His breath burned against my skin, his fingers tugged the knot loose. The straps fell, the bodice slackening, and the cool air hit my skin.
“Fuck,” he whispered, as his hands came up, cupping my naked breasts. He kissed my nape, and as I leaned forward, he dragged his mouth lower, lingering on every ridge down my spine, sparking heat and goosebumps across my skin. Desperate for his mouth on mine, I arched into him, my head lolling back on his shoulder, a whimper breaking free as his thumbs rolled over my nipples.
I reached back blindly, tangling my fingers in his hair as he kissed his way across the column of my neck. Every scrape of his teeth, every stroke of his thumbs, sent fire racing through me.
He chafed one hand down, over the dress that now centered at my hips, and slipped it into my panties, finding the wet heat between my legs. He groaned when his fingers soaked through me, stroking, circling, until I was bucking my pelvis against his hand.
“How long have you been this wet, Ruby?” he rasped in my ear.
“Please,” I gasped, clawing at his thigh, trying to grind harder against his palm. My other hand still clutched his hair. Desperately needing his mouth on me, I turned my head to the side, and my lips found his.
He pushed two fingers inside me. I cried out into the kiss, my walls clenching around him as his other hand teased my breast, his breath hot at my ear.
“Sebastian,” I moaned, riding his hand shamelessly. “God, I—”
He kneaded and stroked ruthlessly—his fingers driving inside me, his thumb circling my clit, his cock grazing my lower back, kissing me between gasps, until I let go, gave in, burning with him, for him, into him.
“Look at you,” he rasped against my throat as he let me ride the overwhelming wave of release. “Wild and perfect. And mine.”
I couldn’t speak. I was his.Sohis. Entirely his. Probably always, even in the years there were others in between.
Letting myself belong to anyone had always felt impossible—but giving in without restraint, to be his, was the sweetest surrender.
He wrenched his fingers from me, and before I could whimper at the loss, his hands clamped hard on my hips, lifting me off his lap. Sebastian stood, dragging me up with him, my dress slipping to the floor in a pool of navy silk. He shoved his pants down, freeing himself of every piece of clothing.
“On the bed. Spread those beautiful legs wide for me,” he ordered, voice ragged.
I obeyed, crawling naked across the covers, hair falling wild around my face.
Before I could even catch my breath, he settled his face between my spread thighs. His mouth was on me in the next heartbeat—hot, wet, devouring. He licked me as I cried out, my hips bucking helplessly against his tongue. And then he was on top of me, pressing me into the sheets, his mouth slick with me as he kissed me hard, making me taste myself on his lips.
He thrust into me in one slow stroke. Just like always, except for that clumsy first time, he knew my body by heart. When, what, how. My limits.
“Sebastian!” I cried, the stretch sharp and perfect.
“Ruby—fuck, yes—” He buried himself inside me fully, holding there, trembling against me. Then he pulled back and slammed in again, the sound of skin on skin echoing through the room.
Every thrust drove me higher, my nails raking down his back, my cries muffled against his shoulder. His rhythm wasrelentless, wild. He wove his fingers through mine and pulled his head back so he could look into my face, his eyes consumed with raw desire and emotion.
“I love you so much,” I gasped, needing to say it, needing him to hear it while he was inside me. I wanted him to know it was as true as my body breaking apart with his.
He groaned it back, rough and guttural, thrusting harder, like the words had ripped out the last thread of his restraint. “I love you, Ruby.”
Yet again, he knew me. Flowery declarations would have slipped right off me, but his simple “I love you” rooted deep. He’d shown me love didn’t have to be complicated—it could be straightforward and fiercer for its simplicity.
I clung to him, his name on my lips as a surge of release and love tore through me.
He followed, spilling into me—the only man I’d ever let inside me bare—holding me tight as if he’d never let me go.
We collapsed together, breathless, sweat-slick, tangled. His lips found my temple, a soft kiss against the wreckage of heat. I cradled the back of his head, fingers splayed at his nape, holding him to me as if I could shield us both.
Sebastian loved me, and I loved him. For the first time, love didn’t feel like ruin. It felt like forever.
48
Sebastian
THE ROOM WAS QUIETexcept for our breathing. Ruby lay sprawled beside me, spent and beautiful, sweat still drying on her skin, her hair wild across the pillow. The light coming from the living room and the windows was scarce, shadows dancing across her skin. I half-lifted myself and leaned on my elbow, tracing my hand over her, slowly, lazily, memorizing. From her neck down to the valley between her breasts, and further down over her stomach and across her hip.
