by Amity Cross
I hadn’t told anyone about what Robbo had tried to do. Maybe I should’ve but telling would also mean I’d have to let slip that Sebastian Hale was in the Point. I couldn’t lie on a police report. I wasn’t made for a life of crime. I was too hellbent on the whole honesty is the best policy manifesto, so if Sergeant Conway asked, I’d be obliged to tell him a rock star king hit my attacker and saved the day, then there’d be this whole thing.
Anyway, I didn’t even know if Sebastian was still here or if he’d already gone. We’d almost kissed twice now, and I wasn’t sure how many times a man like him could be pushed away until he went and found another woman to warm his bed. Maybe he’d gone back to ploughing Mallory Grigorio.
“I thought I told you not to look at those.”
My gaze shot up and I yelped.
“Vanessa!” I slapped my hand over my thumping heart. “What are you doing here?”
The automatic doors swished open and closed, and the scanner was beeping at the register behind us as the attendant swiped a load of groceries.
“Stalking you to make sure you don’t get sucked into the fake news void.” She grasped my shoulders and turned me around so I was facing the door.
“Wait. Who’s minding the shop? Did you lock the door?”
“Don’t worry about that.” She waved her hand at me, dismissing my concern.
“The last time you left Ziggy in the shop unattended he took a crap in the mystery section.”
“Well, it wasn’t a mystery who done it, that’s for sure,” she said, stifling a laugh.
“Vanessa.”
“Have I got something to show you!” Her smile widened, and I knew something was up. Probably something dodgy.
“I’m not in the mood for surprises,” I grumbled.
“You’ll love it! I promise!” Vanessa dragged me out into the street, laughing as she went. “You’ve been down in the dumps ever since you saw you know who at the pub.”
“The rock star who shall not be named?”
“Oh, shush!”
We crossed the street and turned onto the main road. I hated surprises. The last one I got was the phone call from the hospital to say Mum had died. They’d told me to go home, so I hadn’t been there when she’d unexpectedly left the mortal coil. Surprises were awful.
“Vanessa,” I cried with a dramatic moan, “I have surprise-related trauma, you can’t do this to me.”
“I’m about to erase it, Juni,” she said, opening the door to the Page Break. “Voila!”
As I stepped into the shop, my heart stopped beating before it started with a painful jerk. There, on the floor in front of the music section, was Sebastian and Ziggy.
“Now, choose carefully.” He held up two books for the little dog to peruse. “Slash’s autobiography or Nikki Sixx’s. Guns ‘n’ Roses or Mötley Crüe.”
Ziggy’s tail thumped on the floor, then he lifted his right paw and tapped the Nikki Sixx book.
“Good boy!” Sebastian exclaimed, dropping the books and roughing up the little Jack Russell. “You’re such a good boy, you know that?”
We stared at the pair in awed shock and the shopping bag slipped from my fingers and hit the floor.
“My ovaries just exploded,” Vanessa said.
“I need new knickers,” I added.
Sebastian’s head rose, and he smiled when he saw us staring at him. He looked different. Cleaner maybe? Was that a good thing to notice about someone? He’d shaved, his hair was artfully arranged, his clean manly smell permeated the entire shop, and his aura was humming. I breathed deeply. No alcohol stench, either.
“Ziggy,” Vanessa called, and the little dog zoomed across the shop.
She clipped on his lead and left without so much as a goodbye. Subtle, Ness, real subtle. This had been arranged and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. My emotions had been out of sync since the day I’d met that mystery guy on the beach and after all our push and pull, I had no clue where this was going. Jumping to conclusions was bad.
“You look...” I trailed off, knowing I probably sounded lame as hell.
“I’ve been thinking,” Sebastian began, glancing at the windows.
I turned only to find Vanessa’s nose pressed against the glass. Ziggy was underneath her arm, his beady little eyes focused on his reflection. Clucking my tongue, I crossed the shop floor and yanked the blind down, shutting them out.
“Sorry about that,” I said, my cheeks heating to inferno levels. “She’s very... enthusiastic.”
Sebastian’s lips quirked and he raked his hand through his hair. Standing, he took a step towards me.
“I thought you’d gone back,” I murmured, the shop feeling smaller than usual.
“I’ve got until the end of the month to make a decision,” he said with a shrug.
I frowned, tilting my head to the side. “A decision about what?”
“It’s like that song by The Clash,” he said. “Should I Stay or Should I Go.”
I smirked. I knew the song and got the reference completely. Going would mean he’d be in trouble but staying... there’d be double. Right now, he was in limbo.
“Why wouldn’t you want to go back?” I asked. “I mean, it’s what you love, right?”
“I don’t know.” He stepped closer, his warmth and spicy male scent wafting towards me.
“Oh?” I swallowed hard. “What’s holding you back?”
He blinked and lowered his gaze. “A lot of things.”
“Like?”
I was playing with fire again. He had to see the way he affected me, right? He wasn’t stupid. He was brooding but thoughtful, tortured yet passionate. He was an artist with a dilemma that reached down into his very soul.
“Reality,” he whispered.
I nodded. He’d come here to talk. I was the person he’d opened up a little to, the person he trusted. The woman on the beach who didn’t know who he was when he wanted anonymity the most. I bit my bottom lip as my hopes shattered. He hadn’t come here because he couldn’t live without me. This wasn’t one of those romantic plot twists.
“Sometimes I fear I’m becoming my father,” he said leaning against the counter. “Like I’m a train wreck waiting to happen. For me, that kind of implosion isn’t private. It’d be all over the press in excruciating detail. I’d be torn apart and dissected, used to make vultures rich.”
“We’re not our parents,” I said deciding to be the person who slapped him off the spiral. “That’s something I have to believe because otherwise, our lives are already plotted out. What’s the point in living if the ending’s already written?”
“You really think so?”
“Those fears are an illusion. We are our own people.”
“My entire life feels like that,” he murmured. “Fake.”
“At some point, it has to be real,” I said. “Nothing is totally fake. If you want something solid, then you have to make the effort to push through the bullshit and take it. Isn’t that what you want?”
He nodded, his breath catching.
“Why are you here?” I demanded.
“Huh?” He seemed confused, which annoyed me even more.
“Why are you here?”
“I—”
“This isn’t a game to me, Sebastian. I know who the world thinks you are. I know the image you lived up to, but that’s not the guy I see here.” I placed my palm on his chest, my fingers curling into his shirt. Warmth spread through me and my breathing quickened. “You’ve got to let go of all that crap and find your light.”
The air felt thick and I drew in a deep breath, his scent filling my lungs. Sebastian’s gaze softened and the gap closed between us.
“The lies... they just kept piling up. The image outshone the reality,” he murmured, finally opening his heart. “I’m screaming, but no one can hear me.”
His gaze drilled into mine, his stormy eyes full of a swirling mass of emotions. He was drowning and I reached out, my words pulling him up and out of
the crashing waves.
“I can,” I whispered. “I can hear you, Sebastian.”
“Juniper...” He tensed, then exhaled. “Oh, fuck it.”
His hand curled around the back of my neck and he pulled me towards him. The moment his lips met mine, every fail-safe I’d installed to protect myself from this tortured man evaporated. I fell into his embrace, clutching onto his jacket for dear life as his tongue swept into my mouth.
His grip on me tightened as we lost ourselves in our kiss. The feelings I’d fought since that day on the beach overwhelmed me to the point of incoherence. I was hungry—no, I was starving—for him.
We didn’t speak, we didn’t slow, and when he lifted me in his arms, I wrapped my legs around his waist and let him carry me upstairs. The door slammed, he bashed his shin into the side table, we skimmed off the wall, then we fell onto my bed. Tearing at each other’s clothing, our lips barley parted as he stripped me down to my bra and knickers.
Sebastian pressed his forehead against mine, letting out a moan as his palm brushed over the peak of my breast. His shirt was gone, lying somewhere on the floor, and his jeans were undone, but still hanging on his hips. He was anchored over me, his leg between mine, holding his weight on each elbow on either side of my body.
There was a moment of hesitation, like we’d reached the point of no return and he was silently asking for my permission to smash through the final barrier... but there was none. I pushed against his touch, wanting all of him. His eyes darkened, their stormy waves a tornado of longing.
He dragged my underwear down my legs and unhooked my bra, exposing the last parts of me to his gaze. A low moan of appreciation escaped his lips as his hand travelled over my breasts, caressing the curve of my waist, and finally nestled between my legs. Then he slipped a finger inside me, deep. The heel of his hand rubbed slow circles around my clit and I jerked against his hand as a sharp bolt of pleasure sparked through my body.
“So wet,” he murmured, pushing a second finger in with the first.
“Sebastian.” I closed my eyes and moved in tandem with his fingers, my fingers grasping the sheets.
I ran my hands down his back and pushed at his jeans. I wanted him like I’ve never wanted a man before and fuck whatever happened next.
He was impatient and yanked off the last barrier between us, tossing his jeans and boxers onto the floor. All of him was on show above me and I could see it, why the world thought he was a fucking sex god. Why every woman wanted to get down on her knees for him. Why he’s Sebastian Hale.
I was a knot of tension and waited as he knelt over me, his cock erect and ready. My gaze locked onto him and I teased my clit, watching as he rolled a condom over his length. Fuck, even that was hot.
I bit my bottom lip, watching his movements, and I feel myself staring to overthink. It’s been a long time since I’d been with anyone—and I couldn’t remember any guy knowing how to get me off with any kind of precision—but right now desire was overriding my apprehension and all I wanted was him inside me.
I’d fantasised about this moment for weeks, desperately wanting to rub one out just thinking about him. Fighting the attraction I knew was growing between us was torture, but this was worse—aroused and waiting.
Sebastian fisted his cock, his gaze meeting mine as he began to rub his tip along my seam. Trembling, I opened my legs and shuddered as he slid inside. Like I said, torture.
“Sebastian.” I wriggled underneath him in an attempt to force him farther inside me.
“I want you so fucking much,” he said, his voice strained. His gaze met mine, his stormy eyes asking permission.
“Take me.”
He thrust into me, his cock gliding through my arousal and I cried out his name. I was nothing but feeling as he took me with unrelenting force. I had no time, no reprieve. There was nothing but carnal need. He fucked me like I was his lifeline, like he needed to feel me from deep within to hold onto reality.
I gasped and moaned as his cock slammed into me—over and over, harder and faster. I dug my fingernails into his back and opened my legs wider. His cock drove deeper and his mouth found mine. Breathy kisses mixed with grunts of pleasure, and then his tongue was wrapping around my nipples. First the right, then his teeth dug against the left. I broke under his relentless desire and my climax rose all too soon.
“Sebastian,” I managed to choke out, “I’m—”
Before I could get the words past my tongue, my orgasm ripped through me, my body clenching around Sebastian’s cock. A groan tore from the back of his throat and his pace became erratic.
“Come, Juni,” he growled into my ear. “Let me hear you.”
Unable to deny myself the pleasure, I let go. I was crying out, screaming, moaning, and writhing as I came apart. He knew the exact spot to hit with his hips, grinding expertly against my clit to draw out the sensation.
Then his cock pulsed inside me—a feeling I’d never experienced before—and I knew he was coming hard. I’d made him come inside me. I moved against him, circling my hips and driving him deep.
“Fuck, Juniper...”
As we came down from the rush, our chests heaved in tandem and our lips merged in slow kisses. We were locked together with his cock inside me, the last shudders of pleasure rippling through our bodies.
In that moment, tangled with him on my bed, I knew I was falling. Not in lust, but something deeper, something much more dangerous. What we’d just done, it wasn’t just a fuck, it was giving in to the inevitable. I wanted to keep him.
Not wanting to read too much into it, I swallowed hard and ran my hand over his back. Relish it, Juniper. It might only be for just now.
“That was un-fucking-believable,” he whispered, letting his cock slip out of me. “Your pussy is so tight.”
I moaned, the notion of talking dirty a foreign concept.
“What?” His gaze met mine.
“I...” My cheeks felt flushed from fucking so at least I could hide my embarrassment.
Sebastian chuckled as he pulled off the condom. “I’m going to fuck you again, just so you know. But if you want it, you’re going to have to tell me how you like to get off, Juniper Rowe.”
He rolled over me again, his hands capturing my face as his lips brushed along the curve of my neck. His touch was electrifying. Every nerve ending was alive with want for this wild and intense man.
Oh fuck, I’d slept with a rock star. Not just any rock star, the most notorious bad boy in the history of the fucking world. I’d just had his cock inside me. He’d fucked me with his fingers. I just fucked Sebastian Hale.
“Shh,” he murmured, sensing my silent freak out. “You’ve done something to me.” His already hardening cock was pressing into my hip. “You’re in my fucking blood, Juni.”
I squirmed, my breathing quickening. He’d called me Juni.
“What have you done to me?” His palm brushed over my breast and I shuddered.
“To you?” I whispered, desperate to feel him inside me again. “What have you done to me?”
I didn’t have to tell him what I wanted. Sheathed, he took me slowly, our bodies grinding together in a slow dance of unbearable pleasure.
We rose and fell, entwined, and just like his song I’d played on repeat, Scream and Feel, we gave each other everything.
All that we were, was feeling.
12
Sebastian
It was still dark when I woke. That was the thing about winter I hated the most—the dark sunrise and the cold as fuck air that accompanied it.
Juniper’s body was warm against mine, and the curve of her arse nestled against my cock, which was already stiff with some epic morning wood.
I breathed in the scent of sex, sweat, and the citrusy perfume that usually clung to her skin, and felt the gentle rise and fall of her shoulders.
I’d had the most intense sex of my fucking life last night. Four times in a fucking row.
I’d never shared such raw need with so
meone before. The feel of her body underneath mine, the taste of her arousal on my tongue, her lips around my cock, her panting moans, her unbearable orgasms—it was all etched in my mind forever. One taste and I was addicted.
I wanted her again.
And again.
And again.
I rubbed my eyes, the air icy against my warm skin. There must be frost outside. A gas heater was set against the wall, so I slipped out of bed and flicked the button, the ignition clicking as it lit the gas. Holding the button down as the unit warmed, I shivered, the cold air raising goosebumps over my bare arse cheeks.
“Hey.”
I turned at the sound of Juniper’s sleepy voice, grinning when her gaze lowered to my cock. It twitched on cue and she buried her face under the covers, leaving one eye free to peek.
“I thought you’d be cold,” I said, completely unashamed by the fact I was sporting an erection. I eased my finger off the button and allowed the heater to do its thing.
“It’s warm in here,” she said, her voice muffled by the blanket.
Climbing back into bed, I captured her with a kiss, my cock grinding against her thigh. Juniper sighed, her palms caressing my back as her nails dragged along my flesh.
I sucked a hard nipple into my mouth and teased, pushing her legs open.
“You’re wet again,” I murmured, my lips brushing along the curve of her breast.
“You’re hard again,” she breathed.
Fisting my cock, I stroked along her seam, teasing as my free hand fumbled for another condom. I sheathed myself with expert precision, and paused just long enough to breathe her in.
I could fuck Juniper Rowe all day and night. I could fuck her so hard that nothing else mattered.
Anchoring myself over her, I thrust deep, my cock gliding through her slickness. Her back arched off the mattress and she cried out in pleasure, the gasp making my balls tense.
