Page 107 of Four Promises to Love

He hesitated. “I wasn’t certain I was fit for company.”

She studied him. “Why not?”

“On the occasions when I dream, I can be…loud.” Having given that much, he shrugged and gave her the rest. “I didn’t wish to disturb anyone if I dreamt tonight. Especially Tansy, who’s been through too much.”

“Tansy is fine,” Finn said softly. “Nell is with her, and it was kind of the Misters Duffield and Keane to escort us here.”

“They are fine chaps.”

“I owe them a great deal.” Finn touched his jaw. “And I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” He caught her hand, pressing his lips against her palm.

“I don’t deserve you,” she said, her voice hitching. “You risked your life for me and for Tansy⁠—”

“I know how much your family means to you. Since I would do anything for you, it follows I’d do the same for them.”

“Truly?” she asked tremulously.

“Truly, love.”

He kissed her again, and her lips clung so sweetly that he wanted to kiss her forever.

She was the one to pull away. But her slow tease of a smile set fire to his loins and brought his cock to stiff attention against his nightshirt.

“You would do anything for me?” she asked coyly.

“If it is within my power to accomplish the task, consider it done.”

“I think you can manage my request.”

She removed her wrapper, letting it pool at her feet. The firelight rendered the simple shift she wore translucent. His heart stuttered at her alluring silhouette: the fullness of her breasts, the gentle dip of her waist, and the sleek line of her legs. Her eyes glowed with desire…yet he saw lingering shadows as well.

Despite her brave front, tonight’s events had shaken her. Of course they had. While she held herself together with admirable strength, he wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to conceal her vulnerabilities from him. As much as he adored her take-charge attitude, he also wanted her to feel safe enough to relinquish control. To unburden herself with him.

Their trust was a gift. He would use it this eve to give her respite—and to pleasure them both.

When she pulled the shift over her head, tossing it aside with a flirty grin, words left him. He was consumed by a fever of lust and love. She dropped her gaze to his rampant arousal and wetted her lips; his stones swelled, and a wet spot appeared in the linen.

“What I want is you, Owen,” she said. “Take me to your bed and make love to me.”

Thirty

As Owen swept her off her feet, Finn felt a strange sense of clarity—the first she’d felt since the attack by Carver’s men. Everything was descending into chaos, and she knew her charade could not last much longer. She saw two paths diverging before her. She could tell Owen about her mission and hope that he would help her save Iris. Or she and the Hawks could go at it alone and make a last desperate bid to find the treasure before Carver’s men returned.

She knew that the ruffians would come back. She understood Carver’s ruthlessness too well. He had tried to kidnap Tansy for additional leverage; failing that, he would find other ways of manipulating the Hawks, each more menacing than the next, until he got what he wanted.

There is only one way out. I must trust Owen—and believe that he will help me, even after all the lies I’ve told. I must tell him everything.

And she would—in the morning.

Right now, there were more important matters.

Owen set her on the bed. His gentle care swelled her chest. Before him, she’d believed that romantic love was a weapon, used to control and contain and cage. Yet Owen offered the opposite. His love was a shelter, given freely and with a selflessness that humbled her. This man had risked his life for her and Tansy. Then he’d shut himself away to endure the cost of his valor alone.

Finn yearned to give him something of value in return. Something that, no matter what happened, would always be a gift. The most precious thing she had to give, and that she would only give to him—her gentle warrior who stood before her with knuckles still bruised from the battle he’d waged on her behalf.

She gazed up at him through her lashes. “I feel overdressed.”