Chapter 26 #2
Her whisper sent him over the edge. Pleasure ripped through him, shattering his attempts to hold back.
Her words, her body, the way she moved. Fuck.
A ragged groan tore from his throat as his whole body tensed, then melted as he came deep inside her.
Every pulse, every aftershock left him utterly wrecked.
She slowed down as he all but collapsed under her, his hands sliding to her thighs as he gasped.
Sam leaned forward, then slid to lie next to him, her leg thrown over his, her arm on his chest.
“Fuck.” Her voice was small, surprised even.
“You can say that again.” He chuckled, pulling her close against him. “You are …”
“A little embarrassed.” She buried her head in his chest.
“Fucking awesome is what I was going to say.” He lifted her chin. “Don’t be embarrassed, Sam. That was amazing.”
A flush deepened on her cheeks, making her look even more beautiful. Finn’s heart swelled. Wrapping his arms around her he held her as she giggled softly.
“It just felt good, you know,” she whispered. “Like I couldn’t stop myself.”
He nodded, kissing the top of her head softly. This side of Sam, this tender and gentle, almost nervous Sam, was new to him. He couldn’t love her more. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
“For what?” She stopped drawing circles on his chest.
“For showing me another side of you.”
She blinked and wiped her face. “Oh.”
Tilting her head so she had to look at him, he traced his thumb over her lip.
“Hey,” he murmured, frowning as she stayed quiet. “Talk to me.”
A tear slid down her cheek as she exhaled slowly, a tremble in her breath.
“It’s just different—me and you.” She hesitated. “Everything is different now.”
“Is it?” He wiped the tear away, a knot forming in his stomach.
She shook her head. “You know it is.”
“Sam?” Finn cupped her face. His heart clenched. “Please don’t say that.”
She looked away. “It’s like … it’s like I can just … just be. Does that make sense?”
Finn let out a small, relieved laugh. “Yeah, perfect sense.” He brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “You can always just be with me.”
“I know.” Her fingers spread across his chest, pressing against his heartbeat. “That’s what makes things different.”
“Nah.” He nudged her softly. “It doesn’t, Sam. We always were with each other, only we were, well I was, afraid of being with you like this.”
“This?”
“Yeah, this—in love.”
Sam squealed quietly then laughed. “In love! Oh!”
“I do love you,” Finn said gently. “I meant it when I said it that night. It wasn’t just an in the heat of the moment thing.”
“I love you, too.”
Finn’s chest swelled. She could say those words a million times and he’d never be tired of hearing them. He gathered her up into his arms and sighed deeply. This was perfection. Nothing would ever top this moment. Sam stirred, tension in her body.
“Stay.” He held her more tightly as she moved to get up.
“I don’t want to go,” she said. “But I have to – and so do you. It’s the halfpipe final – for you. Remember?”
Finn’s eyes widened. “Crap! The final. Yes. I was ready to stay here all day. Right, let’s go! Shower!” He sat up and gently pushed her to stand up, unable to not run his eyes over her body at the same time. Damn, she was fine.
Sam laughed, but something in her eyes shifted. Had he done something wrong? How could he fix it? His eyes traveled over her face. He couldn’t bear to think that he might have hurt her. Grasping her hand, he pulled her back down to sit beside him.
“Sam? What’s going on in your head right now?”
“Nothing.” She wrapped her arms around her body but smiled at him. He smiled gently back.
“Sam, tell me what it is. I know you. I can see you’re not okay right now. Don’t leave me worrying about you.”
Sam’s breath stilled. Her eyes hardened as she chewed on her bottom lip. Finn sat up straighter. “Sam—what is it?”
Sam’s body stiffened. She started to say something but stopped. Then she raised her chin and spoke.
“Look, don’t get angry about this, okay.”
He nodded. Of course he was going to get angry. If something had upset her, he’d get damn well fucking angry.
“Before the big air qualie I … I overheard a conversation that I shouldn’t have heard, and it upset me.”
Finn’s fists clenched on the duvet. He worked to unfurl them before she noticed.
“What did you hear?” His voice was low, concerned.
Sam swallowed. Her posture shifted, she whispered, “It was Leo. And my dad.” She looked down and shivered.
“It doesn’t really matter now. I’ve spoken to Leo.
We’ve cleared a few things up. And it didn’t matter in the end—but you know what?
I think it was good for me, for a while. It gave me a lot to think about.”
“Good for you?” Finn couldn’t keep the incredulous tone from his voice. “How, Sam? What did they say?” Immediately he regretted sounding so sharp. “Sorry.”
“It really doesn’t matter now,” Sam said firmly.
“The thing that’s come out of this is that I won’t be listening just to my dad anymore.
I took some of Leo’s advice and it worked out for me—and if I hadn’t been so stubborn and had spoken to him properly before all of this, then maybe I wouldn’t have had to learn this lesson now.
I might have learned it a long time ago. ”
Without a word, Finn pulled her into the duvet again, holding her tightly as a heaviness passed through his chest. The way her voice had cracked a little, like she was holding herself together, told him everything.
“Leo might get back out there, on the slopes,” Sam said quietly against his chest. “It’s something he should have done years ago too. But he thought that Dad believed he was a failure. And, Finn, that’s not true either. I know that—for a fact.”
Finn’s jaw loosened. He had to let go of the heat that surged through him, dark and fast. His pulse roared in his ears.
His hands balled into fists again. If Leo and Jake were standing in front of him now, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to control himself.
The desire to lash out against them both was hot and curled through his body, tensing every fiber and muscle.
But then Sam sighed, her breath warm on his chest. She was tucked against him as if he was her safe place. And he was. She’d said as much, and he wouldn’t change that. But one thing was for sure, she’d never doubt herself again, not if he had anything to do with it.
“If Leo gets back out on the slopes,” she said quietly, “it would be wonderful.”
“You know they’re idiots.” His voice was gruffer than intended so he softened it. “Two, big lumbering idiots.”
Sam tensed. “Yes but …”
“But nothing, Sam.” His chest rose and fell.
She didn’t need his anger. She needed him to believe in her in the way they should believe in her—the way she believed in him.
She needed him to support her. Love her.
He rubbed her arm soothingly. “They don’t get to decide who you are, Sam.
You do. And the last time I checked only the best made it to the Olympics.
And you, Sam Harrington, you are a gold medalist. An Olympian.
You’re the goddamn best with the medal to prove it. You know it!”
“Thanks,” Sam said, her face pink with emotion.
“Hold up a second,” Finn said, his voice softer now. “Say it.”
Sam laughed. “Finn!”
“Say it,” he urged, unwilling to let her go until she said it. He rolled them suddenly, pinning her beneath him, his arms braced on either side of her head. She laughed, pushing against him hopelessly. He smiled down at her. “Say it, Sam—I want to hear you say it.”
Her lips parted, a flush crept up her neck. “I’m …”
“You’re?” He kissed the tip of her nose.
Sam laughed again, this time louder. “Jesus, Finn, I’m the best!”
“What? I can’t hear you!” Finn grinned.
Sam’s wide smile made his heart soar. All his anger swept away, morphing into a desire to lift her up. He laughed as she scrunched her nose up and yelled, “I’m the goddamn best!”
“Damn right!” He kissed her, slow and deep. When he finally pulled back, she was breathless, and he could see the desire in her eyes.
Sam pushed him off and jumped up. “Finn Bradley if I’d known all these years that you kissed like that … I think I need a cold shower!”
“Make it quick.” He smirked. “You’ve got five minutes before I come in and—”
The bedroom door swung open. Sam froze. Finn blinked.
Maya stood dead in the doorway, a huge grin on her face.
“Don’t mind me—I’m just here to witness history.
Again. And to remind you, lover boy, that you have a final today.
My famous Freestyle Fuel smoothie is in your kitchen waiting for you – but now I think it should be renamed The Railed and Refreshed!
What I want to know is … what you two were doing that made you both not hear the blender? ”
Finn laughed. He stretched lazily in the bed, not an ounce of shame in his actions. “Morning, Maya.”
Sam grabbed a T-shirt and, blushing, tugged it on. “Eh … how the hell did you get in here?”
Maya laughed. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“Does this have anything to do with that guy on the front desk?” Sam grumbled as she tried to cover her ass with the T-shirt.
“No! What do you think I am—some kind of sexy assassin coercing hotel employees to do my crazy bidding with this delightful body of mine?” Maya threw her head back and laughed.
“Girl, I simply took Finn’s spare room card the last time I was in here—now, come on—you promised to meet me for breakfast—and I want all the tea.
And you, Romeo, get up! You have another final to compete in today—although, from that glow on your face you look as if you’ve already won. ”
“You have no idea.” Finn joked from his comfy position under the duvet. “Sam, don’t tell her everything. She won’t be able to handle it.”
“In your dreams, buster,” Maya said with sass as Sam stood in the middle of the room, her eyes and her mouth open.
Maya tossed Sam a hoodie. “Hurry up, Olympic champion! My stomach is rumbling.”
Sam pulled on the hoodie and her pants and hurried to the door.
Finn watched her go, warmth blooming in his chest despite the embers of anger that still glowed there.
Sam was magic, always had been—determined, fierce, extraordinary, not someone to mess with.
She was brilliant. She needed to understand that she was all of that, and nothing less.
He sat up, wanting to pull her back to bed.
Quietly, he called her name. She turned to him, and he smiled as he caught a flicker of the old fiery, passionate Sam he knew so well.
“You’re unstoppable.” His voice was almost a whisper. Then her eyes met his, and he saw it. That determination, that strength he’d always admired. Belief in herself growing. He smiled.
“Yes, I sure as hell am.” She nodded at him. “And so are you—go get that gold, lover!”
Finn threw his arms over his face as the door closed softly behind Sam. Lover. Hell. He smiled into the crook of his elbow. He could come last for all he cared; Sam Harrington had called him lover!