Page 56 of Power
“Except the demons in my head.”
“Oh, you have no idea how much I get that,” he mutters almost reluctantly.
“Please lie with me.” I figure one last shot now that he’s closer and facing me.
He blinks. “I’ll get Owen for you.”
“I don’t want Owen. I want you.”
He clenches his jaw tightly. I try not to take offense. I know how he feels about this.
“We don’t have to touch; I just want you close to me.”
He deliberates for a few seconds and then seems to come to a decision. With a grim determination, he takes a step forward and another until he is all the way to the bed. I scoot over as he climbs on. He lies on his back, his hands on his stomach, staring at the ceiling.
“Can I ask you something?” There’s something I have to know after witnessing the interaction between him and Archer earlier.
“What is it?”
“Are you and Archer sleeping together?” I say it in a rush and then wring my fingers as I wait for his answer.
It comes fairly quickly, to my surprise.
“No. I’m incapable of that kind of intimacy.”
It stabs me in the heart. I don’t like that for him. But it’s not my choice.
“May I touch you?” I whisper. I have an overwhelming need to hold him.
He shocks me by reaching out and taking my hand.
I settle in as close to him as I dare, enjoying his cool fingers wrapped around mine. It’s a possessive grip, not lovingly linked, but a hold like he needs it to stop me from running away. It’s very telling.
“Do you see yourself being capable with me?” I whisper.
He stiffens. “I can’t answer that as I have no frame of reference in which to evaluate a response.”
I blink, trying to understand what he’s saying. But then I think I get it, and I try not to gape and make a big deal out of it.
“You’ve never been with anyone?” I ask gently.
His grip tightens painfully on my fingers, crushing them, so the bones grind together. I bite my tongue, so I don’t cry out in pain and scare him away from me.
“No.”
His quiet, one-syllable reply sends a bolt of compassion straight to my heart.
“Finn.”
He turns his head and searches my eyes for a moment before he releases my fingers. “I’ll get Owen,” he says and leaves me quickly, striding across the room to disappear down the stairs before I can call him back.
ChapterThirty-Four
Finn
I take the stairs quickly.I can’t be around her when she asks probing questions. Questions I don’t want to answer. My rational brain knows it’s the only way to get to know someone, but that’s the whole issue. I don’t want her to know me in case she doesn’t like what she sees.
“Go upstairs,” I say to Owen when I see him on the sofa.
