She sniffled again and raised her head, looking up at him. Her deep brown eyes were filled with tears, but still huge and seeking, framed by dark lashes. Her lips, at which he’d stared a million times, were full pillows of soft pink, and her body had filled out into womanhood in the most distracting ways: full, high breasts, slim hips, and legs than went on for days. He rarely allowed himself to be alone with her, knowing how desperately he craved her and how unworthy he was to have her.
Cain consumed women. He ate them for lunch and licked them clean for dessert. He turned them from soft, pliant, smiling creatures to spitting, narrow-eyed harpies who hated him. But he’d rather die than to ever see Ginger’s eyes flash at him with hurt, full of hatred.
Besides, Woodman loved her.
And he’d loved her longer.
And he’d love her better.
In every way that mattered, Woodman was the better man—smarter, richer, clean and honorable—and since Ginger deserved the best the world had to offer, Cain had no business going near her. And he hadn’t. Fuck, how he’d tried to stay away.
Still, he couldn’t see her so upset and just turn his back on her. Ginger had a right to the bit of softness in his tired, bitter heart, and if she needed him, he couldn’t bring himself to turn away from her.
“Tell ole Cain what’s got you so sad, baby.”
She sniffled again, adjusting her head until her soft hair nestled into his neck, caressing his throat.
“Besides the f-fact that you and W-Woodman are leavin’ tomorrow?”
“Aw, Gin. We’ll be back before you know it.”
“What if you get s-sent to w-war?” she sobbed.
“Well, we just might,” he said soberly. “They need good men in Iraq.”
“You could d-die.”
“Is that what you’re worried about, baby?” He hugged her closer. “Ain’t no sense in fussin’ over that. I’ll look after Woodman, and he’ll look after me.”
“It scares me, C-Cain. I don’t know what l-life looks like w-without you t-two.” She hiccuped over her words, sniffling mightily and gasping for breath as she finished speaking.
“You listenin’ to me, Miss Virginia?” he asked, his heart hurting from her tears, twisting to know that his decision to enlist was wringing such sadness from the princess.
“Uh-huh.”
“Then fuckin’ look at me,” he demanded.
She slid her head off his chest and looked up at him, her wide eyes glassy and bloodshot. Her lips parted in surprise at his words, but she held her breath like it would keep her tears from falling.
“Ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to Woodman and me, baby. I promise you that.”
“You c-can’t—”
“Yes, I can.” He reached for her chin and held it firmly, the soft skin making his fingers tingle. “I promise you. Ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to me, and you can bet your sweet ass ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to Josiah while I got breath in my body. We’ll be back here to catch you on your eighteenth birthday, you hear?”
“I h-hear.”
He nodded, offering her a little smile. “That’s my girl.”
She nodded back at him, but her eyes immediately filled with tears again, and she exhaled on a sob even louder than the ones before, letting her head hang down in sorrow.
He couldn’t fucking bear it anymore.
“Don’t make me spank you, Miss Virginia,” he said severely, and she whipped her head to face him, snorting in such an unladylike way, it made him laugh. “Oh, you look a sight, princess.”
But her surprised smile was fleeting, and her mouth trembled into a deep frown as she wailed, “Robby Hanson’s got strep throat,” before letting her head fall back onto Cain’s chest.
Cain frowned. Who the fuck is Robby Hanson, and why the fuck is he making Ginger cry? The word ass whuppin’ flashed in his mind as she continued.
“He was my d-date tonight. To h-homecomin’. My first f-formal. I think W-Woodman m-made him ask me, but I don’t care. I w-was excited. I got a n-new d-dress and shoes, and now . . . now . . .”
“Now you don’t have no one to take you.”
She nodded against his chest, the hair on the top of her head rubbing against his throat, sending a bolt of heat from the pulse in his neck to the pulse in his cock and making it twitch. His eyes flared with panic, and he bit the side of his cheek until he tasted blood, willing his cock not to harden while he was sitting beside Ginger.
“It was h-hard enough startin’ school this year after bein’ h-homeschooled my whole life. They all t-treat me like I’m b-breakable or some sort of a w-weirdo, but . . . but I was goin’ to f-fix that toni—”
“Gin,” he said.
“What?” she asked, leaning back to look up at him.
“I’ll take you,” he said, shocked to hear the words leave his mouth. He didn’t feel them coming, didn’t know they were on their way from his brain to his lips until he heard them in his ears.
“You will?” she gasped, her face changing from mournful to joyful in the space of a second.
“If it’ll make you stop cryin’, then hell, yeah. I’ll take you.”
She gasped, a smile taking over her entire face as she threw her arms around his neck. And before, he’d barely noticed that their thighs were flush, but now—with her breasts pressed against his T-shirt—he tracked every place his body touched hers, and suddenly she was everywhere.
“Wanna know somethin’ else?” she asked, her warm breath kissing his throat.
“Sure,” he said, trying to stay calm, to ignore the way her body pressed against him.