Page 21

carter

Finn shows up at the ass crack of fucking dawn, walking into my house like he lives here. The front door slams, the footfalls of his steps leading him through my house until he pushes open my bedroom door to find me sprawled out in my bed buck ass naked.

“You’re still sleeping.”

“Good observation, jackhole. Go away,” I groan.

“You aren’t packed either.”

“No shit. Fuck off.”

“Aren’t you a delight first thing in the morning.”

“The sun isn’t even up.”

“No shit. The sun doesn’t seem to rise over here in your hole in the mountains.”

“Ugh. Fuck. Off.”

“As much as I’m enjoying seeing your bare ass—what the fuck is that?”

“What?”

Finn’s hands are on me before I can react, one hand gripping the back of my neck, pushing my head further into the pillow, the other flat against the center of my back, holding me in place.

I squirm to get away from him but without turning over and letting him have a front-row look at my hard dick, I only thrash slightly.

“Is that a fucking brand?”

I instantly still, forgetting that the damn thing was there since the pain went away.

“Fuck, it’s still red around the edges. What the fuck did you do?” he hisses, hands lifting off my back, fingers trailing over the scar at the very top of my ass cheek.

“Don’t worry about it,” I snap at him, trying to jerk away.

“Tell. Me.”

“My brothers did it while we were drunk on our annual boys’ trip in February. It was a joke. Ended up doing something stupid while drunk; it’s not a big deal.”

“The fuck it isn’t, Carter, this is permanent!”

“No shit. But you aren’t my keeper, so get off of me.”

His fingers continue to run over my skin in a soothing, almost affectionate way.

My heart does that weird damn thing in my chest. It’s a slow burn at first, just my heart skipping a beat, steadily beating faster and faster as his hand flattens over my skin.

Then my breathing starts to come harder, my heart fluttering.

The hand around the back of my neck is a firm pressure, holding me still, reminding me that he’s in control right now, and for some reason that I can’t understand, I allow it, knowing that at any point he would let me up if I really wanted him to.

My body hums with equal parts excitement and nervousness, the warmth of his touch as he slowly palms my ass, the desperate little moan that escapes his lips as his fingers dig into the meat of my flesh.

My thoughts empty, but everything else in me is alive, rapidly losing control of my feelings and my body.

Then, his mouth is there, a small peck over my fresh scar.

Once. Twice. And then his warm, wet tongue that my dick is more than acquainted with licks over the spot.

My cock is throbbing, pinned between my body and the bed, already leaking precum.

The urge to roll over and have his mouth on me is so damn strong, but I fight it, letting him have this moment.

I let myself enjoy his hot mouth, dropping open-mouthed kisses on my skin.

He stays in the area directly over my scar, and then he’s gone, and I nearly whine.

I hear the whoosh of air only a split second before the hard sting of his hand against my ass. I jerk hard in response, but he holds me down by the neck.

“Did you just fucking spank me?”

“Don’t. Fucking. Mark. Up. Your. Skin!” He punctuates every word, pushing my head into the pillow as he says them.

And then he’s letting me go, taking a few measured steps backward.

I lay there for a moment stunned by the turn of events, even more stunned by the wave of emotions spreading through my body like a goddamn inferno.

“You’ve got ten minutes, Hayes. Get dressed, pack. Ten. Minutes.”

I listen for Finn’s steps to leave my bedroom, fading away the farther he gets before I roll over and do exactly what he said.

With my heart in my goddamn throat, my head swimming with confusion, and my cock as hard as steel, I take the quickest shower of my life, pull myself together, and pack a weekend bag without having a shit idea of where we’re even going.

I find Finn sitting on my couch, his forearms resting on his thighs, bent over and focusing hard on his phone.

He’s wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a black henley that strains over the muscles of his biceps.

His glasses have slipped down the bridge of his nose, and I want so badly to push them back for him.

I’m fucked. I’m failing at keeping myself in check, and the weekend hasn’t even started yet .

“Hey.”

“Hi,” he says, his face lighting up in a smile like I’m the best damn thing he’s ever seen. “Are you ready?”

“Ready as one can be when they’re being kidnapped.” All I get is a dirty little smirk in return, and somehow that’s better than any reply he could have said.

After a tense three-hour drive to Seattle from Aspen Ridge, we drive right onto the airstrip to a waiting plane, and I realize why his ass picked me up at three in the morning.

“Of course you have a private jet. Because why wouldn’t you?”

“It’s not mine. It’s . . . my dad’s. It’s just frowned upon if I fly commercial. Apparently it makes him look bad, even if I’d prefer not to travel this way.”

I don’t know why the sudden transparency, but I’ve got a feeling there’s quite a story there based on his tone, and as much as I want to push, I don’t think he’ll give me any more, so I let it slide.

“C’mon, we’re already late because you decided to sleep in.”

“Maybe if you had told me what time to be ready, I would have been.”

“Get your ass on the plane, Carter.”

“You’re not making this fuckin’ easy. You know that, right?”

“Don’t give a shit. Just as long as you get on the plane.”

“Not until you tell me where we’re going.”

“Why? Scared I’m kidnapping you?”

“Are you kidding me with that shit? You are kidnapping me.”

“Emberleigh.”

“What? ”

“That’s where we’re going.”

I follow Finn to the stairs of the plane, climbing up and nodding to the flight attendant.

I take a seat in the center of the plane in a large chair, Finn sitting directly across from me, when he could have gone anywhere since the entire flight is just us.

The door is brought up and locked, and then it hits me that I’m really doing this.

“Where’s Emberleigh?”

“Maine.”

Finn’s beach house isn’t a fucking beach house.

It’s a goddamn mansion with private access to the beach.

After a long-ass day of traveling and not moving my body, the energy in me is buzzing.

I claim one of the guest rooms on the bottom floor and drop my bag on the ground, quickly changing into a pair of running shorts and shoes.

I don’t bother with a shirt, hoping that I can soak up some of the sun that this part of the country seems to get.

We left Seattle early enough that even after losing a few hours to the time difference, it’s only late afternoon.

The bottom floor of the house is a large, open floor plan, with tall, vaulted ceilings, too many rooms to count, a deck that spans the length of the back of the house, an in-ground pool, a hot tub, a sauna, and who the fuck knows what else.

I find Finn sitting at the wraparound bar that splits the fucking enormous kitchen from the dining room.

“Here,” he says as he throws me a bottle of water with a green label, and I uncap it, taking a few large chugs and wincing.

“Got an issue with Poland Springs water? ”

“Damn good water, except it’s cold.”

“What the fuck is wrong with cold water?”

“It’s bad for you, and I don’t like it.”

“Noted. Where are you going?”

“A run.”

“How about ice cream and a walk downtown?” Finn asks, as if we’re on a fucking family vacation and I haven’t been blackmailed into coming here against my freewill. At least, that’s what I’m trying to convince myself happened.

I grumble, and it reminds me of Sawyer. When the hell did I turn into the grumpy-ass older brother? I’m the goddamn fun one, always up for a good time, happy as shit. But here I am, stewing in a massive beach house, owned by the same asshole that is holding me hostage.

“How about no and we cut the shit, Nash. The hell do you want from me?”

A devilish smirk fills his face, his dark eyes squinting as he roams over my body, settling on my crotch. Heat sparks, traveling up my spine like an annoying itch I can’t fucking scratch.

“Fuck no. Not gonna happen.”

“You can fight it all you want, lover, but I know you want me.”

“The fuck I do,” I lie. “Whatever shit has happened before was a slip of judgment. I’m here for the story.”

“You could say that for the first time, maybe even get a pass for the second. But anything after that?” He takes a step into my space, and like an idiot, I take a step back, like a cat playing with his fucking prey, I let him back me right up against the wall.

Finn’s hands press against the wall next to my head, caging me in.

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I know I could push him away.

I’ve been fighting my entire life with my three brothers, and they’re each bigger than Griffin Nash.

But I don’t. “Nah, you want whatever this is between us. You just don’t want to admit it. ”

He strikes a chord.

“You think this is because you’re a man?

I don’t give a shit about that. I care that you hold something my family desperately wants in the palm of your hands and are using it to blackmail me to get what you want.

You want me to fuck you? Fucking is easy.

Sex is what I’m best at, and I’ve been doing it unattached for years.

You’re not getting anything else out of me. ”

His eyes search mine as I spew the venom from my mouth. The close proximity is fracturing the walls I’m trying to hold in place. Fuck, everything about him easily crumbles them. But then he goes and says something that confuses me further.

“Nah. As much as I like your cock, Carter, I want more than that.”