Chapter 27
Sebastian catches my biceps and guides me to my feet, spinning us to switch our positions. His hands shift to my waist as he settles into the leather chair I vacated, the material groaning under his weight.
“Let me feel you,” Sebastian murmurs, peeling off my sweatshirt to expose my chest to the cool air.
His mouth finds my collarbone, teeth grazing the sensitive skin there as his hands work my jeans and boxers the rest of the way off. My aching dick hugs tight to my stomach, pre-cum leaking from my tip.
Under my rapt gaze, Sebastian pops the button on his slacks and drags down the zipper.
His hard cock springs free, straining the navy blue of his boxer briefs.
My heart pounds as he pulls me forward, helping me straddle his lap, my shins fitting snugly on either side of his hips thanks to the chair’s generous width.
“Lift,” Sebastian instructs, rough with need. I rise on my knees as he shoves his boxers down far enough to free himself.
The sight of him, thick and ready, sends a pulse of desire through me so strong my thighs tremble.
He reaches into his pocket, producing a small packet that he tears open with his teeth. The foil crinkles as he rolls protection over himself.
A whine escapes me. “I want you to fill me.”
He leans forward to scrape his teeth over my nipple. “Much as I would love to be dripping from your sloppy hole, we’ll save that for the privacy of our bedroom tonight.”
Sebastian’s hands return to my hips, guiding me as I sink onto him. After days of being in Sebastian’s bed, there’s no discomfort as he breaches my body, my channel now familiar with his girth.
“God, baby.” His fingers dig into my skin as I take him to the hilt. “You feel incredible.”
My muscles clench around him, adjusting to the intrusion. The fullness sends waves of sensation radiating outward from where we’re connected, and I circle my hips, drawing a hissed breath from Sebastian that fills me with satisfaction.
His hands guide me into a rhythm, lifting and lowering at a steady pace that has us both panting within minutes.
The leather chair creaks beneath us, adding to our harsh breathing and the soft, wet sounds of our bodies joining.
The blue glow of the monitors washes over Sebastian’s face, highlighting the sweat beading on his brow and the parted fullness of his lips.
“You’re so perfect.” Sebastian’s hand slides up my back to cup the nape of my neck, massaging his Mark and sending a jolt of possessive pleasure through my entire body.
I increase our pace, rising and falling with growing urgency. The change in angle lets him strike the spot inside me that turns my vision white at the edges, and a broken moan escapes me.
Sebastian’s grip tightens in response. “That’s it. Let me hear you.”
Our bodies move together with increasing desperation, finding a rhythm that builds and builds until I gasp with each downward thrust. Sebastian’s hands roam my body, touching every part of me he can reach as though memorizing my contours through his fingertips.
The pressure coils tighter at the base of my spine, a spring wound to its breaking point. Sebastian must sense how close I am because his hand moves between us, wrapping around my length with enough pressure to push me toward the edge.
“Sebastian,” I pant, my fingers digging into his shoulders through his shirt.
“I love you, Micah,” Sebastian says, the words tumbling out on a broken exhale. His eyes lock with mine, raw emotion spilling across his scarred face. “I love you.”
The confession cracks open the lonely space in my chest, the part of me convinced I’d never be good enough to have a family of my own.
“I love you, too,” I gasp back, the words breaking free from a place I never realized existed. “So, so much.”
Sebastian thrusts up as I rock down, our bodies locked together as pleasure crashes through me in waves. He clutches me close as he follows, his face buried against my neck, teeth grazing the Mark he left there.
For long moments, we stay joined, our breathing slowing in tandem. I rest my forehead on his, our sweat-slick skin sticking. The chair creaks beneath us, protesting our combined weight and recent activity.
“We should move,” I murmur once my breathing steadies, though my body remains boneless and unwilling to separate from his.
“Not yet.” Sebastian’s arms tighten around me. “Stay here for a minute.”
I settle in his lap, our bodies still connected, though the urgency has faded. The monitors continue their silent surveillance, tracking Travis somewhere out in the city while we remain cocooned in our temporary sanctuary.
“I’ve been thinking,” Sebastian says after a comfortable silence. His hand traces patterns on my back, fingertips following the ridges of my spine. “About what happens after.”
Curious, I pull back to see his face. “After Travis?”
“Yes.” Sebastian’s expression turns serious despite our intimate position. “I want you to move here. To the manor. Permanently.”
The request catches me off guard, and I shift in his lap, causing us both to hiss as our still-sensitive bodies respond.
“If you still want to cam, I’ll have one of the empty suites converted for your studio,” he continues, his eyes intent on mine. “We can set it up however you want. But I… I don’t want to go back to living in separate spaces when this is over.”
The practicality of his offer and planning for my work should reassure me. Instead, a knot forms in my stomach, tightening with each word. Our bodies are still joined, yet a new distance opens between us.
“I worked hard for my apartment.” I ease off his lap, the separation leaving me empty and cold. “My independence.”
Sebastian straightens, dealing with the condom before he tucks himself away and refastens his pants. “I know, and I’m not asking you to give up your independence. Just your address.”
“That’s not how it works.” I pull my boxers and jeans up, fastening them with unsteady fingers. “Living here, surrounded by your family, your security, your wealth— It changes things.”
Sebastian stands, and I tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. “Changes what? My feelings for you? Your feelings for me?”
“No, it changes me.” I run a hand through my hair, frustration building. “This place isn’t neutral ground, Sebastian. It’s Rockford territory. Everything here operates by rules your family established generations ago.”
“Rules that will protect you,” he counters, his voice rising. “You’ve seen what we can do. How fast we can mobilize when one of our own is threatened.”
“And that’s just it.” I snatch up my sweatshirt and step back, needing physical space to think. “I’d be protected because I’m ‘one of yours.’ Not because of who I am, but because of this.” My fingers touch the Mark on my neck, still sensitive from Sebastian’s attention.
Sebastian’s jaw tightens. “So were you never planning for this to be permanent between us?”
“What?” My mouth drops open, before I snap it closed. “That’s not what I’m saying at all!”
“Then do you want me to move in with you?” he asks.
The thought of Sebastian slumming it in my crappy apartment is so ridiculous, I can’t even imagine it. He deserves so much better than the life I’ve managed to scrape together. But if it’s not good enough for him, and I’m not good enough for Rockford Manor, then where does that leave us?
“That’s what I thought,” Sebastian says, seeing my answer on my face. He reaches for my hand. “I’m not asking you to surrender your independence to my family, Micah. I’m asking you to join it. To be my partner as well as my mate. There’s a difference.”
Before I can respond, a knock on the door interrupts us. We both freeze, eyes darting to the locked door, then back to each other.
“Shit,” I mutter, straightening my clothes and running my fingers through my hair in a futile attempt to look presentable.
Sebastian does the same, tucking in his shirt and straightening his posture, settling once more into the demeanor of the head of Rockford security. Once he’s decent, I cross to the door, the conversation about our future shelved but far from over.
When I pull it open, Gabriel stands in the doorway, his usual cocky demeanor replaced by a subtle tension around his mouth. My stomach drops before he even speaks, some instinct recognizing trouble in the set of his shoulders.
“Have either of you seen Saint?” Gabriel asks without preamble, looking past me to Sebastian, who now stands with military straightness behind the main console.
“Not since the call,” Sebastian answers with an edge not there minutes ago. “Is he not back already? He should have beaten you, based on your last locations.”
Gabriel’s expression shifts to apologetic. “His car’s not in the garage.”
Panic rises in my chest, hot and suffocating. “What do you mean his car’s not here?”
Sebastian’s hand lifts toward me. “Micah—”
I jerk out of reach. “We were supposed to stay in contact every fifteen minutes. That’s the protocol you set.”
The accusation falls heavy between us, but Gabriel doesn’t flinch. “We were in contact. He checked in throughout the operation. The last message came through forty minutes ago. Said he was going to check out a potential lead before heading back. I thought he got distracted once he arrived home.”
“What lead?” Sebastian interjects, already moving to the nearest terminal. His fingers fly across the keyboard, pulling up tracking data that fills the primary screen. “He didn’t mention he was stopping somewhere else on the call earlier.”
Gabriel shakes his head. “He didn’t specify. Just said he might have a lead and would brief us when he returned.”
A map of the city materializes on screen, a pulsing red dot marking Saint’s last location. The industrial district. Warehouses and storage facilities where people disappear without witnesses.
My hands shake as I pull out my phone, muscle memory finding Saint’s contact without conscious thought. His smirking face fills my screen, a photo taken months ago when he wasn’t expecting it, caught mid-laugh with a beer halfway to his mouth.
The phone slips in my sweating palm as I hit the call button.
The first ring echoes in my ear, hollow and distant.
Sebastian and Gabriel exchange a look that sends ice through my veins, as if they don’t expect my call to go through.
Second ring. My free hand clutches the edge of the nearest desk, knuckles whitening under the pressure.
“His tracking device is offline,” Sebastian reports. “Last ping came from sector seven, about forty-three minutes ago.”
Third ring. The sound drills into my skull, escalating my worry.
“Could be a dead battery,” Gabriel offers, though his tone suggests he doesn’t believe it. “Or he’s in a dead zone.”
Fourth ring. My breath catches in my throat, lungs forgetting how to function.
“Saint always keeps his phone charged. Always,” I whisper, the words tumbling out between rings. “Ever since we got separated once at the group home, he’s never let it die.”
Fifth ring. Sebastian moves closer, his hand coming to rest on the small of my back. The warmth should be comforting, but it only highlights how cold the rest of me has become.
The ringing stops, the connection opens with a soft click, and relief floods through me, so powerful my knees wobble.
“Saint? Where the hell are you?” The words rush out, fear shifting into anger over my best friend scaring me like this.
The silence on the other end stretches for three heartbeats, four, five. No background noise. No traffic. No Saint.
“Hello?” I prompt, grip tightening on my phone. “Saint, are you there?”
“Micah Barnes. Or should I call you Elliot?” Not Saint’s familiar rasp, but a panting, excited voice that freezes my blood mid-flow. “I’m so glad we can finally speak.”
My brain refuses to process what I’m hearing, creating a disconnect between recognition and understanding.
“Micah?” Sebastian prompts. “What’s going on?”
I reach out to clutch his arm as I lick suddenly dry lips. “Is this Travis I’m speaking to?”
Sebastian sucks in a sharp breath, and Gabriel freezes.
A high-pitched giggle fills my ear. “Looks like I’ve got your attention now, Elliot.”
The room shrinks around me, walls pressing in as my vision narrows to a pinpoint.
Sebastian says something, his mouth moving, but the words don’t register through the roaring in my head.
Saint, my constant protector, the one person who’s always stood by my side, is now in danger because of me.