Chapter 34
Persy
Sebastian was looking for me. He’d asked multiple people where I was, and I kept avoiding him.
It was somewhat childish, but I honestly couldn’t stand to be around him right now. Not when every cell in my body was screaming at me to touch him.
Nikolas was now sure he knew what was going on. He had to field Sebastian’s advances earlier in the day, telling me I owed him a favor because Sebastian had almost punched him when he wouldn’t tell him where I was.
Thankfully, he understood what I was feeling. It was similar to the anguish he felt in the early days of realizing he loved Kostas.
I was only able to avoid Sebastian until the afternoon, when I’d finally assured everyone that Prometheus wasn’t about to explode into flames and burn everyone down with it.
I was in my office, taking a breather, when I saw him turn the corner at the end of the hallway.
Even from this far away, I could see how angry he looked. I backed further into my office, feeling like I should probably run, as he stalked down the hallway. He almost knocked someone over who was coming out of their own office, his form so massive he damn near filled the entire hallway.
My feet stumbled back a few steps, fear and anguish rising as he crossed the threshold to my office and slammed the door shut behind him.
“That wasn’t nice,” I said, when the door rattled against the hinges.
Sebastian seethed, his chest rising and falling with every breath. “You’ve been ignoring me.”
I shook my head, backing further away. My thighs connected with my desk. Great, now Sebastian had me pinned. “No, I haven’t.”
“Really?” Sebastian said with a disbelieving laugh. “Then what do you call the fact that you snuck out and have been gone all day?”
I was suddenly angry with him again, emotion bursting through my chest in a way that oddly made me want to kiss him. “Excuse me for having responsibilities!” I yelled, throwing my hands up. “Everyone is freaking out thinking that the sun is days away from crashing into us and killing everyone!”
Sebastian stalked toward me, and I had nowhere to go. “A little dramatic, don’t you think?”
I shook my head, breaking eye contact and looking at the floor. “I don’t want to talk to you right now.” I needed time.
Time I wouldn’t get, apparently, because Sebastian’s warm palms cradled my face and forced me to look at him. “Persy, love.”
“No, Sebastian,” I said, wrenching out of his grip and jumping around him, fully intending to head for the door. “I have to take care of myself right now.”
“I thought I did a fine job of it last night,” Sebastian said with a scoff.
I whipped around to face him. “That was a one time thing.”
Sebastian’s nostrils flared, and he looked seconds away from lunging at me. “Look me in the eye and say that shit again.”
I forced myself to hold his eyes, though I was tempted to get lost in the watercolor there. “That was a one time thing.” Sebastian gaped, his head tilting as a ragged exhale left him. “Because you’re leaving,” I continued. “It would be stupid for us to start anything knowing it has an expiration date.”
“Who said it does?” Sebastian shot back, his own voice rising to a near yell. His words made my heart stutter with hope, but I had to get my body in check.
“You’re smarter than that and we both know it,” I countered. Having to verbalize this to him was ripping my heart in half. “You can’t stay here. Six months and you’re done. Unless you’re going to try and convince me you’d be okay staying this far away from the sun? From your power?”
He’d never lied to me. No matter how much his words would hurt, I braced for them.
I didn’t expect him to laugh. I didn’t expect him to stalk towards me, backing me into the wall. “Don’t you see, love? I already solved that problem. I simply brought the sun here.”
My breath seized in my lungs. “Why would you do that?”
Sebastian leaned down, speaking the words against my lips. “Why do you think, Persephone?”
I released a shaky gasp against his mouth, pressing my lips to his for just a second, helpless. “So, you could stay?”
“I’m going to stay,” he said, his hands coming up to grip my face roughly. “And you’re going to learn how to delegate some responsibility so I can take you home with me to Delphi.”
“I think I could do that,” I said, honestly quite confused how I was still standing. This was everything I’d dreamed he’d say. Everything I foolishly hoped for. “I liked Delphi a lot.”
Sebastian pressed a firm kiss to my mouth. “I know you did, love.”
Suddenly, my eyes started to feel a bit misty, not fully understanding the entire force of what was happening. “You made the sun come here?”
“I think it happened subconsciously, but yes,” Sebastian said. My knees buckled under the full weight of that gesture. “I have a feeling you’ll be going from a few hours of daylight to a few hours of moonlight, I’m afraid.”
“I don’t mind,” I said, unable to do anything but smile against his mouth. “It’s just more of you.”
That statement exposed more than I wanted, damn near confessing I was in love with him. Sebastian didn’t seem to care all that much, because his mouth came down on mine hard, melting me into the door.
“I wasn’t done with you this morning,” Sebastian said in between kisses, his hands skating over my limbs.
“I was scared,” I confessed against his mouth. “It felt too intense.”
“It is intense,” Sebastian returned, sounding actually pleased about that. His hands threaded in my hair, and he pulled back slightly to look at it. “You realize what this is, right?” he said, twisting my hair and yanking me closer to him.
“What?” I said, clinging onto him. I didn’t want to guess and embarrass myself.
Sebastian grinned wickedly, his other hand cradling my jaw. “Sunlight incarnate, love. Your hair might as well be an extension of my power.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” I breathed, collapsing against his body and pressing my lips against him.
“You’re relieved?” Sebastian asked, voice somewhat thick.
I nodded, smiling against his lips. “I really didn’t like the thought that the painting was someone else.” Even saying the words, I couldn’t quite believe it was me.
“Jealous, are you?” My feet weren’t touching the ground now, Sebastian had me pinned so thoroughly.
I nodded. It was the truth.
The next thing I knew, Sebastian had me turned and pressed against the wall, pressing every inch of his body against mine.
“You’ve haunted me for years,” he said against my ear, nipping the lobe. “Never doubt that.”
“Good,” I said, feeling myself smile. It was wrong to want him to be as tortured as he’d made me over the past months, but I didn’t care.
Sebastian’s hands worked quickly, shoving the skirt of my dress up and around my hips. His foot knocked my feet wide, then he used his body to press me up on my toes and against the wall.
“You’re going to have to be quiet,” he growled in my ear, the sound shooting right to my core. He was fumbling with his pants, shoving them down. The second I felt the hot brand of his erection against me, I almost fainted.
His hand snaked over my hip, coming around to my front and slipping under the band of my underwear. “Can you take me?” he asked, toying with my clit.
I nodded, not even caring if I was sore. I cared more about feeling him.
He was staying. He’d invited me to come to Delphi with him.
“Thank fuck,” Sebastian groaned, shoving down my underwear and helping me step out of them. When he rose again behind me, I was heaving, grabbing for his forearms and pleading for him to hurry.
I’d made a mistake sneaking out. Now, I felt far too frantic.
“You’re going to have to cover my mouth,” I said, already feeling my vocal chords slip away from my control. There were countless offices in this hallway, and no one needed to hear me scream.
Sebastian chuckled darkly. “Happily, love. I affect you that much?”
I ground back against him, needing friction. “You know you do.”
Sebastian’s hips slammed me against the wall. Cutting through my shocked gasp, Sebastian notched himself inside me and slid all the way in. “In case it wasn’t clear, love, I’ve been holding out on you. So much as a brush of your hand against mine, and I was seconds away from bending you over.” His words were timed with small rolls of his hips, our movements constricted against the wall. It did nothing to change how good this felt, making a small bit of regret curl through my stomach. “Let alone all the times you sat perched next to the stove, perfectly ready for me.”
Sebastian’s hand slid over my mouth right as a moan fell from my lips. I’d hoped, but I hadn’t realized that he…
My entire body started locking up, the sensations made worse when Sebastian’s fingers slipped over my clit, stealing my ability to think. All I could do was hold on to him and try to bite down on his hand as lightly as I could.
Sebastian’s head dropped to my shoulder, muffling his own groans with my skin as his hips slammed into mine, hitting a spot inside me that made me lose all feeling in my legs.
It didn’t take long for me to tumble over the edge, a scream breaking off in my throat, or for Sebastian to follow me soon after.
As we stood, panting for breath together, I could only hope something that felt this good, this right, was meant to last.