Page 16 of My Soul Is His

His fingers grasp my chin and tighten, bringing my sight to his. Lowering his lips, he kisses me with an unhinged passion. Sebastian’s tongue dances with mine and his other hand wraps around my hair, seizing me tightly.

Using my tresses, he pulls me back to stare into my eyes. The warmth of his fingers brush across my bottom lip and he lets go of my chin.

“You are mine. What part of that don’t you get?”

I bite my lip, thinking while my nerves cramp my stomach. “It’s not that I don’t get it,” I whisper.

“If I could take away every fucking illness so you could see what I see, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’m a monster without you. There isn’t a reason for me to exist if you aren’t by my side.” He lowers me to the ground and straddles my legs, bracing his hands on either side of my head.

“I’m sorry.”

My past trauma casts a long shadow, tainting even the happiest moments with suspicion. A persistent voice in the back of my mind challenges my trust, leaving a bitter taste of doubt despite my best efforts to believe.

“Marla, I’ll spend the rest of our lives proving it to you. So, you never have to have an ounce of uncertainty.”

His lips meet mine, and he grinds himself against me. The cries in the wind start again and I just want peace, something I’ll never truly find.

I focus on his dark brown hair, the tattoos that climb his neck and the sensations running through my body, but the wails don’t stop.

“Seb—”

“They can’t have you now. Look at me. You belong to only me.” He continues his kisses over my skin, taking off my shirt and trailing his tongue over my pebbled nipples.

As my attention is stolen again, the sharp pain of his bite on my flesh brings me back to the present. Sebastian’s dark eyes stare up at me as he moves down my body before he takes off my pants and props my calves against his shoulders.

Lifting his shirt, he holds the hem between his teeth and undoes his jeans. Gripping my hips, he lines himself up and slams into me, leaning forward to wrap his hand around my neck.

“Mine,” he growls.

“Yours,” I whimper.

Letting me go, he moves my legs over his hips and lowers his head to my throat and kisses the sensitive skin, caressing me until he reaches my breasts and runs his tongue over each nipple. Biting me until I bleed, he licks me clean and brushes his lips along my sternum, feathering me in touch to block out the world.

When our gaze locks, he pumps into me and rubs my clit with his other hand. Need courses through me as my nerves react to his attention. I arch my hips, and he meets my desire with rough movements until I scream out from the orgasm.

“So fucking perfect, my girl,” Sebastian groans as he fills me.

He lays his head on my chest for a moment before pulling out and getting us both dressed. Tugging me close, his arms envelop me in a warm embrace as we lean against the ancient oak, gazing out at the tranquil scene below, a hush falling over the peacefulspot. Sebastian moves his fingers through my hair and kisses my cheek.

After a few minutes, with his help, I’m pieced back together after he’d torn me apart, leaving me breathless and shaken.

“We should go home and check on them,” I say, not wanting to leave this space, but knowing we have things to do.

When we stand, the clear water running over the pebbles turns red, and the little rocks become sharp daggers. The illusion is gone, and gloom returns. Branches curl into misshapen claws and as I inhale, sulphur fills my senses. In this harsh, unforgiving land, only my relationship with Sebastian remains a constant source of comfort.

I roll over onto the hard ground. Cool air leaks through the room and Sebastian’s warmth is gone. It’s been like this for weeks, or months. Keeping track of time here is tough. Each day melts into the next, the struggle for sanity so consuming that passing moments hold no significance.

Grabbing a hoodie, I put it on and push open the closed door. Standing in the hallway of our abandoned treehouse, I wonder which direction I should go first. Without the blue monster stalking me at every turn, I’ve felt lighter, and my past doesn’t haunt me.

“He left again?” Chloe asks. Padding out of the bedroom with Sid behind her, their locked hands make me smile. I’m so thankful they’ve found their peace in each other.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t sleep this heavy. It’s my fault.”

“Don’t do that. You know he’d take anything for you. Besides, without the monster destroying you, healing takes time and drains you,” Sid says.

He’s right, but it doesn’t make the burn in my stomach pass. Nerves dance in my belly and leave a sour taste of bile in the back of my throat.

“We’ll go out the rear and look for him. You go the way. You always do.” Chloe smiles and they stalk out the door.

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