Chapter 18
Eighteen
BAILEY
Ialmost miss them at first—tiny glints of glass and glitter scattered across the wooden table like forgotten stars. My fingers trace the familiar curve of broken plastic. Sebastian must have gathered every piece after I threw it at the wolves.
The base is cracked but mostly intact. A casino chip-sized chunk of the dome is missing, lost forever in the snow. I pick up a fragment, watching the tiny dancer swirl in sad, lopsided circles.
“Everyone leaves,” I whisper to the broken pieces. “Even you, Vegas.”
My throat constricts as I arrange the shards into a pitiful attempt at their original shape. The plastic is cold against my fingertips, like all the warmth has leaked out along with the water.
A sob builds in my chest, sharp as broken glass. I try to swallow it down, but it bursts free anyway.
“Stupid snow globe.” My voice cracks. “Stupid wolves. Stupid me for thinking...”
The tears come fast now. I can’t stop them any more than I can stop the words spilling out of my mouth.
My hands shake as I gather the fragments closer, like somehow I can hold them together by sheer force of will. But they slip through my fingers, scattering across the table with tiny clicking sounds that echo like goodbye.
The door bursts open, letting in a gust of cold air and Sebastian, arms full of firewood. He drops the entire load with a crash that makes me jump.
“Bailey? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” His hands hover over me, eyes searching for injuries, and something in his gentle concern breaks me even more.
A sob rips through my chest, harder than the first. I try to speak but can’t force words past the knot in my throat. He pulls me against him, and I curl into his warmth despite knowing it’ll hurt more later.
“I’m fine,” I manage, but the genuine worry on his face only makes everything worse. The tears come faster. “It’s stupid. I’m being stupid.”
His arms wrap around me, pulling me against his chest. He smells like pine and snow and everything I can’t keep. “It’s okay,” he murmurs into my hair. “Whatever it is, it’ll be okay.”
“I just...” My voice wavers against his chest. “I’m excited about rescue coming soon. Getting back to normal life, you know?”
The lie tastes bitter on my tongue. His arms tighten around me for a moment before loosening. I force myself to pull back, to smile through the tears still sliding down my cheeks.
My heart screams to tell him the truth. To say the words burning in my throat. I like you. I think I’m falling for you. But I have no right to ask for promises he never made. No right to expect anything beyond what this is.
“Normal life sounds good,” he says, and I nod like my chest isn’t caving in.
“Yeah.” I wipe my eyes with my sleeve. “Though I’ll miss having a personal fireplace butler.”
He laughs, and I memorize the sound, tucking it away with all the other pieces of him I’ll pretend not to keep.
His arms feel like home. Like everything I’ve been running from and everything I’ve been searching for wrapped into one perfect contradiction.
I breathe him in—pine needles, wood smoke, that hint of expensive cologne that somehow survived our wilderness adventure. Or maybe this scent is just him, the essence of Sebastian, without the world’s polish.
His eyes catch mine, and the world stops spinning. His hand comes up, cupping my cheek, thumb brushing away a stray tear. The touch burns, gentle and devastating.
Time stretches like honey, thick and sweet and infinite. Neither of us moves. Neither of us breathes.
Then something snaps.
We crash together like storm fronts colliding, like waves breaking against cliffs, like every cliché I’ve ever rolled my eyes at. His mouth finds mine, hungry and desperate. He makes a sound deep in his throat that vibrates through my bones, and I swallow it with another kiss.
There’s a desperation in this kiss that wasn’t there before. An edge of goodbye that makes it deeper, more urgent.
I pour everything I can’t say into it. Thank you for keeping me safe, thank you for seeing me, thank you for making me feel like I matter. His hands cradle my face like I’m something precious, something he doesn’t want to lose but knows he must.
The wooden table creaks beneath me as he lifts me onto it. His hands slide down my thighs, grip tightening just enough to make my breath catch. My skin prickles with goosebumps as he tugs at my pants, the cold air hitting my legs.
Sebastian kneels before me, and the sight of him like that—hair mussed from my fingers, cheeks flushed, eyes burning—makes my heart stutter. His fingers trail up my calves, behind my knees, spreading my legs wider.
I grip the edge of the table, trying to ground myself as his touch sets every nerve ending on fire. We both know what this is. A beautiful goodbye. Each touch carries the weight of that knowledge, making every sensation more intense, more precious.
“Sebastian,” I breathe, and for once, I can’t find any other words. My usual rambling fails me as he looks up at me with those intense blue eyes, hands steady on my thighs.
His mouth finds my inner thigh, and I gasp at the sensation. My fingers tangle in his hair as he works his way higher, each kiss deliberate and precise. Even here, even now, he’s methodical. Perfect.
I hook my good leg around his shoulder, pulling him closer. His stubble scrapes against my sensitive skin as he maps me with his tongue. My head falls back, eyes fluttering closed as pleasure builds.
“Sebastian,” I moan.
His hands grip my thighs tighter in response, and the slight pain grounds me, keeps me from floating away.
The table creaks beneath us as he works me higher, each stroke of his tongue against my clit deliberate and devastating. My hands fist in his hair, and he groans against me, the vibration sending shockwaves through my body.
“Please,” I whimper, not even sure what I’m begging for. More pressure, more friction, more time, more everything. He responds by sliding two fingers inside me while his tongue continues its relentless assault.
My back arches off the table as the pleasure builds, every nerve ending electrified. His fingers curl inside me again, and I cry out his name, my heel digging into his shoulder blade.
“Sebastian, I’m going to—”
He hums against me, the vibration sending lightning through my body. His free hand grips my hip, holding me steady.
The dual sensation overwhelms me. My thighs tremble around his head as he curves his fingers just right, finding that spot that makes stars explode behind my eyelids.
I cry out, not caring if the wolves hear, not caring about anything except his mouth on me and his fingers inside me and the way he’s taking me apart piece by perfect piece.
The orgasm hits like an avalanche, white-hot pleasure crashing through me in waves. My fingers tighten in his hair as I come undone, his name a broken cry on my lips.
He works me through it, gentling his touch as I shudder and gasp. When I collapse back against the table, boneless and breathless, he presses a soft kiss to my inner thigh.
I tug at his hair, urging him up. His mouth finds mine, and I taste myself on his tongue. The kiss is messy and desperate, nothing like his usual controlled perfection.
His hands slide under my thighs, pulling me to the edge of the table. His hard cock presses against me through his pants, urgent and insistent.
“Need you,” I breathe against his lips. “Now.”
“Wait,” he pants against my neck, already pulling back. “I need to get the condom.”
“You don’t have to.” I grab his hips, keeping him close. “I have an IUD.”
He hesitates, searching my face. “Are you sure?”
“I trust you.” The words escape before I can overthink them. “I want to feel you. Just you.”
His eyes darken at that, pupils blown wide with desire. “Bailey...”
“Please.” I wrap my legs around his waist, pulling him closer.
He fumbles with his zipper, cursing under his breath when it sticks. I laugh, but it transforms into a gasp as he finally frees himself and pushes inside me in one smooth thrust.
The table creaks beneath me as Sebastian sets a steady rhythm, each thrust driving me higher. His hands grip my hips, and I arch into the sensation.
“God, Bailey,” he groans, his perfect composure cracking. His hair falls in his face, damp with sweat, and I reach up to brush it back.
The tenderness of the gesture makes him falter, his hips stuttering against mine. Our eyes lock, his gaze intense and vulnerable in a way that makes my chest tight.
He drops his forehead to mine, breath hot against my lips. The position changes the angle, and I gasp as he hits that perfect spot inside me.
“There,” I breathe. “Right there.”
He picks up the pace, each thrust precise and devastating. My nails dig into his shoulders through his shirt—we didn’t even get undressed, too desperate for each other.
The pleasure builds again, faster this time. My whole body tingles, every nerve ending alive and singing. Sebastian’s breathing grows ragged, his rhythm faltering.
“Come with me,” he whispers against my lips. “Please, Bailey.”
The raw need in his voice pushes me over the edge. I cry out his name as the orgasm crashes through me, waves of pleasure making my vision blur.
He follows right after, burying his face in my neck as he comes with a groan that sounds like surrender. His hips stutter against mine, drawing out our pleasure until we’re both gasping and trembling.
For a moment, we just breathe together. His weight pins me to the table, solid and real. I run my fingers through his hair, memorizing the texture, the way it curls slightly when damp with sweat. Committing to memory what I’ll never have again.
Sebastian carries me to the bed. My skin still tingles, oversensitive from my orgasms, but I need more. Need everything he can give me. I don’t want to say goodbye just yet.
I slide my hand between us as he lays me down, wrapping my fingers around him. He’s already hardening again at my touch.
“Bailey,” he groans, the sound vibrating through his chest.
My body still hums, almost painfully sensitive, but the thought of him inside me again makes me ache. I guide him back to my entrance, gasping at the contact.
“Please,” I whisper against his lips. “One more time.”
He pushes in slowly this time, careful, like he knows how oversensitive I am. The sensation is almost too much—pleasure edging into sweet pain. My nerves feel raw, exposed, every touch magnified.
I dig my nails into his shoulders, urging him deeper. “More.”
His hips snap forward, and I cry out at the intensity. It’s too much and not enough all at once. My whole body trembles, overwhelmed by sensation.
“Like this?” he asks, voice rough as he maintains the punishing pace.
“Yes,” I gasp, arching into him. “Don’t stop.”
My overstimulated body doesn’t know whether to push into the pleasure or pull away. Each thrust sends shockwaves through me, making me shake and whimper.
He captures my mouth in a messy kiss, swallowing my moans as he picks up the pace. The edge of pleasure-pain makes my toes curl, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.
“Too much?” he murmurs against my lips.
“Yes. Don’t stop,” I gasp, arching into him. “Please don’t stop.”
My skin feels like it’s on fire, every nerve ending sparking with electricity. The worn cotton of my t-shirt scrapes against my oversensitive nipples, making me gasp. I can’t take it anymore—I need it off, need to feel his skin against mine.
I grab the hem of my shirt with shaking hands, yanking it over my head. The cool air hits my heated skin, making me shiver. Sebastian’s eyes darken as he takes in my bare chest, his hands sliding up my ribs.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he breathes, and for once, I don’t argue or deflect with a joke. I just arch into his touch, desperate for more contact.
The bed rocks beneath us as he drives deeper, harder. I’m oversensitive everywhere he touches—his hands on my thighs, his mouth on my neck, his cock hitting that perfect spot inside me.
My third orgasm builds slower but more intense. Like electricity crackling under my skin. Every thrust sends shockwaves through my overstimulated body. I’m babbling now, a stream of “please” and “more” and his name over and over.
The pleasure crests and breaks through me in waves as Sebastian groans above me, his hand working between us. His muscles tense, jaw clenched in that way that makes him look almost pained. Hot spurts paint my stomach and breasts as he releases with a broken sound that might be my name.
Red light floods the cabin. The rescue flare tears through the darkness outside our window, turning everything blood-red. The sudden illumination catches on Sebastian’s sharp cheekbones as he leans down, his lips touching mine.
My heart splinters in my chest, each piece catching the crimson glow like broken glass. His eyes meet mine, and I see my realization mirrored there—this is the end. Reality has found us, crashed through our bubble with the same violent suddenness as that flare.
He says nothing. Doesn’t need to. His thumb traces my lower lip with a tenderness that makes my throat ache. The gesture feels like a promise neither of us can keep, an acknowledgment of what might have been in another life, another world.
I’ve always known this was temporary. A beautiful accident born of survival and proximity. But as Sebastian’s face hovers above mine, painted in emergency red, I realize I underestimated how much temporary could hurt.
“I guess they found us,” I whisper, my voice catching in my throat.
Sebastian pulls away, the warmth of his body leaving mine as he stands. I watch him grab his pants, pulling them on with that same efficient grace that used to irritate me only days ago.
“I should…” He gestures toward the door, but his eyes never leave mine.
“Yeah,” I agree, though everything in me wants to say no, to pull him back into bed, to freeze time before the real world can reclaim us.
I wrap the blanket around myself as Sebastian disappears outside. Through the window, I watch him walk into the clearing, arms raised toward the swirling lights above.
The snow catches in his hair, on his bare shoulders—a man standing between worlds, between the wilderness that bound us together and the civilization that will tear us apart.
The helicopter circles once, twice, its spotlight finding Sebastian like some cosmic finger pointing down from the heavens. Here he is. The man you lost. We’re returning him to where he belongs.