Page 41 of Curses and Cornstalks
“Oh, how I’ve wanted to do that,” he says, his voice low. “To feel you, taste you.”
My lips are tingling, aching to feel “What were you waiting for?”
“A miracle.” His voice is light-hearted, but something dark passes over his expression.Sadness?“I was waiting for this curse to break, for me to benormalagain, but I don’t know if it’s possible.”
I brush my nose against his, my lips moving dangerously close to his again. “Why does that matter?”
“Because… you can’t want me like this.” His shoulders sag, and his arms slacken around me. “If there’s anything you deserve, it’s the best man this world has to offer. I’m not even a man, Cassie, I’m a monster.”
“I don’t see you as a monster, Atticus.” I press my lips to his cheek, breathing in his comforting earthy scent. “And you’re wrong—Icanwant you like this, and I do. I want you exactly as you are. Is that not obvious?”
He doesn’t move or say anything, waiting like I’m about to take it all back, but I won’t.
I’ve tried to deny it, tried to explain it away as curiosity, but I finally realize what this feeling is that I haven’t been able to shake since I freed him from the stake:desire.
His knuckles brush along my jaw, his fingers dropping to tease my neck. “Even if this is all we can ever have? Stolen moments in a cornfield.”
I nod.
A soft smile curves his lips as his hand cups the back of my neck. He drags me back in for another kiss, this one slow and deep.
“If you’re sure, I think it’s only fair that you know what I want,” he says.
The heat that’s been steadily brewing in me blossoms into an inferno as his hands dance down my back and over my hips.
“What do you want, Atticus?”
He doesn’t miss a beat.
“You.” He dips to press his lips against the side of my neck. “Let me worship your body any way I can, even if it’s just this once.”
My pussy clenches at the word ‘worship’, a sliver of nerves slipping up my spine. I’d considered the same exact thing earlier today, but now that I’m here, I’m hesitant. What if it’s not what I expect?
What if it’s not whatheexpects?
He kisses his way around my throat, and my head falls back as my eyes close. His lips move over my skin like they already know what I like, and my thoughts haze over.
“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to,” he assures me as hip lips tease my jawline. “Just let me show you how thoroughly obsessed I am with you.”
My knees go weak, and I’m thankful for his arms around me. Otherwise, I’d be a puddle on the ground.
“Please, Atticus,” I beg, shivering as his hands dip beneath my sweater and brush over my bare skin. “Show me.”
Chapter Seventeen
Cassie
With impressive ease,Atticus lifts me off the ground, and I wrap my legs around his torso. He captures my lips with another kiss and heat engulfs us, chasing away the last lingering bits of cool autumn air. His muscular stomach presses against the apex of my thighs, making the heartbeat there throb faster, and all I can think about it feeling more of him.
All of him.
He chases my lips like he’s starving, and I’m the only thing that will sate his appetite.
When my feet hit the ground again, I reluctantly tear myself out of his arms and grab my backpack, ripping open the zipper and snatching out the meticulously folded blanket on top. Together, we spread it carefully on the ground, and I kick off my tennis shoes next to it.
It isn’t a five-star hotel, or even a cheap motel with questionable interior, but it’s the most romantic thing I can imagine in this moment: fucking my scarecrow in the middle of his cornfield.
Trembling with nerves, I sink down onto the freshly-spread blanket and pat the spot next to me, urging him to join. He kicks off his boots with a smirk and follows my lead, sinking to his knees at my side. Then, to my surprise, he pulls off his black leather gloves and tosses them aside.
