Chapter 23

23

H er breaths were ragged as she finally stilled, and Finn moved back up her body, kissing her softly as he pulled her into his arms. Her hands slid over his chest, her soft fingers gliding over his scars once more before they crept lower.

She found him hard and ready beneath her touch. His breath hitched as her fingers wrapped around him, the feel of her hand sending an immediate shudder through his entire body.

He groaned, low and deep, as she stroked him, her touch soft but sure.

“Thalia,” he rasped, his voice hoarse. She looked at him through heavy-lidded eyes, her lips parted and still swollen from his kisses as she traced a line across them with her tongue.

“Yes?” she said playfully. Her fingers continued to work him slowly, and his control started to fray.

She watched as he closed his eyes for a moment then gripped her wrist, halting her movement. “If ye keep that up, lass, I will nae be able to control meself.” A rough chuckle escaped him despite the tension in his body.

Thalia lifted an eyebrow as she leaned closely to his ear, brushing her lips against his skin teasingly. “Do it,” she challenged.

She wanted him to want her as much as she wanted him. He had made her fall apart with just his hand and his mouth, and it was her turn. She wanted him to need her.

He captured her lips in another searing kiss, and she poured every ounce of need and desire into it.

Give me what is mine.

Her thoughts echoed his earlier demand as he responded to her silky touch. He buried his head in her hair, and his hand pressed her against him, pinning them to the spot.

For a long moment, they were lost in each other — kissing, touching, exploring. Finn’s hand tangling in her hair, tilting her head back, so he could kiss down her throat, his lips brushing over her skin as if savoring the soft gasps and moans she made with every touch. Thalia’s hand quickened with his ragged breaths, sliding up and down the long, wet shaft.

“Oh, Chris T— Thalia,” he gritted out, and her mouth started to water with a new type of need that she had never experienced before. His entire body flexed under her, and she marveled at his marble-like figure, as he fisted her hair. A final groan ripping through him while he came apart in her hand.

His chest rose and fell violently as he reached out grab his undershirt to clean her off. Balling it up, he tossed it over to the water’s edge, never even leaning up to see where it landed.

“That was —” Thalia started to say through his slowing breaths.

“Aye,” Finn agreed.

“We should —” she continued.

“Aye, we should…” Finn agreed again, a cool breeze licking her fire-hot skin.

Her cheeks flushed as his eyes opened and found her immediately. He reached up to hold her face in his hand, and she leaned into his touch. Needing to feel his lips on hers again, she bent down and pressed them against him. “We should probably get dressed first,” she said against his warm mouth.

“Aye,” Finn agreed again and kissed her one last time before standing and pulling her to her feet.

They dressed in silence next to each other, the sounds of the water babbling behind them filling the distance between them.

She smoothed her wet hair and straightened her dress, feeling an unfamiliar warmth in her chest as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. He washed off his shirt and twisted the water out of it, leaving it off as he donned his coat and pants.

As they gathered their things and began the walk back to the picnic site, Thalia slipped her hand into his, lacing her fingers with his. Finn glanced down at her, surprise spreading across his face, but she just smiled up at him contentedly.

Finn tossed his shirt into the picnic basket and draped the blanket across her shoulders, and they continued on toward the castle. “Ye seem chilled,” he said thoughtfully, and she tugged the blanket tighter around her.

“Thank you,” she said calmly, taking his lead as they continued their walk back. Thalia’s mind was buzzing, reliving everything that happened. The feel of his touch, the urgency in his lips, the desire, the passion.

He had seen every part of her today, and she had a feeling that she had also seen almost every part of him. Not just his body, but the scars that ran deeper than his skin. He had let her see him, and it was a thought that shook her the most.

A lump in her throat formed with the realization that she would do anything for the man next to her. She would provide, she would nurture, she would understand because she was in love with him. In love with the brute.

“Finn?” she said, her emotions threatening to bubble over as they approached the stable entrance of the castle. His grip tightened on her hand, and he slowed his pace. “I —” she started to say, but he interrupted her.

“Thalia…” he said, turning to face her.

“What is it?” she asked, sensing that he had something to say as well.

“I — I dinnae mean for it to go that far tonight. I respect ye, but if we do that again, I willnae be able to stop. That cannae happen again before we wed.”

Wait, what? Was he really reprimanding me?

Thalia pulled her lip into her teeth briefly, feeling the unwelcome sense of rejection, and then released it. “I’m sorry,” she said finally, dropping her hand from his.

He gripped her waist before she could walk away from him and twisted her into his chest. “I dinnae mean it the way it came out, lass.”

“What did you mean, then?” She demanded his answer with a sharp glare.

“I wanted to take ye right there in the grass — even more than I wanted to take ye in my chambers the first night ye stayed or in me study or in the woods on the journey back.”

His voice was stern, but not bitter as he continued, “I willnae compromise yer honor.”

“Thank you, oh protector of my innocence,” she said and rolled her eyes as she pressed her hands against his chest.

Her effort was quickly stifled as he tightened his hold and leaned in closer. His voice was menacingly low, and the predicament she found herself in made her core tighten traitorously.

“I will take ye right here right now, for the entire staff to see if ye just say the words, lass. Daenae stay me hand with yer anger — it no longer has the effect on me that ye intend.”

What does that supposed to mean?

Her eyes went wide as dipped his head into the crook of her neck and traced a line up her vein with his tongue until his mouth reached her ear. He tugged on it gently, and gooseflesh spread across her body with need. “And when we are wed, we will make an heir wherever ye want,” he whispered before planting a kiss on her temple and pulling her behind him toward the castle.

“Sopping.”

SMACK!

“Wet.”

SMACK! SMACK!

Thalia said to the empty room as she peeled off her wet clothes and tossed them across the room by the hearth. A warm bath had been prepared for her, and she eased herself inside it. The fragrance and soap covered her body smoothly as she settled in.

She leaned back in the tub and rested her back against the side, letting her head drop back. Thalia inhaled deeply which came out more as a contented moan.

“Not sure how I feel about hearing that come from you without me near,” Finn’s voice hummed between the cracking of the fire, and Thalia hummed a restful response before startling upright, sloshing water over the sides.

Her eyes darted over the darkness in her room but found nothing and no one.

“What? Who’s there?” she asked the empty room, twisting around to look behind her but realizing that she was truly alone.

Gooseflesh covered her body as she realized the water had cooled, but her wet clothing had been hung up by the fire to dry.

Did I hang those before I got in, or did I fall asleep?

She shook her head incredulously and stood, grabbing the warmed towel and wrapping it around her body. She padded over to the small table near the window and sat at the stool beside it. The mirror reflected her flushed cheeks, heavy lids, and swollen lips.

“Two days,” she said to her reflection.

Two days until I marry that man. Two days until I tell that man that I love him.

“Two days.”