Legacy Disowned - Book 2

Chapter 14 - Trust Me

Sebastian awoke to the soft scent of home and the warmth that came with it still wrapped safely in his arms. For a moment he just let himself enjoy the sensation, certain that the moment he opened his eyes he'd find nothing but his cold sheets twisted up in his embrace. But as his eyes finally opened, he found the glint of golden hair tickling his chin and as he looked down, reality came into focus revealing the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.

Darling's lips were slightly parted as the softest, almost imperceptible little squeak of a snore escaped her with each breath. Her dark eyelashes fluttered ever so slightly against her rosy cheeks as she dreamt. And even in her sleep he could see the tiniest ghost of her smile still present on her soft pink lips.

Fuck.

This wasn't the first time they both fallen asleep on this sofa, and then there had been that wonderful closeness on Halloween night, but this felt different.

Sebastian couldn't take his eyes off her. Darling had always been petite, but between familiarity and the way she carried herself Sebastian seemed to have forgotten just how much bigger he was than her. The way she was tightly tucked into his chest made her look so vulnerable... fragile even.

Merlin damn it...why was she so tiny?

His arms instinctively tightened around her, as if he could physically shield her from the world and anything that might dare try to harm his precious little Darling.

A painful twist jolted his heart as the thought brought back the memory of what had happened the previous night. He'd fucked up...again.

Sebastian had been so sure that going up to that study had been the right decision, that this time no one would get hurt. He kept telling himself that he'd learned from his mistakes, it certainly felt like he had, so why did things keep going so wrong.

A fire seemed to ignite in his gut as the memory of Arsene Gaunt's hands all over her swam through his mind. The fury that had roared through him at the realisation of what was going on had been unlike anything he'd ever experienced. The way that curse had risen in him had felt nothing short of right. It was nothing like the scriptorium. This time he had come to understand what it meant to fully and truly want to make someone hurt—

No, that curse was one thing he didn't regret about last night. If he could go back and change anything, it would only be to make sure Darling had never been in that situation to begin with.

Once again, she'd been the one to get hurt so he could get his hands on some book. And yet again, he was faced with the task of decrypting that book, in the desperate attempt to make the awful sacrifice made to acquire it worth something.

He could only thank Merlin that she was so strong. As tiny and delicate as she looked now, Darling always bounced back so quickly. How often had he seen her laughing and cracking jokes mere moments after being forced to endure things that would leave anyone else broken. Surely, any weaker person would be finished with him by now, but here she was, curled up in his arms for comfort.

All this time he'd been sulking that she didn't place enough faith in him, but he could see now that Imelda had been right. He really was an idiot. Despite everything, Darling trusted him... far more than he deserved. It had been his fault that she'd wound up in that mess in the first place, and yet, it had been his eyes that had brought her back to herself.

But even as he felt the warmth of pride spread through his chest, he hated himself for it. Almost as much as he hated himself for the small thrill he'd felt when she'd asked him to help her with the Imperius curse. The last thing he wanted was to bring himself anywhere near being in the same category as Arsene Gaunt or Sonny Darling... but he couldn't help it. That was a level of trust that he'd never dared imagine she would ever have in him, and it made him sick how good it felt.