Far From Home by Megan Nugen Isbell Read Free Book Online Page A

nodded. 
    “Are you ready?” I asked him in return, my chest pounding as I waited for his response.
    His eyes continued to search my face before finally settling on my lips.  He moved in slowly and the brush of his lips over mine revealed his answer.
    “Gimme a sec,” he whispered as he stood up and I watched as he walked down the dock and over to the mule.  He started fiddling in the back of it for a moment and then he disappeared into the shadows of the trees before reappearing.  He walked silently down the dock towards me, the patter of his Converse hitting the wooden planks the only sound.  Stopping next to me, he held out his hand and I took it.  He pulled me up and I followed him wordlessly back to the shore of the isolated pond.  We walked past the mule and into the grove of trees he’d vanished into a minute before.  I saw a blanket spread out on the soft grass and he led me over to it.  My heart was pounding furiously in my chest as I realized what we were about to do.  With Alex, it had been spontaneous.  He had pressured me and I knew now I hadn’t actually wanted to go through with it.  With Jesse, it was different though.  It was different because it was Jesse.
    “I love you, Riley,” he said as we stood beneath the trees and moonlit sky, the warm air engulfing us. “Love isn’t even the right word to use because it doesn’t fit how I feel about you.  It’s so much more than that.”
    I smiled up at him, knowing exactly how he felt.  I’d thought about it so many times and there was no word to encompass my true feelings for Jesse after everything he’d done for me.  No matter how hard I tried, I would never deserve him. 
    He moved closer to me, closing the final step that was separating us.  His lips found my neck again, moist and soft against my skin.  His hand slowly reached under my shirt and rested on my bare skin.  I could sense my stomach muscles spasming at his sensitive touch.  I heard a soft moan escape my lips as he moved from my neck to my earlobe, his breath whipping in my ear.  Our eyes locked and we seemed to be speaking to each other, even though no words were being said.  I leaned towards him, kissing him softly at first as his hands moved from my stomach to my back, gently stroking my skin so it exploded with goosebumps.  I felt him lowering me onto the blanket and then the weight of his body was on my chest as our lips began to struggle more frantically against each other. 
    Cautiously, my hands found the hem of Jesse’s shirt and I urged him to take it off.  Once it was laying beside us, I looked up.  The moonlight was casting perfect shadows against the tan skin of his bare chest, but I didn’t get to stare for long because a second later, he was kissing me again, easing my shirt up my stomach and over my head.  Our lips collided again as our hands began to move anxiously over each other’s bodies.  My impatient fingers found their way to his belt and I struggled with it, not able to unclasp it fast enough.  I could feel Jesse chuckle in amusement at my tussle.  In response, I smiled wickedly and bit his bottom lip.  I knew it hurt him, but it seemed to excite him more.
    Our hands continued to paw at each other and our kisses became more urgent each time our lips met and then Jesse stopped suddenly, staring down at me with worried, gray eyes.  My heart started to pound even harder from the way he was looking at me.  It was as if he was trying to read right into my soul. 
    “Are you sure you want this, Riley?” he said gently and I nodded, smiling certainly at him.  “You know I love you, right?”
    “I love you too.  So much,” I whispered breathlessly back to him.  I pulled him back down onto me and a moment later as I clung desperately to him, it all seemed to fall into place, the trauma of the past washing away and everything seemed okay again. 
     
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    I could feel his gaze on me as I sat with my back to him.  I was