In the darkness, I sense the weight of his stare on me as I stroke him. But he doesn’t move, even though he’s as hard as steel, blood and desire pumping through his shaft. A bead of moisture collects at the head, and I drag my thumb through it.
“I want you inside me, not because you’re angry, but because you need it as much as I do.”
He rolls me to my side and spoons me, fitting his groin against my ass as he reaches for the lube on the nightstand. There’s no foreplay or taking it slow. He pushes his slick cock into me, muscled arms holding me tight as he thrusts. The coupling is more about connection than pleasure. Affirmation over physical release.
Tears bathe my cheeks as he slows the pace, one hand on my breast and the other gripping my thigh, pulling me into him as he plunges deeper.
“Don’t cry,” he whispers, lips a gentle brush against my shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere. No matter how long it takes, or how many beds you have to visit, I’ll be here waiting.”
I close my eyes and concentrate on him moving inside me, his presence enveloping me in sensual promise. He owns my heart so completely that there isn’t room for anyone else. I never want to leave these arms, never want to separate from the unique way we fit together, like a lock that only opens for the right key.
He launches me into orgasm before chasing his own, and afterward, we remain connected, two souls entwined and dozing through the night.
But morning dawns too soon, and a summer storm wins out, tormenting the sky with melancholy gray to match my mood. Rain beats against the windows in his bedroom, drops squiggling down the glass and obscuring the view. I know he’s awake beside me, lost in thought as I am. Neither of us slept much last night.
“I don’t want to go,” I say, breaking the quiet.
His sigh filters through the early morning shadows, but he doesn’t move.
“Please say something.” I turn to face him. “I’m dying over here.”
“There’s nothing I can say, princess. I can’t keep you here for the rest of the year. God knows I want to.”
I think back to the time I pleaded with Liam to run away with me. The chancellor turned me down because of his duty to his family’s legacy. Does Sebastian feel the same way? Does he love me enough to take the risk? My throat tightens with fear, and when I find the words to verbalize what’s in my heart, they come out shaky.
“Let’s leave the island.”
He rolls to his side and palms my cheek. “I won’t risk your safety.”
“You risk my safety by letting me go to the next house.”
“At least I know you’ll live through it.”
This is about his mother and the curse. “I don’t believe Evangeline Castle hexed us for all eternity. What happened to your mother was tragic, but I lost my parents too, and it wasn’t because of a curse.”
“It’s not just my mother. You should read the history books in the library. A lot of terrible tragedies taint the Brotherhood. When it struck my family…” He sits up, dragging a hand through his blond bedroom hair. “Landon and I want to change things, and we’re going to try, but I won’t risk losing you.”
“It’s seven months, Sebastian. I won’t be able to touch you, or kiss you, or—” My voice breaks, and the burn in my eyes erupts, hot on my cheeks.
“Then touch me now.” Blanketing my body, he sinks his hands into my hair, his mouth tempting me to meet him halfway. “Kiss me now and don’t stop until we have to.”
And that’s how we spend our last morning, kissing and touching and getting as much of each other as we can before the clock intrudes with reality. He takes me again in the shower, using his body to spread suds on my backside. When we step onto the plush bath mat, he sets a towel around my shoulders and helps me dry my hair.
Making it through brunch is too torturous, as if we’re facing our last meal before an execution, and an hour before he’s supposed to take me to the library for the exchange, we abandon the idea of consuming food. We’d rather spend our last moments consuming each other. He’s leading me back to his bedroom when someone rings the doorbell. Nerves and devastation race through my blood.
“It’s not time yet!” The panic in my voice is all-too real.
Tightening his fingers around mine, he changes direction and pulls the door open. I expected Miles, or even Liam. I didn’t expect to find my half-sister standing on Sebastian’s floor on the morning I’m supposed to leave.
“What are you doing here?” Sebastian asks, a hard edge to his tone.
Surely, she knows what today is…what this last hour means to us.
“You know why I’m here.” Lilith wrings her hands, eyes cast in dark circles. “I haven’t heard a word from you since the wedding.”
He glowers at her, azure eyes reduced to silver slits. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
She crosses her arms. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”
My attention darts between them, and I feel like an observer cursed with an invisibility spell. “Tell me what?”
“It’s nothing,” he says, stare lethal as he keeps it on our unexpected visitor.
“It’s not nothing,” Lilith says. “She has a right to know.”
“That’s not for you to decide.” He thrusts a finger toward the elevator. “You need to leave.”
Lilith trains her haughty gaze on me. “I told you it wasn’t over. You didn’t want to believe me.”
Her words and the implication behind them roar in my mind. I retreat a step, limbs weak, and almost lose my footing. “You slept with her? Again?” Disbelief raises my voice to a near shout.
Sebastian shakes his head, blue eyes imploring me to listen. “I haven’t touched her since the night of the ball. I swear to you, Novalee.”
I glance at her, expecting to find smug glee on her red lips as she counters his claim. Surprisingly, she doesn’t. “It’s true. We haven’t been together since my birthday.”
“Then what am I missing?”
“It’s not what you’re missing. It’s what I’m missing.” Lilith lets a pregnant pause set the foundation for destruction. “My period, Novalee. Late by two months. You do the math.”
“No.” I take another step back, unwilling to believe what she’s saying, but when I find the courage to search Sebastian’s expression, hoping against hope he’ll deny it, he hangs his head instead.
And that’s when I know it’s true.