It closes with a sharp click

I drop to sit on the bed, shocked to my core. What does that mean?

Fuck.

Bang sounds the door as it closes.

Sebastian is home. I scramble to pick up my phone to see the time.

1:00 a.m.

My mind is a clusterfuck of confusion. I've been overanalyzing everything all night.

The way Sebastian spoke earlier sounded like he had feelings for me back then, too.

Maybe I misunderstood.

Maybe he meant to say that Brandon was all that mattered to him.

I guess it doesn’t matter now, anyway, but the admission that he had done the wrong thing means a lot to me.

I hear the water turn on next door, and I know he's taking a shower.

Is he going to knock on for me?

I lie in the darkness, on high alert, and I wait.

The thing about thinking that you know what's going to happen is that you don’t.

Sebastian didn’t knock on my door last night.

He hasn’t looked my way once today, either.

In between all his engagements, he's been deep in discussion with Kellan all day through, and I hate to admit it, but it bothers me.

It shouldn’t, but it does.

We have had another full day, and now we are back at the hotel. We've had dinner, and are now in the bar having a few drinks. Sebastian is sitting with three men and Kellan, while I am at the bar with Jeremy.

It's like Sebastian doesn’t know me when we are in public, but then I guess, he doesn’t really. So, he's not acting, he's really just telling the truth.

This is all just one big, convoluted mess, and I need to go to bed before I drink too much.

"I'm going to head up to my room," I tell Jeremy.

"Okay." He smiles.

"See you tomorrow."

I walk out of the bar before looking across the room. I don’t want him to know I'm leaving. Not that he would notice, anyway.

I take the elevator. I'm having a hot shower and I'm going straight to sleep.

I'm exhausted.

I wake with a start. The room is semi dark, but something feels off.

I try to focus my eyes, but I know that Sebastian is in here.

I can feel him… and then I see him.

He's sitting in the corner chair in the dark. He’s holding a glass full of an amber fluid, still wearing his navy suit.

"Sebastian," I whisper. "What are you doing?"

Silence.

"Sebastian?" I prompt.

"Breathing you in," his deep voice purrs.

He lifts his glass to his lips and takes a long, slow sip as he watches me.

My heart races in my chest. He's so intense. So serious.

So fucking hot.

"There's nothing more intoxicating than the scent of the woman you want," he whispers darkly.

His tongue darts out and swipes over his bottom lip as his eyes hold mine.

Warning bells start around me. I know this is all wrong, but hell…

"You want me?" I ask.

"More than anything." He murmurs.

Our eyes are locked and damn it, why does he have to be such a head fuck?

Why can't he be just a man who I could sleep with without complications?

Why does everything about him scare the hell out of me?

I already know the answer.

I'm too invested.

He puts his drink on the table and walks to me as I lie in bed.

What is he doing?

My breath is shaky when I inhale. Fuck.

He sits at my feet and peels the blankets back. His eyes darken when he sees my white cotton nightdress. He slides his hand up my leg, and it comes around to rest at the back of my knee.

He spreads my legs as they bend.

We stare at each other, and I know that I should tell him to stop and go back to his room, but I just can't.

He drops his head and kisses my inner thigh. His dark eyes watch me, as if waiting for approval.

Maybe if I don’t watch, I can pretend that I don’t know what a mistake this is.

His tongue trails over my skin, up toward my sex.

Fuck.

My breath quivers.

He pulls my panties to the side, and with his dark eyes on mine, his thick, strong tongue swipes through my sex.

Oh God. My back arches from the bed.

He licks me again. "You have two seconds to tell me to stop, Bennet," he murmurs against my sex before he openly kisses me there with purpose.

My back arches of the bed, and I push my hands into his hair, grabbing a handful between my fingers. "Make me come."

15

April

"You want to come?" He flutters his tongue over my clitoris before he peels my panties down.

My back arches off the bed as I try to get a deeper connection.

Sebastian leans up onto his elbow next to me, and he slides three fingers deep into my sex. His jaw clenches, and my legs fall open enough for my knees to touch the mattress.

"You want to come, Cartier?" he whispers darkly.

My breath catches at the use of my name from the Escape Club. It's been a long time since I've heard it. I can't believe he remembered.

He massages me deep inside, finding that perfect spot. My body begins to quiver. I'm like a puppet in his G-spot-finding hands, obeying his every command.

He jerks me hard with his palm. "Answer me." He growls.

"Yes," I whimper as the sound of my wet arousal begins to echo around me.

Fuck, he makes me so wet.

He bends and kisses my sex. His teeth graze my clitoris as his fingers work their magic, and I begin to shudder.

He stops, and his eyes hold mine. "Tell me he's gone."

My arousal fades, and I lift my head to look at him. "What?"

He slides his fingers in deep—four this time—and I feel the stretch of his possession.

My head falls back, and my legs rise off the mattress, hanging open in the air.

Ahh, that’s so…

"Tell me!" he barks.

“W-who?"

He sits up abruptly and rolls me over onto my stomach. He lies over me, his full weight pinning me down, his mouth to my ear. I can feel his erection through his suit digging into my behind.

"I don’t fucking share," he hisses against my ear. Goosebumps scatter over my skin.

And then it all comes back to me.

I remember. I remember everything.