Monthly Bonus Content #2 (Nat Version—Continuation of Autumn Special) (Patreon)

Two hours later…

Nat shifts, her perspiration-soaked skin stinging as it peels away from the leather sofa. She manages to grit her teeth to avoid making a sound. [Name] is snuggled up on the sofa next to her, and she would rather suffer a thousand wounds than wake them from the cozy state.

She brushes a curled finger over their cheek, letting her fingertip glide against their jawline, and then hovering it over their mouth.

Her tongue laps at her own lips in memory of the taste of theirs against them.

She withdraws her hand and smiles. She’s suddenly glad she knows she can’t die, or she might be worried that the size of her heart in her chest might be too big it could explode.

How can this one person, this one amazing person, feel as though they’ve made her life…complete?

Of course, she has the rest of Unit Bravo, and they fill a void she never wants to experience being empty, but [Name]…Oh, [Name]…This is something else altogether. Something deep. Something desperate.

She settles her head in her palm, stretching out beside [Name] on the sofa, having to curl her knees up a little in order to fit on the seat. Their nakedness against her is all she can think about, not for the divine sexuality to it, but more for how comfortable they are to be so free around her.

A sleepy breath fills [Name]’s lungs, drawing up their chest, and Nat’s gaze follows the motion. A rush of happy contentment floods her with such strength that she has to purse her lips to stop from shouting in delight.

Her gaze slides over them again, the lines of their body accentuated by the blanket Nat threw over them both before falling asleep. Her sight drinks in the curve of their shoulder, the arch of their back, the length of their thigh…and that’s when she sees it.

Her first edition copy of ‘The Great Gatsby’ is sprawled over the floor, its cover splayed out like a body tossed from a great height.

Her heart winces in her chest to think how she abandoned such a classic to its demise.

Holding her breath, she eases her arm from around [Name], pausing instantly as they begin to stir…but they smile and fall back into a deep sleep. She lets out the breath softly, becoming distracted by the way it leaves a trail of goosebumps over [Name]’s skin.

She shakes away the thought.

Sliding off the sofa with minimal amount of squeaking as her skin rubs against the leather, she hunches over to slide her fingers with care into the book’s spin and then lifts it from the ground.

It’s not so bad…she tries to convince herself, a lump forming in her throat at a small tear on the first page. She closes her eyes and shuts the book. Her fingers sooth its wounds as she draws them over the gold-etched cover.

“We can get it fixed.” The murmur comes through a yawn as [Name] rolls over and stares at her sleepily.

She smiles at the sight, the lump gone in favour of a flush of warmth that seeps over her skin. “It would be difficult.”

“Yeah, but it’s kind of my fault it happened,” they say, glancing at the book cradled in her gentle grasp before meeting her eye again. “I’ll find someone.”

She chuckles, sliding the book (with more precision) onto the side table away from harm, and then crawls close to straddle [Name]. She leans close to kiss them on the forehead. “The thought is appreciated.”

“You don’t want me to?”

She winces. “Do you know how much it would actually cost?”

They shrug, stretching and making a moan as they do. The noise doesn’t help Nat’s concentration on the conversation.

“Like £50?” they offer.

She barely holds back a splutter of a laugh. “A little higher.”

Their expression screws. “£70?”

She points upwards.

Their eyes widen as they push onto their elbows. “Are you kidding me?”

She falls onto the sofa beside them, nuzzling into the crook of their neck, withdrawing quickly at the rush of blood beneath their skin, and instead planting a kiss on their shoulder. “Maybe you could help distract me from the thought of it instead?”

They twist around to face her, cupping her cheek and smiling. “Now that, I can definitely afford.”

Their lips almost meet in a kiss when they door to the living room flies open.

“I knew it!” Felix yells, his eyes gleaming as he looks at them both.

Nat yanks the blanket up around her with a squeak of surprise. “What are you doing?!”

“Nothing as fun as you two, apparently,” Mason comments, coming up behind Felix with an approving grin as he examines the two of them squashed on the sofa together.

Nat shrinks down beneath the blanket with a groan. “Please tell me when they’re gone.”