“I was worried about you. You were gone for hours. It’s dark outside, Finn. You could have been hurt. Or kil ed. Did you even think of that?” She stood taller than a tower, righteous indignation blazing in her eyes. “What the fuck were you doing that was so important it was worth risking your life for? Well?”
Normally, he would never have stuck around for shit like this, but from her … a large part of him loved it. Her going toe-to-toe with him, taking him on. She did the same with Daniel, and Finn wanted in. The fishwife tone was even worryingly endearing. Al of this, however, did not mean she was getting away with it.
“I was getting supplies, Al, just like I said I would,” he said lightly. “What’s the problem here?”
The woman slammed her lips shut and crossed her arms over her heaving breasts. The same ones he was developing a serious fixation on. He had found her a t-shirt a size too smal , solely for the chance to magnify those babies. He’d feed her some bullshit about the lack of appropriate sizing, not much caring if she believed him. The shirt would be worn because the current one was trashed.
Some things in life were simple. But this was not.
“I thought you’d appreciate some private time with Dan. Did I get that wrong?” he continued, nice and calm, keeping everything off his face. Unlike her. Frustration poured off her in waves. There were red spots high on her cheeks. She was flammable. “What do you want?”
Her gaze fled to Daniel, her safety blanket. Of course. Finn almost groaned in frustration.
But the odds were, the man wasn’t going to interfere, not with this. After a long moment, she reached the same conclusion. Her shoulders sloped and the gray of her eyes brightened as if in disbelief.
“What do you want from me, Al?”
She watched her boot toe at the carpet, rubbing at the gnarled pile. A large part of her bravado appeared to have fled. “Finn …”
“No excuses. What do you want?”
Her gaze lifted at his harsh tone. She looked stricken. “Finn …”
He didn’t know where she was going with pleading his name, but it didn’t matter. He was done with it. “No.”
He took the irrevocable step forward till they really were toe-to-toe, cradled her face in his hands. Ignoring the flinch, the way her mouth snapped shut. “No, Al. We’re not doing this anymore.”
Finn brushed his mouth over hers, the barest whisper of contact. Not sure if she was even breathing, her body so tense. He slid his fingers down her arms, gripped her hands and placed them right where he needed them. She shut her eyes tight, and her fingers fisted in his shirt, dragging at the bandage on his shoulder.
He didn’t mind.
Their mouths were so close he could feel the warmth of her breath on his lips. He wanted to kiss her like he might die sometime soon.
Which was the truth. He might. She might. Some random act could wipe them out any day now.
Finn wasn’t going out without having had her first. Not even if he had to do some pleading himself. “Say it.”
She said nothing. Not a single thing.
Nothing, and then everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Finn was like a giant magnet, the pul of him irresistible. Or beyond her control.
Ali clung onto his shirt and her body swayed into his.
Such a small space to cross. Miniscule, unimportant and momentous all rolled up into one.
His lips covered hers, and she opened her mouth to him. The only thing she could do.
She wanted him.
Finn kissed her til her head spun. He plundered her mouth and his hands slid through her hair, pulling lightly. He pressed his mouth against her jaw, down into the crook of her neck, breathing deep before dragging his tongue over sensitive skin, raising goose pimples.
Everything he did turned her into a weak-willed mess of a woman. A woman who had no compunction about being involved with two men at once.
“Open your eyes,” he murmured in her ear, teeth sinking into the lobe in a sweet sting of a bite. He made it all so good. Her body was buzzing, heat taking her over. This was actually going to happen. The knowledge made her giddy. “Say it. Tell me what you want.”
With complete honesty, she told him. “I want you.”
“You want him too,” said Finn. He looked at Dan. The hands threaded into her hair, cupping her head, prevented her from following suit. “No. Answer me.”
She wasn’t going to lie to him now, but her response took a while. Some things were hard to own up to, suburban middle-class background notwithstanding. “Yes.”
“He’s right. You are greedy.” Finn tucked her in against his neck, the scent of him perfect. Warm and heady and al male, her fingers pawed at him, wanting in. And yet, there was something going on behind her back, some communication passing between Dan and Finn. The hands fisted in her hair weren’t permitting her to see.
“Finn.” She pushed against the wall of his chest, and the fingers in her hair tightened as he rubbed his cheek against hers like a big cat.
The tenderness in direct contrast to the hold he had on her hair. The whole thing working far too well. “Finn, what’s going on?”
“I think our boy has a point to prove,” Daniel provided when it became obvious Finn wasn’t going to. “He shouldn’t worry so much.