It was the sexiest thing she’d ever heard.
He moved slowly to completely empty himself and then held her.
They panted, with their hearts pounding, trying to get some precious air into their lungs, while covered in perspiration.
She rested her forehead on his, still perched on that bench, her body buzzing and her heart… It wasn’t just fluttering.
It was flying.
‘So,’ she whispered, breathless, ‘no bed, huh?’
His gaze dragged over her body, then back up to share a mischievous smile she’d never seen before.Even his voice was lazy and deliciously wrecked.‘Didn’t want you thinking this was anything ordinary.’
Her eyes drifted across his inked body to meet his dark hungry eyes.‘Nothing about you is ordinary.’
Twenty-eight
The front of Finn’s house was nothing but a simple door and broken bike parts for decor.
But out the back?
Well, it was a whole new world…
There was a stone-edged firepit where the fire crackled low, with coals glowing red and gold like embers stolen from the sky.A well-used barbecue plate was rigged for the specially spiced meats Finn had thrown over the flames, sending out a scent that could summon gods, devils, and every hungry soul in between.
Bree had told Taryn that the man did a mean barbecue, but she’d never imagined how.Starting with the way Finn prepared the meat with his own secret blend of spices, then worked over the coals like it was a religion, to cook with dedication and style.It was the most masculine way for a man to cook.
She sipped her beer slowly, watching Finn move with his usual grace, tongs in hand, shirtless, with jeans low on his hips, allowing the ink and shadows to dance across his body with each flicker of the flames.
Behind him stretched an outback view that would take decades to dissect, where open plains stretched to meet rolling silhouettes of hills that got lost on the darkened horizon.
And above?
The stars didn’t twinkle here.They burned like they had a secret to share, and a world to watch over.
She now understood what Izzy meant about needing time to stare at the stars, and out here, they were better than any movie.
‘A few more minutes and we’re good to go.’Finn nodded at the meat resting on the edge of the grill.
‘Take your time.No one’s rushing this.’Not with that view.
But he’d taken the meal to the next level.Barbecuing thick slices of pineapple and mango alongside skewers of colour and flavour: red onion, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms, corncobs, and bright red capsicum, brushed over with a buttery herby glaze.All courtesy of the food fairy.Altogether, it was like nature’s candy on a stick.
‘Oh, wow,’ she said, licking her fingers.‘This is criminally good.’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
They settled beside each other on the fallen logs near the fire, with knees bumping and eyes trained on the flames, to eat in comfortable silence.
With the meal over, she said what had been bothering her the most.‘I need to go back to the pub tonight.’
‘Are you heading out early?’
‘Not for a few more days.But I’ve got things there.Clothes … my pill.’
That made him look.
‘I didn’t exactly pack for an overnight stake-out followed by a… well,you.’
