Beth stood for a moment in the doorway of the gorgeous little cabin, watching Finn’s tall figure stride back up the path to the house.
Her chest hurt, the warmth she’d felt the moment she’d stepped out of the truck and seen him standing on the deck waiting for her ebbing.
She’d loved his house, loved how it was full of light, how all the furniture was simple yet so comfortable looking, and that it was full of lots of different books and magazines and all sorts of other things a man with a curious mind might collect. She loved the kitchen with the beautiful, dark-golden cabinets Finn had made himself and obviously with a great deal of care and thought.
She loved this little cabin too, her heart instantly leaping at the sight of the wide desk and all the shelves and places to put things, and the magnificent view through the big windows.
But part of her also knew from the moment she’d stepped inside that this wasn’t Finn’s area. It was empty, for a start, and there were was something about it that made it feel like a more feminine space than masculine.
Then he’d said it was his wife’s cabin, where she did her art.
That had felt like a punch to the gut, not so much it having been his wife’s as the expression on his face when he’d said it. Hard. Fixed. A muscle in his jaw leaping, his mouth a carved line. His eyes had been so dark, no light in them whatsoever, just the raw edge of grief.
Of course. This was the house he’d lived in with Sheri, and here he was showing another woman around it. Another woman pregnant with his child.
Her heart ached. Because it was clear that though he hadn’t wanted her to take the cabin and was deeply uncomfortable showing it to her, he’d brought her here anyway. Why? And why had he offered for her to move in? When it was still painful for him?
It’s the baby he wants, not you.
The ache inside her deepened, though not for herself, because she already knew he didn’t want her—not like that. They didn’t have that kind of relationship anyway, which was something they’d agreed on. They weren’t together and she wasn’t disappointed about that, not when she didn’t want anything more either.
What was clear was that they needed to talk about it. She didn’t want her presence here to hurt him and if that really was the case, then obviously she couldn’t move in. She wasn’t his wife, and she didn’t want him to feel as if she was taking Sheri’s place.
Beth looked around the cabin, feeling the warmth and the welcome in it. The good energy that lingered in the air.
“Don’t worry,” she murmured. “I’ll make sure he’s okay.”
Then she stepped back out again and walked back up the white-shell path to the deck.
Finn was standing in the middle of the living area, his back to the windows, his posture rigid. Karl had gotten up off his cushion and was nosing into Finn’s hand, clearly picking up on the emotional tension in the air and wanting to offer his master some comfort.
Beth stepped through the doors and stood there a moment, wondering what to say that would help because she very much wanted to help.
Karl trotted over to her, gave her a sniff and licked her hand; then, as if deciding Finn was in good hands, he vanished out the door, onto the deck.
“Finn…I’m sorry,” Beth began, hesitant. “I don’t have to be here—”
“Yes, you do.” He turned around sharply, dark eyes blazing. “You’re pregnant with my child and that means you’ll live here with me.”
His deep voice was hoarse and his gaze so intense, so hot, she nearly went up in flames. But a thread of desperation ran through the words, the same desperation that burned in his eyes too.
A need gripped her to close the distance and touch him, run her hands across his tight shoulders and ease the tension in them, soothe him somehow with her presence the way he soothed her. But she got the distinct impression that wouldn’t help.
“I made this,” she said after a moment, her fingers brushing the pendant at her neck, “in the first couple of weeks I was in Brightwater. I found out what a koru was and that it stands for new life, peace, and strength. I loved the shape and the meaning, so I made myself a pendant I could wear.” She swallowed, hoping she might be able to offer him something from her own experience. “I’ve never told anyone this before, so you’re the first. I mean, I did try to tell Troy—he was my boyfriend before I came here—but he didn’t want to hear it and certainly not after he left. I…I’d picked out a name for my baby when I was first pregnant. I named her Sunny. Because she was like a little ray of sunshine in my life.” Beth closed her fingers around the pendant, her chest tight and sore. “She might not have been in my life for very long, but I was still her mother, and I didn’t want grief to be her only legacy. I didn’t want depression to be her monument either, not when her presence had made me so happy. So…that’s what I chose. I chose the happiness she gave me. I pulled myself out of that depression and I came here to find a new future for myself, one that would be more worthy of Sunny’s memory.”
There were tears in her eyes, but she blinked them back because this wasn’t about her and her own loss. This was about him and his. About how even in the depths of the black pit, there were still choices to be made and something to hold on to. Something to reach for.
She wasn’t sure if giving him a small piece of herself would help, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Finn was silent, his expression taut, his dark eyes burning. Then he suddenly moved, closing the distance between them and taking her face between his hands.
She went still, her breath catching at the way he looked at her, at the desperation in his gaze. His palms were warm on her skin, his long, muscular body close, and she closed her eyes as his mouth came down, something inside her bursting into flames.
He kissed her hard, his lips hot and demanding on hers as if he’d been holding himself back too long and the leash had finally snapped and he was free. Devouring her as if he were starving and she were something delicious to eat.
It felt good to have him close, to have his mouth on hers and to taste him again. So so good. A relief, in fact. She put her palms flat to his chest and leaned into him, kissing him back as hungrily as he was kissing her, wanting his strength and his reassurance, wanting his hands on her giving her the pleasure she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about for an entire month now.
He made a growling sound in his throat, propelling her over to the long, low leather couch that stood near the windows, then taking her down onto it.
His weight settled on her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, arching up to press herself more firmly against his hot, iron-hard body.
He kissed her deeper, hotter, and she welcomed him, the rich taste of his mouth and the earthy, musky, masculine scent of him making her dizzy with desire.
She fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, desperate to feel the warmth of his skin. He helped, finally pulling it over the top of his head and off, and oh, he was glorious without his shirt. His torso was lean, every muscle cut, his skin smooth and tanned.
Beautiful. He was beautiful.
He didn’t give her enough time to admire him though. His hands dropped to the hem of her sundress, pulling it up, and luckily it was stretchy so it didn’t take much for her to wriggle out of it. He dealt with her underwear in seconds flat before getting rid of his clothes as well, and then she was being pressed back on the warm leather of the couch, both of them naked.
They were skin to skin, the heat being generated between them igniting into a bonfire of desire.
She couldn’t think of anything but him, the feel of his body on hers, anchoring her, sheltering her, and the hot stroke of his tongue in her mouth. She kissed him back desperately, shivering with delight as he ran a hand down her body as if he couldn’t wait to touch her, skimming over the curve of one breast, down her side, to her hip and thigh.
She spread her fingers out on his powerful shoulders, feeling the taut flex of his muscles, signs of his incredible strength. He made another of those delicious, demanding, masculine noises and shifted between her thighs, positioning himself.
“Tell me you want me, Beth,” he growled in her ear. “I want to hear it.”
“Yes, I want you,” she gasped, ready to tell him whatever he needed to hear. “I want you so much, Finn.”
“And where do you want me?”
“You know where.”
“Tell me.” Very gently he bit her earlobe. “Tell me specifically.”
Oh God. Why was that so incredibly hot?
She swallowed. “I want you inside me. Now.”
He didn’t ask again, and he didn’t hesitate, pushing into her in a long, luxurious slide that had her moaning into his mouth. He felt so good inside her, so unbelievably good that she was shaking with the pleasure of it.
He went still then, his whole body tense, and she slid her hands down his back, stroking him, her hips lifting, encouraging him to move because she thought she might die if he didn’t.
“Please,” she whispered against his mouth. “Please…”
He began to move slowly, in a rhythm that left her panting and twisting, her nails digging into his back. His mouth moved too, trailing over her jaw and down her throat to the hollow where her pulse beat fast beneath the little silver koru nestled there. He kissed her, sucking gently, sending electric jolts of pleasure throughout her entire body.
She shuddered, his name a prayer on her lips, and she closed her eyes, sparks glittering and shimmering behind her closed lids. Everything had fallen away, all her fear of the future and what it might hold, all her worry she wouldn’t be as strong as she thought she was, that she wouldn’t be as brave—that she wouldn’t be able to cope with what was coming and would fall into the pit again.
Yet now all of that was gone, crushed beneath the most glorious pleasure, a rush of delight and excitement and hope she hadn’t felt in far too long. Not since the last time he’d held her in his arms.
Beth flung herself into it and surrendered, offering herself up to him, letting him take whatever he wanted and losing herself in pleasure.
He moved faster, harder, the sound of their combined breathing loud in her ears, and then he slipped a hand down between her thighs, stroking her so that suddenly everything broke apart in a shower of light and sparks, and she was trembling as ecstasy swamped her.
His movements became jerky, and he gasped her name in a hoarse, desperate voice before the pleasure came for him too and he buried his face in her neck, his breathing ragged and hot against her skin.
For long moments there was nothing but silence, not that Beth could speak even if she’d wanted to. She felt almost stunned by the speed and intensity of what had happened between them.
One minute she’d been talking to him about Sunny; the next she was on her back on the couch and he was inside her. Not that she was unhappy about it at all. Not when his body on hers felt good, a warm, heavy weight that wasn’t crushing, only deeply reassuring.
She let her hands roam up and down the strong lines of his powerful back, stroking the oiled silk of his skin, admiring the tanned smoothness of it in the light coming through the windows. He didn’t move and he didn’t say anything, but his muscles relaxed under her touch, and it seemed to be something he enjoyed, so she kept doing it.
After what felt like a very long time, he finally lifted his head to look down at her, his gaze full of an expression she didn’t understand.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice husky. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
But she took one hand from his back and pressed a finger against the warm softness of his lips, silencing him. “Don’t be sorry,” she murmured. “I’m not.”
The look in his eyes shifted and changed like the currents in a deep sea. “I wasn’t supposed to do this again. It wasn’t part of the plan for tonight. It wasn’t part of the plan, full stop.”
Beth met his gaze, letting him see that she wasn’t disappointed about the way the evening was turning out, not at all. Some kind of tension had relaxed inside her, though she wasn’t sure why, and maybe it was only the effect of a rather incredible orgasm, but whatever it was she felt good and not in a forced way.
This felt genuine. This felt real.
“Well,” she said quietly, “maybe it should be.”
He studied her face for a long moment and what he was thinking she couldn’t tell. Sometimes she thought she knew what was going on in his head, and sometimes she had no idea. He could be hard to read.
“I wasn’t thinking of only having you moving in, Beth,” he said in a low voice.
“Oh?” She tried not to tense up, because she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like this. “What else were you thinking about?”
Finn’s dark eyes glittered. “I want you to marry me.”
***
He hadn’t meant to come out with it like that. He’d meant to feed her some good food, let her relax, then bring the subject up as more of an idea to consider instead of an order she had to follow.
But he hadn’t expected to be blindsided by his own feelings about her being here, in the same space he’d shared with Sheri. He’d genuinely thought it would be fine, because hell, it had been years since he’d lost Sheri, and everything else concerning Beth had felt so…easy and painless.
He hadn’t expected to want her quite so intensely or feel the weight of the secret she’d given him, her baby’s name. He’d been so short with her at the cabin, walking away without even an explanation, and yet she’d known what his problem had been anyway. Then had offered him a little piece of herself as a way to help. She was so generous with her caring that he’d been flooded with the most powerful desire for her.
He’d expected her to walk away or to change the subject, anything but notice his own grief and give him something to hold on to.
Then again, maybe he should have expected it. Beth seemed to be able to sense his emotions in a way that no one else was able to, not even his own brother.
He shouldn’t have pushed her down onto the couch though, or taken her the way he had. It was exactly the opposite of what he’d told himself he was going to do. Sleeping with her had not been part of the plan, like he’d told her.
It was just…she was so beautiful, and he was so hungry. And looking down at her now, he knew that any thoughts of having a platonic marriage had just been a lovely fairy story he’d told himself to make himself feel better.
He wasn’t going to be able to keep away from her. He didn’t want to.
Beth’s eyes went wide, the blush in her cheeks deepening. “Excuse me? You want to marry me?”
Finn held her gaze, unflinching. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot the past couple of days. Thinking about you and the baby and the future. I want our child to have my name and for both of you to have some legal protection. And…” He paused, letting her see how much this meant to him. “I want us to be a family.”
She swallowed and he could see the pulse at the base of her throat start to race. Her body beneath his was tense, so he shifted to give her some space. But the movement and the heat of her skin and the sweet musky scent of sex and apricots was making him hard again.
He wanted to kiss her, run his hands over her skin, taste more of her, spend time on this couch exploring her lovely body, exploring all the brightness and sunshine that was part of her.
“Marriage,” she repeated as if she didn’t know the meaning of the word. “You want to marry me.”
“Yes.” He pushed back one of her pale curls, tucking it behind her ear, letting his fingers linger on the softness of her skin. “I should have said something earlier, but I was kind of hoping to build up to it.”
“Finn, you barely know me. Also you could hardly stand for me to be in that little cabin out there just now. Your wife’s cabin.” There was no hesitation as she said the word wife, no flinching. As if she was confronting him with it. “Yet you want to marry me and presumably have me live here with you in this house? How is that even going to work?”
Good question. How?
Tension gripped him, though he tried to ignore it since he didn’t want to ruin this moment by getting defensive.
But the problem was he didn’t know how to answer her question. He didn’t know how it was going to work. Because she wasn’t wrong. They did barely know each other. And he had reacted badly to her being in Sheri’s cabin. He wasn’t even sure why.
She wasn’t a threat to Sheri’s memory. She wasn’t trying to replace her. She and Sheri weren’t similar in any way. Hell, it had been five years. His wife’s presence shouldn’t still be weighing on him so heavily, right?
“I’ll get you a cloth,” he muttered, abruptly pushing himself away and off the couch, needing some time to think it through.
Or at least he tried to.
Until Beth’s arms tightened around him, holding him where he was.
“Don’t go,” she said. “We need to talk about this.”
“Beth…”
But she didn’t let him go. “If you marry me, I’ll be your wife, Finn. Have you thought about that? I’ll be your wife, just like Sheri was—”
“No,” he said sharply, before he could stop himself. “You won’t be like Sheri. No one was like her, okay? You’re different. You don’t look like her, you don’t act like her. You’re pregnant. We’re going to have a baby. It’s not the same.” His heart was beating very fast. “And I don’t love you. That’s why it works.”
The flush of color had ebbed from her cheeks, leaving her pale, and he knew he’d hurt her, though why she should be hurt by any of this, when they didn’t have feelings for each other, he had no idea. But she was.
With an effort, he got a grip on himself. “I’m sorry,” he said with more gentleness this time. “I haven’t had a woman in this house since she died and it’s hitting me harder than I thought.”
A tiny crease of concern appeared between her brows. “You haven’t? Not at all?”
He hesitated a moment with the truth, because no one knew, and he wasn’t in any hurry for people to find out. But Beth had given him a secret of her own and without being prompted. She’d simply offered it up, as if he was a man who deserved to know, a man she could trust. So how could he hold back now?
But it will make her important. It will make her mean something.
Yeah, well, she was important, and she did mean something. It wasn’t love, but it was something all the same, and she deserved to know.
“No,” he said. “In fact, I haven’t been with a woman since she died.” He couldn’t stop himself from looking into her pretty green eyes, from holding her gaze so she could see the truth. “You’re the first. You’re the first in five years.”
He could see the shock flicker over her face, and suddenly he didn’t want to know what she thought. He couldn’t bear any questions about it.
“Stay there.” He needed to get some space, put some distance between them. “I’ll get a cloth.”
This time when he got up, she let him go.
He put on his jeans and stalked to the bathroom in the hallway, finding a soft cloth for her and turning on the hot tap for some warm water.
As the water ran, he muttered a curse under his breath. He shouldn’t have said those things to her. Why had he? About Beth being different and how he didn’t love her. About her being the first woman he’d been with in five years.
His emotions were all over the place and it wasn’t fair to put them on her. She had nothing to do with Sheri, and all the issues he had were his to deal with, not hers. Especially when she had more than enough on her plate to handle as it was.
Then again, she did need to know where she stood, especially if she was going to be living with him and they were going to be married. A certain amount of honesty was required.
He’d learned that with Sheri in the first few months after they’d moved in together. He was a neat freak, and she was messy as hell, and things had been a bit fraught until they’d figured out a system that worked for both of them.
They’d had arguments after that, sure, but not very many of them. Sheri had been very forthright and honest, which had helped.
This is about more than her being untidy and you being neat. You don’t even know if she is or not. You don’t know anything about her.
Well, that was a lie. He knew she was bright and cheerful and pretty. He knew she’d lost a baby. He knew that she’d had postnatal depression and a partner called Troy who’d left her…
A heavy, powerful feeling shifted in his chest, but he shut it down hard before he could figure out what it was. Yeah, he knew bits and pieces about her. And he should probably be a little more forthcoming with her, but he could do that.
This thing between them would work. He’d make it work.
Turning the tap off and squeezing out the cloth, Finn brought it back to the living area. Beth had pulled one of the blankets that was hanging over the back of the couch around her, covering herself up, which was a pity. He loved looking at her naked.
She was looking at him, those big green eyes of hers full of emotion, sympathy, compassion, and all kinds of other things that made his soul ache and his spirit hungry. Suddenly he wanted everything he could see in her gaze, wanted it desperately, as if he’d been starved of it.
But that would involve him giving her things he wasn’t ready to give, and he didn’t know if he ever would, so he said nothing as he handed her the cloth.
She seemed to understand because she didn’t say anything either, cleaning herself up wordlessly as he grabbed a shirt and put it on before going into the kitchen area to check on the casserole and start making the salad.
He was standing at the counter when Beth came over, still wrapped in the blanket. She watched him silently for a moment, then moved around behind him and put her arms around him.
Finn froze as the warmth of her body pressed against him. There was nothing demanding in it. It was simply her, giving him her warmth and comfort.
“I haven’t been with anyone since Troy.” Her voice was quiet. “So that’s…probably about three or so years. You’re my first since then too.”
He didn’t want to feel satisfied about that, but he did. Very, very satisfied.
“I didn’t want it to be special,” he said into the silence that followed. “I just wanted to…move on, I guess. But…” He hesitated but then said it, because she deserved to know. “It was special all the same. And so are you.” He put his hands over hers where they rested on his stomach. “You’re right—we don’t know each other well, and yeah, I do have some issues about Sheri.” He turned around, looking down at her, because this was important and he wanted to see her face. “I guess what I’m saying is that I’d like to get to know you. And I’ll deal with those issues. I want this to work. I want you to live here and I want you in my bed. I want us to be together.”
Her eyes were shadowed and full of that complicated mix of emotions he’d wanted so badly before, and her mouth was still full and red from his kisses.
And he felt desire rise again, hot and desperate, bringing the knowledge with it that Beth deserved better than this—better than a man still living with the ghost of his first wife.
“I can’t give you more than that,” he went on, because he had to get it out now. “All I’ve got to offer is sex, financial support, and to be there for you when you need it. To be there for our kid too. But if that’s enough for you…”
She didn’t say anything, the emotions shifting in her eyes. Then she pulled the blanket from around her body, let it fall to the floor, went up on her toes, and kissed him. Hard.
And Finn forgot how difficult this was turning out to be and how complicated. Forgot about everything as desire gripped him by the throat, choking him. Nothing was more important than the woman in his arms and the feel of her mouth on his.
Nothing.
He lifted her into his arms and carried her upstairs to his bedroom, where he laid her down on top of the dark blue comforter, then pulled off his clothes.
She lifted her arms to him in wordless invitation, as if she’d been his lover for years, and it made his heart clench, made him hungry. And he realized it wasn’t only because he wanted her body and the pleasure she gave him, but also because it was her.
She didn’t ask him questions, didn’t require him to explain himself. She didn’t demand anything from him. She only offered—warmth, comfort, and pleasure. Little pieces of herself. A secret no one else knew that she gave only to him. Hers was a generous spirit, and there was nothing inside him that could refuse.
So he knelt astride her hips, took her raised hands in his, and kissed her knuckles. Then, holding her gaze, he pressed her hands down on the pillows on either side of her head and trapped them there.
“There’re a few things I’ve been dreaming of doing to you, Bethany Grant,” he murmured softly. “Will you let me?”
“Uh, stupid question,” she said in a husky, throaty voice. “Of course.”
“Then keep your hands there and don’t move them.”
He let her go, gratified when she obeyed, keeping her hands pressed to the pillows. Then he set his mouth to her throat and began to work his way down.
He made a meal of her, taking his time, tracing every curve of her body with his mouth, from the swell of her breasts to the tight little points of her nipples. He closed his lips around one, sucking hard, making her gasp and her body arch in delight, before transferring his attention to the other.
She murmured his name as he caressed her, stroking her like a cat, loving the feel of her soft skin beneath his fingers. She was so responsive to his touch and to the pleasure he was giving her, it made him feel like a god.
And when he pushed her thighs apart and bent his head, tasting her, and she cried out, it made him feel like even more of one.
He’d missed giving pleasure to a woman. Missed making her writhe and scream with ecstasy in his arms. Missed the feel of a woman’s skin and the salty sweetness of her taste. Missed the soft heat and slickness between her thighs and her arms around his neck, his name being called in delight.
No, not just “a woman.”
Beth.
He wasn’t sure how you could miss something you didn’t even know you were missing, but nevertheless, right here, right now, with Beth in his arms naked and gasping his name as he tasted her, he knew he’d missed her.
She was sunshine and sweetness, and he’d been in the dark, alone, for far too long.
He needed this and he needed her, and marriage was the only answer. He wouldn’t accept anything less.
Finn slid his hands beneath her hips, lifting her so he could taste her deeper, driving her on toward the edge of the cliff and then straight over it.
And when she screamed his name, he felt nothing but satisfaction.
As she shuddered on the bed, panting and pink, he lifted his head and moved over her, positioning himself between her thighs. Her hands were still beside her head on the pillow and that gave him a deep kind of thrill too.
“So?” he murmured as he eased into her, keeping it nice and gentle and slow. “Will you marry me, Beth?”
She gave a soft groan, arching back into the mattress. “You want an answer right now?”
“Yes.” He lowered his head and brushed his mouth against hers, touching his tongue to her lower lip gently, tracing it as the slick heat of her body gripped him tight. “It could be good. We could have this every night.”
She gave another little moan, as he eased deeper. “No fair. This is cheating.”
“It’s a simple question.” He tilted his hips slightly, making her gasp. “Yes or no?”
Her pupils had dilated, making her eyes look huge and dark in her flushed face, and there were soft little curls of hair stuck to her forehead. She was so lovely. He couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to have her just like this, sleeping with him in this bed every night. Or rather not sleeping.
“You can’t ask for an answer now…oh…” She gasped again as he shifted slightly, her hands still beside her head, now trembling. “Oh…F-Finn, that’s…that’s definitely not fair…”
“Yes or no?” He nuzzled against her skin, setting his teeth against the cords of her neck and biting down gently. “Come on. It’s not hard.”
“You’re such an ass. Oh…”
He heard her breath catch as he began to move, enjoying teasing her and making her gasp and writhe beneath him. Enjoying how flushed she was and how she could barely speak because of what he was doing to her.
“Oh?” He kept his movements deep and slow, drawing out the pleasure for both of them, feeling it roll over him with all the delicious heat of the summer sun. “You keep saying that.”
Her mouth curved, her lashes fluttering, giving him flashes of the deep, shadowed emerald of her eyes. “You’re…making it difficult for me to say anything else.”
“I only need one word, honey.” The endearment slipped out before he could stop it, but he could tell from the look on her face that she liked it. Just as she liked everything else he was doing—that was obvious too because she was moving with him now, giving him as much pleasure as he was giving her.
“Remind me what that word is again?” Her voice had gone husky and ragged, but the look she gave him was seductive as hell. “I keep forgetting it.”
The emotional tension that had pulled taut between them down in the living room had dissipated now, and he was in no hurry to resurrect it. They were good like this, when they were flirting with each other, and he wanted more of it, so he relaxed and laughed, delighted at her giving back as good as she got.
“Yes,” he breathed, bending to kiss her again. “Yes is the word you’re looking for.”
“Finn…” she breathed as he began to move faster. “Finn…”
“Wrong.” He nipped at her bottom lip, angling his hips to go deeper.
She moaned, wrapping her legs around his waist, her hands coming up off the pillow.
“Nuh-huh,” he murmured, grabbing them and putting them back down again. “What did I say about moving them?”
“Finn,” she gasped, shifting and rocking against him. “Finn, please…”
“No.” He bit her again. “The words you’re looking for are Finn, yes…”
“But I—”
“Yes and then you can move your hands.”
Beth gasped as he upped the pace, moving faster, harder. “You’re a tyrant.”
“I know.” He slid one hand down to cup her breast, flicking his thumb over one hard nipple, then pinching it gently. “And you love it.”
“Yes,” Beth said breathlessly. “Okay, yes, Finn, I’ll marry you.”
Finn smiled, something expanding inside him that wasn’t only physical pleasure. Something that felt like relief. “There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Beth muttered a curse, lifted her hands, and pulled his mouth down on hers.
And he finally let the pleasure consume them both.