Page 24 of Emerald

His lips trailed down my throat and over my collarbones as he slowly, reverently stripped me bare. He worshiped to every inch of skin he revealed, mapping my body with hands and mouth until I was writhing beneath him, my blood singing with need.

When he finally reached the apex of my thighs, I was already soaked and aching, my hips lifting shamelessly to meet his questing mouth. He groaned at the first taste of me, his eyes fluttering closed in bliss.

"Fuck, you're perfect," he breathed, nuzzling into my slick heat.

"Finn, please," I whimpered, my fingers tangling in his hair to hold him where I needed him most. "Don't tease. Not now."

He hummed in agreement, his tongue flicking out to circle my throbbing clit. My back arched off the bed as pleasure zipped up my spine. He took his time, working me higher and higher with long, slow licks and indulgent suckles. By the time he eased two fingers inside me, curling them just right to stroke that secret spot that made me see stars, I was already teetering on the knife's edge of climax.

"That's it, my queen" he coaxed, his fingers pumping and scissoring in a steady rhythm. "Let me see you fall apart.”

I obeyed with a sob, my hips rising to meet his thrusting fingers, my hands fisting in the sheets as ecstasy crashed over me in a blinding wave. I shattered, my inner muscles clenching around his think fingers as I rode out the aftershocks.

Finn gentled me through it, licking and kissing until the last tremors had subsided. Then he was crawling up my body, settling between my splayed thighs as he notched his thick length against my entrance.

"I love you," he rasped, his forehead resting against mine as he pushed forward, sheathing himself to the hilt in one smooth glide. "I love you so fucking much, Cara. My heart, my soul, the mother of my child..."

I moaned, my legs coming up to wrap around his hips, urging him deeper. He set a slow, rolling pace, his hips undulating against mine that hit every sensitive spot inside me. Finn murmured endearments against my skin, his lips mapping every freckle, every scar as he rocked into me. I could feel the emotion pouring off him. This man. He was mine. My lover, my partner, the father of the child I carried. And as he brought me to one shuddering peak after another, his own release rushing to meet mine I knew, that he would always be.

Chapter 19: Finn

It was the settled bliss that should have alerted me to the fact that something was coming. It was only a few weeks later when raised voices, and the thud of running footsteps had me on my feet. It burst open to reveal a harried-looking Seamus, his shoulders tense.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"It's the girl," Seamus said, his voice tight with an emotion I couldn't quite place. "Anatoly's daughter. She's here, at the gate. Asking for sanctuary."

I blinked, sure I must have heard him wrong. "I'm sorry, what? Anatoly's daughter is here? Alone?"

Seamus nodded, his jaw clenching. "Aye. And in a bad way, from the looks of it. Guards said she was beaten to hell, barely able to stand on her own two feet."

A cold knot formed in my gut, a sinking sense of dread. Anatoly's daughter. I remembered her from that tense meeting a few months ago. A little slip of a girl with big blue eyes and a shy smile. She'd clung to her father's side, young and innocent, untouched by the darkness that surrounded her.

"Take me to her," I said quietly, already moving towards the door. "And send someone to fetch Cara. She'll want to know about this."

Seamus fell into step beside me. I could feel the tension radiating off him. Seamus was a hard man, a ruthless one when the situation called for it, but he wasn't usually one to get worked up over an unexpected visitor, even one with ties to a former enemy.

"You seem on edge, my friend," I said. "Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Seamus's steps faltered, just for a second, before he caught himself and continued on. "I remember the girl, is all," he said gruffly, not quite meeting my gaze. "From the last time. She was... she didn't belong in this world of ours.” He hesitated. “Reminded me of Molly. My little sister.” Seamus did the sign of the cross. “She was the reason I become who I am today. She was a sacrifice that should never have happened.”

I clapped Seamus on his meaty shoulder. I knew his story and how he blames himself for his sister being taken and killed by some thugs working their way in the system. Something had died in him that day and a darkness had taken hold on him. One he couldn’t shake.

We reached the front gate in record time, Seamus practically vibrating with impatience as the guards hauled open the reinforced steel doors. And there, huddled on the ground with a blanket around her shaking shoulders was Anatoly's daughter.

My heart clenched at the sight of her, bile rising in my throat. She was a mess, her pretty face mottled with bruises, her lip split and swollen. She clutched the blanket tighter around herself as we approached, her eyes wide and glassy with shock.

"It's all right, lass," I said gently, crouching down to her level. "You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you here."

She stared at me for a long moment, tears welling up to spill down her cheeks. Then, to my utter shock, she launched herself into my arms, a broken sob tearing from her throat as she buried her face in my shoulder.

I froze, my arms hovering awkwardly in the air before coming to rest on her back. I could feel her trembling, could feel the hitch and shudder of her breathing as she cried into my shirt.

Over her head, I met Seamus's gaze. His hands flexed at his sides, like he was physically restraining himself from wanting to hit something. Anything.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" I asked quietly, rubbing a soothing hand down her back. "I'm Finn, and this is Seamus. We're going to help you, all right?"

She sniffled, raising her head to peer at me through a curtain of matted hair. "N-Natasha," she whispered, her voice hoarse and wavering. "My name is Natasha."

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