“You want me to tell you what to do?” She hadn’t expected that. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d want to be tied up and yelled at. Was that what he expected? Maybe because she was a criminal, he thought…
“Come back,” he murmured, fingertips ghosting along the waist of her jeans until she shivered and twitched. Finn still smiled, though the intensity in his gaze had her heart racing. “Darlin’, I will absolutely take charge if that’s what you want. But you look real nervous and I’m not going to make you more nervous by asking for something you’re not ready to give. So we’ll start here, okay?”
The warmth building between her thighs from the slight friction every time his body moved grew, building toward a boil. If that was him not even doing anything, she’d never survive the full extent of his attention. She gnawed on her lip. Could she really tell him what to do? The thought alone—the mental image of her telling him to take his pants off and fuck her—almost senther into hiding. She cleared her throat and touched his chest, warring with herself. “I don’t know how to…”
Another groan, quickly hidden, distracted her. Finn squeezed her waist and held her there as his hips rotated in a lazy motion that had Lauren fisting his shirt. She gasped and moved to meet him, desperately glad he’d started first, and closed her eyes. Thank God they still had their clothes on, otherwise she could have lifted up and let him take over and things would have been over pretty quickly. Maybe Finn would take his time. He hadn’t rushed anything yet.
His hand slid to the small of her back and then down into her pants, squeezing her butt, to help rock her down against him. She groaned softly and held on tighter. He might kill her. He might actually kill her if he kept it up. At least his breathing went deep and heavy in the near-silent cabin, so she wasn’t the only one panting.
“Take off your shirt,” she blurted out.
She wasn’t brave enough to open her eyes to check his reaction, but she squeaked when he moved and she almost pitched to the side, then Finn put her palms on his bare chest with a murmured, “There we go.”
Oh Lord. She was in trouble. So much trouble.
FINN
Finn would have already ripped her clothes off if she hadn’t hesitated. He knew it the second her thoughts took her somewhere else and she got distracted, and even though he wanted to take it personally—since she was sitting on him and he was obviously ready for some fun—he loved that quirk. Fucking adored it. Because it gave him a chance to tickle her to get her attention back, and she blushed and squirmed, and then keeping himself under control became a problem again.
Her nose wrinkled after he told her to use him, to take what she wanted, and it took a long silence for him to realize that maybe no one had ever given her that control. He hated giving up control of anything, and would have much preferred to take over if it helped her relax. But his instincts told him to wait. If she surrendered, it wasn’t because she was feeling it. It was because that’s what she was used to.
The bear wanted to search out every asshole who’d crossed her path, so he could fucking murder them all, but Finn kept his focus on Lauren. He could go to the back room and handle his own business later, if it came to it, because he damn well wasn’t going to make Lauren uncomfortable or rush her into anything.She was too precious. She washisand he’d damn well take care of her.
Except Shy Lauren made an appearance when she didn’t have her distractions, and she stared at him like a bunny surrounded by wolves. Finn figured she needed to move, to get a little distraction from her own thoughts and doubts, and eased into a slow thrust that would probably kill him but she seemed to enjoy.
Then she told him to take off his shirt and he almost crowed with victory.
He’d never taken anything off so fast in his life. He wanted to pull hers off, too, and get his hands on more of her but he couldn’t rush it. Didn’t want to freak her out. Goosebumps broke out all over him as she murmured and dragged her nails down his bare chest as she rode another slow thrust. She might kill him.
Finn kept the bear at bay and relied on the chill in the air to reinforce his control. The fire burned low and he should have fed more wood to the flames, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Lauren. Her lips parted as her head tilted back, her hair falling loose from the ponytail she’d had, and she rocked her hips down against him in a deep grind that almost set him off. He held her waist, helping her along when she lost the rhythm, and adjusted how she settled against him so her core lined up to grind directly against his hard-on. She made a soft, breathy sound and froze up, clutching at his chest.
“Come for me,” Finn said. He gripped her thighs as Lauren moved in short jerks, and encouraged her to keep riding him until a flush rose up her throat and suffused her face and she seized up with a silent cry. He growled deep in his chest, leaning up so he could kiss her as she moaned and held on and struggled desperately against him.
Lauren collapsed forward on his chest, panting, and nuzzled her face against his neck. Finn closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around her as she shivered and wiggled and sighed. Yep, he was definitely going to have to visit the back room or go outside to sit in the snow.
Her breath whispered against his cheek as she murmured, “You can do what you want, I’m good.”
His eyes narrowed as he stared up at the ceiling. What the fuck did that mean? He stroked her back, pissed off on her behalf. “What are you talking about?”
Lauren stretched out like a starfish, then relaxed again, and rolled to the side to sprawl on her back. She waved at the rest of her body and undid the button on her jeans. “That was nice. You can do…”
“Don’t say that,” he said, shaking his head. Finn turned toward her, frowning. “I don’t like that. I’m not going to do anythingtoyou.”
She blinked and looked up at him. “It’s okay, I got off. It’s your turn.”
He swallowed a groan as his forehead dropped to rest on her shoulder. They had a lot of work to do. It was too bad he’d have to keep his pants on all night to make sure she knew how being with him would be.
Lauren moved uneasily, her fingers working into his hair. “Don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad,” he said. Finn kissed her shoulder, then her throat, then up to her jaw and behind her ear. She smelled wild and natural with none of those awful perfumed soaps and shit. “I could never be mad at you.”
She laughed. “Famous last words. Everyone gets mad at me. Silly, ditzy, flaky Lauren. Careless, clumsy Lauren. Stupid Lauren.”
“Stop,” he said. Finn kissed her to prevent her from saying anything else awful about herself. For fuck’s sake, who’d been beating her down for so long that that was what she thought of herself? How could she laugh while repeating those words? Her lips parted to allow him in and Finn took his time, exploring every part of her mouth until she sighed and lifted her arms around his neck and started to move against him.
He braced his hand on her side and retreated, though he leaned back down for a gentle brush of lips before he spoke. “Don’t say that shit. It’s not true. You’re not those things. You’re energetic.”
She snorted and muttered against his lips. “Now you’re just lying, it’s no…”
