tub. Feeling a combination of relief, guilt—and strangely enough, disappointment—Finn stood in the shower by himself until the water temperature began to dip into uncomfortable territory. Only then did he turn off the shower and climb out of the tub.
He quickly dried himself with a thick terry-cloth towel and then wrapped it around his hips and secured it there—no more walking around naked while Cecilia was around—and stepped out of the bathroom.
She was asleep in his bed, all but buried beneath a mound of blankets that she’d obviously pulled out of the closet. Her wet hair, dark blonde against the stark white pillowcase, fanned out behind her head. He sighed and brushed a lock out of her face. She turned toward his hand, nuzzled it for a moment, and then turned back to the pillow and sighed softly in her sleep. Finn pulled his hand away and looked at it.
What the hell was he going to do with her?
* * * *
She slept until noon, and they started arguing five minutes later.
“I am not going home wearing your clothes,” she protested.
“Would it be better if I went to your house and informed your parents that you’ve been sleeping naked in my bed and could I please have a set of clothing in which to send you home?” he retorted.
They were both on edge, a combination, no doubt, of her near drowning, the freezing cold, the close proximity of their naked bodies, and the resulting mutual desire that had gone unfulfilled.
Finn might be ten times a jerk in most situations, but taking advantage of females was not one of them. Cecilia, he was certain, had been under duress when she’d propositioned him in the shower earlier, just as he had been when he’d propositioned her out on the beach. The two of them—together? It was madness.
They could barely stand to be in the same vicinity half the time. While he was reasonably confident her spitfire personality would translate exceptionally well in the bedroom, what happened afterward? They’d probably fight, she’d get her feelings hurt, and it would end on a bad note. Not good, considering they were more or less stuck together in this coterie. He wasn’t about to let her go wandering off into the human world on her own, even if she pissed him off ten times till Tuesday.
Besides that, he was honest enough to admit that he still held his own personal deeply engrained beliefs that shifters should mate with shifters, and lightbearers should mate with lightbearers. Sure, he’d slept with Daisy, but they’d both gone into the situation with the same expectation. Daisy wanted a mate as much as he did—which was not at all.
And sure, Tanner and Olivia were making a go at it—a very real, honest go. Hard to deny those two were in love, the sort of intense, bone-deep, undeniable love that few were given the privilege to experience. Beside the fact that they could hardly refrain from banging each other every chance they got, they looked at each other with utter adoration in their eyes. Definitely in love. Definitely forever.
And he was pretty sure Lisa Bearrans, another shifter from Quentin’s pack who had moved to the coterie, was banging that pansy-ass Dane Metaldyne. Dane had once been Olivia’s betrothed, until Tanner had essentially handed over his entire fortune to the king of the lightbearers so that his kingdom would not go bankrupt. Some might suggest he’d bought Olivia’s hand from her father, but the truth was, they were already mated when he did it, and besides, only a precious few beings were even aware of the circumstances anyway.
Lisa hooking up with a lightbearer bothered Finn a little because he’d known her mate, Freddy, who died four months ago at Quentin’s hand, shortly before she gave birth to her second pup. But Finn figured it was just a rebound, plus, Dane had helped her whelp her second pup, so she undoubtedly felt some kind of obligation to him. He was so vastly different from her mate, though, that Finn could not imagine it would
He quickly dried himself with a thick terry-cloth towel and then wrapped it around his hips and secured it there—no more walking around naked while Cecilia was around—and stepped out of the bathroom.
She was asleep in his bed, all but buried beneath a mound of blankets that she’d obviously pulled out of the closet. Her wet hair, dark blonde against the stark white pillowcase, fanned out behind her head. He sighed and brushed a lock out of her face. She turned toward his hand, nuzzled it for a moment, and then turned back to the pillow and sighed softly in her sleep. Finn pulled his hand away and looked at it.
What the hell was he going to do with her?
* * * *
She slept until noon, and they started arguing five minutes later.
“I am not going home wearing your clothes,” she protested.
“Would it be better if I went to your house and informed your parents that you’ve been sleeping naked in my bed and could I please have a set of clothing in which to send you home?” he retorted.
They were both on edge, a combination, no doubt, of her near drowning, the freezing cold, the close proximity of their naked bodies, and the resulting mutual desire that had gone unfulfilled.
Finn might be ten times a jerk in most situations, but taking advantage of females was not one of them. Cecilia, he was certain, had been under duress when she’d propositioned him in the shower earlier, just as he had been when he’d propositioned her out on the beach. The two of them—together? It was madness.
They could barely stand to be in the same vicinity half the time. While he was reasonably confident her spitfire personality would translate exceptionally well in the bedroom, what happened afterward? They’d probably fight, she’d get her feelings hurt, and it would end on a bad note. Not good, considering they were more or less stuck together in this coterie. He wasn’t about to let her go wandering off into the human world on her own, even if she pissed him off ten times till Tuesday.
Besides that, he was honest enough to admit that he still held his own personal deeply engrained beliefs that shifters should mate with shifters, and lightbearers should mate with lightbearers. Sure, he’d slept with Daisy, but they’d both gone into the situation with the same expectation. Daisy wanted a mate as much as he did—which was not at all.
And sure, Tanner and Olivia were making a go at it—a very real, honest go. Hard to deny those two were in love, the sort of intense, bone-deep, undeniable love that few were given the privilege to experience. Beside the fact that they could hardly refrain from banging each other every chance they got, they looked at each other with utter adoration in their eyes. Definitely in love. Definitely forever.
And he was pretty sure Lisa Bearrans, another shifter from Quentin’s pack who had moved to the coterie, was banging that pansy-ass Dane Metaldyne. Dane had once been Olivia’s betrothed, until Tanner had essentially handed over his entire fortune to the king of the lightbearers so that his kingdom would not go bankrupt. Some might suggest he’d bought Olivia’s hand from her father, but the truth was, they were already mated when he did it, and besides, only a precious few beings were even aware of the circumstances anyway.
Lisa hooking up with a lightbearer bothered Finn a little because he’d known her mate, Freddy, who died four months ago at Quentin’s hand, shortly before she gave birth to her second pup. But Finn figured it was just a rebound, plus, Dane had helped her whelp her second pup, so she undoubtedly felt some kind of obligation to him. He was so vastly different from her mate, though, that Finn could not imagine it would
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