

A quickie on the floor is just the thing we need before bed.

Julian's emerald eyes are half-lidded and dark with pleasure.

My nipples pebble under his covetous stare. He notices of course and uses his free hand to tease one of them. I press into his touch and let out a moan.

"You like that?" His smirk is positively wicked.

"So much. Give me more."

He obeys, playing with my chest as we stroke ourselves into a frenzy. It doesn't take long before we're both reduced to needy rutting, sliding against each other with abandon, mouths open, hands flying.

I come first, spilling over our fists, and he follows shortly after with a satisfying grunt I relish. We gaze at each other. I collapse, boneless against his chest.

He loves this part, the wet and sticky part when I refuse to move and he gently tries to prod me aside so he can clean us. Loves it. I chuckle against his throat, where his wound is healing nicely. "Oh, come on, give me one minute."

He sighs. "One minute. Then I'm throwing you into the bath."

No wait. Maybe it's me that loves this part. Yeah, that's right. It's me.

After a good long lay-about, much longer than the allotted minute, I let him drag me to our bedroom for a wash. Once we're both clean enough for Julian's fastidious tastes, we settle together under the covers.

He pets my hair. "I'm aware I never did say I'm sorry."

This again? Not that I mind, but I wish he wouldn't fret over the past. "We talked it through. We're fine."

"Thank you for saying that?—"

"I'm sensing a ‘but'."

His hand stills at my nape. "But I don't feel there's anything I could say to undo the wrongs of Willowood."

"More petting would be nice." I wiggle my head under his hand, and he goes back to stroking my hair.

He just doesn't get it. I've put this behind us, but Julian hasn't managed to yet.

I understand why he tried to steal the coin and even why he left me that night, and while perhaps he could have handled that better, I'm not holding a grudge over those decisions. Still, he needs to get this out of his system. "Go on and try it, then."

"Try?"

"To apologize. Go ahead."

Julian clears his throat. His face is so serious. "Cricket, I'm sorry I?—"

"You're forgiven."

"What?"

"I forgive you."

He knits his brows. "I wasn't finished."

"You needn't add more. You're sorry, and that's enough. You're enough. I promise."

He's quiet, watching me like he's waiting for a trick.

"There's no trick. In a way, it's the same thing I was afraid of."

"How so?"

"I thought no one would need me here anymore. Without hungry mouths to feed, I thought I had nothing to contribute. But I was wrong. I'm enough. Just me. I don't have to do anything special to be a part of the village, and there's nothing you must change about yourself to be my partner. We're enough."

While he turns that about in his head, I snuggle closer against his side into the spot I'm convinced was made for me.

"Thank you." He kisses my forehead in the spot he's claimed for his lips only. "Hey, I've been wondering. Why do they call you Jumping Bean?"

I grin. "Hopper and I were aptly named. We were quite a handful when we were young children. Took the whole village to tire us out."

"You must miss him."

"Yes. I always will."

"I'd love to hear your stories of him. Of the good times. Other times. All of them."

"Then I shall regale you with every single one. We have plenty of time."

"We do." He trails his hand down my spine and rests his palm on the curve of my bottom.

A yawn overtakes me, but I don't want the moment to end yet, so I resort to an old game of ours. "Hey, Jules. Why did you need the coin so bad anyway?"

Generally, he pauses for a moment to come up with a story, but this time he answers right away. "Turns out I never needed the coin after all. But I owe it my life because the coin led me straight to you, my love."

My love.

An ex-thief could get used to that.

As I close my eyes, my heart skips a beat, then thuds merrily on against Julian's, where it belongs.

The chance to play matchmaker has been highly amusing despite how long it took Cricket and Julian to catch on. I wager they'll be just fine without me. More than fine. They're perfect together.

I'd best be on my way. Seems Doyle and Parker need all the help they can get if they're to escape The Fae Menagerie with their hearts intact.

Ah, my job is never done…

Thank you, dear reader, for coming along on this journey through Luminia with me! I hope you love Cricket and Jules as much as I do.