I was right.
“I honestly don’t know what I ever saw in you, Samara. You are the most pretentious, thoughtless, cold-hearted, revolting, egotistical woman I have ever had the displeasure of knowing,” he spat, not missing a single beat.
“Don’t forget bitchy,” Sawyer added.
“Totally fucking bitchy,” Sebastian stated with a nod of thanks to Sawyer.
Azain, completely unfazed at the destruction of his sister’s character, uprooted the discussion, completely switching gears and addressing Sebastian. “Anyways…your land or ours?”
The double doors swung open. “Theirs,” Franlow answered. “And you cannot take all of our troops, but I will spare a third, which should give you around five thousand soldiers. If what you suggest about Beaumont coming after Mealioria next ends up to be the truth, then we will need an army.”
“What didthat bitch say to you?” Sebastian slammed our bedroom door, locking it behind him.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s already been forgotten.” It hadn’t been, but I was trying not to waste any ounce of energy on her words.
“Tell me,” he demanded, grabbing my shoulders and spinning me towards him.
“It doesn’t matter, Seb. She’s just jealous that I have exactly what she wants.”
He sucked his lips in with his breath. “You're right. It doesn't matter. Because I know whatever she said was complete nonsense.” One of his hands grabbed the back of my neck, his calloused fingers scraping my skin as he pulled his lips to my mouth. “You are mine. And you are perfect. Everything about you.”
A needy breath pooled from me as he pulled my head back, exposing my neck to the softness of his lips. My fingertips dipped to his waistband, gently tugging at the constrictingmaterial. My thighs clenched tightly together, my nipples peaking under my shirt as his lips explored my skin. He recognized my need, but instead of fulfilling it, he stepped back.
“As much as I’d love to do unspeakable things to you, we should really talk about what all of this means.” The disappointment in his voice was blatant.
My face scrunched when his hands fell from me. Backing up, I fell down onto the bed, looking up at him with lustful eyes in the hopes that he’d change his mind.
Dark brows settled upon me, a deep tic in his jaw threatening to tear me apart. “Stop.”
I batted my eyes innocently. “Stop what?”
“Stop looking at me likethat.”
My fingers lifted my shirt, reaching my arms underneath and around back to undo my bra. I slipped the straps over my arms, removing the lingerie without showing him any skin. “Like what?”
“You know what,” he grumbled, his voice holding a deep gravel within it as he fought an inner battle with his self-control.
My eyes dipped to the front of his pants, where his desire was painfully obvious. “Fine.” I shrugged, wiggling to the edge of the bed to pull my pants off, leaving just my top and underwear. Without breaking eye contact, I crawled across the mattress, settling myself under the covers, where I removed my panties and tossed them at him.
Reflexes as sharp as ever, he caught the black satin in his fist. “Maeve,” he practically groaned, refusing to come towards me. “I’m serious.”
My lips cocked up to the side. Salaciously taunting this man was one of my favorite hobbies. “Me too. Go ahead. Let's talk.”
Though I knew it took an incredible amount of restraint, he moved to the wardrobe, removing a pair of lounge pants and throwing them on the bed. “Please,” he begged. “We really doneed to discuss this, and I can’t think straight knowing what's waiting for me under those covers.”
I scowled, but agreed, accepting his offering and tugging the pants over my thighs. When I was decent and he changed into something more comfortable, he joined me in the bed.
For a few moments, I laid in the comfort of his arms, going over the details of our meeting with Franlow, which had gone much as we’d expected after his return—a ton of back and forth, bartering and drawing up a plan. We ultimately decided that bringing his troops to Lumosia was the safer bet, as it was a less known territory.
We never delved too much into the specifics of what Sebastian and the others saw on their journey. It was almost as if Franlow truly did not want to know.
“So,” I began, nestling further into his shoulder. “What happened out there?”
“We were about halfway to Lumosia when we saw the first one. The look on Azain when he realized we were telling the truth…” Sebastian ran a hand over his face then into his hair as he forced air into his lungs. “We avoided it, but then they kept coming. We saw four within a few miles of each other, that's when we decided to split up. Pia and Kohen stayed en route to Lumosia so they could fill Archer in, and the rest of us returned here. We saw even more on the way back. We managed to avoid all but one, which Kade tried to kill with his fire, but the flame didn't get deep enough to scorch its heart. Just injured it enough for us to get away.”
“Shit,” I muttered, fishing a stray hair out of my eye. “There weren't any on our way here, though. What changed?”
“I don’t know. But I still want you riding with me when we leave in the morning. I’m not taking any chances out there. It’s probably going to be even worse than when we left it.”
