Page 121 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

A whimper escapes me as I obey, rocking slower, deeper, his body arching to meet mine. His hands roam my skin like he’s memorizing it—one palm skimming up my spine to tangle in my hair, tilting my head back as his mouth crashes over mine. The kiss is possessive, demanding, but his thumbs sweep gently over my nipples, rolling in slow circles until I gasp into his mouth. “There,” he growls, breaking the kiss to watch me unravel. “That’s how you take what you need. Let it build.”

I tremble, my nails digging into his shoulders as the pleasure coils tighter, hotter. Finn’s breath hitches when I grind down harder, his own restraint fraying, but he shakes his head, hands sliding to cup my face. “Look at me,” he rasps. His eyes lock on mine, dark and blazing, as he guides my hips again, our bodies syncing into a rhythm that steals the air from my lungs. “Don’t hide from this. Don’t hide fromme.”

The command splinters me. I cry out, my release surging like a storm, but Finn swallows the sound with another searing kiss, his arms banding around me as he murmurs filthy, tender praisesagainst my lips. He doesn’t let go, even as my climax ripples through us both, his hips stuttering beneath mine until he’s panting my name like a prayer.

When the world sharpens again, I’m slumped against him, my forehead pressed to his collarbone. Finn’s fingers trace idle patterns down my back, his heartbeat a wild echo of my own. “Still with me?” he asks, voice hoarse. His lips brush my temple, lingering as if afraid to pull away. “That was so beautiful.”

I nod, clinging to him, my throat tight. The warmth between us feels too vast to name—a fragile, terrifying thing blooming beneath the heat. Finn shifts, rolling us sideways to face each other, his thumb stroking my cheek.

I don’t know how long we stay there, just gazing at each other in the darkness. I just know I don’t want it to end.

But as I drift in the safety of his arms, the shadows at the edges of the room seem to pulse. Finn’s heartbeat thrums steady under my palm, his breath warm in my hair, yet a warning lingers, cold and quiet:This peace is borrowed.

Because Finn is right. This isn’t real. And none of this is mine.

Chapter 32

Ren

The morning light creeps across the kitchen counter as I stare into my tea, watching leaves settle at the bottom of the cup. We’d tried for normalcy—the three of us making breakfast like we used to, before everything changed. Before I?—

“Pass the sugar?” Jax’s quiet request breaks through my thoughts.

I slide it over without looking up. The kitchen feels too empty and too full at the same time. Empty because Finn isn’t here yet, full because we all know he’s upstairs withher. Both of them curled up in our nest, their scents probably mingling in ways I’m tryingveryhard not to think about.

Stone hasn’t said a word since he started cooking, his movements more like robot than man as he flips pancakes. The rhythmic scrape of the spatula against the griddle is the only thing that fills the silence.

“He slept through the night,” Jax offers finally, like he’s testing the words.

I grunt in acknowledgment. Finn sleeping through the night shouldn’t be remarkable. But it is.

“The whole night,” Stone emphasizes, still not turning from the stove. “No nightmares. No panic attacks. No?—”

“Iknow.” The words snap out harsher than I mean them to. Of course, I know. I’m the reason he has those nightmares. The reason he wakes up gasping, clutching his side where the door frame crushed inward?—

A floorboard creaks overhead and we all freeze. Footsteps, quick and light, moving with a bounce that hasn’t been there in…

I have to force myself to remain still as hushed voices from above begin to get clearer. There’s the sound of the nest room door being opened and then Finn’s voice talking about something I can’t catch. The stairs creak as they descend and the muscles in my throat tighten up.

I’m not sure what to expect. One glance at Jax and Stone tells me they don’t know what to expect either.

“Good morning, my gorgeous disasters!”

Finn’s voice rings through the kitchen like a bell, bright and clear and so achingly familiar it steals my breath. When I look up, he’s practically dancing into the room, wearing those ratty old sweatpants he loves and one of Stone’s old sweaters that I haven’t seen him wear in forever. His hair is still damp from a shower, curling around his ears the way it used to before?—

Before.

“Oh, pancakes!” He bounces over to Stone, peering around his shoulder. “Dinosaurs again? You’re so predictable.”

Stone’s spatula freezes mid-flip. “They’re not?—”

“Yes, they are. That’s clearly a stegosaurus.” Finn steals a blueberry from the bowl, popping it into his mouth with a grin that makes my heart ache. “Though your T-Rex needs work. The proportions are all wrong.”

“It’s not a—” Stone starts to protest, then actually looks at his griddle. “... shut up.”

Finn laughs—actually laughs—and the sound hits me like a punch in the gut.

“Coffee?” Jax offers, already reaching for a mug. His voice is careful, but I catch the uncertainty in his undertone.

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