Pulling back ever so slightly, his eyes dipped to my mouth, and before I could say anything else, a needy sound escaped my throat as Sebastian’s lips captured mine in a long awaited kiss.
He pushed us back against the wall, his hands moving to cup my jaw. Our tongues were already entangled when he tilted my head back to deepen the contact. He kissed me like he was a part of me—like we were two halves of a soul, absorbing each other to make one.
His hands dropped from my face, grazing my skin as he moved one to my waist and used the other to cup the back of my thigh. He lifted my leg with his calloused palm, hooking it around him. My gown shifted to the side, the slit in the fabric revealing more of my skin to him than I'd intended.
I couldn’t even tell if I was breathing anymore. He kissed me so hard that air was no longer a priority. I was certain that even if my lungs dried up, I would be able to thrive as long as he kept kissing me.
“I’ve wanted you since you first challenged me all those months ago,” Sebastian uttered into our kiss. His hand ran up my exposed leg, slipping under my dress and moving up my thigh. I gasped as his fingers teased the lace of my panties, his knuckles skimming beneath them, subsequently creating a pool of wetness from my core.
“I never should have let it get to this point. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t let myself feel this way about you,” his lust-enhanced voice spoke between the movements of our tongues.
“But why?”
“Some may call it an abuse of power, or me taking advantage of you.”
“It's not being taken advantage of if I want it, too.”
He gave me a look that made me liquify, then he growled into me, the guttural tone making my body crave more. I moved my arms to his shoulders, grasping the material of his jacket and pulling the sleeves down. I tossed the coat to the floor and ran my hands up the hardness of his chest.
“Seb,” I moaned his name into his mouth as his tongue laced with mine in an exquisite dance of lust. Our hips ground against each other, the hardness that lay beneath his slacks rubbing against me.
This is what I'd always imagined it to be—him and I. He was everything my soul needed, making me feel whole for the first time since the summer. Though I didn't want the moment to end, before it went any further, I needed to tell him the true extent of my longing.
“Seb?” I repeated his name in the hint of a question.
“Maeve?” His voice ached with lust, but he forced our mouths to break apart. His hand still gripped my thigh and he directed his kisses to my neck while I spoke.
“I didn't finish what I wanted to say.”
“I’m listening.” His tongue traced my neck through his words.
“I want all of you. Every piece of you,” I practically moaned as his mouth explored my skin.
He separated his lips from my skin so that he could lock eyes with me.
“I feel things for you that I've never felt in my life. Things that I didn't know were possible to feel.”
He dropped my leg to the ground, not breaking his gaze.
“I want to be with you. I want to know everything about you. I want you to me show the parts of you that you think will scare me—the parts of you that scareyou.I want it all.”Reaching my hand out to stroke his face, I leaned in close, whispering to him, “I need you.”
His jaw clenched, and his whole demeanor shifted to one that I couldn't even describe. He grabbed my wrist, removing my hand from his face so he could back away from me. “I can't give you that,” he said flatly.
My stomach twisted in agony. “What?” I stuttered. I was certainly not expecting that to be his reaction after the way we were just kissing.
“I may be what youthinkyou want, but trust me when I say that I’m not what you need.” His fists clenched by his side as he shook his head.
“You don't get to tell me what I want,” I argued.
“No. I don't,” he started, taking a step back. “But you can't tell me what I want, either.”
My entire being crumbled at his words. He didn't want this, too? Despair flickered off of me like sweat. “You just said you wanted me?—”
He cut me off. “It doesn't matter what I said. I can't do this. I can't have you. I won't,” he snarled, his words so harsh and so cold that the temperature of the hallway dropped.
“So what? You just wanted to screw me? Is that it?” I spat in his face, suddenly consumed by anger.
“No,” he scoffed. “I'm not that much of a prick.”
