“Yes?”
She dared another glance. “About Fionn…”
Mark sighed. “Fionn will continue in his support role, Lyse. As long as we don’t detect anything…untoward. Keep your fingers away from your boyfriend’s security credentials, and all will be well. Don’t, and we may have to revisit this decision.”
Relief coursed through her. “Thank you.”
Mark grunted a reply, and she took the chance to escape. In the reception area, Fionn stood at the far end, his head tucked close to Deacon’s as they talked. She’d tried to leave him at his apartment, but the man was the epitome of stubborn. Honestly, if their roles had been reversed, she wasn’t sure she could’ve waited at home either. He needed to protect her as much as she needed to protect him, so here he was, waiting. Worrying. Anxious about being separated from her.
A weird little flutter shot through her belly. They wouldn’t be separated now. Would he be okay with that, with her staying with him? Would he want her to move out? Would he—
“Lyse.” He was across the room in a second, the yards between them no match for his long legs. Despite the receptionist’s eager gaze and Deacon’s knowing smile as he slipped out the door, Fionn snatched her into his arms. His face tucked against her neck in that hollow that she’d come to think of as his. “What did he say?”
“It’s gonna be okay,” she told him quietly, not wanting to say more in front of an audience. Not able to say more, maybe. She wasn’t quite sure how long it would be before she could process it all.
When Fionn raised his head, his gaze locking with hers, she could tell he understood. Without a word he circled her waist with a strong arm and hurried her out of the waiting room. That arm held her together in the elevator, across the parking lot, ushering her into the car. It wasn’t until the familiar seat took his place that reality hit her like a hammer and the tears began to flow.
Fionn slid behind the wheel, turned the car on and the heat up, then gathered her roughly into his arms despite the console between them. Soft murmurs reached her ears without making sense. The beat of his heart pulsed against her cheek. She let it all flow over her even as the buildup of the last few days flowed out. Her fear. Her embarrassment. Her need to stand strong instead of letting Fionn step in and do it for her. She let it all go, right there in his arms, where she knew she was safe, secure. Accepted, no matter her mistakes.
That’s what love was. Wanting him had nearly destroyed her before; now it put her pieces back together, and she knew she’d come through stronger than ever.
“Tell me, love,” he said. “Tell me before I break down as well. I’m needing to know you’ll be all right.”
She raised her head, swiped tears and snot from her face with shaking fingers. “It’s gonna be okay.”
She’d said that before, hadn’t she? It was true. As she explained the deal to Fionn, she could see her own relief dawn in his eyes, see the moment when joy took over fear as he realized the gift they’d been given.
“You’ll be staying with me,” he said. A statement, not a question. She wasn’t going to argue this time. She didn’t argue until he got her home and stripped her bare, then tried to lay her out on the bed beneath him.
Her palm seemed so small against his bare chest when she pressed it there, but it had the power to stop him cold. One knee planted on the side of the bed, he glanced down at that hand, then back to her, and raised a brow.
“Fionn.” She took a deep breath, then another, her heart hammering wildly in her throat. “There’s something I want.”
“Anything.”
She almost smiled. Okay, then.
When she led him by the hand to the trunk at the end of his bed and urged him to sit, then knelt between his legs, understanding dawned in his face. He took her chin between finger and thumb, holding her steady as he stared deep into her eyes. Was he remembering, just as she was, that night weeks ago, before he’d known she was in Ireland? The night another woman had knelt between his legs? The similarities couldn’t be ignored, but she didn’t want this moment to be about remembering—she wanted it to be about replacing. She’d needed to do this for him for so long, but hadn’t dared. The fear of comparison, of competing…it had been too much.
But she wasn’t competing here. She was reaching for what she wanted.
And Fionn was giving it to her.
“D’you have any idea how long I’ve been fantasizing about this?” he asked, voice raspy with anticipation.
“No.” She shivered as his cock jumped at the wash of her breath over it. “I only know how long I have.”
Fire turned Fionn’s green eyes molten. “Then put us both out of our misery and get that pretty mouth on me, love.”
His cock looked big in her grasp, her fingers barely meeting around the girth. She held him steady and leaned forward, bringing her lips to the thick head. A tentative lick collected the teardrop of fluid he’d released in anticipation, the taste salty on her tongue, delicious, enticing her back for more. Fionn groaned as she licked his shaft, the ridge surrounding the head, the slit sticky with precum. And when she pulled him into her mouth and sucked… God, that sound. He’d groaned and moaned and growled as he labored over her in bed, but those were nothing compared to the sound, half shocked, half stunned, that left his lips as she sucked him in.
“Lyse!”
His fingers thrust through her hair to grip her tight, but he didn’t force her onto him. No, it was more
