Ginger's Heart (A Modern Fairytale, #3)(16)

Cain frowned. Who the f*ck is Robby Hanson, and why the f*ck is he making Ginger cry? The word ass whuppin’ flashed in his mind as she continued.

“He was my d-date tonight. To h-homecomin’. My first f-formal. I think W-Woodman m-made him ask me, but I don’t care. I w-was excited. I got a n-new d-dress and shoes, and now . . . now . . .”

“Now you don’t have no one to take you.”

She nodded against his chest, the hair on the top of her head rubbing against his throat, sending a bolt of heat from the pulse in his neck to the pulse in his cock and making it twitch. His eyes flared with panic, and he bit the side of his cheek until he tasted blood, willing his cock not to harden while he was sitting beside Ginger.

“It was h-hard enough startin’ school this year after bein’ h-homeschooled my whole life. They all t-treat me like I’m b-breakable or some sort of a w-weirdo, but . . . but I was goin’ to f-fix that toni—”

“Gin,” he said.

“What?” she asked, leaning back to look up at him.

“I’ll take you,” he said, shocked to hear the words leave his mouth. He didn’t feel them coming, didn’t know they were on their way from his brain to his lips until he heard them in his ears.

“You will?” she gasped, her face changing from mournful to joyful in the space of a second.

“If it’ll make you stop cryin’, then hell, yeah. I’ll take you.”

She gasped, a smile taking over her entire face as she threw her arms around his neck. And before, he’d barely noticed that their thighs were flush, but now—with her breasts pressed against his T-shirt—he tracked every place his body touched hers, and suddenly she was everywhere.

“Wanna know somethin’ else?” she asked, her warm breath kissing his throat.

“Sure,” he said, trying to stay calm, to ignore the way her body pressed against him.

“I was gonna kiss him. Robby. He was gonna be my first kiss.”

His heart pounded as his arms wound around her, pulling her close to him, as close as he could, until her breasts were crushed against his chest. His cock sprang to life, hardening and thickening behind his jeans, wanting more from this beloved, forbidden girl.

“Never been kissed?”

“Not yet.”

Blood pounded in his head as he reviewed what she was saying, and though he willed himself to ignore her thinly veiled suggestion, he found he couldn’t. After three years of longing and a lifetime ahead, he just couldn’t leave the moment alone.

“You still want that first kiss?” he asked close to her ear, his voice low and husky.

Her breath, which was hot and sweet on his neck, hitched. “You offerin’?”

“What if I say yes?” he whispered.

She drew away from him, still nestled within the circle of his arms, but her eyes, the gorgeous brown eyes that had haunted his dreams for a thousand nights or more, searched his face, caressing it, reading it, understanding it. He held his breath, his stomach in knots, his eyes flicking to her lips, before meeting her gaze again.

“I still want that first kiss,” she murmured, raking her teeth across her bottom lip. She dropped her eyes to his mouth and let her hot gaze linger there.

Cain’s tongue darted out, wetting his lips instinctively, his breathing shallow and ragged as he stared down at her.

“You’re sure?”

Her eyes slid up slowly to meet his, certain and clear. “I’m sure.”

Cain reached up for her cheek, placing his palm against the softness of her skin reverently as his fingers threaded into her golden hair. Her eyes fluttered and closed, and he touched her jaw with his other hand, cupping her face, drinking in the sight of Ginger in stunning submission as he leaned closer, lowering his lips to hers.

For all that this might have been Cain’s millionth kiss, the most terrifying thing about kissing Ginger was that it felt like the very first. Like no one had ever come before. Like no one could ever come after. And as his heart thundered painfully behind his ribs, he knew—for the very first time, after years of hunting—what it felt like to surrender.

Soft as rose petals, her lips were parted and still beneath his. She gasped as his mouth settled on hers, stealing his breath and making him dizzy. He closed his eyes, tightening his grip on her face as he nuzzled her nose, taking her top lip between his, then her bottom, then gently swiping the tip of his tongue along the loose seam of her lips. She opened to him like a flower to sunshine, her back arching as she touched his tongue with her own, trembling in his arms as he pulled her still closer.

He slid his tongue slowly along the length of hers, swallowing her moan as she arched against him instinctively. His fingers twined in the lush waves of her hair, holding her head in place as he tilted his face to the other side, resealing his lips over hers. Blood rushed furiously to his groin, and he growled, his hunger mounting as he claimed her mouth, as he memorized the taste of her, the way she felt in his arms, the way it sounded when she gasped, breathing him into her lungs.

His own breath was fast and shallow, and though he’d already stolen more than a moment from her, already betrayed the cousin he loved as a brother, he wanted so much more. He wanted her lying beneath him, her soft eyes encouraging him, the tight walls of her virgin sex pulsing around him. He wanted to watch her face as he made love to her and feel her wild heart pound against his as he held her in his arms for hours after. He wanted, he wanted, he wanted—