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I slammed the books on the coffee table in the living room and stomped to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water. I was furious with Danny and even angrier at myself that I got tricked into thinking he could be a decent human being. I took my water to the living room and flipped open the first book, thumbing to one of the pages that had tripped me up.
When Finn came into the room, he frowned at my tight shoulders and scowling expression. “What’d I miss?”
“Nothing. Just Danny being his normal charming self. I’m so pissed right now; I can barely think straight!”
Finn sat down next to me on the white leather couch, leaning back and stretching his arm out to rest behind me. “Anything I should beat on him for while I’m here?”
“No. He’s permanently in jackweed mode. Nothing a beating can fix, unfortunately. Though keying his car might take him down a notch.” I slammed the book back on the glass coffee table and huffed. “I was looking forward to you helping me with some of the more confusing words, and now I’m all worked up.”
Finn took the book and flipped it open. “Which part’s got you stumped?”
I opened up my notebook I’d been translating the novels in and thumbed through to one of the dog-eared pages. “This one on page eighty-nine. It’s spelled like karagatan, but I don’t know what that means. Did I get that wrong?”
Finn smiled lazily at me, clearly pleased I was taking such a shine to his language. It was the puzzle aspect of it I craved, my OCD at its most glorious in situations like this. “It means a briny ocean. You got the pronunciation right; it’s just not a word you have here. We’ve got something like fifty words that all mean ocean.”
I scribbled in the text the translation and moved onto the next. Finn was patient as we worked through several notebooks of questions I had, taking detours when we got caught up in talking about the twists of the plot. “You really think Amafura’s good?” Finn asked, surprised that we had a very different take on his favorite character in the series.
“I think she’s redeemable, which is very different than being good. But you already know how it ends, so don’t spoil it.”
Finn chuckled, his arm having drawn me into his nook half an hour ago. He played with the tendrils at the base of my neck, giving me the shivers every now and then that I tried to suppress.
The sun started drooping, and despite only being twenty-three years old, I yawned, though it was hardly past eight o’clock. “How long do I have you for?”
“As long as you like.”
I shot him a simpering look. “I mean how long until you have to go back home?”
“I have to be home before your sun comes up. The prison’s starting to fill up, now that Mathias is in charge. He’s cracking down where Banak turned a blind eye. I thought Mathias would be useless on the throne, just someone to pass the time, but he’s not so bad. I’ve got to make sure there are enough guards for the east wing of the prison.”
“You should go back, then. If they need you, I should say goodnight.”
Finn turned sideways on the couch and moved his leg to snake behind me, patting the space between his open legs. “I told you, I’ve got till sunup. Let me read to you. Show me the page you’re on in the last book I gave you.”
I debated internally, but eventually handed him the book, judging reading together as something that wasn’t too risqué. “That would be great. I’m not a fast reader in your language, so I think some of the magic’s getting lost while I puzzle it all out. I plan on rereading the whole series once I’ve got it all translated. See what I missed while I was in work mode.”
“Come here. Get comfortable.” He patted the empty space between his legs on the couch once more, inviting me in – always inviting.
Again, I hesitated, but finally gave in, curling up in the space he offered. Finn’s body was warm, hard and welcoming. Despite knowing I couldn’t let myself be with him for real, I missed being near him. My heart ached for the closeness we could only share for this brief time when he read to me. Our days spent lounging in his house, reading and debating were precious to me. As I scooted closer and leaned my side into his chest, we both exhaled with relief at indulging in our connection. Our closeness hadn’t disappeared through the distance that the world and I tried to put between us. Finn’s voice was soothing as he read to September and me, encircling us with his arms as he held the book out so I could follow along if I wanted.
Mason came home, raising an eyebrow at our intimate cuddle, but saying nothing. “You can join us,” I offered, hoping that by adding a third person to the mix, the growing heat between Finn and me would start to cool. Mason came down twenty minutes later as a wolf, holding a blanket in his teeth as he jumped up on the couch and curled up on my feet to warm them. He dropped the cream colored, fuzzy, soft blanket atop me, which Finn thanked him for as he spread it out over us. Mason nodded, giving me a steady pull while he vacillated between listening to the story and sleeping. Finn continued on as if nothing was different, clarifying whenever Mason gave a confused tilt to his head accompanied by a light bark.
There was something about Mason’s acceptance of Finn that gave me pause and peace all at the same time.
Ezra eventually joined us, lighting a fire in the hearth and sitting in the recliner as he listened to Finn. I could tell my dad was half-chaperoning and half-enjoying the evening with us. The firelight danced off his skin and made his worry wrinkles fade away into the nothingness of a much younger man. He gave me a tired smile as his eyelids started to droop after about twenty minutes. Ezra deserved a little respite; he’d been through enough with trying to keep his daughter alive, his kingdom safe, and Ollie and me afloat. If there was one person I wished a good night’s sleep for, it was Ezra.
Finn read to us all, my forehead resting to the side of his neck contentedly so I could feel his soft gills. His body wrapped around mine as he held the book with one hand and lightly stroked my belly with the other.
My breathing evened out, and despite my misgivings of how this would end badly for both of us, I let myself feel safe in Finn’s arms, in his life, and in his heart, that seemed to have a steady beat for September and me.