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Green

Rod nodded his head understandingly as Rio unleashed a tirade against him. She was spitting mad for sure. He could tell that just from the tone, the force with which she ranted. Of course, he couldn't understand a word that she said—her voice was too muffled.

Still, he thought, all in all, the gag had been a good idea.

"Just a little longer, babe, then I'll untie you. Promise!" he reassured her from his chair next to her bed. He rose to check the knots again, then sat back down and picked up his book. A few minutes later, another outburst of angry protest came from the bed. He set the book back down and sighed. "Listen, like I said, it's just a little longer. It's 2:30 now—I can't untie you until 3:00. Then it'll be too late for you to enter the festival."

More squirming and angry noises.

"I know, I know. You really wanted to your yak to win. But don't you see? If you entered, you'd win for sure—you always do. Then everyone pays so much attention to you, and they crowd around you and congratulate you. And the guys—I've seen how they look at you, even the guys here from the village, the ones that know you're mine. And you are, you know—you're my girlfriend. And I don't want to share you with anyone. So after that last crop festival—when Allen was coming on to you, even though he's supposed to be my friend—I decided that I couldn't take it anymore. It's not fair, Rio—you shouldn't even want anyone else to look at you but me. So here you are, and here you'll stay, at least until registration is over."

More angry sounds, very emphatic ones.

"It's no good, you know. I learned to tie knots from an old fisherman when I was a kid. Very useful skill, don't you think? Aren't they super? They won't come loose, so you might as well just be patient. You're only going to end up with rope burns if you keep it up." He picked up his book again, taking another quick look at the clock before finding his place. Still twenty minutes to go.


Setting his book down, Rod stood and stretched. Rio had dozed off just a little bit ago, worn out from fighting her bonds all that time. He smiled down at her. She was so beautiful, so… so perfect. He had hated to do this to her. Just not as much as he hated having to share her even just a little bit. With a glance at the clock, he saw that it was actually 3:15 now—registration was over and the festival was well underway. He frowned, knowing that the villagers would wonder where she was, and he hoped none of them would take it upon themselves to come looking for her. Shrugging a little, he decided probably not—festivals were so busy, no one would have the time, not until it was over anyway.

He looked down at her for a moment longer, then he bent down and kissed her cheek. Oh, man, did she smell good, he thought. Like honey and wildflowers and… and just her. She startled awake, turning her eyes towards him. She stared, slightly dazed in drowsy confusion. "Hiya, babe," he whispered into her ear.

He reached down and began to untie the knots around her ankles first, wondering how best to appease her. As the last knot loosened and he slid the ropes from her legs, he looked up at her. She was fully awake now, and looked as mad as a nest of hornets. Well, that was to be expected, he thought.

"I'll make it up to you, babe. I promise!" he said in his cheerful voice. Before he moved on, he took a few minutes to rub her legs, knowing that they must ache from being tied up for so long. She had gorgeous legs, he thought as he massaged first one, then the other. So long and lean, already lightly tanned from wearing shorts out in the fields that spring. And her skin—it was so smooth and soft. Rio definitely took good care of herself. He frowned slightly, remembering the many times Allen had made that observation.

Leaving her wrists bound for the moment, he climbed up on the bed and sat on her stomach to hold her still while he untied the gag. Her struggles against it had tightened the knots slightly, so it took a little longer than expected to undo them.

As he slipped the cloth from her mouth, she struggled beneath him, glaring up at him. "You!" she hissed angrily. "You son of a bitch! Untie me right this second, then get the hell out of my house! You and I are thrmmph!"

He cut her words off, quickly bending down to kiss her, pressing his mouth firmly against her so-soft lips. Her mouth was sweet, he thought as he tasted every corner of it. Honey again, and did she actually eat flowers? She tasted like she smelled—sweet and flowery.

Kissing her still, he slid one hand under her head, then ran his fingers through her honey-colored hair. Silky and soft, he thought with pleasure. Remembering Allen discussing her hair—how fine it was, and what a pleasure it was to style, and how much he loved having her come into his salon—he felt a surge of heat course through him. Damn it, Rio was his girlfriend! Not Allen's!

His kisses intensified as he slid his hand down her neck, her shoulder, and to [the remainder of the story has been removed from this site in order to ensure compliance with the site's rules and regulations. The full version of the story is posted at Archive of Our Own, user name HalcyonEve. See my profile page on this site for link.]


Disclaimer: Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, and the locations and characters in this story belong to Natsume Inc. and MarvelousAQL Inc. The story's plot is my own invention.

Photo Attribution: The cover image is titled "Honey Dipper" and is by Hillary Stein. It may be viewed on the Flickr website, photo ID 2751693052. It is available for public use under the terms of the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. I have not altered the image in any way, other than any resizing that may have occurred as part of the process of uploading it onto this site.