“Just say the word,” says Finn. “You’re looking a lot hotter these days since you put some weight on.”
“Are you calling me fat?” I ask, amused, before standing up and bringing my plate and cup over to the sink.
Finn’s eyes practically consume me. “You were too thin before, now you’ve got curves in all the right places.”
It’s true, I’d lost a lot of weight after Matthew died, now my body’s back to its full health again. I turn on the tap and begin rinsing the dishes, and try to change the subject by saying, “Tell Pamphrock I want five grand up front and twelve after Rebecca is home and safe, then it’s a deal.”
“Done,” Finn replies, suddenly right behind me. I finish rinsing and turn off the tap. He places his hands against counter on either side of me and I suck in a breath.
“Get out of my way,” I say in a quiet voice. I can feel his chest pressed against my back, his bare legs touch on mine since he’s still in his boxer shorts.
“I don’t want to,” he whispers, hand sliding under my t-shirt, and I become hyper aware of the fact that I’m not wearing a bra. His hand brushes over my stomach, lingers just beneath my chest. “I booked a flight for us back to Tribane for this evening, that gives us a couple of hours to spare,” he says, voice just above a whisper now.
“No it doesn’t,” I tell him. “If I’m leaving then I need to let my boss know I’ll be gone for a week or two, and I need to pack.” Then I sigh when his other hand slides over my lower back and wraps the whole way around me, pulling me into him.
“You are so fucking hot,” he breathes. His hand dips down and strokes my inner thigh and I let out a small moan. “You like that?” he asks, as he allows his hand to inch up and trace over my underwear. I’m acting like a complete slut, but I’m so easily seduced. I haven’t been with a single man since Matthew. Of course, there was Ethan, but we were never together properly. Abruptly, I gain some self-control and push Finn away.
“Okay,” I say on a raspy breath, still feeling the effects of him touching me. “We need to set up some ground rules.”
Finn’s eyes sparkle with amusement. “Go ahead.”
“I’m agreeing to help you, but there are conditions,” I say, “the first is, you need to stop coming onto me.”
Finn’s gaze burns into me. “You seemed to be enjoying yourself just now.”
“That’s not the point, the point is, I can’t focus on how I’m going to get to Rebecca if you’re constantly trying to get me into bed.”
“All right then, Tegan, no more trying to seduce you,” says Finn, laughing. “What are the other conditions?”
“When we get back to Tribane you need to take me to Chesterport to see my dad first before we go to get Rebecca.”
Finn runs a hand over his jaw. “It will have to be a very quick visit.”
“Two hours with my dad,” I say, “that’s all I need.”
“Deal,” says Finn.
“The last condition is, that if after two weeks I haven’t managed to rescue Rebecca then you’ll let me come back to Manchester. I’ve got a job here now, and this apartment, and there are far too many vampires in Tribane. I can’t stay there for long, it’s dangerous.”
“Two weeks it is then,” says Finn, turning in the direction of my bathroom. “Now, do you mind if I use your shower?”
I shake my head. “No that’s fine.” Finn closes the bathroom door behind him and I go to my bedroom to begin packing. I grab my suitcase and get my passport out from underneath the mattress. I throw in a couple of pairs of jeans and t-shirts and a few dresses and skirts, as well as all the clean underwear I’ll need. By the time I’m finished packing Finn has emerged from the shower, shirtless and with only my white towel wrapped around his waist. I do my best to avert my gaze, but I do notice that he’s got a lot of scars, a hazard of the job I presume. He grins knowingly while I pick up my toiletries and disappear into the bathroom to take a shower myself.
I hear Finn laugh and ask, “You want some company in there Tegan?” just as I’m slamming the door shut. That slayer is going to be the death of my nerves.
I let the hot water wash over me as I think about how foolish I’m being going back to Tribane. The truth is, I want to see my dad and Nicky, for all I know th
ey could have died in the past two years since I’ve been in hiding. I haven’t spoken to them once since the night I left. I shudder to think of how worried they must have been all this time, thinking I was kidnapped or murdered. What I had hoped was that Nicky would go to see Ethan at Crimson, and he would have made up some story about how I moved away.
The idea of seeing Ethan again after so long has my stomach turning over in knots. He’d told me he was falling in love with me, and I had just gotten out of his car and left his life for good. How callous had I been? But I’d also been so heart wrenchingly afraid of the world I had discovered. I’d wanted to get as far away from it as I possibly could. I also wanted to get away from the city where I’d lost the first man I’d fallen in love with, and it was all because a vampire had been preying on him, causing him to slowly lose his mind.
Speaking of vampires, I wonder how Ethan, Lucas and Dru are going to react to my return, and of course there’s Delilah, but since she’s a dhamphir I probably don’t have to worry about her as much as the others. If Finn is to be believed, then none of them have spread the word about my blood. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t want to feed on me should I unexpectedly decide to show up again. Finn had said he would protect me, can I trust him to keep his word on that? Two weeks, just two weeks and then I’ll be gone again. All I need to do is find this little girl, return her to her father, and then disappear just like before.
Not to mention I’ll be getting paid a tidy sum of money for my troubles. The gallery pays me reasonably well, but I could always do with a nest egg. I dry off and slip into some pale blue jeans and a white t-shirt, before scruffing dry my short hair.
As I leave the bathroom and walk through the living room to my bedroom, I listen in while Finn speaks with someone over the phone.
“Yes, she’s said she’ll help us, we’re catching a flight home this evening,” he says, and I presume he’s talking to Pamphrock. At least I hope he is. For all I know this could be some elaborate plot to capture me and turn me into a science experiment. Or just to kill me. I remember Rita telling me about how women of my bloodline had been murdered by the slayers in the past, so that the vampires couldn’t their hands on the power we can give them.