Page 30 of Seducing Selena

My mind cleared, and everything came crashing down on me at once. It was over, and that meant—

I couldn’t bear it.

When their knots eased the final time, I curled onto my side on the cushions, burying my face in them, unwilling to look at them or anything else.

“Selena,” Sebastian asked. “What’s going on? Are you all right?”

I curled my body tighter, and he came with me, surrounding me with his giant body and making me feel protected even though I wasn’t.

The rough rumble of his purr had me relaxing into him. He brushed my hair back from my face. I kept my eyes closed and imagined what this would be like if we were far from here. In a nest I designed, all greens and blues and purples, with a window where you could raise the blinds and see a view, with sunshine for plants and flowers when the nest wasn’t in use.

I imagined the two of us just like this, him brushing my hair back and purring. Nothing for any of us to do but lie here and breathe and enjoy the feeling of each other.

“Selena?” He asked quietly.

Unsuccessfully, I tried to keep the emotion out of my voice. “Just a few more minutes,” I begged. “Please. Let me believe it.”

His whole body went stiff, the backs of his fingers touching my forehead, but his purr didn’t stop, and he relaxed against me again, saying nothing.

I wasn’t sure how long it was before he turned me over, stretching me out from my curled up position. I stared at the ceiling. “I guess it’s over.”

“Not yet.” He ran his knuckles down my cheek. “Derek’s going to take you for a bath, and we’ll sleep for a while.”

It was still over. They knew that as well as I did. Coming down from a heat was always hard. The surge of hormones and the sudden absence… the intensity of this hadn’t even hit me yet.

“Okay,” was all I said out loud.

He tugged me toward him and kissed my temple. “Thank you for letting me spend your heat with you, little one.”

I nodded, and he purred before releasing me. Nick knelt and pressed his forehead to mine. He said nothing, but I felt things I wasn’t allowed to feel. Finally, Derek picked me up off the cushions and carried me from the nest into one of the giant bathrooms in the apartment.

Nick ran the water in the bath, and Derek carried me into it once it was full. It was big enough for all of us, but Nick and Seb excused themselves to check some things down in the club. After all, they still had a business to run. And I was part of that business.

Derek settled me against his side so I could lie across his chest, his arm around me. Slowly, he dragged warm water up my side and back and stroked his hand back down. It was the perfect moment, and I wanted to stay here. Only I knew it wasn’t going to happen, and it killed me.

It was impossible to hide my emotions now. Everything was at the surface, ready to burst. Tears welled in my eyes and spilled over, but I kept them quiet, trying to still enjoy the moment for as long as it lasted.

But my tears reached his skin, and I felt him startle, his hand pausing in its soothing motions. “Why are you crying,gattina?”

“You know why.”

“It’s going to be all right, Selena.”

I turned my face into his chest, perversely seeking comfort from the Alpha who was going to be my captor once again, once we were out of this bath and the cuffs went back on. “How can you say that? I’m still a slave. You’re still taking everything from me.”

He turned us together so my back pressed against the cool porcelain. “You chose to stay,” he said gently.

Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back against the tub. “You know I used to dream about being scent matched? It used to get me through bad days, thinking about building a nest with them, how they might spoil me.” I shook my head, unable to make myself open my eyes and look at him. If there was hardness in his gaze, I couldn’t bear it. “Now I don’t even know if my scent matches are going to sell me to someone who will enjoy fucking me while they murder me.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“No? Your words, Derek.” I took advantage of the last moments I could call him by his name. “That you would decide after my training whether to sell me.”

“Look at me.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Look at me.” The Alpha command in his voice forced my eyes open. There wasn’t harshness in his gaze, there was pure intensity. “If you think we could sell you after this, you’re wrong.”

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