Page 24 of Sebastian's Secret

“I shouldn’t say this, but me, too.” Wait, what? How was that playing it cool? “That’s why it bothered me that you didn’t reply. I really thought we had something together.”

“We do.” His fingers curled between hers. “I was a bloody fool for thinking I could hide from that. I don’t even want to.”

“Jesus, Sebastian.” Shaking her head, she lifted the glass to her lips and sipped.

“What?” He chuckled.

“You might be even more complicated than I am and that’s saying something.”

“Maybe you’re right.” His shrug was contrite. “I can’t argue with that.”

“Yet still I want to be with you.” Her gaze lowered into the amber liquid as if it held the answers to her many questions. Certainly, her brother acted as though it did.

“I’m glad.” His voice was warm with sincerity. “I know we’ve had an unconventional start…”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Smiling, her focus flitted to their hands. She liked the way his fingers felt entangled with hers, adored the sense of security, as if Sebastian was the dry land she’d been swimming toward all these years.

“Yeah, but it’s sparked something in me and when you look in my eyes, I see it there as well.”

“Oh, really?” Meeting his gaze, her tone was wry. “What do you see?”

“A need.” His brow furrowed as he fumbled for the right word. “For something more than what you’ve had.”

Wow, it was as if he was reading her mind. How can one night of great sex and an Italian meal have revealed so much? Was she truly so easy to read?

“Am I right?” He smirked, the expression clenching all the muscles between her legs.

“Yes.” Annoyingly so. “You’re right, so let’s do this.”

“What are we doing?” he asked, leaning forward as though he was hanging on her every word.

“Meeting, dating, playing, hanging out, having fun…” She allowed the list to fall from her tongue, but none of the terms reflected the comfort and protection of what she really sought. The closest she’d ever felt to that had been tonight when Sebastian had fended off three attackers.

“I agree.” His smile was easy, but his gaze was restless, expressing more than his lips were willing to. Every fiber of her knew how that felt. “Here’s to us.” Lifting the remainder of his drink toward her, he waited until she met his toast with her own glass.

“To us.”

Amid the sound of clinking glassware, she took a drink, conscious of the weight of his stare as he did the same. She swallowed down the whiskey, enjoying its heat as it blazed a trail along the back of her throat. She’d be patient tonight, and revel in whatever Sebastian was offering, but there would come a day when she’d demand the truth, a day when only his honesty would do.

Chapter Eleven

Sebastian

Sebastian didn’t make the same mistake as he had the first time. He had messaged her as soon as he returned to the base camp hut at the bottom of the mountain lodge to make sure she’d got home okay, even though he knew she had because he’d escorted her to the perimeter of the estate himself.

It didn’t seem to matter that he’d left her side less than thirty minutes before, or that his communication might be over the top. All he could think about was not letting her down again. Never letting her down.

Standing on the veranda of the lodge, he imagined his second missive flying into the ether before he’d transformed into the dragon for his journey to the lodge. His gaze traveled over the snow-covered peaks to the city below. That’s where she was—where he’d left her—in the big mansion down below. Sebastian had been surprised at how immense the place was, but he wasn’t sure why. His family weren’t the only ones with money, and it was naive of him to assume she came from poverty. Clearly, however badly Rebecca got on with her family, she was wealthy, too.

“Coming in, big brother?” Cole’s voice punctured Sebastian’s thoughts and turning, he noticed his brother’s leer.

“Hmmm?” Sebastian’s brows knitted as he turned from the rail.

“It’s sub-zero out there.” Cole chuckled. “It’s making your cock even more shriveled than usual.”

“What?” Glancing down, Sebastian realized he was still naked. “Oh, shit.”

Of course. Sebastian had shifted into the beast to travel up the side of the terrain, which meant discarding his clothes at the base, but gripping the rail and thinking of Rebecca, he’d all but blocked out the frozen temperatures.

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