“Alli, I want you to marry me. Shh…don’t say anything, just listen.” Finn stroked her hips as he spoke, looking her deeply in the eyes. “I want you to marry me in the way of my people. We can get married at a church later if that’s what you desire but in my heart you are my mine, you have always been mine. I know this is fast but I also know that no matter how much time passes, I will still feel the same.”
She wanted Finn to hold her close as her tears fell but he didn’t.
“Say yes.”
She winced as she looked around the familiar grove, the memories rushing back to her. Hearing the voices of Gavin and Sully discussing the bet. Wasn’t this the same thing, except this time he was doing this for a more noble cause, to save his sister? Alli couldn’t help but feel terrified. She pulled back from Finn and started shaking and dropped the offensive whip. She wasn’t Claudia.
“I can’t, Finn…you don’t understand.”
Finn stood up. He didn’t reach for her. Keeping his hands at his sides, he just looked at her. Alli couldn’t tell what he was feeling because his face was devoid of any emotion.
When he spoke, it was in a quiet tone that made Alli feel like dirt. “I love you. It’s not something I’ve made up. This is something that I feel but I can’t force you to believe me. What I did fifteen years ago was rotten but if you want us to be together, you need to let it go and accept my apology.” He ran his hand through his hair and let out a sigh. “I won’t beg, Alli, for myself or for Heather. She wouldn’t want you to be here unless it was by your choice.” He closed his eyes for a moment.
“Sully will be up here in a minute to drive you home, Alli. I’ll be waiting here tomorrow night. If you want me then you have to be the one to come get me. If you aren’t here, I’ll know what your decision is and I will leave you alone.”
With that, he turned away from her and walked back into the forest, leaving her confused and sad.
Alli had fallen into a fitful sleep after Sully drove her home. To his credit, he didn’t say anything about Finn to her. It seemed the family was determined to follow Finn’s wishes and let Alli decide for herself.
She tried to keep herself busy in the morning but only managed to move aimlessly around. Lying down for a nap was equally useless. She did nothing but toss and turn, unable to even drift off for a few minutes.
Her long day turned to evening and she finally accepted the only conclusion that made sense to her. Alli wanted nothing more than to belong to Finn.
She paced back and forth in her living room, eyeing the clock. Six in the evening—how long would he wait for her before he gave up? Wringing her hands, damn she wished she were a drinker. She could have used a shot by now.
“Alli.”
She jumped as she heard James’ familiar voice behind her.
When she turned to ask how he’d gotten into her house, she paused. James was standing in her living room but he looked remarkably different. He had a glow about him that made him beautiful. His blond hair was long and thick and fell below his shoulders, two thin braids on either side of his face. He wore black jeans and a T-shirt but it was his eyes. They had turned into an aquamarine color unlike any shade she had ever seen before.
She started to speak but James put up his hand. “I’ve come to beg for Heather’s life.”
“James. What is going on with you?”
“It’s a little complicated. The truth is that I am Fae.”
Alli felt her world spinning out of control and she slid down the wall onto her backside.
He ran over to her, holding her hand tightly in his. “I’m sorry to have scared you but it’s true. My sister was Ariel, the one who died. My mother the queen is the one who cursed the Donovans.”
Alli shook her head. This was impossible. “I don’t understand. The other day you told me to stay away from Finn.”
“Yes, I did. That has been my job for more than two hundred years, to make sure the Donovans never come into possession of the gems. It was I who kept the curse going for these many years.”
Pulling her hand from his, Alli knew he was telling her the truth. No human being had eyes like his. “Why the change of heart? Why now?” she asked harshly.
This was the man responsible for poor Heather lying in her bad, dying before her time. The curse probably could have been broken a long time ago but James had interfered.
“It’s Heather, she is my Matree, my mate. We Fae only have one in our immortal lives and Heather is mine. I can’t lose her or I shall have no choice but to follow her in death.”
Alli sat stunned at James’ revelation. He was Fae, not just any old Fae but a prince. “Can’t you ask your mother to break the curse herself?”
“It doesn’t work that way. The Goddess gave my mother the curse and it can only be broken by her rules.”
Alli couldn’t help as tears filled her eyes. She felt as if she was going to explode from the raw emotion filling her up. James looked so forlorn when he talked of Heather. He was lucky to be that sure about his feelings.
“I don’t trust myself with Finn. I am so scared, so afraid that I’ll be hurt again.”
He sat next to her and put his arm around her while she let all her emotion pour out in large, racking sobs. He stroked her hair and allowed her to cry it out. She needed this, needed to purge all her feelings, she needed to let go of the past and then she would be able to see with love instead of fear. She was grateful James was being supportive. She needed to lean on him now.
“Let me ask you this. Do you love him?”
“Yes, I do,” she answered without even thinking about it. Yes, she loved him with everything inside her.
Finn was the man she wanted to spend her life with. She had no doubts there. Alli wanted to grow old with him, have children with him. He told her he was in love with her. Did she believe him?
Yes, she did without a single doubt. She’d believed when he told her he cared for her fifteen years ago, that what happened between them was real and not because of some stupid teenage misunderstanding. This was her real chance at happiness. Finn had made her realize he really wanted her, not what she could do for his family. In fact, she knew that if she chose to walk away he’d let her.
She wasn’t about to walk away, not now, not ever. Her heart burst as pure joy emanated from her every pore. A weight lifted and she felt light as air. Finn was her past, her present and now her future.
Laughing, she stood. James followed and she wrapped her arms around him. “James, please can you take me to him?”
Letting out his breath, James kissed her on the forehead. “Of course I’ll take you.” He pulled back and looked at her. “I have a request. You must not tell anyone who I really am.”
“Does Heather know?” Alli asked, not wanting to keep secrets.
James shook his head. “No, she doesn’t and she can’t know right now. It is our custom that if we fall for a human they must fall for us without knowing who we are. Only then can we reveal ourselves as Fae. It is how it has always been and I ask you to keep this to yourself so that Heather has the chance to love me as I love her.”
“You sound very sure about her falling in love with you,” Alli said, punching James in the shoulder.
He spread his arms out and a faint white glow radiated from his body. Alli couldn’t see him anymore as the glow engulfed his tall frame. When it fled, Alli gasped as again James appeared like the man she had always known. A respected school principal.
“I will never get used to this magic stuff.”
“Dear Alli, you have experienced the most magical thing of all. The love you have for Finn will carry you throughout your life. In it, you will know more magic than anything an Other may come up with.”
“Ooh, you’re a poet as well. I’m glad you want to be with Heather. I think you’re a good match.”
“Yes, Alli, we’re meant to be together, and the Goddess willing, she will be alive to experience life with me.”
Chapter Sixteen
>
Finn walked around the circle of the grove. His patience was wearing thin. Where the hell was she? He had been so certain she would come to him. Now doubt crept in as he looked at the cloudless night sky.
She was coming and he could feel it. The wind carried her scent and shivers moved up and down his spine. Still, his two brothers who were waiting with him gave him sympathetic looks.
“You can both stop looking so sorry for me. I know she’s coming so knock it off.”
“It’s almost midnight. I don’t think she’ll be here. Why don’t we get some sleep and you can go to her tomorrow and talk to her?” Sully asked, slapping Finn on the back. “She obviously needs more time. With Heather getting weaker each day, I wanted her to show up but she can’t be pushed into something so fast.”
A noise caught Finn’s attention and he stopped his frantic pacing. Through the trees, led by James of all people, came his Alli. She was dressed in a long ivory gown that flowed over her body just right and fell to her bare feet. She wore a wreath of flowers in her hair.
Finn was stunned by her beauty and could only look at her. He was afraid to take a step toward her, afraid this was a dream and that at any moment he would be woken up by one of his brothers.
“You came,” he said quietly, not wanting to speak too loud in case she changed her mind and decided to leave him.
Her smile was dazzling as she said, “Yes, I came back for you. I want to be with you.”
“Why?” he asked and heard his brothers groan. He ignored them. This was no longer about the damn jewel and Heather. This was about him and Alli and he wanted to hear her say it. The words he never thought he would ever say himself much less want—no, crave—to hear from another human being.
“Why?” Alli repeated, walking up to Finn. She smiled as she placed her hand on his chest, where his heart lived. “I came back because I love you.”
It was all she managed to say before Finn hauled her up to him and gave her a scorching kiss.
His woman. He held her tightly as his mouth plunged into hers. He heard the clapping and hooting coming from his brothers behind them but chose to ignore them.
A hand fell on his back. “Boy, ya have to complete the ceremony before ya go any further,” Patrick Donovan said.
Finn pressed his head to Alli’s, wiping away the tears on her cheek with his thumb. “Alli,” he whispered. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
She nodded. “I’m happier than I ever thought possible. I can’t believe this is real, that I’m going to spend the rest of my life with you.”
He gently kissed her forehead. “I’m yours, now and forever. I will spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you.”
Patrick summoned the two of them to stand before the black stone altar. From the shadows appeared another person next to Sully and Gavin. The figure was tiny and wore a white robe. The person stood next to Patrick and pulled back the hood covering her head.
“Elsapeth,” Finn said, happy to see the only one on Avalon who had been good to him.
The woman was very old, with deep wrinkles lining her face. She had her long gray hair braided down her back and she held an ancient book.
She opened the book and took out a blue-and-silver bit of braided rope. “Finn,” she said, looking at them both. “I want you to lay your left hand over Alli’s.”
Finn grasped Alli’s hand and held it as Elsapeth wrapped the rope around their wrists.
“You are here in front of these witnesses and in the presence of the Goddess to proclaim your love for one another?” She waited for Alli and Finn to reply yes. “By binding yourselves to each other you must know that you shall never be alone. There is no parting once you have committed to each other. Do you both abide by this?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
“Finn, do you promise to care, love and always be mindful of the needs of your mate?”
“I do.” Finn didn’t think he could be any happier than he was at this moment.
“Alli, do you promise to care, love and always be mindful of the needs of your mate?”
“I do.”
Torches started to light all around Finn and Alli as the Donovan men and James began to clap.
“Is that it, are we married now?” Alli asked.
“We need to do one more thing for this ritual to be complete,” Finn whispered. Alli was gonna love this one. “We have to make love on the altar together.”
“With everyone watching?” she said a little too loudly and turned a bright pink as he stifled a laugh.
“A hundred years ago, yes, that would have been the case but this is a different era and we try to change with the times, my dear,” Elsapeth answered her. “You and Finn will have your privacy. Trust me, we will know when you have completed that part of the ceremony.”
Alli looked up at her new husband and smiled. “Can we…well, is it possible to get married in a church?”
“Oh baby, of course we can. I told you before that we could. I will do anything for you, Alice Donovan.”
A slight breeze ruffled the trees and Alli and Finn were all alone in the grove.
“I’m never going to get used to all this magic stuff,” she said.
Alli stood before Finn, the warm breeze lifting the bottom of her dress, the flowers falling out of her hair. He leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. His hands slid down her shoulders, pulling the dress with him. It fell to her feet.
Finn kissed the knuckles on both her hands, running his lips back and forth across them. His hands dropped hers to trace along her shoulders and run down the front of her, passing over her ripe breasts, down her round tummy, flaring out to caress her hips and reaching around to her ass. He yanked her forward and kissed her. He murmured against her lips in the language he used when casting a spell and his clothes disappeared. It should have freaked her out but now it felt as natural as if he’d peeled off his clothes one at a time.
Alli skimmed his sides, running her fingers up and down his strong chest. Letting her nails scrape the round, flat nipples. He sat on top of the black stone and pulled her down so she was sitting on his lap, his hard penis lying against her thigh as he broke their kiss.
“Thank you, Alli, thank you for being my wife, for helping to save my sister. Most of all, thank you for loving me.”
He leaned forward and kissed the side of her neck, playfully biting it as his lips traveled south. She held her breast and lifted it to meet Finn’s eager mouth. Her head fell back as Finn began to suck hard on her nipples.
“I can’t wait for you any longer,” she mewled. “Finn, please fuck me now.”
He placed his cock at the entrance of her pussy. Her juice was flooding her thighs and he slipped inside. Her cry filled the air and around them it began to sizzle and pop as streaks of lightning lit up the grove.
She rode him hard and fast, trying to ease the ache between her legs. Her nether lips so swollen and tender from the past few days only enhanced the needy feeling she had.
Over and over, she came down on his cock and Finn pushed up to meet her every time. Reaching between her thighs, his finger finding the hard pulsing clit, he massaged it. Rolling his finger over and under it.
Alli threw her head back as she felt the orgasm rising up out of her. In that moment, Finn also started to come. The lightning crackled hard and at Alli’s first scream of release, a bolt hit her in the chest where her necklace lay. Finn tried to hold on to her tight as electricity flew from her body to his.
It was over in seconds and Alli looked down at Finn, who was still lodged inside her.
“What was that?” she said, trying to catch her breath.
“Look,” Finn said, pointing to her necklace. Gone was the black onyx and in its place was a beautiful diamond. “Alli, it worked. The magic was released from the jewel. Heather has more time.”
Alli smiled and ran her hand down Finn’s face. “Yes, she does, and we have forever.”
Leaning forward, she kissed Finn and was thankful for whatever magic had brought them together.
About the Author
Sierra Summers lives in the Metro-Detroit area in Michigan. She is a married mother of two wonderful boys and one precious girl. She also cares for two spoiled dogs.
She still has the first book she ever wrote in first grade, Skeleton Rock, which started off her love for writing and she’s written ever since. The majority of her books take place in Michigan and she’s proud to live so close to Detroit, a city poised on the brink of a comeback. The revitalized downtown and surrounding area provides wonderful inspiration for her writing.
Finding her writing partner, VJ Summers, was the answer to her lifelong dream. Together the duo had written several books before Sierra also began venturing out on her own. Sierra and VJ both love to hear from their readers.
Sierra welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
Tell Us What You Think
We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You can email us at [email protected].
Also by Sierra Summers
Carrie’s Answer with VJ Summers
Longfellow Seduced with VJ Summers
Meredith’s Awakening with VJ Summers
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
www.ellorascave.com
Finn’s Redemption
ISBN 9781419937996
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Finn’s Redemption Copyright © 2012 Sierra Summers
Edited by Carrie Jackson
Photo and cover design by Syneca
Photo by Vizual Vortex Studio/Shutterstock.com
Model: Angelo
Electronic book publication June 2012
The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.
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