Chapter 23
Lirael
The fabric began to slide down, revealing another inch of pale skin, the sharp cut of hip bones, the beginning of dark hair that trailed down from his navel—
This is the test. This is the ultimate test. If I react like a normal woman, I'm fucked. If I don't react at all, I might be even more fucked.
Then his hand caught mine again, but this time he didn't stop at my wrist. He guided my palm toward his body with deliberate slowness, giving me every opportunity to pull away, to show alarm, to react like a human woman would.
Shit shit shit—
My mind went into overdrive. This was a trap with teeth. Every option led to exposure. But if I just... let him guide my hand while maintaining that empty, curious expression...
I forced my fingers to stay relaxed, let him draw my hand closer to his body while keeping my eyes on his face with what I hoped looked like mild interest rather than barely suppressed terror.
My fingertips brushed warm skin just above his waistband, and I felt him tense. The heat of him was shocking, and I could feel the individual ridges of muscle under my palm, the slight roughness of old scars, the coarse hair that started just below his navel and disappeared into—
Don't think about it don't think about it don't—
He guided my hand lower. Two inches from his waistband. Then one inch.
My hand was trembling now despite my best efforts. I could feel the heat radiating from him, could see the clear bulge in his underwear getting more pronounced, the fabric tenting slightly as—
Oh Jesus Christ he's getting hard. He's getting hard from this and I can feel it and if my hand goes any lower I'm going to be touching—
Half an inch. A quarter inch.
This is it. This is where I either commit completely or break character. There's no middle ground.
I kept my face blank, curious, guileless. Just an animal being guided through a strange experience. Not understanding that I was about to wrap my fingers around—
Then, abruptly, he let go.
My hand dropped back into the bathwater with a small splash. I blinked at him, tilting my head as if confused about why the interesting investigation had stopped, while internally I was screaming thank fuck thank fuck thank fuck—
Sebastian stepped back, something flickering across his face—frustration, maybe. He reached for his trousers and pulled them back on with quick movements, and I tried very hard not to notice that he was definitely harder than he'd been a minute ago, tried not to see the way he had to adjust himself before he could get the zipper up.
Don't look at it don't look at it you're supposed to be oblivious—
He grabbed his shirt from the floor and began buttoning it with fingers that weren't quite steady.
"A perfect performance," he said, voice rough. "Either you truly are just a beast who doesn't understand..." He paused. "Or you have more self-control than any creature I've ever encountered."
You have no fucking idea, I thought again, maintaining that empty expression while my heart hammered. I just almost touched your dick and managed not to freak out. I deserve a goddamn medal.
"The question is," he continued softly, "which one would be more interesting?"
I blinked slowly, like a cat, and said nothing.
Sebastian's laugh was sharp. "We'll find out eventually. I always do."
He turned toward the door, and I felt tension begin to ease in my shoulders.
Okay. Okay. Crisis averted. He's leaving. I can—
But then my hand, moving to push wet hair back from my face, brushed against my right ear.
And felt the earring.
Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck oh FUCK—
My blood turned to ice.
The silver hoop I'd been wearing when I escaped. I'd checked everything—the dress, my hair—but in my panic to create this bathroom scene, I'd forgotten my ears.
Sebastian turned back, and I saw his gaze sharpen, focusing on something. My hand froze near my ear.
He saw it. The slight narrowing of his eyes, the way his head tilted.
"What's that?" he asked quietly.
Shit shit shit—
I needed to act. Now. Before he came closer, before he could examine it, before this whole carefully constructed lie came crashing down.
So I did the only thing I could think of.
I lunged forward and bit down hard on his arm.
Too hard. Too desperate. My panic made me careless, and my sharp canines punched straight through skin into flesh. I felt the exact moment they pierced, felt hot blood well up against my tongue.
Sebastian's entire body went rigid.
Not with pain. With something else entirely.
His muscles locked like stone under my teeth, his breath stopping mid-inhale. Then a sound escaped him—low, guttural, almost a growl—and I felt electricity arc through his body from the point of contact outward.
His free hand slammed against the wall beside the tub, fingers spreading wide, nails scraping tile. His head fell back, tendons standing out in his throat, and for a terrifying moment I thought he was going to shift right here, thought I'd triggered something that would end with me torn apart.
But he didn't shift. Instead, his eyes snapped open—and they were wrong. The amber had gone molten gold shot through with crimson threads, pupils blown so wide they'd almost swallowed the iris entirely. Not quite human. Not quite wolf. Something caught between.
"Fuck," he breathed, and the word came out shredded, barely recognizable.
His hand found my waist under the water and hauled me out of the tub in one smooth motion, my wet dress streaming water across the tile as he pressed me against the cold wall. His body followed, pinning me between porcelain and muscle, and I could feel the tremors running through him, the way his chest heaved against mine, the unmistakable press of his erection against my hip through his trousers.
Oh Jesus. Oh fuck. He's—
This close, I could see the crimson spreading through the gold of his eyes like blood in water, could see the way his pupils kept contracting and dilating as if his body couldn't decide what it wanted to be. His breathing came harsh and fast against my temple, and when he spoke, his voice had dropped half an octave into something that resonated in my bones.
"What did you—" He stopped, swallowed hard. "What the fuck did you just—"
This is bad. This is so fucking bad. He's losing control and I'm pinned and—