20. Finn
Finn
Ibarely slept after that. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kate beneath me.
Flushed cheeks and swollen lips. The way she whispered she wanted me too.
And Jesus Christ, the sounds she made when I touched her . . .
I dragged a hand down my face and stared at the clubhouse parking lot through the windshield.
Noah’s interruption had probably saved whatever self-control I had left. Another five minutes and I would’ve buried myself inside her without thinking twice about consequences.
The memory alone had my jaw tightening.
Neither of us had known how to act that morning after. Every accidental touch felt loaded. Every glance lasted too long.
And when she looked at me . . .
Fuck.
I don’t think she knew what she was doing to me.
The call came not long before lunch.
“Finn. Clubhouse. Now. Bring Kate,” Reaper demanded.
I waited for Kate to get Noah ready and took them with me.
Kate shifted beside me in the truck, while she stared out the window pretending not to notice me watching her.
In the clubhouse, Kate stayed close to me, Noah resting on her hip, his little hand gripping the collar of her shirt. Kate shifted Noah higher on her hip and glanced up at me. “He’s getting grouchy.”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice rougher than it should’ve been. “There’s a cot set up in one of the back rooms.”
She nodded and started towards the hallway.
I followed.
The bar noise faded behind us as we stepped into the small area that had become Noah’s room. Kate lowered him gently into the cot, smoothing the blanket over his chest the way she always did. For a minute she just stood there watching him fussing before he finally gave in and closed his eyes.
Then she turned to me and her eyes dropped quickly, almost shy. “About this morning,” she started, and my heart pounded. Kate rubbed her arm like she suddenly felt cold. “I know it was stupid of me to?—”
“Kate.”
She shook her head, talking faster, words tumbling over each other. “I know I’m not exactly . . . I mean, look at me. I’m a mess. Bruised, exhausted, a baby attached to me twenty-four hours a day. I shouldn’t have said that to you. I shouldn’t have?—”
I crossed the room before she could finish. Her words punched me harder than anything Reaper could throw.
My phone rang, interrupting the moment. I dragged it out of my pocket, only breaking eye contact with Kate to see who was calling.
Tamara.
Fuck, I didn’t have time for her. I pressed silence and shoved it back into my pocket.
“You think that’s what I see?” I asked.
Kate looked down at the floor. “I’m not stupid, Finn,” she said, barely above a whisper. “You don’t have to feel sorry for me.”
That did it. I caught her chin gently and lifted her face. “You think I almost lost my mind earlier because I felt sorry for you?”
Her breath caught.
“Kate,” I said, my voice low and rough, “I’ve been trying not to touch you since the day you walked through those gates.”
Her eyes widened.
“You’re not a mess,” I continued. “You’re the strongest damn person I’ve ever met. You crossed half the county with a baby just to keep him safe.”
Her lips parted, but no words came.
“And you think you’re not worth wanting?”
Something broke in her expression, her brow furrowed, and her eyes teared up.
So, I dipped my head and kissed her.
She froze for half a second before her hands gripped my kutte, holding on like she was afraid I might disappear. The kiss deepened before I could stop it, weeks of tension burning through my chest all over again.
I was lost in her taste until the door slammed open. “What the hell is going on in here?” Reaper’s voice boomed through the room like a gunshot.
Kate jerked back, stepping away from me.
Reaper stood in the doorway, fury written across his face. His eyes moved from me to Kate and back again.
“You,” he said, pointing straight at me. “Back room. Now.”
Kate looked between us, confusion then worry flashing across her face.
“I’ll be back soon.” I forced a smile her way.
I stepped out into the hallway and followed Reaper into the back room, pushing the door behind me.
He didn’t waste a second. “The hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Nothing.”
His laugh was sharp and humourless. “Didn’t look like nothing from where I was standing.”
“She needed checking on.”
“You were assigned to watch her,” he snapped, “not get involved with her.”
Reaper stepped closer, voice dropping into the tone that meant President, not brother.
“You involved with her?”
For a second, the truth sat heavy in my chest, but club rules didn’t bend just because I wanted them to.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Nothing between us,” I said flatly. “She means nothing. Just a job.” The lie felt like I was drinking acid, eating me from the inside out. “I’m watching her like you told me. She means nothing, Pres.”
Behind me, the office door creaked.
Kate stood in the hallway just outside the door, and it looked like she’d heard every word. The hurt in her eyes hit like a punch straight through my ribs.
“I’m sorry . . . I was just checking on you . . .sorry.”
“Kate—”
But she was already backing away, hand over her heart, her lower lip trembling and her eyes glassy. Then she turned and walked straight down the hallway towards the stairs.
“Damn it,” I muttered, starting after her.
Reaper’s hand clamped down on my shoulder. “You take one more step,” he said coldly, “and you forget who you answer to.”
I stopped.
“You want to chase women,” he continued, voice hard as steel, “do it on your own time. Right now, you’re a Dead Knight, and that girl is club business.”
My fists clenched, and my jaw shut so tightly, it ached.
“Understood?”
The word scraped my throat. “Yeah,” I said.
But all I could think about was the look on Kate’s face when she heard me say she meant nothing and how badly I wished I could take it back.
“Good, cos we’ve bigger things to worry about than you getting your dick wet. Follow me.”