Page 151 of Ex Somnis

“So, no kids for us?”

“No kids for us. Besides…” she says, “… it wouldn’t exactly be easy for me anyway.”

“What does that mean?”

“I have PCOS.”

I frown. “You’re gonna have to help me out here.”

“Short version? My body has opinions nobody asked it to have.”

“Is there a longer version?”

“Hormones. Weird periods. A vagina that doesn’t get the memo most of the time. Ovaries being dramatic.”

A vagina that… what?

“That doesn’t seem like a longer version.”

She smiles against my skin. “It’s manageable but annoying.”

“Anything I could do to help?”

“Paul’s on it.”

“Okay.” I press a kiss to the top of her head.

I have to tell Paul that he has to let me help him help her.

“I’ve now told you more about my uterus than I’ve told most people in my life.”

“That’s an honor.”

“It’s not.”

“I feel honored.”

She groans. “Can we please go to sleep?”

“Yeah.” I pull her a little closer. “Yeah, you can go to sleep.”

She settles while I keep my arm around her, and the ceiling continues being informative. After a few minutes, her breathing slows and evens.

Good, she’s asleep. She needed actual non-lucid sleep. We both need that, and I should close my eyes and do the sleep thing too.

She tilts up her face and kisses my jaw.

Not asleep, then.

“Lemon?” I murmur, but she does it again, at the corner of my mouth this time, and then when I turn my head, my mouth.

My pulse skyrockets, and I kiss her back, because, obviously, it’s her.

I’m tempted to do a reality check, but honestly, does it matter if this is a dream or real? I get to kiss her. I pull her closer, and she comes easily. With the closeness, the kiss goes from slow to deep, her fingers curling into my hair again.

Okay. Okay. This is happening.

It’s… she is…