Chapter 69 More than ready
Amara POV
The look on his face shifts the moment the words leave my mouth.
You’re right, we do.
Something dark and intent flickers in his eyes, like a decision has already been made and there’s no pulling it back.
Before I can even process it, he moves.
One second I’m standing there, breath still uneven from the kiss, and the next his hands are on me, firm and sure as they slide around my waist and lift me clean off the ground.
A startled breath escapes me, half laugh, half gasp, my hands instinctively gripping his shoulders as my legs wrap around his waist.
“Sebastian..”
He doesn’t answer.
Doesn’t slow.
His mouth finds mine again like he can’t stand the distance, like even the seconds it took to pick me up were too long. The kiss is deeper this time, hungrier, carrying everything he’s been holding in since the moment he found me.
The hallway blurs around us.
I barely register the turn, the doors, anything..
Until suddenly we’re moving fast.
The chamber door swings open with a sharp thud against the wall as he pushes through it, not even bothering with subtlety this time. It slams shut behind us just as hard.
And then..
The bed hits the back of my legs.
A quiet breath leaves me as he sets me down, but he doesn’t step away. Not even close.
If anything, he presses in closer.
My hands are still gripping his shirt, my chest rising and falling a little too fast as I look up at him. His eyes are darker now, heavier, locked on me like I’m the only thing in the world that matters.
The bond thrums between us.
Loud.
Alive.
Demanding.
“You have no idea..” he murmurs, his voice rougher now, like it’s dragging over something deep in his chest. “How badly I missed you.”
He missed me?
His hand comes up again, fingers brushing along my jaw, slower this time. Not rushed. Not frantic.
Intentional.
Like he’s memorizing me.
“Do you know what that did to me?” he continues quietly.
I swallow, my voice softer than I expect when I answer. “What?”
His gaze sharpens slightly.
“Not feeling you,” he says. “Through the bond. Knowing where you were.. and not being able to get to you.”
My chest tightens.
His hand slides to the back of my neck again, fingers threading lightly into my hair as he tilts my head just enough to look at me properly.
“I don’t do well with that,” he adds.
I huff a small breath, trying to lighten it just a little. “Yeah.. I noticed.”
But he doesn’t smile.
Not really.
His thumb brushes slowly along my cheek, and this time it feels less like restraint..
And more like control barely held together.
“You’re not leaving my sight again,” he says.
Not harsh.
Not loud.
But absolute.
Something in my chest warms at that, even as the intensity of it settles over me.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” I reply quietly.
That’s all it takes.
His restraint snaps just a little.
His mouth is on mine again, but this time it’s slower. Still intense, still consuming, but there’s something deeper in it now. Something grounded. Like he’s not just trying to feel me..
He’s trying to keep me.
My hands slide up into his hair, fingers threading through the dark strands as I pull him closer, not even pretending to hold back anymore.
The bond surges.
Warmth spreads through me, curling low and steady, pulling tighter with every second we stay like this.
His hand at my waist tightens slightly, anchoring me in place as his other traces down my neck, along my shoulder, slow enough to make my breath catch.
“Still okay?” he murmurs against my lips.
I almost laugh at that.
“Yes,” I whisper back, breathless.
A quiet, almost amused sound leaves him at that, low in his chest.
Then his forehead rests against mine for just a second.
Just one.
Like he’s grounding himself again.
Like he’s choosing this instead of losing control.
His eyes open, meeting mine.
“Dinner’s going to be interesting,” he mutters.
I huff softly, a small smile tugging at my lips despite everything. “That’s one way to put it.”
His thumb brushes once more along my cheek.
Gentler now.
But no less certain.
“Whatever he’s planning,” he says, quieter this time, “we’ll handle it.”
We.
The word settles deep.
I nod slowly. “We will.”
For a moment, the world feels steady again.
Just us.
Just this.
Even if it won’t last.
Even if the second we step back out of this room, everything starts moving again.
His gaze lingers on me a second longer before he leans in once more, pressing a softer kiss to my lips this time.
Not rushed.
Not desperate.
Just.. sure.
A promise more than anything else.
Then he exhales slowly, pulling back just enough to look at me again.
“Come on,” he says quietly. “We’ve got a few hours before dinner.”
A small spark flickers in his eyes again.
Not as sharp as before.
But definitely still there.
“And I don’t plan on wasting them.”
He pulls me up, brushing the hair from my shoulders and he begins to kiss there. His hands slip to the back of my dress where he finds the lace, and he starts to untie it.
My breath hitches in my throat as he works the laces effortlessly and I feel it loosen.
He slips it down my body, leaving me standing in my undergarment gown. His hands dropped to the bottom of my gown and he lifted it as he rose.
He pulls it over my head leaving me bare before him, His lips find mine again instantly, his hands touching all over me as he’d never touched me before.. and I feel like this time, we may actually go through with it.
“You’re so beautiful.” He groans, looking down at me. My hands find the hem of his cloak and I unbutton it, letting the cloth fall to the floor.
I begin on his shirt, un-lacing the collar. He steps back and pulls it over his shoulders, flashing me his insane muscles.
Goddess, this man is perfection..
Not much later he slips out of his pants and we both are standing there completely bare.
“Breathtaking.” He speaks, closing the distance between us.
He picks me up, putting me on the bed, and climbs above me.
“Are you ready?” He asks.
“More than ready,” I say.
Then he leans in, pressing his plump lips against mine in a hunger. Like he’d been starving this entire time.