Clementine, a social media manager with fiery red hair and emerald green eyes, was a contradiction. Shy in person, her mind buzzed with fascinating trivia just waiting for the right listener.
Sebastian Montgomery as the tabloids dubbed him, was an...
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Clementine stood in the dim light, the warmth of Sebastian's presence still burning through her skin, the taste of his kiss still lingering on her lips. But now, the silence felt different. It was no longer a quiet, anticipatory pause before the storm—it was the calm after it.
She closed her eyes, her breath shaky as she tried to steady herself, but it was impossible. Her hands were trembling at her sides, her heart pounding in her chest as if it might burst. What had just happened? Was she ready for this?
Her mind spun in a thousand directions, each thought a jagged edge. She had crossed a line, one she couldn't take back. There was no undoing the way she'd given herself to him, no way to pretend it didn't matter. Because it did. It mattered more than anything else.
Clementine opened her eyes, staring at the empty space where Sebastian had been just moments ago. His cold, distant gaze had softened, just for a second, and in that brief moment, she had seen something else. Something darker. And she had leaned into it. Why? Why had she done that?
Her body was still humming with his touch, the overwhelming need for him still curling in the pit of her stomach. She could feel the weight of his words pressing down on her. You'll never have control. He was right. She hadn't had control for a long time—not in her life, and definitely not with him.
But she had known that from the beginning, hadn't she? She had come to him, looking for something she couldn't name, something she hadn't even known she needed until he'd pulled it out of her.
And now? Now, she was tangled in his web, and she didn't know if she wanted to escape.
She sank down onto the couch, her hands shaking as she tried to steady her breath, but nothing was steady anymore. Every part of her was unmoored, floating between the reality of what she had just done and the dark pull that had brought her here.
She couldn't go back. Not now. Not after that look in his eyes, that promise he'd made with his touch.
Clementine pressed her hands to her face, feeling the burn of tears she couldn't quite let go of, but she couldn't cry. Not now. Not when she had already given up everything.
And just as the weight of the moment seemed unbearable, the door creaked open.
Clementine's phone buzzed on the table next to her, the sound slicing through the thick silence. She stared at it for a moment, almost not wanting to pick it up. Her parents.
She hadn't talked to them in weeks. They hadn't understood why she'd left. They never did. The last conversation had been filled with their disapproval, their judgment, and a lot of misery and Clementine had avoided answering since.
But now, in the stillness of the room, with Sebastian's words still echoing in her mind, she couldn't ignore it. She needed something—anything to ground her, even if it was the unwanted comfort of her parents' voices.
