Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Sienna
When Czar told me to stay home and take a walk in the garden instead of joining them at some socialite’s engagement party tonight, I rocked back on my feet. I never get to sit out of events. My father likes to parade me around like a prized pony ready for auction to the masses.
Stone is leaving for a fight tonight, and as I walk barefoot through the grass, I contemplate going to his room one last time, but something stops me. Maybe it’s the knowledge of my impending marriage, or maybe it’s the promise of his punishment hanging over me, but something tells me not to go and say goodbye.
My heart aches at the thought.
An emptiness takes over me. Is this what it will feel like without him in my life?
Giving myself over to another man when the only man I want is him feels like the worst punishment possible. I don’t want another man’s hands touching me, and the thought of touching them repulses me.
To Stone, my marriage will be a betrayal, but nothing can be bigger than the secret I already hold, and I know he’d hate me for it.
So instead of saying goodbye, I find comfort in the clear night sky and head toward the rose garden.
My feet come to a standstill when Stone’s broad shoulders come into view, and I contemplate leaving altogether.
“I can smell you, Sienna.” Heat travels through me at his gravelly voice, and I squirm on the spot, already feeling the wetness pool in my panties at his comment.
Why does my body crave him like this? Want him when I shouldn’t.
He turns to face me, and the moonlight catches the blue in his eyes, making them sparkle. “You don’t look sick.” He nods toward me, and I blush under his gaze while wishing I was wearing something sexier, more enticing than the pale-blue summer dress that has me feeling like a young girl.
“I didn’t feel like partying.” I lift my chin.
A chuckle escapes him, and I wish I could bottle the sound of it up to keep it forever. A lump gathers in my throat at the thought of never hearing the sound again. Never seeing him look so handsome beneath the stars in his white T-shirt that stretches over his shoulders and his faded blue jeans that cling to his thick thighs.
To never explore him how I wish to.
“You’re staring at me like you’re going to miss me.” His lip twitches at his joke, yet the truth stabs me through the heart and exposes me for what I am. A liar, the daughter of the devil and a thief, because I know I’ve stolen his heart with no intention of returning it. How can I when I need it to survive myself?
“Hey, I’ll be back in a week.” He steps in front of me, and the thick pad of his finger twirls a lock of my hair around while I stand frozen. I won’t be here. I’ll be lying in another’s bed, next to my husband while my heart struggles to beat.
A sob lodges in my throat, and I can’t help the hiccup as tears pool in my eyes. “I don’t want you to go,” I whisper.
His lips curl into a smile, and I’m grateful he doesn’t realize the sincerity of my anxiousness. That he won’t know the truth until it’s too late, because knowing he will suffer in my absence is excruciating, like someone is pulling me apart bit by torturous bit.
“I need you,” I mutter, and his finger stills in my hair.
He’s going to reject me. I can feel it in my bones, so I step forward, finding the inner strength and boldness I’ve always longed for, and I take it.
This is the moment I take it all.
My hand wraps around the thickness of his jean-clad cock, and I stroke over it while he remains frozen, no doubt thrown off guard by my brazenness.
“Si…” He squeezes his eyes closed, but I ignore him and step forward with a new determination.
If I have to spend the rest of my life with a man I don’t want, I want one night with the man I do.
The man who holds my heart in the palm of his hands deserves one night with me.
One night of deception to last us both a lifetime of memories.