Chapter 22

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

Henley was tired, but in a good way. The session this afternoon had been emotional and tougher than some. The men and women who were staying at The Refuge this week had all been in the same unit overseas when they’d been ambushed. They’d been pinned down by enemy fire for hours before backup arrived. It had affected them all differently, but she was glad to see they were all hanging in there together.

Sometimes it helped to hear other people’s worries and fears, it made her own not seem so out of the norm. Henley had always worried about her daughter, wanting the best for her, but now that concern was ramped up even more because of what happened. She was working through her own feelings about what happened with Mike, twice a week, and she was feeling better. It helped that Jasna was the same little girl she’d always been. That she hadn’t been traumatized by what happened.

Finn also helped immensely. He was always there, watching her with his intense gaze, as if he could see straight through to her soul. He’d taken her to the bunker Jasna had been brought to by her mysterious rescuer, and somehow just seeing it, knowing whoever had taken her from Christian’s cabin had put her in the safest place they could find, made her relax a little bit more.

She’d decided to look at the mystery person as an angel, rather than someone scary who was out there watching and waiting.

When she walked out of the room into the lodge, Henley was surprised to see Jasna. “Hey, is everything okay?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

“Yup! It’s fine. Great. Finn’s at the cabin. He’s waiting for you. I’m gonna eat up here at the lodge, and then Alaska and I are gonna watch a movie. So you and Finn can have some alone time. So…go on…have fun.”

Jasna was being weird, but she was smiling, so Henley didn’t think too much about it. She was all for having some alone time with Finn. She and Jasna were pretty much living with him now, hardly ever going back to their apartment in Los Alamos. She would’ve felt guilty about that, but she loved being with him too much to care. And since Finn told her more than once how happy he was that she and Jasna were with him, she decided to take him at his word.

“All right,” she told her daughter. “But don’t let Wally on the couch in the TV room. You can sit with him on the floor, but it’s a pain in the butt for Ryan and the others to clean dog hair off the couches.”

“I won’t, Mom,” Jasna said.

“I’m assuming Beauty is with Finn?” she asked.

Jasna rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

“Right. Sorry, stupid question.” Henley couldn’t help but smile thinking about Finn and his little shadow. It was amazing, watching the two of them together. They were definitely meant to find each other. “Okay, if you need anything, just let me know. Don’t stay up here past eight-thirty.”

“Mom…that’s too early! Ten?” Jasna begged.

“Nine. You have school tomorrow. And if you continue to beg, it’ll be eight.”

“Nine it is then,” Jasna said breezily. “Have fun. Bye!”

Then she turned and jogged toward the kitchen. Probably to bother Robert and Luna for a snack before dinner.

She waved at Alaska and mouthed “thank you” as she headed for the door. The other woman waved back.

The moment she left the lodge, Henley took a deep breath. The weather was still warm but it wouldn’t be long before the cooler air moved in. She loved living in the mountains, even with the snow and cold they got in the winter.

Despite being exhausted, she perked up as she neared the cabin. It had been a while since she and Finn had time to themselves. Consequently, she wasn’t nearly as tired as she’d been minutes ago. Looking at her watch, she saw they had three and a half hours before Jasna came home.

Her nipples hardened as she thought about all the fun they could have in that amount of time. A week had passed since she and Finn had made love, and she was more than ready.

She walked into the cabin—and let out a small screech as she almost ran into Finn. He’d either been standing at the door waiting for her to arrive, or he’d seen her approach and had come to welcome her home.

She opened her mouth to say hi, but he covered her lips with his, and immediately Henley’s libido roared to life. She dropped her purse as Finn slammed the door shut with his foot. He locked it, just in case Jasna came looking for them.

Memories of their first time together flooded Henley’s brain as she scrambled to get her clothes off. At least this time, Finn was getting naked too. She grinned, remembering how he’d shuffled to his room after they’d had sex against the door, his pants around his ankles.

But then all she could think about was how good Finn felt. His hands roamed up and down her body, readying her for him. But she was more than ready as it was. It seemed that her body had been trained to be primed instantly whenever they were alone.

And Finn was just as aroused. His cock throbbed in her hand as she stroked him.

“I can’t wait,” Finn growled as he took her hips in his hands. “Jump up,” he ordered.

Henley eagerly did as he requested. Legs going around his waist and her back resting against the door. “Put me in. Now,” he demanded.

Just last week, they’d had a long talk about birth control and children…and had made the decision to forgo condoms. They were going to let nature take its course. If she got pregnant right away, they were both more than all right with that. If it took a while, that was okay too.

The first time Finn had made love to her bare had been unforgettable. They’d both actually been able to go slow, enjoy the moment, and while making love without a condom was a lot messier than either was used to, that certainly wasn’t a turn-off.

Right now, slow and gentle was the furthest thought from either of their minds. Henley lined up Finn’s cock and he immediately pressed deep inside her. They both moaned as he bottomed out.

“I love you,” Finn said as he pumped in and out of her.

“I love you too,” Henley returned breathlessly. Her entire body was tingling, and she was panting with excitement and arousal. She tightened her legs around Finn’s waist as he moved one hand under her ass and the other cradled the back of her head, his body weight pushing her harder against the door.

He stared into her eyes as he fucked her. It didn’t take long before Henley felt her orgasm approaching. “Finn…Yes! God, please, more.”

In response, his hips moved faster. Not able to stop herself, one of Henley’s hands snaked between their sweaty bodies and flicked her clit.

“Yeah, that’s it. Make yourself come around my cock,” Finn ordered.

It didn’t take long. She was too primed. Too in love with this man to hold back. She shuddered around him as she broke. A few thrusts later, Finn pushed deep inside and held still as he found his own pleasure.

As she was still attempting to catch her breath, Finn blurted, “Will you marry me?”

She stared at him in shock. “What?”

“Marry me,” he said. “Be my wife. Give me babies. Live at The Refuge with me. You’re my rock. My reason for living. Please say yes.”

“Yes!” she said without any hesitation whatsoever. They’d talked about babies, but hadn’t really talked about getting married.

Finn grinned, then put both hands under her butt and turned, carrying her toward their bedroom.

“But we need to come up with a better story than you asking me to marry you after fucking me against the front door,” she scolded. “Because you know Jasna’s going to want to hear every detail, and I’m not telling her what really happened.”

Finn chuckled, and she could feel him moving inside her as he walked. She smiled.

“After I make you come three more times, we shower, you suck me off, and we finally emerge from our room to eat something, I’ll ask you the way I’d planned. I’ll get the chocolate éclair that I stole from Robert’s kitchen and give it to you with a fork. I’ll have a silly grin on my face, and will be all sweaty and nervous. You’ll eat it, not noticing the ring I buried in the cream. I’ll be worried you’ll swallow the thing and we’ll have to go to the hospital, but eventually, on the last bite, you’ll notice there’s something strange on the end of your fork. When you look up at me, I’ll be on my knee next to your chair, begging you to marry me and make me the happiest man on earth. Will that work?”

Henley’s heart melted. “You really have a ring in an éclair?”

“Yup. But as usual, when I get around you, I can’t control myself and I jumped the gun.”

“I think that’s my line,” she quipped when Finn lay her on her back on their bed. His cock slipped out of her as he straightened, and she gave him a little pout.

“I know, you’ll get me back soon enough. But first…you need another orgasm.”

Henley wasn’t about to protest. She and Finn might not make love every night, but when they did find the privacy to be together, they made the most of it. Something occurred to her then. “Jasna totally knew you were going to ask me tonight, didn’t she?”

“I asked for her permission to ask you,” Finn confirmed with a shrug.

Once again, Henley was reminded of how lucky she was.

“And you should know, once we’re married and you take my name, she asked if she could as well.”

Henley hadn’t thought she could be any happier than she was a second ago. She was wrong.

“I mean, you might not even want to change your name, and that’s cool. But I’d love to make Jas mine officially too. When you’re both comfortable with that. I want to adopt her. Oh, and…she wants a brother or sister.”

“I want to change my name. And it’s a good thing we already decided we wanted more kids.”

Finn stared down at her for a long moment, and Henley couldn’t read his expression.

“What?”

“I’ll never be the man I was before…but I’m beginning to think I’m now the man I was meant to be.”

Tears sprang to Henley’s eyes. She leaned up to kiss him and closed her eyes as their lips met. Then Finn broke the kiss and scooted down her body, smiling up at her as he went.

Henley inhaled sharply as he set about making the most of their alone time.

Later—much later…after Finn had proposed just like he’d planned to; after Jasna had returned home, admired her engagement ring and wanted to hear every detail; and after Beauty, Wally, and Jasna had been tucked into bed—Henley lay in Finn’s arms in their bed and reflected on everything that had happened in her life.

There had been some good, great, awful, and truly horrific moments, but they’d all led to this moment right here and now. And she was grateful. She had a happy and healthy daughter, a roof over their heads, good friends, and a man who loved her as much as she loved him.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face, and the knowledge that whatever life threw at her next, she’d have Finn at her side to weather the storm.