“Go ahead and wave, if you’d like. I can see you right now, through the video feed.”
I don’t wave. Frowning at the camera one last time, I walk back inside, close my door, and lock it.
The smoke detector looks very much like a smoke detector.
“And that’s the only one?” I press, voice skeptical.
“I promised you no cameras in your home, Sydney,” he assures me. “I kept that promise.”
“Okay,” I say, releasing a breath and heading back into my bedroom. I sit down on the edge of my bed and let myself fall backwards, my back hitting the mattress. “I just wanted to be sure.”
“Are you disappointed?” he asks.
I blink, confused. “Disappointed?” I repeat. “Why would I be?—”
“You’re about to touch yourself, aren’t you?” His tone is so casual, so nonchalant. Heat immediately rushes to my cheeks. “Are you disappointed I won’t be able to watch you?”
“I…” I shift up onto my elbows, my mouth opening and closing as I sputter in indignation. “I wasn’t going to?—”
“It’s ten… Hang on, let me check. Ten twenty-eight in the evening, Sydney,” he informs me. “And something made you decide to call me, this late, to double-check that you had your privacy.”
My cheeks are on fire. I sit up, hand clenched tight around the phone.
“In what world does that mean I’m going to…to dothat,” I snap.
“In every world where I’m not an idiot,” he says, like it’s obvious. “And, for the record, I am disappointed, even if youaren’t.” His voice drops to a purr. “You have no idea what I’d give to watch you touch yourself for me.”
This time it’s not just my face that flushes with blood. I swallow, mouth suddenly dry.
“Well, I wasn’t going to anyway,” I lie.
“Liar.” Sebastian clicks his tongue. “Who would have thought our sweet little Sydney could be so dishonest.”
If he were here right now, I’d slap him right in his face.
He might like that.
Maybe you would, too.
There’s a rustle over the phone, like he’s leaning back in a chair, getting comfortable.
“Tell me, Sydney, what exactly were you thinking about that got you so worked up, hm?”
I don’t answer. With how tightly my teeth are clenched, I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. I vaguely consider just hanging up.
“Don’t want to tell me?” he asks. “Fine. Maybe I should guess, then, how about that?”
Another sound, like he’s stretching. He sounds so relaxed, so at ease. Meanwhile, I’m nearly shaking with rage.
“Maybe you’re thinking about Sterling, hm? I know you used to have your little video calls with him. I know he got to watch you fall apart. And he got to hold you down while you came underneath him.” A mixture of desire and pain shoots through my chest before he continues. “Have you been playing with yourself, thinking about him? Spreading those beautiful legs wide and remembering how he made you come?”
“No,” I bite out, finally able to speak. “I haven’t.”
“Hm. Pity,” he says. “He’s too predictable, anyway. Maybe you were thinking about Ashton? I bet if you called him right now, he would be there in under ten minutes, begging to slip his tongue between your legs.”
He would. I slide my tongue over my lips, suddenly feeling too warm. A single phone call, that’s all it would take.
“Am I getting warmer, Sydney?” Sebastian teases in my ear.
