Chapter 28 Finn #2
She studies my face for a moment—really studies it, with those violet eyes that always see too much—and whatever she finds there makes her expression shift into something tender.
“Good,” she says simply. “Stay.”
“Always.”
Malrik’s hands are moving. I can feel them through the water—one tracing up Kaia’s side, the other reaching past her to rest on my hip again. He doesn’t rush. Doesn’t push. Just touches us both with the same steady certainty he does everything.
“Finn.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to touch her. And I want you to watch.”
My brain short-circuits.
“That—” My voice cracks. I clear my throat. Try again. “That works. That’s—yes. Watching is good. I’m excellent at watching. Gold star observer over here.”
Kaia laughs—actually laughs, bright and surprised—and the sound breaks something open in my chest.
“You’re ridiculous,” she says.
“You love it.”
“Unfortunately.”
Malrik’s hand slides lower under the water, and Kaia’s breath catches. Her fingers tighten on mine. Her head falls back against my shoulder.
“Oh—”
I watch her face. Watch the way her lips part, the way her eyes flutter closed, the way color spreads down her throat. Watch her mouth his name like a prayer or a curse or both.
She’s beautiful. She’s always beautiful. But like this—coming undone between us, letting us see her—she’s something else entirely.
“Finn,” she gasps. “Finn, I need—”
“Tell me.”
“Touch me. Please. I need—” Her hips roll against Malrik’s hand, chasing whatever he’s doing to her. “I need more.”
More.
The word echoes in my head as I let my hands finally, finally move from her waist. I’ve been so good. So patient. Keeping my hands where she put them like it was a test I couldn’t fail.
But she said more. She said please. And I’m only human.
My palm slides up her stomach. Over her ribs. Finds the curve of her breast, and—
Oh.
She gasps, arching into my touch, and I have to press my forehead against her shoulder to keep from making sounds that would embarrass us both.
“Okay?” I manage.
“Yes—” Her voice breaks. “Yes, don’t stop—”
I don’t stop.
I learn her with my hands the way I’ve imagined doing hundreds of times. The weight of her. The way she responds to pressure here versus softness there. The spot that makes her moan and the one that makes her whimper and the one that makes her grind back against me so hard I see stars.
Because she’s not just pressed against me anymore. She’s moving. Rolling her hips in a rhythm that matches what Malrik’s doing to her, and every motion brings her ass against my cock, and I’m harder than I’ve ever been in my life.
“Fuck,” I choke out. “Kaia—”
“I know.” She sounds wrecked. Destroyed. Perfect. “I can feel you.”
“Sorry, I can’t—”
“Don’t apologize.” She rolls against me again, deliberate this time. “I want to feel you.”
Malrik makes a sound—low, approving. His silver eyes are molten when they meet mine. “She’s close.”
“Already?”
“It’s been a while.” Kaia’s voice is breathless. Desperate. “And you’re both—you’re everywhere, and I—”
“Let go.” Malrik’s voice is steady. Anchoring. Even now. “We’ve got you.”
“I don’t—”
“You do.” I press a kiss to her neck. “Come for us, Trouble. We want to see it.”
Something in her expression cracks open.
And then she’s falling.
Her whole body shudders between us, her back arching against my chest, my name and Malrik’s tangling together on her lips. I feel it through every point where we’re touching—the tremor in her thighs, the clench of her hands, the ragged sob of breath.
Beautiful. She’s so fucking beautiful.
Malrik works her through it, murmuring things I can’t quite hear against her throat.
I hold her steady, pressing kisses to her shoulder, her neck, anywhere I can reach.
The Eds have clustered at the far edge of the pool now—definitely watching, definitely judging, definitely getting an eyeful they’ll never unsee.
I should care about that. I really don’t.
When Kaia finally comes down, she’s trembling. Limp against me. Breathing like she’s run a marathon.
“Holy shit,” she whispers.
“Good holy shit or—”
“Finn.” She turns her head to look at me. Her eyes are glassy, soft, completely wrecked. “Shut up and let me enjoy it.”
“Shutting up. Enjoying. These are things I can do.”
She laughs weakly. “You’re incapable of shutting up.”
“Valid point.”
Malrik withdraws his hand slowly—I watch Kaia’s face flicker with the loss—and brings his fingers to his mouth. Holds my gaze as he tastes her.
Fuck.
“You’re going to kill me,” I say again. “Confirmed. Cause of death: whatever the fuck that was.”
“Worth it?” he asks.
“Ask me after I recover the ability to think.”
Kaia twists in my arms until she’s facing me. Her wet hair falls around her shoulders. Her eyes are determined now, focused in a way that makes my stomach flip.
“Your turn,” she says.
“My—what?”
“You watched me.” She presses closer, and I feel the soft weight of her against my chest. “Now I want you.”
The words hit my brain and promptly shatter it.
“I—” My voice comes out strangled. “That’s—yes. Obviously yes. Enthusiastic yes. All the yeses.”
Malrik’s hand settles on my shoulder. Steadying. “There’s a ledge,” he says. “Behind you. Easier.”
I turn my head and see it—a natural shelf of stone at the pool’s edge, covered in soft moss that looks almost deliberately placed. Like Japti knew what we’d need before we did.
Ancient sex cavern. Cool. Normal. Definitely not weird at all.
“Come on.” Malrik guides us both toward it, his movements unhurried but certain. The water grows shallower as we go, the warmth of it giving way to cooler air against my skin.
Kaia reaches the ledge first. She hoists herself up, sitting on the mossy stone, and for a moment I just… stare.
Water streams down her body. Her skin glows in the soft light of the motes. Her legs dangle in the pool, parted just enough that I can see—
Gods.
“Finn.” Malrik’s voice is low. Amused. “You’re staring.”
“I’m appreciating. There’s a difference.”
“Is there?”
“Shut up.”
Kaia laughs—that bright, surprised sound I’d kill to keep hearing—and reaches for me. “Get up here.”
I don’t need to be told twice.
The moss is soft under my palms as I pull myself up beside her. Cool against my heated skin. She immediately reaches for me, pulling me closer, and then we’re kissing again—desperate and messy and nothing like the careful kisses we’ve stolen before.
This is claiming. Finally.
I ease her back against the moss, my body covering hers, and the feeling of her bare skin against mine from chest to hip is so overwhelming I have to stop and just breathe.
“You okay?” she asks softly.
“I’m great. I’m fantastic. I’m about to—” I swallow hard. “Kaia, I need you to know that I’ve wanted this for so long that I might actually embarrass myself.”
“Finn—”
“I’m serious. Like, mortifyingly fast. There’s a very real possibility here.”
She cups my face in both hands. Her violet eyes are soft. Steady. “I don’t care.”
“You say that now—”
“I mean it.” She pulls me down for another kiss. “I just want you. However long it takes. However it happens. I just want you.”
Something cracks open in my chest.
I’m going to tell her I love her. Right now. I can feel the words building in my throat—
Malrik’s hand settles on my lower back.
I’d almost forgotten he was there. Almost. But now I feel him behind me—still in the water, leaning against the ledge between my legs—and his touch is grounding. Present.
“Take your time,” he says quietly. Just for me. “She’s not going anywhere.”
I exhale shakily. Nod.
Kaia’s legs wrap around my hips, and the movement shifts me against her, and—
Oh fuck.
I’m right there. Pressed against her entrance. One movement away from being inside her.
“Yes?” I manage.
“Yes.” No hesitation. “Please, Finn.”
I push forward.
And the world narrows to the feeling of her around me.
Tight. Warm. Perfect.
I choke on a groan, my forehead dropping to her shoulder. “Holy—fucking—gods—”
She gasps beneath me, her nails digging into my shoulders. “Finn—”
“I know. I know. Just—give me a second—” I’m shaking. Actually shaking. Trying desperately to hold still, to not move, to not end this embarrassingly fast the way I warned her I might. “You feel—I can’t—”
Malrik’s hand slides up my spine. “Breathe.”
“I’m trying—”
“You’re holding your breath.”
He’s right. I force myself to exhale. Then inhale. Then exhale again.
Kaia’s hand finds my cheek, turning my face toward hers. “Hey. Look at me.”
I look.
Her eyes are huge. Soft. Full of something that makes my chest ache.
“We have time,” she says quietly. “We have all the time we need.”
“I know. I just—” My voice cracks. “I’ve wanted this so badly. For so long. And now you’re here and you’re real and I’m inside you and it’s—”
“A lot?”
“Everything.” The word slips out before I can stop it. “You’re everything, Trouble.”
Her breath catches.
And then she moves.
Just a slight shift of her hips, but it’s enough to remind me that we’re still connected, that I’m still buried inside her, that this is actually happening.
“Move with me,” she whispers. “Please.”
I do.
Slow at first. Careful. Learning the rhythm of her body, the angle that makes her gasp, the depth that makes her moan. She rises to meet every thrust, her fingers tangling in my hair, her mouth finding mine between ragged breaths.
“There—” she gasps. “Right there—”
I repeat the movement. Watch her eyes flutter closed. Feel her tighten around me.
“Again—”
I give her again. And again. And again.
Malrik’s hands are still on me—my back, my hip, my thigh. Guiding without taking over. His mouth presses kisses to my shoulder blade, my spine, the small of my back. Everywhere he touches feels like fire.
“You’re doing so well,” he murmurs against my skin. “Both of you. Look at her, Finn.”
I look.
Kaia is flushed and breathless beneath me. Her hair spreads across the moss like spilled gold. Her lips are parted, sounds spilling from them that I want to record and replay forever.