Page 111 of Bastian

Snap.

Snap.

Snap.

Flashes all around us.

But all I can see is him. All I can feel is him.

Only him.

As we stand facing each other, it feels as it has always felt when it is just the two of us. As if the world fades, and all noise quiets.

Looking up at him as he looks down at me, I offer him a smile. Not the smile I gave the fashion correspondent minutes ago, no. But a smile that tells him I find comfort in his presence now that he’s here. Of course, he wouldn’t stay away. One thing that’s certain is that Sebastian Kenton is as obsessed with me as I am with him, and sadly, time didn’t change that fact. It only heightened the feeling. “You’re stalking me now, Kenton?”

Chuckling, his eyes never leave mine. God, tonight they look more gray than blue. Do you know that deep gray on a cloudy day when night nears? That color. Unique. Comforting. Beautiful. Him. “I am.” He shrugs unapologetically with that precious grin of his that makes him look like a hungry wolf. “Besides, you’re my woman, and I’ll always be where you are.” He smiles smugly at me when I roll my eyes. “Vous êtes fou.”

His smile widens from ear to ear making him look so beautiful it freaking hurts to look at him. “Je suis fou de toi.” He rasps.

Crazy for you.

Back at ya, tyrant.

There’s no point in denying it. I am sick. This has to be a sickness because not one thing about this love is logical.

Not one thing.

“I still hate you, you know.” I rasp when he comes closer.

Sebastian’s smile doesn’t falter as he bends lower to where our noses touch. “You can’t fool me, my beautiful little liar.” He whispers, and his hot breath, a mix of mint, cigar, and cologne, brings back so many memories. Old and new. “That heart currently pounding as strong as a winter storm is still mine, and we both know it.”

“Shut up,” I growl playfully, not wanting to admit defeat, and admitting I still love him is like conceding the war. Foolishly, I convinced myself that’s the issue here, but deep down, I know that I am afraid to speak my feelings aloud because, once I say it, it all becomes too real.

Looking into his eyes, my breath hitches when I feel his arm come around me, pulling me closer to his body until I don’t know where he starts and I begin. We’re perfectly intertwined, just like our hearts used to be once upon a time.

Just like they still are…

His eyes are intense, his voice raw. “I told myself at first that if I gave you the time and space, you would come to terms with what is so clearly right in front of you.” He leaned closer until his forehead was on mine. “But then, as expected, you’re so fucking stubborn. I understand why. Trust me, my darling. I do. But then last night I realized that I’ve wasted enough time as it is. I love you. You’re my heart. My soul. My all. I’m so fucking in love with you, Arianna, that it physically hurts to be apart from you. All those years, it hurt, but I bore that pain because your dreams mean everything to me, but now you’re here and it still hurts.” He sighs, kissing my forehead. “Put me out of my misery, will you, darling?”

I feel tears well in my eyes, but I hold them back because there’s not a chance in hell I’ll cry in front of the world a second time and especially when I have seventy-five dollars worth of mascara on. Blinking the tears away, I say the only thing that comes to mind while looking up at him with a devious grin. “How about you suffer a bit more, yes? I’m not quite done with you.” I lean back, and my smile widens when he playfully narrows his eyes at me with a promise of bad, bad things.

Bring it on, tyrant.

My enemy. My rival.

My equal.

Mine.

That’s all that comes to mind as he holds me in his arms. “Fuck, you’re so perfect. How I got so lucky, I do not know, but fuck if I’m not thankful.” He growls. He seriously growls like a starving wild animal.

Then the neanderthal does what he does best.

He gives the world a show.

One second, I am looking into his intense blue-gray eyes, and the next, he grabs me by the neck and brings his mouth down on mine. Kissing me as if we’ve been apart for a long time. As if he could suck the life out of me with just one kiss.

Deep.

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