“So what’s it going to be, sweetheart?” I ask, gently stroking her cheek. She can’t look away now, can’t escape me. I’m inside her, all around her, and I won’t back down from this fight. “All or nothing. That’s the only way.”
Eva’s eyes fill with tears. “I can’t,” she whispers.
“You can,” I tell her. “You can do anything you want. All you have to do is say the word.”
I swear my heart stops, waiting for her answer. Eva is torn, still clinging to that safety net, her quiet contained little world. She’s close to giving it all to me. She just needs a little push.
I angle my hips and surge up inside her, so deep my cock is rubbing up against her sweetest spot. Right there. Fuck. That’s the place.
“Say it,” I demand through gritted teeth. “Say you won’t push me away again, that we’re in this together this time.”
She sobs against me, undone with pleasure, and fuck, I can’t hold back for long.
“Damn it, Eva. Say you’re mine!”
“Finn!” she cries, throwing her head back. I surge up inside her again, and then her orgasm takes her over, too fast for me to hold her back this time. She comes hard against me, convulsing with a cry, and the feel of her coming apart is too much for me too. I explode into her with a ragged howl, pleasure slamming through my body hard enough to level a city block. And as I clutch her, reeling from the release, I hear her whisper, the sweetest words of all.
“I’m yours, Finn. I love you. I’ve always been yours.”
Twenty-One.
Eva
I wake early, the sun barely rising outside the windows. It takes me a moment to realize that I’m curled in bed, with Finn’s arm slung possessively around me, and his body spooning against my back.
I dreamed about him again last night. We were down by the riverbank, where I met him that first afternoon. In the dream, I was so glad to see him. I sat there beside him, and we barely said a word, just watched the water ripple and the ducks drift by, but I felt an ache so bittersweet and strong that the echo of it is still behind my ribcage now.
That was the part that hurt the most, all these years without him. Not memories of wild passion, or hot surging desire, but the simple peace of being near him, a harbor in the storm. I never took that connection for granted, but it wasn’t until I lost it that I discovered how rare it was to connect with somebody so completely that I always knew he would understand.
Now it hits me all over again, but with the sweetness, not pain. This sense of safety I find in his arms, where I can be myself without hesitations or fear. Two hearts that somehow find a way to beat together, two minds to make the rest of the world fade away. For a moment, I just lie here and close my eyes against the morning light, feeling the joy of him with me again.
Back in his arms, where I belong.
I carefully twist to face him. Asleep, his face is peaceful, his hair tangled over my pillows. He looks almost angelic, a far cry from the sexy, dominating man last night who held my pleasure to ransom until I admitted what I’ve been hiding from all this time.
I love him.
The words shiver through me, full of possibility and power. I shouldn’t feel anxious. I’ve loved him before, but it’s different this time. It’s one thing to love with an untouched, eager heart, but to find that same love when you’ve been broken and pieced back together?
That’s the love that is more powerful than anything. So strong and deep, it scares me. My whole heart in his hands.
Finn stirs, and I can’t stop myself reaching out to trace the line of his jaw and the soft curve of his lips. He smiles against my hand, but doesn’t wake.
Now he knows the truth.
I take a breath, waiting for the familiar rush of guilt and shame that always echoes from the past, but it doesn’t come.
Instead, I just feel relief, sweet and weightless.
He knows the truth now, and he didn’t turn away.
I feel a lump in my throat just remembering. Yesterday, I shut down and tried to keep it all inside, but Finn didn’t let me – he knew what I really needed, and refused to let me keep pushing him away, no matter how hard I tried.
We’re in this together now.
Could it be true? After everything that’s happened, is there a chance for us to start again? Not just a fling, or this physical connection, but something real. The love and security I’ve been craving ever since I lost him before. We’ve both bared our hearts now, admitted our darkest secrets and painful, bitter truths, so what do we do with this second chance?
Finn’s arms tighten around me. He mumbles something under his breath, and I lay back down beside him, snuggling closer into the warmth of his embrace. I listen to his breathing, and feel that happiness take flight in my chest.
We’ll figure out the answers together. All that matters is he’s home.
When I wake again, the sun is stronger through the windows, and I can smell breakfast wafting from downstairs. I tug on a robe, and go down. “I could get used to this,” I smile as I reach the kitchen – but the room is empty, just bacon warming under the grill and two plates waiting on the counter.