27. Finn
Finn
A s I enter the firehouse, the front bay is empty, quiet except for the faint tick of cooling metal. I lock the door behind me and start down the hall.
Boone doesn’t look up when I enter the back room. He’s leaning back in the chair across from the bed, arms crossed. His eyes are on Ani.
Ani is sitting up on the narrow bed when I step in, her legs folded under her. She offers a weak smile when I walk in.
“Everything good at the house?” Boone asks without standing.
“Quiet,” I answer. “Mae and Jonah are working on a pillow fort she and I started yesterday.”
Boone stands and finally looks at me. There’s a darkness in his eyes he doesn’t bother masking. “She hasn’t eaten since yesterday.” He looks over at Ani as he says it.
I glance back at our girl. I hate this for her. She’s wearing one of Boone’s shirts. It hangs loose over her frame and hits just above her knees.
“She only slept for about two hours,” Boone continues. “Maybe three.”
“Alright,” I nod. “We’ll work on getting more food and more sleep tonight.”
“There’s food in the fridge,” he says.
He looks like he has something else to say, and his jaw ticks before he speaks again.
“There aren’t any condoms,” he says matter-of-factly.
My eyebrows jump. “Okay…”
He narrows his eyes. “That’s her preferred coping mechanism right now. I’m just saying...”
“Got it,” I say, hands up.
Boone gives me a look that says he would happily throw me through the wall if it wouldn’t upset Ani. Then he turns his attention back to her—not that it ever really left.
He crosses the space in two steps and kisses her like he owns her.
She melts. Right there in front of me.
And I?—
Yeah, I’m gonna need a minute.
He pulls back with his hand still in her hair, leans in like he’s going to say something, but he doesn’t. Just meets her eyes and lets the weight of the moment hang between them.
Then he brushes a thumb across her cheek and turns toward the door.
“Don’t let her spiral,” he says to me.
And then he’s gone, the door clicking shut behind him.
I stay standing for a second. Ani’s still on the bed, pretending to be okay.
I cross the room and lower myself onto the bed. Her breathing is steady but her fingers are relentless, working the seam of that shirt like she can undo this fucked up situation stitch by stitch.
“You know,” I say, casually, “We could talk, or we could just sit here in soul-crushing silence until one of us fakes a nap to get out of it.”
She snorts. It’s small, but it’s real.
I take that as a win.
“Mae wanted to bring you a flower,” I tell her. “From her collection. Which, for the record, includes weeds, grass, and one sad pinecone that might be older than I am.”
Ani lifts her head just slightly and I produce a dandelion from my shirt pocket. She smiles as she accepts it.
“She made Jonah promise to help her learn how to spell your name tomorrow.”
She exhales softly and continues to smile.
I sit there with her, shoulder to shoulder, patiently waiting for her to speak.
“You don’t have to be okay for us to love you,” I say finally, my voice low and steady. “You know that, right?”
She stiffens. Her hand finally goes still.
And then, without looking at me, she whispers, “I don’t think anyone’s ever loved me.”
Her words gut me.
I turn toward her slowly. My hand finds her face and cups it gently like she’s made of glass. Her skin is warm and soft under my palm.
I lean in until we’re only inches apart.
“ I love you,” I say.
Her eyes widen. She blinks several times in quick succession. Then her mouth opens, shuts, and opens again.
I swallow hard and keep going, because if I stop now, I won’t be able to get it all out.
“I know I joke around too much. I talk too much. I’m not the guy people look at and think dependable. But I am. I swear to God, Ani, I am here for you.”
I continue. “You don’t have to do anything special. You don’t have to earn your place here. You already have it and you have me. Forever.”
She blinks slowly, like she can’t believe what I just said.
“I love you,” I say again, because I need her to hear it again.
She exhales like she’s been holding her breath for hours.
And then she moves.
She surges forward so fast I barely have time to react–one second she’s frozen, the next she’s on me. Her arms wrap around my neck as her mouth presses to mine with a force that surprises me.
Her mouth parts and I kiss her back with everything I have. I run my hands through her hair. She makes a noise in her throat that hits me straight in the groin.
She shifts, moving into my lap, her thighs on either side of mine. My hands move to her waist, my thumbs brushing her skin just under her shirt.
She breaks the kiss for half a second—just long enough to breathe—but her eyes are locked on mine like she’s afraid I might disappear if she looks away.
I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She kisses me again.
Even harder this time.
And I let her take whatever she needs.
Her kiss turns urgent—hungrier than ever. Her hands thread through my hair and tug, and fuck, I let her. I want her wild. I want her wrecked.
“You never have to hold back,” I whisper against her lips. “Not with me.”
“I couldn't if I wanted to at this point,” she says.
I pull her shirt over her head, keeping my eyes on hers the whole time. She lets me strip her bare without hesitation. The shirt falls to the floor, followed by her bra, and I don’t even try to hide the way I look at her—like I’ve waited my whole life for her.
She grinds into my lap, breath catching when my cock presses up against her through my jeans.
“Fuck, Ani,” I murmur. “You feel that?”
“Yes.”
“You know that’s all for you?”
She nods, desperate. Her hands fumble at my belt, but I catch her wrists and hold her still.
“Slow down,” I say gently. “We’ve got time.”
I kiss her, slow this time. I want her to feel it everywhere. I want her to know she’s not just wanted—she’s worshipped. When I finally let her go, she makes quick work of my belt and zipper, her fingers clumsy but determined. I lift my hips to push my jeans down and kick them off.
Her hand wraps around my cock and I nearly lose it.
“Shit—” I groan. “You keep touching me like that and I’m gonna fuck you right here on this bed.”
“I want you to.”
That does it.
I lift her, guiding her to straddle me again. She braces one hand on my shoulder and uses the other to line me up. She’s already wet, already pulsing. When she sinks down on me, we both groan with pleasure.
She’s tight. Hot. Bare. It’s been too long since I fucked without a condom.
My hands grip her hips as I ease her down inch by delicious inch.
I watch her face the whole time—every flicker of pleasure, every tiny gasp. She takes all of me, and when her ass hits my thighs, she lets out a shaky breath and drops her forehead to mine.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Yes,” she whispers. “I need this.”
So, I give it to her.
She rolls her hips, rocking in my lap as I thrust up to meet her. We fall into a rhythm quickly. I want to fuck all of the bad things out of her—every ounce of grief, every buried fear, every lie her family ever told her about being hard to love.
“You’re incredible like this,” I growl. “Watching you ride me is going to make me come, baby.”
She whimpers, eyes fluttering closed and hands bracing on my chest as she moves faster.
“Tell me you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” she moans. “I’m yours, Finn—please?—”
The door opens. I startle for a second realizing I hadn’t locked it. But then I realize who it is.
Neither of us stops while Jonah steps inside and locks the door behind him, and for a second, he just stands there—watching. He doesn’t say a word, just watches me fuck her like he’s starving for the same thing.
“I couldn’t stay away,” he says finally.
“She needs both of us, man.”
He walks toward us slowly, stripping as he goes. Shirt. Pants. Everything gone by the time he’s at the edge of the bed. Ani lifts her head. Her body keeps moving. Her eyes lock on Jonah’s.
Jonah leans down and kisses her forehead, then her lips, then the side of her neck. His hands trail down her back.
“I’ve got you,” he says. “We’ve both got you.”
I slow just enough for her to catch her breath. Jonah kisses her neck as she pants, hips still rocking gently in my lap.
“You want him, baby?” I ask her.
“Yes.”
“You want us both to fuck you?”
“Yes,” she moans. “I want both of you.”
“On your knees,” Jonah murmurs. “Come here.”
I help her shift forward, my cock slipping free of her with a wet sound. She gasps as Jonah guides her down onto her elbows. He kisses her lower back, then the curve of her ass, then spreads her open.
“Goddamn,” he breathes. “You’re dripping.”
I grip the base of my cock and stroke it once, watching as she trembles between us.
“You ready, sweetheart?” I ask.
She nods.
Jonah wets his fingers and presses one to her ass, slow and careful. She moans but doesn’t pull away. Her head drops to the mattress. Jonah’s hand moves slow, working her open. One finger. Then two. Her body shakes. Her fists clench in the sheets.
“I’ve got you,” he whispers. “Just breathe.”
She does.
Her whole body relaxes, chest rising in short, shallow breaths. She’s braced on her elbows now, hair falling over her shoulders, skin flushed and glowing. Jonah kisses her lower back once more, then meets my eyes over her shoulder.
“Finn,” he says. “Hold her steady.”
I shift closer and guide her back toward me. My cock is throbbing, and the second I slide back inside her, we both moan. Her thighs quiver as I slide in all the way.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” I breathe.
Jonah moves his hands to her ass. He spreads her open wider and lines himself up behind her, fingers gripping tight enough to leave marks.
“You ready?” he asks her.
She nods, eyes closed, face pressed to my chest. “Yes. Please.”
Jonah groans low in his throat. “Here we go, baby.”
He presses in slow, easing past resistance with practiced control. Her back arches. Her mouth opens in a silent cry. I feel it too—the tight squeeze around me as her body stretches to take him.
“You okay?” I ask, my voice tight.
“Yes. Don’t stop.”
We don’t.
Jonah moves first, pulling out slightly and then pushing back in, and the movement makes her whole body tremble. I stay deep, letting her adjust to the sensation of both of us. Her thighs quake and her breath comes in broken gasps.
“You’re taking us both,” I whisper. “Being so good for us.”
Jonah sets a slow rhythm and I follow his lead. We move together, one of us always inside her, bodies syncing with each thrust. Her moans turn into sobs. Her whole body rocks between us, sweat sliding down her back, skin flushed and glowing.
“You love this, don’t you?” Jonah growls.
“Fuck—yes—don’t stop.” Her voice breaks.
I reach down and rub her clit, soft at first, then harder when she starts to shake. She cries out, body clenching around both of us.
“Come for us,” I tell her. “Let go. We’ve got you.”
She falls apart fast. Her body is pulsing so hard we both have to hold her steady. Her legs give out. Her arms collapse. Jonah wraps an arm around her waist to keep her upright while I keep fucking her.
“Mine,” Jonah says again, voice rough.
“Ours,” I echo. “She’s ours.”
“I’m yours,” she cries. “All of yours.”
Jonah groans as he thrusts deep one final time, his release hitting him with a shudder.
I follow right after, hips jerking, cock pulsing as I come hard, buried deep inside her.
We stay locked there—pressed against her, around her, inside her—until the only sound left in the room is the sound of her breath, slow and trembling.
We lower her gently to the mattress between us.
She’s a mess of sweat and tears and love, and I’ve never seen anything so fucking beautiful in my life.