Chapter Seven #2
His expensive tailored suit was ruined, plastered to his skin, and his dark hair was flattened against his head as water streamed down his pale face. His hands rested on his thighs and his entire body shook violently while his teeth chattered loudly in the cold wind.
“You fool!” Beth cried out over the roar of the rain, rushing forward and holding the umbrella over his head. “Come inside before you catch pneumonia!”
Sebastian slowly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot and glassy.
“Do... do you forgive me?” he asked, his teeth chattering so hard and his voice barely legible, and still, he refused to budge from the ground.
“Yes! Yes, I forgive you, Sebastian. Please... just get up and come with me!”
It was raining so heavily and Beth had no clue how on earth he had managed to stay on his knees for six full hours without collapsing.
Sebastian offered a faint, weak smile, slowly attempting to push himself off the wet ground. His legs buckled instantly under his weight, his muscles numb from the cold.
Elizabeth stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist, helping to support his broad frame before he collapsed.
She pulled his heavy, soaking arm over her shoulder and led him through the iron gates, past the silent security guards.
Instead of bringing him into the main house, Beth guided his stumbling steps toward the private guesthouse nestled near the gardens.
She pushed the door open and steered him into the warm living room, where he stood shivering and half-frozen while his rain-soaked suit dripped all over the hardwood floors.
The second the heavy door swung shut behind them, cutting off the sound of the howling wind, Sebastian’s shivering arms wrapped tightly around her narrow waist.
Before she could speak, he pulled her body tight against his and dipped his head.
Beth knew a kiss was coming just from the fire in his gaze alone and she didn’t stop him. She wanted it as much as he did and what a relief it was when his sinful lips closed over hers, capturing her mouth in a desperate, wildly passionate kiss.
His lips were freezing and his entire frame trembling violently against hers, but the heat of his mouth was scorching.
The contrast was dizzying. His mouth was a fiery inferno against the icy chill of his skin, and the addictive kiss completely overwhelmed her senses until she couldn’t tell where his shivering ended and her own trembling began.
He kissed her with a raw, overwhelming hunger, burning away the last of her defences until there was nothing left between them, leaving her stripped of her armour and completely exposed to him.
It was a desperate, feverish possession, five years of unsaid words and bitter misunderstandings poured into the kiss. Every trace of her carefully cultivated performance vanished, dissolved by the heat of his mouth.
Beth gasped against him, her fingers tangling into his soaking wet hair to drag him even closer.
She didn’t care about the icy chill surrounding them. In that moment, this was all that mattered, and all that registered was the ruinous, addictive rhythm of his punishing kiss and the way it felt to finally be held in his arms.
This was their very first real kiss on the lips and it was everything Beth had ever dreamed, imagined and desperately longed for it to be.
“I love you, Elizabeth Moore,” Sebastian whispered directly into her mouth, his deep voice cracking with raw emotion as tears mixed with the rainwater on his cheeks.
“I love you so much... I cannot bear to be away from you for another second...”
Elizabeth was lost for words. Elizabeth Moore sounded just right. And it was the first time she had ever heard those words on his lips.
Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined this: this powerful, impenetrable man weeping against her neck, pouring his heart out and confessing his love.
“Seb...” she panted breathlessly then reluctantly pulled away. “You have to get rid of these wet clothes right now.”
He was drenched to the bone and freezing, leaving Beth deeply worried for his health.
“As you wish, my lady,” Sebastian answered softly, his teeth still chattering as a faint, boyish smile touched his pale lips.
Outside the guesthouse, the tropical storm seemed to intensify, rain hammered relentlessly against the glass roof, but inside, the air was warm and still.
Shrugging off her own drenched raincoat, Beth took his hand and led him into the adjoining master bathroom where she helped him peel off his heavy jacket and unbuttoned his soaked white shirt with trembling, careful fingers.
Once he stood naked, looking as magnificent and sexy as ever, Beth caught herself taking him in.
Stop it, Beth. This is not the time to ogle the poor man, she chastised herself. He was practically on the verge of hypothermia.
Shaking off the thought, she turned the shower dial to hot, and waited until steam began to billow through the tiled space before ushering him inside the glass enclosure.
There, he stood directly under the hot spray while Beth gently rubbed his broad shoulders and arms until the uncontrollable shivering finally subsided and a healthy, flushed colour returned to his skin.
Once he was warm and clean, Beth stepped out to fetch a soft cotton shirt and a dry pair of sweatpants from the wardrobe. After helping him into the fresh clothes, she used a fluffy towel to gently dry his hair.
Leaving him wrapped in a heavy blanket on the plush sofa, Beth quickly picked up the house phone to call the main kitchen, requesting a hot meal, fresh honey, and a steaming mug of tea brought over to the guesthouse right away.
Minutes later, their butler arrived with a loaded silver tray.
Beth took it at the door and carried it over to the sofa, sitting beside Sebastian and supervising him with sharp, affectionate eyes as he devoured the warm food and downed every last drop of the tea.
Setting the tray aside, Beth turned to leave so he could rest, but Sebastian reached out in an instant. His large, warm hand wrapped gently around her wrist, his eyes swimming with raw vulnerability.
“Please stay,” he pleaded softly, his voice barely above a whisper.
Elizabeth looked down at his handsome, earnest face and found that she simply did not have the heart to say no.
She kicked off her sandals, shed her outer wear and slid under the heavy duvet beside him. Sebastian pulled her close, wrapping his broad arms around her waist and burying his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her familiar, soothing scent of lavender and vanilla.
As the storm raged on outside, Sebastian’s grip on her waist tightened slightly, as if checking that she was still real.
“I thought you were never going to open those gates,” he murmured into her skin, his breath warm against her collarbone. “I was ready to stay out there all night.”
Beth shifted slightly in his arms, resting her chin on his chest so she could look at him. “You are crazy you know, and so dramatic. My father thinks we are both out of our minds.”
“He’s probably right,” Sebastian admitted softly, a faint, rueful smile touching his lips.
They didn’t have sex that night. They simply lay together in the dark room, cocooned securely in each other’s arms, listening to the heavy rain beat against the windows.
They drifted off to sleep moments later, holding each other tightly as if afraid to let go.