Page 20 of Dirty Ginger

He chuckled. “Yeah, Am, it’s all right.” He stared into her pretty eyes and gave her a smile, thinking of how he left her earlier and figuring it was a conversation they couldn’t ignore. “I take it, since I’m not dead, everything went well with your sisters after I left this morning.”

Amelia shrugged. “Maisie was Maisie about it all. And Clara was Clara, worried and overprotective.”

“I’m sure we shocked them.”

Her sensual laughter made his cock twitch. “Just a little.” Then her laughter fell, expression tightened. “I know I’m in this really weird place in my life right now. The last thing I should be doing is letting anything like this happen, but I don’t regret kissing you.”

Best thing he’d ever heard. “Good. Neither do I.”

She nibbled her lip, drawing his full attention to her pouty mouth. “I just don’t want to hurt you, and a lot has happened. I can’t really even explain why I grabbed you and kissed you, other than to say it felt right to do that.”

“I’m glad you did it this morning,” he said with a grin. “And just now too.”

Her eyes crinkled at the corners with her smile. “Clara’s really worried my head is not on straight, and to be honest, it probably isn’t. I just don’t want that to—”

He pressed a finger against her lip, stopping that conversation in its tracks. He wasn’t in a rush. He’d waited years to have her looking at him like she was looking at him now. As long as she was kissing him and not someone else, he could wait until she was ready for something serious. Instead of hitting her with all that truth she probably wasn’t ready for, he said, “Let me worry about me.”

She drew in a visibly trembling breath, a pinkish hue creeping over her cheeks that had nothing to do with shyness. “Okay.”

Seeing the resolve on her face, he gathered her in his arms then, pulling her underneath him, intending to show her just how okay he was with all this. How he’d give to her, not taking anything back, only to have her. “I want to kiss you.”

Her cheeks pinkened. “I want you to kiss me too.”

He couldn’t fight his grin before he slanted his mouth across hers again, dragging his hand up her thigh, bringing her dress higher up her thigh. He broke the kiss to gaze upon her, and her chest rose and fell rapidly. His rough breathing matched hers. “You’ve changed, do you know that?” he asked, feeling her tremble beneath his touch.

“How have I changed?” she rasped when he slid a hand across her thigh.

“You’re all woman now,” he told her, hearing the huskiness in his voice. She’d been eighteen when she’d offered her virginity to him. She’d been nineteen the last time his hands were on her. Her body was rounder now, hips slightly larger. He slid his hand between her and the blanket, cupping her ass. Then he dropped his head into her neck. She angled to the side, giving him access, and he slowly licked and nibbled his way up to her ear. “You feel so fucking good, Am.”

Her moan was her reply.

Intending to give her more, he caught her mouth, and she met his intensity at every turn. She followed his open-mouthed kiss, dancing her tongue alongside his, and he couldn’t get enough.

When he leaned away, her gaze did a thorough once-over of him from head-to-toe, causing his cock to jump when she stared at him with such hunger. “You’ve changed too.” She reached out and ran a hand over his chest, his biceps and forearms, stopping once we reached his shoulders. “You’re so strong.”

Strong enough to carry all your burdens. But he kept silent, embracing the tight hold she had on him. The way she touched him so intimately, so passionately, had him sealing his mouth across hers again. Her heady moans filled his ears, and for the first time in a very long time, he felt like he was finally getting something right.

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