The careful, tentative way he asked it—like he was already bracing for rejection—made something crack open inside me. In two strides, he was in my arms, my face pressed into his neck. “I never want you sleeping anywhere but next to me.”
Sebastian’s arms circled my waist, his grip almost desperate. “Okay,” he whispered against my shoulder.
I pulled back, taking his hand in mine.
At the top of the stairs, I led him down the hallway to my bedroom—our bedroom, I realized. Because that’s what it had become. Our shared space.
We were going to have problems. There was so much we still needed to figure out. So many conversations we’d need to have and compromises we’d have to make. But standing here with him now, I knew with absolute certainty that I wanted all of it. The messy parts, the beautiful parts, and everything in between.
“Make love to me,” I said, my voice quiet but steady.
Sebastian’s hands came up to frame my face, his thumbs brushing along my cheekbones. Then he kissed me.
We undressed each other slowly, like we had all the time in the world. Like we had a long future stretching out in front of us.
My shirt hit the floor, then his. My belt. His pants. When we were both finally naked, Sebastian walked me backward until my legs hit the bed. I sat, and he followed me down, covering my body with his.
We kissed for what felt like hours—long, languid kisses that made my head spin. His hands mapped every inch of my body like he was memorizing the topography of my skin. Mine did the same over the planes of his back, the curve of his spine, the jut of his hip. He shivered when I scraped my nails over his skin.
Sebastian kissed his way down my body—over my jaw, down my throat, and across my chest. He paused to lap at my nipple, and I arched into him with a gasp.
He hummed against my skin and moved lower, pressing open-mouthed kisses to my ribs and along my stomach. The mattress shifted as he settled himself between my legs.
I couldn’t look away as he wrapped his hand around the base of my cock and lowered his mouth, enveloping me in wet heat.
My head fell back against the pillows, one hand fisting in the sheets while the other rested against the back of his head as Sebastian reduced me to a trembling, incoherent mess, pleasure building with every pull of his mouth.
I was close—too close.
“Seb. Sebastian, wait.” I tugged on his hair.
He pulled off with a wet pop, glancing up at me with dark, lust-blown eyes and swollen lips.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” I sat up, pulling him with me and claiming his mouth before saying, “I don’t want to come yet. Not like this.” My heart hammered with nerves. “Fuck me, please.”
His breath hissed out of him. “Are you sure?”
“I want you inside me. I want … I want to be as close to you as I can get.”
His eyes searched mine for a long moment, then he nodded and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Lie back.” He leaned over, reaching into the drawer of the nightstand to pull out a bottle of lube. “If anything doesn’t feel good, you tell me. Okay?”
“Okay,” I agreed, lowering myself onto my back, bending my knees, and letting my legs fall open. The position made me feel exposed and vulnerable, but not scared.
Sebastian’s gaze tracked over me, his eyes dark with desire. “You’re so fucking hot,” he murmured, his slick fingers trailing past my taint. “I can’t believe I get to have you like this.”
The first touch of his finger against my asshole made me tense up.
“Breathe,” he instructed, his free hand rubbing soothing circles on my thigh.
I pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing my muscles to unclench. Sebastian pressed in, the sensation strange but not unpleasant.
“How’s that?”
“Weird but good.”
He smiled, that soft private smile that felt like it was reserved only for me. “It gets better. I promise.” He started moving then, sliding slowly in and out, setting a gentle rhythm that had me relaxing further. Eventually, he added more lube and a second finger. The stretch was more noticeable thistime, toeing the line between pleasure and pain. I hissed, and Sebastian immediately stilled.
