Chapter 46
BRIANNA’S POV
“Brianna… Brianna?” Sebastian called out, his voice a sudden jolt that drove me back to reality.
“Yes,” I breathed, regaining control. “Sorry about that.”
He stared at me. A bit confused. Curious. As if to see through me. To know what I was feeling and thinking.
I blinked more than usual to avoid his curious, exploring gaze. Then it suddenly dawned on me that I shouldn’t be sitting that close to him. The door wasn’t locked and Catherine could burst in at any moment with that horrified face of hers and confirm her suspicion on us.
Moreover, I had a bus to catch, and as the night was growing late, time was slipping away. If I didn’t leave the castle within the next thirty minutes, I might miss it. On top of that, I hadn’t yet figured out how I was going to get the fare for the journey.
I tried to stand. But he held me back to my greatest surprise.
“Please stay with me,” I saw the heart-rending tenderness of his gaze. They were begging me. They were needy. But I had made him feel better. Told him what he needed to hear. Shouldn’t he be leaving and returning to his party outside? “Don’t go. Please don’t.”
Swallowing hard, I froze in place as my blood congealed into ice cubes. He came close, his gaze drilling into mine, not breaking away even for a nanosecond as I sank into the pool of those dark chocolate eyes. I could hear the pounding of his heart against his chest. His heavy breathing as I felt his warm breath heat my face.
Gradually, his gaze drifted down from my eyes to my lips, and a shiver ran through me, making it hard to steady myself. My throat and mouth seemed to dry up like a desert unexpectedly. Without any forewarning, he bridged the gap between us, his lips melting softly like butter into mine.
My eyes popped wide open in shock and goosebumps specked all over my skin. I wasn’t expecting this from him. Not now. And perhaps…not ever.
I wanted to break away. And tell him this wasn’t right. Tell him I wanted this but I can’t have it. But the more I wanted to, the harder I failed. The more I succumbed to the soft plushness of his lips against mine.
At first, the kiss was slow, thoughtful. Tender and light like a summer breeze. But as I began opening up to him. Making him know I wanted this as bad as he did, he devoured me hungrily. Possessively. As though he’d been waiting a thousand years for this. His hand clamped my chin in place as his tongue delved deeper into me, exploring the recesses of my mouth. Sending shivers of desire racing all over me. Setting my whole body on fire. Burning me to ashes.
The world around me was spinning in a whirlwind of blinding speed, almost overwhelming. Instinctively, I shut my eyes, allowing that velocity to envelop me completely. I surrendered to the raging storm, letting it carry me away in its fierce embrace.
Amid the heart-stopping sensation, an image of Hermes smirking devilishly at me suddenly flashed in my head. Catherine bursting right through that door with that horrified face of hers filled my head.
A teardrop of pain and regret found its way down my cheek. Instantly, I pulled away from his embrace and rushed to the window, facing it so he wouldn’t see my face.
“Please leave. This isn’t right. We shouldn’t be doing this at all, especially at a time like this when your anniversary party is still going on,” I said as my tears were almost choking my voice.
“Brianna—”
“No,” I didn’t let him finish. “Please just go. I don’t want to cause trouble. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
He let out a heavy breath, and I heard his steps going toward the door. Time ticked by, and I didn’t hear the door creak open or shut. I sensed he was still there because I could feel his presence.
As I turned, I caught my breath at the sight of him. His lips were open, and his face, once attractive and appealing, now looked full of pain.
He looked at the empty open wardrobe I had forgotten to close and at the luggage, I didn’t slide completely under the bed on the other side before his gaze met mine.
Oh no! He had found out.
“You…you’re trying to run away?” Pain, raw and heavy dripping from his voice. “You’re trying to leave me after everything I have done for you.”
“No...no,” my misery was heavy, like a weight of steel. It matched his own. “I didn’t want you to find out this way. But this is for the best. The last thing I want is for you and Luna Catherine to keep fighting because of me. I don't want to ruin what you two have built over the years. Please... just let me go.”
“You just don’t get it!” he ground out, his body tensed as he leaned forward, his eyes wide with desperation. It was the only instance I’d seen him like this, all fired up and furious. The last time he had been this was when he saved me from that Alpha king who tried to rape me at that cocktail party and when Catherine had splashed her coffee on me. Except for those times, he had always been gentle and composed.
“I can’t let you go, Brianna. I love you… and I want to protect you,” his voice softened as quickly as it had flared up. But then, it surged back again with a sudden urgency. “But the more I try to do that, the harder I fail. The more you push me away. Why! Isn’t my effort enough for you?”
His words left me glued to the spot. They crippled me. And confirmed my initial doubts. Amelia was right when she said he had a spark for me. I could see that spark right now. All bright, clear and burning in his eyes. In his words. Is that the reason he’d been all caring and kind towards me? Is that the reason he didn’t treat me like the slave I was supposed to be? Because he loved me?
But…no. All that spark. All that love shouldn’t be for me. It should be for his wife. For his Luna. Catherine.
“That’s the problem, Sebastian,” I struggled to find my control and voice. “I can’t leave in the same place with you knowing that you love me. Knowing that your wife is here. And that she is the jealous and territorial type. Knowing what I have been through in the past. I just have to leave for good. And even if you don’t agree with my decision…I’m still leaving. And you won’t stop me.”
He was shocked as his gaze lingered on me. Regaining full control, I walked to the other side of the bed. I grabbed my luggage and attempted to walk past him and open the door. But he held me back.
“I’m sorry, Brianna,” he apologized. But his apology carried along with it a hidden motive. “I just can’t let you leave. It’s for your good. For your safety and well-being. Guards!!” He yelled.
At once, the door swung open and two huge, heavily built guards dressed in the darkest shade of black suits and spectacles marched in. I recognized them to be the same guards that had helped me off the stage that day at the auction after he bought me.
“Take her to the cell,” Sebastian said and he looked away in agony, not wanting to look at me.