by Sofia Daniel
The jeep rolled down the driveway leading to the academy gates. Its headlamps lit up the woodland on both sides of the path.
I stared out of the window, wondering if Miss Claymore was lurking somewhere in the trees, waiting for her chance to snatch Sebastian. The thought sent a shiver down the back of my spine, and I made a mental note to complain to Mrs. Benazir about Bianca being able to get into my room.
“Stop blaming yourself about Miss Claymore,” I said. “She should have seen what you were doing and stopped you.”
Sebastian shook his head. “I was eager for someone else to feel the gut-wrenching pain of losing everything. It was the sickest thing I’ve ever done, and that includes driving Father’s Porsche off the side of a mountain.”
“I thought that had been an accident.”
He gave me an exasperated look. I rolled my eyes. What else was I supposed to think when he referred to the accident in the same breath as the pull-a-pig game?
“Why did you set out to break her heart?” I stared at his profile.
Sebastian had lost a little weight since we’d first met. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing because his features were now more chiseled, showcasing his high cheekbones and strong jaw.
He slowed down to take a sharp turn, and his face twisted into an expression of distaste. “I told the grief counselor about a girl at school I liked, and he guided me through the courtship.”
“Why?”
“Grandfather paid the man to come in three times a week, and he wouldn’t leave me alone,” Sebastian growled. “I was tired of talking to him about my feelings. It wasn’t bringing anyone back and just made me even more upset.”
“Okay.” I bit down on my lip. Maybe it was a guy thing, but talking through my feelings helped me get past them.
Sebastian let out a frustrated breath and said, “I wanted to feel in control. I wanted to distract the counselor from conversations about dead people. I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to seduce Miss Claymore.”
“Oh, my goodness.” I clapped my hand over my mouth. The words had slipped out of my mouth, and I wasn’t sure why. I’d already heard his account of how he had seduced her. His reasons for doing so really shouldn’t have been a surprise.
“I know.” He turned left and drove up the slope leading to the hideout.
The lights were on, meaning he had probably driven earlier in the day to start the fire and make the place comfortable. Hadn’t he told Miss Claymore the hideout had been built in her honor? It had touched her heart and melted the last of her reservations, and now the place had a similar effect on me.
“How do I know I’m not another challenge?” I asked.
“Willow,” he said in a tone that implied I was fishing for compliments.
My hands curled into fists. It was hard to go from being known as the dumpy mule only good for sticking her nose in books to being the girlfriend of two, potentially three of the best-looking boys in the school.
Anyone looking at my situation from the outside would call me a fool for falling for the kings, but the only experience I’d ever had with boys was Jerome from Computer Science, and that had ended with Ashley seducing him.
I huffed out a breath. This whole dating business was new to me, and I had no one to confide in — no one who wasn’t biased for or against the boys to help me think things through.
“I’m serious,” I said from between clenched teeth. “It happened to Corrine, Miss Claymore, and even Ashley. Maybe it’s my turn?”
“It isn’t.” Sebastian got out of the jeep, walked around its front, and opened my door.
Cold air swirled between us, making me cringe. “Why am I different?”
He crouched in front of the open door, the jeep’s inner light softening his eyes. “Because I’ve learned that toying with other people’s emotions is deadly. It twists people into knots they can never unravel. It’s worse than grief, worse than heartbreak, because it’s not a natural disaster or a fate.”
A long breath heaved out from his lips. “When some ruthless bastard plays games with a person’s hearts, they deserve their victim’s full retribution.”
“What happened with the Porsche?” I whispered.
“The brakes failed.”
My heart flip-flopped. “You’ve got to report—”
“I deserved it. And worse.”
“But she tried to kill you.”
“I didn’t put two and two together until today. It’s best left alone. She’ll be under investigation for the more recent things she did to you. I don’t want to press charges against her unless the police fail at making the other charges stick.”
I held my silence. If Ashley decided to hurt the boys who had played the game on her, I probably wouldn’t lift a finger to warn them.
Standing to his full height, Sebastian offered me his hand as though to ask if I wanted to stay or go.
I let him pull me out of the jeep and into his arms. He felt warm and strong and full of remorse. I walked alongside him around the back of the treehouse toward the stairs.
I asked, “What did you say when Miss Claymore confronted you about the game?”
“That I’d never meant for the game to go that far.”
“Did you ever love her?”
“Not like a girlfriend, no.” He ascended the stairs.
I took the stairs at his side. “A mother figure, then?”
He reared back and scowled. “No! A mentor.”
Leopold’s words floated up to the surface of my mind. Had Miss Claymore’s inner muscles really been that strong?
I shook off those thoughts. She was out of the picture now. Hopefully, getting fired and reported to the police would make her realize how far she had fallen into madness.
The interior of the treehouse was warm and welcoming as usual. I inhaled the soothing, menthol scent of burned pine cones and took in the four-poster bed constructed out of living branches.
This had been where a young Sebastian had seduced a much older woman and turned her reluctant love into a deadly obsession.
A cynical part of my brain, the one that had devoured Dangerous Liaisons in English and French and had absorbed Glenn Close’s and John Malkovich’s performance in the movie, asked myself a single question. What if the game wasn’t just to make me fall in love with Sebastian? What if this time, he wanted me to fall in love with him and his friends?
“Willow,” Sebastian placed both hands on my shoulders. “I’m not playing you.”
My gaze dropped down to the wooden floor. Ninety-nine percent of me believed in Sebastian, but I’d seen too much, experienced too much to trust him completely.
“If any part of you has reservations, I won’t push through them and try to convince you of my sincerity. But take a look at yourself. You’re beautiful, strong, loving, and have the kind of body that makes me cum without touching myself.”
My gaze flicked up to his eyes. His pupils were blown, and a fire blazed in them that made the butterflies in my stomach travel south.
He licked his lips, and I imagined them on my neck, my breasts, my belly, and between my legs. “Why would any man want to jeopardize that for the sake of a stupid game?”
My gaze dropped down to the tent in his pants, and heat flared in my core.
“Prove it,” I whispered.
“Prove my love?”
“Prove that you can climax just by looking at me.”
Chapter 19
Sebastian stepped back, his chest rising and falling like bellows. I folded my arms across my chest and waited. Waited for him to prove that his heartfelt proclamations were more than pretty words.
It was stupid, it was petty, it was fucking puerile, but I was sick of feeling off-balance and tired of the ambiguity. If I was so outrageously attractive, he could bloody well show me.
“Willow.” His brows drew together. “What exactly do you—”
“How did you put it? I have the kind of body that makes you cum without
touching yourself.”
I let my gaze trail down from his perplexed face, over his blazer-clad chest, down past the deflating erection, and over his muscular thighs.
Then I met his wide, green eyes and enunciated, “I want to see you cum. Now.”
Sebastian swallowed. “Clothed or unclothed.”
“Take it all off.”
Lips curling into a smile, he sucked in a breath that made his entire chest expand. Then with a wicked grin—bravado, most likely—he unfastened the buttons of his blazer. “Is this what you want, Willow? To see me naked?”
“I don’t want the clothes getting in the way.”
He scrambled at his shirt, yanked off his tie, and shouldered off both garments. I hadn’t seen him shirtless since the Christmas break, and all that football practice and work at the gym had improved his physique.
His broad frame consisted of perfectly conditioned muscles without a trace of fat. Thick biceps curled around his arms, leading to thick forearms that complemented his large hands. Beneath bulging pecs lay a prominent six-pack and a trail of dark hair that led to the waistband of his green pants.
My tongue darted out to lick my lips. The man was magnificent, and it took every ounce of self-control not to barrel him to the ground and grope every inch of his hard flesh.
“Do you like what you see, Willow?” His deep, smoky voice curled around my senses and made my nipples tighten.
The muscles of my core pulsed, and desire pushed itself to the forefront of my mind. Despite wanting to forget about my stupid challenge and kiss him senseless, I tilted my head to the side and held my face in an expression I hope would look unimpressed.
“I told you already, Sebastian. I want to see you cum.”
His eyes flared, and he toed off his shoes, unbuckled his belt, and unzipped his pants. They fell in a puddle around his feet, leaving him standing in a pair of boxer briefs.
“Is this what you want?” His voice was a hoarse whisper.
My gaze raked over the erection straining through the cotton of his underwear, taking in the protruding veins, its mouthwateringly bulbous head, and the patch of wetness expanding through the fabric.
A breath huffed out from between my lips. “When are you going to cum for me, Sebastian?”
He stepped out of his pants and placed both hands on his hips. “Are you going to give me anything to work with?”
A smile curved my lips. “That depends.”
“On?”
My gaze dropped down to his boxers. “Whether you’re all talk.”
“Take off your coat, then. I feel like a wanker standing in front of you half-naked and hard as fuck.”
I took off my coat, unbuttoned my blazer, and let both garments fall to the wooden floor. Sebastian’s gaze fell straight to my breasts. My nipples had tightened so much with arousal, they protruded through my bra and the cotton of my shirt.
“Very nice.” He licked his lips. “But I need to see more to cum without touching myself.”
The pulse between my legs pounded, and all sensible thoughts evaporated with the heat of his gaze. My skirt came off next, and then my thick, winter tights.
He blew out a long breath. “Did I tell you how much I love your legs? They’re so shapely. Turn around, so I can see you from behind.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. Ashley had always made disparaging comments about the size of my ass and made me feel like it was too big for my waist. But Sebastian’s interest was unambiguous, and it seemed to grow another inch in length and girth.
I turned around and glanced at him over my shoulder.
Sebastian clapped a hand to his temple. “I don’t know where to look. You’re killing me with that expression!”
A tingle of excitement rushed from my core to my heart, and the corners of my lips lifted into a smile. I unfastened the buttons of my white shirt and sent out a word of thanks that I was wearing one of my bras that didn’t look like hammocks.
Sebastian’s nostrils flared, and his chest rose and fell with the kind of intensity that made me worry about his heart. I was excited, too, but I didn’t look like I’d just hopped off the treadmill.
Still with my back turned to Sebastian, I pulled my shirt off my shoulders. His eyes bulged, and his gaze raked over my exposed back.
“You’re so fucking perfect,” he said through panting breaths.
Sebastian had seen me in various states of undress and up close during the bed baths, but I’d never displayed myself to him like this before. Or to anyone. Any insecurities I had about my body melted away.
What did it matter if mean girls disparaged me for not being tall and thin? The world was full of different shapes, and none was more valid than the other, although Sebastian seemed to be crazy about mine. The tension I usually carried around my chest loosened, lightening my heart with a newfound confidence.
With hands that trembled, I reached behind my back, unfastened my bra and peeled it off my front.
“T-turn around,” he rasped. “P-please.”
“What will happen if I do?”
Sebastian chuckled. “I might just cum.”
My gaze traveled down his muscled torso to his cloth-covered erection. “Show me.”
Sebastian gently maneuvered the waistband of his boxer-briefs over his jawbreakingly large penis and pulled the underwear down over his hips.
I let out a sigh that was one part amazement and two parts longing. Leopold had used his fingers on me, which had been mind-blowing, but What would Sebastian’s dick feel like, stretching me open and sliding in and out?
The silly challenge no longer mattered. I wanted him. Now.
Turning to face Sebastian, I uncrossed my arms. His gaze dropped down to my nipples, and his erect penis bobbed up and down. A stream of warm fluid shot out from his slit and hit me on the right nipple.
I sucked in a shocked breath and locked my gaze on the contracting organ. “Sebastian, you’re—”
“Oh, fuck.” It twitched again and ejaculated another jet of pearlescent fluid. “Bloody, fucking, hell!”
Sebastian twisted to the side and spurted out another five jets, each decreasing in size and distance. He hadn’t been bullshitting after all. I licked my lips, core twitching at the sight.
Still panting, he bowed his head and blew out several long breaths. “Sorry. I thought I’d last longer than that. Sit on the edge of the bed and spread your legs. I’ll make it up to you.”
It didn’t take long for Sebastian’s tongue to make me climax, and we both settled under the covers of the four-poster, exchanging long, sensual kisses.
“Willow,” he murmured into my neck. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”
I wrapped my hands around his broad back and arched into his muscled chest. “S-Seb… I have to tell you something.”
He drew back. “What?”
“I have feelings for both of you.”
His brows drew together. “What about Kash?”
“I like him a lot, but we haven’t spent much time together.”
Sebastian furrowed his brow and rubbed the side of his cheek.
I tilted my head to the side and furrowed my brow. “Did you hear what I just said?”
“I thought the day you’d spent with Kash had brought you together, but you don’t remember that. Maybe this weekend—”
“Hey.” I slapped his arm. “I’ve just told you I’m falling for you and your best friend, and your instinct is to make things even so I can fall for your other friend?”
“This thing won’t work unless your love for us is equal.”
Warmth spread across my chest and up to my cheeks. “You really don’t mind?”
“We wouldn’t have made you a queen regnant otherwise.” He ran his fingertips down the side of my face and pressed a kiss on my lips.
My eyes fluttered closed. Maybe I had died during one of Miss Claymore’s many attempts to murder me, and this was my version of heaven. Three ridiculously handsome boys who were best
friends and wanted to share me.
In a moment, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and my relatives from Dad’s side of the family would walk into the treehouse with a ‘Happy Harem’ cake.
“What are you smiling at?” Sebastian murmured.
“I can’t believe my luck.”
“It’s fate.”
My eyes snapped open. “Huh?”
“That evening, when I walked into Hessington Hall, I was at my lowest. Another year of the same old shit. Another year of paying penance to Claymore. But then you tumbled into my arms with your big, hazel eyes, unassuming beauty, and gorgeous body… I had to make you mine.”
“And your friends’?”
He shrugged. “Leo fell for you when you punched him in the balls, and Kash didn’t want to admit his interest, but he couldn’t stop talking about you. The only way to bring you in the fold was as our shared girlfriend.”
I wrapped my arms around Sebastian’s neck and kissed him with every ounce of love in my heart. For the first time since Geraldine and Bianca had confronted me with the pull-a-pig game, I finally believed the truth of Sebastian’s affection.
After a blissful night in Sebastian’s arms, we woke early and returned to the academy in time for breakfast and a quick change of clothes. At that moment, nothing could dampen the high I’d felt from the night before. Not the freezing wind, not the looming academy, and not thoughts of Miss Claymore or either of the Byrds.
As we walked through the courtyard, the scent of a bonfire hung in the air, making me think about Corrine’s death at the Summer Solstice. Valentine’s day was next week, meaning that Imbolc, the festival for the Celtic Goddess, Brigid, had passed without much fanfare.
At the entrance to the west wing, Sebastian gave me a peck on the lips. “See you later.”
I grinned back. “Thanks for showing me a good time.”
“There’s plenty more where that came from.” He winked. “As much as you can handle.”
Imagining Sebastian, Leopold, and Prakash standing in a row, naked, hard, and ready to do anything I wanted, I licked my lips and winked back. “See you later.”
