20. CHAPTER 20
ARIA
I t had been over a week, and Sebastian still wasn’t back.
I was sorting papers for his meeting later today, and I didn’t even know if he’d turn up to it. It felt pretty grim in Sebastian’s office without him.
I placed the papers neatly on his desk before spinning on my heel and walking straight into Sebastian, sending the coffee in his hand all over his suit jacket and shirt.
I froze, my hand covering my mouth, eyes following his hand as he placed the half-empty cup on his desk and started to remove his suit jacket.
“Still clumsy, I see.” He chuckled.
His response must have unfrozen me, because I immediately started taking tissues off his desk, trying to rub his shirt dry while not allowing myself to become flustered. He placed his hand on mine, freezing me in my tracks again, and my eyes flicked up to his.
“It’s fine, Nyx. I’ve got other shirts in my office.”
I swallowed hard, trying to compose myself. His gaze was still fixed on mine. I didn’t want to look away; his eyes were always so warm, even if they were blue.
He pointed to the papers on his desk. “Are they the ones for the meeting this morning?”
“I … erm … yeah,” I replied, stumbling over my words, turning to look at them.
By the time I’d turned back around, he was already over by his cabinet, removing the shirt I had spilt coffee on.
My eyes widened at the sight of his bare chest. I swallowed hard, trying to stop the blood from rushing to my cheeks.
Either he hadn’t noticed me, or he didn’t care.
He was toned; you could see he worked out regularly.
Full sleeves of ink covered both his arms, and there were more tattoos over his chest. One caught my eye—a crescent moon with what looked like Latin writing over his ribs.
I absentmindedly ran my finger over my undamaged wrist, the crescent moon tattoo and butterflies I’d had done four years ago. I got it when he left, a little reminder that he had been a part of my life for a little while.
As he covered his chest with a clean shirt, I glanced down at the floor. I didn’t want him to know I’d been ogling him the whole time.
Once he was done, he strode over, stopping beside me as he picked up the paperwork to look through it. Flutters appeared in my stomach, my heart skipping a beat. My palms started to feel sweaty from the heat spreading through my body.
This was the first time I’d seen him since the night we’d kissed.
There was so much I wanted to say to him, but I didn’t know where to start.
His eyes were fixed on the papers; he probably didn’t even care that I was gazing at him. I was sure he was used to women eyeing him up.
“You ready to go?” he asked, taking a step forward.
“Yes.” I picked up the rest of the paperwork and turned to see Sebastian’s eyes fixed on my thigh.
“You’ve got a ladder in your tights.”
He walked over, invading my space, and that heat rushed to the inside of my legs again.
“Take your shoes off.”
I frowned at him. “What?”
He just looked at me, so I stepped out of my stilettos.
“Spread your legs.”
I swallowed, my heart pounding, but I did as I was told.
He got down on one knee, his hands trailing up my leg until he reached the ladder. He gripped the tights tightly and completely ripped them off, then rested his hand on the inside of my thigh.
He looked into my eyes. “You’re looking flustered there, little sis.”
“Stop calling me that!” I snapped, trying to control the heat that was spreading like wildfire and clamped my thighs together.
“As you wish.”
His eyes stayed fixed on mine as he glided his hand up my inner thigh until he reached my lace knickers.
My body felt like it was alight as he proceeded to move the lace out of the way and slip two fingers inside.
I caught my breath, unsteady on my feet, as his other hand gripped my hip to steady me.
“Look how wet you are.”
I couldn’t speak. My nerves were on overload. I’d never felt so much heat rush to my core all at once before.
He slowly withdrew his fingers, rising to stand again, and gazed into my eyes as he licked them clean.
“You taste as sweet as I imagined.”
And then he turned on his heel and left the office.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself, and I placed my hand on my heart that was beating so fast I didn’t know if it was going to stop. My cheeks were hot, flustered. Fuck. What the hell had just happened?
He’d just started a fire in me that I didn’t want to go out. It was laced with need, want, a desperate burn of desire.
It should have felt wrong.
I was his PA, his stepsister, everything that was forbidden.
But my body needed more.
It needed him.
I sat at my desk, working through emails, occasionally glancing up at Sebastian in his office. He was currently in another meeting, his elbow on the table, his index finger pressed against his temple. Some of his hair had fallen out of place, covering his eyes. He sure was something to look at .
“Aria?”
I turned around to see Sophia from the main office standing there, holding a bouquet of red roses.
“These came for you.” She held them out to me.
I took them from her, looking at her oddly.
“Got a secret admirer?” she teased.
“I have no idea,” I said, trying to shrug it off.
She smiled and returned through the door she had come from. I placed the flowers down and found the note.
You will always have a place in my heart .
My heart started to race. My mind couldn’t help but focus on him .
Jason Brown .
My eyes drifted back to Sebastian’s office—his fierce gaze was on me.
Invisible hands tightened around my wrist, forcing my eyes to look at my scar. I rubbed hard, trying to remove that feeling, but it wouldn’t go away.
I picked the flowers up and dropped them in the bin, hoping that would help .
It didn’t.
I took a few deep breaths in and out, trying to focus on something else, but my breathing felt heavy, like I was struggling to catch it.
I unbuttoned the cuffs on my shirt, hoping that would free the phantom pain pulsing through my wrist. My vision blurred—and then Sebastian was there, cupping my cheeks. He was speaking to me, but everything was muffled.
And then there was nothing at all.