Beneath the Moon and the Stars (27 page)

‘I will. You too. You didn’t have to stay.’

‘I wanted to.’

She swallowed and moved towards him quickly before her brain woke up and stopped her. Reaching up she kissed him on the lips, his mouth instantly responding against hers, his hands round her waist pulling her close. She pulled away, staring into his eyes.

‘Thank you.’

He stared at her, then kissed her briefly on the forehead. ‘I’ll check in on her later.’

With that he was gone, letting himself out through the back door.

Wrapping herself in Finn’s blanket, she lay down on the other sofa to watch Darcy sleep.

*

It was late afternoon when Joy woke, stiff from lying on the sofa – it really was uncomfortable. She immediately sat up; startled that Darcy was gone from the opposite sofa. She got up and saw Darcy sleeping in the sun out on the decking. Her food bowl was empty so obviously she was feeling better if she was eating.

She stepped out onto the decking, wrapping the blanket round her.

‘Darcy!’

Darcy looked up at her, wagging her tail, still with that sheepish look on her face.

Joy giggled and knelt down next to her, intending to spend the whole day stroking Darcy.

Though as a slight breeze stirred around them and she caught a whiff of her skin, she thought maybe a shower would be more timely before the stroking marathon started.

*

Joy had just finished unloading her car as the sun was setting over the tiny village. She didn’t like to leave her tools in the car overnight. The sum total of the tools’ worth was more than the value of the car itself, and if someone broke into her car and stole them it would take her weeks to amass such a varied collection again.

The job could wait a few days; that was the great thing about being The Dark Shadow, she could set her own timetable.

She suddenly noticed that people were leaving their houses and heading for the pub. As she looked around and her eyes cast up the hill, it seemed that every single person that lived in the village was heading that way.

Finn’s front door opened and he came out too.

‘What’s going on?’ Joy said.

‘I’ve called a village meeting,’ Finn said, closing his front door behind him.

‘Well I’m coming too.’

‘No, I don’t want you there.’

Joy stepped back as if he’d physically hit her.

He walked straight up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. ‘We’re fighting back baby. They’re not going to get away with this shit anymore.’

He kissed her head and strode off into the sunset. Her knight in shining armour. All he needed was the white horse.

*

Finn stood outside the pub as he waited for everyone to arrive. There was a frisson of excitement amongst the villagers. They loved him, he could do no wrong in their eyes. They smiled at him indulgently as they walked into the pub. He was their hero and he was about to hit them where it hurts.

As the last straggler walked into The Pride, he followed them in, moving his way through the crowd of people who had filled the pub. He didn’t even care about his strict rule to not get involved anymore. He was beyond angry. As he reached the front of the pub the villagers fell quiet. Some were smiling, some were excited, some were just curious. He had never done anything like this before so no one quite knew what to expect.

‘I’m leaving Bramble Hill,’ Finn announced.

There were murmurs of disbelief and shock.

‘Why? You’re happy here,’ cried Mrs Yates.

‘What you guys are doing to Joy Cartier is making me sick and I cannot be a member of this village anymore.’

‘No, she’s not one of us,’ someone else shouted from the back of the pub.

‘She needs to leave.’

‘We want her out.’

There were other shouts and people started talking between themselves, nodding, plotting, creating new plans to fight against the witch. He had riled them up and in a minute they were going to march from here, gather their pitch forks and burn the witch at the stake.

He slammed his fist down on the table and they all grew quiet.

‘She has nothing to do with Mrs Kemblewick being ousted from the village – and I know none of you believe that but it’s true. Her only crime is having a similar name to her landlord Joe Carter but you sick fuckers poisoned her and then tried to kill her dog. What the hell is wrong with you? If I catch who is responsible for that I will tear you apart with my bare hands. As it is, I will be leaving in the next month unless I see that this hate campaign against her has stopped. But in the meantime, if any of you go anywhere near her house you will have me to answer to – and if you think I’m angry now, this is nothing if she gets hurt.’

There were more murmurs and then a voice rang out from the back of the room.

‘Thanks Finn.’

The crowd parted like the Red Sea and Joy was standing there, looking wild and insanely beautiful. The villagers shifted angrily around her. Good god, they were going to kill her and she had no idea. He hurried towards her, casting evil glances at anyone who was close to her. They backed off, slightly.

‘I have sought legal and criminal advice and every single one of you is going to be contacted by the police over the next few days. Fingerprints will be taken and you’re going to have to account for your whereabouts over the last few days.’ She passed out copies of the letter that Finn knew Alex had given her. ‘The faeces that has been posted through my letterbox is being analysed and it’s only a matter of time before they find which dog it belongs to. If it’s your dog, you’re looking at a criminal record and a hefty fine at the very least. I have already given the police the names of the people that threw eggs at me and spat at me…’

Jesus, she was spat at, this was getting worse and worse. Finn moved to her side, wanting to protect her from everything.

‘… and the police are very interested in speaking to those people especially. Fingerprints have already been lifted off the pie dish that the poisoned quiche was in and the brick that was thrown through my window. It won’t take them long to trace where they came from. Attempted murder has a very hefty prison sentence. Some of you are going to jail for a very long time and quite honestly I hope you rot there. And the rest of you that have not been involved in the poisoning of myself and my dog, my solicitor is very confident they can take you all to court for harassment. If you want to kick me down, I’m going to bring every single one of you fuckers down with me.’

With that Joy turned and walked out the pub and Finn hurried after her.

She didn’t stop walking as he fell in at her side, she was breathing deeply through her nose as she strode back to her house, with her head held high. Eventually, he caught her hand and pulled her round to face him.

‘That was incredible.’

‘Well I couldn’t let you have all the fun. You were prepared to fight my corner and I wasn’t prepared to fight it myself. Enough is enough. Someone is going to pay for what they did to Darcy.’

‘I love this fiery side to you.’

‘I love this side to you that fights back. If you fought as hard for us, we could be lying in your bed round about now, having hot passionate sex. Instead, you were willing to throw it all away over one stupid kiss.’

She turned away. Wow, she was going all out to fight everyone tonight. He caught her hand again and before she could say another thing he kissed her, hard.

She didn’t even protest, she kissed him back with equal vigour, her hands immediately in his hair as he yanked her against him. He could feel her heart thundering against her chest as he slid his tongue into her mouth, tasting her, devouring her every breath.

He pulled away slightly. ‘Let’s go back to mine, we can talk about this some more.’

She shook her head. ‘No talking, we’ve talked about it enough. This thing between us isn’t going to go away, so let’s have one night, no rules, no promises, no labels – and let’s see if we have something worth fighting for.’

‘Agreed.’

He grabbed her hand and marched the last hundred yards back to his house. He pulled her inside and pinned her against the door, kissing her again.

Chapter Sixteen

God, his kiss, it was insane the feelings it sparked in her. He pulled away slightly to look at her, his eyes dark with lust and need, he looked like he wanted to devour her. It sent a rush of longing straight to her groin.

‘You call the shots, you’re in control. I’m not going to do anything here that might intimidate you.’

She wrapped her arms round his neck and kissed him again. This man. How could he be so ferocious, so sexy and still so caring at the same time? Right then and there she was willing to surrender every single bit of control to him. “I’m not scared of you.”

His hands travelled all over her body, barely touching just skimming her ribs, her arms, stroking through her hair. She seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. Her body was shaking with supressed need,

His taste, salty, earthy, sweet, she couldn’t get enough. He moved his mouth to her throat and she felt him smile as he no doubt felt her pulse hammering against his lips. His kisses were relentless as his mouth travelled slowly over her collar bone and back up her throat. She felt her breathing accelerate as he slipped a hand inside her dress, running his fingers over her nipple.

‘Tell me to stop and I’ll stop.’ His voice was no more than a whisper now.

There was no way that word would pass her lips.

He grabbed the material at her hips and yanked the dress over her head. She was shocked by this sudden need, but not nearly as shocked as when he filled his hands with her breasts, running his fingers over her nipples through the material of her bra. As he kissed her, urgently, her bra came off and his hands were back on her breasts again. His skin was rough, but his hands were gentle.

With a noise that sounded like a growl escaping his throat, he lifted her. She wrapped her legs round his waist as he pressed her into the wall with his enormous frame. That feeling, that need, travelled quickly down her stomach and straight to her groin. She arched against him, desperate to feel him between her legs. His mouth was on her breast, his tongue rough as it travelled across her nipple. Sensation ripped through her and she grabbed his hair as her body shuddered against his.

His mouth was back on hers as he carried her to the top of some drawers, where he sat her whilst his hands explored her body again.

Realising that he was still fully clothed, she quickly rid him of his shirt and let her hands travel across his chest. She found his pierced nipple and tore her mouth from Finn’s as he was shifting her legs further apart.

‘Wait.’ She was thrown for a second by the guttural moan of frustration from Finn. ‘No, just a second, I promise.’

She lowered her head and licked his nipple. She remembered doing this when she had been high on poisonous mushrooms, but with her addled brain it didn’t feel half as good as it did now. The feel of the metal under her tongue, the feel of the nipple – hard through the metal – made her gut clench. He groaned loudly as she quickly undid his jeans and pushed them and his pants off his hips. She sucked on the nipple, twirling her tongue around the metal as he took the brief interlude to rid her of her pants.

The sound of material tearing snapped her out of her reverie. She stared at the scraps of material in his hands, he had pulled them apart as if they were made of paper. He didn’t even look guilty.

Taking her face in one hand, he kissed her again, whilst she heard him fumbling in the top drawer.

He tore his mouth away from hers for a second as he ripped open the condom wrapper and her attention was finally drawn down as he rolled the condom on. She felt her eyes widen and a frisson of nerves sliced through the desire.

‘Don’t look at it like that, I know what I’m doing.’

‘I’m sure you do.’ She wrapped her legs around his hips again, pulling him closer.

His hands moved to her hips, tilting her back slightly.

‘Is this ok?’

She nodded.

He kissed her again, his tongue writhing against hers as he shuffled closer. She could feel him, tantalizingly close but still the kiss continued.

‘Finn, please.’

He tilted her back even more, leaning over her as he kissed her and with his large hands gripping her hips, he gently pushed inside.

She let out an embarrassing noise that was half between a moan and a gurgle and he smirked. She tightened her grip around him with her legs, pulling him close with her arms, and with no gap left between them, with his eyes staring into hers, he started to move against her.

*

Joy lay on the sofa staring out the window, with Finn curled around her back, holding her against him. What had just happened? Sex wasn’t supposed to be like that. If it was, no one would ever get any work done, no one would leave their homes. She thought back to her previous sexual partners, none of them had come anywhere close to what had just happened with Finn.

It had started off gentle as Finn, determined not to hurt her, had held himself back – but suddenly all at once, by some unspoken mutual agreement, everything had changed. It was urgent, a desperate need, lips clashed, hands grabbed, she couldn’t take enough, she wanted more and he gave her everything he had. Where before her orgasms had been slow to build and then culminated in a ripple of pleasure, with Finn her orgasm had ripped through her so fast she wasn’t even prepared for it. And it wasn’t a ripple of pleasure but a tidal wave that seemed to roar through her body and went on and on as Finn poured himself into her again and again.

It had been over half an hour since they had moved to the sofa, and although her body had finally stopped shaking, her heart was still pounding against her chest.

‘Did I hurt you?’ Finn asked, as he kissed the top of her spine.

‘Not for one second.’

‘You haven’t said a word.’

She turned round in his arms and as she stroked his face, she saw the concern fade from his eyes. ‘I’m still in shock. Is that what sex is normally like for you? Was that just a normal regular shag for you because I can honestly say I’ve never had sex like that?’