Page 34 of Then There Was You

Ilie on the sofa in the living room, willing myself to fall asleep. I’m desperate to close my eyes and forget everything that’s happened tonight. Instead, when I close my eyes, all I can see is Brandon’s face. I can even feel the weight of his body still on top of me and I start to panic. When I can’t stand it any longer, I go to Seb. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I went to him, but it wasn’t that I’d end up in his arms.

My heart thunders in my chest as he holds me, and despite knowing he held me earlier before the cops arrived, this time feels different somehow.

“You okay?” he asks into my hair.

I lift my head and nod. My eyes fall to his lips and I want him to kiss me more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I know he won’t, though. He’s already made it clear he doesn’t do relationships. Right now, I don’t care about that. I’m attracted to him. I always have been, and I just want his hands on me. I want him to make me forget how Brandon made me feel.

I swear his eyes flash with heat as I stare at him, and finding a confidence I didn’t know I had, I lean into him and brush my lips against his. I pull away when he doesn’t respond.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, rolling out of his embrace and onto my side, feeling mortified that I’ve read him wrong.

In seconds, his strong arms have rolled me onto my back and his body hovers over mine.

“Are you sure this is what you want? I can’t give you anything more than tonight, Taylor.”

“I know, Seb. I want this, even if it’s just for tonight.”

His eyes search mine for a few seconds before he lowers his head and kisses me. The kiss starts softly, and I reach up, winding my fingers into his hair. His teeth bite my bottom lip and I open up to him, moaning into his mouth as his tongue collides with mine. Despite him not touching me yet, my body’s on fire for him. If this is just what his kiss does to me, I can’t wait to see how it feels when he does touch me.

His lips pull away from mine and he peppers kisses along my jaw and down my neck. The stubble on his face feels incredible on my skin, and his mouth makes its way down my neck, his fingers skating under my tank.

“This needs to come off,” he mutters against my neck, pulling his lips away briefly to remove my top. He slides his fingers into the waistband of my sleep shorts, stilling as his eyes find mine. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I tell him, lifting my hips and giving him permission to remove them. He pulls them down my legs and tosses them on the floor with my tank, leaving me naked.

“Holy fuck, Taylor,” he says, his eyes sweeping over me. “Fucking perfection.”

My cheeks flush with heat as I watch him. The room’s dark, but my eyes have adjusted, so I know he can see me.

“I’m pretty sure that exact phrase describes you,” I say, dragging my hands up his toned and inked chest, resting them on his shoulders.

He smiles before kissing me again, leaving me breathless. His mouth finds my pebbled nipple and he sucks it into his mouth, my back arching off the bed. One of his hands tweaks and pinches my other nipple between his fingers, making my clit pulse with need. I involuntarily lift my hips off the bed, shamelessly grinding my clit against his leg, desperate to dull the ache that’s building there.

“What do you need, Taylor?” he asks after releasing my nipple from his mouth.

“Touch me, please,” I say, too far gone with pleasure to care that I’m begging.

His hand slides down my body, his fingers sweeping through my folds.

“You’re so wet.”

All I can do is moan in response as his fingers brush against my clit. His touch is featherlight and I need more. I try to push against his fingers but he pulls his hand away, making me wait. His mouth continues kissing around my stomach and he stops when he gets to my hip.

“Fucking hell,” he mumbles against my skin. “I think that’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

I sit up slightly and look down my body, knowing he’s found the peony tattoo on my hip bone. It had hurt like crazy to get it done, but peonies were my mom’s favorite flower, and when she died, I got it to remember her by.

“You think?” I ask him. “I haven’t had it for long.”

“It’s perfect.”

He bites gently on the area, eliciting a gasp from me before soothing the skin with a kiss. His mouth kisses lower until he sits up, lifting my leg as he does. He brushes kisses around my knee, edging his way toward the inside of my thigh, his stubble tickling my skin. Despite panting and squirming on the bed, I’m suddenly nervous. I’m not a huge fan of oral sex. I never seem to be able to relax enough to enjoy it. He must feel my apprehension when he suddenly stops.

“Are you okay? You’ve tensed up,” he asks, lifting his head.

“Erm…” I trail off, embarrassed to say what I’m feeling.

He sits up. “If you’ve changed your mind—”