Finn frowned as if thinking it through, his gaze going to the rock before moving back to me. The way he looked at me, as if contemplating something even bigger than the possibility of salvation, had my insides buzzing.
“I’m beginning to think anything is possible,” he said as he grabbed my hips and pulled me over so I was straddling him. “I mean, I never thought I could care about a human, but here you are.”
“I never thought I would find something other than my sister to live for,” I said.
“But here I am,” he replied.
“Here you are,” I whispered.
He kissed me then, slow and gentle, and I wrapped my arms around him.
Despite the euphoria of being together again, we were too exhausted to do anything but kiss and hold each other. So, we retreated to bed after cleaning our wounds, where Finn wrapped his arms around me. I snuggled into him and closed my eyes, focusing on his breathing and his pounding heart, and in no time had drifted off.
As much as I hated keeping things from Ione, I was glad Rye’s mother agreed with not telling her. My cousin still had at least two months before the midwife could safely deliver her baby, and all I could do was pray the human council would see the mayor’s plan for what it was. Horrifying and evil.
I knew, however, that Finn was right. Anything was possible.
The other part of her plan, the part that would make it so I would never be able to have children, was something I refused to dwell on. Finn, too, seemed determined to ignore what he knew, and days later he still hadn’t brought it up.
Being Veilorian meant he was recovered in no time, and a week after his interrogation not even the hint of a scratch remained on his body. My injuries, however, were still healing.
The bruise Dean had given me was now little more than a yellowish blot on my face, and the cuts on my wrists were fading, although they would most definitely scar. The brand, too, became less tender with each day.
It was the shock of seeing the letters each time I looked in the mirror that didn’t seem to be fading, and as the days passed, I found myself staring at my reflection more and more, tracing the raised letters with my fingertip as I did. I hadn’t lied. I wouldn’t change what had happened even if I could, and given the choice between ignoring what was right and having to be branded over and over again, I’d choose the second one. Not just for Finn, either, although with each moment we spent together I became more and more convinced I was in love with him.
A little over a week after the incident, I was standing in the bathroom studying my altered reflection when he came in behind me, stopping with only an inch of space between us. Without knowing why, I covered the letters burned into my skin.
Finn’s gaze met mine in the mirror, and he took my hand, moving it aside. He held it, his focus shifting so he was studying the brand on my neck. Then he lifted his free hand and began tracing the letters, running his fingers over them and feeling every curve and raised line, his touch feather soft.
I swallowed. “Is it ugly?”
“No,” Finn whispered, still tracing it. “It’s beautiful. Like you.”
He leaned down and pressed his lips against the letters, the kiss as soft as his touch had been, and I closed my eyes. His hands went to my hips, and a second later his arms had encircled me, wrapping around my body like I was caterpillar encased in a chrysalis. I leaned into him when he started kissing his way up my neck, my breath catching in my throat while my heart beat harder.
“I want to take you away from here,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I want to take you across the wastelands to safety. To a place where we won’t have to worry about Veronica Waters ever again. Where we can be together and have a family. You deserve that and so much more. You deserve every bit of happiness this world has to offer.”
I twisted in his arms, my eyes still closed as I turned to face him, and his lips found mine. The kiss was deep from the second it began, his mouth hungry and desperate. I understood how he felt. The same thing had been building in me for weeks now, and those few hours in the stadium when I hadn’t been able to find him had only added fuel to the fire, had only helped me realize just how much I needed Finn in my life.
“I love you,” he whispered between kisses.
“I love you,” I replied, allowing him to lead me from the bathroom and across the hall.
We were still in one another’s arms when we tumbled to the bed, still kissing. His hands reached for the button on my pants at nearly the same instant mine began to work on his. We didn’t talk, didn’t acknowledge what this moment would mean or what could happen if we took this step, each of us seeming to have come to the same decision on our own. Finn, probably back in that interrogation room while Mayor Waters relayed her plans to him. Me, the second he repeated them, and I realized what it could mean for my future.
The act was sweet and wonderful, and I didn’t regret it. Couldn’t. Even if it meant a baby would very soon be on the way, I wouldn’t have traded this moment with Finn for anything.
I stayed in his arms, my head on his chest while his hand made slow circles on my back.
“You sure you’re ready for this?” he asked.
I couldn’t help smiling, and it was almost a relief after all the horror of the last few weeks. “You don’t think you should have asked me
