The Modern Fairy Tale Collection Read online

  “I just—maybe this is going too fast,” I said, twisting my hands together, ready for him to completely agree and show me right back down the stairs. You’re too fat, Elle. You’re not smart enough, Elle. What could he possibly see in you, Elle? You’ve never been with a man like him in your life. What are you thinking?

  “Here.” He presented a glass of red wine, and I suddenly was thankful he hadn’t listened to me when I’d declined.

  “It’s like you're trying to get me drunk or something,” I said, already lightheaded.

  “I am.” His voice rumbled in my ear before his hands slid up my thighs and inched my shirt up my waist.

  I stumbled, choking on the wine and the anxiety crawling up my throat. “Maxwell…”

  “Another word and I’ll fuck you against that glass for all of downtown to see.” He spun, showing me the window in question.

  My stomach swam, and my knees swayed as he bent me over the arm of his couch, his palms fisting the cheeks of my bottom, before he flipped my skirt up. The cool air of his apartment, in contrast to his hot breath at the tops of my thighs, flooded my insides with arousal, making me desperate to feel him. His tongue, his fingers, his everything…

  I bit my lip, dubious of uttering a sound for fear of his threat of fucking me in front of the window—it wasn’t even dark yet; there were still children playing in the town common. Just how would it look if the librarian was seen screwing his younger assistant?

  I hummed when he ripped down my panties, leaving them twisted at my knees before his hands were kneading the globes of my ass, his thumbs teasing dangerously close to…

  Oh God, his tongue.

  His tongue was there.

  He lapped at my exposed entrance, engorged with need for his body, his fingers working a quick rhythm at my clit before slowing down and swirling my juices with deft fingers. His tongue plunged in and out of my entrance as his hands continued to rub my flesh and ease away my anxiety in massage-like strokes.

  My thighs twisted, and I clutched at the leather of the couch, wishing desperately that I could have him in bed the first time. See him face-to-face, connect somehow more than—

  “Fuck, you’re sweeter than I thought you’d be.”

  The rough stubble at his jaw abraded my oversensitive nerves. His roughened fingertips that’d flicked a thousand pages on a thousand different books, the very same fingers I’d dreamed about while sitting behind the circulation desk and watching him read, were rubbing my clit.

  “Oh God,” I groaned as an orgasm tore through me like a zip line from my clit out into every nerve of my aroused body. I smiled, dazed, and finally released my grip on the poor couch cushions. “I could do that again.”

  “Oh, we’re going to.”

  He gripped my waist and hauled me to him, crashing his lips on mine and thrusting his arousal-sweetened tongue into my mouth, forcing me to taste myself in a way I’d never imagined could be such a total turn-on. Maxwell’s grip tightened on my legs as he pulled me around his waist and turned, hauling me away from the couch. Still in the dark, I landed in a whoosh of cotton on his bed. His heavy form caged me in, never once stopping his assault on my lips.

  “Maxwell?” I uttered, one thing on repeat in my mind.

  “Hmm?”

  His hands clawed at my dress, pulling the neckline down so my boobs bulged out. For a moment, I thought he was going to tear me right out of the dress. He stopped when one hard nipple fell free of the fabric, and he attacked it with his blazing hot mouth.

  “I—” I choked on the words in my head as the sight of his decadent lips sucking on my nipple nearly sent another orgasm rocketing through me. “Maxwell, I—”

  “Spit it out, gorgeous.” A crooked smile graced his lips before he attached to my breast again, his tongue flicking, his lips sucking and kissing.

  I couldn’t think straight; God, this was so good. Too good. My nerves tingled as his other palm pushed the panties off my feet and hiked my skirt above my waist, exposing my clean-shaven body to the night air.

  “Maxwell—” I moaned as one swift digit ran up my soaked slit and fried my brain. Maxwell Black’s fingers were sliding inside my body.

  “Yes, my Elle?” He strung the words out ever so slowly, driving me mad with his teasing as he added another finger, stroking my entrance, so close to plunging inside and making me his forever.

  “I-I’m a virgin.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Maxwell

  A swift pounding slammed into my frontal lobe as if I’d been smacked with a baseball bat. A sledgehammer. A fucking axe. I jumped from the bed, feeling as though her skin had lit mine on fire and getting as far away from her as humanly possible was necessary to my survival. My eyes held hers as I landed against the opposite wall. Her mouth was frozen in an innocent O, her eyes glazed with the sexiest shade of lust I’d ever seen.

  She seemed to finally catch herself and quickly twisted my sheet around her naked body.

  “Christ,” I uttered and pushed a hand through my hair, feeling as if I might collapse right there. This would never work. A glaring age difference and… a virgin? I couldn’t be trusted with that. That was too much pressure, too much pain, too much everything.

  My hands began to tremble, and before she could see me fall into breakdown mode, I turned the corner and hid in my master bath, slamming the door with a resounding crack.

  A virgin.

  Oh, Jesus Christ, I’d just slammed the door on a naked virgin in my bed. So much for playing nice with her feelings.

  I groaned before sucking in a quick breath and looking at myself in the mirror. The ravaged scar screamed back at me. How could anyone see past that? It was the only thing I saw. And why hadn’t she asked me yet? It usually took exactly two meetings before a stranger felt comfortable enough to ask me about the jagged blade that’d eaten up my flesh. That was why I didn’t like to hang around for the second meeting.

  But Elle was different. The second I’d locked eyes with her, the earth had fallen out from under my feet and she’d become my axis. My thing to protect. I could feel it. And I thought she could too; she just didn’t know what that feeling was yet. Because she was a twenty-one-year-old virgin.

  I grunted and opened the door, my thick-skulled mind shocked to find my bed empty. Well, why wouldn’t she run, idiot?

  “Elle!” I called as I bolted down the hallway, eager to make it right as soon as I could. Damn, I was messing this all up with her.

  I saw the apartment door standing open, her shoes and bag gone. I took the stairs two at a time and found her just as she was twisting the doorknob that led out of the main entry and into the street.

  “You’re not leaving,” I heaved as I finally caught her.

  She turned, and her gaze, caught on fire, met mine.

  “I mean, please don’t leave,” I corrected lamely.

  “No way. Not a chance.” She bit her lip, and I saw tears swelling in her big, brown eyes. God, no. I’d really hurt her feelings.

  “I’m sorry.” I pulled her into my arms, my hands at her cheeks, forcing her to look me in the eye. “I was so fucking worried about myself I didn’t even think about you. I promise it won’t happen again. You’re the only thing that matters to me—protecting you, keeping you, being with you.” When I uttered the last part, I tried to infuse my voice and gaze with sincerity.

  Her eyes flooded a little more, and she had to close them to keep the tears at bay. I pulled a clean handkerchief from my pocket and wiped at the salt water hovering at her lashes.

  “I shouldn’t have told you,” she finally said in stubborn defiance.

  “Not a chance in hell, baby. I’m glad you told me. It’s good you told me. Now I can do this right.” I threaded my fingers through her hair and clasped her neck, pulling her to me and taking her in a soft kiss, one that hopefully conveyed my apology more than my words ever could. “Come back.”

  I locked her fingers with my own and, with our lips still attached,
walked her up the steps of my building.

  “Stay the night?” I asked, ready to make it up to her in so many ways. In all the ways she deserved for her first time.

  Her tired chuckle warmed my insides, and I knew that this was the right decision. “I can’t. I don’t have a change of clothes.”

  She sniffed, but her smile was bright as her hand stayed clasped with mine. She forgave easily. I was glad. That would be important because I was the dumbass on this relationship learning curve.

  “You won’t need clothes,” I said, my cocky grin lifting.

  When we reached the landing at the top of the stairs, her hand was clasping mine, and I trailed behind her, my other hand pressed at the dip of her waist.

  She was a virgin, and I was her beast, but at least I had a chance to give her the first time she deserved.

  Chapter Twelve

  Maxwell

  I pulled her back into my bedroom, this time with a different intent. Something sweeter, more loving—it was what every woman deserved the first time she gave herself to a man. The odd thing was I’d been with plenty of women but never a virgin. At least not one who had been brave enough to speak up like Elle had.

  Laying her back on my bed, my hands pushed through her hair, and I kissed along the crevice of her shoulders, the hollow of her throat. She was beautiful, ravishing, and all mine. The beast welled deep inside me. I wanted to flip her over and treat her like the slut my dick craved,--but not this time. That would have to wait. If she’d ever let me do those things. But then I looked into her sweet eyes and I thought maybe this would be enough. Maybe I wouldn’t have to defile her to get off. Maybe she was enough.

  “Pull up your skirt. Touch yourself for me.”

  Her eyes widened, and her hands quaked with her obvious uncertainty.

  “Show me how you get that sweet pussy off.” My heart thudded as I watched her lying there with so much trust to let me have her like this.

  “I-I…” She shook her head, and her eyes turned away from me. “I’ve never done that.”

  My cock strained against my pants when I realized she was truly pure. Untouched by any man, untouched even by herself. She was a beautiful, delicate flower and all mine to cherish and protect.

  “Ah, sweet, beautiful girl. Take it slow, like this.” With my own hand, I guided her hand down her creamy thighs, dancing our fingertips across the elastic of her panty line.

  Her breathing quickened, and I swore I could nearly see her heart hammering out of her chest. With her eyes soft and trusting, I pulled my hand away and urged her on with my gaze.

  “Slide the pads of your fingers at your clit.” I felt my eyes burn with barely contained lust when she did as I instructed. “That’s it, nice and slow. Feel that?”

  She sighed, and her eyes fell closed. Score one for this guy.

  “Keep going, baby. Keep swirling those fingers until you think you can’t take it anymore.”

  Her chest and neck heated an endearing shade of crimson as her orgasm built in her virgin body. Her nipples peaked beneath the soft threads of her shirt, and I clenched my fists at my sides, anxious to touch her. But this was important. This was everything.

  “What are you thinking about, beautiful?” My voice was thready with emotion as I slipped a hand down my pants and took my dick in my grip. My eyes trained on her squirming form, the soft piles of her strawberry-scented hair on my pillow, one hand between her legs while the other fisted my sheets. I nearly lost it. I’d been starved for the warmth and comfort of a woman, and just when I’d thought I might finally break, here she was.

  “I’m thinking about what you’ll feel like when you’re finally inside me,” she said like a prayer as her fingers sped up on her soft little bud.

  “Jesus, Elle.” I lost it and crashed down onto her.

  Delicate fingers threaded through my hair as my lips took hers in a furious kiss. She felt so good, so warm. She felt like home. I kissed my way down her elegant neck and across the soft slope of her collarbone before my hands ran up the length of her torso and cupped her full breasts. She was heaven and hell and my complete undoing.

  I slinked down her body, tasting the inner corners of her delicate elbows, the soft skin at her wrists, the aroused flesh above her pubic bone, before my palms moved under her skirt and up her hips to reveal her pretty pussy to my hungry gaze. I licked my lips and chanced a quick glance at her. Holding her eyes, I licked one long stroke up her slit then swirled and nipped at her clit as I pressed a finger around the other end. Her breathing picked up, her eyes falling closed with a cry before her hips began a seductive rock.

  “I’m going to make this as easy as I can on you.” I crawled up her form, kissing my way along her full breasts until I reached the low neckline of her dress. “But it’s going to hurt.”

  I laved across her cleavage and nipped quickly at a nipple as two of my fingers slid between her slick folds and rubbed her arousal at her entrance, making sure she was ready.

  Her hips bucked, her panting grew shallower as I pressed one finger inside her. The searing heat of her pussy threw me off balance, making the animal rage down deep in my gut again. I sucked in another breath, kissing my way up her neck before finding her lips and kissing her in slow, languid strokes as I added another finger. She arched and yelped for a moment before she settled and her hips returned to their slow rhythm, accompanied by soft moans this time.

  “You’re so sweet.” I pulled my fingers from her body and dipped them into my mouth, relishing the taste of her before my other hand worked the zipper down my pants. My move caught her attention, and her eyes darted to my powerful thighs hovering over her bare body then back up to my gaze. “Sure you’re ready for this?” I asked, afraid she’d shake her head and run again.

  Her eyes locked with mine and melted into warm chocolate pools. “Yes.”

  She nodded and clasped her creamy thighs around my waist, pushing the waistband of my pants past my hips and down my legs. I kicked them off one leg at a time and returned to her, skin on skin.

  “Fucking perfect.” I darted my nose up her torso as I lined up my heavy cock with her entrance. “Can’t wait to be inside you.” I dragged my thick length up her slit, making sure to rub the tip at her clit and send her body into a series of minor quakes that had a rogue grin lifting my lips. “So sensitive. Christ, I love that about you.” I stroked again. “Every single touch and you’re so wet for me.” My voice lowered another octave. “Just for me.”

  Elle’s sharp fingernails dug into my shoulder blades as I spoke, and with each pass of my cock, she seemed to work up more momentum, her hips tipping against mine, grinding and grating, chasing sweet release.

  “You want me, baby?” I asked at her earlobe.

  “God, yes…” She hissed when I thrust quickly.

  I felt the slow stretch of her young, intact body, then I stilled myself once I’d broken through, seeing the wince of pain on her beautiful, nubile face.

  “Shhh… I’m sorry.” I stroked a hand through her dark mane, willing my powerful thighs to keep me in place and stop me from thrusting. For her sake, control yourself.

  “I-I’m okay,” she whispered, but I could hear the sting of pain in her voice.

  “It’ll feel good soon,” I hummed against her lips. “I promise.”

  I kissed her slowly, tasting her tongue and twisting it with mine as my hand roamed her supple body. The other hand held me caged above her, unwilling to let her go. Finally, I had her.

  This moment was the only evidence I needed. She was mine.

  My patience severed with that thought, and my hips moved in a slow, tantalizing rhythm. Her grip at my shoulders relaxed, and her hips followed my lead. I grasped one of her calves and wrapped it around my waist, anxious to feel her all up and down my body. I needed her naked and against me, all of me, now.

  With both of her legs wrapped around my waist, her ankles locked above my bare ass as I held her head and moved slowly, I tried to contain the
raging beast that wanted to unleash hell on her sweet body.

  I groaned. “You feel so damn good. I can’t go slow for much longer.”

  “Please, more.” She pushed her hands into my wayward hair and caught my eyes. “I want all of you.”

  My heart sped with her words, and my mind fritzed. Could she have been any more perfect? Had she been brought to the front step of my library by God himself to please me? An angel or a devil--or a small mix of both, I was sure.

  “Elle… Elle.” I repeated her name as my hips took on a more sporadic rhythm. I felt her body relaxing into me, allowing me to push farther, deeper, longer. “Jesus.”

  I choked as I bottomed out inside her, holding myself still as long jets of cum coated her walls. My heart pumped, and my breathing stuttered. I held still, feeling the quakes in my thighs down to the tips of my fingers buried in her dark waves.

  “Maxwell, I’m not on birth control,” she whispered.

  Instead of sending me running out the door, those words made my heart fucking rattle with hope and joy. I grinned as I collapsed onto her body, my head tucked against her neck.

  “Well, that’s an interesting turn of events, isn’t it?”

  “Should I go shower or something? To make sure I don’t… get pregnant?” A mess of dark waves flipped as she turned away from me.

  I chuckled at her sweet innocence. “I don’t think it works like that.” I caught her chin and turned her toward me. “Plus…” I placed a sweet kiss across her lips. “I like me inside you.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Elle

  “What?” I asked, thinking I’d misheard.

  He rolled off of me, and the slow drag of his thick erection pulling out of me sent delicious waves of pleasure through every strung-out nerve.

  “Ever since I saw you, I knew you were mine.” He kissed me, his hands roaming my skin, my breasts, my hair, and back again. “Knew you were mine to protect.” He kissed me again. “To keep.” And again. “To love.”