She had looked at him as if he wasn’t a burden or a patient or an obligation. She had looked at him like a man.
Like her man.
The realization came suddenly and sharp, as if it had been waiting just beneath the surface.
He sat up slowly.
The firelight reached the edge of the bed, golden and flickering. He stared at it. Then reached for the blanket, fingers closing into the folds.
He could still feel her here in his room, his chair, his breath.
Sebastian pressed his fingers to his lips. As though that could transfer the sensation of hers over.
A kiss by association.
A beginning.
A promise.
And he wanted to see it through.
He wanted to unpin her hair and watch it fall. He wanted to see her cheeks flushed not from embarrassment but from pleasure. He wanted to taste her sighs and count her freckles and make her forget every lesson in propriety she had ever been taught.
His breath shuddered out of him.
If he kissed her, he would not stop at just one. He would kiss her until she forgot her own name and whispered his instead. He would kiss her until the fire died and came back to life. He would kiss her until there was nothing left but the two of them and the ache they’d carried alone for far too long.
But she wasn’t here.
And maybe that was the only thing saving them both.
Sebastian leaned back on the pillows, staring up at the beams overhead.
She would return to her chamber. She would bury herself in blankets and the memories she was probably trying to forget.
But he wouldn’t forget.
Not tonight.
Not ever.
He closed his eyes, letting her image fill the darkness. The way she had looked up at him. The shape of her mouth. The hesitant desire in her gaze, barely disguised.
She wanted him too.
He was certain of it now. And that certainty was the most dangerous thing of all.
He lifted one hand to the air above him, watching the firelight catch on his fingers. Then slowly, he closed it—
As if holding on to something precious.
As if she were already his.
And in a whisper meant only for the shadows, he said, “I’m already yours.” A secret promise sent into the dark. And Sebastian, heart thudding and body far too warm, let himself dream of herbs and firelight.
And the girl who made him want to break all the rules.
Chapter Twelve
