Chapter Seven Finn
It’s hard to follow the fifteen-mile-per-hour speed limit as we exit the refuge.
All I want to do is put the pedal to the metal and get us back home.
I love Shelby Albright. It’s crazy, I know.
We’ve been reunited less than twenty-four hours, but this feels right.
I was fooled into thinking I was in love before, but looking back, it wasn’t that I was in love with Ivy, it was that I let everyone else convince me Shelby wasn’t in love with me.
They argued that what I felt for her was my monster’s desires, not what I wanted as a man. This time I’m trusting my instincts.
I don’t care that she was going to marry someone else yesterday.
She wasn’t in love with him. She fell into a situation with him just like I did with Ivy.
You want to be in love and have the future that comes with it.
Our hearts are easy targets for people who want to take advantage of us.
But she can trust me to cherish her love and give us both the future we want.
During the show, I knew I liked her. I knew. But I believed others’ lies.
She was so warm and friendly back then, but the only time I really got to spend with her was during a game of mini golf.
She won a contest, and so it was just the two of us.
Everything was going okay until the competition got close.
Then, sweet, funny Shelby became Tiger Woods.
I’m not usually a competitive person, but I have my pride, and the friendly competition turned fierce on the thirteenth hole.
It was a water feature where you had to shoot the ball into an alligator’s mouth, and it passed through and out its hind end.
If you don’t get the ball lined up exactly right with the mouth, it falls in the water.
Shelby went first and got it in the mouth on the first stroke.
It was perfect, and the ball rolled out smoothly.
Hole in one. I cracked up at her celebration dance, complete with hip shaking, arm waving, and shouts of “booyah!”
I teed up with a wiggle to distribute my weight and to make her laugh.
Even then her giggles made me grin. It’s not musical like wind chimes.
No, not Shelby. It’s like trying to get a reluctant engine to turn over with a side of grinding gears.
It made me laugh, and that screwed up my aim.
I hit the ball harder than I should have, and instead of slipping inside the jaws of the alligator and passing through, it hit one of the sharp teeth and rebounded back toward us, contacting directly with my balls.
I yelped and dropped to my knees. Shelby was next to me in a flash, rubbing my back and asking the camerapeople to get ice packs. She was so caring.
I should have believed her. But Ivy and a couple of the other ladies told me that Shelby was laughing about what happened back at the ladies’ mansion. They told me she’d been faking her concern. That made the decision to let her go that night slightly easier.
Okay, that’s not true. It was still difficult, but I let the producers convince me it was better to keep someone else.
To keep Ivy. Stupidly, I mistook the drama and anxiety Ivy stirred for passion, letting them all convince me that was better than the peace and comfort Shelby offered. I won’t make that mistake again.
I put the truck in park and blink up at my house. Somehow we’re here, not back on set. And now I want to put all that behind me. To move into a future I can see so closely with Shelby by my side.
She jumps out of the truck and grabs the bag of groceries we picked up before coming home.
“I’ll get those,” I say. “You can unlock the door.” I tell her the code for the keypad and swap her the bag of leftovers stashed in the cooler for the two bags of groceries she snagged from the back seat of my truck.
Marsha is waiting for us and gives us her happy chirp greeting.
Not going to lie, I’m thrilled she accepts Shelby so easily.
If they didn’t like each other, it would break my heart because I love them both.
I wonder if Marsha is good with kids. Because I want them with Shelby.
Like now. I feel like we have a couple of years to make up for.
We work together putting the groceries away like it’s a choreographed dance. Everything feels so damn natural.
“Finn?” Shelby asks.
“Hmm?”
My heart does funny things at the sight of her beautiful smile. On instinct, I reach up and rub my chest.
“You have no clue what I’m talking about, do you?”
Shaking my head, I place a hand on the countertop on either side of her hips, boxing her in.
“What do you want me to do with the tomatoes?” she whispers, looking at me with her moss-green eyes. They grow darker with desire by the second.
“Don’t care,” I mumble as I press a kiss to Shelby’s soft neck. Her sigh tightens the longing in my gut. I want this woman. Not just her body, but her heart and her future. I want everything.
Her body presses against mine as she wraps her arms around my neck. I gasp, unable to wait a moment longer. I need this. I lift Shelby, and she wraps her legs around my waist. That does it, we’re adjourning to the bedroom.
“I want you, Finn.” She moans as I stalk down the hallway, carrying her in my arms. Goosebumps rise when she nips my neck and soothes it with her tongue.
I kick the door shut and pin her to the door with my hips. She gasps when the obvious evidence of my desire presses against her.
“Maybe the door for round two, Finn,” Shelby breathes against my lips. “First time I want your bed.”
Hell, yeah. With a rumbling growl in my chest, I kiss her hungrily, my mouth claiming hers with all the passion and love I feel for her.
We’re both trembling as I stalk to my bed, rest a knee on it, and gently lower Shelby to the mattress without breaking our kiss.
The next few minutes are a flurry of kisses, caresses, and getting naked.
Her body is perfection. So much creamy skin, high firm breasts, curves for days.
She’s gorgeous. And her kindness, her sense of humor, her strength—she’s amazing.
I want her so much. Not just in this moment, but forever.
Her hands are so small as she rolls the condom down my cock. It’s straining to be inside her. To bring her pleasure. I tuck Shelby underneath me. Everything I’ve ever wanted and all I’ve ever needed is right here. After all we’ve both been through, I can’t believe we’re finally here.
“Shelby, I love you,” I whisper, nuzzling her ear. “I love you more than I’ve ever dreamed possible. Every bit of me exists only for you.”
“I’m yours, Finn,” she says as tears fill her eyes. She hitches her heels higher up my back to open wider for me to fit between her hips. “I love you so much, and I’m so grateful for everything that brought us to this point.”
A lone tear trails down her face. Not from sadness, but from feeling.
I slowly push my way inside her and kiss away her tear.
We sigh in unison as our bodies come together.
It’s like a puzzle piece slipping into place.
Completion. I’d love to stay like this forever, but I can’t.
I need to move and give us both the pleasure we deserve.
“Oh, Shelby, you were made for me,” I say on a ragged breath as I pump my hips faster and harder.
The sexy moan and the way she bites my shoulder as her nails dig into my back tell me she feels the same. A massage of her clit sends her over the edge with a keening cry. Music to my ears. The tingle at the base of my spine spreads, and I break out in goosebumps as my own release flows through me.
My face is tucked into her neck, and I press gentle kisses at the spot where her pulse is pounding.
Her fingertips caressing the nape of my neck do nothing to abate my goosebumps.
But it soothes my soul. Tears fill my eyes, and I blink rapidly to keep them from falling.
I never thought I could feel this complete, this accepted.
“Wow,” Shelby says with a slight giggle and a squirm because my eyelashes are tickling her. “I can’t believe we did that.” She presses a kiss to where my shoulder and neck meet. “When can we do it again?”
I’m still inside her, the aftershocks of my orgasm slowly fading, and my cock gives a slight twitch of interest. “In a bit. He needs to catch his breath. So do I. You’re incredible, Shelby. I love you.”
She runs her fingers through my hair, lightly scratching my scalp in a way that makes me wish I could purr like a cat.
Bigfoots are more growly and yowly in their cries.
Of course, we can talk too, but it’s fun to mess with people.
Anyway, only words today. All the words.
Like I love you and forever and stay with me.
“I love you too, Finn.”
I settle next to her, and she snuggles in closer with a sated sigh, rubbing her face against my chest like a cat nuzzling a hand.
I can’t hug her tight enough, and I kiss the top of her head as she settles into the crook of my arm.
In lazy motions, she strokes her fingers through my chest hair, down to my belly button, then back up.
It tickles, and I squeeze her more tightly as my chuckle slips out.
She laughs too, and says, “Hey, Finn?” in a sleepy voice.
“Yeah?”
She bites her bottom lip, and it turns me on, but it also sets off alarm bells. A warning I haven’t felt since Ivy tingles up my spine. No. This can’t be happening again.
“You know how you’re a Bigfoot shifter?” she asks.
My heart sinks. “Yeah?”
“Do you ever”—she gestures toward my cock—“in your Bigfoot form?”
I fly out of bed and stalk to the bathroom to dispose of the condom and clean up.
“No,” I growl through clenched teeth before entering the bathroom.
My hands are clenched. I’m not a violent man at all, but if I had a punching bag handy, I’d send it through the wall.
The hot fire of embarrassment and shame flares in me.
Damn it. I fell for this again. How can I be so stupid?
Somehow, I show restraint and don’t slam the bathroom door behind me.
Washing my hands, I look at my reflection.
My eyes are dark, and the left one is twitching.
My nostrils are flaring. I need to get myself under control.
What is it about me that isn’t good enough? How does this keep happening to me?
Shelby has the covers pulled up to her chin when I exit the bathroom, and her eyes are glistening with tears.
“Finn?” Her voice is trembling, and I hate that I want to comfort her.
“Yeah?” I pull out a fresh pair of boxer briefs from my dresser along with a pair of basketball shorts.
“I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sorry. I’ve never been with a shifter before. I didn’t know. I was curious.” Her words are coming out in a rush, and tears make her voice gritty. I want to tell her it’s okay. But I can’t. Because it’s not.
Closing my eyes, I force myself to count to ten before answering. Opening them, I turn back around and hope to project a calm I’m not feeling.
“If I was a wolf shifter, would you expect me to mount you for some doggy-style fucking while I howled at the moon? Scratch up your back with my paws?” Okay, failed at being calm, if the shock my words caused is any indication.
She gets out of bed and wraps the sheet around her. Like the memory of her beautiful body isn’t seared into my memory.
“What? No!” Her nose scrunches. “I mean some other people might like to...but I don’t.
I don’t think? I never thought about it.
Anyway, I’m not gonna yuck someone else’s yum, ya know.
But that’s not—gah. What I mean is...” Her mouth hangs open like she’s at a loss for words.
“We all have our preferences, Finn, but that’s not one of mine. ”
“Well, you asked. What? Do you have some sort of shifter sex fetish too?” I pull on a T-shirt, but not before I see a wince cross her face.
Shelby is picking up her clothes from the floor and trying to put them on without letting the sheet fall. She’s not having much luck with it. I could be a gentleman and turn my back, but fuck that.
“What do you mean too? And no, I don’t have a fetish. I was curious, that’s it! I didn’t mean to offend you. How can you go from saying you love me in one breath to being angry like this in the next?”
“That’s what Ivy wanted,” I yell. I didn’t mean to yell, but I do, and now I can’t stop. “That’s why she rejected me. I wouldn’t fuck her in shifted form. I’m a man, Shelby. I’m not a monster or a beast. Even when I’m shifted, I’m still me. But that’s not enough.”
She goes still. “Ivy said she rejected you because you wanted kids right away and she wasn’t ready. She wanted to have time, just the two of you as a couple, but you were adamant about starting a family right away. Because that’s the Bigfoot way.”
Dread flows through my veins, and if I didn’t feel the painful thumps, I’d think my heart stopped beating.
“What do you mean ‘Ivy said’? When did you talk to her?” Bile rises in my throat, and I pray I don’t show weakness by throwing up in front of Shelby.
She cocks her head to the side and furrows her brow. She has her T-shirt on and is pulling her jeans up her legs, but stops mid-action to look at me.
“She’s...well, she was...my best friend. We met on the show and reconnected after and became friends. I thought you knew.”
I rush to the bathroom and just make it before losing the contents of my stomach in the toilet. When I leave the bathroom, it’s to find Shelby on her phone in the living room. Reporting her progress to her bestie? Was this some sort of sick game to swap mates?
She looks up when I enter the room. Her eyes are red.
“I’m ordering a ride so I can get my car and find somewhere else to stay.
Thank you for letting me stay here. I didn’t mean to offend or hurt you.
That’s the last thing I’d want to do. I’m sorry.
I’m sure Ivy lied because that’s what she does.
But I don’t. My question was stupid, but not meant maliciously.
I don’t have any sort of monster sex fetish.
Not that you’re a monster anyway. You are the furthest thing from a monster.
It’s people like Konner and Ivy who lie and hurt people—they’re the monsters. ”
I want to believe her, but I can’t. Birds of a feather flock together and all that.
“Cancel your ride.” My heart clenches at the flash of hope that crosses her face. “It’ll be faster if I drive you myself.”
How do I feel like an asshole when I’ve done nothing wrong?
She taps her screen and nods. “Okay. Let me get my bags.”
As she leaves the room, I acknowledge to myself that Shelby Albright isn’t the only one with baggage.