"Cherished. Desired. Safe enough to let go completely."
The words hit harder than they should. Since the frame-up, I've held myself rigid against danger, against vulnerability, against the possibility that letting someone close could get them killed or get me caught. But standing here in Finn's bedroom, looking at this man who's choosing to stand with me despite all the risks, I want to let go. Want to trust that just for tonight, I can stop being a fugitive and just be a woman.
"Then show me."
He crosses to me in two strides, but instead of kissing me immediately, he just looks. His gaze travels over my face like he's memorizing every detail. Then his palms come up to cup my jaw,thumbs stroking across my cheekbones with a gentleness that tightens my throat.
"You're beautiful. Even exhausted, even scared, even carrying all this weight on your shoulders."
"I don't feel beautiful right now."
"Then let me show you." He leans in, presses his forehead to mine. "Let me carry this weight for a while. Let me make you feel what I see when I look at you."
The offer breaks something open inside me. I rise on my toes and kiss him, pouring years of loneliness and fear and determination into the contact. He responds immediately, his mouth claiming mine with heat and purpose. But there's patience too, like he meant what he said about taking his time.
He pulls me flush against him. I can feel the hard length of him pressed against my stomach, evidence that he wants this as much as I do. But he doesn't rush. Just kisses me thoroughly, deeply, until I'm breathless and aching.
When he finally pulls back, his eyes are dark. "Tell me what you want."
"You. All of you. Everything you'll give me."
"That's a lot to ask for."
"I know. But I'm asking anyway."
Fierce determination crosses his face. Then he's lifting me, carrying me to the bed with an ease that sends heat pooling low in my belly. He sets me down gently and follows me onto the mattress, caging me in with his arms.
"Last chance to change your mind."
"I'm not changing my mind."
"Good." He kisses me again, then starts working on the buttons of my shirt. Each one opens slowly, deliberately, his knuckles brushing against my skin and leaving trails of heat. When he finally pushes the fabric off my shoulders, his breathing changes.
"Christ, Cara."
I'm suddenly self-conscious about the scars. Investigation work has left its marks. A puckered bullet wound on my left shoulder from a source who turned out to be working for the people I was investigating. A knife scar across my ribs from a fight in Chicago that nearly ended badly. Smaller marks from various confrontations and close calls.
But Finn doesn't flinch. He traces each scar with his fingertips, then follows the path with his mouth. Kissing the bullet wound, the knife scar, every mark that tells the story of how I've survived.
"You're a fighter. Every one of these proves it."
He unfastens my bra, tosses it aside, and just looks at me. The appreciation in his eyes makes me feel powerful instead of vulnerable. Then his mouth is on my breast, tongue circling my nipple until I arch into him with a gasp.
He takes his time, lavishing attention on one breast then the other, using his mouth and hands to drive me higher. By the time he moves lower, kissing down my stomach, I'm already trembling.
"Finn, please."
"Patience." He hooks his fingers in my jeans, pulls them down along with my underwear, leaves me completely bare. Then he settles between my thighs, spreading me open.
The first touch of his tongue makes me cry out. He works me with focused intensity, alternating between broad strokes and targeted pressure on the bundle of nerves that makes my hips buck. When he slides two fingers inside me, curling to hit exactly the right spot, the pleasure builds to almost unbearable levels.
"Let go. I've got you."
The permission, the reassurance, the sheer skill of what he's doing, all combine to push me over the edge. The orgasm crashes through me in waves, leaving me shaking and gasping his name.
He gentles his touch, working me through the aftershocks, then kisses his way back up my body. When he reaches my mouth, I taste myself on his lips and it sends another pulse of heat through me.
"My turn." I push at his chest until he rolls onto his back.
