Page 4 of Emerald

Finn barreled into the room. He had a gun in one hand and a murderous expression on his face, his eyes flickering over me in a quick, assessing sweep.

"We need to move." he barked, stalking towards me.

I was abruptly, absurdly aware of my state of undress—pink bikini panties and an oversized t-shirt, my nipples poking through the thin cotton. If I'd thought Finn would be too preoccupied with the impending danger to notice my state of undress, I was dead fucking wrong. His eyes zeroed in on my chest like twin laser beams, his nostrils flaring as he took in the peaked points of my breasts.

For a second, just a second, I saw pure, unadulterated hunger flare in his gaze. The kind of raw, naked want that had fueled my fantasies for years, my fingers just hours before. I felt branded by the heat of it, my skin prickling and my core clenching as I imagined him putting that raging lust to good use on my all-too-willing body.

Then another explosion shook the compound, closer this time, and the moment shattered. Finn blinked and the mask of icy professionalism slammed back into place.

"We need to move. Now princess," he said, wrapping a hand around my upper arm and tugging me towards the door. "Your father's orders. There's a safe room in the basement. We'll wait there until the threat is neutralized."

"A safe room?" I repeated, stumbling slightly as I tried to keep up with his longer strides. "Since when do we have a fucking safe room?"

"Since always." He shot me an exasperated look over his shoulder. "You think your dad would leave his precious princess unprotected? It's for situations exactly like this."

I scowled at the back of his head, ignoring the tingle in my arm where his fingers pressed into my skin. Even in the midst of an attack, with adrenaline sizzling through my veins and fear clawing at my throat, the slightest touch from him set me ablaze. It was completely fucking unfair.

I opened my mouth to let fly with a truly scathing retort, and bit my tongue hard enough to draw blood as Finn skidded to an abrupt halt, whirling to cover me with his body as a hail of bullets peppered the wall where my head had been a split second before.

"Fuck," he growled, his arm tightening around my waist as he pivoted, shielding me from the ricocheting bullets. "They're in the fucking house."

Cold terror tried to claw its way up my throat, but I shoved it down. I would not give in to the helpless-maiden bullshit. Not now, not ever.

"We need to get to the end of the hall." Finn started moving again, half-dragging me with him as he kept himself between me and whoever might be moving towards us. “Move.”

We made it to the end of the hall, and he entered a series of numbers on a hidden panel in the wall. A section of the paneling swung open with a soft snick.

"In," he ordered, practically shoving me through the opening. I stumbled across the threshold, my eyes widening as I took in the reinforced steel walls, the racks of weapons, the bank of security monitors showing every inch of the compound.

"Holy shit," I breathed, turning in a slow circle. "This is some serious Bond villain shit."

Finn snorted, closing the door behind us with a definitive clang. "Your dad takes his security very seriously."

"Clearly." I ran my fingers over the closest rifle, feeling the cool metal beneath my fingertips. "Think he'd mind if I borrowed one of these bad boys?"

"Absolutely fucking not." Finn grabbed my wrist, tugging me away from the weapon with a scowl. "We're staying put until the all-clear."

I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the sizzle of heat that raced up my arm at his touch. "You're no fun."

"Forgive me for not wanting to bring you back to Declan in pieces."

I opened my mouth to argue, to let him know I knew I was perfectly safe with him and I wasn’t worried at all, when I let out an embarrassing yelp as another explosion rocked the compound, this one close enough to vibrate the steel walls of the safe room. Without thinking, I lurched forward, curling into Finn's solid warmth.

He stiffened for a fraction of a second, and I braced myself for the inevitable rejection. But to my shock, his arms came up and around me, crushing me to the hard plane of his chest. I felt his heartbeat beneath my cheek, too fast but so fucking strong, and I nuzzled closer on sheer instinct.

"I've got you," he murmured into my hair, his big hand cupping the back of my head like I was something precious. "I won't let anything happen to you, princess. I swear it."

I closed my eyes, breathing him in, letting his scent and his strength surround me.

"I know," I whispered, my fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. "I trust you, even when you're being a giant pain in my ass."

A surprised laugh rumbled through his chest, and I felt his lips brush the top of my head. "The feeling's mutual, princess."

We stayed like that for a long moment, wrapped up in each other as the muffled chaos of the attack raged on outside. I knew I should pull away, put some distance between us before I did something stupid like climb him like a tree, but I couldn't make myself let go.

Finn was the one to break the silence, his voice low and rough in my ear. "Are you okay Cara?"

Cara. Not princess.

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