Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 88305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I must be imagining things.
Soon after, though, Mom walks back inside, accompanied by none other than the Black Devils’ captain and quarterback.
The tray nearly falls to the floor and my legs struggle to keep me upright.
Sebastian is here. In my house.
What the…?
I blink twice to make sure he’s actually here. Yup, there he is, dressed in designer jeans that hang low on his sinful hips. A gray T-shirt stretches across his hard abs that his denim jacket is unable to hide.
His hair is styled back and his star smile is on complete display. So what if I can sense the hollowness behind it? Everyone else only sees the accomplishments and the quarterback image.
Everyone else is only interested in what’s on the surface.
All this time, I thought I was, too, but something changed last night.
Or maybe it’s been there all along and is only now making itself known.
“Your friend came to see you, Nao,” Mom announces ever so casually, as if I actually have any friends aside from Lucy.
I finally find my voice, but it still comes out low, “He’s not my friend, Mom.”
“She’s right.” Sebastian offers her his million-dollar-all-American-boy smile. “I’m actually trying to court her.”
She raises a brow, her gaze flitting between the two of us before she mutters, “Good luck with that.”
And then she ascends the stairs, slowly disappearing from view.
Leaving me alone.
Or with Sebastian—which is way worse.
Ignoring him—and my general state of flustering panic—I try to walk at a steady pace. I miraculously place the tray on the coffee table and sit on the sofa without knocking anything over.
My voice, however, is a little strangled when I speak, “You can leave. The door is right there.”
A heavy weight flops beside me, causing a dip in the sofa. The pungent scent of bergamot and pepper assaults my nostrils and overwhelms my senses.
My space is filled with his nefarious presence. I’ve never been this close to Sebastian before and now that it’s happened two days in a row, I can feel a part of me disintegrating, almost as if I’m going through some sort of an internal crisis.
His face inches impossibly closer to mine as he coos seductively, “I didn’t come here so I could leave, Tsundere.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Why? Does it hit too close to home?”
I huff, ripping a bag of chips open and hitting Play on Netflix. “It’ll get gory. You better go.”
“I like gory.”
“No, you don’t, Mr. Prim and Proper.”
“Just because I’m prim and proper doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the exploration of the dark side.” He steals a chip from my bag, his fingers brushing against mine for a second too long.
I hold my breath until he retracts his hand.
Swallowing the saliva that’s gathered at the back of my throat, I steal a peek at him. At how illegally perfect he is, like a Roman god with all his sharp angles.
“What are you doing here, Sebastian?” I ask in a barely audible voice.
“Watching the life of some serial killer because you stood me up.”
“Ever think that I stood you up because I’m not interested in you?”
“Or you stood me up because you are interested in me and scared of acting on it.”
“You’re delusional.”
He breaks eye contact with the TV and focuses on me. “Want to make a bet?”
“What type of bet?”
“The type where if you win, I’ll leave you alone. If you don’t, you’ll give me something I want.”
I don’t like the sound of that, but at the same time, I know this is probably the only way he’ll end whatever sick fixation he has on me.
“Fine. What’s the bet?”
“When I kissed you yesterday, you didn’t moan.”
My temperature rises a notch at the reminder of last night. I don’t know why I thought he’d pretend it didn’t happen like I’ve been trying to. Of course, Sebastian is the type of person who’d hit me over the head with it if for nothing else than to rattle me.
I clear my throat. “S-so?”
“That’s the bet. I’ll kiss you again. If you moan, I win. If you don’t, you win.”
I open my mouth to protest, but it ends on a gasp when his lips claim mine.
9
Naomi
Any objection I could’ve made crashes and dies against the liquid heat of Sebastian’s tongue.
There’s no gentleness behind his kiss. If anything, it’s deeper than yesterday’s with a sinister meaning lurking in its depths. For a second, I feel hunted, followed, just like last night on the forest road.
Only, this time…he caught me.
My heart hammers, but instead of stiffening, my body opens to his wicked ministrations. His palms cup my cheeks, his thumbs pressing hard to keep me immobile as he explores my mouth.
Or more like, seizes it with simmering brutality.
The strokes of his relentless tongue and the nibbles of his teeth against the cushion of my lips is nothing short of a conquest.