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“Would you just let me help?” I snap, covering my relief. “You’re a terrible patient.”
“Well, you’re not winning any nursing awards,” he shoots back, slowly pulling a fresh sweater over his head.
“This is the thanks I get, for saving your damn life.” I make a show of rolling my eyes as I straighten up his bed things. “I should have left you splashing around in that lake.”
“So why didn’t you?”
Sebastian’s question is quiet, and when I look over, the humor is gone from his gaze.
“Why didn’t you just leave me there?” he asks again, his eyes burning into mine with unreadable emotion. “If you hate me so much, why didn’t you walk away and let fate take its course?”
“Because I’d like to make it out of these mountains without frostbite, and you’re the only one who knows where the fuse box is,” I reply lightly, avoiding his gaze.
He’s quiet for a long moment, and I can’t resist the urge to look at him again. He’s looking at me like I’m a complicated puzzle he’s trying to put together.
“I don’t believe you,” he says simply.
“That’s your prerogative.” I reply, still flippant. “Now, eat your soup, and take it easy. I’ll be downstairs.”
“Avery.” His voice stops me before I can leave, commanding. “Talk to me. Tell me the truth.”
The truth…
I give a hollow laugh, whirling back to face him. “You want the truth? Fine.” I exclaim, throwing my hands up in defeat. “I couldn’t let you die. I thought about it,” I add fiercely. “Believe me, I wanted to let you drown. Just slip away and be gone for my life for good. Maybe then, I’d have some fucking peace. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it!” I yell, remembering my terror at seeing him slip beneath the water. “You and me, we’re connected now, however twisted that might be. I can’t live with you, and I can’t live without you. Is that what you wanted to hear?” I demand, shoving at his chest in anger. “Are you happy now?”
“No!” Sebastian yells back. “None of this is what I wanted. Fuck, Avery, do you think I would have come after you if I had any choice in it at all? This is just about killing me, to know you hate me, but to still be consumed by you. Who the fuck would choose to live this way?”
Me.
“I don’t hate you.” The words slip out in a whisper, before I can stop them. My cheeks flush, and I look away at the reluctant confession. “Not anymore. I wish that I did,” I add helplessly, feeling that treacherous ache in my chest, all the confusion and longing and echoes of anger mingling in a toxic cocktail. “It would make it all so much easier, but… I don’t.”
It wasn’t hate that’s kept me up these last nights, praying for his survival. Tending to him, willing him to pull through. It hasn’t been hate in my heart, bargaining with the clouded skies, making a hundred deals with the devil, just to see Sebastian wake again.
It was love.
I stop myself from saying it just in time. That’s just the panic talking; all the stress I’ve been through over the past few days. But when I look up, Sebastian is watching me with a new intensity burning in his eyes.
“I don’t hate you either,” he says, with an aching smile on his lips. “God knows I should, the way you’ve tormented me, but… When I was going under, when I thought it was the end… All I could think was that I had to survive. Foryou.”
Oh God.
I don’t think twice. I close the distance between us, throw my arms around his neck, and kiss him with everything I have.
Sebastian almost stumbles back in surprise, but then his hands are cradling my face, and his mouth is on mine, tongues tangling in a sensual, heady dance; not harsh, or punishing, the way it’s been between us here at the cabin, but something softer.
Tender.
Oh.
I melt into him, and we tumble back onto the bed, suddenly hungry, starved for each other’s touch. His hands are everywhere, and I arch against him, needing to feel him against me. Inside me.Everywhere.
I fumble with the waistband of his pajama pants, and Sebastian groans, already bucking his hard cock into my hand through the cotton fabric. “Baby,” he breathes heavily, and the rasp in his voice reminds me just how close he’s come to death. He’s still getting his strength back, and as much as I want him pounding hard into me, I know we’ll have to wait for that.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t have any fun…
I pull back, and lean above him, with a flirty grin. “Now, what did I say about taking it easy?” I murmur, stroking over his cock.
Sebastian groans again, his head falling back onto the pillows. “Don’t torture me, I don’t think I can take it.”
