“No,” I whisper. The robe around my shoulders feels too hot, the fabric too much sensation against my skin.
“So who does that leave? Maybe Viper, then?”
My quick intake of breath is loud, far too loud to go unnoticed.
“Oh.” Sebastian chuckles. “Sounds like we have a winner, don’t we?”
“N-no,” I stutter.
“Oh, Sydney, I don’t believe you. Huh. Isn’t thatinteresting. You get more interesting by the day, you know that, love? It’s not Sterling’s control you’re after, or even Ashton’s tongue. You want the monster, is that right?”
“I wasn’t…” My mouth is so dry as I swallow. “I wasn’t thinking about Viper, I was…”
I can’t say it. I bite my lip.
On the other side of the line, Sebastian goes quiet.
“Is that why you calledme?” he asks. His voice is growing even darker, more seductive. “Why you wanted to know if I was watching you?”
I don’t answer.
“Say it, Sydney. I want to hear you say it.”
I can’t.
Sebastian lets out a sound like a growl, low and primal. “Say you were thinking about me. Say it was my cock, my touch you were imagining. Tell me you’ve been wet for me since I touched you earlier.”
“You…” I suck in a breath. “You could have had me, you know. When you were in the bookshop…”
There’s a long pause on the other end of the phone before Sebastian speaks again.
“Let me have you now,” he says. “Just like this.”
I swallow.
“What are you wearing, Sydney?”
I’m standing on a precipice. And I have two choices. I can hang up and draw this line in the sand. Or…
You want it, don’t you? The darkness, the anger. Want him to own every piece of you, even for a moment.
My bathrobe falls to the ground at my feet the moment I untie the belt, sliding off my shoulders with practically no resistance.
“Nothing,” I tell him. “I’m not wearing anything anymore.”
Sebastian’s quick intake of breath is loud in my ear. “Get on your bed for me. Spread your legs,” he orders.
I do it. Letting out a shaky breath, I ask into the phone, “Now what?”
Sebastian chuckles.
“You know what I love about you, Sydney?” he asks. I’m struck by just how vibrant his voice is, like this. No mask, no cold exterior. Right now, nothing but a voice in my ear, Sebastian is raw and expressive.
“No,” I answer honestly.
“I love that you can follow orders, like a good little slut.”
My pulse flutters, and I wait for the words to hit me, wait for them to hurt me. I wait for the shame and self-loathing to fill me.
