Chapter Fourteen
Navi didn’t think she’d ever been so turned on when Finn devoured her on top of his Challenger. Yet, even after one of the most intense orgasms of her life, her core sparked to awareness again the second she heard the snick of the gym door shut behind her, knowing what would be coming next. Each step farther inside surrounded her with the scent of sweat, leather and wood polish—the scent of him. Her panther preened inside her chest with a newfound restlessness to seal the deal.
Her bare pussy dripped and she clenched her thighs together as a light shiver traveled through her in anticipation. He approached behind her, his shadow looming and his presence radiating such an intense warmth that even this August heat couldn’t compete. The logical part of her raged inside her chest at crossing this line and allowing herself to head down this path again when it would end in hurt and pain. But Navi wanted him with a strength and fury she’d never experienced before, so the logical part of herself could fuck off.
She was tired of running and tired of denying herself out of fear. She’d deal with the crash and burn when she left, but, here and now, she wanted Finn Kelly.
Navi turned around to face Finn, who stood inches away from her. The space between them charged like an electricity storm, filled with all the things they couldn’t say. Even though her limbs were loose from the way he’d pounced on her outside, her core thrummed with anticipation, with the aching need to be filled. She wanted to take every formidable inch of him inside her.
She reached out, trailing one finger down his shirt, the flimsy fabric sticking to his chest with sweat. “Let’s even the playing field a little,” she murmured. “This, off.”
He complied with a delicious smirk on his lips that she wanted to sink her teeth into. The fabric dropped to the ground and he moved his hand to the button of his pants.
Navi placed her hand over his, stopping him. “Let me,” she said, wildness surging under the surface, her panther present in every step of this. The first time they’d clashed together had been hot, passionate and unforgettable, but here and now, she knew this moment would be with her until she expired. She undid the button and slipped the zipper down, trailing her tongue over her lips in anticipation.
Finn didn’t waste time, shucking his pants down before tugging at her shirt. “This comes off too,” he said, slipping his hands underneath the fabric to snap the back of her bra. She yanked her shirt off and tossed it to the mats, her bra following. Her nipples tightened the minute they were exposed to the air. Finn reached forward to cup her breasts and glided his thumbs over the tips. She bit her lip to keep from crying out at the sensation flooding through her, at how responsive her body was to his touch.
“You’re fucking gorgeous,” he breathed, his gaze darkening with desire. He stood inches away from her, his erection stark between them, causing her core to throb in needy anticipation.
“And you’re mine, Finn Kelly.” The words came from her before she could help herself, an admission she’d never allowed before. The response descended like a storm. Finn’s eyes glowed, the wolf as present as her panther, the connection between them deeper than just physical. He wrapped his hands around her thighs, hoisting her up and around him. Her breasts pressed against his bare chest, and the brush of her nipples across those hard planes sent her senses into overdrive until she grew drenched.
He strode with her in his arms the couple of paces until her back slammed against the wall. Finn brimmed with aggression in the best way, the fearlessness that drew her to him in the first place. She leaned in, pressing her lips to his throat. He lifted his chin to bare his throat, and she lightly scraped her teeth against the exposed skin. A low growl escaped him in the process and a moment later she could feel the hot steel of his cock against her thigh. She was soaked, dripping wet for him, and the tightness increased with every stroke, every bite and every touch.
“I need you inside me,” she gasped out, driven half to madness with the friction of her nipples against his chest and the heat of his erection rubbing against her inner thigh. If he didn’t take her now, she was liable to explode.
Finn hoisted her up, digging his fingers into her hips. Without preamble, he thrust straight into her.
Navi’s thighs tightened, her core clenched, and bliss rocked through her from his thickness and the way he filled her to completion. She tilted her hips toward him, grinding her heels into his ass as he pulled back, only to drive into her again and again. Her sensitized clit caused her to gasp every time they clashed together, and the scent of him, all leather and sweat, created a heady swirl with each breath.
Their lips met in a ferocious frenzy of teeth and tongues while he rammed into her with building intensity. He lifted her as though she weighed nothing, and as her back slammed against the wall with the passion of his thrusts, she’d never felt so claimed. Hell, she’d never trusted anyone like she trusted him in both body and mind. The pulse inside her core built, increasing every time he sank into her.
He nipped at the sensitive skin between her neck and her shoulder, hard enough to send a dizzying rush through her. Navi sank her nails into his back as she clutched him, surrendering to the pleasure that threatened to carry her away. Drops of sweat rolled down her back and she shuddered at the bliss rolling through her with every movement. Each time he thrust into her, the delicious smack of her clit against him, the blaze of desire in his deep brown eyes and his enduring strength and steadiness pushed her closer and closer to the ledge.
Her core tightened, to the point that her mind blanked and a scream ripped from her throat. Sweat beaded her forehead when she came, her pussy pulsing with her orgasm. Heat poured into her as he dug his nails into her hips. His cock kicked inside her with his release, while he emptied into her.
As she rode the waves of her orgasm, a feeling of rightness settled in her, so strong she almost lost her grip on Finn. He sagged against her, crushing her against the wall. He pressed his mouth to hers in a kiss utterly gentle compared to the wild way they’d bucked together seconds before. In the moment, she felt like a knot had been tied, an inviolable tether to him. Her panther stopped still, a predator’s awareness that brought her out of the hazy bliss of her release.
Finn’s eyes blinked open, the wolf glowing in them for a brief moment. “Did you feel that?” he asked, his voice low and husky. Slowly, he sank to the ground with her, his grip never wavering. Her feet settled onto the mats, but she couldn’t help the breathlessness overtaking her or the way she floated.
Mine.
The word gripped her by the throat when the realization descended. Finn bared his teeth, fangs coming out in response to the surge between them.
“Oh fuck,” she murmured before she could help herself. She sank forward, burying her head in his chest. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not to her. Navi was Tribe. She was the one forever tethered to the road, to whatever job required their supervision and help. Tribe traveled a wild and dangerous path not meant for attachments, but this—this was the most permanent sort of attachment among shifter kind.
“Was that the mating bond?” Finn asked. He tipped her chin up with his finger, searching her face as if she held all the answers.
A hysterical laugh slipped from her throat before she could help herself. Unadulterated joy was supposed to come with this connection, but the first buzzing of anxiety rushed through her in one suffocating sweep. No, no, no. Finn wasn’t meant for a life on the road like she lived. He had a place here—a family, a home and a role in his community. If she tore him from that, she’d ruin him, but now that they’d mated, they would live half-lives apart.
Finn drew his brows together, a frown on his face. His thumb smoothed creases along her forehead she didn’t realize were there. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I…” She trailed off as the hysteria tightened her throat, the buzzing threatening to overwhelm her. Too much, too fast. “I’m Tribe.” She forced the words out. “We’re not meant for mates.”
“Well, I think the fates are determined to prove otherwise,” he responded, his voice soft and gentler than she could imagine from the man who radiated fire and passion. He swallowed, glancing away for a moment. “I know we didn’t get a chance to talk things over, but is it really so terrible?” he asked. “Being mated to me?”
Her grip on him tightened, the vulnerability in his words hanging suspended in the air between them. She could taste his pain, feel those pangs like they were her own with the completeness of their connection.
Navi’s chest ached with confusion. She wanted him to desperation, the silent thrill coursing through her veins at the idea of that impenetrable connection. However, the choking, earth-shattering fear followed, that she was given a taste of this only to have it stolen away. Just like her hopes had been crushed in every other town and every other job.
“I’ve never met anyone I wanted the way I want you, Finn,” Navi whispered, her skin prickling at opening up to him like this. They sat crouched in front of each other, both buck naked, yet this exposed her far more. “But I can’t ignore who I am. This is the duty that was branded on me here,” she said, lifting up her arms, the tattoos so, so clear. “You deserve the chance at a real life with your family and friends. I couldn’t take you away from that.” The admission tore her to shreds and the panther inside growled at the idea of separation.
Finn tilted her chin again and brushed his lips to hers. She sank into the taste of him and reveled at how his scent imprinted on her memory, deeper than skin. For a single moment, the panic and the fear subsided, and she surrendered to the calm of his kiss, his touch a lifeline.
He broke away from her lips but wrapped his arms around to pull her in tight. “I’ve never met anyone who completes me the way you do, Navi Tremere,” he said. With her head to his chest, his words rumbled. “Neither of us planned to find our mate, but now that I have you in my life, you’ve got to be crazy to think I’d let you go.”
The heat in his voice and the tender way he held her—too much. It cracked her wide open, the arctic, remote part of herself she shut off from ever considering anything like this. The little girl who’d lost the ability to hope long ago.
Navi swallowed, her throat tightening on instinct. His strength seeped through to her, and not just from the honed muscles of a tested warrior, but at how he indulged his emotions in a way she’d never permitted herself to. Warmth saturated her chest, the sort of cinnamon scorch that left marks.
Finn Kelly was her mate.
The revelation surged through her with the strength to make her ache, even as she fought with the corners of her mouth threatening to break into a smile. Giddiness whirled through her like the first sunlit day of spring. She hadn’t dared to hope a mate waited for her out there. Navi had convinced herself she would walk a lonely path until the day she died.
Except here he crouched before her, all breakable brown eyes, old scars and the shortest temper she’d ever encountered. And unlike every other guy she’d messed around with before, this was the one man she couldn’t shake.
Once a real smile emerged on her face, she was screwed. As fast as the elation rushed through her, the fear flowed so much faster. Her brief gasp of joy got smothered by the deadening hopelessness that infiltrated over too many years of disappointments and missed connections. Navi had given up trying to find someone, because she knew their story would end. She knew she would have to leave.
And she understood with a keen clarity that if she had to leave Finn now, after knowing what existed between them and indulging in the radiant warmth and comfort of finding her mate, she would be destroyed. No one on this earth could put those pieces together again.
“I thought you knew off the bat when you found your mate,” Finn murmured into her hair. “How come we didn’t get any heads-up the first time we fucked?”
Navi sucked in a sharp breath, grabbing onto the distraction like a lifeline. Facts and information—that was safe territory. She pulled away from his embrace to sit on one of the mats, splaying her legs out in front of her. While she had no qualms with nudity—few shifters did—she also didn’t make a habit of sitting around naked with anyone, not after the sort of fireworks that had exploded between them. However, Finn was different. She’d been meant for him all along.
“Because the mating bond is as simple and complicated as we are,” she responded. As one of the Tribe who oversaw the mating ceremonies, she’d learned far too much over the years about something she believed impossible for herself. Something she yearned for to the secret depths of her soul.
“Dax and Sierra happened to find their connection the moment they met each other,” she continued, leaning back on her palms.
“Isn’t that normal?” Finn’s gaze traveled her body, the heat still visible there.
Navi resisted the flare of satisfaction at how he blazed for her even after sated. If she could hold on to this, for even a moment, maybe she’d have something to remember on lonely nights to come. Her throat tightened while she struggled to breathe. Focus.
“Both were in heightened situations where their emotions were on display whether they liked it or not.” Navi forced herself to keep talking, if only to quiet her mind. “Others have been around their mates for years without realizing, sometimes because the partners aren’t yet who they’re meant to be. In our case, you were too involved with Raven and I was too shielded for the bond to ever manifest loud enough to notice.”
“You sure it wasn’t the sheer amount I rocked your world?” Finn responded with a wink. He prowled toward her until he crouched in front of her, his presence igniting her body like a livewire.
Navi shot him a look. “I’m apparently mated to an idiot. You’d think for one of the Great Spirits, my panther would have better selective skills.”
He leaned in to steal another kiss and Navi indulged him, unable to deny the honeyed bliss of his mouth. When she pulled away, the boyish grin on his lips and the twinkle in his eyes made her heart race. Finn basked in their discovery in a way she never could. He’d dealt with his own damage in the past, but he knew how to connect with others with experience but also an innate naturalness. Whereas Navi—she tended to stick to business, and even with her closest, those guards always remained up.
In the brief time she’d spent among the Red Rock pack, Finn Kelly had brought those guards tumbling down. He’d rammed at them and clawed until he’d coaxed her out from hiding. Until they’d bonded in a way she could no longer deny, in a way that would mark her for the rest of her days.
There were a thousand different worries running through her mind and a thousand different ways the timeworn fear tried to infiltrate, but here in his presence, she took a leaf from Finn’s book. Right now, she could focus on the present. They had a Landslider drug-running operation to scout and a certain Dale Rossi to confront.
Fighting was familiar territory—those risks, they were ones she could handle. Pain, adrenaline, physical aggression were all in her wheelhouse. None of those froze her like the intensity of everything that threatened to rush through her every time Finn looked at her with those eyes promising the forever she’d never get.
“Sun hasn’t set yet,” she said, pulling away from him to reclaim her strewn-about clothes. “Let’s grab a pint before we scout the warehouse.”