Page 17 of Exile and Embrace

As he cracks open the bottle, not bothering with the cups, I search for the television remote.

Once I find it, I turn on some old show and turn down the volume.

Finn takes a swig of the whisky before passing the bottle to me.

I take a drink, leaning back against the pillows and crossing one leg over the other.

“If we’re going to pretend to be married, then we’re going to need to get to know each other.” I take another sip from the bottle before passing it to him. “You already know that I’m a nurse, and I went to university in Virginia where I met you.”

Finn swallows more of the alcohol, wincing as it goes down. “Is there really more we need to cover? That seems like enough.”

“People are going to want to know how you asked me to marry you. How long we were dating before you popped the question. How you knew I was the one, that kind of thing.”

His fingers tighten around the neck of the bottle as he twirls it, sloshing around the liquid inside. “I don’t know. This fake relationship is the most serious one I’ve ever been in.”

“Thirty-two and you’ve never been in a serious relationship?” I take the bottle from him and take a long sip, enjoying the burn as it goes down.

Finn nods. “Never met any woman that was worth my time. And women expect things of you. And then there’s the biggest problem. Nobody wants to marry a killer. Nobody except you, apparently.”

“Well, I’ve always liked living a little on the wild side.” I snort and drink more of the whisky, the edges of my mind starting to blur.

My body begins to relax as Finn takes another drink before setting the bottle to the side.

“You were always too good for my brother. I’m glad that you came to your senses and left him.”

My chest constricts, but the alcohol flowing through my veins keeps me from launching into full-scale panic.

I hate talking about Declan. My plan was to leave everything involving him in my past but then Finn came around and messed that up for me.

“I’d rather talk about anything else.” I roll onto my side and face him.

My shorts rise higher up my thighs, and Finn’s gaze drops.

When he looks back up at me, there is a heated look in his eyes.

And the alcohol has me believing that one little night with him wouldn’t hurt.

Just to see what I’ve been missing out on.

“Well, if you want to talk about anything else, we could talk about those silk restraints.” He smirks, his muscles flexing as he rolls onto his side and faces me.

That’s it. I’m a fucking goner.

Maybe it’s the alcohol that fuels me or maybe it’s the strange attraction that’s been building up over the last three years. It could be danger lingering just beneath the surface that lures me in like the most addictive drug.

Honestly, I don’t know what it is about Finn.

One moment, there’s inches between us, and then the next, there’s not even enough room for air.

His mouth moves against mine, his kiss slow and soft despite the raging boner that’s pressing against my stomach.

The imprint of his hard cock has my pussy dripping as I roll on top of him. My legs frame his hips as he lays back into the bed.

The only thing I know I’m going to remember about this moment is that Finn Byrne tastes like vanilla whisky and bad decisions.

Finn’s tongue tangles with mine as his hands move up and down the curves of my body.

He groans into the kiss as he nips my bottom lip before plunging his tongue back into my mouth again.

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