“No. Not here.”
Sebastian pulled the key out and jammed it into the lock. It fell away and the gate swung open. When I didn’t move, he said, “Well?”
I glanced awkwardly to the hook beside my cell. “Er. My leash isn’t on.”
Sebastian huffed in exasperation. “Forget the leash. Come.”
I had no idea what was going on in his mind, but I sensed it wasn’t the time or place to ask. Sebastian was clearly in a hurry. Was something bothering him?
But now that the initial high of being reunited with Sebastian wore off, I remembered all the horrible things he’d said and done to me earlier.
“Wait,” I said.
Sebastian stopped, glancing back. “What is it?”
I eyed the leash on its hook again before slowly looking at him. This was the first time we’d ever been together where I hadn’t been chained. There was no fence, no wall, no leash between us. I was free.
It would take one second to end Sebastian right here and now.
“Aren’t you afraid I’m going to lash out at you in retaliation?” I asked.
Sebastian didn’t blink. His grey-blue eyes were blazing. “Are you?”
I wanted to speak but couldn’t. The intensity of his gaze froze me to the spot.
Sebastian was the omega who bought me like a possession and treated me like a dog. I should have wanted to strike him, to throttle him, to choke him out and leave him here on the concrete floor, to run away and never see him again in my life. But those thoughts appalled and terrified me. I didn’t want any of those things.
I wantedhim.
Neither of us spoke. Sebastian took a step closer to me, then another. He seemed even smaller in front of me without the leash between us. He looked fragile and soft. Delicate.
He raised his hand. I thought he was going to strike me. I don’t know what came over me, but I closed my eyes and let it happen.
He didn’t hit me. His hand curled around the back of my neck, pulling me down gently.
And then, Sebastian kissed me.
19
Sebastian
The taste of ripe peaches flooded my mouth. Beneath the notes of fruit was the taste of Rourke himself. I was hungry for both. My tongue captured his, not willing to let go, kissing and dominating until both of us grew breathless.
Rourke’s eyes were wide and dark. A blush spread over his cheeks, and his lips were slightly parted and wet. The sudden glint of hunger in his gaze matched the one I felt burning inside me.
“Not here,” I said with what little breath I retained.
I grasped his wrist—it was so thick that the tips of my fingers didn’t touch—and pulled him along. Rourke followed along. I could practically feel the desire radiating off of him like a dark cloud that enveloped us both.
I paused halfway between the gardens and the palace, pushing my craving away long enough to think clearly. The palace wasn’t safe right now, and that meant my bedroom wasn’t an option. There was only one other place that would offer us the privacy we needed.
A quaint two-storey building stood on the opposite side of the palace. It used to be a guest house of sorts, but Father didn’t entertain much company anymore. It was well-kept but essentially abandoned, which suited our purposes just fine.
I scanned the palace grounds. It was that moody dusk period between afternoon and evening where the lights weren’t quite lit yet but the dark provided natural cover. Nobody saw us.
“Not going to your bedroom?” Rourke asked, his voice thick with desire. I withheld a shudder at the sound of it.
“No.”
