“Really?”
He lifted my chin with a single finger and nodded. “Did it hurt to think of you with someone else? Like a fucking knife to the throat. ButI know you. I know who you are all the way into the deep, dark caverns of your mind. I know your intentions and I know your heart. I know with certainty that whatever happened between you and him was because of all the stressI’dput you through. If anyone should hate anyone in this situation, you should hate me.” He let my face go, lowering his eyes into mine.
I covered my face with my hands, my cheeks burning red from embarrassment. “I could never hateyou,” I copied his words.
His fingers found my hair, rubbing my scalp in comfort, offering me a silentI know.
“As far as Samara goes—” He clasped his hands around my wrists, pulling my hands free from my face. “You are the only woman I will ever have eyes for, for the rest of my time on this planet and even beyond in the veil. I mean, gods, Maeve. My corpse would find its way out of the dirt if it meant I had one more second with you.” After a brief pause, he added, “Also, sex with you could never compare to anyone else.”
“Are you sure? Because you likely have a hell of a lot more experience than I do. For all I know, I could be the most boring sex of your life.”
He let out a deep chortle. “Tell that to Lumosia’s storage closet.” A sweet, dashing smirk covered his lips. “Since we're on the topic, how much experiencedoyou have?”
My eyebrows furrowed. “What?’
“In the bedroom,” he clarified.
“Obviously.” My eyes bobbed as they lost their fight not to roll. “Does it matter?”
“Not at all. Just out of sheer curiosity, tell me.”
“Um…” I chewed on my lower lip. I was having deja vu from my conversation with Pia. “Besides you, there was only one other person.”
“And with that person, did you experiment or try anything outside of the box?”
Was I dreaming?Because surely this conversation was not happening.
“Not really, no. Why?”
“I’m wondering ifyouthink we have boring sex? Because if you do, I’d be more than willing to try out some new things with you.”
My heart started racing, tension making my veins swell and my breathing picking back up. “No. No, that's not what I meant at all. I just wanted to be sure that I was living up to?—”
His eyebrow cocked. “Living up to what? My previous partners?”
My awkward shuffle answered for me.
“Gods, Maeve. You have ruined every other woman in the world for me. In more ways than one. Sex, sure. But in every other way possible, too. There is not a single person on the planet who could come close to topping you.”
“Are you sure, because?—“
“I wasn’t finished.” He wiped a tear from my face with the pad of his thumb. “I am also in love with you, and that is a feeling I havenevereven considered for any woman besides you. I only see you. And if you need me to remind you of that every day for the rest of our lives, I happily will.”
He placed a kiss on my temple, but I grabbed his face with my hands, dragging his mouth to mine.
“I’m only asking about your experience because I would understand if you had curiosities. So while we're being honest, tell me. Do you have any fantasies?” he whispered when our lips unglued.
What the fuck is going on?
“I can’t believe we are having this conversation right now,” I stammered, splaying my hands in front of me in disbelief.
“Honestly, not great timing—we have a very important dinner to attend shortly. But everything that is going on outside these four walls can wait. And let’s be honest, we were due to have this conversation.”
“Were we? Were we really? I think I could have lived a long while longer without having this conversation.” I was mortified to say the least.
Sebastian released a throaty chuckle.
In an attempt to resort back to our previous conversation before it went astray, I shuddered in his arms and asked, “Are you positive that you don’t hate me?” needing to hear the confirmation once more.
