With another glance at Mason, he gives me a barely perceivable nod, and I sigh. “Yes,” I tell him.
“You’ll have fun,” Sebastian says, approaching where we stand by the large island bench. “Tell Lauren not to go crazy.” He lets out an exasperated sigh.
“What do you mean?” I frown at him.Crazy about what?
“Never mind,” he says, stopping in front of me. “I meant what I said if you want to leave. But at least try and have some fun.” His eyes soften as his lips lift, and my heart flutters. I live for his smiles—the ones he doesn’t give anybody but me.
The flutter soon turns into pounding when his eyes darken, and his soft smile turns into a devilish smirk before he leans down and whispers in my ear, “Do you remember what I told you earlier?” He snakes his arm around my waist, dipping his fingers into the waistband of my skirt, resting them in the top of my crack. His firm touch has my breath stuttering against his neck. “Well?” He slides his fingers down a little further, and a squeak sounds in my throat.
Mason is barely three steps away from us!
He might not be able to see anything more than Sebastian speaking in my ear from the angle at which we’re standing, but my cheeks feel like they’re on fire, regardless.
“Yes,” I whisper, and now that he’s reminded me, it’sallI can think about. I squeeze my legs together as my core starts to throb with the memory of him emptying himself into me.
“Good.” He pulls his hand from my skirt and plants his lips on mine for a searing kiss before pulling away. “I have to go to work, but I’ll see you later,” he says, and the dirty promises I find in his eyes have me squirming.
Mason clears his throat. “I suppose we should pick up Miss Hall.”
We leave the house just after Sebastian, and I settle into Mason’s car as he waits a moment for the heat to kick in before taking off.
My face feels heated for most of the drive into the city, and it has nothing to do with the heater. Mason sits equally as quiet, and I’m starting to wonder if he saw or heard more than I thought he did.
“Things seem to be going well between you and Sebastian,” Mason says.
Oh God, he definitely saw something.
“Relax, I didn’t see anything.” He chuckles.
“How—”
“Just a guess. You’ve been red as a tomato since we left.”
“Oh.” I lift a palm to my cheek, even though I already suspected.
“Are you happy?” he asks, glancing at me before focussing on the road again, and the question rolls around in my head.
Apart from everything that happened the night Easton took me to that warehouse, and the altercation with Vincent the following day, the past week with Sebastian has beengreat. I’d tried to pull away after what happened with Vincent—the fear from his threats nearly pushing me to carry out the deal I’d made with Sebastian only the night before. Except every time I thought I’d built up the courage, he’d do something that had my confidence wavering. A gentle touch here, a soft kiss there. Sweet words that had my heart clenching. It didn’t take long before I decided I need more time with him.
Something changed in him when we moved from the penthouse. I don’t know if it’s because of what happened that night and him finding me at Obsidian, or the fact we’re living in his parents’ house, or something else entirely, but I don’t feel the same distance between us as I did before. The closer we grow, the more my secrets are starting to weigh me down.
The more time I spend with him, the more I can’t fathom leaving him. He promised he’d let me go, but I’m starting to doubt whether I’ll be able to lethimgo. It’s only a matter of time before my past catches up with me, especially now that Sebastian’s hunting for the very man I’m trying to escape.
“Grace?”
I vaguely hear Mason’s voice, but my mind is running so fast that I struggle to pull myself out of it.
“Emery.”
The sound of my real name rips me out of my spiralling thoughts, and I snap my head to Mason’s.
“Are you okay?”
I clear my throat. “Yes, sorry. I was just thinking,” I say. “I am. Happy. It’s just…”
“That you haven’t told him?” he asks, and the weight slowly crushing me gets a little heavier.
“I can’t,” I say quietly.