part as we regained our breath.
I laid my head on his shoulder, as he caressed my hair, his lips brushing against my forehead as we drifted back to sleep together.
***
The house I stood in front of was tiny. Dirty, white, a broken window by the front door. A loud air-conditioner was sticking out of the bottom half of the window, dripping a wet river of condensation onto the broken concrete porch and snaking across and over the edge of it. I opened the torn screen door in front of me and stepped over the threshold. The paint-chipped wooden front door was thrown open. Dark and cavelike, the edges of the tiny space were cramped with old furniture and books and clutter.
I followed the sound of a man singing. Twangy, country, familiar. A guitar, a stomping foot. I rounded the corner of a tiny, dark hall and entered a bedroom.
A man sat on a bed. He smiled at me, a guitar in his lap as he gestured for me to sit down next to him while he continued singing.
“ Remember me, when the candlelights are gleamin g …
Remember me, at the close of a long, long da y …
and it would be so sweet, when all alone, I’ m dreamin g …
just to know that you still remember m e …”
I clapped my tiny hands, bouncing up and down on the bed, a huge smile spread across my face.
“ More, Daddy, more !” I pleaded with him. He reached over, tucking a strand of stringy blonde hair behind my ear.
“ You like that one, do n’ t you, baby ? ” he asked, his gentle eyes full of love.
“ Yes !” I replied .“ I t’ s my favorite Willie Nelson song ! ”
“ Okay, okay, I’ ll sing it one more time, just for you ,” he said, his strong voice rising again as he sang to me.
***
When I woke up, the sun was streaming in through Ryde r’ s window. I knew I had remembered something in my dream. It was a strong memory, but I was n’ t sure what to make of it. It was foggy. So vague and almost impossible to fully recall.
I lay in bed, my eyes closed, trying to touch it again, to just grasp at a small thread to find a way to pull it back, but it was too far away. If there was anything I had learned in the last few days, it was that trying hard to remember something did n’ t work. It either came back on its own or it did n’ t. I let it go, hoping it would do just that.
Ryder was still asleep, and the feel of his bare skin against mine was electric. I felt like a cat rubbing against him, wantonly slipping against him for the sheer selfish pleasure of it. I watched him slowly wake up, the sunlight providing a view I did n’ t get to enjoy in the dark last night.
He was even more handsome in the early morning, if that was even possible. He was all man - rugged, rough, disheveled, incredibly sexy. Dark stubble shadowed his strong jaw and I rubbed against it, the gruff texture of his face scratching me deliciously. I wanted to stay in bed with him all day long.
Unfortunately, I could n’ t. And I knew if we got started again this morning, we would never stop. And I would never figure out who I was.
I needed to know, no matter how easy it was to lose myself in Ryde r’ s arms.
I untangled my naked body from his limbs, and he moaned in protest. I was hoping not to wake him up, but I had. I looked over my shoulder at him as I sat on the edge of the bed. He opened his eyes, and smiled a lazy, morning smile that would have melted the panties off of me if was wearing any.
How could any one man possess that much raw sexuality?
I wrapped the sheet loosely around my front. My eyes trailed down to his naked, hard cock and then back to his smile. I leaned down, kissed his lips, and turned to walk away.
“I’ m going to shower, you can join me if yo u’ d like ,” I said, taking the sheet with me, even though I knew my back was exposed.
“ Well, look at that !” he exclaimed as
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