by J. S. Scott
“I hope you’re going to forgive me, too,” a husky voice commented behind me.
I turned, viewing the concern in Sebastian’s eyes as he stood off to the side, with his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
I quickly kissed both of my parents’ cheeks, then threw myself into Sebastian’s arms, momentarily surprising him before he wrapped his strong arms around me.
“Thank you,” I whispered fervently into his ear.
“You’re welcome. Thank fuck you’re not going to hold this against me. I didn’t want to force it. But I thought you were ready,” he said in a low voice beside my ear.
“I was,” I acknowledged. “I guess I just didn’t know how to go to them myself and mend our differences.”
Sebastian picked me up and twirled me around before setting me back on my feet again. “Happy Thanksgiving, babe.”
“Happy Thanksgiving, Sebastian,” I said in a quiet but firm voice, hugging his strong body tightly.
We broke apart reluctantly, and I officially introduced him to my parents. The conversation flowed so easily that it was like we’d never been at odds with each other.
Mom caught me up on all of the gossip from home, and my dad told me about his new job, and told me about a college fund he’d saved to help me pay my student loans in the future.
I shook my head. “No, Dad. Use it for your retirement. I got this amazing job working for a very big, important company,” I told him in a teasing voice. “They pay fairly decent. I think I can handle it.”
Sebastian spoke out in a similarly joking tone. “Fairly decent?”
“Well, I am a Harvard grad,” I reminded him.
“I noticed. Do we need to give you a raise, Ms. Rutledge?” His eyes were teaming with mischief.
I pretended to think about his question. “Maybe not yet. I’m still fairly new. I have to prove myself.”
“Not to me,” Sebastian answered in a raspy voice. “I know every one of your assets.”
I coughed hard to keep from laughing, knowing my parents didn’t quite understand what was going on. I looked him up and down, caressing him with my eyes. “And I know every one of yours, Mr. Walker.”
His eyes turned dangerously fiery as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. “Your daughter is amazing,” he said to my parents.
My mother beamed, and Dad nodded. “We know that,” Mom said with a smile. “I hope we’ll be invited to the wedding.”
“Mom…we aren’t…we don’t…we—”
“When the time comes, we hope you’ll be participating,” Sebastian interrupted smoothly. “I need to get a ring on her finger first.”
“If she’s playing hard-to-get, I might be able to give you some pointers,” my dad offered. “Her mother was stubborn, too.”
My mother batted her husband playfully on the arm. “I was no such thing. And Paige has done just fine without you grilling her boyfriend.”
“We’ll talk later, Dennis,” Sebastian said in a conspiratorial tone.
I rolled my eyes, but leaned back against Sebastian’s large body, grateful for his support.
Yeah, maybe I should be angry, but I knew if I had been left to deal with my parents on my own, it may have taken a very long time to get the courage to approach them.
A sharp knock on the door made all of us startle, then we all laughed.
“Hey. It’s Thanksgiving, and the master chef is ready for her guests.” Trace stood at the door with a smile on his face.
“On our way,” Sebastian assured Trace.
The four of us were still chattering, making small talk and cracking jokes as we followed Trace to the table.
My heart was full as I let Sebastian lead me to my chair. “Where is Dane?” I asked curiously.
“He couldn’t make it,” Trace answered from across the table. “He got sick, and now he’s trying to finish an important commissioned piece on time. Dane’s been taking on more and more projects. I think he needs some help.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, speaking to no one in particular. I was fairly certain that Sebastian, Trace, and Eva felt Dane’s absence.
“It was his choice,” Eva rebutted as she entered the dining room. “I told him he was missing out.”
I instantly thought of Kenzie. “Well, if he ever needs an assistant, I know somebody who would kill to work for him. She loves his art, and she’s an artist herself. She has a lot of natural talent, but she’s never been able to do much formal study. Honestly, I haven’t met Dane, but I think they’d have a lot in common.”
I saw Sebastian and Trace trade a rather scheming look before we all sat down to eat, and I wondered what it was all about, but it was soon forgotten as everyone joined in the conversation. I consumed enormous quantities of food as I watched my parents finally relax, obviously realizing that although the Walkers were rich, they were also genuine.
Eva’s meal was by far the best I’d ever had, every dish prepared with an obvious love for good food.
Looking around the table as we all groaned at the thought of pie, but accepted it anyway, I realized how much my life was changing, and just how much I had to be thankful for.
CHAPTER 21
Paige
Two weeks later, my life was so good that it was almost frightening. Every day I gained a little more of myself back again. I was losing the need to constantly be in control, and I’d actually done a few things spontaneously. Granted, it was nothing big and exciting, but day by day, the real Paige was coming back, and what’s more…I liked her.
I was growing so close to Sebastian that it was almost painful. Every day he did something to make me smile, and every night he rocked my world.
I was ready to pinch myself to make sure I was actually sitting in a hot spring in the middle of winter, outdoors, and completely naked with the hottest man I’d ever met. Rocky Springs, the secluded resort that belonged to Sebastian’s cousins and his aunt Aileen, was the most beautiful area of Colorado I’d ever seen. Of course, I hadn’t seen much in other areas, but I was willing to bet nothing much could top our current location.
Sebastian had snagged us a “cabin” for the weekend, which was actually more like a fancy hotel suite disguised by cedar logs. We’d arrived earlier in the day and I’d squealed like a child when I’d ridden on the back of a snowmobile with him. I’d quickly learned that his need for power and speed in a transport wasn’t limited to automobiles.
“Having fun?” Sebastian asked, his hand stroking lazily on my belly as I lounged back against him.
The water felt heavenly. The air was frigid, but we were warm and cozy in the hot spring. I dreaded getting out and making a run for the door, but I wasn’t going to think about that when I was laying with Sebastian, gazing at the stars.
“This is incredible,” I answered honestly. “It seems so strange to be so warm outside in the middle of winter.”
“Now you can tell Kenzie that you actually have been in the hot springs at the best resort in Colorado.”
“She’ll love that,” I mused.
“You miss her?” It was more of a statement than a question.
“I do.”
“What about your parents?”
I wasn’t quite used to the fact that I was rebuilding my relationship with my mom and dad, but we talked every day since they’d returned to the East Coast, and I knew we were going to be okay. “I miss them, too.”
“Lonely?” he questioned.
I turned around to face him in the dim light, making sure I kept my body in the water. “No. I don’t think I’ll ever be lonely when I’m with you.”
He grinned, as though I’d made him the happiest guy in the world. God…how I loved this man. Sebastian had turned my world upside down, but in a good way. Maybe I wasn’t always in control anymore, but being with him was worth it, and I trusted him compl
etely.
My heart ached as I wrapped my arms around his neck and felt our bodies connect as I straddled him. “I love you,” I said breathlessly.
“Fuck! It’s about time you said that, woman,” he rasped, his hand wrapping firmly around the back of my neck to pull my mouth to his.
Need sizzled through my body as Sebastian devoured my mouth in a raw expression of desperation. I relaxed and melted into him, threading my hands into his hair and fisting the coarse locks.
I suddenly realized that I’d never told him I loved him. He’d said those words to me at Thanksgiving, but I’d never spoken them aloud to Sebastian.
When he’d finally kissed me senseless, he moved his dangerous mouth to my neck, nipping and teasing the sensitive skin.
“I love you. I love you. I love you,” I was chanting the words, the relief I felt in saying them completely intoxicating.
His arms tightened around me. “I love you, too, babe. So fucking much it hurts.”
“Love should never hurt,” I whispered into his ear.
“Don’t worry. It hurts so damn good,” he answered in a deep, sensual voice that made my heart clench.
His wicked mouth descended to my pebbled nipples, my breasts now just above the surface of the water. I moaned and leaned back in his arms, giving him all of the access he wanted.
He teased and bit gently with his teeth, then soothed with his tongue. I suddenly realized what he meant when he said it hurt so damn good. The small pain followed by intense pleasure was enough to make me half crazy.
“Sebastian,” I whispered, my voice filled with longing as I held his head against my breasts.
He gave me more, everything and anything I wanted as he continued to alternate from one nipple to the other, making my head spin with desire.
“Fuck me,” I demanded, needing him inside me so badly that I couldn’t breathe.
He lifted me and pulled me forward. “No, baby. You fuck me.”
“Is this even possible?” I asked hesitantly.
His grin was wicked and seductive. “Oh, yeah.”
I had to admit that I loved the weightlessness of the water, but I had to wiggle forward and grasp his cock roughly.
“Christ! Now, Paige,” he commanded, his voice raw with need.
I fit our bodies together, then sunk down as hard as I could. Sebastian took control, grasping my hips so he could surge up, sliding inside me and filling me until I moaned with satisfaction. “Yesssss!” I hissed, knowing I’d be content to stay just like this for a very long time.
“Ride me,” Sebastian urged, keeping a hard grasp on my hips.
I rose, then sunk back down as he surged up, the resulting sensation incredibly erotic as the warm water caressed my nipples every time I sunk down.
My hands tightened in his hair, and I leaned down to kiss him, desperate for a complete connection.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I needed this man completely. Sebastian filled every one of those empty places in my soul that had been exposed after we met.
He’d ripped them open, then repaired every one of them.
The slow ride necessitated by the water was frustrating, yet it drew out our pleasure, making my need build to the point of pain.
I pulled my mouth from his with an urgent scream. “Sebastian!”
“Easy, sweetheart,” he rasped. “Let it come.”
I rotated my hips, grinding down on his cock, needing the pressure on my clit.
“That’s it, Paige. Take it. Take what you want.”
“I want you,” I whimpered as I kept grinding against him.
“You have me,” he vowed huskily. “You have since you dissed me in that elevator.”
I rose and sunk down again, my grinding motion more desperate, more urgent.
Sebastian’s hands gripped my ass, and he massaged as I rotated my hips in a hypnotic motion, staying on the same rhythm of rising and falling, then rubbing myself against him. The pleasure built with every single move.
I suddenly flinched as I felt Sebastian fingering my anus, slowly sliding a finger into the puckered opening.
“Easy, babe,” he crooned. “You know I won’t hurt you.”
I relaxed, shaking off my old ghosts that told me that there was nothing but pain back there. As he synced his shallow penetration with the rise and fall of my body, I let myself enjoy the carnal sensation of the movement of Sebastian’s finger inside me. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t make me scream with pain. It made me crazy as I became more and more frenzied, the heat in my belly starting to shoot straight to my core.
My climax was different, visceral and all-consuming as it rocked my body and my soul.
“Yes, Sebastian. Yes.” I leaned down and joined our mouths, feeling like Sebastian was completely consuming me as he groaned against my lips.
I sunk down so he could fill me one more time, gyrating hard as I crashed down on top of him, his cock as far as it could possibly be inside me.
Sebastian’s harsh breathing was all I heard right before my orgasm overwhelmed me, making my entire body quiver as my core clenched down hard on his cock.
As I rode my incredible climax, Sebastian surged inside me a few more times, groaning in agony and ecstasy as he held me against him and let go of his hot release with a tortured curse. “Fuck. Yeah.”
We clung to each other, both of us struggling for breath as he pulled me flush against his naked body.
“I love you,” I said with a blissful sigh after I’d caught my breath.
Our bodies were meshed together, my arms around his neck and my head resting weary but content on his shoulder.
“I love you, too, Paige,” he rasped into my ear in a husky tone.
For once in my life, I knew what it meant to be ecstatically happy. I finally understood the euphoria my classmates and friends used to talk about when they were having conversations about the guys they loved.
“Thank you,” I mumbled against his warm skin.
He leaned back to look at my face. “For what?”
“For being you,” I whispered. “Thank you for seeing me.”
How Sebastian had seen things in me that others hadn’t was still a mystery to me, but I was grateful he was able to reach into my being and yank the real Paige from my cold and empty soul.
Now, all I could feel was a barrage of emotions, like every feeling I’d ever held back was finally free.
“I saw you because I knew me,” he answered, pulling me back against him and stroking my upper back in a soothing motion. “I ran away from everything for so long that it wasn’t hard to see what you were doing. I could feel your warmth, sweetheart, even though you didn’t show it. I can’t say I’m exactly warm and fuzzy, but I could recognize myself in you.”
In his own way, Sebastian was rather hot and very fuzzy. He had a heart of gold buried beneath some lingering cynicism. And he was relentless when he cared about someone.
“I never stood a chance,” I grumbled good-naturedly.
“Nope,” he agreed amiably. “Not from the moment you walked into that elevator. I was rock-hard almost instantly, and believe it or not, my interest in women was non-existent. I was too caught up in my new projects to care whether or not I got laid. I thought my dick was ready to shrivel up and die off.”
I let out a startled, delighted laugh. “I can guarantee it hadn’t started to get smaller.”
“You saved me,” he said with false, amused drama.
I shivered as I smiled, starting to feel the chill in the air now that I was above the water level. A cold wind had started up, and it penetrated the heat that was being thrown off by the mineral pool.
Sebastian, being the observant guy he was, stood up and lifted me into his arms, then sprinted into our cabin through the nearby sliding door.
I squealed as the cold bre
eze hit my naked body, taking my breath away. “Put me down. I’m no lightweight,” I chastised loudly.
“You’re a tiny little thing,” he argued as he put me back on my feet in the bathroom attached to the master bedroom. “We have to rinse off.”
I watched as he adjusted the water in the massive shower enclosure, admiring the strength and beauty of his naked body. He was perfectly formed and muscular, and I admired his rock-hard ass as he turned his back to get the water to a perfect temperature.
Unable to stop myself, I moved forward and pressed myself against his back, wrapping my arms around him and resting my head against his warm skin. “Sometimes I wonder how this happened?” I questioned aloud.
He turned slowly, then lifted his hand to release my messy hair from its confining clip, watching intently as the cascading locks fell around my shoulders. “Fate,” he said, his expression intense, his eyes dark with some emotion I couldn’t exactly name.
“Do you believe in destiny?” I asked curiously.
He kissed my forehead and clasped my hand. “I never did before, but I’m starting to think it exists. I’m a science guy. I only believed in things I could prove, analyze, or touch.”
“What happened?” I asked uncertainly.
“I met you,” he answered simply.
I smiled at him. “That’s it?”
“You were all I needed to prove to me that there are some things that can’t always be explained rationally. All I knew is that I needed you.”
My chest ached at his words. Sebastian wasn’t a flowery type of man, so those earnest words meant everything to me. “I needed you, too,” I replied in a breathless voice.
Our connection was elemental, simple yet intensely complicated if we wanted to keep driving ourselves crazy about why we fit.
I didn’t want to wonder about that anymore. I just wanted to make Sebastian as happy as he made me.
He tugged on my hand, leading me into the spray of clean water. “Bring on the magic,” he said, sounding amused.
I wanted to tell him that for me, the magic was already here. It was him. It was the way he cared about me, worried about me, did everything possible to fix my broken spirit.
