Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK – THREE DAYS LATER
Julia opened the door of the yellow taxi after paying her driver, her eyes set on the two-story brick building. Her stomach was in knots, and her nerves shot as if she’d knocked back a few espressos.
“It’s pouring, ma’am. No umbrella?” her driver asked.
She looked at him and smiled. “That’s okay. A little rain never hurt anyone.”
The man pointed to the sky. “That’s more than a little. Thundering, too.”
“I’ll be okay. Have a good night.” She stepped out of the car and shut the door, and the rain began striking her with intensity.
A low rumbling noise sounded overhead as she stepped up onto the sidewalk, unable to take her eyes off the building in front of her.
I’m Lois, she recalled sputtering to Finn at the end of their first class back in January, the name slipping free from her lips a bit clumsily as she’d shaken his hand and found herself instantly attracted to him.
Dalton Finnegan, but you can call me—
He’d never finished his sentence because someone else had grabbed hold of his arm, demanding his attention. His green eyes had swung back to Julia, hesitation in his gaze as if he didn’t want to walk away. He didn’t want to leave her even then.
She swore it was like a bolt of lightning had struck both of them the moment she’d pulled her hand free of his to let him go that night. He’d stared at her as if he’d felt it too.
And then she let him go again after Dubai. And this time, he’d stared at her like she’d broken his heart.
Her pulse quickened as she focused on the building, not sure if Finn was teaching tonight. Was he even in New York?
Raindrops began to weigh on her eyelashes, but she couldn’t get herself to move, to go inside.
If he were teaching, then class would have just ended, and he’d follow his students outside like he used to do, making sure they all got off okay in their rides. Always the protector.
I’ll wait. She folded her arms and shivered when her pale blue sundress began to cling to her body. It was the same dress she’d worn the day they’d walked the streets of Aswan. She had on her necklace, too.
The crack of lightning from somewhere close by had her startling her shoulders back. But it was the sight of the door at the top of the six brick steps opening that sent her stumbling back and almost into the street.
Six women slowly filtered out, opening their umbrellas and bounding down the stairs, and behind them . . .
Finn.
He remained frozen in the doorway with his hand propping the door open as he stared at Julia down on the sidewalk.
A tight knot formed in her throat, and she swallowed, hoping to maintain her courage for what she was about to do. And what she had to tell him.
He slowly stepped outside, allowing the door to swing closed behind him, but he remained at the top of the steps, still staring at her like she was a mirage in the desert.
Once the women had cleared out, she forced her sandals to move and swiped the beads of water from her face.
“Julia,” he rasped as if finally realizing she was real. He dropped his duffel bag and ran down the stairs before she’d had a chance to climb them. “You’re drenched.” He grasped her upper arms and pinned her with his beautiful green eyes.
“I don’t care.” Tears were threatening to fall, but whether he noticed in the rain didn’t matter.
She just wanted to bury her face against his chest and have him wrap her in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, worried he wouldn’t hear her over the noise of the rain and thunder.
“No, I’m sorry.” He smoothed his thumbs up and down her bare arms, gliding over the drops of rain. “I shouldn’t have let you go. But . . .”
“But?” She tensed, worried he’d had a change of heart during their time apart.
“I told Luke I’m going to leave Echo Team. I want to be with you, and I can’t—”
“No.” She lifted her hands to his chest, finding his heart thundering like the heavens overhead. “Absolutely not. I forbid it.”
“I’d do anything to be with you. Move any mountain.” He looked down into her eyes and brought one hand to her cheek. “Anything.”
Her body was shaking and not from the chilly rain. “I know. But I’ll do anything for you, too.” She sniffled, batting her eyelashes rapidly to keep them open during the storm. “And that means I’ll support you and what you do. I could never be with you if you gave up who you are for me.”
“Julia, I—”
“Jewels.” She tipped her head and rolled her tongue between her lips, catching the rain. “You staying with the teams is non-negotiable.”
“Wait.” He blinked a few times. “You’d still want to be with me?” he asked as the rain continued to pour over them.
“I want you to be my forever-forever. My ride or die.” She pushed up on her toes to draw their mouths closer. “My storm.”
A smile touched his lips as he leaned in and cupped the back of her head. “We’re in one now.”
“And it’s where we belong, don’t you think? We can weather any storm together,” she murmured before he crushed his mouth over hers.
When their lips broke apart, his eyes remained shut, but she slowly began to fall to one knee.
“What are you doing?” Finn started to reach down to hook her arms to help her rise.
“I want to marry you, Dalton Samuel Finnegan. And I’m stubborn and impatient. And I don’t want to wait for you to ask me, so—”
His deep, husky laugh had her letting go of her words, and he lowered himself to his knees before her.
“You are very stubborn, I’ll give you that.
” He tipped her chin with a fist, and she noticed the rain letting up.
She had no idea if anyone was around or watching them, but to her, they were alone and in a bubble. “But I’ll be the one doing the asking.”
“Oh.” She started to lower her eyes to the sidewalk, but he lifted her chin again with his fist so her gaze met his.
“Marry me, Jewels? Be my forever-forever. I don’t know how long I have on this earth, but I want those days to be with you.”
Tears blurred her vision as she cried, “Yes.”
This was her new beginning. Her rebirth. Her fresh start.
Being with this man was her second chance. And she knew in her heart she’d get it right this time.
“I love you,” she said, realizing they’d skipped over that part, and he lightly chuckled as if remembering that “small detail,” too.
He brought his mouth back to hers. “I love you,” he said before bringing his mouth to her ear. “Let’s get you out of this rain now. There are things I want to do to you.”
He helped her to her feet and then surprised her with a little twirl before capturing her in his arms.
“We still haven’t tried doggy style,” she teased as he hugged her close.
Finn leaned back and waggled his eyebrows a few times. “We haven’t tried a lot of things,” he returned in a deep, rumbly voice that told her she was in for a hell of a ride. A wild, sexy, and amazing ride with this man.
THREE WEEKS LATER
Julia flung her arms around Finn the moment he walked through her condo door. He dropped his duffel bag and hoisted her legs around his hips and kissed her as if they hadn’t just seen each other five days ago.
He explored her mouth with an erotic sweep of his tongue, and she moaned against him.
They’d had phone sex while he’d been away.
At first, she’d sent him private Instagram stories of herself in front of a mirror, naked and touching herself, and then he’d become all panicky that someone would hack her phone and access them, so they switched to FaceTime, which still made him a little nervous.
But they couldn’t go a day without being together, even while he was away for work. She craved him. All of him. Always.
“How was Afghanistan?” she asked once he set her down, but he began peeling off his T-shirt as if he’d rather pin her to one of the surfaces in the condo than talk work.
“It was Afghanistan,” he returned with a laugh as she reached for the buckle of his belt and made quick work of undoing it.
She ran her hand over the bulge in his pants. “You want me already, huh?”
He hooked an arm behind her back and drew her closer to him, then yanked loose the silk knot of her short red robe. His eyes soaked in her naked body from her tits to the smooth V between her legs.
“I want that sexy show you gave me in that damn Instagram story. We’re deleting that app on your phone, by the way.”
“Oh yeah?” She arched her brow. “So demanding.” But damn, did that turn her on, and she shifted her hand back to his zipper to drag it down.
“Miss me?” he rasped.
“So much.” She shoved down his jeans, forgetting he still had on his shoes. That was a potential obstacle to the bedroom.
She smoothed both hands over his hard pectoral muscles before grabbing hold of his biceps. “Tell me, though. Any luck? Find any candidates for Charlie Team?”
“Maybe.” He smiled. “But I’d rather go down on my fiancée now than talk about work.” He teased his brows up and down, then backed up a step to get out of his shoes and pants.
She helped him discard his boxers before her robe fell to the floor. He kicked everything out of the way to clear some space.
Oh, is this happening right here?
Still in the hall by the door, he swiftly spun her around to face the wall. She pressed her cheek against the cool surface as he leaned in behind her for a hot kiss before he returned his attention to her naked body.
“Keep your hands up.”
“Been bad, huh?”
“Sending me those sexy videos of you touching your wet pussy,” he murmured into her ear as his hands caressed her silhouette. “Very naughty.”
Her sex clenched at the sound of his gruff voice and dirty words.
Julia closed her eyes and savored the feel of his rough hands as he glided them down to her hips, then knelt behind her and dropped kisses all over her bare ass before parting her cheeks and sliding his tongue to her clit.
What was it with men and that angle? But she loved how much he desired her body. He made her feel sexy and beautiful whether she was lounging around in an oversized tee watching Stars Wars movies, which he’d convinced her to do, or was naked like this . . . he loved her for her.
Her nipples pebbled, and she nearly clawed at the wall with her short nails as he licked and sucked. A moment later, he secured his hands on her hips while remaining on his knees. “Turn, Jewels.”
She did as instructed, and he looked up at her with heated eyes.
“Lock your wrists together and keep them over your head.”
“You want to punish me for those videos?” She bucked against him when he drew her sex closer to his mouth, and his beard tickled her sensitive flesh.
His eyes lifted to hold hers as her hips remained prisoner to his touch, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Her man was a bit more dominating in the bedroom than she’d known before they proposed to each other, and it was so freaking hot.
“Fuck yes,” he murmured darkly, then leaned in and swirled his tongue between her legs, and it took all her strength not to reach down and fist his hair.
“So wet for me,” he said between kisses of her inner thighs as he tortured her by shifting away from her sensitive area on purpose. “Tell me what you want.”
“Ugh,” she cried out, her breasts lifting and her body tensing with the anticipation of an impending orgasm. She was definitely no longer broken down south. “I want you to fuck me. To take me hard and deep. Against this wall.”
A devilish smile slid across his lips as he eased away from her and slowly stood. He leaned in and gently bit her lip.
Damn, she was going to lose it right there.
Lifting one of her legs and hooking it around his hip, he nudged her stance wider and positioned his tip at her soaked center, then plunged deep inside without a condom.
They’d made love for the first time sans condom before he left for Afghanistan, and how could they ever go back?
Finn gripped her ass, taking her raw and hard, and with each thrust, she moaned her pleasure.
Minutes later, she felt her pussy spasm around Finn’s cock as she came. He quickly followed her with his own release but kept her pinned to the wall as they both caught their breath. She was a mess as he gently lowered her one leg to the floor, both sweaty and still a bit breathless.
With his palms on the wall over her shoulders now, he caged her with his muscular frame, and his green eyes locked on to hers. A smile cut across his handsome lips as he leaned in and whispered, “My beautiful storm, let’s do that again. This time in the shower.”