He just can’t do it.
“I’ll call you back with the details, Prez,” I hear Finn tell the screen, and the gruffness in Prez’s voice when he agrees.
I hear it all, but I can’t think. I can’t speak. Every molecule in my body is fleeing, preparing for battle, preparing to run, because like hell am I marrying the man who told me he didn’t want to get married and he would never change his mind.
“Stop.” Finn’s voice is deep, sharp, and aimed right at me. My head jerks up in response to find him rounding the desk, so he’s in front of me, taking up my space. “I know you, Winnie.I know everything about you, including how your mind works. And most of the time, your mind and your thoughts fascinate me and turn me the fuck on. Right now, though, I can see the way you're conflicted. I see the doubt swimming in your beautiful eyes, which means that instead of focusing on what I told you just a few days ago, you’re remembering the past. Where I lied. Where I said horrible things to push you away. Fucking stop.”
“I can’t. Because maybe it's your truth that it was lies, that you were trying to push me away to protect me from what you did, but it's still my reality that I heard every word you said. I remember it all. You don’t want to get married, Dodger. You don’t want an old lady. You just can’t do it, that is what you said to me.” I step back from him, needing space. The memories are crashing in, and the pain I’ve been avoiding for years is there, and it hurts just as much as the first time.
“I know. I know I did.” His nostrils flare while his eyes stay locked on mine, begging me to hear him. His chest rises and falls faster. “I’m sorry I said those things. I’m sorry I made you feel like I didn’t want you for the rest of my life. I've spent years regretting that I let you walk away from me.”
“You didn’t let me walk away, Dodger. You forced me out the door with every run, every excuse, and every lie. You put yourself in positions knowing they would hurt me,” I remind him. “You didn't just break my trust. You tore my heart out of my chest.”
“Trust me, Win, it felt like I died right along with you,” he admits, the look of devastation on his face almost makes my knees buckle.
I whirl away from him, my hands running through my hair, as a laugh escapes me. Nothing about this situation is funny. The life-or-death predicament hanging over us is far from hilarious. “I can just picture it. I’m no longer begging, but you’re being forced to marry me anyway. As long as the club benefits, though, right? Dodger?”
In an instant, he’s on me, pinning me to the wall, his fingers around my throat, flexing like he could brand me with his grip alone. His jaw grinds, and I swallow hard, fighting against the instinct to lean my body into him. No matter the time, no matter how much distance there is between us, he will always be under my skin and in my veins with every beat of my heart.
“Stop calling me that,” he growls.
My brow lifts, my lips curve. “Dodger?”
His breath escapes in a harsh, frustrated burst against my lips. His eyes narrow on mine, sparkling with intense heat and furry. “That is not who I am with you. I’ve always been Finn to you. Yours. That's who I am, Win.”
My head shakes, denying the claim, wanting to deny the words he’s saying even when I can feel their truth. Finn’s body presses into mine, and I let out a groan.
“I think you know it too.” He laughs huskily, sending shivers over my skin.
“I know that this means nothing,” I reply, shutting my eyes to avoid the way he’s trying to gaze past my barriers and deep into my soul.
Finn’s full lips skim across mine, and I feel it everywhere. In my limbs, down to my toes, and into the roots of my hair. I love that he does that to me. And I hate it so much that I missed it, that I miss him after everything that happened.
“What happens between us is never nothing, Daisy. From the first time I ever saw you, I knew you would be mine. Every kiss, every time I touched this delectable little body after, only solidified it. I made a mistake. I was an asshole. I never stopped loving you, though.” His gaze burns through me while his fingers tighten on my waist before slipping under the waistband of my leggings. He strokes his fingers down, grazing my core through my panties, and my breath hitches in my chest. Finn takes that as encouragement, flipping the lace to the side, and rolls histhumb over my clit. “There’ll never be a world where I don’t consider you mine.”
“I’m not. Not anymore,” I gasp, right as his fingers slowly press inside me, stretching me until a moan slips past my lips.
“You’ll always be mine, Win. Just like I’ll always be yours. No one can take that from me. Not even you,” he groans as he sinks deeper, still circling my clit, and sending little waves of pleasure over my body until I’m dripping down his hand. “Hate me. Punish me for breaking your perfect heart. Just let me make you come while you do it.”
My pussy clenches around him at those words and the way he’s looking at me with so much reverence and love. I come fast, my body remembering exactly who’s holding me and who can make me feel this good.
“Finn!” His name tears from my throat, and in the next second, he flips me around in his hold, practically ripping my panties and leggings down to the floor. My hands press against the wall while I help shove my bottoms off all the way, barely registering the sound of his zipper coming undone.
His fingers return to my throat, clasping it tight. “I’m gonna remind you how good we are together, Daisy. I’m gonna erase anyone else's touch, until all you think about is me.”
Tears fill my eyes. They aren’t sad ones but ones of relief. The last person to touch me was against my will, a true monster. Now, Finn is here, and my body is eager to accept what he’s giving. No one has ever taken his place. No one has ever made me feel how he does or made me come as hard as he can.
“Please.” My voice pleads with him to do it. I feel the blunt head of his cock at my entrance. My legs shake with anticipation as he rubs the silky head through my fold and over my clit.
“Shit. You’re even better than I remember.” His groan is a deep, guttural sound that vibrates against my back. “I don’t havea condom, Winnie. I never carry them, never have them on me. There’s never been anyone else for me, except you.”
A sob catches in my throat while my heart swells in my chest. I hadn’t asked, I hadn’t wanted to know. I just assumed that with me gone, Finn would have been free to fuck as many of the club whores as he wanted. He was sexy, dangerous, and they used to hate me for keeping him to myself. It bothered them that he was faithful to me.
“You know about me already,” I tell him, glancing back over my shoulder so he can see my pain but also the way his words have set my heart on fire. “He made sure I was on birth control and also used condoms. I’m clean. And Hope helped me get back on the pill again.”
His hand grips my jaw to hold me still while he leans over me, pressing his lips to mine in a searing kiss, his tongue sweeping into my mouth and claiming it as his. “Mine. You’ve always been only mine, never his.”
“Yes,” I sob, feeling the truth in his words, feeling them heal something in me that has felt broken for almost a year.
