Chapter 34 #2
I hazarded a warning look in her direction and saw the playful challenge in her eyes.
Lucky, or unlucky, for her I gave as good as I got.
My fingers moved across her lap, curving over her generous thigh to the inside of her knee where I traced slow, deliberate circles.
Her breath caught as I wound higher, until she bit back a yelp, legs clamping my hand in place as her cheeks darkened.
I leaned closer under the pretense of reaching for my water glass.
“Careful, darlin’,” I murmured low enough that only she could hear. “Don’t start what you can’t finish.”
Alex pressed her thighs tighter together, trapping my fingers exactly where they were as she continued with her meal. The audacity of it sent heat straight through me.
Two could play at that game.
“Alex,” Móraí drew our attention back to the table, “what’s next for your company? More growth, or are you looking to settle into what you’ve built?”
I shifted my position slightly, pinching the inside of her thigh. She jumped as her legs flew apart, fork clattering against her plate, and I couldn’t help the satisfied smile that crossed my face.
“Sorry about that,” Alex managed, shooting me a look that was half challenge, half promise of retaliation before turning to Móraí, leaning back in her chair, maintaining perfect composure that was both infuriating and incredibly arousing.
“After everything that’s happened recently, I’m thinking more about sustainability than expansion.
Making sure we can protect what we’ve created, take care of our people. ”
She paused, her face innocent as she glanced around the table.
But her fingers brushed across the growing ridge in my jeans.
I sucked in a breath and narrowed my gaze at her, catching the smirk that meant she thought she now had the upper hand.
“I want to make sure nobody ever feels like they’re a means to an end or that they’re disposable in any way. ”
“Speaking of taking care of people…” I stood and offered her my hand. “Dinner was lovely, but I think we should get back to our room. Been a long day and Alex needs her rest. We both do.”
“Leaving so soon?” Elowyn asked, knowing amusement in her voice.
“We still have a few things we need to take care of tonight,” I lifted a shoulder. Luke sputtered his drink.
Alex pressed herself against my side so nobody could see her hand snaking over my backside. “Thank you for dinner,” she smiled sweetly. Almost too sweet. “And for letting me prattle on about my company.”
“Anytime,” Dad responded warmly. “It’s always a pleasure learnin’ more about you.”
Móraí’s voice followed us as we made our way toward the door. “Finn, dear—take some extra blankets if you’re planning to look at stars. Gets cold after midnight.”
I groaned inwardly as Alex cackled next to me. Sometimes my grandmother saw entirely too much.
“Móraí is something else,” Alex laughed once we were safely out of earshot, but there was something in her voice—anticipation that had been building all through dinner—along with mine.
“She’s got a gift for stating the obvious at the worst possible moments,” I muttered, but here I was, carrying an armful of my family’s “outdoor” blankets to spread out so we could watch the stars—or at least pretend that’s what we were going to do.
“So,” Alex unlocked our room and stepped inside, holding the door for me as she kicked off her sandals, “stargazing?”
“Could do,” I moved past her—close enough that she had to press back against the door—and toed off my boots. “Balcony’s got a decent view of the sky, and they keep the grounds pretty dark.”
She was still holding the door open, looking up at me with those bright blue eyes. “Perfect.”
“Might be other people out watching as well though,” I added, dropping the blankets on the bed near the balcony doors.
“Hmm,” she made a noise that sounded pleased by the challenge, and I felt my blood heat.
She pulled the pillows from the unused bed as she continued. “Today felt good, you know? Being useful instead of just—” she paused, something shifting in her expression. “Instead of having to protect what I’ve already built.”
“You’re always useful,” I said, stepping closer. “Today you were just...”
“What?” She turned to face me fully.
“Everything,” I said simply. Because that’s what she’d been—everything my family needed, everything I wanted in a partner, everything that made those bigger horizons feel less important than the woman standing right in front of me.
Alex stepped closer, heat coming off her skin. Her tongue darted between her lips as her eyes flicked over my face. “Finn...”
“Yeah, darlin’?”
“Stars. Let’s pretend to watch them for a while.”
Direct order, delivered with an intensity that made my pulse kick up. I grabbed the blankets and pillows as she slid the door open.
The balcony was small—just enough space for two chairs and a little table—but it had a clear view of the Wyoming sky.
Alex shoved the chairs on top of each other in a corner as I spread the thickest two blankets over the wooden deck, tossed the pillows down, then set the remaining blanket within easy reach.
“Better than your at-home planetarium,” I joked, but Alex was already moving past me to the railing, looking up at the real thing. Stars were scattered across the black canvas—no city lights to compete with their brightness.
“Much better,” she sighed.
I stood behind her, hands settling on her hips. She leaned back against my chest, and I let my hands roam over her sides, feeling the warmth of her skin through the soft fabric, the curve of her waist under my palms, and the way she fit perfectly against me—solid and soft all at once.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For sharing this,” she gestured at the ranch spread out below us, then up at the stars. “Your family, your home, the sky. For letting me belong here with you while I recover… even temporarily.”
Temporarily. The word struck me harder than it should have, considering we’d never discussed permanent anything. But temporary felt like the wrong word entirely.
“You do belong here with me,” I murmured before pressing a kiss behind her ear, then along her neck.
She turned in my arms, slipping her arms around my neck and searching my face.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
Instead of answering, she kissed me—not the kind we’d been sharing around the family all evening. Hungrier—like she was done being proper and polite. Her body pressed flush against mine, all soft curves and heat—no more careful distance, no more playing it safe.
I responded automatically, my hands moving over her back, pulling her closer against me. She tasted like lemonade and something distinctly Alex—sweet and sharp at the same time. When she broke away, her breathing was already uneven.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for hours.”
“You don’t say,” I hitched a lopsided smile. “You’ve been lookin’ at me like you had plans since this afternoon.” I nipped at her neck. “And that shit you pulled under the table tonight? Shame on you.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it,” she kissed me again, hands smoothing down my arms as her hips pressed against mine.
“Alex—”
“What?” she paused, looking up at me with eyes bright in the starlight.
“Just makin’ sure this is what you want to do. You’ve been... more direct. Maybe a bit more keyed up than usual.”
She tilted her head, studying my face. “Does that bother you?”
“Hell no,” I shook my head. “Just want to make sure it’s me you want, not just…” I gestured vaguely at the space between us, “adrenaline or whatever’s got you so wound up today. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow to another conversation where you ask to pretend like nothing happened.”
Her expression sobered. “It’s not just adrenaline, Finn. Though honestly, seeing your family appreciate who I am was exhilarating. But watching you be proud of me... was really, really hot.”
“And the game you started at dinner?” I raised an eyebrow.
“What about it?” she shrugged, barely containing her smirk. And there it was—that spark I’d seen all evening that made my pulse quicken.
“Was that the adrenaline?” I pressed. Something about the way she was looking at me now—like she was sizing me up—made me want to push back. See what she’d do.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she looked away innocently, but her fingers were tracing patterns on my chest—deliberately light, deliberately distracting.
This was the first time I was truly seeing Alex the flirt, and it was intoxicating. But more than that, it was familiar. Like recognizing another pilot in the air—recognizing myself in the air.
“Say I won,” I growled, catching her wandering hand and stilling it against my chest, heat pooling in my belly as the air shifted between us.
“At dinner?” She tilted her head, playing dumb, but I could see the challenge lighting up her eyes. “I seem to remember you jumping up from the table pretty quick there, flyboy. That doesn’t sound like winning behavior to me.”
The casual way she threw down the gauntlet sent electricity straight through me. “Is that what you think?”
“I think,” she stepped closer, “that you got flustered and had to make a tactical retreat,” her voice was pure innocence, but her hand slipped from mine to trace along my collarbone. “Very un-lieutenant-commander-like, if you ask me.”
Something predatory unfurled in my chest. She was baiting me—we both knew it—and she was enjoying it.
“Tactical retreat?” I backed her against the railing, hands settling on either side of her body, caging her in. Her breathing quickened, pupils blown wide as she looked up at me. “Darlin’, that wasn’t a retreat. That was me being polite to my family.”
“Oh, so you were being polite.” The way she said it made it sound like the most boring thing in the world. “How very... considerate of you.”
I leaned in close enough that my breath stirred her hair. “Keep talking like that and I’ll show you exactly how impolite I can be.”
“Promises, promises,” she tsked, but I felt her breath catch.
“You know what I think?” I traced my fingers along her jaw and down the column of her neck, watching her pupils dilate.
“Enlighten me.”
“I think you’ve been holding back this whole time. Playing it safe,” I nipped at her earlobe and felt her shiver. “But tonight, after dinner, seeing how my family adores you, how I adore you—it gave you permission.”
“Permission to what?” Her voice had gone breathy.
“To be yourself. The real you. The one who plays to win.”
Her eyes snapped to mine, sharpening. “And what makes you think I’m not always playing to win?”
“Because if you were,” I grinned, “you’d have had me pinned to this railing by now instead of letting me crowd you against it.”
The laugh that escaped her throat was pure delight. “You think I’m letting you do anything?”
Before I could respond, she’d twisted us around, pressing me back against the railing with surprising strength. Her hands flattened against my chest as she looked up at me with her own predatory smile that sent heat straight to my cock.
“Better?” she asked sweetly.
“Much,” I nodded, settling my hands on her hips. “Though I’m starting to think you’ve been sandbagging me this whole time.”
“Maybe I have,” she rose up on her toes, lips brushing against my ear. “Question is—what are you going to do about it?”
And just like that, the game was back on.
A growl escaped me as I crashed my mouth down on hers.
She made a small sound of surprise that turned into something hungrier before kissing me back with the same intensity, hands fisting in my shirt like she was claiming territory as I moved her toward the blankets.
When I guided us down, she pulled me with her—not following, demanding.
Alex pulled me over her until I was braced above, one knee between her thighs. “Much better view,” she decided.
Her hands went straight for the buttons of my shirt, and I pushed them away.
“Impatient,” I observed, watching her eyes flash with frustration.
“Thought you wanted to look at stars.” I caught her wandering hands again, pinning them above her head with one of mine—feeling her pulse race under my fingers.
Her breath hitched. “Changed my mind.”
“Have you now?”
“Maybe a game instead. Gin rummy, perhaps.”
“Gin rummy. Right,” I traced my fingers down her throat, feeling her pulse jump. “The thing about games, darlin’, is sometimes you don’t get to call the shots.”
Her eyes stayed defiant as she tested my grip with a smirk. “You think pinning my hands means you’re calling the shots?”
“Say I won,” my voice dropped lower, my knee pressing up against her center, “and maybe I’ll give you what we both know you want.”
“I want you,” her voice was steady despite her pinned position. “But that doesn’t mean you won anything.”
“No?” I smoothed my free hand up her leg, taking her skirt with it—soft skin giving way to the textured mesh of her underwear. “I think I win either way, darlin’.”
She stretched, shifting her legs apart as my fingers moved over the soaked patch of fabric covering her center—heat and wetness bleeding through. She was ready for me.
“Fuck, sweetheart,” I muttered, feeling myself grow harder.
She let out a small whine, shifting her hips upward in an attempt to chase the friction.
I moved my fingertips away from her heat, caressing her thigh once more as I moved my hand back to her knee—my mouth hitching to the side as she threw a glare in my direction.
“Finn,” she whimpered, voice urgent now, sending heat straight through me—every line of her body begging even as she tried to maintain some control. “Please, I want—”
“Here’s what’s going to happen, Alexandra,” I growled. “I’m going to give you exactly what you want. But you’re gonna be very, very quiet. Think you can handle that?”
She nodded, eyes wide and dark—her breath coming faster.
“But first, say it.”
“You won.”