Page 69 of The Final Rose

I lick her skin, savoring the damp saltiness for a moment and then I’m on my knees turning her around as her legs fall open. She breathes out in a dreamy way and I hold her knees up and a second later I’m inside her where I belong.

Her eyes are half opened and she grips to the sheets as I bury myself to the hilt.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait anymore. I need to be inside you.”

“Oh god...” She moans so sweetly I’m renewed from the inside out.

Light comes slowly through the gaps of her window, golden sunlight strikes her skin.

When I come, she comes with me. Emotions roll into me, something different and stronger than I ever experienced. We belong together. I know it in my bones, my skin and my heart.

She cuddles into me, a relaxed smile on her lips and fuck, I know I can’t ever let her go.

18.

Sebastian

I’m sent back tomy hotel by the end of our week off. I never wanted to do anything less than drag my arse back to the sterile halls of a hotel, but Callie says it’s for the best.

During the week she tried to withdraw to herself several times, but I was determined not to let it happen. I can't have her pretending this never happened.

We are happening. We arenowand not even her fear – as justified as it is – can stop this. I distract her with all the inventive ways I have in my arsenal and all the things I wanted to do since I laid my eyes on her. But eventually, the days go by and the shadow above us only grows.

We are going back to the mansion.

I need to finish this game I signed up for. I need to choose between three women, and none of them is Callie.

Our kiss before I leave her apartment is desperate. She clings to me, taking my shirt in her hands, biting my lip like she needs to brand me to make me hers.

I raise her chin with my finger. “This is not the end. This is our beginning.”

She nods, then shakes her head like she’s shaking the feelings off. “I’m being silly, I guess.”

Callie escapes my finger, her eyes cast down as she does her best to ignore the voices in her head.

“I’ll always come for you, Callie.” I try to make her understand. “Nothing in the world can’t stop me from being with you, you get that?”

I know those are big words and might even feel displaced in the hall of the America’s worst apartment building. I mean them, though.

She looks at me from under her eyelashes, her eyes shining, and I know she wants to believe me. I don't know if she can. I insist anyway.

“Love, listen to my words carefully. I wanted to find you, and I did. And it might look like a mess right now, but there’s nothing in the world that can stop this from happening. The only person who can take me from you is you. Are you going to ask me to fuck off?”

I smirk, and she snorts, shaking her head. I hate how vulnerable she looks at this moment. Callie is all strength, but right there she looks like a scared little girl. I miss my sassy woman.

“Nothing. Get me? No one.”

“We finish this season and then we'll–”

“We’ll be together.” I reinforce, “We’ll be together. No contracts.”

Her small smile is watery, but I get a gentle kiss on my lips before I leave.

The next day, I slid into the town car from my hotel to the mansion. Again, we are starting at an ungodly hour. The sun hasn’t risen yet and the streets are surprisingly empty. I don’t think about anything but Callie.

Finish this damn show. Abby, Maya, or Vera.

Long were the days the network insisted on releasing it slowly, an episode a week. Eleven years ago,The Final Rosewas a weekly ordeal like any show, but today it’s all about binging. The thirteen episodes will be released in three blocks and then the reunion separately.

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