FinnsRedemption

Finn’s Redemption

Sierra Summers

Alli Downing can’t get over Finn
Donovan. Fifteen years after he seduced her then broke her heart, she still
comes with his name on her lips, every time she touches herself. Now he’s back
in town, claiming her necklace is one of three keys needed to break his
family’s curse.

Finn can’t just take the necklace
from Alli. She has to offer it to him while naked. On an altar. During a magic
ritual filled with mind-blowing sex. And she has to be in love with him. Finn
decides to tempt, tease and torment Alli with pleasure until she sees he’s no
longer the stupid kid who stomped all over her heart so long ago. He’s the man
who loves her, has always loved her, and he’s determined to prove it. One way
or another, he’ll get the necklace, break the curse…and claim Alli for his own.

Finn’s Redemption

Sierra Summers

Dedication

To all my friends at Paperbacks and Things who have
encouraged me from the beginning. To Tawny Taylor, who is my biggest
cheerleader and to my writing partner VJ, who has been on this long and strange
journey with me. To my family for all your support. Last but not least, to my
editor Carrie for taking on what was a hot mess and helping give life to my
first characters I ever finished.

Chapter One

“I’m a powerful witch from an even more powerful family.”
Finn Donovan kept repeating that to himself over and over as he sat in his big
black Dodge Ram. He gripped the steering wheel harder, causing his fingers to
go numb as trepidation slithered down his spine.

At the moment he sure as hell didn’t feel very powerful. His
sister Heather was in bed withering away and he was scared he’d lose her… The
fucking Donovan curse. He’d thought coming home would be simple but it was more
difficult than even he could have imagined. He looked out the truck’s side
window and into the storefront directly across the street.

Alli’s store
.
A name from his past, it caused
an involuntary shiver to slide across his shoulders. Damn, he never thought
he’d be sitting here, much less back in town again.

He grunted. Just goes to show you couldn’t outrun your
destiny. How many times had his pop spoken those words? It was easy enough to
convince the five-year-old Finn of the family’s dark curse. By the time high
school arrived, he was arrogant and no longer believed the story of Duncan
Donovan committing a terrible wrong against a Fae princess. Maybe it had been
teenage rebellion or he didn’t want to admit the possibility of his baby sister
actually coming under the curse. He told his father it was nothing more than an
old tale, probably drummed up by a drunken ancestor back in Ireland.

A week ago, his skepticism came to a grinding halt when his
brother Sully called him in California. The conversation was short and sweet—
the
fucking curse is real. Heather is sick, real sick, Finn. It’s time to come
home.

He was on the first flight out of San Diego within hours of
the phone call. His stomach clenched as he remembered walking into Heather’s
room when he’d arrived. Her skin was pale and looked paper thin. Her blue eyes
spoke volumes—he could see the pain she was trying to hide from him. The smile
she wore was genuine and it broke Finn’s heart to see his little sister so
frail.

Heather was the reason he was sitting here now, frozen in
place. Afraid to walk across the street and see the only woman in the world who
could help him…help heal Heather.

Watching the girl he’d known so well fifteen years
ago—“girl” was the wrong word, she was definitely a woman—his stomach gave a
small lurch when she turned around.

He watched Alli approach an elderly couple near the middle
of the store. Her face was turned from him but her body was in full view, and
what a body she possessed, tall and lush, and he was totally mesmerized. Her
black skirt hugged her shapely ass. A long-sleeved peasant blouse came down low
enough to expose the tops of creamy breasts.

Finn’s mouth watered and his jeans became tighter as arousal
pressed forcefully against the denim. After all these years, she still retained
the ability to make him so hot, so hard.

He hadn’t gotten this hard, this quick in a long time. He’d
often wondered how her life had been since he’d been sent away to Avalon,
hoping she was happy. Hoping like hell she’d forgiven the mistakes of a stupid
kid. He knew she’d heard the rumors being spread about their night
together…rumors that he’d used her. And that he didn’t really care about her.
He couldn’t imagine the pain and embarrassment she felt with half the town
talking but she didn’t know the entire truth about that evening.

Rumors, Finn had discovered, were a nasty way to crush the
people you cared about. Alli hadn’t allowed him to explain what the events of
that night meant to him. He knew she was hurt too deeply to understand the
truth and look past the rumors that spread like wildfire all over town.

She’d returned all the letters he wrote, never once
acknowledging his apology. No communication, not even to tell him to fuck off.
She’d cut him off without a single word. He could have dealt with her anger but
having Alli completely ignore him left the teenaged Finn feeling helpless. He
finally stopped writing her after a year and concentrated on his studies.
Taking the punishment his father deemed necessary for hurting Alli.

His memories of Avalon made him bite his lip. He still
remembered every hellish moment of the years he spent on the island.

He was here now, after all this time, hanging on to the hope
that Alli would not only forgive him but that she’d actually be with him.
Shaking his head, he let out a long sigh. How in the hell was he going to get
her to believe him? Any sane woman would tell him to go to hell. Alli was
different, she always had been different, and Finn felt her deep in his bones.

This wasn’t only about him and Alli, Heather needed this to
work. It would kill him if Alli rejected him because of what happened long ago.
Guilt tore through his gut. He
had
to figure out a way to save Heather
and get Alli to allow him back into her life.

Forgiveness was a difficult thing to expect with the history
they shared. He was going to do everything possible to win her heart. She
belonged to him. Fate had written it long ago—she was his woman. Finn had
missed out on too many years with her, years that could’ve been spent showing
her how much she meant to him.

His family would laugh if they could see him now. Crouching
over the steering wheel, afraid to enter the bookstore, afraid to approach one
woman.

His gaze was drawn to her again as she threw her head back
and laughed at something the elderly customer said. Her brown wavy hair came
down to her shoulders, and in the light he could make out golden highlights
woven throughout, surrounding her hair like a halo.

Finn laughed to himself. He was stalling, trying his level
best not to have to get out of his truck and face his past. He’d do this though
and convince Alli he was the one for her. Heather needed him, and he needed the
necklace in Alli’s possession
.
He
needed her love as well, for any of this to work.

It was time for the damn curse to be broken and come hell or
high water, it would be. Even if Finn had to get on his hands and knees and
beg. Of course, the only begging Finn planned on was Alli begging him to fill
her.

First on the list was getting her to talk to him without
slugging him. He needed her to hear him out. He wasn’t expecting much from
Alli. He only knew one thing for sure. He wanted her more today than he did
when he was eighteen, not for what she could do for his family but for him.

He’d been roaming for so long in search of a way to get her
out of his mind, out of his heart. Nothing worked, no matter how far away he
lived, no matter how many beautiful women he dated. She was always there, in
his dreams. There, she didn’t hate him. In his dreams she would lie beneath him
while he made her his with every touch, every taste and every thrust of his
cock.

Alli, the one woman who held his soul. Finn sucked in a deep
breath. He sounded like such a sap. He would still be trying to outrun the
memory of her had it not been for his sister.

Heather, her small face came to mind. She was so very
fragile right now. Six months was all the time they had left to gather the
jewels and save her life. No amount of magic in the world, none of the best
doctors, could save his baby sister. It was all up to him and his younger twin
brothers, Sully and Gavin. Heather didn’t deserve to be as sick as she was. It
wasn’t her fault she was born into this family. Finn was going to make sure she
lived to a ripe old age, no matter what it took.

He returned his attention to the woman across the street. He
palmed his tight jeans, trying to relieve the ache that had grown rigid between
his legs. He was always in control when it came to his reaction to a woman, but
not tonight. Looking at Alli, at his future, his body betrayed him. All he
wanted to do was go in there and bury himself balls-deep inside her.

It had been like this the one time they’d made love so many
years ago, and it scared the shit out of him then. Never before or since had he
been so taken by surprise. Even at the young age of eighteen, loving Alli felt
so right, as though his body had always known hers. The feelings she brought to
the surface back then confused the teenaged Finn. Even now, he wasn’t sure how
he was going to react, standing face-to-face with her.

He was different now. Finn’s time away made him a harder
man. He was able to bury his emotions deeper inside himself. He swore after his
father sent him to the island, he’d never be vulnerable again, to anyone. For
the last fifteen years, he’d kept that promise to himself.

Looking into the store, eyeing Alli as she walked with her
customers away from the window, her ass swaying with each step she took, Finn
knew the tight hold he kept on his emotions was in peril. He prayed to the
Goddess that he’d be able to handle it when the dam finally burst.

Alli rang up the purchase from her last customers, thanking
them. She eyed the clock on her counter. Ten minutes until she closed the shop.
She was tired. Her employee Hannah had called in sick, leaving Alli to put away
a large shipment of books. Never mind the fact that she hadn’t been able to get
any lunch. Her belly tightened up at the thought of dinner, grumbling its
discomfort quite loudly.

James would be here at six, like he was every Tuesday night,
to take her to the diner. Alli preferred to go straight home, open up a bottle
of wine, cuddle up on the couch and relax, but James was such a good friend to
her. She hated to cancel just because she was a little tired.

Smiling, she knew James would cheer her up. He had a way
about him that always seemed to project happiness. She found him comforting. He
never had a bad day, was never in a bad mood. He’d pulled her out of a funk on
more than one occasion when she was feeling a little blue.

The chimes over the door tinkled, letting her know someone
had walked in. She looked up smiling, expecting to see James. Alli’s smile
faltered as she saw who came through the door. It had been more than fifteen
years and though he looked older, she would have known his face anywhere.

Finn Donovan was standing inside her shop, making his way to
her. What the hell was he doing back in town? Since he left, Finn had never
stepped foot back in their small community, not once. How many times had Alli
thought she caught a glimpse of her first lover, only to be disappointed that
it wasn’t him?

Heather—that had to be it. She’d heard Heather was very ill.
The rumor mill in town spoke about an ancient curse on the family. The
wonderful part of living in this community—nothing was a secret.

They were among the oldest of witch families in the Midwest.
They’d lived in town since it was founded and were well-respected. Everyone
liked them.

The clan was known for its generosity. They supported local
charities, the library, even the civic league. The town accepted them, thinking
they were a wonderfully kind group of people.

They may have shown their good side to other people, but she
knew the dark side of at least one of them, and he was standing in her store at
the moment. The nerve of the man.

Keep your cool, Alli, don’t let him think you care.
It wasn’t fair, he looked so damn good. Finn had been stunning at eighteen. At
thirty-three, he was downright beautiful. His dark-brown hair was all one
length and fell to the tops of his shoulders. He was tall, more than six feet.
Where he had been a lanky teen before, he’d since filled out in all the right
places.

Alli couldn’t help but let her gaze travel down his body.
From the black T-shirt that stretched tightly across a well-muscled chest. Down
his soft denim-clad thighs, he was all man. One hundred percent male and he
looked as though he was on the prowl.

“Hello, Alli.” His deep voice ran over her like silk,
causing goose bumps to form on her flesh, the hair rising on the back of her
neck.

“Hello, Finn.” She tried to keep the venom from her voice
but wasn’t successful at it. Why did she care if she sounded like a bitch? He
deserved that and more for the way he’d treated her. She was no longer the
lonely little wallflower, afraid of her own shadow. She was a mature woman now,
with her own business, lots of friends and she was happy.

Damn, though.
He’s still beautiful
, she thought as he
lifted his hand and mumbled under his breath. She heard the lock on her door turn
over. Alli scowled. She really hated magic.

“What do you think you’re doing? Open the door, now.” She
couldn’t believe his arrogance. He just strolled into her store, completely
uninvited, and then locked her damn door.

Her chest tightened as shivers shot down her spine. This
wasn’t happening, she refused to allow her body to become turned-on by Finn
Donovan.

“I can’t do that. We need to talk, and I don’t want to be
interrupted.” He walked closer, though it was more like a prowl, and stood on
the other side of her counter.

Turning her back to him, she couldn’t keep looking at him.
He made her feel like a horny teenager. It wasn’t fair. She was supposed to be
over him by now. He wasn’t supposed to walk through her door looking so well.
He was supposed to be ugly, married to a woman who nagged him all the time and
spent all his money. At least that’s what happened in her fantasies.

She pulled her shirt away from her chest, trying to hide the
fact her nipples were rock-hard at the sight of him. With him standing so
close, she took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself. She reminded
herself that she hated this man. She didn’t want to tear his clothes off, she
really didn’t.

“Talk away, Finn, but hurry, I have a date.” She busied
herself by pretending to straighten up. She wasn’t about to give him her full
attention. Let him speak his piece, then ask him to leave. Where was James? He
was always on time when he came to pick her up.