“No, he seems on the ball.”
“On the plus side, Grant already thinks you dislike me.”
Sebastian frowned. “Because…?”
“Liz: she mentioned that we’d met in Geneva, and at that stage, she still thought you were an ass. Well, that hasn’t changed, but just a different sort of ass now.”
He gave me a crooked smile.
“An ass?”
“Big time.”
He leaned against the door and crossed his arms, his head cocked to one side, a damn sexy smile on his face.
“What happened with your little friend, Natalie?” I said, not prepared to let him off the hook just yet.
His smile vanished. “She’s no fucking friend: she wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, and then Grant kicked me out because of her.”
“What did he say to you?”
Sebastian shifted uncomfortably.
“Oh, well, never mind – I can guess. She didn’t look pleased either – I think she was planning to have you for dessert. Was it you who told her to cover up?”
“Yeah, not that it made any difference.”
“She must have listened to someone. At least you tried. And you are very trying, Chief Hunter. Part of me wants to slap some sense into you…”
“And the other part?” he murmured, wetting his lips with his tongue.
“Well,” I said, running a finger down the red braid that edged his uniform jacket, he dI was wondering what we could do for the next…” I checked my wristwatch, “…115 minutes?”
I thought Sebastian would leap on me but he closed his eyes, as if he was in pain.
“What’s the matter, tesoro?”
“I really fucking hate this, Caro. We’re always running in different directions, we’re always running out of time. I just want to wake up with you in my arms every day.”
God, this man was irritating – and wonderful – and he could say the most romantic things at the time when I most needed to hear them.
“I know, Sebastian, and I feel the same. But it won’t be like that forever – we will be together. We just have to be patient.” I stroked his cheek, “And for now, we have 113 minutes left.”
His eyes snapped open.
“Fuck!”
Suddenly we were all fumbling, hurried hands, panting into each other’s mouths, as Sebastian tried to tear off his uniform and undress me at the same time. I was naked and ready long before him, so I lent a helping hand, which didn’t seem to help much.
“Damn it, Caro,” he groaned, as I pressed myself against him, feeling the thick material against my heated skin.
He backed me towards my bed, his erection rigid against my thigh. I fell backwards and then burst into laughter.
“What?”
“The whole pants around the ankles thing – it’s not a great look.”
He grinned ruefully as he toed off his shiny shoes.
“Guess I’d better lose the socks, too.”
“Definitely.”
When every item of clothing had been stripped off, he stood next to the bed and gazed down at me. I didn’t feel like laughing now.
“You like what you see, Caro?” he asked, with a low, rough voice.
I nodded, my mouth suddenly dry.
“After tonight, well, we don’t know when… so I want you to remember me like this… when you look at me – see me like this, wanting you.”
And he stroked himself, his eyes half closing as he breathed in deeply.
“And when I look at you, this is what I’ll be thinking about: close your eyes.”
Reluctantly, I let my eyelids flutter down.
The mattress moved beneath me, and I felt Sebastian’s warm hands on my ankles. Slowly, he moved my legs apart, then he kissed his way up to my thigh, and my breath caught in my throat.
He didn’t stop, and I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted him loving me forever.
Sometime later, we lay in each other’s arms, peaceful and blissfully sated.