Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

CATLIN

FINNIGAN

I can’t stop thinking about your lips on me.

My breath sputters as I read his message. I blink repeatedly, swearing that my eyes are deceiving me, before reading it again. But the words don’t change. Holding the phone in my hand, I struggle to figure out how to respond. No one has ever texted me anything remotely close to that before.

And why would they?

Minutes pass with my thumbs resting against the screen, and another message from him pops up.

Are you sleeping, Cat? Or is hearing about my need to kiss you too much?

“No… I mean… I just don’t know what to say,” I record and send a voice message before I have the chance to overthink it.

Fuck, I love how innocent you sound.

That’s because I am innocent.

How innocent are you?

Have you never really been kissed before, Cat?

I can’t type my response fast enough. I’m inexperienced, but I don’t want him to think that my lack of experience goes that far.

You weren’t my first kiss.

I might not have been the first lips you ever had on yours, but judging by your reaction, I’m pretty sure you’ve never really been kissed.

Because I can’t stop thinking about properly kissing you.

Properly kissing me???

I nervously chew at my lower lip as I watch the dots, indicating he’s typing his response.

Pulling you tightly to me as my fingers tangle in your hair…

Feeling your chest heave against me while you wait for me to press my lips to yours…

My breathing grows heavier with every incoming text, his words affecting me in ways I’ve never experienced.

My warm breath blowing against your face as my lips dust over yours, causing your heart to flutter…

His texts come in slowly, only increasing my anticipation and leaving me hanging on his next words.

That flutter traveling between your thighs as my tongue pushes between your lips and brushes over yours…

Kissing you until you’re completely breathless and my kiss is no longer enough.

I gulp so hard that I nearly choke.

That is absolutely nothing like the few times I kissed Andrew McIvner.

Andrew slobbered all over my chin and shoved his tongue down my throat with such carelessness it felt like I was being force-fed raw oysters. It doesn’t even pale in comparison to what Finn is describing.

Reading his words, I remember how soft and warm his lips felt when I accidentally pressed against them. Feathering my fingers along my lower lip, I imagine what it would feel like to have him truly kiss me the way he describes.

The phone buzzes as it rings in my hand, immediately pulling me from my thoughts. Swiping to answer, I stutter, “F…Finn?”

“I need to kiss you, Cat.” His voice is filled with yearning desire. “Tell me you don’t want me to and I’ll leave.”

“Leave? Are you… here?” My stomach flips, and my eyes dart to the door. Clamoring to my feet, I race to it and pull it open before he has a chance to answer. My jaw drops when Finnigan Evans is actually standing on the other side. Fisting his shirt, I pull him inside and shut the door as I huff. “You can’t be here.”

“Pulling me inside instead of sending me away is kind of sending mixed messages there, sweetheart,” he teases as a smirk pulls at one corner of his mouth, causing a small dimple to mark his cheek.

“Uncle Sean will murder you and have my hide if he finds out you’re here.” His muscular arm snakes around my back, and I harshly whisper-shout, “I’m serious.”

“So is my need to taste those lips of yours.” He tightens the arm around my waist, and I crash against his hard body with a breathy grunt. “No one saw me.”

Fueled by the nervous energy of getting caught and being this close to him, my heart races and my breathing grows incessantly fast. My nipples drag against his muscular body through my thin shirt with every rapid breath I draw.

“But if you tell me to leave, I will.” His warm breath wafts over my face with every word that passes over his lips. Barely able to breathe, I look up to find his powder-blue eyes staring down at me.

Looking at me like that, I couldn’t send him away if I tried.

“If you aren’t telling me to leave, I’m getting what I came here for,” he whispers, slowly lowering his face toward mine. I give a timid nod and shut my eyes as he closes what little distance there is between the two of us. His lips press against mine, and they’re as warm and soft as they were a couple of hours ago.

This time isn’t nearly as short, though. I kiss him back, loosening my lips slightly for the tender, wet— definitely not Andrew-McIvner wet— kisses being passed between us. His tongue darts from his mouth and licks teasingly against my lips, urging me to give him more. I give him what he wants— what I want— parting my lips, and his tongue presses into my mouth. He swirls it around, and I can taste the faint minty freshness when he massages it against my tongue.

His hands slide up my back as he continues to plunder my mouth. The rough drag of his hands over my shirt ignites a fire on the skin beneath it. Breathless and losing all resolve, I want more of him. More, which I know I shouldn’t. Sliding my hands along his stomach and up his well-defined chest, I whimper into his mouth as I feel the muscular ridges hidden beneath his shirt.

The small mewl fuels him, and he kisses me headily. Finn moans into my mouth as his fingers drag the length of my spine, clawing at my skin so roughly it almost hurts. Splaying my hands across his chest, I use every ounce of my remaining willpower to push him from me and break our kiss.

“Fuck,” he pants, stepping back from me. “You’re going to ruin me, Cat.”

Still breathless, I urge, “You should go.”

Because you’re already ruining me.