34. Lucie
Regardless of the shadows under her eyes or her collarbones poking through her skin, she stood taller in the mirror.
Finn’s sweats and faded band tee were far too big, but they were soft and warm and smelled like him.
Someone would have to rip the outfit off her cold, dead body before she gave them back.
As she brushed her hair, humming an old tune, she smelled a faint, delicious scent drifting through the air.
Bacon.
Curious, Lucie padded to the door and peeked out, her heart skipping a beat.
She caught sight of Finn in the kitchen.
He had his back to her, shirtless, his broad shoulders and tattoos on full display.
Muscles shifted under his skin as he gently swayed to the music playing softly in the background.
He wore low-fitting black sweatpants, cooking eggs and bacon for her as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Lucie smiled to herself, hesitating for a moment longer, observing the scene, taking a mental picture, and considering taking up his offer of using him as a model.
She wanted to paint him and all his mouthwatering tattoos. The dark ink curled over his bronze skin as he flipped some scrambled eggs in a pan.
A pillow from the bed had been taken and placed on the couch along with a blanket. The wooden floorboards creaked as she took a step forward.
Finn glanced behind his shoulder and caught her gaze. His eyes softened. A smile spread across his face, and for a moment, the weight of everything else disappeared. Was it possible to die from happiness?
“Hey.” He smiled, his voice warm as he turned back to the stove, flipping the bacon with his spatula with an easy motion. “Food’s almost ready. How was your shower?”
“Good. I feel better already. Thank you,” Lucie said, smiling back, tucking her hands into the long sleeves of his T-shirt.
Finn gestured for her to sit on the already-pulled-out seat, and she did, climbing up onto the stool. The stool, like his other appliances, was industrious. He pushed her chair in.
“I meant what I said about you only wearing my clothes,” he whispered into her ear.
“I didn’t see any pink in there,” she teased, pointing back to his closet.
“Not yet.”
He kissed her on the cheek.
Finn pulled up the seat next to her as he set the plate down in front of her. Eggs, bacon, and a couple of slices of toast—perfectly golden, not burnt as she half-expected. She couldn’t remember the last time someone made something for her.
They ate their breakfast for dinner in comfortable silence.
“So, what do you wanna do tomorrow?” he asked, biting into his last bite of bacon. “I was thinking about going to the lake. We have a waterfall, and we could have lunch on the dock.”
That’s when she saw it. She almost dropped her fork.
Right above where she had stitched him back together. There was a shape she didn’t recognize. Lucie frowned.
Was it a new bruise? Had she done the stitches wrong, and had an infection spread? Had he almost died from it? Could she have lost him without her knowledge?
“I could show you the main lodge, too,” Finn continued, oblivious to her spiraling thoughts. “Tomorrow’s movie night.” He waggled his eyebrows at her as he shifted his weight for her to see his bruise.
Except it wasn’t a bruise.
It was a tattoo.
One she’d never seen before.
Lucie reached out toward his torso.
“Finn, what is that?” she asked, eyes still fixed on his side.
“Lu, if it’s a spider, get it off now,” he said, eyes shut, holding his hands up like he was being arrested.
“No, what’s this?” she asked. His muscles flexed as she ran her fingers over his defined obliques.
It was a little bird.
She gasped, holding a hand to her mouth, as if she was looking at a painting at the Louvre.
Now she could see it perfectly.
The delicate beak. The curved wings frozen in mid-flight.
“A nightingale,” Lucie whispered.
Shock flew through her body.
“When did you get this?” she breathed, tracing the wings. Their eyes met.
“After you said goodbye,” he confessed.
Lucie’s chest tightened. Her eyes glanced back to the fridge, toward her stolen sketches hanging there, held up by magnets.
She’d always thought there wasn’t a place in the world that felt like her own. Dangerous thoughts that if she disappeared off the face of the Earth, there would be no proof of her. That she hadn’t done anything to add to the world or the lives of those around her, but she had.
It hit her right between the eyes.
Finn had been carrying her around with him all the time, even when she wasn’t there. Even when she felt the world had swallowed her up and forgotten about her. This sweet, kind, thoughtful man made a place for her in his life and guarded her closely.
The warm feeling she had around him bloomed in her chest. It was like sunshine breaking through the clouds after a storm. With a startling thought, she realized what it was.
Love.
That was what love was.
Love through action, not just words. Patience. Understanding. Kindness. Tenderness.
Not the “love” her father demanded from her.
In Finn’s amber eyes, she saw something that looked suspiciously like the same feeling she was feeling staring back at her. But that wasn’t possible. . . Did he love her?
Finn was steady and inevitable. Almost as though their lives were tied together until they finally found each other again.
“Thank you,” she murmured, leaning in.
His brow creased. “For what?”
“For carrying me with you,” she confessed.
Before she could overthink it, she leaned forward and kissed him.
He held onto her hips, reclaiming her lips, pulling her against him. The caress of his lips on her mouth set her aflame. Nothing in the world was better than his lips against her and his hands wound up in her hair.
All the weight she had carried—her fear, anger, exhaustion—spilled out. For the first time, it was okay to break, because someone would be there to pick up the pieces.
Heat sang through her veins. Finn’s hold on her tightened, pulling her off the ground.
“Good girl,” he praised, as she wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to get impossibly close to him. His mint scent drugged her.
Years could have passed, but every nip, tug, and kiss felt like the first one.
He sat down on the bed he made on the couch, her legs straddling him. His lips recaptured hers, more demanding.
Lucie was shocked at her own eager response to his touch.
“Thank you for coming to get me,” she said, brushing his dark waves from his forehead. She couldn’t stop touching him.
“Thank you for trusting me,” he murmured against her swollen lips.
He leaned in and brushed her cheek with a soft kiss, lingering for a moment.
“Though I do remember you calling to say goodbye. If you still want to leave, you can. I’ll give you cash and a car.
You never have to see me again if that’s what you wish. ”
While she appreciated the sentiment, something in the universe told her she belonged here. This oasis had been waiting for her arrival, and now that she was here, she didn’t want to leave. She wanted to understand what that feeling meant.
“I don’t want to go anywhere you aren’t. Is that okay?” she asked, fiddling with the collar of Finn’s black T-shirt.
He pressed a kiss to her palm before replying.
“I never stopped thinking about you or wondering if you were happy and safe,” he said, his finger clamped over her trembling chin. “I will always come for you. Every moment I have on this Earth is yours. Anywhere you go, I will be there if you’ll have me.”
She nodded her face onto his chest, feeling his muscles expand and move around her.
Lucie leaned forward, but he pulled back, his body stiffening, every muscle pulling taut.
“I need to get you to bed,” Finn said with finality, rubbing her back.
Her shoulders sagged. Unconsciously, she reached for the scar on her face.
Oh.
“Stop that, Lu,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose. “You’ve had a big day.”
Embarrassment smacked her face.
Did she read the kiss wrong? Why did he bring her to the couch then?
“I don’t understand. I thought you wanted me—” she started.
He took her head and placed it over his beating heart, letting her know how much he was affected by her presence.
“I want everything with you,” he confessed, his eyes begging her to understand.
“But I don’t want you to regret anything.
You’ve been through a lot, and I don’t want to rush or confuse you.
Not when you just left your life behind.
But make no mistake, Dr. Lucie Nightingale,” he said, sealing a vow with his kiss, “I want you more than I have ever wanted anything in my life. I will have you. In my bed. In my future. But for tonight, let me make sure you are safe.”
Her throat tightened.
“You’re a really good guy, Finn Vega,” she said, tears forming in her eyes.
He stood up, taking her with him, holding her bridal style.
“Just don’t tell anyone else that. I have a menacing reputation to uphold,” he said with a wink, and led her back to his bedroom. “I need my cadets to fear me, or they’ll never get their formations correct.”
Lucie held up her pinkie.
The walk was over much sooner than she wanted it to be.
Finn nodded toward the bed, his gaze gentle. “I’ll be on the couch if you need anything.”
As he placed her on the bed, she paused, turning back around. “Finn, would you . . . Would you sleep next to me? At least until I fall asleep. You don’t have to, I just . . . I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
His expression softened, and he nodded without hesitation. “Anything. Everything.”
Lucie slipped into the bed first, pulling the soft blankets up around her shoulders.
Finn stood by the door for a moment, flipping off the main light and plugging in his shark nightlight, which had been hiding in his nightstand. A soft glow illuminated his sharp features.
Finn had mentioned he didn’t like the dark, and she’d wondered if he’d said it to make her feel better.
It was true.
There was something oddly sweet about it, something that made her heart feel warm before he made his way to bed.
The bed dipped with his weight when he slipped into bed next to her. Heat from his body beckoned her closer. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears.
Lucie shifted slightly, turning onto her side, and pulling her hands up under her chin. Finn was staring at the ceiling. His hands were behind his head like he was trying to hold them down and away from her.
Lucie knew he wasn’t going to make the first move and wasn’t going to be the one to close the distance between them. He was giving her space, and while she appreciated it, she also knew what she wanted.
With a deep breath, she made the decision.
Slowly, she shifted closer, turning into his warmth and pressing her body gently against his.
As soon as she did, Finn wrapped around her without hesitation, pulling her into him as though he had been waiting for this moment all along. He took a steadying, deep breath.
Lucie rested her hand on his chest, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breath beneath her palm.
Her fingers absentmindedly traced the intricate lines of one of his tattoos on his pec, feeling the texture of his skin beneath her fingertips.
The simple act of touching him, of being held by him, made her feel more secure than she had in a long time.
The steady rise and fall of his breathing, the heat from his skin, everything about him grounded her.
A contented sigh escaped his lips as she nestled into his warmth, feeling his chin rest gently against the top of her head. He pressed a soft kiss there, his lips lingering for just a moment, a gesture so tender it nearly brought tears to her eyes.
She was so happy. So incredibly happy in that small, quiet moment.
“I can feel you smiling,” he muttered, his voice thick with sleep already. She smiled wider.
Finn’s grip on her tightened slightly, a silent reassurance that he was there, that he wasn’t going anywhere. As Lucie’s eyelids grew heavier, her hand still tracing lazy patterns on his chest, she drifted off to sleep, a sense of peace settling over her.
This was where she belonged. Right here, in his arms.