Bright Midnight: A Second-Chance Romance

by Karina Halle

  Wow.

  I don’t have a witty retort to that, in fact, it feels like all words and thoughts are starting to leave my body with each and every pump of his cock. So he reaches down between my legs and start rubbing my clit in slick wet circles.

  Oh god.

  That’s it.

  That’s always been it.

  “Keep going,” I cry out softly, my legs spreading wider for him, the pressure building inside me, making me feel like my veins are running molten hot.

  He grunts in response, and I watch as he concentrates on getting me off with feverish intensity.

  I need to remember that look. It’s the look of a man possessed by lust, a man that wants nothing more than for me to come.

  And in this moment at least, he’s my man.

  “Don’t stop,” I say again, bringing out another gruff moan from him, his breath hitching, his fingers working faster as his cock drives in deeper, like he’s nailing me into the ground.

  Oh god. Here I go.

  The pressure inside me starts to build, thick and hot and sweet, and I feel like I’m seconds from going over the edge. He leans down, adjusting his grip on my wrists, capturing my lips in a wet and sweaty kiss. His tongue fucks my mouth as thoroughly as his cock, then he brings his warm tongue down over my chin, throat, until it licks over my breasts. They bounce with each hard thrust but he manages to suck my nipple in his mouth, giving it a delicate pinch before he sets me off.

  “I’ve waited for this,” Anders says thickly, just as my orgasm rushes for me, making my back arch, my vision blur.

  This man just destroyed me.

  “Oh fuck,” I cry out as I come, immediately drowning in the tsunami, feelings I had buried, feelings I had dreamed of, they all come for me in a vicious wave, a riptide, an undertow. I’m shaking, shuddering, crying out in garbled words that don’t make any sense, and my eyes focus on him, and then the sky, and then it’s like I can see the universe too.

  Anders grunts, brings his large, hot, calloused hands down to my hips, holding me in place as he keeps fucking me like a desperate man, like he’ll die if doesn’t, like an animal on the loose. It’s not long before his back is arching, his head thrown back, and he’s coming with a long and helpless groan aimed at the sky.

  I’m still coming, still riding it out, but I’m not missing this show. I watch him come, watch him fall apart, piece by piece, loving how it looks on him.

  “Jesus,” he groans, gasping. “Fucking hell.”

  I grin, sated, lazy, watching as the orgasm continues to roll through his body, just as it rolled through mine. Anders is completely undone, his taut torso slick with sweat from his own exertion, his hair messed up, beard wet from our messy kisses, his chest heaving as he breathes.

  Then, the world seems to come back into focus for the both of us.

  With a long, slow shuddering breath, he looks down at me, and in his eyes I see peace. I see relief. I see both the past and the present and just a hint of a future.

  I know he sees the same in mine.

  15

  Anders

  For the first time in a long time, when I wake up before dawn breaks, I’m not alone in my bed. I feel Shay beside me, the soft skin of her hip against me, the easy sound of her breath. Outside the light from the east is glowing, but the light inside my soul is already bright.

  She’s here.

  In my bed.

  Naked and asleep and so god damn beautiful it makes me ache all over.

  I watch her for a moment, watch as her features become sharper in the room, the look of peace and innocence on her face, even though I know she’s anything but innocent. Especially after last night.

  My thoughts rewind back.

  To her on her back, the evening glow on her face.

  The look as she came.

  The feel of her around my dick, soft and tight and slick, holding me as if we were magnets finally coming together after being restrained for so long.

  Fuck, I’m hard again.

  And I know I don’t have a lot of time before I have to get up and start chores for the day. I reach down, wrapping my fingers around my cock, squeezing tight until I’m breathless. I slowly slide my fist up and down the hard length, feeling like I shouldn’t be doing this next to her, but doing it anyway.

  Then she stirs, adjusts herself on the pillow, and her eyes delicately flutter open. So big and brown and warm as she takes me in.

  She’s fucking magic.

  She’s all the poetry in the world.

  I still, giving her a lazy grin. “Good morning.”

  A smile spreads across her face. It’s like watching the sun come up. “Good morning,” she says in this husky, half-asleep voice that makes me inexplicably harder. Then her smile turns sly and it’s like I might explode.

  I lean over and kiss her, lips so soft I feel like I might sink into her forever. She responds with warmth, wrapping her arms around me, hands in my hair, fingers sliding over my scalp.

  A groan escapes my lips and I move over her, wanting more.

  But while it would be so easy to just slip my dick between her legs, I want something she never gave me before. When we were together before, she never let me go down on her. The most I could do was fuck her with my fingers, and while she always enjoyed that, I wanted to taste her, feel her come on my lips.

  I give her a wicked grin and start moving down over her body, my rough palms gliding over the smoothness of her honeyed skin.

  Her brows raise. “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like?” I ask her, my voice dropping as I grab her thighs, spreading them. “Better yet, what does it feel like?”

  Before she can answer me, I dip my head between her legs, pausing for a moment before I devour her.

  She lets out a loud, breathless gasp as I run my tongue along her and up to her clit, swirling around until she’s pressing her thighs against my head. I smile against her, luxuriating in every sensation, from her salty-sweet taste, to her eager groans, to the way her body starts to move beneath me, so warm, so willing.

  She tastes like she’s surrendering, letting go.

  Letting me in, in a way she never did before.

  I won’t take this for granted.

  I’m spurred on, my mouth faster now, my tongue plunging deep inside her until she’s squeezing me, gripping the sheets, her back arching, perfect tits pointed at the ceiling.

  I could eat her all fucking day.

  But it doesn’t take long before her breaths gets shorter, until her hands find my hair and make a fist, pulling just right. She comes into my mouth, her body jerking off the bed, her cries filling the air before she has the mind to stuff the pillow over her face, muffling herself in case Per hears.

  I pull away, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, then make my way back up her body, pulling the pillow off of her face. Her dark hair spills around her and she’s breathing hard, smiling, eyes blinking up at me, shining. “Wow,” she says.

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” I tell her, grinning at her like an idiot.

  She lets out a small laugh, gazing up at me. “I’m sad I missed out on that all those years ago.”

  “Don’t be sad. I would have been rubbish back then,” I admit.

  She tilts her head and studies me. “I don’t know. You probably would have gotten extra points for effort.”

  “That I would have.”

  She licks her lips and runs her hands down my back, digging her nails into my ass and pulling my erection against her. “Can’t let this go to waste.”

  “Never,” I tell her, bracketing her between my elbows. “But I know that alarm is going to go off any minute.”

  “I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” she says, another coy look.

  Fuck.

  She’s right.

  I push myself inside of her, so hot, slick, tight, and then it only takes a couple of hard thrusts before I know I’m close to coming. I don’t miss any opportunitie
s though. I reach down and rub quick circles along her clit until she’s coming again.

  “Shay,” I cry out, my orgasm sneaking up on me and the world goes tumbling, my lungs breathless, my body shuddering with release. I swear under my breath in Norwegian, lowering myself against her, trying to catch my breath, just as my alarm goes off.

  I laugh, resting my forehead against Shay’s for a moment, staring blissfully into her eyes before I reach over and hit snooze.

  “Time to get up,” she says to me, reaching out and running her finger over the bridge of my nose.

  I playfully pretend to bite it and she giggles, taking her hand away. God, I could just spend the rest of my days in bed with her, hanging onto moments like this one, where everything fades into the background and it’s just us, together again, but better this time.

  “I don’t want you to be late,” she says, staring up at me with adoring eyes, a look that jumpstarts my heart.

  “Me? Don’t you mean we?” I tease her. “Or was your pretending to be a farmgirl just a ruse to get in my pants?”

  Her eyes go round for a second before she bursts out laughing. Forever the sweetest sound.

  “Oh, that’s rich, Anders,” she chortles.

  “Hey, I wouldn’t blame you,” I say, knowing she can see the twinkle in my eye. “I’ve got the goods.”

  “What you’ve got are cows that need to be milked. And please, don’t turn what I said into something sexual.”

  Now I’m laughing. “You’re the one who likes to make it weird.” Then I feel a strange pulse of fear run through me, the idea of laying myself on the line. I clear my throat and she frowns, noting the serious expression on my face. “Listen, Shay…what we talked about the other day. About me showing you the country…I’d still like to do that.”

  She studies me, brows coming together. “Like…traveling with me? But the farm…”

  “Don’t worry. Kolbjorn will take over. I’ll talk to him and Per today, it will be fine. We can take a week off.”

  “And the fishing?”

  “Still have time before I have to go out to sea.”

  “Will a week be enough?”

  I give a melancholy smile, brushing her bangs off her face. “No. It won’t be enough. I want all the time with you possible. I want to wrap myself in every single second of you.”

  She swallows, pressing her lips together for a moment while my fingers brush over her soft skin. “What happens when you go out to sea? You’ll be gone for how long?”

  I shake my head. “It depends. But I don’t expect you to wait around. And I don’t think we need to talk about it either. Let’s just…take each day as it comes. Starting with today. I’ll help out Per this morning, call up Kolbjorn, he’ll come help out. Won’t be a problem.”

  She observes me for a moment, worrying her lip between her teeth, and I’m holding my breath, praying she’ll say yes. I need to take her away from her, to give us both space to be together, be ourselves. I know I’m different when I’m not at the farm, and I want to give her all of my attention. Plus, I want her to fall in love with the country even more, in the vain hope that she won’t ever want to leave.

  “Okay,” she says, smiling. “Let’s do it. Let’s take a road trip.”

  I grin at her and kiss her forehead, the tip of her nose, her lips, just as my alarm goes off again.

  I groan and pull myself away from her, knowing I need to get going. I sit on the edge of the bed and grab her hand, giving it a squeeze. “You sleep in. Take a shower. Then get yourself packed and ready. We’ll go before noon.”

  She stares at me. “So soon?”

  “I’m not wasting a single second with you, my sparrow,” I tell her, lifting up her hand and kissing her knuckles. “You’re mine until you fly away.”

  I know I’m being bold, but I don’t care.

  And, thankfully, she doesn’t seem to mind. She just gives me a shy smile, the kind of soft happiness that will leave an imprint in my brain all morning long.

  I quickly get ready, her tired eyes watching me from the bed, and then I’m stepping out into the dawn, seeing that smile in my head, rising with the sun.

  “Pull over.”

  I look over at Shay, frowning. “You going to be sick?”

  She gives me a dry look and smacks my arm. “No, though I’m starting to think you were a rally driver in your past life. I want to take a picture.”

  “Oh, a picture,” I tell her. “This a new hobby of yours?”

  She sticks her tongue out at me as I find the next pullout alongside the fjord, waiting for a car to pass before I head across and put the car into park.

  We technically only left Todalen about ten minutes ago and Shay’s managed to take a million photos already. I guess the drive is extremely scenic, with the mountains dropping straight off into the fjord, but I’ve driven it so many times it doesn’t look like anything much to me. She’s good for that, though, among a million other things. Helping me see the things right in front of me.

  Shay gets out of the Datsun and brings out the Pentax. We stopped by the corner store, which happened to have a roll of film (something to be said about a town that clings to the past), and she’s been alternating between her phone and the film camera.

  I watch her as she takes her photos, the breeze brushing her hair off her shoulders. I feel like pinching myself that I got this lucky, that I have this chance to be with her like this.

  It was easier than I thought, too. Per almost looked relieved when I said I’d be going off with Shay for a week. I guess he can get tired of me too sometimes, plus I’m not sure how much of Shay he heard this morning, but it’s got to be awkward to have the two of us in the house. And if it’s not awkward yet, it certainly will be, because I can’t keep my damn hands off this woman.

  Anyway, Kolbjorn agreed to it, no problem, and so now I just have to slow down and hold onto every moment I can, like this one.

  Finally, Shay turns around, putting her camera down, and smiles at me.

  I automatically beam at her right back, feeling so much darkness lift inside me. As long as I don’t think about the future, as long as I only think about the here and now, that darkness can’t touch me. Not like it usually does.

  She gets back into the car. “Okay, I promise not to do that again. I know we’re in a rush to catch the ferry.”

  “Actually, the ferry leaves quite regularly,” I tell her. “It’s just the faster we go, the faster I get you to the hotel and get to fuck you until you can’t breathe.”

  Her eyes go big, her mouth dropping slightly. She smiles, wagging her brows. “Oh. Oh my.”

  That’s a look I won’t get tired of.

  But while we end up taking the small ferry across the fjord and drive along the snaking road, the Datsun impressing Shay on every corner, I know that we should make a brief stop in Kristiansund before we go to our remote hotel for the night. It’s the last bout of civilization.

  “Kristiansund,” Shay says as she reads a sign as we head into the city. It’s actually more of a big town, about twenty-four thousand people spread out along the rocky coast and inlets. “Are we going to see your boat?”

  I didn’t even think about that. I’m refusing to think about that part of my life right now. “Actually, I thought we would grab a late lunch somewhere. You must be starving. You used to get so hangry, it was frightening.”

  “Still do,” she says. She twists in her seat to look at me. “But I insist you take me to your boat. What’s its name again?”

  “Midnight Sun,” I tell her. “It’s just an old fishing vessel, Shay. Nothing to write home about.”

  “Maybe to you,” she says, her expression turning grave. “But it belonged to your father and it’s a big part of your life. I want to see it. I want to see that part of you. Your mistress of the sea.”

  I let out a caustic snort. “That’s a new one. Fine,” I tell her with a sigh, pulling down the road toward the marina. “But you won’t be impressed.”<
br />
  “I’m not trying to be impressed. I’m trying to get to know you.”

  The corner of my mouth lifts. Can’t say that doesn’t feel good, that she wants to know me, more than she has before. It’s just a little terrifying at the same time, because I know all the dark parts I try and keep hidden. She’s seen my poetry, but that only scratches the surface of who I really am. That’s my ugly soul rearranged into pretty words.

  We get to the marina, park, and get out of the car. It’s busy today, a lot of boats heading out. I grab Shay’s hand and we walk over to the dock, heading toward the boat at the end of it.

  To my surprise, Epsen is on board, a bucket and a scrubbing brush in hand. I know that he cleans it between trips, I just didn’t think he’d be here today.

  “Anders,” he says, just as surprised to see me. Then he looks at Shay and his brows go even higher. “And hello there.”

  Of course he’s saying this all in Norwegian, but Shay has already picked up quite a bit.

  “Hello,” she says in Norwegian, her accent ridiculously cute. “I’m Shay. Anders’…friend.”

  Espen laughs, clapping his hands together. “Friend, huh?” He gives me a salacious wink, then switches to English. “I’m Espen. I’m Anders’ first mate and sometimes friend. Just not in that way.”

  “First mate?” she says. “He talks highly of you.”

  I swear Espen is turning a shade of pink beneath his beard. “That can’t be right. All Anders does is insult my mother.”

  “Hey,” I say. “Your mother deserves it,” I add as a joke.

  He gives me a mock glare before turning his attention back to Shay. “Well, are you going to come aboard?” Espen asks. “I’d like to say I knew you were coming and I was just cleaning up for you.”

  Shay looks to me in question and I nod. “Go on.”

  She walks to the steps and then Epsen reaches out, taking her hands and pulling her up on deck. I follow, right behind her.

  “Wow,” Shay says, running her hands along the cabin and peering inside.

  I chuckle. “You don’t have to say wow, unless you’re talking about what a heap of junk she is.”