Chapter 31
Persy
I was able to sneak away right after the sun set. It happened later than I was used to, which made me delay my plan.
Sebastian was suspiciously quiet, staying inside his room for long stretches.
I should have been thankful, because it allowed me to slip into his studio—his unlocked studio.
My hands were shaking, knowing full well I was doing something wrong. He always kept his paintings draped, a clear sign that he didn’t want me looking.
I was going to anyway.
After carefully shutting the door, I turned and my heart seized in my throat.
A massive painting was resting on an easel, clearly the one Sebastian had been working on.
I was instantly captivated. It was the original myth of Prometheus, an old god tortured by a hawk carving out his liver over and over again.
Although this time, it was only half a hawk. The rest of the bird was transforming into wispy, soft feathers that eventually transformed into butterflies. As gruesome as half of the painting was, depicting the wound and blood, it looked rather … affectionate.
And, of course, it was so realistic, it made me want to stare at it for hours.
I only had a few minutes though. Forcing myself to rip my eyes from the painting, I moved around the room. I felt pulled to certain pieces, my fingers tingling with building power as I got close.
The far corner of the room caught my attention in particular, a solid tug in my abdomen yanking me that way.
“Searching for yourself, love?” I jumped back, whipping towards the door.
Sebastian was leaning lazily against the door frame, the moonlight casting a glow around his form. He was smiling like a wolf who’d just stumbled upon easy prey.
Before I could get any sort of explanation out, he took a step inside the studio. “You don’t have to look far, my little muse. But I believe the ones you’re looking for are back there.”
Right where I’d been headed.
I wasn’t sure my lungs were working right. “Sebastian, I can expl—”
“I’m not interested in an explanation,” Sebastian said, his eyes so intense, they felt like his hands—hands I’d never really felt—digging into my skin. “Go look at it.”
My hand curled on the frame of the one I’d been holding out of the way, letting the whitening of my knuckles answer for me.
“Go on,” Sebastian said, jerking his chin to the far corner. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or not, but I was certainly in no position to bargain.
Swallowing thickly, I reset the painting and walked over to the back corner. There was a large tarp over multiple paintings.
“Right there,” Sebastian said, his voice slipping across my skin like moonlit water. I bent, lifting the corner of the tarp and throwing it back.
The first thing I saw was my face. Well, half my face. Looking over my shoulder, surrounded by sunlight and a beautiful landscape.
I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth.
For some reason that surely had to do with the insanity Sebastian churned in me, I turned to him and said, “I didn’t mean to.”
Sebastian stepped into the studio, and I suddenly had the distinct feeling that I was being cornered, though my instincts didn’t tell me to run. As he walked he shook his head slightly, “No, no, Persephone. You did something bad. Admit it.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice hoarse. I didn’t meant to intrude, and now I was standing in front of a painting of my face.
Sebastian tsked, and the sound hit my skin like arrows. “I wasn’t looking for an apology. You can invade my privacy whenever you like.”
“That’s not what I was doing,” I protested, even though it sounded like a lie.
Sebastian was looming over me now, hands folded behind his back. “Then what were you doing?”
“I—” I began, then Sebastian immediately cut me off.
“C’mon, love,” he prodded, his hand coming up to trace my face. “Be honest.”
“I wanted to know if you’d ever painted me.” I couldn’t fill in the rest of that explanation. That I needed to know if he considered me something he would want to paint.
“You can see that I have,” he said, his lip curling with a slight smile as he looked behind me, at the paintings that apparently were of me. “Doing the bad thing pays off sometimes.”
I shook my head on instinct. “Hardly ever.”
“Hmm,” Sebastian hummed, and a small bit of my sanity slipped away. “I don’t think so.”
I breathed in, doing nothing but getting a whiff of his cologne. I was starting to feel really shaky. “You are really very frustrating.”
“Good,” Sebastian said with a smile.
“That’s not a good thing.”
Sebastian’s smile simply widened, though his eyes grew darker. My breath seized, trapping in my chest until he spoke again. “Come on, love,” he said, turning back towards the door and taking a stride. “Back in the house.” He turned over his shoulder to look at me. “Seeing you in the moonlight is too tempting.”
I could have sworn my heart stuttered, that I heard a distant clap of thunder.
Somewhere in it all, I wanted to believe that Sebastian was being honest instead of teasing. That it wouldn’t be so bad if…
I was already in here. I’d already crossed one line tonight, so what made two so much worse?
Fuck, he was corrupting me already, but the damage was done. I couldn’t control the beat of my heart anymore. My thoughts were coming in half-sentences that broke off in the middle when words failed and my body screamed at me to move, to speak, to do anything. It made my hands shaky and made me want to—
“Sebastian?”
He paused in the door way, his form silhouetted in moonlight, drawing attention to the line of his shoulders and the curve of his arm. I really was … I need to do something about this—
“Can you turn around please?”
He turned over his shoulder, his jaw popping as his eyes swept over me. See, that was the type of thing that made me want to—
“Fuck it,” I cursed low under my breath, starting towards Sebastian.
He stayed as still as a statue as I covered the distance between us. When I was within arms’ reach, I planted my hands on the line of his jaw and pulled his lips to mine.
His mouth was hard, his body solid as marble as he froze in place.
See? This was what happened when I did the bad thing.
I dropped my hands from his face, reeling back and already planning an escape route. My eyelids fluttered open and—
Sebastian’s hands descended on my jaw and hip at the same, yanking me towards him. He capitalized on my small gasp, sweeping down to take my mouth in a deep kiss, his tongue pushing against mine.
Oh, no. No, this was a very bad consequence for doing a very bad thing, because I didn’t think it was possible for me to stop kissing him.
Even though it was so, so wrong, I couldn’t stop my hands from snaking up his chest and around his neck to pull him closer. Having to lift up on my toes to keep contact with his lips melted my insides faster than any fire could.
His hand snaked around to my hair, tangling his fingers in the strands, making me so unsteady on my feet he was able to walk me back into the wall. Every glide of his tongue against mine set me more and more on fire, sending small sounds vibrating from my throat.
Almost in response to one of those noises, Sebastian brought one hand under my ass and lifted me off the ground. My legs circled his hips on instinct, giving him leave to press me back and up into the wall, his hips connecting with my core.
I gasped into the kiss, breaking the contact just for a second. I was bending back down for another kiss when Sebastian spoke against my lips. “You shouldn’t have done that, love.” I pulled back, my cheeks already coloring with embarrassment despite the fact that he had kissed me back, when he chased me for another quick kiss and continued, “Because I am going to devour you.”
That promise sent a bolt of lightning down my spine, settling between my legs. It was that heat that made me want to ignore all reason. But there had to be something about the fact that kissing Sebastian felt this good. Enough that all I had to say in response was, “I want you to.”
Sebastian’s eyes went molten, the colors glowing brighter. He kissed me again, pushing my head back with a stroke of his tongue. I squirmed against his hips, begging for any sort of friction or pressure from the hardness pressing there.
One of Sebastian’s hands descended on my hip, not stilling me, but guiding me in slower, more intentional movements that sent pleasure shooting through my limbs. “Let me take care of you, love. You don’t have to work so hard.”
“Shut up,” I said against his mouth, moving my hips upwards, seeking friction. Suddenly, I was very mad at him for denying me this for so long.
Something in Sebastian seemed to break then, his hips pushing me harder up into the wall, his mouth breaking from mine to clamp down on the juncture between my neck and my shoulder.
A shocked moan fell from my lips, and Sebastian’s hips snapped up in response. He was hard, there was no denying that anymore. I could feel him like a brand against my core and stomach, the sheer expanse it spanned making me feel a little dizzy.
I clung onto the back of his neck harder, trying as hard as I could to melt my myself into him as he sucked on the skin of my shoulder, shooting fire into my limbs.
Sebastian jerked suddenly, his teeth biting down harder on my skin. He pulled back, a disbelieving look on his face. My eyes fell to his lips, swollen and red.
His hand wrapped around my jaw, forcing my eyes up to his. “Did you just shock me?”
It was only then that I realized my hand still tingled with the use of my power.
“I—I did,” I stuttered.
Sebastian’s grip tightened on me, his eyes going a little wild. All of the sudden, his mouth was back down on mine with surprising force, his tongue slipping against mine in a slow drag.
I gasped into the kiss, trying to hold on for dear life as Sebastian commanded me.
I had never been this delirious before, never felt this need to move churn inside me. I almost felt panicked, like I couldn’t touch Sebastian long enough or hard enough.
“Sebastian,” I pleaded against his lips, the word barely more than a sob.
“Where?” he growled against my mouth. “Tell me where to fuck you. Please let me.”
The dark words sent heat straight to my core. He was right, there was no stopping this. That was where we were headed. I’d hold his hand and lead the way.
“The house,” I said, hiking myself higher on his hips. I wasn’t quite sure I’d be able to control myself, and a bed seemed best.
Sebastian started walking halfway through me speaking, kicking the door closed behind him and walking to the house on strong legs. He stopped halfway when I bit down on his lower lip, squeezing my ass and rolling his hips once.
We stopped again when he got to the house, stumbling back into the wall next to the door. My clothes felt too hot on my skin. I pulled back, making Sebastian freeze and chase my lips, until he realized that I was taking off my shirt.
He fell to the wall, trapping me against it as his mouth dove to the top of one of my breasts, licking the skin there. “I’ve been dreaming about these,” he said, moving a hand over to squeeze my other breast hard. “Ever since I saw the top of them in that bath.”
I gasped, my hand shooting into his hair. That had been months ago. “Please,” I begged, pulling his head down further.
I felt one of his hands drift up to the middle of my back, twisting my bra until it unhooked. He ripped the lace off me, and I barely heard his rough, “Fuck,” as he dove down and wrapped his lips over my nipple.
No, no, I needed him now. With me secured to the wall, I could still press against him as I moved my hands down to his pants, fighting with the button and moving the thin undershirt he was wearing out of the way.
When my fingers brushed against a light dusting of hair, I almost whimpered.
Sebastian must have realized that we were nowhere near a bed and were very close to fucking, because he released my breast and lifted me again, stumbling over the threshold and into the kitchen.
We’d spent so much time there together, and now we were…
The thought made me half insane, a rough moan breaking off in my throat, as I cried, “Now, Sebastian. Please, love.”
Using the term he always did with me seemed to break his sanity. Good, it would shatter on the floor with mine. He dropped to his knees with me still wrapped around him, letting me push him into a seated position on the floor and back up against the island in the middle of our kitchen.
Faster than I could blink, Sebastian’s undershirt was off and my hands were running over his bare chest.
Then his pants were unbuttoned and kicked off.
Then his hard length was pressing into my core, so hot, even through fabric. Sebastian tore my skirt off me, pulling the fabric over my chest and off me, then settled his hands on my hips, twisting each side of my underwear and pulling tight.
The pressure was almost too much, making me realize how dangerously close to release I already was.
I jerked forward, having to flatten my hands against the wood panels behind Sebastian to steady myself. His mouth turned in, skating over my inner arm and pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses there.
When I moaned in response, he ripped the fabric of my underwear. The lace fell apart in his hands, and the second he felt it give way, he pulled his mouth off my skin and looked down in between us.
I could have sworn I saw his hands shaking as he pulled away the lace, though that might have been my thighs. But I definitely heard a shaky exhale fall from his lips when I was fully exposed to him.
Sebastian ran his hand over my lower stomach reverently, slowly drifting down the plane of skin before finally, blessedly, pressing his thumb over my clit.
My body was racked with a shiver, which was only made worse when Sebastian cursed, “Fuck, Persy.”
He’d spoken like I was pleasuring him, instead of the other way around. I leaned forward to kiss him, if only to keep myself from saying how relieved I felt that we were doing this. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to feel him like this.
This would be selfish of me. To steal this, knowing it meant more than I was letting on. And yet, I was going to steal regardless.
I needed something from him to obsess over after he left me.
It was that thought that had me grinding down on him harder, his hand slipping between my legs. Sebastian froze the second it happened.
“What is it?” I cried against his lips, my hips rolling down on their own accord.
Sebastian nibbled on my lower lip, then answered, “I don’t think it hit me until this moment that you might be wet for me.” His fingers slipped down, teasing my entrance. “Soaked.”
I nodded, humming in agreement. I wasn’t going to apologize for that, not when it wasn’t just about what he’d done tonight. He’d teased me to this state for months.
His fingers curled up, slipping inside me and we both gasped. “Ride my hand, love,” Sebastian commanded, his other hand tightening on my hip and forcing me down.
He didn’t have to tell me twice. My hips started to roll on their own accord, pushing his fingers against me until I started to see stars. This was going to be over dangerously fast.
My chest already felt tight, my limbs seizing and making my movements jerky as I moved over his hand.
Sebastian’s mouth fell to my neck, sucking hard enough to mark. I wanted to ask him if he was trying to.
I didn’t have the chance to, because I was coming. It took me by surprise, the force with which my orgasm hit me.
I couldn’t control my power then, and I was sure I’d shocked Sebastian, but I didn’t think he cared. Not when he was whispering curses in my ear.
I didn’t want this to end. Before Sebastian could even speak, my hands were on the waistband of his briefs, pushing them down.
His cock bobbed against his stomach, and for a second I got worried.
The only other person I’d done this with was … well, nothing about that isolated experience was similar to this.
“Are you sure about this?” Sebastian asked, even though he was pushing his own briefs off now. “I want you to be sure this is what you want, because I am going to fuck you into oblivion.”
“I want you,” I gasped out, my throat seizing when the hot length of him pressed directly against me. I was pretty sure I loved him, but I couldn’t tell him that.
Not now, not ever.
“Then you’ll have me,” Sebastian said, like it was the easiest thing in the world.
“Just,” the word was broken off as the length of his cock pressed into my clit, my hips rolling down on instinct. “Be gentle at first.”
Sebastian’s hand tightened in my hair. “I would never hurt you.” My hips jerked up, the tip of his length sliding between my legs.
My legs burned with restraint, my entire body begging me to sink down. Sebastian’s hand wrapped around the base of his cock, and my hand covered his. His mouth moved around to my ear, speaking low and dark. “You offered this to me,” he said, pushing his hips up ever so slightly, our bodies connected now. “And I’m fucking taking it, but I will never hurt you.”
I collapsed against his chest at the words, my hips sinking down on his cock easily. But no amount of pleasure I’d experience by my hand or otherwise could compare to this.
Sebastian’s breath grew ragged in my ear. “Oh, fuck, Persy,” he growled, his hips rolling upwards and drawing a sharp cry from my throat.
My hands dug into his shoulders, begging for purchase as I pulled back, aching for a view of us moving together. Sebastian’s forehead pressed to mine, looking down at where we were joined.
It was too much. Seeing his tan, defined abs flexing as he rocked into me. The base of him as he pulled out slightly. And when he re-positioned his hand on my hip, angling his thumb to press my clit, I was sure I was going to pass out.
“Sebastian,” I cried, his name hoarse.
“You’re doing so well, love,” he said, still looking down at us. “You feel fucking perfect. Better than I’d imagined.”
“You imagined me?” I asked, more on a sigh than anything. My chest was pulling so tight I could feel electricity snaking down my ribs, my second release already dangerously close.
Sebastian laughed incredulously, and the sight of his sly grin almost made me finish right there. “You cannot even begin to imagine all the ways I’ve thought about feeling you.”
“Tell me,” I begged. I was already on my knees, or I’d have added that to make sure he knew how badly I wanted to know.
Sebastian’s hand twisted in my hair, wrenching my face back so I was forced to look at him. “How about I talk you through what’s happening now, huh? That’s much more interesting.”
I nodded frantically, my fingers digging into his shoulders.
“You’re taking my cock like it was made for you.” Sebastian’s grin widened when I jerked in response to his words. They were pretty, praising words, but they shot me right in the heart. “Was it, my little muse? Most everything I create is after you, anyways.”
I didn’t know what to do with that admission. I was barely processing the fact that he’d painted me. “You feel…” I started, then had to trail off when his hips punched up and made me forget my own name.
“What, love?” Sebastian prodded between raining kisses down the side of my face.
“Right,” I said, the words falling from my lips and exposing more than I intended.
“Fuck.” Sebastian’s voice dropped off after that, low groans pouring from his throat with every pump of his hips. My mouth dropped to his shoulder, my lips chanting his name over and over against his skin as my chest pulled tighter and tighter.
Right when that familiar wave was cresting, my entire body went rigid, preparing for the onslaught of pleasure. And when it broke, trailing like warm water over my limbs, my heart lurched into my throat.
I had never felt anything so intense.
Not even the pleasure of his hand had felt like this.
My eyes felt hot with tears, my body and mind and heart feeling far too much. I didn”t believe you needed to love someone to have a physical connection, but I’d loved Sebastian before this.
And it was destroying me.
I could only hold onto Sebastian’s shoulders as his hips snapped up in harsher pushes, not convinced I wasn’t about to finish for a third time when I heard my name break off in his throat.
My entire body tightened when he barked, “Love,” in a hoarse, gruff tone and I felt his own release flood me.
I was heaving, unable to rake in a solid breath, especially when Sebastian had pulled my head back and settled my forehead against his, fighting me for the same breath.
“We should have done that a long time ago,” he said, his voice sounding rough.
My mouth opened to tell him that this couldn’t happen again. That if we did any more than this, I would fall so deeply in love with him, I’d never be able to pull myself up.
But if all I could have him for was one night, I was taking it. I could deal with the fallout in the morning, deal with the heartbreak when he left in two short weeks.
I let myself laugh, let myself smile in an open, honest way that could only exist for the next few hours. That laugh seemed to do something to Sebastian, because he was already hard again, causing me to twitch under the force of the pleasure.
“Bed,” he barked, pulling out of me for a moment to gather me into his arms and stand.
I whimpered at the lost sensation, and the next thing I knew I was folded over the countertop. We didn’t make it to my bed until well into the night.