Chapter Four #2
Sebastian raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Oh, really? Where was that?”
“Right here. About six months ago,” she said, leaning in just enough for him to catch the faint scent of her luxury perfume. She’d changed it so he won’t recognise her. “I believe the party had been held in your honour.”
She watched him freeze in real time.
It was glorious. The cool, impenetrable mask Sebastian always wore shattered before a haunted, tortured look shadowed his handsome face. He was probably thinking about the events that had followed that fateful night.
For a fraction of a second, his posture stiffened, then, right before her eyes, Elizabeth watched in disbelief as Sebastian composed his expression and turned back to her with a charming, confident smile.
That did it. She couldn’t keep playing this game. She had to rip the Band-Aid off and let the blood spill.
“So,” Sebastian asked, his voice dropping lower as his gaze lingered on her cleavage, then her lips, before finally meeting her eyes. “What is your name?”
Beth swallowed nervously, her heart beating faster, and the room suddenly felt a few degrees hotter. So this was how it felt to be seduced by Sebastian Moore. It was a novel experience, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to resist him if he kept this up.
Surrounded by all her hovering suitors and a handful of curious eavesdroppers, all deeply fascinated by Sebastian due to the missing-wife murder scandal, Elizabeth looked him dead in the eye.
“Elizabeth,” she answered. “Elizabeth Murray.”
Silence fell over their small circle.
It took a second before the weight of her words finally registered in his mind. Then, Sebastian’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief. The colour drained from his face until he was as white as a sheet.
“Beth?” he whispered, his voice cracking slightly.
“Yes,” she purred, stepping closer to him so only he could hear her next words. “I bet you are surprised to see I lost my puppy fat.”
Without waiting for a response, Elizabeth turned on her high heels and walked away, her hips swaying with every step she took.
Whispers immediately erupted from the onlookers as they connected her to the name she’d offered. Beth didn’t stay to watch the fallout, she headed for the exit, keen to escape the chaos she had so masterfully stirred.
“Holy shit!”
“Is that really her?”
“She looks so different!”
“Yeah, she looks fucking hot!”
“How much weight did she lose?”
“Did she get plastic surgery in secret?”
“And that dress... Jesus Christ, she looks like a total siren!”
Sebastian stood paralyzed in the middle of the ballroom for three painful seconds, before he spun on his heel and strode after her, pushing past guests to get to her.
He finally spotted her in the hallway. She was just a few meters ahead, about to step into the elevator.
“Where the fuck do you think you are going?” Sebastian demanded, his voice booming through the corridor.
He was shocked, but mostly outraged.
Elizabeth stopped and slowly turned around, meeting his furious gaze with cool composure. “My hotel room,” she answered smoothly. “I have a suite upstairs. Thanks to your money, by the way.”
Then, she turned her back on him and stepped inside.
“Elizabeth!” Sebastian roared, sprinting in a desperate attempt to catch up with her.
He made it just as the elevator doors were sliding shut.
She offered him a wink and a wicked smirk as the doors slid shut.
She didn’t even reach for the door-hold button, leaving him stranded in the hallway as the elevator began its smooth ascent.
Sebastian lunged and slammed his fist against the metal in pure frustration. He stood in the empty corridor, staring at the rising floor numbers and noting exactly where the elevator stopped.
Turning on his heel, he marched to the reception desk. After a bit of negotiation and gentle persuasion, which was effectively shameless flirting, he managed to coax the receptionist into giving up Elizabeth’s room number.
Ten minutes later, Elizabeth stood inside the lavish living room of her top-floor suite. She felt immensely pleased with herself.
The look on his face, the shock in his eyes when he finally recognized her, had made every single gruelling minute on the treadmill so worth it.
A sudden knock echoed off the front door of the suite and Beth smirked. He was here!
She took her sweet time walking over to the entryway.
Before leaving the bedroom, she had unzipped her gown and stepped out of it, leaving herself dressed in nothing but a sheer black lace lingerie set that barely covered her curves and accentuated her new, toned body.
She looked hot and she knew it.
She went ahead and pulled the door open, casually leaning against the doorframe.
“Hello, Sebastian,” she purred softly, her eyes tracing his tense silhouette. “How can I help you, darling?”
Sebastian stood in the hallway, looking like a man on the brink of sanity and his breath caught the second he met her gaze.
Then, his gaze dropped down her throat. It swept over her exposed chest and her flat stomach then lingered heavily on her long, smooth legs.
Holy shit! That was all he could get out, the words dying in his throat before they ever left his mouth. He swallowed hard, his jaw working as his eyes flared with arousal.
“We need to talk,” he murmured, walking past her and stepping into the suite without waiting for an invitation
“Oh, really?” Beth asked, closing the door and turning around to face him, crossing her arms, which only pushed her cleavage up. “What on earth could you possibly want to say to me?”
Sebastian turned around, taking a deep breath as he tried to keep his eyes fixed firmly on her face, though his gaze kept betrayed him by sliding down her frame.
“What the hell, Elizabeth?” he demanded, his voice tight with anger and confusion. “Why the fuck would you pull such a stunt? Do you have any idea what you put your father and I through?”
Beth let out a soft, melodious laugh, stepping toward him with slow, deliberate steps. “I had no clue you cared this much. It is almost flattering.”
“Is this what you wanted? Is it the attention you craved?” Sebastian hissed, his eyes darting away in a desperate attempt at control. “And for God’s sake, Elizabeth, put on some clothes.”
Sebastian rubbed his forehead as he tried to maintain his composure. “I am serious. I need to know why you left and where you’ve been all this time.”
“Why? You don’t like my lingerie?” Beth purred, sidestepping his serious questions entirely.
She moved closer until she was standing just inches from him, the warm scent of her perfume wrapping around him and overwhelming him. It was a different scent from what he was normally used to. But he liked it.
“I am serious, Elizabeth,” he repeated, his breath laboured as his hands twitched at his sides, fighting the urge to grab her.
“So am I,” she murmured, looking up at him through her dark lashes. “Why should we sit here and talk about boring stuff when we could be having so much fun?”
“Elizabeth, stop,” Sebastian hissed, but his hands betrayed him.
Unable to fight his burning desire any longer, he reached out and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her face toward his.
He leaned down, his eyes dark and intense and aimed his lips straight for hers, desperate to finally taste her mouth but Beth swerved at the last second, denying him the kiss.
She placed a finger against his lips and whispered into his ear, bringing up the unspoken rule he had enforced for five long years.
“No kisses... remember?”
Before Sebastian could process her words, Elizabeth grabbed his hand and dragged him into the nearest bedroom. She planted both hands firmly on his broad chest and shoved him backward with surprising strength.
Sebastian stumbled back, losing his balance and fell onto the edge of the large king-sized bed in the centre of the room.
Before he could sit up, Beth moved in like a predator, swinging one long, smooth leg over his lap then straddled him and pinned him to the mattress.
“This is so much better than talking... isn’t it?” she whispered. Then, she caught his hand and placed it directly over her breast, encouraging him to touch her.
Sebastian needed no further encouragement.
He cupped both of her breasts, fondling and caressing them while shamelessly ogling her. She looked spectacular in the black lace lingerie that clung to her curves like a second skin and Sebastian still couldn’t believe just how lucky he was.
Then she began to move, lazily grinding on his bulging crotch and Sebastian couldn’t hold back a moan. t felt so good, and he didn’t want her to stop. Her movements alone were so hypnotic, pulling him deeper under her spell.
Then she leaned down until her lips hovered just inches above his face, teasing him.
“Yeah, you like that, don’t you?” She whispered.
If he just lifted his head, his lips would easily close over hers, Sebastian thought longingly.
Elizabeth wasn’t done torturing him yet. She brought her hands up to his tuxedo collar and began caressing the smooth lapels before tracing a slow, agonizing path down his chest, teasing every inch of muscle through the fabric.
Her fingers hooked into the silk of his tie, tugging it loose before her hands drifted lower. She paused at his waist and began to unbuckle his belt while locking eyes with him and it was pure torture.
Sebastian gasped, his grip on her body tightening as he burned under her touch.
He was helpless and completely at her mercy.