Free The Land of Rabbits (Long Shot Love Duet #1) by Aven Jayce

aren’t around, but I enjoy my privacy and I like it better out here. It’s quiet in the woods and easier to read.”
    “And full of bugs.”
    “That doesn’t bother me.”
    He sets his bottle on the makeshift nightstand and stares toward the corner of the room. With a careful step on the plywood floor, and a finger gesture to remain quiet, I follow him in that direction.
    “Do you see her, yet?” he asks in a low voice.
    I shake my head and he leads me closer to a wooden antique box, the size of a small suitcase. Four Victorian era girls frolicking in a garden and the words FLOWER SEEDS are lithographed on top. I look further down and see brown fur partially hidden under twigs and clumps of dried grass.
    “She’s a peculiar cottontail.”
    “Peculiar how?”
    “I’ve seen plenty of snowshoe hares, but this is the first cottontail. And she should be sleeping underground. They burrow. I’d expect to find a hare in a nest like this, not a rabbit.” He motions for us to move away so we don’t disturb her.
    “So this is who you wanted me to meet? Cool. Can we pet her?”
    “She’ll freeze if she sees us coming, then she’ll take off into the woods if we get too close. I don’t like to scare her so I tend to let her be.” He sits on the cot, untying his sneakers to get comfortable. “So why weren’t you afraid to walk through the woods to meet a guy you hardly know? I’m surprised you came. Excited, yet shocked. You’ve got balls.”
    “No. No balls. I have fears like everyone else.”
    “Like what?”
    “I’m afraid of memories and the night... not the darkness, but having to spend time alone. And people tend to be alone late at night.”
    “Yeah, I can relate.”
    “I’m anxious during the moments before I fall asleep... I think too much and search for distractions. And I’m afraid of sleep itself—not knowing what I’ll wake up to the next day and whether or not the people I love will still be around... trust me, I jumped at the chance to meet a creepy guy in the dark woods.”
    He laughs. “So I’m your distraction for the night?”
    I give him a tight-lipped nod, looking back at the rabbit. “She must feel safe here,” I say.
    He pats the cot and I sit down, facing him cross-legged.
    “Maybe, but she’s alone. I’ve never seen her with another rabbit. Makes me wonder if she used to be someone’s pet.”
    I take another sip of beer, listening to the outside sounds of crickets while examining the room. The books next to the bed are how-to guides for giving great massages, with a handful of crime novels and one book on surviving drug addiction.
    “It was practice,” he says.
    “What was?”
    “I’m good at my job because of all the practice I’ve had, not from Roxanne’s books. They didn’t help a whole lot. I got better by paying attention to how people reacted to my touch. But I was awful at it the first month I got here.”
    “I’m sure the women didn’t care.”
    A breeze causes the barn door to sway and the candle to flame out, leaving us in the dark.
    “Nope, the women didn’t care.”
    My heart’s sprinting.
    “I’ll relight that.”
    “No, don’t.”
    I touch his leg, keeping him next to me. My fingers tiptoe to his knee... then higher... higher... a vigorous breath... holy hell, here we go.
    He moves forward, following my lead. Our lips meet and our depraved tongues swirl—at last, awakened from a dormant sleep. Fuck, it’s good. The man can kiss.
    We collapse side-by-side, our hands crossing one another’s bodies in an erotic chase. He bites my neck, making me whimper as I stroke his stiff dick through his jeans. My smile’s so wide and tight that my cheeks hurt... it’s the type of smile that reaches my ears... a smile that happens when I sense the moment’s so fucking right, even though my practical side tells me it’s so fucking wrong, but I snub the latter, not giving a shit.
    “You have no idea how much I want you,” he says.
    “I do. I feel