Fighting Redemption(22)

“Agreed.”

They sat quietly for a long moment until Jake’s voice cut through the silence. “How long have you been in love with my sister?”

Ryan’s head whipped up sharply, suddenly breathless. Jake’s elbows rested on his knees as he looked at Ryan with steady, green eyes.

He swallowed. “Since as long as I can remember,” he admitted.

Jake nodded and set his empty bottle on the table. Ryan tilted his head as Jake stood up.

“Maybe one day you’ll pull your finger out,” he said and walked quietly back to his room.

“Fuck,” Ryan muttered.

He must have sat there for hours, his stomach twisted in knots. When the sound of a key came at the front door, the early light of dawn was just starting to break over the sky.

Ryan stirred, his eyes burning dully as Crookshanks leaped off his lap and trotted down the hallway.

Fin came through the door, dishevelled and utterly delectable. With the cat winding around her feet, she stumbled, scowling as she banged her knuckles into the side table.

Ryan bit his lip at the clumsy and endearing behaviour. He watched as she fumbled her way towards the bathroom and shut the door with a soft click. The shower ran for a solid half hour, and he closed his eyes, imagining every naked inch of her, warm and wet, as she stood beneath the pounding water.

When she came out belting her cotton robe, thick clouds of steam trailed behind her.

He cleared his throat and she looked towards the living room, her eyes wide.

“Ryan. You’re home.”

He liked how that sounded. Home.

“So are you,” he replied as she walked towards him.

Fin brushed her fingers through her damp hair. “I uh … went to talk to Ian.”

“Until five in the morning?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” she ground out, her hands falling to her sides.

“Maybe you don’t, but I don’t get it. He was violent towards you.”

She huffed, her exasperation clear. “He wasn’t. We had an argument. You punched him.”

Ryan nodded, drawing in a deep breath of satisfaction. “I did, and I won’t apologise. Not for that, because I’d do it again.”

She stood in front of the armchair Jake vacated earlier that evening and sank into it. “We’re just going around in circles,” she muttered wearily.

He looked at her, drowning in the desolate green depths of her eyes. “I want you, Fin,” he finally admitted. “So damn much I can’t sleep from it. I lie in bed at night and I dream of my lips on yours, my mouth tasting every inch you. I want to f*ck you until I go blind from it and even then I don’t think it would ever be enough.”

Fin scrambled out of the chair she’d just sat down in.

“I’m sorry,” he added hoarsely. “I want to say I’m trying not to want you, and I did. I tried, but I don’t know if I can any longer.”

“Stop,” she said shakily.

Anxiety rolled off her in waves. He stood up and walked towards her. She held out a hand as though to ward him off. “Ian and I … we worked things out.”

Ryan blocked out her words. Instead, he grabbed hold of her hands and yanked her towards him. The sweet smell of her surrounded him until he couldn’t breathe from it.

Leaning in, he whispered in her ear, “Don’t tell me. Please.”

Ryan grew hard thinking of her in the shower, but having her close like this had him throbbing painfully. With his teeth, he tugged on her earlobe and felt the moan deep in her chest. Grabbing her hips, he pulled her flush against his body, needing her to feel just how much he wanted her.

He licked a path along her neck, letting his tongue swirl maddeningly over her skin. God, she tasted better than he even dreamed she would.

“Ryan,” she moaned, and the sound of his name on her lips set him on fire. “Stop.”

He wound his arms around her body, his hands gripping her ass before her words registered and he froze.

“We can’t do this. Ian’s going to wait for me, Ryan.”

Ryan closed his eyes and buried his head in her neck. Her arms came around him, holding him close. He blinked away the tears that burned his eyes, not wanting her to see them.

Taking a deep breath, he drew back and her arms fell away. Reaching up, he wiped at the tears spilling down her cheeks. “Don’t cry, baby. I’m sorry.”

She pressed her lips together.

“Smile, okay? You’ll be gone in a little over a week and you can do that moving on thing,” he whispered thickly.

Fin nodded through her tears and his heart ached.

“Now smile. For me,” he ordered.

Her lips curved upwards but sadness lingered in her eyes. He tickled her ribs, digging his fingers in until he forced a laugh out of her.

“That’s better,” he murmured and cupped her face with his palm. “I’d give almost anything to wake up to that every morning.”

He hated the words that came out of his mouth. It hurt like a bitch knowing her beautiful smile belonged to another man.

“Almost anything.” She backed up a step. “That’s always been our problem, hasn’t it?”





Five days had passed since that morning with Ryan. They were long ones because every time Fin closed her eyes, he was sitting on her couch, his dark eyes searing and intense, and he was telling her how much he wanted her. God. He didn’t need to tell her. When she’d been yanked against that rock hard chest, she could feel it.