Becoming Her Knight

Chapter Twelve

"Finn," Adi said again, tightening her arms around Finn's waist.

Finn could feel her heart pounding at a rapid pace in her chest. She could feel her heart's blood burning in her cheeks and neck, a shocking contrast to the stinging cold of the water they were both standing in.

Finn didn't reply. She didn't know what to say. Well, no, she knew all the things she'd like to say. Finn would have liked nothing more than to shower Adi with compliments, to tell her how beautiful and fierce and magnetic she was. She wanted to deliver so many cheesy pickup lines until she finally got to see what color Adi's skin turned when she blushed. She wanted to promise to do anything Adi asked of her, to follow her to the ends of the earth, but she couldn't do that. Finn just couldn't!

Her fingers trembling, Finn carefully laid her forearms on top of Adi's, her long narrow fingers caressing Adi's soft skin.

They were complete opposites, even in this. Adi's arms were soft and a little squishy, her skin dark and lustrous in the moonlight, the callouses on her palms a tantalizing contrast to the softness of her arms. Finn's arms laid over Adi's were whipcord thin, muscle and bone stretched beneath skin without an ounce of fat to soften their shape. Her pale freckled skin was scarred all over on her forearms and the backs of her hands, the result of too much training at too young an age with live blades and no protective gear. Drawn under the layer of scars was the red ink of the tattoos that let her channel her magic into her flesh and bones to achieve speed and strength that should have been impossible.

Her body was a tapestry made for violence, carelessly put together by others. She was a weapon, even if she didn't feel that way, and weapons weren't meant to hold the hands of sweet young women. They were built to assassinate their fathers and then disappear in the middle of the night.

"Finn, if I'm misjudging this, just tell me," Adi murmured. "Finn?"

Finn was stuck, she was tongue-tied. She knew that she couldn't possibly accept Adi's overture. Maybe Finn wasn't the most moral person in the world, but she knew without a doubt that falling in love with Adi, or accepting her love, was a betrayal of the most awful kind.

At the same time, Finn didn't think she was strong enough to turn away something so rare and precious.

"Finn, will you please look at me?" Adi asked, sounding cross.

Shuddering, Finn started turning before she thought better of it. Adi took a step back and settled her hands on Finn's waist.

Finn was surprised to find that Adi's face in the soft light of the moon didn't look cross, it looked scared. Or, it did, just for a moment, when Finn turned to look at her. Whatever she saw on Finn's face changed something for her.

Adi's expression firmed, becoming determined, a shine of passion igniting in her dark eyes that made Finn want to squirm. She didn't dare to think that look could possibly be because of her.

"I don't think I'm misjudging this," Adi growled, "But, push me away if I am, okay?"

"Uh," Finn prevaricated, raising her hands hesitantly but not yet putting them on Adi's shoulders.

"I've got to push her away. It's the right thing to do," Finn thought to herself. But, her hands stayed hovering over Adi's shoulders.

Adi didn't wait for Finn to sort out her words or thoughts. Tipping up onto the balls of her feet, Adi pressed her plush mouth against Finn's open one.

The softness of her lips, the smell of her skin, the sudden knowledge of what Adi's mouth tasted like lit up Finn's nervous system up like a Christmas tree.