Page 55 of Sebastian

Her body arched into his. “Don’t stop, Seb. Please, I’m tired of fighting whatever this is,” she begged, her pupils blown wide with desire. “More.”

Sebastian lifted her up and smiled as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She pressed a kiss to his lips, and for a moment he was lost without a thought in the world. When she trailed kisses across his chin, he started drifting towards the door, trying his best not to run out of the office. Her laugh wrapped warm tendrils around his heart and he stopped walking to look down at her in his arms.

“What’s so funny, beautiful?”

“You’re awfully eager to get me back to your bed.”

“I’d be a fool not to be.”

“And no one could accuse you of that, Suits.” She bopped him on the end of his nose.

“What can I say? I know what I want and I go after it.” With her legs wrapped tightly around him, his hands were free to tickle her sides. She laughed and wiggled around, trying to escape his fingers, but all that motion did was add fuel to his fire. He couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to get back to his room and lay her out on his bed. The tart had been a nice end to dinner, but Sebastian had his sights set on an even sweeter dessert, and he wasn’t about to miss the chance to devour Emma.

The climb up the stairs was effortless, her teeth teasing him as she raked them across his shoulder. Emma’s fingers scratched at his back and her hips pressed her body into his. God, he just wanted to sink into this woman, to show her how completely and madly he was already falling over the edge, sinking deeper into love with her with every passing moment.

After what seemed like a lifetime, he made his way back to his bedroom, gently laying Emma down on the edge of his bed. He kissed her, this time with all the pent up energy crashing through him. Her tongue tangled with his, and fuck, she tasted like the most delicious strawberries and vanilla frosting.

Her hands tangled in his hair, pulling gently on the roots as his mouth traveled over her skin. He kissed across her collarbone, gently undoing the remaining buttons on her top so that he could kiss down in between her breasts and along her rib cage. He thought he might explode with every gasp and pulsation her body gave him along the way.

Not wanting to waste another minute, Sebastian lowered the band on the sleep shorts she was wearing. His mouth sucked on the skin just below her belly button, and he delighted in the way her skin continued to pebble from the sensation. He slipped his hand into the waistband, anticipation bubbling up for what was about to happen. His brain froze when he felt a raised line on her skin. A scar. He wanted to keep going, but everything derailed in his mind, and his finger just wouldn’t stop tracing the raised line. He felt her go rigid beneath him, his eyes snapping to hers, a million questions on the tip of his tongue.

“What’s that scar from?” The sultry haze from her eyes vanished, and Sebastian’s stomach twisted as he watched an invisible wall go up between them.

Seventeen

His finger grazed across the scar at the bottom of her tight stomach and she froze. Of course he would notice it. The scar was raised and lumpy from the struggle she’d had with healing after everything. There were treatments available that would have helped it fade, and she’d always planned on getting them in the hopes that the memory from how she got it would fade too, but by the time she made it to Bell Ridge, the scar was the only thing that was keeping her going. Her permanent reminder of the most precious thing she’d lost and would never have again.

Normally, she was so careful about hiding it. That’s why she liked control in these situations, but of course, she’d lost all sense of herself in the heat of the moment with Sebastian. Fuck. Emma scurried out from under Seb’s warmth and pushed herself up against the headboard.

“What’s that scar from?” He ran his hand up her leg. She recoiled at the touch, pulling her legs in as tight to her body as she possibly could. “Em?”

“This was wrong. We shouldn’t…I shouldn’t.” In an instant, she had her feet on the floor, fixing her clothes to cover her body. Emma wouldn’t be able to look at Seb without falling apart, and she silently prayed that he would just let her go. “I’m sorry.”

And she was, truly sorry. She wanted to give herself to Sebastian more than she wanted her next breath, but she couldn’t be what he wanted, what he deserved. Better to get out now before things went too far and her feelings overwhelmed her senses.

“Emma, wait. Please, stay. Tell me what’s wrong?” She ignored his request. A warm hand wrapped around her arm as she turned to run from the room.

“Let go of me, Sebastian.” She was still facing away from him, which was a blessing as the tears spilled over her lashes. His hand dropped away from her and in a rush, her feet carried her from the bedroom, down the large stair case, and out the front door.

It was the middle of the night, and Emma wasn’t sure where she would go, but she knew that she could no longer be inside that house. She was being suffocated by the secret that still stood between her and Seb. Crickets chirped into the night air and a soft breeze caressed her skin as she walked towards the pond. The moon was bright and large in the sky, and her breathing became more ragged as she thought about all the nights she’d spent talking to the moon. There was once a time when standing directly under it made her feel connected to her mother, and to a future filled with warm hopes and dreams. Now, it just reminded her of everything she’d lost.

The area around the pond was rocky. She’d definitely twist her ankle if she wasn’t careful, even with how brightly lit the landscape was thanks to the moon. How had she let herself forget about her scar? Of course Sebastian would have questions, it was only natural. It wasn’t his fault she would never be strong enough to answer them.

Almost seven years had passed and the pain was still as acute as the day her baby was born. A daughter, somewhere out in the world, taken from her without her consent. The worry flooded her senses, the rocks now digging into her legs as she sat down. She needed to catch her breath, but the air hurt and all she wanted to do was sink into that pain.

Her daughter had been everything to her. A light in the darkness. A sign that things would get better, even if she’d been married off to a monster at eighteen. She promised herself that she would survive so that her daughter would never know a moment of fear, or worry.

“Em?” Shit. That familiar, deep and commanding voice startled her. The rocks knocked together loudly as he walked closer, until finally she felt the warmth of his body next to hers. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

* * *

He was stunned. Standing there in his bedroom alone, Sebastian hadn’t the faintest idea about what had spooked Emma so badly that she’d run. He wiped his hand down his face and quickly marched to the room across the hall.

Sebastian had expected the door to be shut, but there it was, wide open. A quick step inside and he was able to see she wasn’t there. Hadn’t this been exactly how everything started just an hour before?

He ran down the stairs two at a time towards the basement where Nash was still awake, sitting in front of a wall of monitors.

“Where is she?” His eyes frantically searched the screens.

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