Page 118 of Arianna

“I drank too much and fucked a stranger and was given the greatest gift I could ever receive. I might regret the mother, but I don’t regret my child for one second.

“Has she tried to make contact?” Something about that makes me hold my breath, feeling possessive over the two of them.

“No, she disappeared right after leaving my child on my office doorstep.” What could have made a woman leave her child? My Ella, and not look back? But what doesn't make sense is that the woman had the child of one of the most powerful men in the country with enough money to take care of his future lineage, and she hasn't resurfaced asking for anything.

Odd and a little bit suspicious.

Maybe it is my untrustworthy nature making up things, but still…something doesn't feel right.

“Well, it is her loss. Because if that baby were mine, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep her with me.” I say fiercely with all the love I have for that kid.

Sebastian frowns for a second, and then he smiles so subtly that I have to look twice to make sure it happened. I always speak my mind, lately, I speak what comes from the heart.

“What kind of black magic are you, Arianna?” he throws my early comment back at me, and I don't mind it. Not one bit.

Maybe we’re both rare, and that is why we make sense.

Because we do.

I have never thought of anyone as my equal, only lesser forms, until I met him.

I am snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of a nervous Bliss before she shakes me off her, and I find myself being thrown off the horse.

Everything happens so fast that it is blurry.

One second, I am terrified and falling, then the next, strong arms grab me, and we’re both falling to the snow with a loud thud.

The wind is knocked out of me, but miraculously, nothing hurts.

He stopped me from getting hurt, putting himself at risk, as well.

Sebastian is on top of me, lifting himself by his left forearm so as not to squish me. His eyes are worried, searching every part of my body to ensure I am alright. I watch as he raises a hand, brings it to my face, and then moves to check the back of my head where his other one is shielding me from the ground. “Does anything hurt? Are you alright, darling?” He looks frazzled now. “Something must have spooked the horse.”

Oh, dammit, Bliss.

But suddenly, I feel the urge to laugh. Aloud. “Eh bien, il n’y avait rien dans votre leçon à ce sujet.” Well, there was nothing in your lesson about this.

Sebastian leans back for a second, confused as to my reaction, but then in a second, he claims my mouth in a savage and furious kiss.

A kiss unlike the others he has stolen from me.

Not tender.

Desperate, as if he needs me to breathe.

Between kisses, he says, “Tu me rends fou.”

Right back at you, Sebastian.

You drive me crazy, too.

We lie there in the cold, kissing each other.

Madly.

Desperately.

As if we could, with one kiss, erase everyone that came before.

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