A beat passed before he bent, closing the distance between us. His lips landed on my neck, and he kissed me.
My eyes widened, and for a moment, I froze. His touch was little more than air, and yet, his mouth seared my skin, leaving a trail on my neck.
The graze of his fangs was at once far too much and not enough. Warmth shot through me as his barely there kisses covered me from my chin to my collarbone. I squeezed my knees together as a groan rumbled through him.
“I need you,” he whispered, his voice so rough it was barely more than a breath. “All of you. You’re driving me mad. The way you taste. Your smell. Sitting across from you in the library for the past twenty-one days, sleeping in the same room as you, and refraining from touching you has been the most agonizing experience of my entire existence.”
Another kiss to my neck. This one was rough, edged with need as he lined our bodies up. Somehow, we fit together perfectly. Pure want pounded through my body. The part of me that knew I should have been scared of this vampire was long gone.
He needed me, and I…
I might have needed him, too.
Curling my fingers around his tunic, I pulled him close and whispered his name.
He groaned, pressing his forehead against mine as we shared the same air. “I need you so desperately, Luna, I’m losing my mind. It’s slipping from me, a little bit more every day. I’m starving, and yet, the hunger is nothing compared to what I feel inside for you. Every part of me wants to know you more. You think I’m not suffering?”
Sebastian growled. “I never asked for this, but I need you more than I needed anything in my entire life. I can’t even leave.” His chest heaved beneath my touch as shadows swirled around him. “Do you have any idea what that’s like? To want something so badly, to be forced to remain near it day in and day out, and to not act on it?”
Sebastian lowered his head once more, the tip of his fangs grazing my neck. “I’m living inhell.”
My mouth opened, but I had no words.
Neither of us moved. We remained there, our chests heaving in unison, as his wings shielded us from the rest of the castle.
He needed me. My blood? My body? Both? Or something else entirely?
An untold amount of time went by as we remained against the wall before Sebastian pushed away from me.
Cold washed down my front and I looked up at him. “Sebastian…”
He shook his head. His face was flat and impassive, as though he hadn’t just been running his lips and fangs all over me. “Your friend’s room is just down the hall.”
I stared at him. That was it? We were just going to pretend that this—whatever in the gods’ name “this” was—didn’t happen?
Apparently so, because he did not wait for a response before he snapped his wings behind him. Those long strides of his ate up the hallway, and he walked away from me.
I hurried to follow him, clutching the book bag at my side as he turned a corner. By the time I caught up with him, he stopped in front of a plain wooden door.
Why he hadn’t just shadowed us here, I didn’t know. But here we were. Hopefully, Julieta would be available to talk. Earlier, she mentioned she didn’t have any plans for tonight.
“This is it,” Sebastian said, his wings folded behind him and his arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe.
Raising my fist, I knocked. The sound echoed through the empty hallway, and I shifted from one foot to the other, waiting for a response.
It never came.
“Maybe she’s in the bathing room,” I murmured.
We waited some more. Sebastian glanced at me, his brows furrowed. I raised my fist again, knocking on the door with more vigor.
“Julieta?” I called out. “Are you there? It’s Luna.”
As if she didn’t know who it was.
We waited. And waited.
I was just about to give up when glass shattered inside the room. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled and Sebastian cursed. His wings flared out behind him and shadows curled around his hands. He grabbed my shoulder, pulling me away from the door.
“Stay here,” he ordered, moments before disappearing in a flash of shadows.
He was gone for less than a minute before he reappeared in front of me. The moment I saw him, my stomach twisted into a knot. His eyes were drawn and his face was paler than normal.
“Luna…” Sebastian’s voice trailed off, and he shook his head. Reaching out, he placed his hand on my arm and tried to tug me away.
I wouldn’t move. I couldn’t. Right then, I knew something horrible had happened. After today, nothing would ever be the same.
“Tell me,” I demanded.