FinsFantasy (11 page)

Fin bent down to pet the cat. Its fur stood on end and a
garbled hiss escaped its mouth but the dog nudged the cat again and it calmly
rubbed around his legs some more.

Fin invited them in. The dog, Kiberry, jumped on Fin’s bed
and the cat, Xena, followed suit. Fin grabbed his cell phone off his dresser
and took a picture to send to Araya along with the message,
Dog desperately
wants to come to party with his cat friend. I think it’ll be okay.

Araya texted back a minute later,
How cute! Bring them if
you’re sure Xena is okay. I miss my Kiberry.

Fin dressed in black pants and a white button-down shirt. He’d
prefer to be in shorts but knew everyone else would be dressed nice.

Kiberry in dog form and Xena in cat form followed him
downstairs to the theatre room.

A few minutes later, a guard escorted Raimee into the room,
and wow did she look fantastic. She wore a pale yellow strapless dress that
clung to her body like a second skin. It stopped just above her knees, a
dangerous slit up the left side. Her spiked heels matched the dress.

“Wow. You look great,” Fin said, hoping she wouldn’t think
he was hitting on her.

She flashed him a grin. “Thanks. You too. What’s up with the
pets?”

“That’s Kiberry and Xena.”

“No way! Looking good,” she said to the
Tengurs
.
Kiberry stood on his back legs and held up a paw. Raimee bounced the palm of
her hand off his paw and laughed.

“You meeting Aidor?” Fin asked.

“Yep,” she smiled. “Although, I had to twist his arm to get
him to be my date.”

Aidor came walking down the hallway toward them. He looked
oddly uncomfortable with the situation for such a large, arrogantly confident
male. Fin guessed he hadn’t had much time to date or go to parties while being
stuck in the demon realm for so many years. They’d had a couple conversations
and even though Aidor was a male of few words, Fin got the idea he was only
going because he felt beholden to Valia for freeing him from his contract bond
to Debol and because Araya had been so welcoming to him. His sisters were hard
to refuse when they set their minds on something.

“Ready?” he brusquely asked Raimee.

“Sure am. See ya there, Fin.”

Just as Fin sat on a plush chair near the front door and the
Tengurs
curled up at his feet, Lymirie descended the stairs. She’d put
on a short purple dress that matched the strand of feathers woven into her
hair. The one shoulder strap was adorned with skulls and crossbone crystals
that swooped down and across her chest. Her naturally gold
Sempire
eyes
were covered by deep-purple contacts. A colorful dragonfly tattoo graced the
base of her neck. He hadn’t noticed it earlier. She was definitely unorthodox
but beautiful just the same.

She held out her arms and twirled. “Whatcha think?”

He stood offering her an elbow. “Lovely as always. Nice
skulls.”

She grinned and took his arm. “You too and thanks.”

Lymirie hooked her arm with Fin’s as he knocked on the door,
the
Tengurs
, in their dog and cat forms, behind them. Kean answered.

“Hey man. Hey… I don’t know you.”

“I’m Lymirie, Araya’s most fabulous cousin.”

Kean laughed. “Great to meet you. C’mon in. Hey Kiberry.” He
bent down and scratched the
Tengur
’s head. “Lookin’ good.” Kiberry
nudged the cat and she stepped forward allowing Kean to scratch behind her
ears. “Wow. She’s doing great.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing. So, how’s it going?” Fin asked.

“Great. They’re only a few people here so far. Shouldn’t be
as weird as originally expected. My grandfather and father aren’t going to make
it. They didn’t want to make all the
Sempires
uncomfortable with
their…you know…Incubusness.” Kean chuckled at himself. “Anyway, I can’t keep my
hands off those mini sliders. Araya’s elbowed me more than once.”

Fin laughed. Kean loved food. The meatier the better. It was
lucky his Incubus DNA kept him naturally fit.

“Well, I made a ton of them. If the display gets low, I’ll
set some more up.”

Kean waved his hands. “No way. You’ve done enough and now it’s
party time.”

They followed Kean to the enormous back patio where he
opened a full-size fridge and handed Fin a beer. “Lymirie, this is the
beer-only fridge. I’ll get you wine from the fountain.”

She waved him off. “No, no. I’ll grab a glass in a minute.”

“You sure?”

“Yep.”

“Lymirie!” Araya squealed and gave her cousin a big hug. She
looked beautiful in her long, flowing green chiffon dress, sequins wrapping
around and accentuating her waistline. “I’m so glad you made it. I’ve missed
you.”

“I know, it’s been too long.”

Araya turned to Fin and kissed his cheek. “I see you found a
date.” “I don’t date cousins,” he teased.

Red rose into Araya’s cheeks. “Oh yeah, about that…”

“It’s okay.” He squeezed her arm reassuringly. “I know she’s
not going to blab to anyone. It’s fine. I’m glad she knows.”

Araya looked relieved and hugged him. “I thought you might
appreciate someone else knowing—someone who would love you like we do.”

The doorbell rang and Kean and Araya rushed away to answer
it.

“Wanna go inside or are you good out here?” Fin asked Lymirie.

“I’m gonna grab a glass of wine real quick and come back
out. I like the fresh air. Although the Texas humidity, I could do without.”
She mock-wiped her brow, blew out a breath and went inside.

Fin took a seat on the patio. Talith and Darcon joined him.

“Hello dear,” Talith said as she bent to kiss his cheek. “You
look handsome as always.”

“Thanks. You too. Lovely, that is.”

Darcon, a demon of few words, simply nodded at him. Lymirie
returned with her wine and sat next to them.

Rydin and Valia showed up, Valia with a wineglass in each
hand, Rydin munching on a mini slider.

“I see you found a date.” Valia rolled her eyes at him.

Lymirie said, “What’s with the eyes? I’m not a good date?”

“We wanted him to get some tonight. That’s not gonna happen
with you.”

Lymirie scrunched up her face. “Oops. Well, he can get some
tomorrow.”

“Kean was right. These things are fantastic,” Rydin said as
he finished off the slider.

Kean had made it his mission to introduce Rydin to every
possible meaty food item possible when they were together.

“Holy shit,” Valia exclaimed as Kiberry and Xena trotted
past them, in their cat and dog forms, into the grass. “They look great and so
freaking cute.”

Fin explained how it had come about.

“He’s such a smarty and a sweetie,” she beamed.

Kean turned on some music as everyone chatted, drank and
munched. Darcon and Talith were the first to dance when a slow song played.

Araya ran off to answer the door again. Looking around, Fin
thought everyone from the guest list had already arrived.

Raimee walked up and said, “Hey, dance with me.”

He looked to Lymirie, not wanting to be rude, but she smiled
and waved him on. “Sure,” he agreed and took her hand.

She pulled him a little closer than expected but he went
with it. Why not?

Chills ran down his spine as he heard a familiar voice. He
spun Raimee around to the music just in time to see Navine smiling and laughing
with Araya, looking more beautiful than a female should be allowed to look. Her
shiny black hair sat atop her head with small tendrils hanging down, framing
her face. She wore a simple, tan-colored sheath dress with black-lace accents.
She rocked that dress and he imagined stripping it over her head and—

A hard poke to his ribs brought his attention back to
Raimee.

“Dancing here,” she said. “Gotta move your feet.”

Oh yeah. He’d frozen upon seeing Navine. He and Raimee were
standing still. He composed himself and started moving again. “Sorry.”

Fin tried to keep his eyes to himself, to ignore her
fantastic presence but the next turn brought her directly into his line of
vision again. This time, she was staring at him. She turned quickly when his
gaze met hers. Had she looked angry?

The song ended and Raimee said, “Want another beer?”

He nodded but wondered what Raimee’s deal was. She’d come
with Aidor and he’d come with Lymirie. She held his hand as they made their way
to the fridge. He saw Navine glance at their entwined hands and then she turned
her back and went inside. Fin couldn’t believe she wasn’t even going to say
hello to him after what they’d been through together.

Disappointment and anger swamped him. He downed his beer in
two hefty gulps and grabbed another, trying to dull the emotions brewing inside
him.

This was his sister’s engagement party and he didn’t need to
be all grumpy. He didn’t want Araya worrying about him so he forced a smile on
his face and pushed the shitty feelings into a corner. If Navine was totally
indifferent to him, then he would be the same. Anything else was useless and
detrimental to his mental health.

He sat back down next to Lymirie. “Hungry?”

She grinned. “You know I can always use some munchies.”

He led Lymirie to the massive food display. Navine was in
front of the fruit sushi, picking out the ones with the most cherries. He and
Lymirie grabbed plates and filled them with a little of everything.

“Hey, Navine,” Raimee said, stepping up on the side of Fin
that wasn’t occupied by his cousin.

“Hi, Raimee,” Navine said. Did she sound a little stilted?

Raimee looked around, then asked, “Did you bring a date or
come with Baden? I don’t see him.”

Navine continued perusing the food, not looking at Raimee. “I
came with Baden.”

“Cool. Fin has two dates tonight.”

Fin almost choked. What the hell had gotten into Raimee? It
was almost as if she was jealous of Navine. Was it possible Raimee actually
wanted more than friendship from him?

“I see that,” Navine said and moved around the display to
the baked stuffed apples he’d made. Raimee followed her.

He hadn’t intended to say a word to her unless she got the
stick out of her ass and spoke to him first but he’d made a batch of the
stuffed apples with her in mind even though he hadn’t expected her. “The ones
on top are stuffed with plums and cherries.”

Navine glanced at him, grabbed one of the apples from the
top and said, “Thanks.” Then she walked off.

Baden slapped Fin on the shoulder. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Fin returned. “You got the night off from slinging
pizza?”

Baden laughed. “Sure did. You make all this food?”

“Sure did.”

“Well, I’m gonna grab some of it. And hey, if you ever want
to make some pizza, I have a job for you.”

“I’ll leave the pizza to you,” Fin said.

Raimee walked up. “Hi, Baden.”

“Hi, Raimee,” Baden said.

Fin almost laughed out loud at how low Baden’s voice dropped
when he greeted Raimee.

She stood uncomfortably close to Fin and Baden’s eyes eyes
narrowed. “You two come together?”

“No,” Raimee answered. “He came with Lymirie.” Lymirie
looked up, smiled and went back to filling her plate.

Baden’s eyes darted back and forth between Raimee and
Lymirie a couple times. “Cool.” Baden turned and loaded his plate with food
while Raimee dragged Fin back outside to the patio. Navine sat chatting with
Araya. He tried not to stare but she was so fucking beautiful, it was hard not
to. He’d like to whisk her away, hike up her dress and plunge into her until
she wanted nothing more than to be with him always. Always? When had he begun
thinking in those terms?

Kiberry and Xena trotted over to Araya, Kiberry nudging her
leg, then sitting up on his back legs and begging. Araya giggled at his antics
and fed him a couple blueberries from her plate. Xena wasn’t interested. She
noticed Fin watching and motioned for him to bring food.

“I’m going to get the
Tengurs
some snacks. I’ll be
back.” He went inside and filled two plates with various food items. Mostly
fruit for Kiberry and mostly meat for Xena.

He set the plates on the ground in front of the
Tengurs
.
Being so close, he chanced a look at Navine but her eyes narrowed.

Fin jumped when Raimee said, “Hungry little devils.”

He hadn’t realized she’d followed him.

“Thanks, Fin,” Araya said. “Navine and I were chatting about
finding our passion.”

Fin smiled at that. He remembered when he’d asked Navine
what her passion was and what had happened after. Her cheeks flushed and he
knew she remembered it too.

Kean, Rydin and Valia made their way to the table and sat so
Raimee and Fin sat too. Baden and Lymirie came to join their party but there
was nowhere left to sit.

“You can have my spot, Baden,” Raimee offered. “Fin was just
taking me to dance.”

She grabbed his hand and led him to dance. He’d had no idea
he was about to dance with her but okay. Why was she acting so weird? So…possessive?

Navine pretended not to notice the way Raimee hung on Fin
but oh, she noticed. It took every ounce of her willpower to not run over to
the dancing couple and rip the bitch’s hair out—handful by handful. She told
herself it angered her because Baden had a thing for Raimee, but truth be told,
she didn’t like seeing her hands on Fin or Fin’s hands on her. And Fin had come
with feathery-haired female too? Two dates? Her jaw ached as she ground her
teeth.

But why? What did she care? She didn’t want him anyway.
Right?

“Something wrong, Navine?” Valia asked.

Crap. Was she able to read Navine’s aura right now? Judging
by the smug smile, that Navine wanted to punch off her face, yes. But she kept
her cool and answered, “No. I’m great. You?”

Valia rolled her eyes and dragged Rydin off to dance.

“What was that about?” Kean asked.

Navine lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “Who knows? Your
fiancé’s sister is weird. No offense, Araya.”

Araya grinned. “None taken.”

“C’mon, Navie. Let’s boogie,” Baden suggested.

“Sure.”

Baden’s phone rang just as they started dancing. His brow
furrowed as he looked at the screen. “Damn. I gotta take this. Sorry.” He
walked into the house leaving her standing there feeling stupid.

“Oh hey,” Raimee said to her. “I need a bathroom break, can
you take over for a minute?”

Raimee led Fin to Navine and hustled off. They stood staring
at each other until Fin reached out for her. She instinctively stepped back but
he snagged her hand before she got away.

He pulled her in close and whispered. “This is an important
night for my sister. Don’t you dare upset her.”

“Upset her?”

“She loves me and it hurts her to see you be an ass to me.
And she’s watching.”

Ass? Her? Well, okay, she supposed she’d been ass-ish to
him. “Oh.”

“You don’t have to talk to me or even look at me, but for
her sake you can pretend you’re not totally disgusted by dancing with me.”

Disgusted wasn’t the word she’d use to describe the feelings
coursing through her at the moment. As soon as he’d pulled her into him, her
stomach fluttered, her skin heated and her heart slammed in her chest. If they
were alone, she’d probably be on her knees right now. Damn him for making her
feel this way. She needed to feed. She told herself that’s all it was. She
seriously needed to ditch the party soon and find a male. That would straighten
out her traitorous body.

She closed her eyes as they swayed to the music.
Accidentally rubbing against him, she felt the stiff appendage in his pants and
instantly went wet between her legs. Knowing he’d been able to smell her need
at the cabin, she opened her eyes to see if he noticed her arousal now.

He met her gaze and pulled her closer, his eyes lust-darkened.
Yep. He knew. Her body sank into his, his masculine scent, his strong embrace
making her yearn to experience his touch one more time. She jumped when Raimee
chose that moment to tap her on the shoulder.

“Okay, my turn again,” she said, prying them apart and
practically shoving Navine aside.

Navine barely squelched a growl. She had to get out of
there. Like now. She said her goodbyes and thanked Araya and Kean for having
her and ported to the cabin. She needed a little time to shake off the feelings
Fin had stirred, change and go hunting for a male.

* * * * *

Talith declared it time to open gifts so they all gathered
around the table piled high with colorfully wrapped packages.

Araya and Kean tore into the gifts as if they were human
children on Christmas morning.

“Oh, this one’s for you, Fin,” Araya said, setting the
obviously heavy box on the ground.

Why the hell would a gift be addressed to him at his sister’s
engagement party? He took the gift from her and set it aside. This was her
moment, not his.