Page 74 of His True Beloved

“What is wrong, Sebastian?” He shook his head, asking me again. My hand cupped his cheek, pulling him closer with one gentle kiss.

“Of course, if it means to be forever with you, there isn’t a question now, is there?” He took a sigh of relief, his hand loosening in my hair.

“Good, that’s good.” He sighed, sitting back on his heels, pulling the shampoo from the side of the tub. Sebastian’s mind went elsewhere, and my heart ached in worry as he washed me. He had gone to a different place in his mind, and I couldn’t figure out why.

When my mother got in one of her depressed moods, I knew it would pass. Give her some space, and she would come around, but I didn’t know what Sebastian was thinking.

He continued to wash me. He felt down every part of my body, even daring to massage my feet. I moaned how good it felt until he gently lowered them back into the tub. “What about at first light? I’d ask to do it now, but I need to explain some things.”

Just a few days ago, he wanted to wait until Wyatt was captured, and now he wants to change me?

“What is going on?” I demanded. Sebastian lowered his head, still sitting on the side of the tub.

“I worry that he is going to get in your dreams.” He growled. “Rowan’s men received a text message from your phone.”

I could feel my face go pale. The bubbles piled on top of each other, covering my body, could be heard popping beneath the surface. “And what did it say?” I whispered.

“I’ll see you in my dreams, Sunshine.”

Flashes of Wyatt’s face entered my mind. He was hovering over me while I lay on my back on the soft surface of the bed. The fangs, the horns, and the tail that swished in front of my face were there. My head darted everywhere but his sickening grin, only to see myself not in the tub but in my old room in college.

“There you are,” he purred. “Feels real, doesn’t it?” I gasped, holding my hand to my chest until I tried to forcefully push him off. His bare chest gave me chills of not the good kind as his body didn’t move. “I’m just giving you the lowdown on what was going to happen, Sunshine. Sebastian is about to lose his shit right now, and he wants you to wake up.”

“What? I-I don’t understand!” I panicked, trying to kick my legs, but the heaviness of his body wouldn’t allow it. Darkened gray skin filled the once-tanned Wyatt I once knew, and my stomach wanted to revolt right into his face.

“Now that I have you, we can talk, not sure how long because your ‘mate’,” he spat, “is trying to wake you.”

“And he fucking will, you asshole. Now get off before I have him kill your ass!” Wyatt took my hands and set them at my side, his naked body straddling me.

“I want you to listen.” His voice softened, back to the Wyatt I once thought I knew. “I do care about you, Christine, and I did what I did because of who I am. I can’t help it. I’m an incubus, it’s how I feed, but my feelings for you were still the same, still are,” he whispered. “I… I may look different, but I am the same person I was before you found me in that awkward position.”

“Oh, the one where you were doing my roommate! On my bed!” I hocked up a wad of spit and blew it on his face. He chuckled, shaking it away.

“I deserved that. Yes, I did.” He nodded. “I was hungry, Christine. Sexual dreams can only fill me so much, and when I had sex in the physical sense, it kept me full for a month. I didn’t mean for you to see that.”

“You lied to me! All this time. You should have left me alone from the start!” I screamed at him. “Don’t you have a mate somewhere? Why have any business with me? I gave you everything, and you lied to me about waiting for me,” I cried out. My face was full of tears, and my body continued to thrash. “And you weren’t even that good!”

Wyatt’s tail came from behind him, gently wiping the tears from my face. Trying to push him away, his face softened. “I was gentle with you. I didn’t want to hurt you. I can be better next time!” he pleaded.

“You broke my heart. That was enough,” I hissed. “Now, let me go!” I cried. “Sebastian!” I screamed out again. “Sebastian, help me!”

“Don’t become like them, Christine.” Wyatt continued to hold me down, his body pressed close to my chest. “I could make you so much happier. Remember all the fun times we had? That was all real, I swear,” he whispered. “I miss you. I can’t be without you.”

“I have a mate,” I choked out. “I love him more than I ever loved you.” I shakily whimpered. Wyatt sat back on his knees, his hands releasing my arms and his tail went behind his back.

Wyatt’s ashen face turned to sadness. It was a face I had rarely seen. Disappointment threaded through his teeth as he let off a small smile. “At least let me see you one last time. A proper goodbye?” His eyes brimming with tears, my heart softened only to think that it could all be a lie. He could be tricking me, trying to steal me away from Sebastian, and I couldn’t have that.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said firmly. “This is our goodbye.”

Wyatt shook his head, blowing a heated breath from his lips. “No, this I won’t let go of, Sunshine. One last goodbye, and I’ll leave you, and your beloved be.”

My body pushed off the mattress, watching the body that once hovered over me disappear into tendrils of smoke. Screaming for Sebastian once more, I awoke with my mate hovering over my body with an empty bucket of ice-cold water.

Chapter 31

Christine

Coldwaterdrenchedme,my nipples instantly retracting and hardening all at the same time. Coughing, my hands reached out, trying to either push away Wyatt or move the smoke that had enclosed me. Instead, Sebastian’s warm body was already in the tub, pulling me away from the cold waters.

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