I gulp and then nod, finally regaining the ability to speak. “Are you ok—?”
The hard pressure of his warm mouth landing on mine feels so good, I instantly kiss him back, soaking in his warmth and amazing smell. He tugs me closer, and when he tilts my head, his tongue tracing along mine, seeking deeper intimacy, the snow caked on my hair seeps into my scalp, making me shiver.
Breaking our kiss, he brushes the snow out of my hair, his voice suddenly brusque. “We’re not going back to the hotel.”
“We’re not?”
Sebastian shakes his head, then rolls to his feet, pulling me with him. Scooping me up in his arms, he carries me across the snow-covered yard. Just as he sets me down on the pavement, Den reaches us, his attention on full alert as he addresses Sebastian. “Jesus, you weren’t kidding about the danger she’s in.” Shifting his gaze to me, he says, “Are you all right?”
When I nod, Sebastian looks over the crushed front end of the car, then peers past the broken glass and beyond the empty driver’s seat. Glancing up at Den, he says, “Steering wheel is tied and a heavy brick is on the gas pedal.” His narrowed gaze searches up the street where the car had to have started from, looking for the culprit. Shifting his attention back to Den, he says, “I’m taking Talia somewhere safe. I’ll send some of my men here. Check out the vehicle and let me know what you learn.”
“You shouldn’t take the car you came in just in case.” Den pulls a pair of keys out of his pants’ pocket. “Take my car. It’s around the corner on the backside of the church. I’ll be in touch.”
Sebastian cranks up the heat in Den’s BMW. I don’t say anything while he makes a call to someone named Elijah as he maneuvers through traffic. But once he hangs up and we’re on the highway, I say, “Sebastian…”
“Not a word,” he says in a clipped tone.
His expression is intense, his hold on the steering wheel tight. I’m not sure what he’s thinking, but I can’t just sit here. “We should—”
He reaches over and clasps my hand. “I didn’t think I was going to get to you in time, Talia.”
I glance down at his big hand folded around mine. The tension in his hold says volumes. He’s on-the-edge and really doesn’t want to talk. Not right now. So I fold my fingers around his hand and clamp my lips closed. He’ll talk when he’s ready.
After we pull up to a sky rise apartment building on the Upper East Side, I glance at Sebastian as he hands the car keys to the valet. Then he tugs me through an elegant main entrance and straight into an elevator.
He doesn’t release my hand. Instead he punches in a code with his free one, then hits the top floor button.
Who lives here? I wonder as we zip toward to the penthouse floor.
The moment we walk inside and low lights automatically turn on, Sebastian begins slipping the gold gilt eagle buttons of his coat free. Reaching over, he slides the silky black scarf from my throat. While he turns and sets them on a side table farther into the room, I stand in the entryway, staring in awe at the floor-to-ceiling windows that span across the entire apartment and the amazing city-view beyond.
Sebastian stalks forward, and I back up at the focused look on his face. Placing his hands on the intricately carved doorjamb on either side of me, he commands in a low tone, “Take off your coat.”
“Is this your apartment?” I ask as I fumble with the buttons.
He straightens and yanks his tie off, then unbuttons the top two buttons on his shirt, his fingers moving with swift precision. “It’s wet. Get it off.”
As soon as I shrug out of it, he takes my coat and tosses it behind him. When it lands in a heavy heap on the polished wood floor, he steps into my personal space. His broad shoulders blocking me in. “There’s only one place I want to be right now. Take your underwear off.”
Stomach fluttering with anticipation, I swallow and start to speak, but his mouth sets in a determined line. “If I remove them, you won’t be able to put them back on.”
My heart races as I toe off my heels and then start to shimmy out of my underwear. Now that I’m barefoot, Sebastian’s massive size towers over me. But he hasn’t moved back an inch; he’s taking up my entire personal bubble. Once I’ve kicked my underwear to the side, he clasps my hips and slides his hands down my curves. Bunching my skirt between his fingers, he dips his head, his husky voice vibrating against my jaw. “Unbuckle my pants, Talia. Show me that you want us.”
My hands shake with my own need, but I manage to unbuckle his belt. Quickly sliding the leather out of the loops, I drop the belt to the floor with a loud clatter. When I reach for the button on his pants, Sebastian’s lips mark a searing path down the side of my throat. I gasp in excitement when his hands slip under my dress to palm my bare hips in a fierce hold, warm skin to warm skin.
“Touch me,” he commands, his fingers digging into my ass.
The second I push his pants and boxers down, and then wrap my fingers around his thick erection, Sebastian exhales harshly in my ear. Stepping aggressively between my thighs, he effortlessly lifts me, sliding my body along the door.
Heart thrumming, I grip his shoulders and wrap my legs around his hips, holding his serious gaze as he slowly lowers me until his cock slides just inside me. The tease shatters my even breathing. As a gust of want rushes past my lips, Sebastian closes his eyes for a second, then snaps them open. The lustful heat and yearning in them whooshes the rest of the air from my lungs. “You’re soaking me, and it’s sweet fucking torture. It has always been for me, hasn’t it, Talia?”
Tears spill down my cheeks with my nod.
“I need to hear you say it,” he says, desperate.
I clasp his jaw with both hands. “I want you to fraternize me senseless, in every way possible, Sebastian. You’re the only man I’ve ever wanted.”
A rumble of unadulterated satisfaction sounds in his throat and he pulls my body down over him in one powerful jerk.
As I let out a wail of shocked pleasure, he goes completely still and locks his hands on my hips, keeping me in place. “Don’t move. Not one muscle,” he orders.
I bite my lip, but even as I nod I can’t stop my body’s reaction to finally feeling him deep inside me. Of their own accord, my lower muscles begin to contract around him, and once they start, my orgasm rushes over me. I vaguely register what sounds like wood cracking as my body is racked with pulses of intense shudders, quickly followed by chill bumps scattering across tingling skin.
Sebastian mutters colorful curse words, then drops his head to my shoulder, literally shaking. Once my body stops clenching around his hardness, I slide my fingers through his hair and clasp his head to my shoulder, whispering in his ear, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop. I can’t help how you make me feel, Sebastian. It’s just too intense.”
“Fuck-ing hell.” His breathing continues to bellow, his back and shoulder muscles turning hard as stone. Pressing his face into the crook of my neck and shoulder, he grips my ass with both hands and takes several deep breaths. I didn’t even realize he’d been holding me up with just one hand until then. Finally, he stops quaking.
A warm, steady breath rushes out, teasing my collarbone just before his grip on me tightens. Slowly withdrawing from me, he slides his thick length back inside with an erotic roll of his hips. As he moans along my neck, pressing his mouth against my skin, I twist my fingers in his hair and hold on, soaking in every breathy bit of the mounting intensity and passion between us.
He picks up the pace, this time burying himself so deep I lean my head back and relish the gratifying sensation of being so thoroughly taken. Arching, I begin to move with him, meeting his powerful thrusts with counters of my own.
Sebastian pauses and hooks one arm under my ass and the other against my back. On a deep rush of breath, he says, “Hold on a sec, Little Red.” Stepping out of his pants and boxers, he walks us over to the black leather couch.
Lifting me off him, he sets me down on my feet, then quickly turns me around to un
zip my dress.
By the time I step out of my dress and slide free of my bra, he’s already taken his shirt off. Tugging me onto the couch, Sebastian tucks me under his powerful body, then clasps my hands, pulling them over my head.
Our breathing ramps once more as his knee nudges my thighs apart. When he slowly eases himself inside me once more, he rumbles, “Fuck, you’re perfect, Talia. Made for me.” Letting out a primal sound, he dips his head and sucks one of my nipples into his mouth, then releases it. He does the same to the other, but doesn’t stop increasing his mouth’s pressure until I moan. As soon as I start to move my hips, he jerks his forward, thrusting hard.
I arch into the erotic sensation of his rough claiming of my body. Tugging my hands free, I dig my nails into his back, jacking his desire even more. “I want to smell like you, Sebastian, to be unable to walk tomorrow without cursing. You keep telling me I’m yours, show me why I’ll always feel empty without you inside me.”
“I am the last fucking man for you,” he vows. Hooking his hand on my thigh, he yanks it high up on his hip, and a fierce roar erupts from his throat as he surges deep. His balls teasing my sensitive sex, Sebastian rocks against me, grinding his hard body along my clit, heightening my desire with just the right amount of pressure. When I squirm and gasp, my insides tightening, building toward release, he says in a low, determined tone, “There’s no question you’re mine. That you will always be mine.”
The intensity of his words, mixed with the sharp edge of pleasure/pain he inflicts as his powerful frame stakes its claim on my body, puts me on the precipice, but it’s the last statement he utters before clamping his teeth on my bottom lip that sends me over. “And I am yours.”
The bliss and intensity of my orgasm is so extreme that my vision dims, then it blurs with tears. Sebastian captures my cries of pleasure in a dominant kiss before he follows me over. I hold him close and relish the sound of his guttural shout and the comforting sensation of his big muscular body locked to mine while he coats my insides, thoroughly marking me his.
Sebastian doesn’t move. Instead, he lowers his forehead to mine and stays buried. After a few seconds, he lifts his head and frowns when he brushes my hair back. “You’ve got a cut on your forehead.”
“Ice,” I explain, then touch my thumb next to a gash along his jawline. “Yours looks deeper. I wonder if you’ll need stitches.”
“I’ve had worse.” He meets my gaze and slides his knuckles along my cheekbone. “What made you finally say ‘yes’?”
I’m surprised by the brief vulnerable look in his eyes. Smiling, I shake my head. “I finally let go of losing you.”
His brows pull down. “Are you saying you don’t care if you lose me now?”
I slide my fingers through his bangs. Gripping them in a fist, I hold on tight. “No, Sebastian. I decided to stop being afraid of losing you.”
“Is that why you kept me at arm’s length all this time? Because you were afraid you’d lose me?” With a laugh, he cups my breasts, pushes them together, then buries his nose in the cleavage. Inhaling like a man starved, his deep voice rumbles against my chest. “Why would I ever leave such beautiful breasts?”
I smack his shoulder. “Oh, so it’s my chest you’re infatuated with now, is it?”
His eyes snap to mine, a wicked smile flashing. “How many times do I have to tell you it’s my second favorite place? I guess I’ll just have to show you.”
He moves so fast, standing and gathering me in his arms, all I can do is wrap my arms around his shoulders, my stomach fluttering in anticipation of his plans.
As Sebastian passes the table with his jacket, an idea forms and I snag my black scarf. While he carries me into a huge bedroom with a massive king-size bed, I quickly tie the scarf around my eyes. Once he flips on the warm floodlights in the bathroom and sets me down, I turn toward him and grin when I realize I can see him through the gauzy material. Twirling one end of the scarf between my fingers, I tease, “Hmmm, bring back any memories?”
Emotion churns in Sebastian’s gaze. “Actually, I have a better idea,” he says as he removes the scarf. “Would you like to take a shower like I do?” he asks against my ear.
I nod, intrigued.
Sebastian flips the light switch back off, dousing the room in darkness. Then he pushes another button on the wall and skylights above the shower appear at the same time ceiling-to-floor vertical blinds begin to turn against the far wall, allowing the city lights to bleed into the room. “Is that a Jacuzzi?” I ask, staring at the huge sunken tub next to the blinds.
“We’ll use it another time,” he says, his voice full of sensual promise as he clasps my hand and guides me toward a huge walk-in shower.
Once he taps on a button along the outside of the shower, and water begins to pour out of the square plate in the ceiling in a smooth, steady rain, Sebastian pulls me under the warm spray.
Pressing my back against his hard chest, he wraps his arms around my waist and tilts his head back, exhaling in contentment as the water spills over our bodies.
I sigh blissfully when Sebastian dribbles shampoo on my scalp and begins to massage suds into my hair. Once he rinses the suds away, he pours body soap down the middle of my chest and as the masculine scent of the liquid slides all the way to the hair between my legs, I arch into his knowing hands, wrapping my arms around his neck while his hands slide sensually across my chest before moving down to appreciate the full weight of my breasts.
He kisses behind my ear, down my neck and then along my jaw the whole time his hands are on my breasts. Cupping them, he slides his thumbs around the areolas several times before tweaking my nipples. Just when I think I’m going to lose it all over again, his hands shift to massage along my arms.
After he turns his attention to my waist, Sebastian’s fingers curve around my hipbones and meet at my bellybutton before slowly sliding down to the hair between my thighs. When his fingers dip lower, I tighten my arms around his neck and nip at his jaw, encouraging him to spend as much time in that area as he deems necessary.
His low laugh rumbles against my back before he clasps my elbows and pulls my arms down to run his hands over mine. When he slides his thumbs along my palms and then rubs each finger individually, I’m thoroughly enthralled by his attentive exploration of my body. Then I turn around and start to return the favor. But while I’m massaging shampoo into his hair and his eyes are squeezed shut to avoid the suds, he grasps my hips and rubs his erection against me. I laugh and instantly move my sudsy hands to his cock and begin to bathe him thoroughly.
Groaning, Sebastian tilts his head back and lets the water rinse away the soap in his hair. When the action also rinses the suds from my hands, I lean over and slide my lips down his erection. Taking him deep into my mouth, I suck hard then twist my tongue around him as I pull upward. I love hearing his growl of pleasure and the feel of his hand snaking into my hair, fisting the wet locks between his fingers.
“Every part of you feels so fucking good around me.” His strangled words rush out on a frustrated grunt right before he uses his hold to pull me off him.
“What the hell, Sebastian!” I gasp at the sudden cold sensation of the shower wall against my back, but Sebastian presses his hard body fully against mine and captures my mouth in a devastating kiss, devouring me with a wild abandon I’ve never felt from him before.
As the steam between us starts to compete with the steam in the shower, he slows the arousing sexual rhythm of his tongue against mine and breaks the kiss to murmur against my cheekbone, “I have plans that involve coming long and hard in that beautiful pussy of yours, Little Red. I want to be up to the task.”
When he tilts my chin and presses a gentle kiss to my forehead near my wound, I grumble, “One of these days, you’ll let me give you a proper blow job.”
Hooking his thumb on my chin, his blue gaze drills into me. “I don’t want to think about how you became so incredibly talented in that area, but rest assured, from the t
easers I’ve had, I’m relishing being totally sucked in by you.”
I giggle at his pun and his lips quirk. Chuckling, he turns me in his arms. As he moves us under the spray once more, I lean my head back against his shoulder and sigh my pleasure of feeling so content in his arms. Holding my hand out, I enjoy the massaging sensation of the water battering away on my palm. “I had no idea taking a shower in the dark could be so sensory.”
Sebastian cups one of his hands just above mine, gathering water in it. “What do you see, Talia?”
As I stare at the pool of water, he opens his fingers and it all drains away, hitting my hand below and sliding off in clear rivulets. “I see water.”
“Do you remember what my three favorite things were on your invitation to that ball at Hawthorne’s?”
I lay my palm on his and fold our hands together. “They were black, red, and water.”
I feel him nod behind me. “Like us, water is a favorite because it’s one constant that never changes. It always remains the same. No matter what.”
I melt that he’s calling us, Black and Red, just as steady and constant as water, but the underlying tone of his voice sounds both frustrated yet grudgingly accepting, making me wonder what deeper meaning he’s trying to convey. When he cups the water in his hand again and exhales deeply as he lets it go, I suddenly understand what he’s trying to tell me.
I’ve been doing everything I can to get Sebastian to tell me about his colorblindness, while Sebastian, in his own way, has been showing me the limits of his vision. Taking me into the shower with him tips the first domino. And just like that, the cumulative effect of all the things he’s said and done come rushing toward me, falling into place.
Water is absolutely one thing that would remain the same in a world suddenly stripped of color. He might’ve loved water when he was in the Navy, but now the clear liquid has an even greater significance in his life. It represents normalcy. Just like standing in evening light does. All colors turn monotone in the night’s shadowy light. That’s what he meant that night I walked in his dark hotel room and he said “this feels normal to me.”
Blackest Red Page 21
