LITMIR.BIZ

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squeezed and fondled her other breast.

      She closed her eyes, swamped with sensation, her body restless. This was finally happening, and the reality of it exceeded all her fantasies. How long had she dreamed of this? Each time he came to visit her father, especially over the past year, her yearning for him grew, until there was only him. She hadn’t been sure he would want her—he was always so distant with her. Maybe this didn’t mean anything to him beyond a momentary physical release, but right now she didn’t care. The way he made her feel—she couldn’t stop even if she wanted to.

      And she definitely didn’t want to.

      And now that she’d had a taste of him, she didn’t think she could ever be happy with anyone else. With Jason, there was no awkward groping or wet kisses. Everything he did was done with confidence. Even at twenty-one, he was no stranger to sensual pleasure.

      She was unprepared when he lifted her in his arms and laid her down on the bed, following her with the length of his body. He braced himself on one elbow while he continued to nuzzle her breast, and one thigh insinuated itself between hers.

      “Yes,” she breathed and instinctively raised her hips to rub herself against him. The contact sent a flood of moisture to her center. She could feel him, hard and hot, against her stomach, and the knowledge that he was aroused caused her pulse to quicken until she could feel the need for him throb through every vein in her body, all the way to her fingertips.

      He kissed her again, deeper this time, and slid his hand over her stomach to the waistband of her panties. But instead of slipping his fingers inside, he cupped her through the fragile material. Caroline widened her legs to give him better access.

      “Yes,” she whispered against his lips. “Touch me.”

      Jason made a groaning sound and eased the elastic aside. Then his fingers were there, skimming over her sensitized flesh and parting her folds.

      “Jesus,” he said, his breath harsh against her cheek. “You’re so slippery.”

      Caroline made a sobbing sound, desperate for him to touch her there, where she craved it the most. When his fingers swirled her slickness over her quivering flesh, she gave a soft cry, and her hips jerked reflexively. Then he eased one finger inside her, and Caroline felt her muscles contract around him. The sensation was unlike anything she could have imagined. She felt stretched and tight, aching for something just beyond her reach. Desperate, she clutched at his shoulders, mindless with need. She needed... She needed so much, and she was so afraid that if she didn’t take this now, she might never have another chance. When he began moving his finger, she arched into his palm.

      “Oh, my God,” she panted. “That feels so amazing. I want you inside me.”

      His hand stilled.

      When he drew it away, Caroline thought he meant to pull her panties off, and she reached down to help him. Instead, he carefully disentangled himself from her limbs. Standing up, he scrubbed both hands over his face.

      “Get dressed.” His voice was low and harsh.

      Still throbbing and unfulfilled, Caroline was too bewildered to do more than lie there. He turned to look at her. Even in the darkness, she felt his eyes on her, as palpable as a physical touch. With his dark hair and glittering eyes, and the tattoos that snaked over his shoulders, he looked a little like a pirate. Caroline shivered.

      “Jason...what’s wrong?”

      “All of this. I’m not the right guy for you, Caroline, and you don’t want this. Not with me.”

      She sat up. “I do! I want you to be my first.”

      “You have no idea what you want, and if your father ever knew about this, he’d kill me. Or have me thrown in jail.”

      “No!” Caroline rose to her feet, but when she would have touched him, he warded her off. “I won’t tell anyone,” she promised. “I’d never do that.”

      “I. Can’t. Do. This.” He bit the words out between gritted teeth. “Don’t you get it? You’re sixteen! I’m twenty-one.”

      “I don’t care,” she cried, reaching for him. “I’m old enough! This is what I want.”

      He put out an arm to hold her off. “That’s the problem. You always get what you want, even if it’s not good for you. You’re spoiled and selfish, and you never think about anyone but yourself. But not this time. I’m not going to let you ruin my life.” He looked around the room, finally scooping up a bathrobe from the floor beside the bed. He thrust it toward her. “Get dressed. Go back to your room, and forget this ever happened. It was a mistake.”

      Caroline hugged the robe against her breasts, and her breath hitched with a suppressed sob. She couldn’t believe he was being so cruel. Maybe her father did spoil her, but that wasn’t her fault. But selfish? Nobody had ever accused her of that before. “Please,” she begged. “If you’d just give us a chance... I love you.”

      He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, Caroline saw his resolve.

      “Well, I don’t love you. Trust me—you’ll thank me one day,” he said. He strode to the window and braced his hands on the sill, not looking at her. “Now get out of here.”

      She stood looking at his bowed shoulders, her tears blurring his image. He had wanted her. She hadn’t been mistaken about that. But his rejection felt as if he’d just ripped her beating heart out of her chest. She’d never known such agonizing pain. And as much as she loved him, she wanted to hurt him, too. To make him feel just a little bit of what she was feeling right now.

      “I won’t be sixteen forever,” she finally managed, hating how her voice shook. “Someday I’ll be a woman. But it will be too late for you. By the time your conscience decides I’m old enough, I’ll have had a dozen other guys. You only get one chance to be someone’s first, Jason.”

      He spun around, and whatever triumph she might have felt dissolved beneath the stark bleakness of his expression.

      “I’m doing this for your own good. And because I have too much respect for your father to take advantage of you. I owe him more than that.”

      Caroline pulled her robe on with jerky movements and yanked the belt tight around her waist with trembling fingers. If she stayed another second, she would begin to cry, and there was no way she wanted him to witness that. She raised her chin, taking refuge in lashing out at him. “Whatever. I guess the other guys were right about you, after all. Do you know what my father’s law students say about you?”

      He remained silent.

      “They say you’re gutter trash,” she continued in a rush, even though she didn’t believe that about him for a second. “They say a leopard can’t change its spots, and I guess it’s true. Is that why you hide your tattoos? Because you know, deep down, that if people see them, they’ll know the truth about you? About what you really are?”

      When he didn’t answer, Caroline felt small and mean. Being cruel wasn’t in her nature. People always said she was like her mother—sweet and kind. But right now, a part of her wanted to wound Jason. Another part of her wanted to fling herself against his chest and tell him she didn’t mean any of what she’d just said. But she wouldn’t risk him rejecting her yet again.

      “I won’t wait for you, just so you know.”

      Caroline stood uncertainly for a moment, hoping against hope that he might say something to stop her from leaving.

      “No,” he finally said, and his voice sounded weary. “I wouldn’t expect you to wait and I don’t want you to. Just leave.”

      With a muffled sob, she fled.

      2

      Present Day

      CAROLINE STUFFED HER files into her leather carry case, snapped it shut and glanced at her watch. It was nearly ten

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