#merniecc

[persephones-journey]

As The Gods Make It

Hello, so this is another prompt from @morosemagick Songs of the Unbroken Celebration Challenge. 

All right, so first warning this oneshot has Smut in it; it’s got oral (female receiving), fingering, sexual intercourse (between a man and woman), so if this is not your thing, please skip. 

Tagging: @emilyhufflepufftlk @medievalfangirl @lauwrite1225 @93xdiagonxalley 

@blah-blah-blah-bla @solinarimoon 

This one shot is for the Last Kingdom (honestly have I written anything that hasn’t been about that? No, I have not) and it has, yeah, you know, Finan. It also has my OC Aisling.  And this one shot is about Finan coming to the future to be with Aisling. 

So enjoy.

Aisling took the stairs up to her loft slowly. She stopped when she heard the guitar coming from her place. She leaned against the wall in the stairwell and closed her eyes.

It was Finan.

It was always Finan.

She thought back to the morning seven months before when she has opened her eyes and rolled over in bed and found the man lying there beside her.

“HOLY SHIT!” she screamed as she jumped out of bed.

The man with the kindest warmest shade of brown eyes she had ever seen looked at her as he sat up. Her eyes trailed down to his bare shoulders and chest. She swallowed the lump in her throat as her eyes followed the dark chest hair on his chest, down his stomach as it disappeared below her sheets. He held up his hands.

“Calm down,” he said softly.

“Calm down?! How did you get in here?! Who are you?!” she demanded her heart pounding in her chest.

He opened his left hand and out fell her Celtic cross pendant. She touched her chest and frowned. She was still wearing it. She looked at him. He had tears in his eyes.

“Freyja sent me, Aisling,” he whispered. “We didn't get enough time together. You,” he shook his head. He smirked and Aisling's heart skipped a beat. “I am going about this all wrong. I'm Finan.”

Her ocean blue eyes took him in. “How did you know my name?” she asked feeling much calmer than she had before. She didn’t know why but his voice and his presence calmed her and felt right. Him being there made her feel safe. 

He gave her a sad smile. “I will always know the name of the woman I love.”

And that was when things went wrong right away.

Aisling did not know how to deal with a man who was completely and utterly in love with her.

No one had ever loved her before.

No one had ever even tried.

And Finan, the poor man could not understand why her walls were so high and so thick.

So she avoided him by going to her classes and going to work at the bar she lived above of.

And he picked up her Nan's old guitar and toyed with it. Along with learning all he could about this new world he had been dropped into from watching the television and reading the papers and everything he could. And just last month, he had gotten a job at the same bar, washing the dishes.

But they barely spoke any longer.

So Finan has suggested getting his own place.

The minute the words were out of his mouth, Aisling wanted him to forget them.

Then she realized that she just wanted him.

“Fuck,” she muttered as she rested her head against the wall. “I think I love him.”

No, don't lie. You know you love him. The moment he suggested leaving, you saw your life go back to how it was before; silence, books, research, emptiness. Now though, with Finan, even though you barely talk, there is someone always there. He makes you coffee in the morning, he runs a bath for you after you've spent half the night on your feet. And he sits in the quiet with you. Your favourite time is when you sit against him reading your textbooks and he has his arm around your shoulders gently rubbing your arm and kissing your head every once and a while as he reads or watches television.  

Aisling opened her eyes and continued up the stairs. She got to her door and opened it slowly. She slipped inside and smiled. Finan was still strumming the guitar. She kicked off her sneakers and walked into the large living room. She leaned in the doorway and watched Finan.

He had the guitar on his thigh and had his cheek resting against the curve in it as he strummed it. He turned and looked at her. Aisling, you are a blind fool. Look at him. How is it you have gone seven months without jumping him and having your way with him? You are insane. He put it aside and stood from the chair.

“I,” he stopped, “I found a place,” he said.

No. I can't let him walk out the door.

“When would you be leaving?” she asked.

“Next week,” he said.

No, no, no, no.

“I'll-,” Finan started.

“Freyja sent you here,” Aisling cut him off. “Why?” she asked.

He looked at her. She took in his green t-shirt and light wash blue jeans. He only had socks on his feet and his hair was all messy meaning he hadn't been out all day.

“What?” he asked.

“You have never told me why Freyja sent you. I want to know.”

She watched as Finan reached up and scratched his beard. “I,” he looked away from her, “I went to her shrine in Norway.”

She looked at him and waited several moments. He didn't say anything more. “Finan, I want the whole story.”

He cursed in Irish. “Why?” he demanded. “Why suddenly now do you want to know?”

“Because I don't want you to leave!” she yelled.

Silence echoed around them. Aisling stood straight. She looked at Finan. He was watching her intently.

“Say it again,” he said as he took a step towards her.

“Stay,” she answered as she took a step towards him as well. “Stay, Finan.”

“Why?” he asked softly.

She walked towards him and he towards her. They met in the middle of the room. Aisling looked in his brown eyes and saw nothing but love in them. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked at him.

“Because I love you,” she whispered looking in his eyes. “I don't want you to leave because I love you, Finan. I-.”

He kissed her. Her words were drowned out by his mouth over hers. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer. The kiss was slow and soft with his lips gently pressed against hers. She opened her lips and sucked on his bottom lip. The kiss felt so right and so perfect. Aisling had never felt this way before about anything, let alone one kiss. Finan's lips on hers sparked a fire inside of her and she needed all of him. She felt his hands run down her sides to her ass. He gripped it in both hands and pulled her hips closer to his. She moaned when she felt his cock growing hard. She dug her fingers in his sides and felt her core ache and throb.

“Say it again,” he said pulling his lips away from hers. She moved her head to claim them again but he held them back. “Say it again, Aisling,” he whispered her name his accent making it sound like it was always meant to.

“I love you,” she said opening her eyes and looking into his.

He smiled and Aisling's heart beat faster. “I love you too, my beautiful, perfect dream made real,” he said.

Aisling wrapped her arms around Finan's neck when he pulled her close and kissed her again. He sucked on her bottom lip and lifted her up with his hands on her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on to him tight. She smiled when he backed up and pressed her against the wall. She raked her fingers through his hair and kissed him over and over. Every kiss stoked the fire burning in her and made her ache more for him and his touch. She wanted, no needed all of him. She ached for him to be inside of her. After several moments, she pulled away to breathe and rested her forehead against his. He smiled and she felt his hands grip her thighs tight.

“Tell me how you ended up here, Finan,” she whispered as she ran her hands down his neck. “And how did you know who I was.”

She watched as he looked at her. “I don't want to lose you,” he whispered.

She leaned in and kissed him again. “You won't,” she promised. “Just tell me how you came to love me.”

Finan's brown eyes filled with tears. “The curse is real, Aisling, the curse from Skade is real and you tried to break it,” he said.

Aisling felt her heart beat faster. “But?”

“But instead you ended up outside of Coccham. Sihtric found you and you told us who you were and we believed you. Well, Uhtred did,” Finan said. She saw him look at her, taking in every feature of her face. “And you and I fell in love.”

Aisling looked at him. She stroked his bearded cheek. “I have the feeling you are skipping a whole lot of story there.”

Finan smiled. He shook his head. His eyes took her in like he was seeing her again for the very first time. “God, I had not realized how much I had missed this, missed you,” he said tears rolling down his cheeks. “Being here with you and not being able to hold you and love you.”

“I'm sorry,” she said as she stroked his cheeks and brushed his tears away.

“No, don't be, you didn't,” he closed his eyes. She saw pain flash across his face. And she knew without him saying it that he had lost her before he had been ready to. “Aisling, you died,” he whispered.

Aisling looked at him. You died. The words settled inside of her. She watched as he opened his eyes and looked into hers. She saw that he wasn't lying. She pushed him away and he set her on her feet and she pulled away from him. She closed her eyes and stood in the middle of the room. Her childhood nightmare suddenly came crashing into her mind from where she had buried it years before.

“It was in a battle,” she said. “I saw the man coming for you and you couldn't hear me screaming. So, I ran and knocked you out of the way and his axe got buried in my chest.”

Silence echoed in the room. She opened her eyes and turned to look at Finan. He was watching her confused and in awe.

“Yes,” was all he said.

She nodded and laughed. “My nightmare. I had it all my life for as long as I could remember,” she looked at him. “But you, I could never see you. You were a shadow. A voice screaming my name begging me to stay with you.”

She saw the pain in his eyes. “I screamed for what felt like hours. You died in my arms and took my will to live with you.”

She looked at him. She did not know how, but she could feel his love for her. Her body remembered every touch, every kiss, every caress, like he had been holding her and loving her for years; and he hadn't yet. She felt her own tears begin to fall. “And you found a way back to me.”

He nodded. “Freyja. She was the one who made it so we will always find each other, Aisling. I left Wessex and went to Norway. I found her shrine and I offered myself up as sacrifice and woke up in your bed. She brought me back to you this time.”

Aisling let her tears fall. “Stay with me! Do not leave me! Aisling! I love you!NONONONO!” His voice filled her head. His voice that was filled with sheer pain and anguish. She had convinced herself the voice was not real, could never be real, because no one could ever love her like that. She remembered those nightmares. They had terrorized her and she had spent years going to doctors taking medications but nothing worked. She would have them on and off for years. Until she turned sixteen and they disappeared for good.

Now she knew it wasn't a nightmare. But a memory.

A memory of a past life.

And standing before her was her soulmate in every lifetime.

Thanks to the will of a goddess and Finan's strength on conviction that he would find her again.

“Aisling?” he asked softly.

She ran and threw herself in his arms. He held her tight and close. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. She felt his arms hold her tighter. She closed her eyes and felt him bury his face in her hair.

“You were real,” she said softly.

He nodded. “I was and am,” he answered. He kissed the crown of her head. “I once told you I would love you for a thousand years, Aisling. And you laughed,” he pulled away and cupped her face in his hands. “I was right.”

Aisling laughed. She shook her head. “Smug Irish bastard,” she muttered.

He smiled. And Aisling felt her heartbeat faster. He smiled a true smile, one he had been hiding from her since he had gotten here. She fell in love all over again. “God, have I missed those words coming from that perfect mouth.”

Aisling stood on her tiptoes and let her lips ghost his. “You know what else my mouth is perfect for, right?” she asked smirking.

Finan groaned and pulled her closer and kissed her. It was a messy kiss filled with want and need. “I have even missed that,” he said as he kissed her again and again.

Aisling gripped his t-shirt and pulled him towards her bedroom. She pushed it up and moaned against his lips as her hand touched his stomach. The minute her fingers brushed his skin, she felt a spark. She looked in his eyes as she pulled away. He pulled his t-shirt off and tossed it aside. She pulled off her long sleeved shirt as well and smiled when he pulled her back in his arms. She placed her hands on his chest and sighed. He laughed.

“Have you been waiting to do that for a while?” he asked as he kissed her neck and placed his hand on her lower back as he backed her into her bedroom.

“Shut up,” she said as she grabbed his jeans and turned them around so he was the one backing into the room.

Finan nipped her neck and moaned. “I have missed you ordering me around. Fuck, Aisling, I missed every moment we shared.”

Aisling shoved him and smiled as he fell on the bed. She walked over and straddled him. She kissed him deeply. She felt his hands grab her ass again and run up her back. Every time his hands touched her bare skin, she felt heat pool in her core and it ached more and throbbed. She wanted him, she needed him. She felt him undo her bra and she pulled away as he pulled it off and tossed it aside. She moaned into his lips as his hands gently caressed her breasts.

“You don't have to miss another moment ever again, Finan,” she said as she ran her hands down his back. She felt his scars and ached for him. “I am here,” she said as she kissed him again. “I am here and you won't be without me again.”

She smiled as Finan turned and dumped her on the bed. She looked into his eyes, they were almost black with desire. She arched her back against him as he kissed along her jawline and to her neck. She ran her hands down his chest to his jeans. She made quick work of the button and pulled the zipper down. She moaned as he sucked on her skin of her neck and nipped at it. She slipped her hand inside and moaned when she felt that he was not wearing underwear. He smiled against her skin.

“You won't be without me again either,” he whispered in her ear. “Now, I have waited months for this,” he nipped her ear lobe. “I want to taste you.”

Aisling felt herself get even wetter and did not know how that was possible. She rested her hands on Finan's chest and nodded. She felt him smile against her skin again and he placed hot kisses along her neck. He moved much too slow for her liking but every kiss he pressed to her skin, lit up her nerve endings. She felt pleasure and warmth spread all over. His weight over her gently pressed her into the bed and she loved it. She felt his hand ran down her side and to her jeans. He undid the button and slowly pulled down the zipper as he kissed in between her breasts.

“Finan,” she moaned as she felt his hands tug on her jeans. She looked down and saw his dark eyes look up and meet hers. “You're moving too slow,” she whimpered.

She felt him smile against her stomach. He gently licked her skin and she moaned. He kissed lower his eyes never leaving hers. “I am taking my time because I want to remember every single moment of this,” he answered as he let his tongue run along her skin right above her panties. Aisling whimpered again and arched against him. He chuckled. “God, you never were a patience one when it came to my tongue.”

“I want you,” she huffed.

She felt him kiss her stomach again. “All right, love,” he said and Aisling felt her heart beat faster at him calling her love. There was something about the way he said it with that damn accent of it. It was soft like a caress to her skin, but this one for her ears. It was heavy with meaning though, she was his love. She was his.

She whimpered when Finan pulled his body away from hers. She rested her head on the bed when he pulled off her socks and then tugged her jeans down. She lifted her head when he did not immediately pull her panties down. She watched as he pulled off his socks and pushed his jeans down and kicked them off. Her eyes followed that patch of hair down his belly and his abs, and lower past his belly button. She bit her lip when she took him in; thick and long. She looked back up and met his eyes.

“Fuck,” he said. “That look I have missed more than anything else.”

Aisling smiled. She watched as he fell to his knees by the bed. He tugged her closer to the edge of the bed. She let her head fall back as his thumbs hooked under the band of her panties and he tugged them down. He pulled them off. Aisling opened her legs and moaned when Finan gently ran his fingers up her legs from her ankles to her thighs. His touch was soft and gentle. He pressed gently in certain spots, like behind her knees, and he pressed his lips to the skin on her thighs.

“Oh god,” she muttered as she felt Finan's beard rub against her thighs. She felt him smile against her skin and his tongue gently lick her skin. “You Irish bastard,” she muttered as she covered her face with her hands.

Finan kissed, oh so slowly, closer to where she desperately wanted him. She moaned his name and felt herself ache and throb for him. She huffed out a breath when Finan's lips and tongue finally touched her core. She closed her eyes and reached out and grabbed the comforter with her hands. She fisted it as Finan's tongue teased her clit and his lips sucked on her folds. She arched her back as she felt the tension building. She felt him slid one finger and than another in her knuckle deep. She moaned his name.

“Fuck me,” she moaned as Finan's tongue finally stopped teasing her and began licking her clit. He stroked her and crooked his fingers in just the right way, that every stroke sent pleasure waves over Aisling. He began sucking her clit at the same time and Aisling could barely breathe. She reached down and pulled Finan's hair as she felt the tension build more. She looked down and saw him look up at her. His eyes held hers as the tension finally broke and she fell off into the pleasure.

“Finan,” she moaned his name as the breath left her lungs and her whole body tensed for a moment. She closed her eyes and saw stars as her body trembled and she seemed to float away and than slowly back to herself. She felt Finan's fingers still stroking her as she came back to herself. She stroked his hair with her fingers and opened her eyes. She looked at him as his eyes watched her.

“God, you are still so goddamn beautiful when you come,” he said as he removed his fingers from her. She whimpered as he licked them. She sat up and reached for him. She kissed him, tasting herself on his lips, as he wrapped his arms around her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

“Do you want to be on top?” Finan asked as he kissed along her jaw.

Aisling looked at him. “God, do you have to be so perfect?” she asked as he held her close and turned them so he was sitting on the bed. She straddled his lap with her knees on the bed on either side of him and stroked his beard. She saw him smile and her heartbeat faster. “Fuck, you are gorgeous,” she said kissing him. She felt his hands grip her ass and she moaned. “How did I not notice it before?” she asked as she ran her hands down his chest, her fingers gently stroking the hair she found there.

Finan laughed and Aisling felt him nip her lips. “Can we discuss later how blind you are? Right now, I am trying to bed ya, love, if you haven't noticed,” he said as his fingers dug into her ass cheeks.

Aisling smiled. She ran her hands down his chest and lower. She took his cock in one hand and stroked him. She kissed him on the lips softly. “Have you been with anyone else?” she asked softly.

“No,” he answered. “Not since you,” he looked in her eyes. “I only wanted you.”

Aisling nodded. “Than we don't need a condom, since I am on the pill,” she saw Finan frown. She smiled. “I will explain that later.”

Finan kissed her. “Bring me where I belong, love,” he said his lips ghosting hers, “bring me home.”

Aisling stroked him again and looked down. She moved closer and positioned him right at her entrance. Finan moved his hands to her hips as his tip entered her. She kissed him and let go of his cock as she felt him sink into her and stretch her. She rested her forehead against his once he was completely inside of her. She opened her eyes and looked into his. Finan met her eyes as well.

“You're home,” she whispered.

He smiled. He rolled his hips and Aisling moaned. She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. She rolled her hips with his and could feel the tension beginning to build again. She moaned and let her head fall back. She felt Finan's lips and tongue on her neck and collarbones. He nipped gently at the skin as he moved his hips and pulled her hips against his. He set a comfortable pace for them and Aisling had to admit there was something that felt so familiar about making love to him.

The feeling of him inside of her, pulsating and stroking her, his body against hers skin to skin. It felt like too much and not enough at the same time. She let her head fall forward and she claimed Finan's lips in a messy kiss as she felt his fingers digging into her skin. Everywhere his skin touched hers a fire ignited her nerve endings and she felt warmth spread across her skin. She dug her fingernails into his shoulders and neck as she let her teeth bit his lower lip.

“God, I love you,” he muttered in Irish as he moved one of his hands from her hips to in between them.

She moaned as he began to stroke her clit. “And I love you,” she whispered her voice hushed and raspy.

Aisling could feel the sweat on her body and Finan's. She leaned down and bit his neck right where his pulse was. She sucked on the skin there and felt Finan begin to move his hips faster against hers. The warmth and heat that had spread across her body seemed now to pool in her stomach as she felt the tension build more and her gut began to tighten the closer she got. She bit on his skin harder and moved to his ear. She nipped his ear lobe as she felt his cock twitch inside of her and the feeling of his hips stuttering as he came.

“That's right,” she whispered in his ear, “fill me up and claim me as yours. Harder, lover, fuck me harder,” she muttered feeling her release coming.

She felt Finan wrap an arm around her waist and he held her close as his hips snapped into hers. He thumb moved quickly rubbing her clit. She moaned in his ear as she came the tension finally snapping. She held him close as her body trembled and her toes curled. She felt him release inside of her as her walls clenched around him and spasmed. She huffed and tried to catch her breath as her heart pounded in her chest. She nuzzled her face in his neck and was grateful he held her against him otherwise she felt like she would have melted to the floor.

“I forgot all about that mouth you have,” he muttered as he gently brushed the hair away from her neck and his fingers caressed her skin.

She smiled against his skin. “It's how the gods made me,” she whispered. She felt him tense up for a moment. She pulled away and met his eyes. “What?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing, love, nothing at all,” he leaned in and kissed her soft and gently before he laid back on the bed with her on top of him. She smiled as he held her against him. “I think now is the perfect time to discuss exactly how blind you were before.”

Aisling laughed. She kissed his neck. “Before round two, right?” she asked.

Finan nodded. “Oh definitely. I hope you did not have any plans for tonight or tomorrow because you are not leaving this bed until I have made you scream my name multiple times.”

Aisling looked at his eyes and watched them darken with desire. She pressed her lips to his in a messy kiss. “You promise?” she asked as she ran her hand through his hair.

“I swear it,” he answered.

She kissed him and moved to straddle him. She felt him grow inside of her and she pushed herself up so she was sitting on his lap. She looked at him beneath her.

“Good, because I think I can make you scream my name as well,” she answered.

Finan smirked and Aisling sighed. He is perfect and by the gods, he is mine. And he is mine forever.

[persephones-journey]

The Way I Love You

Hello everyone. This is another prompt from the lovely @morosemagick for her Songs of The Unbroken Celebration Challenge. It’s for.... The Last Kingdom, of course, and it has, Finan, again, along with another one of my OCs, Tate or Lady Tatswip. Now, she is the OC I created and wrote like 500 pages for (No, I am not lying) because I was soooo convinced I could just ‘get Finan out of my system’. Yes, let us all laugh together at that one. 

Anyway, enjoy the story, and you may see more of Tate in the future. Maybe. 

Tagging as well: @medievalfangirl @emilyhufflepufftlk @lauwrite1225 @93xdiagonxalley

Finan stood on the docks looking out into the night. He closed his eyes and tried to not think of the day. He tried not to think of the words Tate and he had screamed at each other. They had been playing the hot and cold game for years but lately it had been like an ice age cold.

“It is not up to you whether or not I go with you on the raid!” Tate yelled.

“Lady Tatswip, you are still recovering from the last battle you entered!” he had yelled back.

“And your point?!”

“My point is I do not want to bury you!”

“And I should care why?!”

“Why should she care?” he asked as he opened his eyes and looked at the moon reflecting on the river. “I have never told her I loved her. I have never even tried.”

“And yet, here I am,” Tate said from behind him.

Finan turned slowly. He saw her standing there hugging herself. She looked small. And she had never looked small to him before. She had always been a warrior. From the moment she had shown up on that beach to save Uhtred, Finan had seen her as a strong warrior.

He sighed. “Tate-,” he started.

“No,” she whispered as she raked a hand through her golden brown hair. She kept her moss green eyes away from his. “This is my fault.”

Finan reached out. He placed his hand on her cheek. He brushed her tears with his thumb. “No, it's mine.”

Finan watched as Tate shook her head. She grabbed his wrist and looked up to meet his eyes. “Do you really think I haven't noticed how much you love me?” she asked softly.

Love.

That word had hung over them for years.

Everyone in Coccham had tried to tell them they were in love; Uhtred, Gisela, Hild, Sihtric, hell even Clapa when the man had been alive had pulled Finan aside and told him to marry Tate.

And by the gods, Finan would have.

He would have married her the moment he met her if he could have.

But Lady Tatswip was not the marrying kind.

Too much had happened to her in her childhood to the age of fourteen when Uhtred had saved her from her father. She did not trust or give her heart easily. Uhtred had been one of the few men who had earned her trust and Finan always believed her heart as well.

“Finan,” her voice brought him back to her, “I am not blind,” she said.

“Really? Because I thought you might be after Osferth got the better of you in training today,” he said.

Really? She has admitted that she has known you love her and you immediately turn the conversation towards training? Are you trying to talk her out of being with you? You total and complete ass.

“I have seen how much you look after me, the ways you try and show you love me without me knowing. I know you're the one who always makes sure that early in the morning, there are no guards to watch this side of the dock, so I can swim in peace,” Finan felt her thumb rub his wrist, “I know you're the one who keeps restocking my lavender before I even run out. Same with all my other herbs. And lastly, I know you are the one that sits on my porch every night to try and keep watch and keep the nightmares away. And when that doesn't work, you are the one that comes and holds me and soothes me,” Finan watched as she moved her hand and took his in hers. “And you never ask for anything in return. You just hold me and I know, you would never let me go, if it was up to you,” she asked.

Finan pulled her hand and arm. She stumbled closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She looked up at him and he swore her green eyes looked into his soul.

“I would never let you go,” he answered. “If it were up to me, I would hold you forever.”

“Finan,” she said softly placing her hands on his chest.

“Yes, Tate?” he asked.

“I want forever.”

Finan felt himself stop breathing. He looked down into the moss green eyes he had loved for so long. He reached up and cupped her face in his hands. She looked at him and nodded.

“If we do this, Tatswip, it can't be like all the other times,” he said, “I cannot have you one day and not the next. This time, I need it to be forever. I need you to stay with me.”

“I know, Finan, and this time,” she looked at him. Really looked at him in a way that she had never done before. “This time, I am ready to stay. I love you, you crazy drunken bastard,” she said.

Finan leaned in and kissed her softly.

This was not their first kiss.

But it had been the first time Tate had ever admitted to loving him.

Well, at least saying those three words. She had shown him in other ways that she did love him.

“Finan, come here,” Tate said as she wrapped a blanket around him. “Are you trying to catch your death before the Danes kill you?”

Finan smirked. “Maybe. At least then, I wouldn't have to listen to you complain.”

“Shut your mouth and get over here.”

Finan smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and held him close. Uhtred rolled his eyes and snuggled down next to the fire alone with his blanket. Finan winked at him and Uhtred shook his head and muttered something in Danish about fools and love.

-----

“FINAN! DOWN!” Tate screamed from in front of him.

He trusted her and dropped. He turned and watched as an axe flew and landed in the Dane's chest that had been behind him with his own axe raised. He felt Tate's hands grab his shoulders and yank him back and up. He turned and looked at her. Her face was pale.

“Tate-.”

She grabbed his armour and her hands gripped it tight. “I can't do this without you, Irishman,” she said her voice full of feeling. “Try and stay alive.”

“I will if you will.”

“Uhtred needs me, I wasn't planning on dying anytime soon.”

“And if I said I needed ya as well?” Finan asked.

Her moss green eyes met his and held. “I'd say that I need you too,” she leaned in and pressed a hard and fast kiss to his lips. “So no dying on me, you sexy bastard.”

-----

“Finan, wake up,” Tate's voice broke through his nightmare. Finan's eyes sprang open and he found his head in her lap and her hand stroking his hair.

“I'm fine,” he lied. He went to sit up but Tate's hand on his chest stopped him. He looked up at her eyes and saw tears in them.

“You aren't fine,” she whispered. “Who's Ciara?” she asked.

Finan's heart stopped and the breath caught in his chest. “She was,” he stopped. He looked at Tate's green eyes. He saw pain in them. He took her hand that was on his heart and held it tight. “She was a mistake I made that I wish I could take back.”

Tate nodded. “She's dead, isn't she?”

He nodded. “She is.”

“And you loved her.”

Not as much as I love you. “Once upon a time, I did. Maybe. I don't know. I was so young. Perhaps it was just lust.”

Tate smiled at him. She stroked his cheek. “I know you, Finan, it was never just lust. You love deeply.”

He blushed. “Yeah, well, sorry I disturbed you, I'll-.”

“Stay right here and go back to sleep,” she said softly. “I'm technically on watch anyway. Not that Uhtred will let me wander much from camp.”

“Are you sure?”

“Close your eyes and sleep, Finan. I may need to throw you in front of Osferth and I to save us from Danes.”

Finan snorted. He closed his eyes. “You would sacrifice me for that baby monk.”

“Damn right I would,” he felt her kiss his forehead. “But I'd feel bad about it after. I promise.”

He felt her smile against his skin and then her lips were gone. She kept her hand on his chest and stroking his hair. And he fell asleep again.

All those moments and more played back in Finan's mind as he gently kissed Tate. She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his waist pulling him closer. He ran a hand through her hair and sucked on her bottom lip. She let her tongue stroke his and Finan growled. She pulled away and laughed.

“I think we better move this to your house or mine before we cause Osferth to lose it,” she said softly.

Finan smiled. “He is on guard duty today, isn't he?” he asked.

Tate nodded. “He is.”

She pulled his hand and went to pull him down the dock but Finan instead pulled her towards him again. He kissed her again deeper than before. He grabbed her ass and pulled her hips against his. He smiled when he could hear coughing and cursing from the watch tower of Coccham's walls.

Tate sighed and kissed him back before pushing him away. “You just had to mess with him, didn't you?”

Finan smirked at her. “Come on now, it's me, you know I had to.”

Tate rolled her eyes. “Why do I put up with you again?”

Finan pulled her close again. He leaned down and kissed her neck. He nipped at her ear lobe. “Because you love me,” he whispered.

She turned and looked at him. “Yeah, I do,” she whispered.

He let his lips ghost hers. “And I love you too,” he answered. He kissed her again. And again. And again.

“Could you two do that somewhere else?!” Osferth yelled down. “Some of us are trying to pray!”

Tate and Finan laughed. He looked at her, as her face brightened and for those moments she wasn't burdened with her past. She looked so young and free in the moment.

And she's mine now. She's all mine.

“Stop staring,” she said as she laughed and smacked him on the chest.

“You're beautiful,” he told her.

She snorted. “If you say so,” she grabbed his hand. “Come on, I have plans for you that do not include an audience.”

Finan smirked. “Lead the way, lady.”

She rolled her eyes but pulled him back towards the gate. He followed with a very distinct bounce in his step.