Page 17 of Primal
“If you aren’t telling me to leave, I’m getting what I came here for,” he whispers, slowly lowering his face toward mine. I give a timid nod and shut my eyes as he closes what little distance there is between the two of us. His lips press against mine, and they’re as warm and soft as they were a couple of hours ago.
This time isn’t nearly as short, though. I kiss him back, loosening my lips slightly for the tender, wet—definitelynot Andrew-McIvner wet—kisses being passed between us. His tongue darts from his mouth and licks teasingly against my lips, urging me to give him more. I give him what he wants—what I want—parting my lips, and his tongue presses into my mouth. He swirlsit around, and I can taste the faint minty freshness when he massages it against my tongue.
His hands slide up my back as he continues to plunder my mouth. The rough drag of his hands over my shirt ignites a fire on the skin beneath it. Breathless and losing all resolve, I want more of him.More, which I know I shouldn’t.Sliding my hands along his stomach and up his well-defined chest, I whimper into his mouth as I feel the muscular ridges hidden beneath his shirt.
The small mewl fuels him, and he kisses me headily. Finn moans into my mouth as his fingers drag the length of my spine, clawing at my skin so roughly it almost hurts. Splaying my hands across his chest, I use every ounce of my remaining willpower to push him from me and break our kiss.
“Fuck,” he pants, stepping back from me. “You’re going to ruin me, Cat.”
Still breathless, I urge, “You should go.”
Because you’re already ruining me.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
FINNIGAN
With my chest heaving as I stagger back from Catlin, the warmth of her lips on mine and her hands splayed across my chest still lingers. Her heavy words ring in my ears.
You should go.
Leaving is the last thing I want to do. The taste of her and the way she felt against me didn’t just affect my—ridiculously hard again—cock. Kissing her was…different.I felt hereverywhere. Her lips pressed to mine, and her body against my hands caused my stomach to flutter. The electricity between us tingled in my fingertips as they dragged along her skin. I want—no, need—to pull her back into me and kiss her until we’re both completely lost in each other again. Until the need to claim every inch of one another is so unbearable that we’re left with no choice but to give in to our desires.
“Cat,” I exhale as I step toward her and outstretch my arm to drag her soft body against me again, but she shakes her head and shuns my reach. She lifts her stare from the floor, and the usual emerald sparkle of her gaze is gone, replaced with trepidation and a tinge of sadness.
Her breathing is ragged as she struggles to hold my stare. Her gaze falls to the floor again, and her pained voice crackles between her labored breaths, “I’m sorry.”
Clouded with my arousal, I didn’t see it at first. But it was written all over her face when she pushed away from me; what she felt was as terrifying as it was arousing. I could feel her need like it was my own—because itwasmy own.She needed more of me as much as her next breath.If not more.This thing between us is palpable and has an urgency that swells far beyond her innocence.
She’s scared.
“Oh, Cat. You don’t need to be sorry,” I reassure her, watching as she tries to hold herself together for me.
My gaze wanders past her as I give her a moment to collect herself, and I take in her modest living arrangements. Spanning the room, I count the religious artifacts hanging on the walls and collecting dust on the shelves. One painting, two figurines, and four—no, five—crucifixes.
Fuck.
Closing my eyes, I let out a deep sigh and solemnly shake my head.
I’m such a fucking idiot.
“Quinn warned me… that you were a good girl… Fuck. I just didn’t… didn’t realize…” I mutter as I close the distance between the two of us. Slipping my finger under her chin, I tip her distressed face up to mine. “Fuck, Cat, if anyone should be sorry, it’s me.”
Tears well in her eyes as she holds my gaze, and her lower lip begins to tremble. “I can’t do this... With you.” Her words are so soft that they’re barely a whisper.
“Tell me why,” I gently demand, swiping my thumb over her flushed cheek to catch a rogue tear.
“I’m not that kind of girl, Finn.” She lets out a heavy sigh.
“No, you aren’t.” Cupping her face in both hands, I stare down at her and confess, “As much as I want to kiss you and taste those sweet lips of yours for the rest of the night, you don’t have to be that kind of girl for me.”
Dipping my head, I place a soft, comforting kiss against her forehead.
“There have been… I’ve met a lot of women in my life, Cat, and you aren’t like any of them.” I continue to stroke my thumbs over her ruddy cheeks. “And I don’twantyou to be like any of them.”
There’s something different about her, and it isn’t just her sweet innocence.
“You scare me, Finn.”