Bet in the Dark by Rachel Higginson

“Use the green card,” he instructed and then let me go.

  It took all of my grace and coordination not to stumble back after he released me from his intensity. I cleared my throat, ignoring the riot of butterflies in my stomach. Fin could do serious damage to my heart if I let him keep this up. And the worst part was he didn’t even know what he was doing.

  I ordered the Thai food quickly, just getting two of whatever it was he liked. And I wasn’t even sure if I got that right. My Thai was not the most accurately pronounced.

  After I finished the order there was a knock at the door. Without being asked I walked over and put my hand on the knob.

  “Wait,” Fin called out, jumping up from his chair. “Let me check who it is first. I’ve been getting these weird-“ He stopped talking suddenly and cleared his throat.

  Knowing he was referring to the three girls I sent his way over the last week I leaned up on my tip toes to look through the peephole. I couldn’t suppress my smile and I was seriously hoping it was another girl. I would die to watch Fin interact with one of them.

  But alas, it was only Jameson.

  “It’s alright, I think it’s for me,” I called over my shoulder.

  Fin was halfway across the room and I felt more than heard his confusion at that. I opened the door and let Jameson in.

  “Hey,” I said causally.

  He smiled down at me, familiar and sweet. “Hey, Els.” We shared the smile and then he reluctantly greeted Fin. “Hey, man.”

  Fin could not have sounded more suspicious when he said, “Hey,” back. “What are you doing here James?”

  “Just stopped by to see, Ellie.” Jameson shot me a wink over his shoulder so I knew he was teasing Fin. Not that Fin didn’t totally deserve this; although I wasn’t sure why he would care to begin with.

  “She’s working right now,” Fin bit out. He made his stance wide, intimidating and crossed his arms. His hair was across his forehead again and his dark eyes were more the color of cold black obsidian than warm chocolate.

  “I can see that,” Jameson mumbled smugly.

  That muscle started ticking in Fin’s jaw again and I had the strongest urge to smooth my hand over it so he would relax. I shook my head of that kind of thought and instead tugged on the crook of Jameson’s arm. “I just ordered some Thai. Are you going to stick around and eat with us?”

  “He can’t, we’re working,” Fin growled, emphasizing his words loudly.

  “I can’t anyway, I’ve got three miles left to work in this evening. Did you finish your work out track star?” Jameson asked tauntingly.

  Fin didn’t reply, just bore holes with his eyes into Jameson’s head. “What do you need, J?”

  Not wanting to cause any problems between Fin and his friend, especially since I was the removable piece here, I hurried over to my backpack lying on the floor. I grabbed the notes I borrowed and quickly shuffled them into a neat pile before handing them over to Jameson.

  “Thanks again,” I smiled sweetly. “Those are probably going to save my grade.”

  “Of course,” Jameson smiled back. “Anytime, Ellie, really. And if you need help studying for the midterm, just let me know. I’d love to help out.”

  “That would be great, thank you!” I gushed. That really would be great; I wasn’t just being polite or nice. My grade was in so much trouble and I could not make sense of anything related to probability or trending inflations.

  “Alright, well, I’ll call you later,” Fin interrupted as a way to kick his friend out.

  He was being rude, and I was kind of embarrassed, but Jameson only laughed and gave us a wave on his way out the door.

  Once the door was closed behind him, Fin locked it and then returned to his desk. “Since when are you and McKay such good friends?”

  “Oh, I thought you knew we had Econ together. You know, since you made him spy on me and all,” I retorted with as much snark as I could muster.

  But he just grunted.

  Not feeling like sitting back down next to him, I wandered over to his huge windows that looked out over the street below and a section of grassy campus. There were three of these long windows that reached from my waist almost all the way to the vaulted ceiling were evenly spaced along his living room wall. The rough, red brick filled in the space between and the dark wood baseboard ran along the length of the floor.

  The sun was shining today and the cold winter wind seemed to have receded for good. People were out and about this evening, enjoying the nice weather, taking their dogs for walks and holding hands in the park area. Couples dotted the grassy knoll all over, holding hands under budding trees, speaking closely and in one case making foreplay an outdoor sport.

  “Oh my gosh,” I gasped at the publically petting couple. I stifled a laugh, feeling embarrassed for them. It looked like they were trying to eat each other.

  “What?” Fin asked from his game surveillance.

  I laughed out loud at the guys’ brazenness as his hand traveled up the outside of his girlfriend’s thigh before slipping under her short skirt. “Oh my gosh,” I whispered again.

  With some of his earlier impatience gone Fin asked in a gentler tone, “What is it?”

  Reluctantly I answered, “There is this couple on the green across the street. They’re…. they’re basically having sex.” My cheeks heated bright red, but I could not stop watching them. “Ok, maybe not sex but seriously making out.”

  “And that bothers you?” Fin asked intuitively.

  “No,” I said too quickly. “I mean, it doesn’t bother me. I just, I’ve never been able to do that. Like, make out in public.”

  “Never?” Fin asked in disbelief. “You’ve never made out in public?”

  I hadn’t really made out in private either, but he didn’t need to know that. “No way! It’s so…. tacky.”

  “Yet, you can’t take your eyes off the couple across the street,” Fin murmured huskily.

  Sputtering to defend myself I said, “Only because they’re being so crazed about it. He’s trying to swallow her head! And he has his whole arm up her skirt!”

  “And that embarrasses you?”

  I could feel the intensity of his gaze on my back, his intelligent eyes studying me, but still I couldn’t stop watching the couple below. “No, it doesn’t embarrass me. It’s just…. I’ve never, I don’t know, I’ve never wanted someone so badly that I had to have them, right then, right there.”

  Fin stood up and walked to the farthest window away from me so he could see the couple, the man now practically lying on top of the woman, groping her in full view of everyone else. Fin’s smile turned wicked as he took in what I had been watching. “You’ve never been so taken with someone that you couldn’t do anything else until your mouth was on theirs? Until your hands were exploring their body thoroughly? Memorizing every inch of exposed skin? Discovering every single unexposed secret?”

  Feeling, very suddenly out of breath I glanced over at Fin only to catch him staring at me and not the couple down below. “No,” I whispered. I shook my head, trying to come back to myself. “But I don’t really like kissing.”

  That brought Fin out of wherever he had gone too. “What?” he demanded tersely.

  I let out a nervous laugh, embarrassed I admitted that. “I don’t know, it’s just never really done anything for me.”

  “Then you’re not being kissed properly,” he objected quickly.

  “I don’t think it’s them,” I argued, although by them, I really only meant Colton and this boy I went to summer camp with when I was thirteen. “I think it’s me. I just can’t seem to ever get out of my own head, you know? It’s like I’m stuck up there analyzing and thinking and I just can’t ever really get into it. I might be broken.” I didn’t really think I was broken, just maybe not very lusty. But still, to a purely sexual, virile man like Fin, broken would be the most sense he could make out of me.

  Fin’s eyes locked to mine and burned with a palpable need. I swallowed roughl
y, against my instinct to hide from him, to hide from how concentrated everything was about him, how I could feel his desire from all the way across the room, how it rippled in the air between us, electrifying every one of my senses.

  Before he even took a step, I realized I just threw down a challenge; a challenge to a competitive, aggressive alpha male going to school on a full ride athletic scholarship. He would see that challenge and feel only the driving need to conquer, to win. Crap.

  “No shit,” he mumbled. His tall, toned body was stalking over to me. Each step seemed to make his entire body ripple with intent.

  “Excuse me?” I huffed, slipping a hand to my hip. I knew it was true, but I didn’t like that Fin thought he had me all figured out.

  “No shit,” he said slower, a hint of amusement tilting his lips.

  Feeling offended but mostly panicked by the wicked glint in his eyes, I let out a puff of indignation, “No shit? No shit? Yes shit!” I argued heatedly. “Yes, very much shit! What does that phrase even mean? You don’t have to-“

  My tirade was abruptly cut off when Fin pressed his lips against mine. The force of his surprisingly soft lips against mine took my breath away and whatever I was going to say immediately disappeared, completely forgotten. Fin wrapped a strong arm around my waist, and held the other against the nape of my neck. He wasn’t forcing me into this kiss, but his aggressive body language made it clear I wasn’t going anywhere either. He took a step, and then another step and suddenly my back was pushed against the rough brick wall, and his chest was pressed into mine.

  All the while his lips moved slowly, seductively against mine. His tongue swept against my bottom lip and before I could register my actions I opened my mouth for him, letting him in. His tongue met my tongue and I felt him groan with satisfaction at the connection. My breaths became shallow, my head became dizzy, there was nothing outside of Fin’s mouth. He worked it against me, slowly building my need until it was a frenzy of pure, unadulterated lust and want.

  Unable to keep myself from touching him any longer, I brought my hands up to grip his chest. Slowly I slid them up, relishing the feel of hard muscle beneath my fingers. Even through the thin material of his t-shirt I could feel how sculpted his entire body was. Soon, my arms were wrapped around Fin’s neck and I was clinging to him to stay upright.

  The hand that gripped my neck, slid up into my hairline, grasping my hair in a tight fist. I gasped at his power; not that he hurt me, but there was this promised roughness that did nothing but turn me on more. His other hand slipped quickly under my own shirt, and he pressed his flat hand against the heat of my back. The contact of skin on skin made me shiver against him and in response his mouth took mine even hungrier.

  His kiss grew more hectic, more frenzied. I weaved one of my own hands through his hair, and my other gripped his shoulder for balance, my nails dug into his shoulder, but it was all I could do to hold on to him. His kisses were like drugs, sending my brain into a mindless haze and my body into a fire of craving.

  I stumbled forward, losing my balance and Fin caught me tightly. Thinking I had been trying to get away from him he pushed me back against the wall in an aggressive push. My breath whooshed out of me in surprise but before I could decide if I should be upset or not Fin’s delicious mouth had moved from mine to my jawline and I decided that I liked that he was taking what he wanted. I really liked it. He kissed and licked and sucked his way up to my ear and then paid special attention to my earlobe. I was gasping and leaning into him for more when he moved down the column of my neck and to my collar bone. The hand that was under my shirt started moving upward towards my bra in slow, teasing circles. By the time his fingers were playing with the clasp I was shaking with something I couldn’t even put a name to.

  Fin’s fingers stayed at the clasp of my bra, playing with it as if he were deciding what to do with it. One of his fingers grazed the skin underneath it and I sucked in a sharp breath, knowing I should be worried about what he was planning, but not able to work up any emotion other than desire.

  Fin’s mind must have been less hazy than mine though because he seemed to come back to himself somewhat. He left the skin of my throat and jaw and took my mouth in his one more time. He kissed me hungrily, desperately. His kisses consumed me, threatened to ruin me for all other kisses in my future. If it were possible, Fin could easily have gotten a full ride to college for kissing. Seriously, a boy should not be this good at anything. No wonder he was cocky.

  And if he was this good at just kissing….

  With one last feverish, devouring press of his lips against mine, he pulled away. He was breathing heavy, as was I, our chests rising and falling in frantic patterns. His hands became more of a presence as they pressed against my bare skin without pulling me closer to him. We weren’t exactly in an embrace, but we were tangled together in an unmistakable connection.

  He bent his head to press his forehead against mine softly, “Ellie,” he whispered, the sound raspy with left over desire. “What are you thinking about?”

  Gah! “N-n-nothing,” I gasped, still trying to catch my breath.

  Slowly I opened my eyes, but his were still closed. His lips have turned into a gorgeous smile and it seemed like he was still trying to get control of himself. Ok, point proven.

  Finally, after several more breathless moments, he straightened, disentangling his limbs from mine. “That’s how you should be kissed. Every single time.” And then he patted my head like a small child and walked away.

  I stayed molded to the brick wall, still trying to get my brain to work. What just happened?

  “Get back to work!” he shouted at me from somewhere down the hallway. “I want those rules done before the food gets here.”

  In that moment, that exact moment, I knew Fin Hunter was going to change my life forever. I didn’t know if it would be better or worse when he was done, I just knew that he was blowing through everything I thought I wanted and needed like a tornado of change and I was helpless to stop it.

  I was helpless against him.

  Chapter Nine

  “I can feel you freaking out from over here. Stop it,” Fin ordered from the kitchen.

  While I eventually moved from the wall back to my desk, he was right, I was freaking out. But what was I supposed to do? I had never, in my entire life, been kissed like that. And a small part of me wondered if I would ever be kissed like that again.

  I wanted to be. I wanted to be kissed like that every single day for the rest of my life. In fact, I wanted to campaign for kisses like that, go on a world tour proclaiming the necessity of being kissed and taken and dominated like that. That kiss had changed my entire way of thinking.

  But it was attached to a boy that I really just wanted to get away from. So that made things confusing. Which in turn, made me freak the hell out.

  “Ellie, I’m serious, stop it,” he commanded, his deep, rumbly voice skittering deliciously over my skin. “If I would have known it was going to make you completely shut down around me, I never would have done it. It was just a lesson, nothing more. Alright?”

  I knew that. Those were things I knew immediately. And while Fin, being the man that he was, might want something one-nighter-ish to happen between us, he wasn’t expecting it. But if it did happen, that was all he as expecting. One night. And that was not happening. Not ever.

  “Ellie, for real, are you Ok? I feel bad now.” Fin’s whole demeanor had changed. I could tell he really felt bad about the kiss and I was being stupid about it, letting him think I thought it was than it was.

  “Oh, no.” I mustered up all the sarcastic energy I could. “You’re not going to apologize are you?”

  “What?” he asked on a surprised laugh.

  “You shocked me, that’s all. Don’t be a girl about this,” I turned to shoot him a grin I barely felt and caught his widened eyes as he took in my playful expression. “It was just a kiss. It didn’t mean anything. I’m probably not even the first girl you’ve
made out with today.”

  Did I sound jealous?

  Ack! I hope I didn’t sound jealous!

  “Don’t do that,” Fin scolded while walking back to his seat next to me. “Don’t do that whole ‘Fin’s a manwhore’ thing and downplay what happened between us.” He actually sounded kind of pissed and I was more confused than ever.

  “Whatever, Finley. Nothing happened between us.” I muttered that, hoping he would get the hint and drop the subject. When his head swiveled around to face me and his eyes glinted dangerously I realized I had wounded his pride. Again. “Except for hottest kiss of your damn life.” And mine.

  Fin broke into a huge grin, his eyes immediately relaxed and his hand shot out to grip my bicep and shake me playfully. “I never know what you’re going to say next, Ellie Harris. You’re nothing like what I expected.”

  I smiled back at him because it was impossible not to. He was infectious, contagious, a freaking pandemic. And not that I wanted to paint him as a disease when my heart was suddenly hammering frantically in my chest and my skin was tingling every place he touched me, but he was kind of a disease. He just happened to me, no matter how I tried to protect myself from him. And I wasn’t sure there was a cure for him.

  Dang it, I was starting to like him. And I felt like such a fool.

  “I’m almost glad you lost all that money, Ellie. At least I get to keep you around for a while,” he grinned playfully at me but reality came crashing back with his words and my smile faltered.

  “Yeah, me too,” I pursed my lips and rolled my eyes. Gently tugging my arm back from his hold I said, “Now let me get back to the work you have me doing, so I don’t owe you that money for the rest of our lives.”

  Fin was quiet after that and so was I. But all in all it was a productive night. I finished his rules and regulations document, set up a spread sheet of the past year and half of winners and winnings. Which, holy cow, Fin only took a percent of the winnings and he was doing more than alright. No wonder this was so important to him. But I had to wonder again, why the money he wanted from me was so important. He should have tons of money, especially if he wasn’t paying for school.