Chapter 18 #2
Finn had never been more torn between what he wanted and what was best for him.
Spending tonight with her was what he wanted more than he’d ever wanted anything, but he knew it wasn’t in his best interest to get more involved with a woman who continued to hold him at arm’s length even as she invited him into her bed.
For the first time in his charmed life, he ran the risk of heartbreak, and even knowing that, he couldn’t stay away from her.
They arrived at her house, and as he followed her inside, he reminded himself of what this was—and what it wasn’t. One night. That was all she’d offered, and he needed to keep reminding himself of that. He would take his lead from her.
Ranger came shuffling out to greet them, and Chloe bent at the waist to give her baby a kiss on the top of his head.
Finn’s gaze was drawn to her ass until she straightened, turned and caught him looking. He smiled sheepishly. “The view was too great to pass up.”
Smiling, she let the dog out into the backyard and returned to where Finn stood in the middle of her kitchen. “You sure do know how to make a girl feel good about herself.”
Resting his hands on her hips, he dropped his forehead to lean against hers.
“If you’re judging by how I see you, you should feel spectacular about yourself.
You are, hands down, the sexiest, most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.
” He kissed her softly, lingering against the cushion of blueberry-flavored lips.
“From the purple streaks in your hair to the ink on your arm to this little gem.” He kissed the glittering stud in her nose.
“Everything about you does it for me. You’re so fucking sexy, you take my breath away.
And just so you know, I love talking to you as much as I love looking at you.
” So much for keeping things in check, he thought, as he bared his soul to her.
She curled her arms around his neck and drew him into a sizzling, frantic kiss, fueled by the pent-up need that had been building between them since the day they met.
Her mouth opened to his tongue, and the brush of hers against his combined to create the single most erotic moment of his life thus far.
One kiss had him hard and ready for more.
Ranger barked outside the door, and still the kiss went on until he barked again, more sharply this time, and they pulled apart, laughing and breathless.
“Hold that thought,” she said as she went to let in the dog and lock the door.
“It’s the only thought in my head at the moment.”
As she returned to him, she eyed the erection he couldn’t hide, licked her lips and looked up at him with violet eyes full of vulnerability that made him ache with wanting her—all of her. Not just her body, but her heart and soul, too. That was most certainly a first for him.
She took his hand, led him from the kitchen and shut off the light on the way out of the room.
Finn followed her down the hallway to her bedroom, still not entirely sure he believed this was really going to happen.
It was like a dream in some ways. Despite all the reasons why he knew it couldn’t be, it felt like the most significant thing that had ever happened to him.
If he shared that thought with her, she’d surely tell him to leave.
So he kept it to himself and waited for her to show him what she wanted.
She turned so her back was to him. “Will you unzip me?”
His fingers were all thumbs as he dragged the zipper down her back while trying to remember to breathe. She made him feel like a teenager about to get laid for the first time—a thought that made him chuckle as he skimmed his lips over the curve of her neck.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m actually nervous. Reminds me of the time Mary Jane O’Connor took me down to the basement of her parents’ house and made a man out of me. I had no idea what I was doing then, and I feel the same way now.”
Holding the dress up with a hand to her chest, she turned to him. “Do I need to be concerned about this Mary Jane O’Connor?” She raised a brow to go with the teasing tone of her question.
“Baby, you don’t need to be concerned about anyone.
” His gaze dropped to the hand that held up her dress, noting the swollen knuckles that caused her such pain.
He hated that for her. Then she removed her hand, and the dress fell to the floor, leaving her bare except for a strapless bra and what looked to be a thong.
On her chest, a tattoo of a fairy with a wand sprinkled hearts down over the plump crests of her breasts.
His mouth went dry as he kissed each one of the tiny hearts that he could reach.
She reached up to push the coat off his shoulders and began unbuttoning his dress shirt.
When he noticed her fingers weren’t working the way she wanted them to, he pulled the shirt and T-shirt he wore under it over his head and tossed them aside.
Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of his bare chest. “Holy moly,” she whispered as she dragged her fingertips over the hills and valleys of his chest and abdomen. “I’d heard something about an eight-pack.”
Hard physical labor kept him in excellent shape, and her obvious appreciation made him even harder than he already was. Not to mention, she’d been gathering info about him.
She tugged on his belt, groaning in frustration when it didn’t come loose for her.
Finn took over, releasing the belt and the button and unzipping, which gave him some badly needed room to breathe.
She stared at him in awe that made him feel like Superman. “I don’t know where to touch you first.”
“I can give you some pointers, if that would help.”
She giggled, and the lighthearted sound of it made him smile. He wanted to hear more of that giggle.
With her hands flat on his back, she dragged them down and into the back of his pants to cup his ass.
When she gave a little squeeze, he nearly passed out as half the blood in his body headed south in one massive wave of need.
Then she pushed his pants down, laughing again when they got caught on his hard cock.
“This is no time for laughter,” he said in a teasingly stern tone. Being undressed by her trumped the kiss in the kitchen to become the most erotic experience of his life. “You’ve got me on the verge of losing it, and you’re laughing.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“You’re here, you’re breathing, you’re touching me, and you’re mostly naked.”
She looked up at him. “That’s all it takes?”
“With you, it takes even less than that. All you have to do is be in the room, and I’m a goner.”
“Finn…”