“Not even for Thanksgiving dinner?”
Jonas showed only the briefest flicker of amusement but it faded rapidly. “Staying away from the only family I have is easy compared to what it’ll be like keeping my distance from you.” He dragged his hands down his face. “Christ, love. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand it.”
“Don’t find out,” she whispered. “We can be careful—”
“No. No, Ginny,” he barked forcefully, his eyes squeezed shut. “You’ve already witnessed first hand the danger I bring into your life. The King has made countless enemies and because of that, I’m a target. I won’t make you one, too.”
She swallowed, a tremble passing through her knees. “Then do it. Erase yourself from my mind. What are you waiting for?”
In half a heartbeat, he was standing in front of her. He heaved a miserable sound, green starting to crackle in his eyes. Go time.
“It’s midnight,” Ginny blurted.
He started, seeming almost grateful for her interruption. “What?”
“It’s officially my birthday.”
Jonas fell to his knees and walked forward, pressing his face to her stomach, hands fisting in the sides of her dress. “Forgive me. Forgive me.”
Ginny didn’t hesitate to tangle her fingers in his hair, softly scratching circles in his scalp. “Only if you give me a present before…before you do it.”
When he lifted his head, his expression was wary, but eager. “What would you request from me, love?”
“A kiss,” she breathed, almost dizzy thanks to their proximity and the intensity he radiated. “Just one.”
The atmosphere around them turned heavy, like a hot raincloud. A trickle of something predatory rode across Jonas’s features and in turn, her thighs clenched. The low lamplight seized them in a hazy glow and time turned languid. She sat on her bed with this beautiful, eternal being knelt between her shaking knees and their position made desire lick at her senses. Made her so excited, her nipples beaded inside her bra and the dress she wore suddenly felt like plastic wrap she needed off.
“Just one,” Jonas repeated hoarsely. She held her breath as he flipped up her skirt, exposing her to mid-thigh. His palms molded to her knees and slid to the lifted hem. His touch alone would have been enough to send her pulse skyrocketing, but then he lifted her left leg, leaning down to open-mouth kiss her inner thigh. “Where do you want your kiss? Here?”
“I-I mean, that’s really, really nice. But, um…” What were words? “I was kind of hoping for higher.”
With his lips still searing her thigh, he tossed her a wicked smirk.
“Oh Lord,” she rushed to say, red faced. “No. I meant my mouth.”
His tongue snuck out and dragged in a circle. “What I wouldn’t give for the ability to say next time we’ll be a lot more adventurous.”
Her heart stuttered. What if she couldn’t convince him to forgo taking her memories? The possibility of failing rammed into her with such impact that she fell back on the bed, caught between despair and arousal. Jonas’s weight dipping the mattress guided her once again toward desire, however. Especially when his face appeared above her, his gaze zeroed in on her lips.
“She won’t remember any of this,” he whispered to himself, his mouth descending. Closer. Closer. Sending her nerve endings into chaos.
“You will, though,” she whimpered.
His breath mingled with Ginny’s. “Yes. I will. Always,” he rasped. “With this kiss, I willingly damn myself to a lifetime of suffering. Happy birthday, love.”
What followed defied any preconceived notions she may have entertained about kissing. Lips making contact wasn’t merely something that looked pretty on a television or movie screen. It was what happened on the inside that counted.
He started by slanting his head, tasting her with groaning suction. It went on and on, him absorbing that first taste—and her being absorbed. Greedily. Absolutely. His hard body settled on top of hers, the momentous pressure making her gasp as Jonas’s tongue swept into her mouth. Ohhh.
Their tongues greeted each other like star-crossed lovers, demanding and bereft over their separation. Ginny’s eyes flew open to find the same wonder blazing in Jonas’s, before his lids drooped along with hers, the kiss taking over, sensations making demands and hunger sinking in its claws.
At the next slide of their tongues, Ginny’s knees drew up involuntarily and Jonas rolled forward with a growl, locking their lower bodies together. Pressing. Straining. The vast difference in their strength was obvious. As it was also obvious that he tried valiantly to hold his in check, his body shaking with the effort.
Unfortunately, Ginny’s body couldn’t seem to stop tempting that inhuman strength. Her inner thighs rode up and down his hips and thighs, sobs catching in her throat, releasing into his hot, seeking mouth. Lord, his mouth. It was at once skilled and frantic, like he knew damn well what he was about, but couldn’t keep up with the onslaught of lust.