Page 116 of Rules in Love
“Not moving back home? No—I mean, yes, I’m staying. Iris and I are staying.”
“Wow. That’s big. What brought on the change of heart?”
Finn rubbed a strand of my hair between his fingers, then gave it an affectionate tug. “You did, Scarlett. You, and Ben, and Iris. But especially you. You stole my heart the first time I saw you. I wanted you, and it wasn’t just physical. Something about you called to me. Calmed me. Then I saw your sweetness. Your kindness. Your strength. Your tripping, spilling your coffee down your dress, and giving me my first, ‘Christ on a bike.’ You’re everything I want, Red. And I’m glad I helped you find your voice, because you’ve helped me find my peace. I know I have been an ass, and I know I have put you through a lot. But if you will have Iris and me, I’m…we’re yours.”
Maybe I was a fool. But I was a fool for one equally foolish man.
In the blink of a tear-filled eye,Ideology #9 — Left free to make on-the-spot, rash decisions justifiable, became,Ideology #9 - Always forgive Finn Austen.
All it took was a nod, and the jagged fragments of two scared and lonely hearts shifted back into place. He seized my waist and pulled my body against his. He looked into my eyes, smiled, then kissed me. His tongue teased my bottom lip, and every single part of me felt safe, and protected, and whole. I was free. Free to let go of my body, and my fear, and just be. It was so easy to become lost in him again, because in him, I had found acceptance. For him, I was enough, and for the first time in my life, I was enough for me too.
“Scarlett.” He rolled his hips into mine, then stilled. I could feel him shake with restraint, and after one last squeeze of my bum, he clenched his hands and inched his body away. Not his lips, though. His lingered, ghosting mine. “I never want to let you go, Scar. Not ever. But I have to stop kissing you now, or I’m going to be arrested.”
Faint giggles coming from behind us broke us apart on a sigh. “You were wight, Bunny. They were kissing.” Peeking around the corner of Ben’s room was Iris. But with one stamp of Finn’s foot, she was off, laughing and telling Benny everything would be alright.
“I love you, Finn Austen,” I said, gasping for air after another thorough kissing, “but I will fucking end you if you pull this shit on me again.”
“Always with the threats,” he giggled, then kissed me again. “I love you too, Scarlett Grant.”
Circumstances as they were, seven long, grueling days passed before we had any time alone. But you can bet your ass, as soon as I was sure Ben was okay, I left him at home in Teddy’s trusty hands and arrived at Finn’s in search of his. Taking a page from his list-making book, I arrived with a bottle of red, a wishlist of depraved acts I demanded he perform on me,andthe spare key he had so painfully returned. The minute he opened the door, I grabbed him, kissed him, and rubbed my body against his. “This key belongs to you. You’re my home, Finn. You’re my family. Take it. Use it.”
“I will, Red. I promise.”
“Good, now shut up and hold onto your socks, Finny. An unreasonable amount of fucking is about to take place.”
Scarlett
“Mum, Mum, Mum, Muuuummmmmmm. Wake up. It’s Christmas.”
My head popped out from my blanket, and my eyes attempted to focus on my clock.
Christ on a bike.
“Ben! It’s 6 a.m., for God’s sake. Go back to bed.”
“I can’t, Mum. We can’t. We want to open our presents. Pleaseee.”
“Bed! Or I will call Santa and tell him to come and take the gifts back.”
Smugly smiling, I looked down and spotted my present, the one waiting for me almost every morning when I woke. Finn’s mess of curls laid across my stomach, his face still hidden between my legs, too occupied with his English breakfast to come to the surface. All was quiet outside, so I lay back and let the warm pleasures of Finn’s mouth wash over me again.
“Please, Mum. We’re desperate.”
“Yeah, we aww despewate. Come on, guys. Let us innnn.”
I ran my hands through Finn’s curls and tapped his head. “Great, Iris is there, too, now. We better get up—ouch! Hey, no biting.” He said nothing, just chuckled.
“Muummmmmm.”
“Fuck!” I swore. “Fine, give us ten—what? Oh, give us twenty minutes, and we’ll be down.”
Footsteps faded. I pushed my hips off the bed, beckoned Finn higher, and flipped him onto his back. “Twenty minutes, eh? We better get busy, big fella.” Straddling his thighs, I positioned his hardness at my entrance and slowly slid down. Inch by inch, I took him in, relishing the stretch, the feel of him filling me.
His fingers dug into my hips and pulled me hard against him. “Fuck, Red. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that.” When he was fully sheathed, when I could take no more, I began to move and grind into him. “All those nights spent waiting and dreaming,” he sighed, “of being naked in your room, and here I am.”
“Umm, was I involved in these dreams, or was this a thing you have about being naked in other people’s rooms?”
“Bit…oh, yes, Christ… Bit of both.”
