Page 2 of Emerald

His jaw clenched, a muscle ticking in his cheek. "You're more than that. You know you are."

"Do I? Because from where I'm standing, I'm just a shiny trophy to stick on a shelf. Seen but not heard, isn’t that I’ve been taught all these years." I laughed, but it was a bitter, brittle sound. "For fucks sake Finn, I'm twenty-one years old, Finn. Twenty-one and I've never been on a real date. Never been fucking touched because everyone is too afraid of the mighty Declan Maguire to even try."

His eyes went molten, his nostrils flaring. "Cara..."

"No, you know what? I'm done." I threw my hands up, my chest heaving with the force of my fury and frustration. "I'm done being the good little girl, the dutiful daughter. I want to live, Finn. I want to make my own choices and my own mistakes. I want to kiss a man without wondering if my father will have his tongue cut out for daring to taste me."

He made a low sound, his hands flexing at his sides like he was physically restraining himself from reaching for me. "It's not that simple."

"Isn't it?" I stepped closer, tilting my head back to meet his gaze dead on. "I'm a virgin, Finn. A twenty-one year old virgin in a world where sex is currency and I have none. Do you have any idea what that's like? To want and ache and burn for something you can't have? Something that's just out of reach but forbidden to you?"

I stomped my foot. “I’ve had enough Finn. I need to be wanted as a woman. I need to feel someone finds me desirable.” I could feel my eyes welling up. “I need you to see me as a woman.”

His eyes flared, his pupils blown wide and black. "You have no idea what you're saying.”

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm saying" I placed my palms on his chest, feeling the way his heart raced beneath my touch. His breath hitched, his hands clenching into fists.

So this is what it’s like to use your body as a weapon.

“How many years have we danced around each other Finn? How many times have we come close to kissing?” I smiled as I heard him groan. “Just one kiss Finn. Give me my first real kiss. That’s all I want, and then I’ll back off. I’ll do what my father wants me to do. I’ll behave.”

He growled, actually growled, his control fracturing. "I'm trying to protect you, damn it. From me, from them, from your own fucking recklessness. Can't you see that?"

"I don't want your protection, Finn." I slid my hands up to loop around his neck, my body flush against his. He was vibrating with tension, the hunger in his eyes burning through me. "I want your hands on me. Your mouth. I want you to show me all the wicked, wonderful things I've been missing."

He shuddered, his forehead dropping to mine, his eyes squeezing shut as if in pain. "Cara, please. Don't do this."

"Finn." I brushed my lips over his, a phantom kiss that made him jerk as if I'd branded him. "Don't you see? You're the only one I trust to do it right."

He made a desperate noise, his hands coming up to frame my face, his thumbs caressing my cheekbones. "Cara. Behave. If your father finds out..."

"He won't. No one will." I nipped at his bottom lip, soothing the sting with my tongue. He groaned, and I knew I had him. I’d finally broken him. His fingers tangled in my hair, tilting my head back to take my mouth in a kiss that seared me to my core.

I moaned, parting my lips for the hot slide of his tongue, losing myself in the drugging heat of him. He kissed me like a man possessed, devouring me, branding me, his control shattering with every slant of his mouth over mine. By the time we broke apart we were both panting and shaking. My lips felt swollen, tender, thoroughly used in the best way.

Finn pressed his forehead to mine, his eyes closed, his breathing ragged. "Christ, Cara. The things I want to do to you."

"Please," I whispered, my hands fisting in his lapels.

He captured my mouth again, hot and urgent and focused. He lowered his head to my breast, his mouth covering the soft cotton material. I could feel the heat of his mouth and the swirl of his tongue push against the material as he nipped at my nipple, sending a pool of heat straight to my core. I keened, my hands flying to his hair as he suckled and nipped.

Holy fuck.

I shamelessly started to grind on him, desperate for a release.

He pulled away, taking me by the shoulders and shoving me backwards as footsteps came near. He turned and left me standing there, flushed, on edged and desperately wanting more of what he just started.

But at least we had finally started.

Chapter 3: Finn

Ipaced outside Cara's bedroom door, my hands clenching and unclenching at my sides, my jaw aching from how hard I was gritting my teeth.

This was torture. Pure, unadulterated, exquisite torture. And I had no one to blame but myself.

I should've known better than to kiss her. Should've kept my goddamn distance like I'd been doing for years, no matter how much it killed me. But Christ, the way she'd looked at me, all flushed and furious and so fucking beautiful it hurt. Fuck. I have coveted Cara for the past five years. I'd been helpless. Powerless.

Fuck. The taste of her, the feel of her soft curves molding into me, the breathy little moan she'd let out when I'd finally— finally —claimed her mouth. It was scorched into my brain, my balls, my fucking soul.

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