Breaking the kiss, Finn rested his forehead against hers, his breath uneven as he tried to rein himself in. “You good?” His voice was low and thick with emotion.
Lizzy nodded, her hands still clutching his shirt. “Totally good,” she whispered, her cheeks flushed and her green eyes glowing. “I just…” She bit her lip, and Finn’s gaze followed the movement, his body tightening in response.
“What is it?” he urged gently, brushing his thumb over her cheek. His other hand was still under her shirt, flirting with the strap of her bra.
“I need more,” she admitted, her voice barely audible. “More of you.”
Finn shook his head, a soft smile tugging at his lips. “Thank the Great Luna.”
Her lips parted as if to make a retort. He silenced her with another kiss, this one slower, deeper, carrying all the reassurance he couldn’t put into words.
When he pulled back again, he cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing over her cheeks. “You want to stop, you say the word and we stop. Clear?”
She gave him a sly smile as he saw her confidence grow. “Clear. But if you say the word stop, I’m just going to keep going until I’ve convinced you stopping is the last thing you actually want.”
Finn chuckled, even as his insides burned with desire. “Come here,” he rumbled as he sat back on the fallen log, pulling her with him.
Lizzy straddled Finn’s lap, her legs on either side of his hips, and her breath caught as she felt every hard line of him beneath her. The heat radiating from his body poured into her, and for a second, she could only stare at him, her hands resting on his broad shoulders. His copper eyes glowed with a primal hunger, his wolf just beneath the surface, and still, he waited. Always waiting, always letting her set the pace, even when she could feel the tension coiled in him like a tightly wound spring.
Finn’s gaze flicked to her lips and then back to her eyes, his breathing uneven. “You’re driving me crazy, you know that?”
Lizzy smiled, her fingers tightening in his hair as she leaned closer. “Good. I’d hate to be the only one losing my mind over here.”
He didn’t wait for her to say more. His lips crashed against hers in a kiss that was anything but gentle. It was raw, desperate, and consuming, as if he was pouring every ounce of his need, his love, into her. Lizzy responded in kind, her hands sliding down his chest, feeling the hard planes of muscle beneath his shirt.
The kiss deepened, their breaths mingling. Finn’s hands roamed up her back and slid under her shirt. His touch left a trail of fire in its wake. Lizzy arched into him, a soft sound escaping her throat as his fingers brushed the clasp of her bra. She didn’t care about anything else in that moment—only him, only the way he made her feel whole, like she wasn’t the broken girl she’d always thought she was. Her past on the streets—clawing and scraping to survive and the choices she’d made in order to do so—couldn’t touch her here with Finn.
Finn broke the kiss, his breathing heavy as he stared up at her. “We need to move.” His voice was gravelly. “Unless you want to risk someone stumbling upon us.”
Lizzy’s cheeks burned, but she nodded, her hands trembling slightly as she climbed off his lap. Finn stood, his movements quick and deliberate as he took her hand. The forest seemed to hold its breath as Finn led Lizzy deeper into the trees, his warm, calloused hand wrapped tightly around hers. The air was cool and filled with the faint scent of pine and damp earth mingling with the sound of rustling leaves and distant crickets. The moon hung low in the sky. Its soft silver light filtered through the thick canopy above and spilled onto the forest floor in fragmented beams. Shadows danced across the mossy ground, creating an otherworldly glow that felt like it belonged to a place untouched by time. In this moment, it was only them. Lizzy locked out the rest of the world and all its problems and allowed herself this. Her life had not been a cake walk, and besides Kara, she’d had nothing good. Nothing to look forward to. But now she had her mate.
Finn stopped abruptly, his sharp eyes scanning their surroundings before his gaze softened as it landed on a small clearing ahead. The space was encircled by thick, towering trees whose roots twisted and coiled into the earth like ancient sentinels. The ground was carpeted with a lush layer of moss that shimmered faintly in the moonlight, inviting and soft. A gentle breeze whispered through the clearing, carrying with it the faint scent of wildflowers and something deeper, something raw and untamed.
“Here.” Finn’s voice was low and sure. He turned to face Lizzy, his broad shoulders blocking the faint light behind him and casting him in shadows that only made the glow of his brown eyes more striking. He looked at her as if she were the only thing in the world that mattered, his expression a mixture of tenderness and something far more primal.
Lizzy swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest. Her wolf stirred, restless and yearning, matching the emotions radiating from Finn. She felt like she was standing on the edge of a precipice, the pull of their bond urging her to take the leap. But the leap was terrifying—raw, vulnerable, and unguarded in a way she wasn’t sure she could handle. Being on her own, homeless and always on guard, had made her beyond cautious. Until Cain. Apparently she’d had a momentary lapse of sanity, judgment, or all the above. For some reason, when he’d come knocking she’d been desperate enough to throw caution to the wind. But then, that decision had led her to the man who stood before her now. So maybe throwing caution to the wind wasn’t always a bad thing.
Finn stepped closer, his hands gently brushing her arms, his touch grounding her. “Lizzy. I never dreamed in a million years I’d find my mate or that she’d be half as amazing as you. I love you.”
Her throat tightened at his declaration. Only one other person had ever said those words to her. Hearing them from the man created to be hers, a man who’d already risked his life for her and had willingly opened himself to her, was humbling and unexpected. Unable to find the words to respond, she reached for him, her hands resting on his chest as she let herself lean into his warmth. His heartbeat was steady beneath her palms, a calming rhythm that soothed the storm of emotions swirling inside her.
Finn’s hands moved to cup her face, his thumbs brushing lightly over her cheeks as his gaze searched hers. “If you’re not ready, we can wait,” he said softly. “But if you are… I need you to tell me. I need to hear you say it.”
Lizzy’s breath hitched, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. “I’m ready,” she whispered, her voice trembling but resolute. “I want you, Finn. I want this.”
A low growl rumbled in his chest, and the sound sent a shiver down her spine. He leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers as he closed his eyes. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that,” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion.
When he kissed her, it was slow and deliberate, a claiming that left her breathless. His lips moved against hers with a tenderness that made her chest ache, but there was a fire beneath it—a barely contained hunger that threatened to consume them both. Lizzy gave in to it, her hands sliding up to tangle in his hair as she pressed closer, her body molding to his as if they were two pieces of a puzzle finally coming together.
Finn’s hands roamed her back, his touch firm yet reverent, as if he were memorizing every curve, every inch of her. He broke the kiss only to trail his lips along her jawline and down the column of her neck, his breath warm against her skin. Lizzy tilted her head back, her eyes fluttering shut as a soft moan escaped her lips.
The moonlight bathed them in its ethereal glow. The clearing was a sacred haven that seemed to exist for this moment alone. Finn’s hands found the hem of her shirt, and he paused, his eyes meeting hers in silent question. She nodded, her breath catching as he lifted the fabric, pulling it over her head and discarding it onto the ground.
“You’re beautiful.” His eyes drank her in as if she were the most exquisite thing he’d ever seen. His hands moved to her waist, his thumbs brushing the bare skin there, and Lizzy’s cheeks flushed under his intense gaze.
She reached for him, tugging at his shirt, and he obliged by pulling it off and tossing it aside. Her breath caught at the sight of him, the moonlight highlighting every hard plane of muscle, every scar that told a story of battles fought and survived. He was a warrior, her warrior, and the thought sent a wave of warmth through her. As her fingers roamed over his flesh, tracing those old wounds, she realized that Finn had just as much trauma in his life as she’d had in hers. He just wore his on the outside of his body.
“I have no secrets,”he murmured through the bond,“All that I am, even my memories, are yours.”
